It's kind of funny the stories we tell ourselves just to make it through another bitter day. We give each other hope despite the overwhelming odd always being stacked against us. We were always taught good would triumph over evil, the plucky hero would topple the evil empire and the knight in shining armor would show up one day to sweep the princess off her feet before riding off to their happily ever after.
But this hope, in many cases at least, is false.
Happy endings seem to be as much of a relic, an artifact of a long forgotten past, just like the knights which appear in the stories from before out time. Instead of allowing hope to encourage us to new heights, to explore new frontiers and to keep pushing on, we use hope as a shield. It merely protects us as we keep our overwhelming fear at bay. The fear we've allowed to rule over our lives. We work jobs that we hate, and that makes us sick because we're too afraid to take a chance on a job that would make us happy but comes with less pay. We constantly settle in our lives, too scared to take a risk or face rejection despite the possible outcome being one of the best moments we could ever have. And when we witness each other coming into harm, we don't try to stop it because we fear harm coming upon us.
For this reason, the crooks, thieves, thugs, and murderers prey on your fear. They savour its smell as they feed upon you and where there is fear they are quickly drawn to it. Their kind spreads faster than any known cancer as they corrupt every system they come up against, wearing it down and bringing it to its knees.
Such is the story of Santa Celia, a towering monument to progress, a city literally caught between moving forward and in the echoes of times gone by. A city that could easily be one of the most beautiful cities in all of America and yet, instead it lies infested and rotting. Helpless to stop the infection as it grows worse every day. The criminals run this city, they have their hands in every pocket, every industry, and every home. But change is coming, the winds are shifting, something new has come to town. Their reckoning will soon be upon them. Eventually, the people will push back as leaders rise up to guide them. Heroes will come forth to lead the revolution and evil will know what it means to feel fear as they are banished.
Perhaps it's because the world is changing, twenty years ago no one would have thought of putting on a mask and taking the law into their own hands and yet now, in this West Coast city that is exactly what has happened. People gifted with unique abilities have begun to emerge from within the crowds, people capable of changing the course of mankind. For no darkness can exist where the light shines, and the light will soon fall upon the city.
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A large metropolitan center, the city of Santa Celia is found on the Western Coast of the United States of America in the state of California. Spanning a long history, Santa Celia is a diverse city and home to numerous ethnicities and cultures. The city spans over a large area, consisting of the major city of Santa Celia and a smaller rural community known as the Árido Valley. Árido Valley lies two miles to the East of the main city and is home to Tlaloc Falls, one of the largest natural waterfalls in the world.
Two rivers run off these falls, the first of which is the Dorado Rapids which runs along the Southern edge of a small community known as Paraíso El Agua or simply Paradise on the Water. The rapids flow west, past the small community where they empty into the Pacific Ocean. Paradise on the Water is Santa Celia’s southernmost and richest district while the second river, the Del Vida River divides the Árido Valley from the city and continues to flow due South.
This span is crossed by a giant suspension bridge known as the Rook Bridge due to the giant turrets which rise up on either side of it. It's an impressive sight even to those who live in Santa Celia and has been featured in many Hollywood blockbusters. The city's architecture ranges from Colonial influenced Baroque to neighborhoods filled with Victorian and Edwardian styled homes to a modern downtown filled with buildings that are modeled on futuristic styles that wouldn’t look out of place in a science fiction film.
The city’s crime rates have been low in the past but have been on a steady increase over the last five years. Santa Celia has a Mediterranean climate that is sometimes classified, owing to its high rainfall, as an oceanic climate. It is one of the wettest places in California: the annual rainfall is 67 in (1,700 mm). The wettest months are from October to March; the wettest month is December with 11 inches (280 mm) and the driest month is July with less than 0.5 in (13 mm). The average high and low temperatures in January are 54 °F (12 °C) and 41 °F (5 °C). The average high and low temperatures in August are 66 °F (19 °C) and 51 °F (11 °C). The average number of days below 32 °F (0 °C) is 15 days. The highest temperature recorded in Santa Celia was 93 °F (34 °C), observed on 24 September 1964, 1 June 1970, and 10 October 1991. The lowest temperature on record was 19 °F (−7 °C) on 21 December 1990. The maximum monthly precipitation was 31.25 inches (794 mm) in November 1973. The maximum 24-hour precipitation was 7.73 inches (196 mm) on 9 January 1995. The highest snowfall recorded for any period in 24 hours was 6.0 inches (15 cm) occurring on 6 January 1972.
Additionally, the topography of the sea floor surrounding Santa Celia has the effect of focusing tsunamis. According to researchers at Humboldt State University and the University of Southern California, the city experienced tsunami conditions 31 times between the years 1933 and 2008. Although many of these incidents were barely perceptible, eleven events included wave measurements exceeding one meter, four events caused damage, and one event in particular is commonly cited as "the largest and most destructive recorded tsunami to ever strike the United States Pacific Coast.
◼ City: 51.73 sq mi ◼ Land: 35.89 sq. mi ◼ Water: 40.36 sq. mi ◼ Urban: 1,115.65 sq. mi ◼ Metro: 6,047.52 sq. mi
D E M O G R A P H I C S : ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
◼ 57.5% White (53.3% non-Hispanic white) ◼ 29.3% Black or African American ◼ 4.3% Asian American (1.2% Indian, 0.8% Chinese, 0.7% Vietnamese, 0.5% Korean, 0.4% Filipino, 0.1% Pakistani, 0.1% Japanese) ◼ 2.6% two or more races ◼ 1.4% some other race ◼ 0.5% Native American ◼ <0.1% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
I N D U S T R Y : ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
◼ Agriculture (Predominately Wine and Tobacco) ◼ Manufacturing (Textiles, Chemicals, Electrical Equipment, Pulp and Paper Products) ◼ Finance (Banking and Finance Industry) ◼ Technology (Information and Biotechnology, Software Engineering) ◼ Research (Research and Development, Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Nanotechnology, Robotics) ◼ Environmental Sciences, Genetics and others) ◼ Tourism
C H A R A C T E R S H E E T:
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A L I A S O R N I C K N A M E
_______________________________________________ First Middle Last _______________________________________________ D.O.B. | Age | Ethnicity _______________________________________________ Marital Status | ♀/♂ | Sexuality _______________________________________________ Education | Position/Profession/Career _______________________________________________ Physical Profile ___________________________________
A full physical description to compliment your faceclaim and physical profile. This is where you can describe piercings, tattoos, scars, their sense of style and mannerisms. This section should be at least a paragraph in length.
Personality ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
An insight to the character's psyche, how they think, feel and process the world around them. This should include their likes and dislikes, examples of how they react to sitatuions and other like elements that attribute to their personality. This should be at least two paragraphs.
Character Synopsis ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Introduction to the character, their history and primarily their motivations for engaging in vigilantism and using their abilities or skills to help the city. This should be no shorter than two paragraphs but can as long beyond that as you wish depending on your style of story telling.
Abilities & Skills ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
//Abiliites:
Superhuman Ability | Description should be at least a paragraph
Limitation(s) | Description should be at least a paragraph with three defined limitations
Weakness(es) | Description should be at least a paragraph with exploitable weaknesses.
//Skills:
Example Skill | Description
Supporting Cast ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Any relevant characters you will be playing alongside your primary POV in order to flesh out the world around you. This can include, family, friends, loved ones and antagonists. This is an optional section on the CS and can be deleted entirely, left as a 'To Be Determined' and contributed to as the IC progress or filled out from the get go. Entirely your decision.
