Ryik

Guardians

Added a biography to Ink and posted him in the characters tab, since he was accepted early. Lemme know if I need to change anything.

Guardians

Ink

Theme

Name: Incurro II "Ink" Lysander

Age: 15

Gender: ♂

Ability: Cryptopsychology - Ink has a tattoo-like marking of an eye on his body. He can make it travel along his skin, albeit it's slow and highly sensitive to touch. The eye is capable of sight, and is capable of seeing abominations not visible to human eyes.

With the exception of abominations that can simply turn invisible, most creatures that can only be seen by his third eye cannot interact with the physical plane, phasing through objects and people, yet for some reason not phasing through the ground, even being able to jump and drop through floors of a building selectively. They are, however, perfectly capable of perceiving the physical plane, and can even try to interact with Ink upon noticing his attention. The resulting ruckus they cause can even attract the attention of other non-physical abominations, though they will generally dismiss it or even start fighting each other if Ink feigns ignorance, and most abominations don't seem to have the attention span to follow him around for long. Normal physical-plane abominations, including those that can go invisible, do not seem to notice any such commotion. It is not impossible that exceptions exist.

By consciously focusing on a particular emotion, Ink is capable of gradually attracting abominations on the other side. They do not seem to be aware they are being attracted, simply wandering to his vicinity and wandering off when he stops. Each of the basic emotions seems to attract different types of abominations. Over time, he has determined that anger is associated with aggressive abominations that tend to have a lot of horns and/or teeth, disgust is associated with insectoid abominations, fear is associated with intelligent and/or humanoid abominations, joy is associated with agile abominations, especially those with avian traits, sadness is associated with abominations resembling aquatic creatures, and surprise is associated with abominations that do not resemble life on Earth, often appearing inorganic. There seem to be more patterns, as he's accidentally attracted abominations with other unifying traits before. (plant-like, amalgamations, partially or completely skeletal, etc.) Their relationship to his emotions are a subject of curiosity and ongoing study to him.

Ink is capable of summoning abominations he can see by mentally designating them and "squeezing" his third eye, which he describes as being similar to trying to shut it tightly without an eyelid. Doing this seems to alert the abomination to his ability, and they will, without fail, immediately come up to him and try to enter his third eye by "melting" into it. The summon cannot be canceled once they make contact with his third eye, though this ability can be used to indirectly communicate its existence, which can get abominations to follow him around for a while. Although his third eye does not visibly change during the summoning, it will begin to "cry" a viscous black liquid, as if through the pores of his skin, which will soon morph into the abomination. Summoning them imparts them with a similar symbol of an eye somewhere on their body, but it does not have any of the weaknesses or functionality that Ink's eye does. Any abomination summoned by his ability will seemingly have an instinctual understanding of his ability, because they become begrudgingly hesitant to harm Ink unless he tries to harm them (in a meaningful way) or send them back himself. Other than that, they have absolutely no allegiance to Ink, but usually won't recognize the possibility that he intends to send them back from the start.

Ink has a number of theories of what his ability is, and what it could be able to do, but no matter what he tries, the creatures he summons never seem to act the way he wants them to.

Weaknesses & Limitations: Besides the aforementioned begrudging unwillingness to harm Ink, summoned abominations have no qualms pushing him around, hurting anyone around him, or even wrenching people out of his grasp. They tend to be violent and hostile, and those that aren't tend to be dangerous in other ways. It takes some luck to direct them towards an actual enemy, and the abominations intelligent enough to bargain with Ink tend to be duplicitous or conniving - assuming he can get past the language barrier to make a deal with them to begin with.

Additionally, damage to Ink's third eye is very painful, and will undo any summoning. Since it's only skin-deep, any superficial damage to the eye (e.g. a shallow cut, a visible bruise) will cause anything created by Ink's ability to melt into a viscous black fluid and inflict serious pain on Ink, sometimes even causing him to lose consciousness. Ink will be unable to move the eye or summon abominations while it is healing, and his vision through it becomes less precise depending on the nature of the wound, until it is healed. Although he recognizes the importance of utilizing this weakness to control his summons, the pain involved can lead him to hesitate or fail to draw blood. Summoned abominations will immediately notice failed attempts, and will generally take their chances trying to knock Ink out, ocassionally trying to kill him outright. Intelligent abominations may do one better and try to kidnap him. Abominations that melt back into black fluid will gradually reform on the other side. Abominations that (permanently) die in the physical plane are unaffected.

