(18+) The Longest War: Shards of Power

[Gateman]

[warning=red]Since people aren't reading my rules, I will put it here. NO MINORS. [/warning]

Found at Picturemic.com​
​

The war between heaven and hell has been going on for longer than anyone can remember, longer than written history can recall. Locked in a stalemate, both sides will do anything they can to turn the tides in their favor, up to and including using humans in their fights. However, both sides harbor a dark secret...

God has left. The angels no longer have a leader. Their forces are fracturing as their ranks fight over whether they should follow the Archangels' commands, and continue their creator's war, or try and reach an accord before there are no more angels left.

Lucifer has been killed. His highest command, his son among them, destroyed him to avoid his proposing a ceasefire. The demonic horde is growing in power every day, and they threaten to overrun the angels any day now. Why would they give that up now, when they're so close to victory? What no one predicted though, is what would happen when such a powerful demon was destroyed....

Lucifer's soul was shattered into 108 pieces, each shard holding a fraction of his demonic power. The shards have recently begun appearing across the world, with unknowing humans finding them and awakening hidden powers within themselves. Without realizing it, they've become pawns in the longest war. Now, it's up to "The Awakened," as they've come to be known, to become the force that turns the tide and puts an end to this insanity. Of course, it wouldn't be interesting without something fighting against our intrepid, wannabe heroes, and believe me, there's plenty working against them.

​

First, there's the angels themselves. They are drawn to the source of the demonic energy, and though they don't know why the person is emitting it, they know it is something that should not be. Angels will attack on sight, sometimes en mass, to destroy The Awakened. What's worse than an angel trying to kill you, you may ask? A fallen angel. When an angel comes in contact with one of Lucifer's shards, they become corrupted by the energy inside. After all, how could an angel hope to compare against the king of demons? Fallen angels have their powers enhanced by the shard, making them one of your greatest threats. What's worse, once corrupted, they are driven to gain more shards, meaning you won't be able to avoid them forever. If you see one, don't fight it, just run.

Next, we have demons. The demon horde's high command knows that Lucifer's shards are out there. They also know that there's the chance that he can be revived if all 108 shards are brought together. As such, they have decreed that The Awakened are their top priority, and the horde is tasked with killing any that they find on sight. Much like The Awakened, their powers vary in manifestation and strength. Not as big a threat individually as the angels are, but they have a tendency to use swarm tactics to win in their assault.

Finally, you have the other awakened. See, as mentioned before, the shards are addictive. The power they grant, and the resulting corruption, makes the one possessing a shard always want more. The shards want to become one again, and will use you to do it. The way the corruption manifests is different for each person, but it's always the same in the end; you want more.

​

1. NO MINORS. Nothing against you, but I don't like RPing with minors for the same reason I don't like post length limits.
2. The GM's word is law. The GM is understanding though, so as long as you're not an asshat, you're fine.
3. Proper grammar is key. I don't expect your post to be the next "Great Expectations," but a high school level understanding of grammar is needed.
4. Regarding post length: I don't normally set post length limits, because I think they stifle creativity. That being said, no one liners are accepted. Quality is always better than quantity, but at least a paragraph is preferred.
5. If you post in the IC, please let at least 2 people post before posting again. This way, people don't feel like they're falling behind every day.
6. No Godmodding. If you're gonna start a fight with characters, don't make it one sided. Either give them a chance to respond, or collab a scene together.
7. IC Drama should not become OOC drama. IF you have a problem with another player, come to me privately and we can work it out.
8. This isn't a libertine RP. If it happens, for whatever reason, keep sex scenes tasteful and in spoilers.
9. On the Subject of Shards: All shards will affect you an make you more powerful, but not all of them are going to unlock a new ability in you. Some will merely increase the ones you already have. For instance, one shard gives you the ability to make fire. Another gives you the ability to ignore the laws of physics, letting you control it better.

​

Appearance: (Anime preferred, but real is accepted. Please remember to source your picture with an artist name, or a link if you can't find the artist.)

Name:
Age:
Gender:
Personality: (Paragraph /five sentences, or 5 bullet points expanded upon. minimum)
History/Bio: (how did you become awakened? What did you do before you were one? What motivates you?)
Motivation (what makes you seek out the shards?

Skills: (Physical skills, including those enhanced by shards go here.)
Talents: (Non Physical skills, like critical thinking skills, go here.)
Non-Critical Skills and Talents: (Cooking, Fishing, carpentry, Diplomatic knowledge of kings and queens. etc. go here.)