[CENTER][h1][b]A L I A S O R N I C K N A M E[/b][/h1][/CENTER] [table][row][/row][row][cell] [center][img]Faceclaim URL goes here[/img] [sup]_______________________________________________[/sup] [sub]First Middle Last [sup]_______________________________________________[/sup] D.O.B. [b]|[/b] Age [b]|[/b] Ethnicity [sup]_______________________________________________[/sup] Marital Status [b]|[/b] ♀/♂ [b]|[/b] Sexuality [sup]_______________________________________________[/sup] Education [b]|[/b] Position/Profession/Career [sup]_______________________________________________[/sup] Physical Profile[/sub] [sup]___________________________________[/sup][/center][hider=] [sub][b]//Basics: • Height[/b] | [i]Foot'-Inches"[/i]
[/cell][cell][sub][b] Appearance Details[/b][/sub] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [indent]A full physical description to compliment your faceclaim and physical profile. This is where you can describe piercings, tattoos, scars, their sense of style and mannerisms. This section should be at least a paragraph in length.[/indent] [sub][b] Personality[/b][/sub] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [INDENT]An insight to the character's psyche, how they think, feel and process the world around them. This should include their likes and dislikes, examples of how they react to sitatuions and other like elements that attribute to their personality. This should be at least two paragraphs.[/INDENT] [/cell][/row][/table][sub][b] Character Synopsis[/b][/sub] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [indent]Introduction to the character, their history and primarily their motivations for engaging in vigilantism and using their abilities or skills to help the city. This should be no shorter than two paragraphs but can as long beyond that as you wish depending on your style of story telling.[/indent] [sub][b] Abilities & Skills[/b][/sub] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [INDENT][sub][b]//Abiliites:[/b][/sub] [INDENT][b][i]Superhuman Ability[/i][/b] | Description should be at least a paragraph
[b][i]Limitation(s)[/i][/b] | Description should be at least a paragraph with three defined limitations
[b][i]Weakness(es)[/i][/b] | Description should be at least a paragraph with exploitable weaknesses.[/INDENT] [sub][b]//Skills:[/b][/sub] [INDENT][b][i]Example Skill[/i][/b] | Description[/INDENT][/INDENT] [sub][b] Supporting Cast[/b][/sub] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [indent]Any relevant characters you will be playing alongside your primary POV in order to flesh out the world around you. This can include, family, friends, loved ones and antagonists. This is an optional section on the CS and can be deleted entirely, left as a 'To Be Determined' and contributed to as the IC progress or filled out from the get go. Entirely your decision.[/INDENT][h.r]
R U L E S & R E G U L A T I O N S:
1. - I will try to work with any writer I can to ensure that you can create a character you truly want to portray and will enjoy playing in the IC. That said if I ask you to rework something, please do not just 'ghost' me. I am not a tyrant and am open to discussion within reason, together we can likely hash out a compromise. In terms of power levels for this RP, we're looking at something akin to 'strong street-level', for a comparable media look at Marvel's Netflix Series or the majority of characters from the tv series, Heroes. Our characters, while competent and powerful should still be able to be overwhelmed by regular humans.
2. - Please use the provided character sheet but feel free to modify the sheet's colors to suit your needs or your character's theme. Additionally, minor modifications may be made to the placement of the sheet's categories or their contents, however, please do not disregard the character sheet or submit one of your own design. I'd also appreciate it if only completed sheets were posted in the OOC. If you need feedback on an incomplete CS, I would prefer a private message or DM on Discord.
3. - Post when you can, don't make excuses for when you can't. I'd like us to have an open and honest line of communication as Player and GM and if you're not posting because you don't feel like it, I'd rather you tell me that than say you're 'busy' and keep me in anticipation of a post. I'll be keeping in touch and checking in weekly to touch base with anyone who hasn't posted but please be honest with me on the 'why'.
4. - Don't mistake actions and hostilities in the IC as OOC interactions. Drama, rivalry and resentment will happen in a well written IC due to differing character ideologies. This does not mean the writer has any personal beef with you merely that they're developing their character in the same way you are.
5. - The IC will contain mature themes but will not violate any of the Guild's fundamental rules. Therefore while mature language, drug use, and violence are all tolerated, sexually explicit scenes will not be. Writing substance such as 'Smut' is not tolerated in public forum and has no place in the IC.
A N Y T H I N G E L S E ?:
I'm looking for a couple of dedicated, self-motivated, assertive roleplayers who are not only happy following the plots that I lay but also contributing to the RP and world as a whole. Compared to some of my other RPs, I've left the source and designation of character powers wide open for your own preferences. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please feel free to voice them below or contact me on the RP's Discord.
//Notes: • Other | "When he's a lizard, he has some really nice knockers for a dude. Enough to turn on a 7th grader."
//Paraphernalia: • Flask | Archie carries a flask of something that's somewhere between jet fuel and whiskey on his hip. Not even he seems to like it.
A p p e a r a n c e D e t a i l s
If you looked at Archie, your first impressions would lead you to believe that he was a man down on his luck, and you wouldn’t be too far off from the truth. Underneath the worry lines, permanently frown, and his baggy clothing are broad shoulders and kind eyes. His complexion is good, as he is long past the age where he needs to worry about acne, with no natural blemishes on his person. He does however have many scars and scrapes from his rough and tumble life. Several of which are scrapes and burn scars all over his hands and a couple on his arms and legs, which appear to be nothing more than rough housing mementos.
The structure of his face is mostly angular, with high cheek bones, but his jaw squares off at his chin. Along his chin, jaw, and cheeks he wears thin but somewhat unkempt facial hair. He has thick eyebrows and lashes which frame intense blue eyes. His light brown hair though, is quickly combed with his fingers, most of the time achieving that ‘I got ready in 15 minutes’ look. He naturally walks and talks with such charming demeanor, that his exuberance infects all of his conversations and has a sort of charismatic disposition that just attracts people. It is such a shame that this side of him hasn’t shown in a while. He has a deep, strong, projecting yet somewhat gravely voice that carries a slight southern accent to it.
There isn't any one particular outfit that he leans to - he has many of them. The style may change from relaxed, sometimes classy, sporty, whatever. He generally has a rugged look to his person. Brown leather jackets are his preferred outerwear, but hoodies are not uncommon. He usually avoids shorts. What kind of jeans or pants doesn’t really matter to him, but he tends to shoot for jeans that are baggy around legs but tend to tighten around his waist, providing comfort and a secure fit. His shoes are boots, almost always boots. Though it may change according to the situation - sports often call for sneakers, and a fancy outing requires more refined dress shoes. These he has. As of late Archie has found himself going for clothing that is relaxed and easy to move in due to his newfound affliction.
P e r s o n a l i t y
Outwardly, Archie can be charming, forward, and proud. A peculiar mixture of relaxed and energetic are what makes up his disposition. He's talkative in the right crowd and has very many stories to share regarding his hijinks, adventures, and mishappens he has experienced throughout the extent of his life. He has a large presence and a forceful voice, coupled with charm, people tend to see him as a leader, and further, he isn't stingy. He will pay you back rather handsomely if you do him a favor or if you get on his good side. This being said, he isn't very frequently refused and so his ugly side isn't seen as often one might expect - and while he has had a history with aggression, he isn't actually too prone to being aggressive in his interactions with others. At least not anymore.
See, while he could certainly resort to such measures if he feels them necessary, years of anger management classes have taught him to consider himself above such trite nonsense most of the time, but on that same note, he can also be very petty. He knows he's better than that, he knows he's capable of muscling through obstacles, and that doing so is not the answer. That's just over-compensating and, quite frankly, would do more to present all of a man's insecurities out in the open for all to gawk at.
Archie likes to tell himself that he does what’s right because it’s right and he doesnt need another reason- but he is not some paragon of morality. He is human, and his allegiances often align with those that provide him the greatest benefit for himself, or is of greater influence than, say, a person with little control over the great machine. So, clearly, he can be selfish, and he tries to be better even if he isnt always successful.