Ink is unable to discern between invisible abominations and abominations on another plane through sight alone. Ink cannot summon many creatures in rapid succession, with nothing happening on subsequent attempts. He can summon up to 3 with little time in between, but will take about 3 hours for each summon past that, wounds on his eye permitting.

Special Equipment: Ink, uniquely capable of studying abominations up-close, has been documenting his findings in a book he calls the Atramentomicon. At least, that's what it's labeled on the first page. If anyone asks, he'll just say it's a journal, which is technically true, since he tends to write about the feelings associated with each creature. It's full of drawings and zoological observations, and can help him remember the finer emotional details necessary to attract the same type of abomination. The pages are made of a rather stiff type of paper, which helps when he tries to use it to give himself paper cuts. He also keeps a small but very sharp folding knife on him, just in case.

Personality: Ink is pretty friendly, and for an introvert, he's pretty sociable too. Although he tends to avoid approaching others for no reason, he's the curious type, open to trying new things and attempting to befriend others with similar interests. He's a bit of an nerd and idealist, eager to go on and on about video games or indulge in the hypothetical, but that's not to be confused with naivety, as he is slow to trust others.

Biography: He was named Incurro the second, after his father, and is referred to as Ink or Junior by his family. He was born in the USA, but moved with his family to Italy at a young age. They lived largely by themselves, in a small bunker which clearly did not originally belong to them. Perhaps it was because he asked them while he was young, but he couldn't get his parents to say what happened to the original owners, and at this point it feels like dredging up bad memories. When he asked them why they came to Italy, his father said it's because it's what his mother wanted, while his mother said it's because something in the Adriatic Sea was calling to her. He later asked what was calling to her. She simply said, "the view".

Ink's mother had consumed respite, and like Ink today, she managed to avoid both dying and any extremely negative physiological impact. His mother seemingly gained the ability to not only communicate with abominations, but issue commands to them. It was a terrifying ability that allowed her family a sense of freedom in a world with very little of it to go around. Survival was no issue, and they were able to enjoy a abnormal sense of normalcy. These were her only abilities.

Although Ink never saw it, His father said that it had come at a cost. His mother could hear constant whispers with no discernable source. They weren't spoken in any language she could recognize, but at times they gave her what she described as a feeling of understanding; brief moments of unparalleled, otherworldly clarity, like a divine force was elevating her over the world to see through all of it at once, only to drop her back down into the muck and the stench, to rip these revelations from her mind and leave her reeling with but fleeting memories of having a perspective greater than that of a monkey with anxiety. She began to seek these moments out, to listen to the voices more closely. His father even caught her talking to something in a strange language he's never heard before. He knew what was happening wasn't good, and at some level he knew that she thought the same. Despite this, she never showed any weakness to Ink, never showed any loss of composure or lack of control. She was a great mother, in his opinion.

Ink never saw her last moments. Or, maybe he actually did, and just doesn't remember. It remains a strange hole in his memory that he can't recall no matter how hard he tries. He remembers the morning of that day. He had just woken up, and his father was in a rush to suit up and head to the sea. He said his mother had gone missing, and that he was going to go after her. How he knew she was at the sea, Ink didn't ask. He wanted to come with him, but was told to stay home. They were arguing outside of the bunker when they saw her, in the distance, floating up into the air. They both stopped to watch as she slowly extended her arms in opposite directions and the sea on the horizon parted in response. she raised her arms, reaching up with both hands, and the two sides of the sea formed enormous waves that towered above any of the manmade structures that had been left standing.

Ink remembers there was something more, then. Some sort of presence, rising out from between the waves.

Then, like a dream he never saw the ending of, he woke up on a boat headed towards America, their old home. His father was driving, his mother was gone, and a weird tattoo of an eye appeared on his chest, right over his heart. His father remains extremely cagey about the events of that day. No matter how much yelling, fighting, or crying he does, no matter how much he says things he later regrets, all his father will tell him is that his mother died that day, and that he "stupidly" ate respite in order to do "the impossible", "failing instantly". He didn't even know they had any respite he could have possibly eaten.

The situation made him angrier than he's ever been in his life and he took it out on his father while he was also at his lowest point. He eventually managed to make his father break down and cry during a fight, something he'd never seen before.

They didn't talk much for the rest of the journey after that. They somehow managed to travel all the way to Respite City without running into any abominations. His father told the city guard it was pure luck. Ink's not sure what to believe.

