A Lowly Wretch

When the Sky Broke... [OPEN WORLD SUPERHUMAN ROLEPLAY] [IC NOW OPEN, APPLICATIONS STILL OPEN]

It was a late night indeed. He had been sitting at his desk like usual, casually dressed with his canteen in hand. With his feet kicked up he took a nice long swig of his drink. The neon green fluid graced his tongue with it's delightfully sweet taste plus a sharp note of sourness from the apple flavor. The fizzing fluid went down nicely, a sweet drink not unlike liquid candy. He had always been a particular fan of natural sugar cane soda's. There wasn't a single day he didn't crave the taste of a fine smooth soda.

He heard foot steps not far from his door. A short set of knocks was heard.

"Boss! Urgent news! An airplane just fell from the sky! Fell into The Reaping Grounds I heard."

-
Walter frowned but he resisted the urge to verbally reprimand his servant. He disliked interruptions to his peace but he always enjoyed being kept in the loop.

"Thank you. You may go."

He dismissed the man. Without another word the servant left. Swiveling in his chair he turned to face his window. He could see little past his outer wall save the night sky and little else due to the thick darkness that covered the land. Ever since the power vanished from Britain light pollution had left with it, turning what used to be dim shadows stretching between street lamps into a heavy blanket of obfuscation, preventing all but the most nocturnally inclined from seeing farther than the reach of their own hand without use of torches. He could see why the people of old spoke stories of creatures that dwelt in the night. Little was more dangerous to mankind than those who lurk in the unknown.

-
Two days later...
-

Into the warehouse stepped a strange man. A tall mysterious stranger, one changed by the African rift, walked in and approached the conference table. He was dressed in a servants attire and wore a smooth metal mask which concealed all but his eyes. The dapper servant under an arm what seemed to be a nice clean red rug with gold trim.

Before long the tall dark man stood behind a seat at the table. He moved a seat aside, clearing some space as he laid down the fancy rug where the chair was located. Standing aside from the rug the man stood at the ready, awaiting the moment with statuesque poise.

Upon the rug Walter suddenly sprung into view. He was dressed in a suit so fine it looked like it probably cost the price tag of an entire airplane. In his right hand he clutched a finely shaped wine glass, an unidentified neon red liquid within. He appeared to be sitting leaned back with one leg crossed over the other in what was no doubt a position of much comfort and poise even though no chair could be seen underneath him.

-
"I see you've already got some early birds, hm Ricardo?"

He addressed Mr. Viela with his usual calm yet slightly mischievous smile. It was both a rhetorical question and a greet from Walter, all in one neat package.

"I can see we're still waiting on a few others."

Though clearly visible Walter possessed neither a smell nor a visible pulse. As he looked about the table those who were observant could see his servant's head following Walter's own point of gaze to an utterly perfect degree. In the dark recesses of the masks eye slots a mysteriously glowing silver ring of light could be seen inside each eye as he stood by.

When the Sky Broke... [OPEN WORLD SUPERHUMAN ROLEPLAY] [IC NOW OPEN, APPLICATIONS STILL OPEN]

Shame I'm late to the party.

I will mention, just to clear any possible future misunderstanding, that Walter hasn't even mentioned his plans on constructing an electric generator to anyone. The project has yet to be announced, both officially and unofficially.

In any case I'll be writing up my IC opener now.

When the Sky Broke... [OPEN WORLD SUPERHUMAN ROLEPLAY] [IC NOW OPEN, APPLICATIONS STILL OPEN]

@Puffhead - I have a feeling Walter will have a delightful time in manipulating Ricardo. After all, a stable united rifter society is perfect for business.

As for Mr. Genos, I feel Walter will have the perfect sales pitch for him.

When the Sky Broke... [OPEN WORLD SUPERHUMAN ROLEPLAY] [IC NOW OPEN, APPLICATIONS STILL OPEN]

@Lady Selune - As Puffhead stated it may be true that Walter is a deceptively powerful figure despite having few means of directly harming others. He is however simply playing on a different field. For all his influence and power he's got to deal with people no less influential since the four main territories all pretty much command the majority of rifters, though divided as they might be.

Others might have less available to them than Walter but they also have less competition for what they've got.