Number of Shards: (Maximum of 5)
Abilities: (Supernatural abilities go here, Can your guy shoot fire? can they summon weapons from thin air? maximum of three.)
Corruption: (How are the shards negatively impacting you? Corruption should be equal to ability level, to keep things fair. After all, your power doesn't come freely...)

Likes:
Dislikes:
Pet Hate:

Theme Song:

Anything Else You want to include + Additional Images:

​

1. Jotham Kanji
   1. Male
   2. Living
   3. Main Power - spirit knives
   4. Secondary Power - Teleportation
2. Johnathan Algitson
   1. Male
   2. Living
   3. Main Power - Blood Manipulation (Weaponry)
   4. Secondary Power - Hellfire Weaponry (sword and board)
3. Griffin Green
   1. Male
   2. Living
   3. Main Power - Shadow Manipulation (potpourri)
   4. Secondary Power - Kinetic Energy Absorption
4. Edgar Carter
   1. Male
   2. Living
   3. Main Power - Shadow Clone
   4. Secondary Power - Temperature Manipulation
5. Raelin Jordy
   1. Female
   2. Living
   3. Main Power - Matter Consumption (can eat anything)
   4. Secondary Power - Mitosis (can split into weaker clones)

​

Number	Effect	Explanation
1	Critical Failure	Your corruption increases, weakening you. You do not gain a new power.
2-5	Power Increase	One of your existing powers is enhanced, either increasing the overall strength, removing weaknesses, or adding new options to use it.
6-10	Skill Get!	You absorb one of the skills of the previous wielder of the shard. (story and gameplay segregation will be handled as needed)
11-15	Power Copy	You gain one of the slain opponent's powers, and its prerequisite weaknesses.
15-19	Power Play	You get a new power, along with an increase to corruption.
20	Critical Hit!	You gain a new power, and a previously gained power is enhanced.

 

[Gateman]

@Red Rabbit
@Ythania
@conman2163
@Shayla
@KatherinWinter
@Lady With Class
@Justin⚫In⚫Wonderland

You guys interested, or know anyone who might be?

 

[conman2163]

I am, however it will be a bit before I can make a character sheet.

 

[Ythania]

Looks interesting.

EDIT: However, I'd like to propose that the shards are very strictly moderated. That each shard power is a significant jump up from the previous amount but the drawbacks have to also be significantly worse, and physically limiting the character from constantly using the extent of their abilities whenever they get into a fight.

For example; someone with only 1 shard is able to conjure fireballs, but only a certain amount until it starts to hurt their fingers. Meanwhile, someone with 5 shards can cause things to spontaneously combust, bust in doing so their hands burst into flames; so they have to keep putting them out and suffer some nasty burns. Maybe they get an accelerated healing rate on their hands to stop overuse of power from charring them and rendering them utterly useless, but nonetheless VERY painful and discouraging.

It's a problem that registered itself in the Aldertree institute; people were making incredibly strong curses with very minor drawbacks, basically granting themselves superpowers. Meanwhile, we're talking about a piece of Satan's right-hand man welded onto your soul; the psychotic sadomasochist would certainly have powers that hurt him and everything else in a very bad way, else he wouldn't have been locked up in Hell for so long. There are more than enough superhero RPs out there, and I'd really like to see one where the protagonists really have to think about when and where to use their powers instead of juggling cars because someone dared them. Especially if the forces of Heaven are hunting them down like rabid bloodhounds.

 

[Shayla]

Count me in , I would love to do this one of your's!

 

[conman2163]

I have to agree with Ythania here, it does seem far too easy in many rp's to simply just use powers without consequences, because seriously, you don't just gain something so significant that it draws angels and demons and fallen angels in to kill you and not have it be powerful, but at the same time you don't get that kind of power and not suffer for using it.

 

[Red Rabbit]

However, I'd like to propose that the shards are very strictly moderated.

Shards should be moderated, but I think that the GM will be fair and logical with that upon reading each CS.
That being said, I'm all in!

 

[Gateman]

Looks interesting.

EDIT: However, I'd like to propose that the shards are very strictly moderated. That each shard power is a significant jump up from the previous amount but the drawbacks have to also be significantly worse, and physically limiting the character from constantly using the extent of their abilities whenever they get into a fight.

For example; someone with only 1 shard is able to conjure fireballs, but only a certain amount until it starts to hurt their fingers. Meanwhile, someone with 5 shards can cause things to spontaneously combust, bust in doing so their hands burst into flames; so they have to keep putting them out and suffer some nasty burns. Maybe they get an accelerated healing rate on their hands to stop overuse of power from charring them and rendering them utterly useless, but nonetheless VERY painful and discouraging.