Well, Ink still believes his anger was justified; that he deserves to know the circumstances surrounding his mother's death and his own bonding. The sheer loss of it still weighs down heavily on his shoulders, but he knows his father isn't the one responsible. When he apologized, his father took it in stride, going so far as to say he was right to be angry. His father apologized for defending himself when Ink resorted to violence, which Ink didn't know how to respond to.

Ink was soon scouted to join the guardians. It's not often that a survivor comes to the city after already completing their bonding process, and their quality of life had dropped significantly since moving here. He had already cheated his way through the hardest part, and Captain Alias Grey made very tempting offers on the privileges he could receive as a guardian. Since he wasn't costing Respite City any actual respite, he could quit at any time, unlike other guardians. He came to have some regrets about his choice when it came to his training, but luckily he wasn't forced to train the utilization of his ability, and some aspects of the program were deemed redundant since he already completed his bonding. It might be because Captain Grey bent the rules, but his training time was ultimately cut down to only a year.

His father didn't approve, but his approval wasn't needed here. Even without the incentives, his ability was a subject of morbid curiosity to him. He thought it had just made him schizophrenic for a while, suddenly seeing things that weren't there out of a non-biological eye. It took him quite a while to gain a full grasp on its nature and functions. Although there was some controversies surrounding the nature of his ability, especially when he accidentally let an abomination out within the city walls, Captain Grey unilaterally overruled them, and since no one was hurt, he wasn't held culpable. Captain Grey seems to see his ability as useful, though to what end, Ink isn't sure.

Fun Facts: Wears hoodies in 90+ degree weather. Loves soda. Is currently being stalked by a bipedal cat wearing human clothing, visible only through his ability, who seems to be trying to teach him how to read and write R'lyehian. It's probably just trying to get summoned or something, but he doesn't mind taking R'lyehian lessons in his spare time. Progress is slow since they can only communicate nonverbally.

Cat

Guardians

Ink

Theme

Name: Incurro II "Ink" Lysander

Age: 15

Gender: ♂

Ability: Cryptopsychology - Ink has a tattoo-like marking of an eye on his body. He can make it travel along his skin, albeit it's slow and highly sensitive to touch. The eye is capable of sight, and is capable of seeing abominations not visible to human eyes.

With the exception of abominations that can simply turn invisible, most creatures that can only be seen by his third eye cannot interact with the physical plane, phasing through objects and people, yet for some reason not phasing through the ground, even being able to jump and drop through floors of a building selectively. They are, however, perfectly capable of perceiving the physical plane, and can even try to interact with Ink upon noticing his attention. The resulting ruckus they cause can even attract the attention of other non-physical abominations, though they will generally dismiss it or even start fighting each other if Ink feigns ignorance, and most abominations don't seem to have the attention span to follow him around for long. Normal physical-plane abominations, including those that can go invisible, do not seem to notice any such commotion. It is not impossible that exceptions exist.

By consciously focusing on a particular emotion, Ink is capable of gradually attracting abominations on the other side. They do not seem to be aware they are being attracted, simply wandering to his vicinity and wandering off when he stops. Each of the basic emotions seems to attract different types of abominations. Over time, he has determined that anger is associated with aggressive abominations that tend to have a lot of horns and/or teeth, disgust is associated with insectoid abominations, fear is associated with intelligent and/or humanoid abominations, joy is associated with agile abominations, especially those with avian traits, sadness is associated with abominations resembling aquatic creatures, and surprise is associated with abominations that do not resemble life on Earth, often appearing inorganic. There seem to be more patterns, as he's accidentally attracted abominations with other unifying traits before. (plant-like, amalgamations, partially or completely skeletal, etc.) Their relationship to his emotions are a subject of curiosity and ongoing study to him.

Ink is capable of summoning abominations he can see by mentally designating them and "squeezing" his third eye, which he describes as being similar to trying to shut it tightly without an eyelid. Doing this seems to alert the abomination to his ability, and they will, without fail, immediately come up to him and try to enter his third eye by "melting" into it. The summon cannot be canceled once they make contact with his third eye, though this ability can be used to indirectly communicate its existence, which can get abominations to follow him around for a while. Although his third eye does not visibly change during the summoning, it will begin to "cry" a viscous black liquid, as if through the pores of his skin, which will soon morph into the abomination. Summoning them imparts them with a similar symbol of an eye somewhere on their body, but it does not have any of the weaknesses or functionality that Ink's eye does. Any abomination summoned by his ability will seemingly have an instinctual understanding of his ability, because they become begrudgingly hesitant to harm Ink unless he tries to harm them (in a meaningful way) or send them back himself. Other than that, they have absolutely no allegiance to Ink, but usually won't recognize the possibility that he intends to send them back from the start.