When the Sky Broke... [OPEN WORLD SUPERHUMAN ROLEPLAY] [IC NOW OPEN, APPLICATIONS STILL OPEN]

@Irredeemable - I think more than that James would be quite useful for his understanding of engineering. Walter has great use of people with building skills and knowledge for building his properties. One thing he'll definitely be wanting to construct in the near future is an electric generator plant large enough to power the Tradezone. With that and a stable network of power cables he'll be able to start undercutting the Russian's prices on electricity until the whole country's coming to him for power.

When the Sky Broke... [OPEN WORLD SUPERHUMAN ROLEPLAY] [IC NOW OPEN, APPLICATIONS STILL OPEN]

@Puffhead - Your answers were quite illuminating. Given how the Tradezone doesn't have any major parties vying for control of the area I'm thinking, with your permission of course, of having Walter control the majority of the Tradezone with a subtle yet powerful grip as a result of his years of trading & gathering resources.

After all, while the Stormlands might be a strong contender for control over food Walter can provide ample supplies of perfectly clean water and much, much more. The British rifters can't contend him in the fields of both medicine and vices as their rift's powers work with the more basic forces of nature while Walter's power allows him a far more complex manipulation of fluids.

On another note I've been thinking about your mention of Krag's involvement in Walter's business. Seeing as how Walter is keen to see trade go underway in a safe and pleasant environment if you'd like Krag would make an ideal peace officer. The role allows you a great deal of freedom since Krag can roam most of the Tradezone while on duty so long as he's keeping the area safe like he's paid to do. He'll have a stable job and a great excuse for getting involved in other people's plots.

Just a humble suggestion whilst I pass the time dwelling on character matters.

When the Sky Broke... [OPEN WORLD SUPERHUMAN ROLEPLAY] [IC NOW OPEN, APPLICATIONS STILL OPEN]

@Puffhead - Walter can always use good security. Walter's personal bodyguard for when he needs to hit the streets would be a fitting job for Krag, well paying too.

On another note I do have more questions since I've got Walter established.

Questions

1: Is there any official ruler of the rifters as a whole still or are they divided by the heads of their rift territories?

2: Is there a head of the tradezones?

3: Are there laws set between the various factions to ensure peace?

4: Are the various rift territories solely responsible for handling matters of justice amongst their kind?

5: Is there a group to maintain peace for those living in the tradezone?

I ask because if there's no real authority enforcing peace in the tradezone I'm sure Walter would want to establish some peace keepers to protect his workers and properties from the four surrounding rift territories.

Also, I went ahead and selected a couple areas to serve as Walter's properties, warehouses and manufacturing workshops not included.

Walter's Properties

In this the lighter grey circle serves to indicate where Walter lives while the darker grey circle indicates the location of Walter's various shops.

Walter quite purposefully lives near the coast as he has warehouses built along the shores to contain large reservoirs of water which he regularly passes by about four times a day, effortlessly purifying the water before having his workers seal the water in barrels so these barrels can be shipped out to be sold for other supplies.

Walter does make more than just water though. I'm saving the details for the sake of brevity since this is being written in a bit of a hurry. I'm being abducted for a short bit though I will return and try to supply more details in regards to Walter's organization.

When the Sky Broke... [OPEN WORLD SUPERHUMAN ROLEPLAY] [IC NOW OPEN, APPLICATIONS STILL OPEN]

At last! I put forth my Character Sheet, only mildly over my estimated time of completion.

Walter Wilhelm

Character Name: Walter Wilhelm.

Basic Traits


Quote: "What do you think this is? Science?"


Height: 5'0".


Age: 18.

Appearance:

Kind of a standard looking young fellow. He's got medium length brown hair, the back of it reaching down to the base of his neck and the front hanging just a little bit past the eyes, swept aside over the ears so as to not be a nuisance to him. His eyes are a dark brown and he's got a slightly pointed face. While he's not conventionally handsome some might say he's okay to look at. He's not recieved greater praise for his looks than that, at least not from anyone sober.

Otherwise he's kind of a thin white kid. He's kind of lanky and fairly pale too. He usually chooses to wear a plain green shirt and blue jeans, mainly for comfort. On the job he has his finely tailored suits all slick, black and professional. He can almost always be seen with a drink of some sort in his hands.

Ethnicity: American.