Innately, Archie is a very angry and lost individual. He doesn't care what the world wants, he's just out here trying to make his own way and survive. To climb and scratch his way to the top. Perhaps that's better achieved if he hadn't had such a penchant for self destruction. He cares only for himself (with few exceptions) and, if possible, he'd take out his anger on those around him. He has a lot of pent up rage and frustration. Of course his relationship for his family is less than ideal, and this has deeply affected him and his ability to trust people entirely. What real aspirations that remain is to find a light in this hole he dug himself so he can see the way out, get back on good terms with his wife, and earn back the right calling himself a good man. Go into business with his own enterprise instead of being at the whim of another boss. All of these feelings are deep, deep inside him, and it is those hard, bitter emotions that are channeled into his ferocity as his alter ego. But on top of all his buried thoughts and feelings are layers upon layers of a persona he has chosen to portray himself as. A persona that feels everything that he thinks he is supposed to feel, and this persona runs so deep he has difficulty finding the difference between what he wants, and what he thinks he should want.
C h a r a c t e r S y n o p s i s
Archie was born in March of 1984, and has spent most of his life facing issues with anger management. Most of his childhood life isn't too far off from normal, but as he became a teenager he began lashing out with more ferocity and anger. Nothing too atypical for a young man with known anger issues. He attended classes for this, and eventually learned how to manage himself more appropriate.
For the better part of his life, Archie has been a normal person. He went to university, got a degree, made friends, and found someone who he was compatible with. He had a dog, and then a kid. All the the while he didn't have a single major incident. The child came unexpectedly, and when he found himself becoming a father before he was ready or even wanted, things began to change. His marriage was strained, and he began to feel trapped. But he was a good father to his boy. He refused to let his discontentment show around him. One day, while unloading groceries from his groceries from his car with his son, the car's emergency brake failed. His little boy didn't have a chance.
His marriage fell apart after that. Between blaming himself and grief he turned to drinking, and when he drank his anger got the best of him. While he never laid a finger on his wife, the relationship became so toxic that there was no way for the two of them to be together. She left.
These days, Archie has found himself drinking his sorrows away until he's gone, and then waking up in the morning in strange places with torn clothes and no recollection of what happened. Perhaps it is his punishment for what happened and what he did. All he knows is that he is deep in a pit of self inflicted despair with no idea how to dig himself out.
The alleyways and sewers of Santa Celia are plagued with something foreign, something wrong. A foul mixture of man and beast stalks the underworld. The homeless and the beggars have moved for fear the the rumors are true- that it preys upon the sick and the weak like a feral wolf in the night.
They say it stands over nine feet tall, with glowing white eyes. Those that it selects oftentimes aren't found or seen again- but the creature has a penchant for those that do wrong. Thieves, dealers, gangbangers... perhaps the creature serves as some lawfully insidious force of good, as so many are. It is a manifestation of the society's fear and frustration of their exploitation. A righteous, primal rage, and may god have mercy on those who bear witness.
A b i l i t i e s & S k i l l s
//Abilities:
Superhuman Ability | Beast of Burden
Archie is a gigantic hominid reptilian of immense stature and physical strength. Archie is built like a truck, with a robust body and thick muscular limbs. His size and powerful build grants him incredible strength- more than he has any right to have. Enough to damage structures, bend steel, and potentially resist enormous amounts physical punishment. Like most reptiles, his thick and scaly coat of dermal armor his body is covered in makes him incredibly resilient and he has displayed the ability to continue performing and functioning even when an alarmingly large portion of his body has been damaged. The beast also has an impressive ability to regenerate body parts. Losing a limb or taking an otherwise deadly blow likely wouldn't do much more than slow him down for a while. Physiologically, Archie's bestial state has incredible sensory abilities that are characteristic of reptiles such as color night vision, enhanced olfactory abilities in the form of a Jacobson's organ, and heightened hearing.
Limitation(s) | Different levels of injury require different amounts of time to bounce back from. Being hit by a car might result in a few fractures, which would mend within the hour. Being shot in the lung, if the bullet is high enough caliber to penetrate his hide, would put him out of the fight. He might be a juggernaut, but he is not invincible. Archie's regeneration also does not extend into his human form. If he loses and arm somehow in his bestial state, when he transforms back to his human self all healing is suspended. If the wound is still open, this can result in a very dire situation. His healing resumes only when he transforms once again.
This ability to heal so efficiently and quickly pauses Archie's instinctual urge to hold himself back in strength related activities have diminished. Under normal conditions most beings use only 20-30% of their potential muscle usage. Archie is very capable of using 100%- resulting in muscle fiber damage and other issues that would be crippling. Lifting or flipping vehicles, while possible, is taxing on his body. Sometimes too taxing. If the beast is subject to enough physical strain in a short time frame that his ability to heal cannot keep up with it, he is very likely to prematurely return to his human state.
Weakness(es) | At all times that Archie is not a monster, he is a regular human being with no superhuman abilities. He has a very limited ability to activate his powers (and even less ability to end them). This means that Archie will sometimes turn quickly and with no warning. The transformation usually takes a few minutes to fully progress. It is extremely painful, usually putting him into shock after the first dozen seconds or so. Bones break and reform, and he swells in size. Certain portions of his body grow faster than others, making him look like a warped amalgamation before his whole body catches up with itself. The process is fairly fast, but still renders him fairly immobile during the process. His bestial state, while extremely powerful physically, is actually weakened physiologically. The bright lights, loud sounds, and harsh smells of the city make it nigh impossible for for him to perform higher functioning activities. He is capable of thinking and acting normal- and in the few moments he has where he is lucid he becomes a very different beast.
//Skills:
Tough | Archie's a pretty tough cookie and tends to carry a 'tough guy' aura to him. He's gotten hurt, usually doing something to himself on accident, and is no stranger to pain.
Cars | Archie's could probably tear apart and put a car back together within the span of two days on his own. The man knows his vehicles.
S u p p o r t i n g C a s t
Archie's Ex-wife and family may/may not be brought into this. More information will be provided as necessary.
//Paraphernalia: • Vintage Great Coat | When in public, Sarah wears a vintage great coat of Russian make to hide her wings. • Eagle Mask | To hide her face, Sarah has created an elaborate mask colored in shades of brown, gray, and gold that match her wings. • Titanium Talons | In costume, Sarah wears a set of titanium talons on each hand. In conjunction with her superhuman strength, they are capable of punching through even heavy materials.
Appearance Details ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Sarah stands a head taller than most women, with a nimble build, supported by hard-won cords of muscle that are only apparent upon a close examination of her frame. She has curly, dark brown hair that doesn't quite reach to her shoulders, and honey colored skin spotted with faint freckles. The irises of her eyes are cast a shade of pale yellow, and she has the sharp, unwavering gaze of a bird of prey. Most notably Sarah sports a pair of majestic, feathery wings. Dark brown in plumage, her wings are streaked with shades of gray and gold.
She moves with the gracefulness of a predatory creature. Her movements are powerful, efficient, and inhumanely quiet.
The young woman is modest dresser, favoring black jeans, simple-hued t-shirts, canvas sneakers. and plain sweaters. To hide her wings as much as possible, Sarah dons large coats. Her favorite is a vintage great coat of clearly Russian make.
Personality ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Sarah is a dedicated, bordering on obsessive vigilante. She is good-hearted and brave, but never brash. Her natural inclination is to aid those who need help, especially those that she perceives as weak or helpless. Fiercely independent, she can be stubborn, and is slow to change her ways or her opinions about others. While Sarah believes that trying to apprehend a criminal alive is all well and good, she has no trouble admitting that sometimes a more permanent solution is warranted.
Always focused and thoughtful, following the manifestation of her powers, Sarah has come to possess a predatory patience. She has become a a master of stalk-and-ambush tactics, striking when her foes least expect it. Sarah sees herself as a hunter of villainy, and she tends to show little remorse for the opponents she ruthlessly dispatches in the course of her new career as a vigilante.
While still nominally human, Sarah has begun to feel increasingly inhuman. There is a wilderness growing in her heart, a wild fury, that she struggles to contain. She has begun to relish in the hunt, occasionally forgetting that it is humans, though criminals, and not animals that she is hunting. Her wings, inhuman as they are, have made it hard for her to pass for a normal human and have further isolated her.