Ink has a number of theories of what his ability is, and what it could be able to do, but no matter what he tries, the creatures he summons never seem to act the way he wants them to.

Weaknesses & Limitations: Besides the aforementioned begrudging unwillingness to harm Ink, summoned abominations have no qualms pushing him around, hurting anyone around him, or even wrenching people out of his grasp. They tend to be violent and hostile, and those that aren't tend to be dangerous in other ways. It takes some luck to direct them towards an actual enemy, and the abominations intelligent enough to bargain with Ink tend to be duplicitous or conniving - assuming he can get past the language barrier to make a deal with them to begin with.

Additionally, damage to Ink's third eye is very painful, and will undo any summoning. Since it's only skin-deep, any superficial damage to the eye (e.g. a shallow cut, a visible bruise) will cause anything created by Ink's ability to melt into a viscous black fluid and inflict serious pain on Ink, sometimes even causing him to lose consciousness. Ink will be unable to move the eye or summon abominations while it is healing, and his vision through it becomes less precise depending on the nature of the wound, until it is healed. Although he recognizes the importance of utilizing this weakness to control his summons, the pain involved can lead him to hesitate or fail to draw blood. Summoned abominations will immediately notice failed attempts, and will generally take their chances trying to knock Ink out, ocassionally trying to kill him outright. Intelligent abominations may do one better and try to kidnap him. Abominations that melt back into black fluid will gradually reform on the other side. Abominations that (permanently) die in the physical plane are unaffected.

Ink is unable to discern between invisible abominations and abominations on another plane through sight alone. Ink cannot summon many creatures in rapid succession, with nothing happening on subsequent attempts. He can summon up to 3 with little time in between, but will take about 3 hours for each summon past that, wounds on his eye permitting.

Special Equipment: Ink, uniquely capable of studying abominations up-close, has been documenting his findings in a book he calls the Atramentomicon. At least, that's what it's labeled on the first page. If anyone asks, he'll just say it's a journal, which is technically true, since he tends to write about the feelings associated with each creature. It's full of drawings and zoological observations, and can help him remember the finer emotional details necessary to attract the same type of abomination. The pages are made of a rather stiff type of paper, which helps when he tries to use it to give himself paper cuts. He also keeps a small but very sharp folding knife on him, just in case.

Personality: Ink is pretty friendly, and for an introvert, he's pretty sociable too. Although he tends to avoid approaching others for no reason, he's the curious type, open to trying new things and attempting to befriend others with similar interests. He's a bit of an nerd and idealist, eager to go on and on about video games or indulge in the hypothetical, but that's not to be confused with naivety, as he is slow to trust others.

Biography: Gonna wait on details about the setting before filling this out.

Fun Facts: Wears hoodies in 90+ degree weather. Loves soda. Is currently being stalked by a bipedal cat wearing human clothing, who is only visible through his ability, and who seems to be trying to teach him how to read and write R'lyehian. It's probably just trying to get summoned or something, but he doesn't mind taking R'lyehian lessons in his spare time. Progress is slow since they can only communicate nonverbally.

Cat

Pokémon Knights

Most of this Gijinkas say cosplayer, and not fantasy armor.

@Crimson Flame

In fairness, it's magic, so form largely equals function, I'd say.

Rift Warriors X - Isekai RP

I got nothin'.

Pokémon Knights

@TheNoCoKid I could always make more characters. A small cast isn't bad in any case. Discord when?

Any lurkers that are struggling to find inspiration and in particular a faceclaim could always look here. As you scroll down, you'll find that there's quite a lot of really well-made art of this.

Guardians

You can count me in. I've been sitting on an unused character for a long time that would be perfect for this.

Rift Warriors X - Isekai RP

I'm interested as well.

Kingdom Hearts: So You Wanna Be A Hero, Kid?

Verik

At this point is was obvious beyond a shadow of a doubt that the queen's request was just an abuse of power. That was, frankly, to be expected, though it's not like knowing this changes anything. Their mission was to pose as mercenaries, which means going along with her request. Bell's question was good to keep the team from doubting themselves, but was ultimately dangerous and unnecessary.

