[CHAR] The Return of Magic - An Intro

[NoriWasHere]

Alora Holly:

"Take me on a hike so I know it's real."
~Quote from her Tinder bio



Gender:

Female

Age:

29

Appearance:

Alora stands at a height of five-foot-ten inches tall. While she is not the lithest person, she has a solid muscle foundation that helps project the intimidating aura she has cultivated over the years. They tend to gravitate towards darker-colored clothes that they accessorize with brightly colored and numerous pieces of jewelry. She is typically seen wearing a t-shirt and ripped black jeans. Sometimes she spices up this look with a jean jacket adorned with small pins from the various museums she has visited.

Alora is currently growing her hair back out. She has worn a shaved side and mullet style for the past decade. While she never felt this har was indeed her style, it was aggressive, which was the energy she liked to carry. As a result, her hair has grown out in varying lengths and is often spiked in a messy design.

Personality:
{Independant}{Depressed}{Cold}

Her friends describe Alora with a cold, unapproachable exterior and a soft, almost vulnerable interior. She likes to keep strangers at arm's length. Her style and outward personality are all a means to this end. To her friends and her chosen family, she tends to gravitate towards being the mom figure of the group. Everyone comes to her when they are struggling or need advice. She does wish she had someone who could return the favor as she has had numerous struggles with her mental health and is currently diagnosed and on a few different medications. She spent the last decade battling a dependency on alcohol, and she has been sober for one year. These factors, combined with traumatic moments from her youth, have caused her to develop into the woman she is today.

History:
{College Graduate}{Authentic life}{disowned}{trauma}

Alora's early life was a chaotic time in her life. She had begun to show signs of her mental health struggles, and instead of seeking help, her parents pushed her into more rigid systems of control. Instead of speaking to a therapist, she was not allowed to use electronics after seven, be in bed by eight, and awake by five in the morning to do a litany of chores and work around the house. Both of her parents were alcoholics who sought the answers to their lives at the bottom of many a bottle.

As she grew older, she began to rebel against her parents' control. Arguments became a constant occurrence. Her friend group grew with similar misfits joining the fold. While her teenage years were not overly sour the undiagnosed disorders and the abuse of her family situation did leave lasting damage. Eventually, she moved out, went to college across the country in California, and finally got her degree in biology.

She stayed in California and worked as a park ranger. While she tried to keep the interactions with her family to a minimum, eventually, another argument turned so heated that her father told her never to return and to never talk to him again. She became disowned and had not had contact with her parents for five years. Alora rose above this, as she has always done, and built herself a self-made family that has helped push her to be the best version of herself.

A month ago, things began to change. At first, it was the odd happenstances of Alora's day. She could feel a slight breeze all around her out in the park, yet the sensation was not one her body experienced. It was as if she was feeling the slight breeze across the field, all at once. While strange, she chalked it up as a side effect of her medication. As the days dragged on, her power became more apparent. The plants inside her apartment seemed to thrive and would move when she would pass them by. What's more, she could still feel the same out-of-body sensation she felt in the field with these house plants.

Alora had powers. What does one do when they realize they have mystical powers? They train. Alora explored the boundaries of her abilities through trial and error. While the trials proved to be valuable, the errors nearly killed her. It took a week, and a vision-esque dream, for her to come to terms with the fact that she was not losing her mind.

A week ago, Alora received a package with a postcard inviting her to a cabin in the woods and a letter explaining why she was invited. With hesitations front of mind, and uncertainty about the way forward, Alora headed off towards her new future.

Equipment:

Medication
iPhone
Charging cables
Two weeks' worth of clothes
Snacks

Magic:

Alora's magic allows her to exert control over plant life. Thus far, she can manipulate her green friends to grow at a faster rate, sway on command, and can magically graft one plant onto another. This ability has grown stronger since she was first gifted her powers. At the start, she could only sense the plant life around her. While she can not see through them nor hear, she can get a glimpse of what they feel around them. What scents are in the air, and what grounds have been stepped on. As the weeks turned into a month, Alora noticed that she was becoming in tune with the plant life. She learned how to sway the plants at a whim and command plants to proliferate.

These powers come with downsides, as all do. The more Alora tries to exert her control over plants, the more lost she can become in the networks of green life. There is a near-infinite number of plant life in a forest, from the pedals of grass to the massive mycelium colonies buried deep in the ground and all the pollen in the air. If she spends too long in tune with nature, her mind may as well be lost in it. As well, when she first discovered and started to use her power, she over-exerted herself. Her skin began to harden for a brief moment and appeared like bark. Alora would do well to avoid prolonged use of her powers, as one can not see the forest if one is a tree.

[ColouredCyan]

Gwyndolyn Pudney

Gwyndolyn Pudney

"Say it with me, Gwen-DOE-lin. DOE, like the deer... Yes, and Doughnuts"

Appearance

Gender: Female
Age:24
Height:5'4"
Weight:134lbs
Build:Less sporty than she ought to be
Eyes:Hazel
Hair:Chocolate
Skin Tone:Pale
Tattoos/Scars/Piercings: A handful of scars up her forearms from burns.

Personal Style

You couldn't tell by looking at her huge thick rimless glasses, but Gywn is a total nerd. Her princess long pigtails are loosely braided and twisted into buns. When not suited up, Hilde is almost exclusively found looking like she's been or expectingly to go jogging. Branded Hoodies, yoga pants and chakra aligning sneakers are staples. When suited up Hilde wears her black flashers trench coat, matching "one-size-fits-all" safety mitts that, bless her, could be pulled up to the elbow, a turtleneck sweater, safety boots and "The Hat", a large yellow wide brimmed thing like something out of Final Fantasy.

Personality

Idealistic - Industrious - Stubborn

When she doesn't have her nose buried in a book she's awkwardly shaking down locals for leads and sustinance, wrestling with her hate/hate relationship with universes tendancy towards atrophy and decay (she doesn't like dead/smelly things) and admiring the majesty of God's creation in all its facets (except those mentioned previously). When not on her specialist subjects, Gywn can be shy and introverted. Not one for leadership, but fancies her self as a useful second in command. Not opposed to hardwork, Gwyndolyn is often found not only burning the midnight oil but the candle from both ends.

History

Chemistry Masters student thrust into the world finds herself descending, rather than ascending the career ladder, mainly due to her recent distraction. This bothers her little as her new toy presses her old witchy inclanations, a phase she pretended to grow out of until she left for uni and continues to pretend because living out of Daddy's pockets has its own benefits, even at 24.