Likes: Flying, Birds, Nature, Open Places, Meat (the bloodier the better), Tea, Books, Jazz Music Dislikes: Cruelty, Rudeness, Plants (for food), Country Music
Character Synopsis ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Early Life:
Sarah Avery Wong was born in Hartford, Connecticut on December 1st, 1993. Her father, James Wong, was a former amateur boxer turned electrician. Her mother, Alisa Wong, was a high school teacher, with a penchant for knitting. Growing up in a working class family, Sarah had a distinctly unremarkable childhood.
In her adolescence, Wong excelled athletically and academically, eventually earning a scholarship to Boston University, where she pursued a degree in sociology. A promising career with the Boston Police Department followed soon after her graduation.
Graduating with flying colors from the police academy, Sarah quickly established herself as a competent police officer, racking up an impressive arrest count. She seemed poised to make detective at a record age when tragedy struck a year and a half later. Following a bout of fainting episodes and increasing loss of voluntary motor control, Sarah was put on sick leave. Eventually, she was diagnosed with a mysterious, and rapidly progressing genetic disorder.
Meeting HAT: Told by her doctors that the disorder was likely terminal, Sarah resigned from the BPD, and relocated to sunny Santa Celia, California, where she expected to end her days.
Languishing in the her hospital bed, struggling just to breathe, Sarah was approached by representative from Hall Applied Technologies, who were looking for candidates for an experimental and likely risky series of medical treatments. They offered her a chance, a cure, and the potential to become so much more. With no other options, Sarah signed over her life to HAT, and volunteered for the ominously named Project Chimera.
A Fledgling Eagle: For Sarah, Project Chimera began with a bang or rather her own screaming. The scientists at HAT had never promised that the process of curing her would be painless. A warning would have been nice. Or painkillers. All of them.
Months, painful months, of genetic manipulation and biological augmentation followed. At the hands of the HAT scientists, Sarah's very genetic code was altered. She received muscle grafts, bone laces, and even had vital organs replaced. She could feel herself changing. She could feel the strange things that were growing on her back, but she couldn't see them. They had taken away her mirror. The scientists were delighted by her progress, and soon declared her fully cured.
Amidst the handshakes and congratulatory shoulder slaps between the team of scientists, she asked the scientists when she could go home. Soon they cold replied, soon, but first there were some more tests they had to perform.
A Bird of Prey: Sarah remains unsure of how exactly she escaped. Muddled memories are all that she remembers. The blaring sound of alarm klaxons, screaming, not her own for once, and fire, so much fire. She waited, but no one, not even the HAT scientists came after her. Wandering the streets darkened streets of Saint Celia in her hospital gown, Sarah felt lost.
She felt lost until she stumbled upon a robbery, a simple snatch and grab. She knew then what her purpose was. She remembered. She was a predator.
She was a hunter of criminals.
A bird of prey.
Abilities & Skills ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
//Abilities:
Flight | Sarah possess a powerful pair of wings that allow her to fly at great speeds. Although she has yet to try, it is likely that she could carry a person or object roughly her own size and still manage to fly.
Limitation(s) | A typical, unhurried soaring speed for Sarah is around 28-32 mph. When hunting, Sarah often glides very fast, reaching speeds up to 120 mph. When diving after her prey, Sara can reach speeds up to 200 mph.
Super-Acute Vision | Courtesy of HAT, Sarah has received a new set of replacement eyes, vat-grown and specially designed to incorporate structural modifications that enhance vision range and detail. Resembling the eyes of eagle, they allow to spot her pray from miles away. The HAT scientists also stimulated the growth of a clear protective membrane covering her eyes, similar to the nictitating membrane possessed by many animals. This inner eyelid protects her eyes, keeping out sand, girt, smoke, and other irritants. The membranes are light sensitive and become tinted under bright light. Further, they are polarized to reduce glare.
Limitation(s) | Sarah's eyes, though far more powerful than that of a human are still biological eyes, with all the limitations inherent to such organs.
Superhuman Strength and Durability | Sarah possess a superhuman level of strength and durability. Using a biological weaving treatment, special vat-grown muscle cables are braided into existing muscle fibers, enhancing the muscle mass and performance of Sarah's muscles. Further, her muscles have been toned, vat-grown elastic muscle fibers have been incorporated into existing muscle tissue, increasing muscle tension and flexibility. Making Sarah quicker and far more limber than she was before. Superhuman strength without superhuman durability is a quick way to break bones and tear muscles, and Sarah's muscoskeletal structure has been greatly enhanced to prevent injury.
Limitation(s) | Sarah is able to lift objects around one ton in weight. She can take a punch, a very strong punch, but bullets or sharp objects are likely to hurt her.
Weakness(es) | Coming soon.
//Skills:
Trained Police Officer | A trained police officer, Sarah has received training in the use of firearms, hand-to-hand combat, and police procedure. Amateur Ornithologist | Since early childhood, Sarah has been obsessed with birds, and birdwatching remains one of her favorite hobbies. Pugilist | Sarah's father was a lifelong student of the sweet science and an accomplished amateur boxer before an untimely injury ended his career. As a result, he went to great pains to ensure that his daughter could throw a punch, and Sarah still fondly remembers watching old tapes of the greats fighting with her father. Licensed Sail Plane Pilot | Before her powers manifested, Sarah was a dedicated sail plane pilot, and spent many of her weekends at the Albany Aeroplane Club. Languages | In addition to English, Sarah is fluent in Spanish and Mandarin.
Supporting Cast ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
N/A
Hall Applied Technologies is an American multinational biotechnology company based in Seattle, Washington. HAT was founded by noble prize winning geneticists Dr. George R. Hall and Dr. Samantha A. Thompson on April 4, 1995, to commercialize state-of-the-art developments in biotechnology research. Acquiring researchers and patents at an alarming rate, HAT quickly rose to international prominence, and today it remains a leader in the world of biotechnology and genetic engineering.
For the last ten years Hall Applied Technologies has been lead by Yekaterina Vasylievna Toporova, an enigmatic woman, known chiefly for her terse interactions with the media and iron-willed public persona.
Over the years, competitors and a number of former employees have accused HAT of violating ethical and legal guidelines regarding experimentation on human subjects. However as none of these claims have been substantiated, in the public eye, HAT is maintains a positive reputation. Behind closed doors, it is all but an accepted fact that HAT is willing cooperate with criminals, rogue government agencies, and mad scientists alike in order to further their research.
Will try to get my CS up by tomorrow night, Tuesday at the latest.
Wanna do some juggling with my power selection as it seems that right now quite a few of them will be similar to the characters posted above and the GM's character.
_______________________________________________ Natalie Ellis _______________________________________________ April 11th | 26 | White _______________________________________________ Single | ♀ | Bisexual _______________________________________________ High School Education | Fast Food Restaurant Staff _______________________________________________ Physical Profile ___________________________________
//Basics: • Height | 5'-5"
• Weight | 113 lbs
• Build | Skinny
• Hair Colour | Black
• Eye Colour | silver
Appearance Details ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Natalie looks like a woman who's not wearing much makeup but has very nice skin, and this requires quite a lot of makeup. She didn't choose the 'pale with thick eyeliner' look for aesthetic purposes, but to hide the signs of her past that were prevailant on her face. Her fatigue. Her lack of sleep as a result of years of nightmares. The telltale signs of being a former junkie. All things she wants to hide from the world. Her eyes have always been a naturally vivid grey, which aid with her look. Her hair had always been to limp and mousey to maintain well, so when it came time to care about her appearance, she got it cut short, and to a style that fit her new ensemble. She didn't choose anything overtly 'gothic' in her wardrobe as that was not who she was, or what was comfortable to wear. This she wears sweaters, cardigans, vest tops and either jeans or skirts. When it comes to footwear, there are no rules, though if she's wearing a skirt, she will probably wear boots.