It's a problem that registered itself in the Aldertree institute; people were making incredibly strong curses with very minor drawbacks, basically granting themselves superpowers. Meanwhile, we're talking about a piece of Satan's right-hand man welded onto your soul; the psychotic sadomasochist would certainly have powers that hurt him and everything else in a very bad way, else he wouldn't have been locked up in Hell for so long. There are more than enough superhero RPs out there, and I'd really like to see one where the protagonists really have to think about when and where to use their powers instead of juggling cars because someone dared them. Especially if the forces of Heaven are hunting them down like rabid bloodhounds.

I have to agree with Ythania here, it does seem far too easy in many rp's to simply just use powers without consequences, because seriously, you don't just gain something so significant that it draws angels and demons and fallen angels in to kill you and not have it be powerful, but at the same time you don't get that kind of power and not suffer for using it.

I must not have been specific enough on that point last night, but then again, I was rather out of it when I wrote this...The shards themselves are a massive drawback. For starters, you're immediately a target as soon as you get one, and the more you have, the more you'll be attacked. ON top of that, they have a deteriorating effect on your psyche, eroding it as the spirit of Lucifer is beginning to take you over. You may start seeing allies as enemies, with your only thought being to take their shards.

That said, your powers DO require drawbacks that make sense. After all, you may be superpowered, but you're still human. You can have the strength of 10 men, sure, but you're gonna be in a world of hurt when you realize your tendons are having trouble keeping up. You can throw fire, but if you're not extremely careful, you'll go up in flames like a tibetan monk. Also, bear in mind that not all shards will grant amazing supernatural abilities. Some can grant things like high intelligence and the art of swordplay.

I'm wanting something fair and balanced, but still creative and fun. I invited you guys because I figured you can do it right. Considering you're already thinking about this stuff, I chose wisely.

 

[Ythania]

Thanks for listening, @Gateman ; I'm working on the sketches for my character appearance (Believe it or not, I started sketching up a random character last night with the hopes of finding an RP to put them in) so once that's done I'll post a CS.

Until then, I'm looking at taking the intelligence route; I'm thinking of the drawbacks being overthinking, apathy, paranoia - the lines of morality starting to blur as they devolve into a merciless, cold-hearted killer who is after the shards to gain omniscience.

 

[Gateman]

Thanks for listening, @Gateman ; I'm working on the sketches for my character appearance (Believe it or not, I started sketching up a random character last night with the hopes of finding an RP to put them in) so once that's done I'll post a CS.

Until then, I'm looking at taking the intelligence route; I'm thinking of the drawbacks being overthinking, apathy, paranoia - the lines of morality starting to blur as they devolve into a merciless, cold-hearted killer who is after the shards to gain omniscience.

Of course, a proper gm always listens to their players.

You know, there was a subspecies of human called Boskop man that was super intelligent, to the point that the average Boskop had an IQ of 150 by today's standard, making them walmart supernaturally intelligent. The problem is, their intelligence also led to lack of sex drive, apathy, and depression, which led to them being conquered by the dumb but physically powerful neanderthal, and those that escaped not procreating, leading to extinction

 

[Jakers]

Stumbled upon this whilst just browsing RP's, and this looks like a great concept! I'll just drop a CS here; please tell me if anything about my little trickster here is overpowered/nonsensical/going against some of the themes of the RP. I tried to give his abilities quite a few drawbacks, but inform me if I need more/need to make his abilities less powerful. Sorry if it's super long, too; it's one of my habits.
​

Jotham Kanji
The Broken Gentleman
​

Age: 19
Gender: Male
Personality: Jotham is a self-confident, charming, funny, and shamelessly flirtatious individual. He's often polite and well-spoken, often going by a 'gentleman's code' in everything he does. He's often sly and playful out of combat, poking fun at others, whilst being careful not to cross boundaries that might annoy potential allies. Whilst he's gentlemanly and mature, he sometimes brings out an immature side of himself by tricking others - usually out of money - with his incredible sleight of hand. Some might agree that Jotham is genuinely a lovely person, but ever since the incident with the shards, those people would be very wrong. Jotham is very secretive about his personal life, and for good reason. He's done some shameful things in the past.

Ever since he obtained the shards, Jotham hasn't lost his wit and charm, but he's become more selfish in his acts. He'll often have an uncontrollable urge to use his dexterity to swipe coins off others - even from his friends. His newly-acquired greed can cause Jotham to be stingy, neglecting, and out-of-order at times. Some of the things he does to pocket a little coin are immoral, and he knows it. Deep inside, Jotham is conflicted and ashamed about his actions - but he knows he can't fight these urges. He does his best to fight off depression about what he's become by taking a mostly non-serious attitude, toying with people.