Equipment

Lighter
Lighter fuel
Notebook
Rucksack and matching suitcase
Couple of changes of clothes
The get up.
Small fire extinguisher

Magic

Playing with Fire.

Gywndolyn can accelerate burning, making flames glow hotter and brighter, naturally consuming the fuel faster. Doing does take physical exertion, but the brunt of the cost is paid in more fuel. Using her powers is risky as it's still fire and as hard to control and as likely if not more likely to cascade out of control as regular fire. No Burns immunity as of yet, as demonstrated by her forearms.

[Dragonfly 9]

Name:Matthew Pierce
"Right, I think we need to be going now. We have important work to do!"

Gender:Male

Age:20

Appearance:

Matthew is a tall and lanky dude, with soft yet neat brown hair swept out of his face, usually serious brown eyes, pale skin that shows that he’s usually inside reading books all day instead of doing something athletic, and a narrow and slightly pointy nose. He’s not really muscular or athletic, and isn’t “stronger than he looks” physically, either. Instead, his strengths come from his brain and practical nature. So, basically, he’s a nerdy twig. xD

He usually wears clothing that’s subdued in color, making him not stand out so much. His favorite piece of clothing is his long, brown cloth jacket, which he usually wears when it’s cold outside. Otherwise, he usually wears browns, beiges, blacks, and grays, with some other color thrown in if he’s feeling a bit extra that day.

Personality:
{Serious}{Practical}{No nonsense}

Matthew is a serious dude who doesn’t really like goofing around. He’s not much for cracking jokes or telling quippy one liners, and would rather get the work done and move on, whether it be a serious fight against a monster or just studying on his off time.

He often studies about and trains for his magic, and is often very irritated when he finds frequent dead ends whenever he tries to find anything useful for magic in general. He’s also very irritated when Nyx refuses to work with him, which is most of the time. He’s not trying to be a slaver, damnit! He’s only trying to work with her on her terms, and she’s still refusing to help him anyway!

Despite trying to be calm and in control of everything, Matthew is actually an utter mess in terms of his actual emotions. He’s easily annoyed, easily frustrated, easily stressed, and very, very nervous and pessimistic. Despite all this, he buries all his emotions all the way down, and only lets them out when he’s in private. Unfortunately, Nyx is usually with him even when he’s in private, which can lead to some…awkward situations.

Speaking of Nyx, she and Matthew have an…odd relationship, to say the least. They usually argue and bicker, and Nyx often teases Matthew, knowing exactly the way to get under his skin. They are still friends, though, and when the chips are down, Nyx will often do a whole lot of clever maneuvers in order to get him somewhere safe. She never wants to collaborate with him, however, and Matthew can sense that beneath all the teasing and snark, there’s something Nyx isn’t telling him…

History:
{College student}{Trauma}{Emotionally abusive family}{Emotional manipulation}{From joking child to serious adult}

Matt wasn’t always this serious.

Starting when he was a child, Matt used to be known as the jokester of the family, usually telling puns and riddles and just generally not taking things seriously. He was also very emotional and a bit manipulative, crying at the drop of a hat if he didn’t get his way, and also liked wearing colorful/pastel clothing, as well as loving cute things and usually carrying a teddy bear around.

Since he was in a place that was more lenient with gender roles, everyone around him was okay with this, including his mother, who loved him to death.

Then, tragedy struck.

While Matt and his family were traveling to his grandmother’s house, they got into a wreck that killed Matt’s older twin siblings and mother and paralyzed Matt’s father from the waist down. Only Matt came out fully unscathed.

After that, everything changed for little Matt. Along with having to live with survivor’s guilt and the death of half his family, his grandmother soon became the head of the household in order to take care of his father and constantly berated Matt for his jokes and his love of cute things and bright colors, telling him that “real men don’t joke around” and “I will not let my grandson be a feminine pushover!”

Not wanting to disappoint his family and his father agreeing with his grandmother because she was taking care of him, Matt gradually “grew out of” his “more feminine” interests and became more serious, throwing away his teddy bear and starting to bottle up his emotions because his grandmother complained about them, too.

Then, when Matt was fourteen, he had his first supernatural encounter…with a bat spirit who tried taking over his mind.

Thankfully, Matt was stubborn enough to resist the spirit’s multiple attempts in order to make her worn down to make a deal with him instead, with the deal being that the spirit would protect Matt from monsters if he would let her stay in his mind.

Matt, reluctant but frightened at the mention of more monsters, decides to let the spirit stay, and six years later, Matt is in college and gets a weak version of light magic, but the spirit(Nyx) stays in his mind because "the deal hasn't been paid off yet"(in reality, Nyx has formed a bond with Matt, and still wants to protect him, but is too tsundere to admit that.).

Equipment:

Phone
Some books on magic
Charging cable
Couple changes of clothes
A handful of dollars and pennies

Magic:

Let there be LIGHT.

Matthew can partially illuminate a room and also make things, people, or himself give off a faint glow. He can also partially blind people or creatures by literally shooting light into their eyes. As for his weaknesses, his vision dims a bit after using his powers, and he will become blind for a while if he uses them too much. His powers are also fairly weak compared to the others and even Nyx, but he tries to be helpful nonetheless.

[Timemaster]

Ashe Ben’Ghazad

Ashe “Portal” Ben’Ghazad

"Oh’ I’m sorry. It seems that I misplaced your arm in Kansas."

Appearance

Gender: Female
Age:21
Height:6'1"
Weight:64kg
Build:Athletic
Eyes:Green
Hair:Bright Red
Skin Tone:Pale
Tattoos/Scars/Piercings: A tattoo on her back in the shape of a round portal

Personal Style

Ashe doesn’t have a personal style per-se as she wears whatever fits her and whatever she has available. Known for sporting broken clothes or mismatched colours, Ashe isn’t one to care about style. One that always seems to somehow appear in her attire are big hoodies.

Personality

Sarcastic - Flexible - Calculated

Ashe is the type of person who will try to joke about anything. If things are fun, they aren't hard to do and certainly not a bother. That doesn't mean that when she does have to do something, she won't think about it in advance and calculate her moves before acting. Flexibility is an asset in that regard as she can change her plans on the go as best laid plans…

History

Ashe didn't have a good childhood. She was abandoned in an orphanage soon after she was born and never met her real parents. Sent from foster to foster family didn't help either. All she wanted to do was to escape, Ashe was known to run away from foster homes or even the orphanage with every chance she got until eventually she wasn't given one. What she lost in companionship and family she received in education, spending whatever time she had when not running in libraries or the Internet.