Personality ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Natalie is a quiet, frail individual, who shies away from conversations but never comes off as rude or reclusive. She always gives the impression that she wants to talk to you but can't. Though she enjoys her own company in the sancturay of home, and her hobbies, she misses the feeling of allowing herself to be part of a group. Whenever there's a group at work who want to go out, or go to a party, she will join them and follow at a distance. While her friends will pick up boys, Natalie is not not fully over her first boyfriend, and as such is not back on the dating scene just yet.
At heart, Natalie is, and has always been, a kind person, who could never bring herself to hurt an innocent person. She likes to think this is still who she is, but her traumatic experiences, as well as her powers, have changed her. She no longer knows exactly how kind she still is, so fearfully avoids ever being in a situation where she might have to find out. Again. She has been officially diagnosed with PTSD and psychotic episodes but Natalie knows that her problems are bigger than that, and more dangerous that that. Natalie would like nothing more than to be a Hero, but she hasn't out of fear she will become a Villian.
Character Synopsis ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Natalie Ellis was born in a rough area in the outskirts of Santa Celia, to parents with gang connections, and made friends with bad sorts at school. That’s not to say she had no chance to ever lead a wholesome and successful life, but it is unarguable she started life with a bum hand. By the time she was in high school, she was already involved heavily in drug dealing, and drug use. She was kicked out of school at 16 and from then on spent most of her time around her 20 year old boyfriend and his gang.
Things did not necessarily go well, but her life was stable enough to spend the next five years in this status quo, but that was when she first started to notice the emergence of both Heroes, and Villains. Suddenly, the game changed. Heroes wanted to catch you. Villains either wanted to recruit you or kill you. Criminals without powers wanted to change things, but only the rich ones could try. They began to conduct scientific tests and experiments, capturing weaker Superheroes or super-powered criminals, and trying to find out how they were born the way they were and how to replicate it.
Natalie knew nothing of this, at least during its early stages. She just kept on struggling with her boyfriend and his gang. This wasn’t to last. One day, when she was twenty four, a member of their gang sold them all out to a powerful crime boss who needed test subjects. In the struggle to capture then, two of their gang were shot. To this day, Natalie doesn’t know the fate of any of them besides her boyfriend. He was the first the experimental procedure to give somebody powers was tested on. He died screaming. She had to watch.
When it was eventually Natalie’s turn, she tried to fight, but with her skinny frame, was powerless to resist. To this day she doesn’t know what the experiment procedure entailed, as she passed out from fear before it started, and came back to her senses when it was over, several weeks later, which passed by like a single night's bad dream for her. Over the next few days, as they ran test over test on her, the mood was jubilant, and she was deemed a success. 'Project Lion', she heard them call this sick ordeal, though she also heard the names 'Project Goat' and 'Project Snake' tossed around, which were obviously references to other experiments going on in other sites.
As she was being transported between facilities for more testing, Natalie tried to resist and found that she could break free. The discovery of her newfound strength, coupled with the psychological damage from her ideal, were an explosive mixture. The crew in that truck were massacred. The next day, there was a massacre at that lab. The crime boss was found dead in his office several days after that, looking like he'd been hit by multiple wrecking balls. What was born from this incident wasn't a Hero at all.
Nowadays, Natalie is trying to live the quiet life. She works at a fast food restaurant. She keeps her powers under control in public, and the only thing that makes her stand out among her peers is how much of a broken loner she is. They suspect drugs or a rough childhood had something to do with it, and, well, they're not wrong.
Abilities & Skills ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
//Abiliites:
Super Strength | There are two key, complimentary factors that make up Natalie’s power as a whole. One is that she has incredible, superhuman muscle strength. She is able to lift cars above her head with ease, and punch through inches of reinforced steel. The other is related to this, and allows her use her powers without causing injury to herself. She has very strong reinforced bones that can withstand the impact of her own feats of strength. Without this ability, punching a brick wall would likely break her arm. With it, she could jump twenty stories and land with no damage to her legs, or stop a moving car with her bare hands.
Limitation(s) | Natalie can comfortably exert enough force to lift 1.5 tons, and can lift 2 tons at a struggle. Her punching and kicking strength are a reflection of this, though she has never tested them to max as the skin on her hands and feet is not any more durable than regular people's. She can easily punch through a brick wall but it would hurt her hand and bloody her knuckles. Her bones can withstand a force of also two tons, not including the force of her muscles acting in an opposite way to the incoming force. If she were to attempt to catch something weighing four tons or more, her bones would break from the impact. Her stamina is decent and ordinary, as she was and still is a recreational jogger. Nevertheless, she has not trained her body for prolonged periods of intense physical strain, so if she were to fight somebody capable of going toe to toe with her from either strength or skill, and they had trained their body for the strain, she would be at a disadvantage on the stamina front, and would run out of breath before them.
Weakness(es) | Natalie is not just an ordinary human besides her muscles and bones, she's of a more frail build than normal. This makes her perhaps more vulnerable than the average person to bruising, internal damage, and any attack that ignores her bone strength, such as being shot or stabbed. She also has ordinary reflexes, and a complete lack of combat expertise, skill, or talent. If she can't rely on her strength alone to win a fight with a more skilled opponent, she will lose unless she can find a lucky opening.
//Skills:
Painting | Natalie got into painting as it could calm her and keep her occupied and relaxed, or it could allow her to let off steam and unload some baggage, depending on the tone of the piece. He has gotten rather good with practice, and some of her finished paintings have been sold privately for up to $500
Cooking | Living on her own, Natalie has to both feed herself, and find an interest with which to pass the time. It's no surprise that she had developed a passion for cooking delicious meals.
Piano Playing & Singing | Natalie, one day, after watching a televised piano concert, decided to learn the piano, so she used some of her saved-up wages to by a keyboard, and taught herself from scratch. She later bought a mic, and started to upload videos of herself covering ballads. Her channel has become modestly popular.
_______________________________________________ Moses 'Mo' Jackson Muller _______________________________________________ 3rd November 1997 | 21 | Caucasian Hispanic _______________________________________________ Single | ♂ | Asexual _______________________________________________ Santa Celia Art College | Street Artist _______________________________________________ Physical Profile ___________________________________
//Notes: • Right Forearm Tattoo | Intertwined around Mo's left fore-arm is a six-sided hexagram, each side composed out of a different writing tool which consists of a red-colored pencil, a brush dripping in blue paint, a quill in yellow ink, a piece of green chalk, a orange pen and a purple marker.
//Paraphernalia: • Arsenal of Paint | A good artist never is alone without his tools. Despite of his general disorganization, Mo will carry around a rucksack filled with a myriad of painting tools and accessories including dollar-store chalk, Krylon spray paint, stencils, duct-tape, modifiable plungers, caps of different sizes, Krink markers and good ol' paint. He refills it on a weekly basis.
• Sick Beats | When Mo has to tune out the troubles of the urban world, his handy I-Pod is always at the ready, filled with a custom made playlist of 195 songs, both classical and modern.
Appearance Details ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
With a bean-pole figure of 6 foot and 1 inch, one will almost always be immediately repulsed or disgusted by Mo when they first come into contact with him. Mo has the appearance of a skinny leech, reeking to high hell of overnight caffeine fugues of artistic fervor combined with pallid overgrown hairy skin. One evident thing that one will notice about Moses immediately is the fact that he is stained with artistic materials. Graphite dust etched into his skin from hours of sketching. Bits of dried paint underneath his fingernails. A blot of ink underneath his chin.
Mo's face is undecipherable, scrunched eyebrows that are lost in thought and a glazed visage that shifts between the realm of reality and dreams. His mouth and facial expression are constantly irractic and shifting, almost as if he's conversing with someone else in his mind. His dark lidded grey eyes are constantly in a bloodshot state of frustration with baggy under-lids that are threatening to drop off his face at any moment. His face bears a lightly shaven moustache complimented with rows of splotchy acne scars permanently branding his cheeks and nose. His wild bush of dark-brown hair is uncombed and knot with splatters of paint and chalk dust dug into the very roots.