It was a good question though. Forget moral justification, Verik was just curious why someone so rich, powerful, and beautiful would have issues with some girl living in the forest. The most obvious assumption is a lover's quarrel or some variation thereof, but unless the King is in the dungeon, he can't imagine how that came about. She seemingly has it all, implying this is a matter of jealousy rather than envy, but who's approval would she be afraid of losing?

Well, her outfit is a disaster, but if she just let her hair down she'd probably be supermodel material.

Verik walked forward, past Bell, taking the box on the table and tucking it under one arm as he moved closer to the queen, coming to a stop a respectable distance away. "If that is what it means to be a mercenary, then I believe I make for a rather poor one, your majesty." He steps closer, gesturing to the treasures in the room. "Rather than gold or jewels, what catches my eye most here..." He pauses, then points to the queen dramatically. "...is your unbelievable wealth of beauty." He takes another step forward, onto the steps before her throne, kneeling down in front of her with his free arm over his chest. "Although I can't speak for my fellow mercenaries, I, for one, have every intention of finding such a scoundrel and giving them their just desserts. Rather than any gold, I would instead prefer to be repaid in your favor; in nothing more than your smile that could light up the kingdom and drive lesser men mad. Woe be unto they who would drive it away."

Verik reaches forward, for the queen's hand, and, the queen permitting, gently kisses it, as a knight would kiss the hand of their sovereign.

「SEAL PACT」

Having made his attempt, he steps back. "I'll be off! I hope to bring thy grace good news soon." He turns to leave, not waiting for the other keybearers to process his flattery of the queen. "Are the rest of you coming?"

List of Ryik's Old Characters

Theme

Name: Ilix Douglas (Pronounced like "helix")

Setting(s): Modern Fantasy

Gender: ♀

Age: 26

Ability: “Mage body”; Ilix can duplicate her body and control any part of it remotely. She does not need to recreate the entire body and can create floating arms, legs, eyes, and so on, all with the functionality of its original, allowing her to sense things at a distance. She can do so selectively, effectively rendering the duplicate parts immune to pain or (predictable) sensory overload. She can move the various body parts with the same force she can move her own body, in any direction, unbeholden to gravity. The cross sections of her disembodied body parts are replaced with a solid black void, so most attempts (both deliberate and incidental) to chop up body parts into specific shapes often end up looking completely black, though they still have mundane properties and bisection does not negate Ilix’ control of either piece.

Weaknesses/Limitations: In addition to being limited to the parts that make up her body, (she cannot duplicate foods before they are broken down and integrated) she cannot create more than one copy of any unique part. She also must move all parts telekinetically herself, requiring focus to accurately visualize any applied motion. Creation is the same, limiting the speed at which she can create parts. The parts created are strictly not alive, and thus she finds it difficult to maintain a facsimile, having to control its breathing, blinking, and locomotion. While this is doable, she cannot meaningfully recreate speech, at best letting the body double make simple syllables. The duplicate has no functional distance limit, but it cannot be maintained as Ilix sleeps, causing it to disappear. It can also only be constructed within a few meters of her real body, and cannot be manifested through solid walls. (though it can be created on the other side of narrow gaps)

Combat Equipment: The only objects she can duplicate are her clothes for reasons that are either addressed by the setting or not addressed at all. She'll generally not plan to use any weapon, but might bring along a kitchen knife in some situations.

Personality: Ilix is unflappable, showing no concern even in the face of imminent mortal peril. She is calculating, irreverent, and extremely chill. She has a habit of attempting to psychoanalyze people and is surprisingly irresponsible, beholden to hardly any morals and driven mostly by greed. She is willing to go to great lengths to spite those that have wronged her, and is generous with her friends and allies, believing she should pay back twice what she receives.

History: Ilix is by all accounts a punch-clock villain. Supervillains need henchmen and she's basically two for the price of one. She has no problem handling viscera cleanup and no moral qualms about her actions after her depressing teenage years imparted her with powerful weaponized apathy. That being said, she's not a mindless drone, and isn't afraid to quit at inopportune timings when she's clearly not getting paid, or paid enough. She's partly responsible for a number of atrocities and responsible for thwarting certain evil plots as well. After all, her only loyalty is to money, and villains just tend to pay more. Arresting her is generally regarded as more trouble than it's worth, since she has a history of bamboozling cops and wasting their time.