Her magic manifested soon after she managed to get a job as a store clerk. One night she was stacking some boxes high up on a shelf and in a moment of clumsiness, she lost her footing on the ladder. She fell fast and hard, only to...realise she was on the floor with no damage whatsoever and that a black portal appeared just below where she fell from and to the ground where she was.

Equipment

• A backpack filled with clothes, toiletries and the sorts
• A lighter
• A flashlight
• A binoculars

Magic

Transporting people and objects with Spatial MagicSpatial magic is also known as transportation magic. Ashe can open portals between two or more places at the same time but with each portal opened, the maximum weight that can enter is reduced. The strain on her concentration increases as well with each opened portal and if she loses concentration the portals might lead to different places than intended or only parts of them. Her current maximum distance between two portals is of 15 metres, anything farther than that leads to the same problem as with multiple opened portals.

[Ashley Levierre]

Morgan Lafleur

"Just... keep... quiet... and let me think..."

Gender:

Male

Age:

23

Appearance:

Height: 5'6"
Weight: 110 lbs

Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Skin Tone: Pale

Build: Skinny
Notable Features: Morgan has a very androgynous appearance.

A quiet anti-social girl - that is everyone's first impression of Morgan, which is not far from the truth. The only problem is that Morgan is not a female, but a male.

On a second look, one would see that Morgan looks very skinny, much more so than an average person. Morgan tends to walk with a very uncertain and irregular rhythm, giving off a very nervous and anxious energy.

Personality:

Contemplative | Nervous | Quiet

Morgan's mind is a constantly ticking clock - always thinking, always wondering, always working. Morgan is always focused on one thought or another. When faced with a problem, Morgan's reaction is always to wrack his brain in order to find a solution to the problem, which he usually does... eventually.

However, Morgan's one strength is also a weakness of his: Morgan does not like taking action unless he has a well-thought-out plan or solution. This usually leads to delayed action. Morgan also has a compulsive need to constantly think of contingency plans for any possible situation or scenario that might occur.

Morgan's greatest bane is frivolous chattering and excessive displays of energy. When faced with someone yammering away with high enthusiasm, Morgan's quiet contemplativeness goes on overdrive, anxiously trying to figure out the best response to deal with the situation. This usually leads to awkward social situations which causes Morgan to consciously avoid such social situations.

History:

Morgan grew up in the city, surrounded by all of the hustle and bustle of everyone's busy lives. However, because of his quiet and contemplative nature, the high energy of the city unnerves Morgan, and he spent his childhood and adolescence (self-)isolated from the community around him. Despite his parents' best efforts to acquaint him with some friends, Morgan did not have any close friends.

Morgan's powers manifested itself about three months ago. Morgan was eating when his mother accidentally cut herself while preparing a plate of fruits. Somehow, Morgan's mother was not hurt in any way. In fact, she did not even realise that she had cut herself with the knife at all. However, Morgan, who was sitting at the dining table suddenly felt a sharp pain on his hand. Morgan looked down, only to see a painful red gash on his left hand.

Since then, incidents like this have only repeated themselves. Whenever someone within his sight hurts themselves, any wounds that they might have gotten would appear on Morgan's body instead. These wounds would vary in severity and pain. Throughout those three months, Morgan would always have cuts and scrapes present on his body.

Morgan himself was frightened by what was happening around him. The pain that he constantly felt from all of the wounds on his body threatened caused his mood to turn for the worst. A close brush with death when a particularly deep cut on his wrist almost caused him to die before he could reach the hospital for medical aid worsened the fear that he felt, and added on a much more irrational fear of dying. Morgan desperately tried to isolate himself from the world, taking weeks of leave from work just to hide in his room.

Just two weeks ago, a mysterious postcard fluttered into Morgan's bedroom. A quick read of the postcard revealed a mention of magic and an invitation to a particular location that promised help and an explanation of the weird phenomena that has been happening to Morgan for the past few months. After a few days of thought, Morgan chose to accept the invitation. He resigned from a job he was close to being fired from, lied to his parents that he had found a job in another state, and left for the address.

Equipment:

MacBook
iPhone
Wireless earphones
Chargers and cables
Portable charger
Umbrella
Clothing

Magic:

Morgan's magic is to heal. However, Morgan's healing is done through taking on the wounds that someone has suffered onto himself. When the healing magic is over, a wound would appear on Morgan's body, at the same location, and with the same severity.

Morgan's body recovers and heals from wounds faster than normal. Small wounds not more than 1mm in depth take an hour or two to recover. Deep wounds around 3cm to 5cm in depth take about two to three days to recover. Broken or fractured bones take about a week to recover. This improved recovery only happens when Morgan is alive - a fatal wound would kill Morgan before his magic can heal up his own body. While Morgan is recovering, he will also feel the full amount of pain that any wound would inflict.

Magic Progression:

Morgan starts off (as of the start of the roleplay) being unable to control his power at will - his power just randomly activates whenever someone around Morgan gets hurt. As Morgan grows, his control over his power will improve, and this will allow him to better control when his power activates. As he grows even stronger, he will be able to activate his power at longer and longer ranges.

As his power develops, Morgan's body will also heal itself and recover faster and faster. The same limitation of being unable to heal and recover from fatal wounds still applies unless there is a way to prevent Morgan from dying as his body heals.

[DELETED08740]

Jay Yu

Jay Yu

"Take your time. We all have our day, some day."

25 | Female | 163cm

Appearance

Image

Don't worry, she can see just fine.

Source: Fanart of AK-12 by @jgTone

Build: Athletic
Eyes: Gray-Blue
Hair: White
Tone: Olive

Personality

Scattered | Casual | Forgetful

In a chronic state of fatigue, Jay tends to be quite aloof in most situations, having trouble focusing and putting much energy behind much of her efforts. She's generally helpful and insightful, but tends to be the last to move and last to finish. Instead, she has a tendency to meander and indulge in curiosities before tackling the task at hand. Some might consider it a strength of hers, being meticulous, cunning and creative in her solutions. Others might consider it laziness and aimless frivolousness. Either way, people have quite the trouble discerning if she's distracted, daydreaming or actually paying attention at any given moment since she seemingly never has her eyes open.