Moses skeletal appearance belies a lithe physicality that is marked with legacies of a misspent youth, with puckered knees, weathered elbows and faded bruises aplenty. He has a slight hunch in his shoulders, bending him slightly forwards even when standing or sitting still. His thin arms dangle precariously off his shoulders, hands always gravitating towards his pockets to reach for a pencil and paper to draw on. Aside from this, Moses has one single ink tattoo on his right forearm.
For casual wear, Mo prefers street-wear such as rain-jackets, bomber jackets and jumpers that always come with a hood alongside a pair of worn out sneakers or sport shoes. When he’s painting the streets, Mo wears a strappable gas mask underneath a red bandanna and scarf to conceal himself along with a set of paint-stained foreman gloves.
Personality ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Mo is a man who's seen it all and more who has become emotionally numbed in response to supernatural phenomena. Whenever something strange or out of the ordinary happens around him, he is often non-plussed and works with the situation as best as he can. Mo can always be expected to be a calm and nonchalant individual who is undoubtedly reserved, usually resorting to succinct or blunt responses during normal day to day conversations with strangers and doesn't engage in bouts of sentimentalism or overt emotional exuberance. On the contrary, he's more interested in doodling rather than conversing, often taking every opportunity during conversation to draw something or someone.
Mo's lack of sociability is often affected by the fact that there are a constant retinue of dead talking Artistonancer's in his head that are incapable of shutting up, often leading to sudden impulsive bouts of frustration and shouting at seemingly no one. He treats his fellow dead Artistonancers with almost no semblance of respect and views them as more of a liability and annoyance rather than a source of help ever since the incident. Needless, Mo has an difficult relationship with the ghosts of former Artistonancer's that haunt him on a daily basis that range from sarcastic barbs to hostile expletive-filled death matches.
In spite of his rather cold demeanor, Mo has the soul of an artist and expresses most of his emotions in his art, using it as an outlet for his repressed emotions and as a method for calming the voices in his head down. The very act of art for Mo is cathartic. He is completely enraptured with enthusiasm when dug deep into his work and will never refuse an offer to do a commission for a stranger, barring extreme circumstances. However, any criticism of his artistic ability is seen to him as a challenge that he has to respond to in kind. Heavens help you if you insult graffiti as an art form in any way possible.
Mo has always had a pathological distrust of authority figures, holding a contemptuous view of them as a massive conglomerate of high-horsed people with ulterior agendas. This usually leads to Moses being more likely to disobey orders from a source of authority or to actively act against them if there is enough evidence to support his suspicion. However, in rare cases, he is willing to interact and cooperate with them on good faith if they give him enough reasons to do so.
In terms of his ethical integrity, Mo is often apprehensive of moral situations and approaches them with trepidation, often going as far to trying to avoid the call to altruism. However, despite his best efforts, Mo will ultimately, in the end, help those in trouble, especially people of lower socio-economic background despite him believing internally that he's doing this for his own self-gain.
However, intrinsically, Mo is a person who desires an ordinary life as a street artist rather than being stuck with the mantle of an Artistonancer after his last experience with the supernatural. He is both afraid and daunted of the nature and legacy of his supernatural abilities, often leading to conflict between him and the retinue of long dead Artistonancers that take refuge in his mind. Being one of the last order leaves a heavy burden on Mo's soul as he knows that with every choice that he makes, Artistonancy either becomes preserved or extinct. Therefore, this leads to a conundrum where Mo is afraid of acknowledging the existence of his powers and actively takes steps to prevent himself from using his abilities as best as he can. Right and wrong, good and bad, all of that doesn't matter to Mo when he's trying to live as a normal guy who tags buildings left and right. Deep inside his mind, Mo knows that his life as an street artist can't last forever as the world becomes more stranger and yet, he continues to fight against his destiny.
Character Synopsis ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Born to a middle-class suburban family in the center of San Francisco, Moses ‘Mo’ Muller lived a sheltered life under the constant eye of his mother and father who were grooming their children to take over the reigns of Muller and Associates, one of the top premier accounting firms within San Francisco. Whilst the rest of the Muller children were willing to fufill the wishes of their father and mother, Moses was the proverbial black sheep of a family, wanting to escape from under the nose of his family. Ever since he was young, Moses was attracted to the arts ever since he first drew a little stick figure of a butterfly he saw in the backyard. His parents first wrote it off as a minor ‘hobby’ and that he would soon see the error of his ways. He didn’t. Much to their horror and Mo’s confusion, Mo continued to become more ambitious and daring in his artistic ventures, signing up for extra-curricular art activities and generally raising a middle finger to his family’s wishes.
It soon became worse when Mo’s family visited an charity art exhibition out of necessity, causing Mo to come back to his home later, claiming that he was hearing voices in his head. Five to be specific. Voices of adult men and adult women, painters, from the Renaissance, from the Cold War, famous artists of yore.
That was the last straw.
One day, without any warning whatsoever, at the age of 13, Mo’s parents made him pack his bags and sent him to his uncle, Gerald Muller, who was an art professor in Arido Art College, informally disowning him and refusing to recognise him as their son. Gerald Muller recognised Mo’s almost innate talents in the visual arts and immediately made him his protege, teaching him the foundation of the arts. Eventually, Gerald took a wager and betted on it after several nights of indecision. He took out one of Mo’s paintings, a black and white striped apple, and asked him jokingly to try and reach into it. Mo managed to do it on his first try. After that incident, Gerald revealed that he was one of the last curators of an ancient art of magic of ‘Artistonancy’ and the history of their family. That Mo was what Aristonancers would call an 'Avant-Garde', a practitioner who would decide the fate of the study by himself and himself alone.
After celebrating with his first shot of whiskey (at an illegal age at that), Gerald had been unknowingly training him to become better in the art of Artistonancy in order for one single goal.
To resurrect his dead wife. Mo's aunt.
The process seemed successful. For a few brief seconds, the professor had his wife back. Before the screaming began and his blood began to splatter on the walls. Instead of making a successful replica of his own dead wife, Mo accidentally gave birth to an horrific abomination made of writhing flesh, splattered oil and twisted shape. A distortion. Mo was knocked out by a blow that left his mind in a tumble of broken memories. The next thing he knew, he was being interrogated by detectives in Saint Celia National Hospital, demanding to know what had happened. Why was half of the campus destroyed in pieces? Was it the work of an terrorist organisation? Was it a gas leak?
They wouldn’t even believe him if he told the real answer. Mo was soon admitted to the hospital and was lost and adrift, with only the voices in the head to guide him and - Fuck that. The voices were responsible for this. Artistonancy was a curse. It had birthed that….thing. That monstrosity. It was dangerous. No, he was dangerous. Soon after his uncle’s funeral, Mo approached the ruins of the campus, ducking underneath a border of security tape, to secure his uncle’s books on Artistonancy. The last remaining books of a once thriving order. Centuries worth of knowledge that he hadn’t even tapped into yet.
He burnt them one by one, not even stopping to take a peek at the pages, and threw them into the ocean, no matter how much the voices told him to stop.
After a few days of argument and dissent, the murals stopped communicating with him. For years in fact.
A few years later, Mo’s still trying to move past the incident by working as a job as a legal street artist in the inner city of Saint Celia. As he realised the increasing levels of crime and violence within the city he loved, he tried to do something good for the city as the muck and scum of crime rose, accepting jobs to paint memorials of dead victims, tags that criticised the local gangs that preyed on the innocent and tried to cast color into a city that was quickly losing it. His paintings made people weep. Cry. Laugh. It gave them hope. For once, he was proving the murals wrong. That he didn’t need to be an Artistonancer to make the world right. As storms darken on the horizon of Rook Bridge, Mo only hopes that he can hold onto his dreams for a little while longer.......