Background

History:

His was a fancy life. Born to the casino mogul Donovan Wilhelm he lived a life of travel and riches. From an early age Don took Walter and his wife everywhere he went. Walter himself got to sit in the lap of luxury, to and fro high-end hotels all over the world. He had not a care in the world as everything was handed his way.

It all changed when they were over in Moscow since Don was visiting to attend the opening of his new casino there. The rift opened and from there everything changed.


Rift History:

For the longest while Walter had seen no obvious signs of change. The light was fairly pretty but nothing unfortunate was happening so he had no reason to change his lifestyle. His parents however underwent their discoveries much sooner than he did. In truth he was somewhat disappointed with them having powers instead of him. It was both boring and predictable that they would get all the cool stuff first and he'd see it only after they did.

It happened when he was drinking a bottle of sugar cane soda. As he drank he recalled a flavour he had found interesting some time back. As the thought crossed his mind the flavour of the soda he was drinking suddenly shifted, becoming the flavour he was just dwelling upon. Marvelous! He swiftly discovered he could change the soda into any number of fluids with little more than simply a thought. Upon experimentation he soon learned he could change vast quantities of liquids into other liquids. Upon turning a river into wine his mind glowed with the potential for his new gift.


War History:

War is never a pretty thing. It bothered Walter to no end that these spoil-sports were popping the lid off the big secret, ruining what potential abuses he could of run with if he and his parents weren't forced to go into hiding.

For several long years they hid. Given their resources they had a fairly strong capacity for keeping themselves off the radar. It was not to remain however as they were eventually found through The Order's use of rifters. Given the choice of working for them or being used as lab experiments his family picked the former choice. All but Walter used their powers to aid The Order in their fight against the rifter army. Walter managed to con his way out of participating, convincing them that the only thing he could do is change water into wine. A neat trick but useless for battle.

Before too long the end to the war came and the deal was struck. At that point the Wilhelm family were offered another choice: Go to Britain and remain in isolation or stay and live in The Order under constant monitor. His parents chose to remain in The Order so they could keep a hold of all their money and possessions. Walter however was fed up with being kept prisoner by The Order. He saw staying as no better than remaining a prisoner, deprived of his freedom and forced to live a life forever as a normal person in this oppressive new world. This was an opportunity to pioneer a new future for himself, a future with him at the top.

Not to mention he was bored to tears by the very thought of having to sit and wait, counting the very breaths of his father until they stopped and he could finally collect his fortune. No, waiting simply wouldn't do. The entrepreneurial spirit burned brightly within him and chose to be sent off to Britain, much against the protests of his mother and father. Despite their insistance however he was old enough to make the decision for himself and The Order cared little for what became of one family of rifters in the grand scheme of things.

In the end Walter wound up seperated from his parents, alone in a big washed out mess of a landscape. Through his cleverness and his smarts however he made himself indispensable to the rifters, making useful friends along the way. Come current day and now he's at the top of his own trade & distribution company, a veritable Trade Prince as he's now referred to as.

Alliance: Walter is his own alliance now. Other people ally themselves to him, not the other way around. If he must he can ally his company with other factions but there hasn't been a need... Yet.

Abilities


Rift: Russian Rift.


Abilities:

He can change any fluid that he is in direct line of sight of into any liquid which he had personally seen up close with little else but a thought.
He cannot change liquids he cannot see such as a person's blood so long as it's trapped beneath the skin or the tap water inside a faucet for a couple examples.
He cannot change any other state of matter except liquids. If he were to try and transmute ice into another substance for example it would fail since ice is a solid.
In order to change a liquid into a specific liquid he has to have seen the liquid of choice with his naked eye, not through a picture or a video.
Lastly if he is looking upon a murky or opaque fluid which prevents him from seeing the fluid beneath the surface it doesn't count as obscured. He can change the fluid in it's entirety as if he were looking right through clear water.

Side effects: Nope.

Personality:

He's an opportunist. First thing he thinks whenever he walks into a room is what he can make of what's given. While his level of pragmatism makes him somewhat callous to other peoples feelings it's made him rather resourceful.

He's put a sort of barrier between himself and everyone else. He sees the whole world, humans and rifters alike, as not any more or less than him, just different. He was never in the same circles as most ordinary peers so he's taken that feeling of alienation and made it his signature view on things.