Jay tends to hate formal situations with too many rules and has a distaste for any kind of competitiveness, resorting to disengaging with the situation when conflict heats up. She instead values quiet, solipsistic moments just hanging out at a park or admiring a scene, being surprisingly optimistic in most situations. She tends to have trouble conveying any serious emotions, and instead relies on jokes and avoidance to defuse situations she does not wish to be in.

History

As a young kid, Jay dreamt of becoming a public servant. She was told that her late parents were brave firefighters who gave their lives in the place of hundreds of others when a fire broke out in a factory. Taken in by her aunt, Jay grew up on stories of heroism and self-sacrifice (though tempered with a warning against dangers of fires). She participated in many of the school volunteering fairs; trying out for police schools, ranger cadets and junior firefighting programs, eventually settling on becoming a lifeguard.

Such a dream would be cut short when Jay's class was caught up in a sudden storm while swimming at sea. The sea was so volatile that most of Jay's classmates drowned - Jay only survived by being rescued by a lifeguard. Since that day, Jay was plagued with insomnia, unable to sleep and unable to focus on anything. She was hospitalized several times for her lack of sleep, but constantly refused medication or counselling when offered.

Yet Jay endured, in her own way. Though she had flagging grades in most of her subjects and had dropped any and all interests in her pursuits in public service, she still took on a couple odd jobs and jumped from part-time to part-time, making ends meet even after she moved out of her grandparent's house. She still kept a hobby of photography, and occasionally uploading her small travelogue with nighttime photos.

Jay's first encounter with her magic was when she had collapsed from exhaustion after work. She 'woke up' in a strange, shimmering reflection of the real world, and saw herself being carried unto an ambulance. For a long time, Jay thought she had finally lost her sanity, and even after she began to understand her magic as 'magic', Jay refused to use it unless absolutely necessary. Still, as she had done so with many obstacles before, Jay managed to repress much of her fears as she started to take an uncertain grasp over her abilities.

Equipment

+Phone
+Several changes of clothes
+Flash-light
+Pocketknife
+Neck-pillow

Magic

Jay is able to project a reflection of herself into the astral realm when sleeping or meditating. The astral realm can be understood as a sort of 'psychic reflection' of the physical world, filled with shimmering silver fog and translucent strings and where things normally hidden and suppressed are laid bare. When consciously entering the realm, she can move through physical barriers another impediments to gain access to information, and detect magic sources nearby. Projection tires her in the physical world, however, and over-exertion results in becoming stranded in the astral plane, becoming overtaken by the magical currents and unable to return to her body.

[VarionusNW]

James Isaac Keening

James Isaac Keening

Gender
Male

Age
20

Appearance

James stands at around 6'1" with an average frame, though on the slightly broader end of average, and a general lack of muscle. His head is an unkempt mess of dark hair that is technically dirty blond, but rarely reveals that fact outside of particularly bright conditions. His face is framed by thick rectangular glasses and marked by unfortunately light and patchy stubble. He generally appears to have Germanic and Irish features, though he's descended from a broad mishmash of nationalities.

James' unkempt appearance tends to come off through his choice in clothes as well, often plain colored wrinkled shirts, dark colored hoodies, and jeans. Plain and functional, but lacking in grace, style, or any sort of wrinkle-prevention.

Personality

Analytical | Honest | Sluggish

James would likely describe himself as tired, and little else. He's a classic burnt-out gifted kid. He lacks internal motivation for important tasks, and requires external motivators, usually routine and obligation. James will often engage himself with puzzles, and enjoys trying to figure out problems analytically. He's the sort of person who thinks through his emotions more than he feels them, and can often be slow to build really emotional responses. Unfortunately, when he does build up that emotional inertia, it takes a very long time to de-escalate, making James the extremely spiteful, grudge-holding sort. James can come off as rather antisocial, idiosyncratic, and rude, especially given recent events.

History

How one raises a child as if they're the next Einstein in Cleveland of all places will forever be a mystery to James Isaac Keening.

His parents were the eternally middle class sort, shifting up and down from basic data entry jobs to management position over many years. They always had enough money to live, never enough for all the amenities one could want. It was a family of 4: James, his parents, his sister Annabelle.

The siblings were only separated by two years, but there was a gulf in expectations between them from a young age. Annabelle was rebellious, got held back in kindergarten, and was nearly expelled multiple times during high school. James, however, tested into the school district's gifted program, and did well in school for a long time, his parents pushing him to do better because he's just that smart and should be capable of it. That pushing only got more severe over time, and eventually James gave up.

The shining star child disappeared at the start of high school, replaced with the exhausted, unresponsive young adult that James was always doomed to become. He suddenly had a lot more in common with his older sister who he had fought with all his life. They talked about how awful their parents were often, but there was always the silent belief that the other child of the pair was the cause of their parent's treatment.

James had given up most of what he used to enjoy, now staring into a computer screen for most of the day and disassociating from his living situation. He did gain new interests, however; primarily puzzles and games, and the general joy of learning new things and digging through strange systems and ideas. He still enjoyed learning, but could no longer function in his former structure. James barely passed high school, only picking up in the last year after some guidance councilors and friends encouraged him to create his own routines, resulting in a couple of A grades.

James started going to a community college, as it was all he could get into at first. He did eventually transfer to a larger college, working on a bachelor's in physics. Of course, he still didn't magically do better, and his grades kept slumping intermittently every time there was a mild change in his routine. Luckily, James at least had support, in the form of a small group of friends, and his sister who had followed him in going to college. Life was bearable for a while.

Unfortunately, good things don't last long for a Keening. James had been watching the conversation about supposed magic online for a while, and assumed it was all a hoax. That was, until he unknowingly developed one. He speculates that he might've had it the moment powers started showing up in the world, and he was none the wiser for months.

Then he got too stressed during a test.

The paper turned to ash under his hand, leaving his mouth agape. A second later, he tried to take a deep breath to calm himself and rationalize the situation, and instead it was as if he breathed the pencil in through his hand, that too disappearing into dust. His muscles went rigid, the fear and confusion coursing through him. He excused himself and ran to his dorm.