Abilities & Skills ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ //Abiliites:
Artistonancy | Artistonancy is a branch of magic that involves the use of artistic mediums as the main source of an practitioner's power by ‘drawing’ magical objects out of the artistic medium. Artistonancy was once effectively known as a 'poor man’s' magic in the inner circles of the magical community in the 15th century, effectively on the verge of extinction due to the hubris of its practitioners, believing they could overcome its rules. Every practitioner of Aristonancy has either accidentally killed themselves from their creations or gone insane from the accumulation of murals in their head. Ironically, Artistonancy has managed to out-live other magical arts that were once wide-spread throughout the world, although, its survival rests in the hands of one ordinary Californian.
Mo is one of the last remaining Artistonancers on Earth, specialising in using painted mediums as his source of magical power. The type of object drawn out can either have mundane qualities or supernatural qualities that can give boons to the user. The degree to which the object is supernatural depends on the materials used to create the object, the style of art, the aesthetic characteristics and much, much more. Mo has been out of practice since he found out his talents in Artistonancy 6 years ago but he still remembers the bare basics.
Artistonancy mainly involves two concepts: visualization and materialization of the object in question. Visualization requires clearing the mind of any distractions and focusing on the object that the practitioner wants to ‘draw’ out of a medium. Different types of paintings vary the difficulty and extent of visualization that a user must be involved in. A single image or a picture of an object restricts visualization but makes it extremely easier to focus. A more complex painting composed of multiple images gives a measure of freedom and leeway to the user to visualize whatever object that they want. Materialization involves the practitioner touching the visual medium and physically pulling the object out. The difficulty of materialization and the time it takes depends on the size of the object. Larger objects require Artistonancers to request the help of other people in order to fully materialize the object.
Mural Transferal | The soul of an Aristonancer continues to live in their art, even after they have passed away. When an Artistonancer dies, part of their spirit lays trapped and remains in their painting, sustained by the mere belief and awareness of their creations by the world, becoming what is known as a mural. If a Aristonancer's work becomes culturally insignificant over time, the remaining part of their soul will begin to degrade until they are no more. If it's not the case, then, a living Artistonancer can bring them back to life, allowing their conscious to inhabit their mind and voluntarily link them to their soul. Murals are independetly living spirits that are tied to the conscious mind of an Artistonancer. A mural is a source of invaluable information and experience for any Artistonancer and serve a secondary use of shielding their mind from mental or psychic attacks. The more murals that an Artistonancer accumulates, the increasing likelihood that they will begin to exhibit symptoms of sociopathy and psychopathy which will then develop into full-blown insanity. The recommended limit for accumulation of murals is a total of 8 voices.
Limitation(s) | Laws of Artistonancy
Artistonancy is a multi-faceted area of magic that has many nuances and limitations that even most Artistonancer's are not aware of. Due to burning Gerald's last collection of Artistonancy lore and by extension, his relationships with the murals in his head, Mo is currently aware of only 3 laws within Artistonancy that he has learnt thus far. With further communication with the murals in his head and more testing, he may soon grow to be aware of other laws.
Law of Dimensions:Artistonancer’s are unable to draw out objects that are larger than the dimensions of the visual medium itself without severely injuring themselves or causing a rupture. A ‘rupture’ is known as a backlash of magical energy that can rebound upon the caster, causing either severe mutations related to the visual medium or in extreme cases, death. Along with this, Artistonancer’s are restricted to only using their magic on one dimension only and not multiple dimensions. Therefore, Mo can only draw objects out of two-dimensional visual mediums and not three-dimensional visual mediums such as origami, sculptures, pottery or statues.
Law of Belonging:Artistonancer’s are only able to draw objects out of art that they have created by themselves only, finding themselves unable to draw out objects out of art created by other people. Attempting to draw objects out of artistic objects not created by the caster doesn’t have any severe repercussions, merely just a sense of disappointment, unlike the law below.
Law of Life:It is said that past or ancient aristonancers managed to master crafting life out of art itself. However, the practice of vivification, as it is called, has been lost in the annals of history. Attempting to create an sentient being out of an artwork will always almost result in the formation of a distortion. Plants and fungi are the exception to the rule but even attempting to take out any living being that can express intelligent behaviour is going to distort immedietely. Distortions are extremely dangerous sentient beings created by an Aristonancer that are a facsimile of life itself ranging from eldritch abominations to mere shadows of a person. Distortions are insane and can’t be reasoned with, operating on a single minded obsession that may vary from benign to dangerous.
Weaknesses | Whilst Mo’s artistonancy is particularly versatile and grants him several boons, there are several weaknesses that one can capitalise on with enough observation. One of Aristonancy’s main weaknesses is the concept of Iconoclasm, or rather the inherent weakness of a construct that may cause it to degrade over time, depending on the quality and nature of the materials used. As Mo’s constructs are mainly derived from chalk and paint, a combination of water or chemical solvents can dissolve or destroy Moses’s constructs on contact, even constructs that are meant to be defensive in nature. Whilst a mere drop of water won’t carve through Moses constructs, a downpour of rain or a gout of water from a firehose could potentially wash away everything.
Other than this, the main source of a Aristonancer’s power is also their crippling flaw. As long as one prevents Mo’s away from an available supply of paint and chalk, Mo could be easily mistaken for a simple ordinary individual with no outward superhuman characteristics whatsoever. Easy pickings for any one with a bare minimum of professional training.
As the majority of Mo’s Aristonancy relies on touch in order to begin drawing the object out of the visual medium, breaking Mo’s hand or simply crippling them beyond use is a valid tactic that any opponent could use to remove the use of his powers.
//Skills:
Painter | Mo is an accomplished career painter who is adaptable with a myriad of visual mediums and has a knack for combining both realistic detail and surrealist imagery in a fitting blend with one another. His creativity and imagination are boundless whenever he’s holding a brush, a pencil, a marker or a can in his hand. His preferred mediums for painting are chalk, spray paint and pencil, although, he does have experience with other mediums such as oil and water-color in acquiescence of the voices in his head.
Parkour | Mo is mostly adept at the art of parkour, a childhood of rebellion in the inner city being responsible for him picking up the skill in the first place. Whilst not possessing as much finesse or brute endurance compared to other free-runners, Mo’s technical skills have never diminished throughout his age. Mo is able to maneuver through the concrete jungles of Santa Celia with ease, confidently leaping off roof-tops and vaulting over fences without catching his breath. Mo mainly uses his parkour skills to access the perfect canvas for his art or to mainly escape from the menagerie of authorities and gangsters that are on a constant chase after him.
Supporting Cast ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ (TO BE EXPANDED ON LATER)
A little nervous of how this turned out. Will most likely edit this later.
_______________________________________________ Joseph Henry Dark _______________________________________________ 1st February '90 | 28 | Mixed _______________________________________________ Divorced | ♂ | Straight _______________________________________________ College / Police Academy | Homicide Detective _______________________________________________ Physical Profile ___________________________________
The words 'Tall, dark and handsome' might never have been much truer for someone other than Joseph since the times of Achilles. People have asked him more than once if he's the secret child of Brad Pitt. His blond hair was once long enough to almost reach his shoulders but has recently been cut short. Joseph is known for wearing 'casual' clothes, even to his workplace where other people wear a suit or at least a sporty jacket or a collared shirt, Joe will more likely than not show up in a pair of regular fit Jeans and a V-neck T-shirt, appearing a lot less professional than his peers in the local PD, even if his accomplishments on the force speaks quite the contrary.
Joseph's looks have been drastically altered in the past three months. Most noticeable is the metallic golden hue his once hazel eyes have taken, replacing their comforting warmth with a inhuman coldness. He's got a wide and nasty looking scar reaching around his head from his right temple back to back of his skull, separating his hair on both sides, some of his joints have been reinforced with metal. He's got a tattoo on his right hand, a skeletal hand that reaches out onto the knuckles on the fingers. The initials K.S on his left wrist. His ears are pierced, though he does not wear jewelry in them. He has an older scar just about his heart from a bullet wound.