As such he doesn't take other people's problems all too seriously. The whole world could be exploding around him and he wouldn't give half a care as long as none of it effected him in any way. He won't ignore something that might become his problem in the future though.

He calls himself an entrepreneur, his detractors would call him a sociopath. Having spent his life living in luxury only to throw it all down for a chance at something greater he's got a fair amount of determination to make the most of this broken down hovel of a country. If there's one thing Walter cares more for than luxury it's freedom, at least his own that is.

He's never really run into an instance where someone's broken through that emotional shell of his to become anything more than just another acquaintance. We'll see who he is then when we get there.

Mission:

His ultimate aim is the acquisition of power. He looks to control all of Britain by maintaining a strong grip over resources for human needs such as water and food. On top of all that he has aspirations of possibly striking a deal with The Order to establish a safe trading route with them so that all who serve his company can revel in the power and comforts of their technology.


Weaknesses:

- He's physically weak.
- He has no hand-to-hand skills.
- He's unaccustomed to hard effort.
- He is emotionally distant.
- He is rather greedy.
- He finds firearms unwieldy and difficult to use.

Strengths and Talents:

- He's had a fairly robust education.
- He has some experience in selling people on his ideas.
- He's got both training and a naturally good aim with water guns.
- He controls a powerful corporation he founded during the rebuilding of London which he's used to dominate the market in most goods.
- He has a diverse wealth of knowledge regarding liquids, knowledge he's constantly aiming to expand.
- He's great at keeping his cool in tense situations.


Fears:

His greatest fear is the loss of his own freedom. He's gathered up all sorts of power be it economical or sheer manpower so he can protect his own rights. For him a true nightmare would be to end up a slave to some cruel rifter or worse, captured and used as some lab rat by The Order. As a result he's rather distrustful of telepaths since he runs the risk of having his mind warped by their powers, causing him to lose his freedom to some shadowy puppeteer as a result.

I humbly await his evaluation.

When the Sky Broke... [OPEN WORLD SUPERHUMAN ROLEPLAY] [IC NOW OPEN, APPLICATIONS STILL OPEN]

@Naril@Puffhead

As I see it the whole setting strikes me as a sort of Fallout: New Vegas with superpowers kind of setup. Everything's cobbled together from ruin and I suspect as far as the main town is concerned the main rule is largely divided by individuals with man-power and a degree of importance to the reconstruction of the main city.

As it's an open ended rp I suspect the roles of power in ruling the main habitable territories are left up for grabs however if Puffhead has any input on the matter it'd be interesting to hear.

For the meanwhile I'll see to getting my character finished and submitted before continuing to brainstorm up the hierarchy and structure of society.

Edit: @Naril - Funny you should mention that detail regarding the control and distribution of water...

When the Sky Broke... [OPEN WORLD SUPERHUMAN ROLEPLAY] [IC NOW OPEN, APPLICATIONS STILL OPEN]

@Puffhead - A lot of great answers if I do say. With the mention of Rifters rebuilding using their powers I notice something particular about this whole equation.

Groups from certain rifts are more likely to benefit from the rebuilding of Britain than others.

If they form groups and gangs born from such divisions then odds are the power structure is likely going to fall into castes leaving two of the groups in a lower bracket than the other two.

Specifically from what I estimate those who benefit the most from this are as follows in an order of most to least:

British, Russian, African, Brazilian.

I base this estimate largely on the nature of their powers in regards to benefiting their reconstruction of society. As the British have the most power over the basic facets of the land and nature their powers are likely to dominate the supply of food and possibly give them a good foot in the door as far as reconstruction is concerned. Basically all other three rifts will dominate the field of reconstruction as the powers of earth control, gravity manipulation and telekinesis are all likely superior to a large gorilla in clearing debris from a construction site.

As far as the whole division based on rift powers I find it all a little strange. To me it would seem more likely for people like so to divide themselves into factions based on ideologies or the figure of power that they choose to follow.

It ain't my place to say what does and doesn't make sense in this universe though. I'll try and have my character profit off it all regardless of why things are the way they are.

In any case, do sleep well. I know tomorrow will be a busy day for me as well. I'll try to have my character sheet in by then. Until then a fair night's rest to thee.