He spent ten minutes pacing before he noticed a letter that had been slipped under his door. James wasn't exactly thrilled that someone somehow knew about this strange power before he did, but he didn't want to show his face on campus ever again. He brought the situation up to his sister, and it was her idea to get the hell out of Ohio and follow the letter. Within a few days' time James, Anna, and a few of their friends got into Anna's car and started toward Massachusets.

James doesn't discuss the weeks that followed, and why they resulted in him arriving to the address alone on foot, but the bruises, dirt, and frayed clothing give insight that the young man refuses to elaborate on.

Equipment

Nothing but his frayed, dirty clothes, a small leatherbound notebook, and a pocket full of rocks.

Magic

The following is an excerpt from James' notes

It appears that I can turn small objects to dust with little effort. Rocks, paper, marbles and such. All I need to do is touch something, then I get this sensation like I can almost breathe the object through my hand, sucking it in, and then the object disintegrates. The thing needs to fit in my palm, I think. Anything larger takes too much force, like breathing through a straw filled with concrete. Same thing happens with stuff with a lot of parts, most things with little mechanisms or any sort of circuitry. I'm not exactly sure what the use case for this is. I can become the world's most effective paper shredder, I suppose.

[Hellion]

Mae Galanis | “Technomancer”

“Give me a box of wires and circuits any day.
People are more difficult to deal with than machines.”

Name: Mae Galanis
Gender: F
Age: 19

Appearance:

Standing at just under five feet, Mae doesn’t mind the fact that her smaller, petite stature keeps her hidden in plain sight which compliments her introverted nature. And being rather on the androgynous side, typical clothing for her had always been more or less “streetwear”, or at the very least, tshirt, jeans and sneakers. Very rarely did she ever dress up for an event, unless it was absolutely necessary. Thick dark hair usually obscures at least half her face.

Personality:

Introverted | Focused | Caring

A borderline introvert, for the most part, Mae is quite friendly and outgoing to those she knows, and rather suspicious and close-minded to just about everyone else. Her relationship to technology and the like, however, seems to surpass any human connection, as her comfort level is always highest when surrounded by programming language and the warmth of a motherboard.

History:

Mae was an only child, fostered by two loving parents who were firm but not up in her business twenty-four-seven. So, the girl spent a lot of time alone. But, as a tinkerer at heart, it was time well-spent, becoming interested in computers, electronics, and essentially how things went together. But even moreso, how they came apart and what was inside that made them tick. Time online helped to teach her just about anything, especially as she dove headfirst into the world of programming, encryptions, and hacking. Sure, it wasn't all glamorous like the movies depicted, but to a girl who loved to explore, the internet was a sea of untapped playgrounds.

For the most part, Mae was a typical introvert hailing from a bustling city, having only moved a few times in her young life due to her parents' work situation. Their long hours had Mae home by herself most of the time, which was a blessing and a curse, especially for a latchkey kid.

At nineteen years old, magic that slept deep within her psyche since birth began to manifest. Perhaps she was a late bloomer, or this was normal for someone like her, but it triggered without warning. As she sat in her bedroom mindlessly trudging through a first-person shooter, the initial wave of a strange yet familiar telepathic connection came, fusing her senses with that of the gaming console. Digitized voices, binary waves, electronic pulses, cryptic code, and holographic images surfaced as though an imaginary “heads-up display” had appeared before her. Mae had no idea what to do, and was unable to essentially shut it off, as the mental exhaustion became too much, too soon. She cowered in the corner, her mind continuing to reveal more of this unknown world, lights flickered, the television fizzled out, and as the power within her grew, there began an incessant exchange of cryptic information that she couldn't quiet, as though every piece of technology within a small radius was reaching out to her like a beacon.

Eventually the sound of her own cries echoed from the bedroom, and both parents rushed in to see their daughter curled up in a dark corner, shaking her head and confused, while electrical devices in their house -as well as surrounding homes- behaved erratically. They were at a loss, But what could her parents have done? What could anyone have done? Mae did her best to explain the situation to them, however the magnitude of the events were simply too much to comprehend.

It wasn’t until she received an email from a mysterious sender -the “benefactor”-, opening her eyes to a world that she only figured was a myth, told to scare or warn. But, something deep in the back of her mind assumed the timing of the email and the manifestation of these “abilities” were no coincidence…

Equipment:

► Apple Watch
► iPhone 13
► Bluetooth earbuds
► Pocket-sized USB backup charger
► Pack of “IceBreakers” chewing gum

Magic:

Technomancy (shadowjack) - ability to understand and manipulate/hack electronic technology through clever use of telepathic connections and obfuscation. With regard to general electronic devices, it allows the user to tap into the unit and “speak” to it to an extent, so on a simple scale, a microwave could be remotely hijacked.

Those devices, however, that are networked or connected to the internet, can be quite tricky and require a greater level of mental focus in order to “travel” through cyberspace. A user can easily get lost as well, their mind jacked into the framework for so long that it can take hours or days to come back.

[ Note: Her eyes take on an almost emerald iridescence when telepathically interfacing with a machine or traveling through the internet. Focus for her is key, and will have earbuds in and music playing as she works to filter out any ambient interference. ]

Limitations:

Like any telepathic ability, usage can be extremely mentally & physically draining depending on the level of challenge while interfacing with a particular electronic or computer system. There is even a chance that her mind could be locked into a system, while her body remains in a dormant state, which could prove fatal if left unchecked for too long.

[Zapdos]

My Character

Name:

Samuel “Sam” Worthington

“It’s cool, everything will be fine.”

Appearance:

Gender: Male
Age: 18
Height:5'10"
Weight:180 lbs
Build: Athletic
Eyes: Green
Hair: Black
Skin Tone: Pale White
Personal Style:

Sam’s clothes are meant to be practical more than reflective of any given style, typically wearing a white t shirt and gray sweat pants for maximum mobility. The one thing resembling extravagance he wears would be a pair of durable athletic shoes, chosen to work well with his new magic.

Personality:

Focused | Relaxed | Intelligent

The first two traits might seem contradictory at first, but they’re really not. Sam is normally the sort of person who likes to be more laid back, but when faced with something important or interesting to him, he will put all of his efforts towards finding a solution. And relaxed does not mean stupid; Sam is quite capable of thinking his decisions through before acting on them, though that doesn’t mean he always does so.