Personality ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Joseph is a man of action, not to say that he's not one for thinking before acting - his thoughts always serve a clear goal. He doesn't spend his time contemplating something before doing it, instead jumping in head first as soon as he's examined the problem and will pull the proverbial trigger as soon as he has the shot. Not a totally irrelevant metaphor to his career and professional life. Joe wanted to become a soldier his entire life ever since he was a kid - he was the guy who while he was good at football and basketball, had good grades and his pick of colleges when he graduated High School, he still relished being on hall monitor duty.
Joseph signed up to join the military as soon as he had graduated and was put through basic training for the army, he immediately distinguished himself as a sharpshooter. He was sent off to the sandbox for two months before returning home without having been put onto any real assignments, and he was put into the reserve forces. Frustrated with the military, he pursued the closest thing and joined the police academy. He spent three years in SWAT as a sharpshooter, but even after getting shot on duty he was back at his job as soon as he was able to get out of the hospital bed.
That's all to say that Joseph Dark is a man who stands by what he believes, and he's more than willing to fight for it, somtimes too much, as this was perhaps the biggest reason for his short marriage with Karen Summers. Joe's made out of a stronger moral fiber than most of the Santa Celia police and has been one to actively work against the corruption that plagues the ranks of the PD. Going as far as to arrest his partner after it was revealed to him that David was on the Mob's take.
Joseph's an individual with many layers, at first glance he's a renegade cop who only cares about getting bad guys - not following the rules, who believes the ends justifies the means. But on the other hand, he's a man who's favorite kind of literature is poetry, his favorite writer's Bob Dylan and his favorite movie's a romantic comedy starring Joseph Gordon Levitt and Seth Rogen. He spends his off time painting, watching cartoons and eating strawberry ice cream whenever he can.
Character Synopsis ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
There is a certain truth to the idea that nobody who comes from a happy home wants to join the military, and it holds true for Joseph, too. His mother was of Ecuadorian descent, his father off Italian from the east-coast. His paternal grandparents had moved to the states after the war, his father Vito, was the youngest of five siblings with quite the age difference between him and his siblings. His father was a jazz musician and his mother, Maria, was a nurse. He was raised catholic, all though he quickly realized once he started coming into adolescent that he didn't actually believe in God, and even less so in the teachings the Father would preach to him and his family.
Him voicing this to his father started to tear a bit of a rift between the two, furthered by his father's absence due to working at many clubs and constantly being 'one gig away from making it big' and whenever Vito was home he was in a bad mood and often drunk. Maria worked many hours at the local hospital. It wasn't till Joseph was 11 or so that his father became physically abusive - it started one saturday night at dinner when Joseph told him that he didn't want to go to church. He didn't "want to waste his time listening to some senile old man babbling on about his imaginary friend". This earned him at first a slap from his father and cursing in Italian. But once his mother stepped in to protect him, his father lost his temple, and Joseph got his face dunked against the kitchen table knocking out his last milk tooth.
The beatings where irregular, but still consistent. Whenever Vito got in a bad mood and Maria wasn't home, Joseph would get hit - and the older he got and the worse paying gigs Vito got, the more severe the beatings got. Joseph had a pretty normal schooling, despite this. He spent a lot of his time away from his family because of his father's abuse and his mother's turning a blind eye to it. Spending most of his time at various extra circulars, such as football, basketball and even theater.
Joseph left home as soon as he graduated high school, signing up to join the military where he was trained to be a sharpshooter. He was deployed for only three months before being sent home. 'The war was over'. So he had to find another war, one on the home front. He attended police academy while studying a two year degree in criminal science. He graduated with good grades and joined the police force as a beat cop, but due to his training he didn't spend more than a few weeks on patrol before he was assigned to special forces, the SWAT.
He spent four years on the SWAT till he was 26 years old, working primarily in the Los Angeles area, being a part of some drug related busts and several sieges on the Santa Celia - Mafia. He got shot by a perp their recon hadn't spotted, a 15 year old with a world war 2-era pistol. The kid never made his way down the stairs from the room the sharpshooter had been shot in before he was full of lead from the other Swat members.
Joseph recovered from his injury rather quickly and had no issues getting back into the field - but he wanted to a change. He didn't want to be the soldier anymore who shot who he was told to shoot. He wanted to be a detective. Said and done, he was transfered into the Santa Celia police department into Homicide Division and would spend the past few years solving murders, focusing his efforts on the Santa Celia Mafia, a choice that lead him to his demise.
Abilities & Skills ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
//Abiliites:
Enchanted Cyborg Of Hell | Joseph is a man with a pact. He's the tether of the Archdemon Mephisto, he's the combination of the darkest of magics and the most experimental of science. His body is technically aided by an army of nanites rebuilding him, making him stronger. He's armed with several cybernetic implants that are supposed to save his life. But his body's the house of two souls. The mortal and the demon. Mephisto manipulated the good doctor into finding Joseph and saving his life was but the most notable of his many tricks. Joseph is now the wielder of an incredibly powerful source of magic, the soul of Mephisto.
Cybernetic Augmentation: Joseph lost his left hand when he was murdered. His severe beating also ruined several of his joints that had to be replaced artificially. Joseph's armed with state of the art, highly experimental and military grade prosthetics. He's got prosthetics in his elbows and knees, as well as ankles and his right wrist, connecting the robotic hand to his arm. He's got reinforced plates in his chest. This, combined with the nanites that are improving his natural healing makes him stronger than he used to be, stronger than any human. His robotic hand is bulletproof and highly resistant to fire, acid and water. His brain has also been 'upgraded' with microchips that allow him the specialized computing power of a supercomputer, improving his real time calculus, essentially improving his reaction speed and hand to eye coordination.
Magic: Joseph is not a sorcerer, he's not a wizard and he's not even an acolyte of the occult. Hell, he barely believes it exist and he's got it living inside of him. But Joseph is the host of one of the most powerful demons in existence and that symbiosis doesn't come without it's perks. Magic requires energy, and Joseph is sitting on a massive powerbank that he just needs to figure out how to use. Mephisto's both a near infinite source of energy, he's also more than willing to teach Joseph how to use the magic he's housing. Of course, no such power comes without a price.
Limitation(s) | Joseph isn't a Superman. He's an Enhanced Individual, he's certainly outperforming a regular human, but even though he could beat any human in a arm-wrestling contest, doesn't mean that he'd be able to beat them in a combat scenario. Tactics and training could certainly give someone the edge over the Demon Cyborg.
Joseph's a righteous man who's fighting with a demon for his eternal soul while struggling with the idea that he's becoming more machine than human.
Weakness(es) | Joseph's been shot in the head and hung on the edge between living and dead and when he came back, he brought a lot of baggage with him. Nobody gets to beat death without earning a few scars. He's angry, confused and scared and hasn't adjusted to his new life at all. Playing Mephisto against Joseph, and the inverse is highly exploitable and their symbiotic relationship is suseptible to outside abuse. That is, if they aren't already squabbling.
//Skills:
Martial Arts | Boxing, Judo and Wrestling are all things he's gotten official training in since he was a teenager. He also trained MMA at the police academy and while he was with the SWAT. He's a formidable fighter and more than capable of holding his own when push comes to shove.
Marksmanship | Joseph is an excellent shot with a firearm, he prefers a high caliber rifle and a scope, but he's accomplished with a handgun or assault rifle, too. His longshot ability has been future enhanced thanks to his cybernetic upgrade.
Ambidextrous | Joseph is technically left handed, but his father made sure he'd know how to use both hands for everything. It's been further enhanced in his combat training and further reinforced thanks to his now much stronger right hand than left.
Acting | Joe's a theater nerd. He played Hamlet in high school and has done a few amateur plays in his adult life. It helps him cool off after a long day and lets him relax.
I threw my CS in the Character Tab as well, going to add supporting cast after I write my first IC post. Might also tweak my bio some as I'm not quite happy with it but I'm probably over thinking it right now.
The character I've been working for the past two days had that same origin!! I mean, everything else is completely different! Even the two souls of my character are merged and become one being as opposed to two separate souls duking it out for control as I've interpreted your character to be.
I knew I should have sent that PM to @Lord Wraith yesterday....