History:

Sam grew up in an overbearing family who had a strict path set for him. Get good grades, go to a top university, and become a top lawyer or doctor. This left little room for doing anything besides what his parents wanted, which led to him feeling very stifled. So around 6 months after his seventeenth birthday when he discovered he could somehow move the wind?

That was probably the happiest day of his life. And it wasn’t even some grand event; Sam was just trying to fan himself with his hand on a hot day when he was simply far more successfully than he expected.

This power, whatever it was, was something Sam could use on his own terms. He could explore and grow these abilities of his, and that is precisely what Sam decided to do, spending the next six months in a sort of secret “training” period. In the end, the result was that he could use his “wind force” ability in a variety of ways.

Around Sam’s 18th birthday, he was getting ready to go the college his parents had picked for him when he got a mysterious letter. Not from some university impressed with his grades, but from some “Benefactor” who would help improve his abilities. It was a little suspicious that someone could find him this way when he was careful not to reveal his magic, but mostly Sam wanted to see how this person would help and maybe meet people with other powers as well. So instead of driving off to college, he drove to North Reading, sold his car (there was no point in doing this if his parents could just track him down), and walked to 666 Mystic Lane.

Equipment:

-A wallet containing around $100 in cash at any given time
-Cell phone
-Laptop
-As he was meant to go to college, Sam also brought two suitcases with him to the house with standard things like clothes, but they also contain around $15,000 hidden in different secret compartments

Magic:

Sam’s magic is wind manipulation. Right now he is just a novice, so he only has one way to make use of it in any organized way; something he calls wind force. Basically, this creates a blast of wind that can be utilized in a variety of situations. These include, but are not limited to:

-Creating a blast from the palms of his hands to push things away
-Using this ability with his feet for the purposes of high-powered jumps

Of course, Sam has more ambitions with his abilities than this. He can imagine a time in the future when his magic could be used to do more fantastic things like create a blade of wind or even fly, but this is what the education is for, right?

The weakness to all of this is the more of his power he uses, the more “out of breath” he feels. Sam is usually fine after relaxing to restore his energy, but an extreme use of his power could lead to passing out from a lack of air.

[redraider1]

Sally Jenkins

Name: Sally Jenkins

Age: 19

Gender: Female

Appearance: A flamboyant redhead with deep green eyes, Sally goes out of her way to catch every single eye in the room. The world's furthest thing from a tomboy, she tends to wear a lot of pink, high-cut dresses.

Personality: Bold and brash, Sally loves to be the center of attention. That said, she has a softer side as well, and is very interested in magic. She reads a ton of romance novels in her spare time, and is working on writing her first.

History: When your parents own a funeral home, you tend to be surrounded by the mildly creepy. Perhaps, just perhaps, that explains Sally's personality. In any case, she mainly was... average, growing up. Not the best athlete, or the smartest, or the most popular. But three weeks ago, something changed.

While helping her mother prepare for a service, she saw something disturbing. The spirit of the deceased, outlined in blue, like a bad Star Wars knockoff. She didn't tell anyone, but when she got the letter she exhaled. She wasn't crazy- though it might have been better if she was...

Magic- Necromancy. Sally wields the power of death. Right now, she can only see them, but soon she'll be able to talk with them, allow them to possess her, raise corpses as zombies, and maybe even join the ranks of the living dead herself.

[Randomness]

Shadow Patron

Xan Yale

"Sorry about the noise, it’s become a habit to be quirky"

Name: Xan Yale

Gender: Male

Age: 24

Appearance:
A tall man standing at a height of 6’3”. He has an athletic physique. He has pale skin color despite being out doors often. He has long black hair with bangs that often covers his eyes. His eyes are brown. He does not have any tattoos or piercings. His manner of dress is usually monochromatic colors such as black, white, and various shades of gray. He wears long sleeve shirts, and pants regardless of the weather and doesn’t seemed bothered by hot sunny temperatures. However, if he is doing an outdoor activity, he will dress appropriately. Until he approaches and interacts with someone (which is usually how it goes), he may come across as scary looking.

Personality:

Friendly ~ excluded ~ eager

Xan is confident in his skills and puts in the effort when it comes to work and education. He is a quick study and picks up the nuances of whatever skill he is training quite easily. He is friendly most of the time, and likes working with people. Unfortunately, he has a hard time maintaining friendships and acquaintanceship because of his odd quirks and dark sense of humor. He will often say something or do something spontaneously for the fun of it. He doesn’t expect a response, it’s just something he had grown accustomed to doing. He also is not one to shy away from the grotesque, disturbing, and horror. He would look at something tragic and ponder on how it occurred as opposed to why. He’d still feel sympathy for the victims, but his interest would lie in the offender’s thought process and strategy. A lot of times, he will combine these two traits of his and say something mildly concerning. Despite being spoken to by concerned authority, he was found harmless if just a little off putting. He is aware of this habit, and will attempt to suppress it to be cordial, but he enjoys the small bits of fun he gets from doing it. He is of the mindset that he doesn’t need to change, he just needs to find company who would enjoy his peculiar quirks.

History:
Xan grew up in a wealthy household in the state of California. His father was an investment broker, and had earned a lot of money though stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. His step mother worked as a software developer. His birth mother worked as a lead medical professor at a university out of state. As a result from his family’s success, Xan always found himself taken care of. Anything he needed was provided, and if his parents were never around, Xan could talk with the servant that his parents had hired. He grew up attending private schools, participating in several after school activities, and was able learn skills such as horse riding and various sports. He didn’t think himself better for his parents’ success, but he held a certain pride about it. He was not one to hide away his advantages from it.

Xan’s parents divorced when he was thirteen. Even though they claimed they had fallen out of love, he knew that it wasn’t amicable. He heard the fighting when they thought he could on the other side of their fairly large house. This left Xan feeling alone. It didn’t that his father remarried a year later, and his mother moved out of state. In order to cope, he found himself wanting to spend more time in the after school activities, playing sports, or even trying to help engineer a robot that could put a ring on a hook six feet off the ground. He wasn’t oblivious to that either. He could see that outside of mandatory interactions that people were keeping away from him. He always found himself in the corner of the room, or the end of the bench, obscured by shadows of the near wall, where light took the longest to reach.

Having enough of being excluded, Xan started to be more assertive. He discovered that some odd behavior quirks would get a response and so he started with it. He was more open about his interests. He was still aware that people were not really friends, but as acquaintances, he was not as much of an outcast. He was known as the weird kid in the shadows. At the same time, he was known to be friendly, and easy to talk to when you get over how distant he appears initially. He had to be the one to initiate conversations most of the time, but it was enough to make more of a connection with people.

After he graduated, Xan stayed home rather than attend university. Despite having a taste for a variety of activities, and even keeping up with a few, he didn’t have an urge one way or another towards any of them. He thought about it, about what he’d like to do. Of course his father suggested a career like a doctor or lawyer. His step mother offered a position at her tech firm. Xan turned it down. Instead, for the next few years he spent his time at home, going on road trips, or even going out of the country for a few months. He’d still apply to university to make his parents happy, but never had a motivation to go. It wasn’t until one day where things started to click and Xan was more invested in his future.

After a game of tennis with some of the people he managed to maintain a friendship, he said something that Xan never pondered until now. The first was about how hot it was, and the second was about how it always seemed the shade followed Xan. In an effort to prove his friend wrong, more out of playfulness, he pointed to the shade they were standing in and then followed it up to the tree it was coming from. At a glance, it looked like any normal shadow, but Xan could see how much the shade went out of the way to block the sun for him. He could see the glare of the sun while still in the cooler shade of the tree. Normally, the sun would be positioned behind the tree, so this alone was odd. But then he questioned the first comment. Xan couldn’t remember the last time he felt hot. He was always at a comfortable temperature. Playing aside, Xan tested this by stepping out of the shadow into the sun. He could feel the sun’s heat, but he didn’t feel hot. At the same time, the shade he was just sitting in slowly traveled across the ground to be more appropriate. His friend never noticed this change, but Xan was confident of what he saw. He ended the game early and went home.

Xan stood in his backyard courtyard. He walked across the yard, trying to pay attention if any of the shadows would follow him. None of them did. He attempted a couple more times and again, none of them did. Thinking that perhaps he got some kind of heat stroke, maybe a version that tricks the brain into thinking it’s not hot, he sat on a bench in the shade and started scrolling his phone. An hour later, he gave up. He sat back in the breeze. After standing to go back inside, he noticed it. The shadows of the other trees shifted with the sun. At the angle they were, his bench should have been in the sun as well. He found the shade he was sitting in was the only shadow that did not shift with the sun’s position. Having become aware of it, the shadow began to slowly move to its correct position. Something other worldly was definitely happening. He just needed to figure out a way on how to control it, if he could.

Xan started to work with at his step mother’s tech firm. He took some classes at the local college to get the education to at least start some basic work within the company. He did it mainly to appease his parents, but his interest was more towards developing what power he had. He’d practice at the firm whenever no one was looking. It was there he learned that he could also make things colder. Some coworkers complained of a chill when they walked by Xan, complaining the climate control was unbalanced. Not knowing the extent of his ability, he thought he got pretty good at controlling it. However, something nagged at him. He felt like he could do better.

Xan checked his mail and found an odd note. He’d put it off as a joke except he knew of the magic he’d been playing with for less than half a year. How someone else found out was beyond him. He wasn’t being as careful as he could be, but whenever it practiced, he was alone. And whenever he tried to mess with the shadows of another, he at least tried to make sure no one else was around. He picked up the letter again, and then the bank card. Xan wasn’t one to skip out on an activity he thought would be fun. If anything the least he’d get out of it was another road trip. Leaving the firm one day, Xan packed his bags and decided that another cross country road trip was over due.

Equipment:

- Smartphone
- Laptop
- Smartwatch
- Carbon competitive crossbow and accompanying bolts
- Clothes
- Charging cables
- Back up battery pack
- headphones
- wallet with bank cards
- Tennis racket
- Hummer H2
- Spare five gallon gas canister

Magic:

Shadow Ice
Xan has the power to control shadows and build upon absence of light. He can also drastically reduce the temperature of areas he is affecting.

Currently, Xan can maintain a cool body temperature within hot environments. He can bend existing shadows to any new position he wants. Generally, the shadow cannot stretch much father than what was originally projected by the light source casting it. He also cannot change its shape too much. He can alter the shape of his own shadow into vaguely different shapes, and hide himself nigh invisible in a well shaded area. He can also chill an area with a shadow, but cannot really freeze anything, yet.

Using his power is a battle of concentration and aptitude. Shadows bend to his will but will revert if his thoughts wander. If he is engulfing himself or others within a shadow, he can lose his eye sight, ability to move, and become absorbed physically in shadow, lost in a void of concealed light. Also while he can cool himself, he cannot warm himself, so if temperatures remain cold for too long, he risks hypothermia.

Ideally with enough training and practice, he would be able to build a domain of frozen darkness. He would be able to shadow step, standing in one shadow and appearing in another. Lastly, he would be able to interact with the physical world using only its or another’s shadows.

[MagusDream]

The One Cursed to Bear Malevolence

Tristan Kingsley Parter

"To every blessing you wish for someone, another person gets cursed in return. That's how humanity works: for each friend there's an enemy, for each love there's hatred."

Gender: Male
Age: 25
Appearance: Tristan is a short and rather slim young adult, standing no more than 5'4'' (1,63 m) and weighing 138.9 lbs (63 kg). His hair was originally brown and his eyes were green before, but his magical powers changed them to white hair and gray eyes. Another mysterious physical trait is the single horn located on his forehead. Otherwise, there isn't anything too apparent from Tristan's physical appearance to be duly noted.

His sense of style, however, is something to note. He wears a black t-shirt and two extra layers, those being one single black and purple jacket that covers his mouth and has a strange symbol on the neck (which Tristan has absolutely no idea of what it means), and a hooded black blazer to complement even more how much Tristan wishes to hide from the public eyes. He also wears black ripped jeans and military brown boots.

Personality:
Quiet | Blunt | Secretive | Lost

Tristan is someone who doesn't speak too often. It's not that he's shy or anything, he just doesn't enjoy conversation and prefers to just talk about what's necessary instead of going on with idle bantering and nonsensical chatter. In that sense, he's seen much of being a complete loner who doesn't want to create social relationships with others. However, what actually happens is that Tristan often finds himself uncomfortable talking about some scenarios, like relationships, his past life, etc.

If he's needed to talk, however, Tristan doesn't mince words and is rather blunt about everything and anything. He doesn't think twice to speak about his opinions on life and other subjects, neither does he think about how he should express himself or if his expression might hurt someone in the process. If, for example, someone were to ask him about their clothing, and Tristan finds it hideous or disgusting, he will say it, whether the other person likes it or not. This leads to a number of problems with his socialization skills, since he doesn't think before speaking.

Something else that is duly noted about Tristan is that he is very secretive about his life and his reasons. He doesn't like to talk about what he went through, about his powers, and about what exactly made him obtain them in the first place. He also prefers to do things without the need to explain himself all the time, believing that it'd make sense without him giving a long and detailed story of what and why he does the actions he takes.

Because of his past, Tristan is pretty much lost when it comes to thinking about the future. He doesn't remember any of his previous hobbies, and he shows no interest in acquiring one. He's pretty much given up on the idea of having something to like or to look forward in life, yet lives because he has to.

History:

Tristan Kingley Parter is the sole child and heir to a famous corporation called Parter Pharmaceutics, one of the biggest medical manufacturers in the psychological treatment department, currently run by his own father. He used to live in a manor with his father, mother, and the great number of butlers and maids that serve the family. However, nowadays, he lives in a rundown apartment, alone.

Ever since his birth, Tristan was already placed unto the way of the corporative administration, since his own father wanted him to take upon the legacy of the family upheld throughout the years. The problem was that Tristan wasn't fit for being an administrator. He wasn't terrible, but he was once a free-spirited boy who had other dreams, which didn't run in tandem with the path set in stone his father wanted him to follow. Because of that, most of his childhood was basically reading books about administrative techniques and business venturing.

All that effort didn't make much progress, since Tristan wasn't being the "ideal" image of an heir. His father started to be more rigid around his son, employing even more discipline and forcing Tristan to abandon his own hobbies and dreams, with the objective of molding Tristan as the perfect boss to take over a company. Such an approach didn't work at all, and Tristan kept doing worse and worse since the demands his father made were completely forceful and highly difficult for a child to work with.

This was when Tristan was first introduced to cursed energy and when his powers finally started to show. His father was the first "battery" of malevolence that he was exposed to, as he began to feel how much his father despised his lack of progress and how he started to demand more while not giving an ounce of praise or recognition, only criticism.

From that point onwards, Tristan started to feel the negativity of the ambiance around him. The butlers' complaints about how demanding it was to work for the Parters, the maids' selfish desires to take upon the place of his own mother... even the curses coming from strangers who wished for others to be unlucky or have bad things happen to them. And so, he started to absorb this malevolent energy upon himself, leading to the true birth of his magical ability: Curse Amalgam.

When his ability began to show its fangs, a series of unfortunate events happened all around the Parters: expensive objects started to break out of nowhere, butlers and maids grew weaker on random occasions, and numerous deals started to be broken between the company and its partners, with the list going on and on. The situation started to become worse for the family since their success started to finally decline, and their prestigious legacy was crumbling apart. All of them were affected by this strange wave of bad luck and pessimism.

All but Tristan.

When he completed 18 years old, Parter Pharmaceutics was teetering the thin line to bankruptcy. Everything started to fall apart, and eventually, it caught up to the residents as well. Tristan's father started to lose his own mind, worried about how his beloved family legacy was in shambles, and his mother grew ill, physically and mentally.

Then something finally appeared on his head: a singular black horn on his forehead. Tristan didn't know what exactly was it, and he tried to remove it, only causing him a splitting headache. When his father saw it, he immediately deemed Tristan a "demon", that he was sucking all of the Parter family's light, and was the cause for everything to fall apart. Tristan wasn't able to mutter a single word, when he was expelled and cut out of the family for good.

Years later, with a makeshift living of his own, Tristan now lives in a rundown apartment that, for all luck, his mother decided to give him so that her son won't live on the streets. That's when Tristan received a strange invitation directly addressed to him...

Equipment:

• Clothing enough for two weeks straight;
• A Samsung phone and its charger;
• A worn-out teddy bear Tristan has since his childhood;

Magic: Curse Amalgam

Tristan's magic power, Curse Amalgam, is the gathering and manipulation of cursed energy emitted from the thoughts and hearts of others. With it, Tristan basically works as a "curse magnet", drawing whatever malevolent energy people exude throughout their words, feelings, thoughts, visions, etc. This is something that cannot be stopped, so he's constantly "devouring" this negative energy from everyone. An example of consumed energy that Tristan constantly devours is someone's bad luck.

However, just as Tristan cannot control whether or not he can devour the cursed energy, he can't control where this energy will be emitted either. He's constantly dispersing this negativity towards something or someone, so if any harmful event happens to a person or an object, it's most likely due to the fact that Tristan's emitting this energy so that he can consume more energy coming his way.

He's also unable to be affected by any sort of blessing of buff caused by magic. Because he's an amalgamation of curses, concepts such as "luck" or "probability" are completely inexistent: everything that happens in Tristan's life is a result of a dispersed curse that just so happened to affect something or someone in his way.

Despite all of this, Tristan's powers can be resisted or outright blocked by certain types of magic. If a person's magic power is constantly dealing with probability or benevolence, the curses are outmatched by that person's aura and they cannot affect in the same potency they do with other people, or at all depending on the magic. Examples of this application refer to manipulators of luck or light element manipulators since this curse energy is predominately dark. This can also be applied to people whose magic involves the augmentation and buffing of physical and mental prowess, as those powers will immediately clash and cancel each other.

There is also the fact that this cursed magic tends to avoid other dark elemental-related magic users. This is because those curses might convert themselves into extra energy because of the elemental affinity, and the curses themselves don't exactly wish to help, but rather to obstruct.

Combat:

When it comes to using Curse Amalgam in combat, Tristan's main ability is to manipulate the energy to generate cursed attacks and weapons. His most used ability is to generate a bow and arrows made of this cursed energy, but he can do much more with it, once he starts gathering experience on how to use this ability in fights.

But there's a catch: Tristan cannot deal physical damage whatsoever. All of his attacks are meant to diminish his opponent's physical and mental prowess since his powers are literally immaterial energy compared to something like fire or ice. In that sense, it's not a stretch to say that his main role is as a debuffer, whose sole purpose is to weaken his enemies for someone else to finish.

But just like his powers act up in real-life scenarios, combat is no different. The cursed energy may be good for making enemies weaker, but that doesn't mean that his allies are safe. Unless they are immune or resistant to this energy like noted above, the curses will interfere into Tristan's allies combat prowess and he won't be able to control it.