His personality in combat is simply unpredictable. Every little thing he says, does, or even the way he breathes is probably a part of one of Jotham's elleborate plans. He uses his wits rather than his muscles, doing little things to psychologically destroy opponents, and cause distractions whilst he sneakily sets up lines of traps in the blink of an eye. Jotham's intelligence may not incredible, but he's an absolute genius of trickery, pokerfaces, and winning anything - from to-the-death battles to simple card games - with sneaky yet genius tricks and tactics.

(Side Note: Original image of Jotham grabbed from here.)
>==================================>
History/Bio:

(Warning: long!)

Before Jotham was awakened, he was a simple son to a rich family who specialised in mining and excavating precious gems and minerals. Living off his father's fortune in a complete, comfortable, and luxurious life, Jotham's original plan was to take over the family business after his father passed away, and help out with the business in the meantime. Doing what he can to repay his family, Jotham was hardworking, using his natural intelligence to plan out new excavation sites, mine designs, etc. Whilst he wasn't a 'perfect son', sometimes taking his money to areas where he gambled - often getting in trouble for cheating - and meeting up with various women, he was still loved despite his issues. After a talk with his father, Jotham agreed to stop gambling for life, and leave all of his trickery and talents out of his household aside. He needed to focus on the family business, and he was happy to do so.

However, one day, something bizarre happened when Jotham was out to design plans for one of his father's quarries. Lodged within some stone, he spotted two, unknown but... strangely beautiful shards. Judging by their condition - they'd only recently got there. But how? Where did they come from? Jotham was about to report these unknown shards to his father, until he had an uncontrollable urge to... take them for himself. He wanted to own them. He didn't know why, but his mind was screaming at him to pick them up.

Moving over to the shards, Jotham picked both shards up - one with each hand - and the moment he did so, he hands felt like they were on fire. His screams echoed throughout the quarry for a while, but nobody was around to hear him. Fainting from the pain, Jotham soon woke up again. He thought everything was normal - until he looked at his hands. They'd been transformed into demonic claws. Something unwordly and awful. And there was something biting at him in the inside of his mind. Confused and scared, Jotham retreated to his household to show and explain to his father what had happened.

When Jotham shown the Cursed Hands of Kharon to his family, his father in particular was horrified at the sight of them. Swiftly, Jotham was asked to leave the Kanji household and never return by his father. Jotham didn't have any idea what was going on, but decided to oblige. Whilst his father seemed to do it out of spite at first, he then told Jotham is was for 'his own good'. But, just as Jotham was about to leave to an unknown life... he had a desire for something. A desire for wealth. A desire for... everything he could get his hands on.

As he packed his things to leave, Jotham suddenly stole as much as he could from his father's mansion. The best clothes, his wealth, his gemstones... they were all his. Using his dexterity to swipe even the most highly-guarded things from the mansion, Jotham almost cleaned the place out before he ran off, leaving his father unknowing of what had just happened. He didn't know why he'd done it. It was this... urge. He just couldn't control himself.

Without a home, Jotham wanders with his newfound talents and powers. Whilst he thought of buying his own mansion with his newfound wealth and living a peaceful life... something about that seemed... unfufilling. Instead, Jotham wanders - driven to steal and collect as many shards as possible, struggling against his own morals to make as best of a living as he can with his new, uncontrollable greed.

Motivation: Jotham's greed is what causes him to hunt for more and more shards. Whilst he's ashamed of his powers, a little voice within him just wants him to collect them all. Whilst his urges aren't yet strong enough to drive him insane, Jotham is starting to grow an unhealthy obsession with hoarding as many things as he can. Without all of the shards, he feels 'incomplete', and a neverending desire to finish what he started is what's driving him to get as many as he can. Jotham doesn't want to collect even one more shard, but his urges are forcing him to get more and more of that delicious, useful power...
>==================================>
Skills:
>Extremely dexterous. Jotham may severely lack in the strength department, but some of the things he's able to do with his hands are unreal. From making a card simply disappear out of thin air, to reloading a crossbow in a blink of an eye, or swiping a pouch or even a weapon from an opponent's pocket, Jotham's often referred to have 'magic fingers'.
>They don't call Jotham a 'Jammy Dodger' for nothing. It'll take much more than a mindless swing of the sword to hit Jotham. He knows he's very vunerable, and it won't take many hits to incapitate him - so he's perfected his reactions as much as possible. It'll take a more intricate attack - such as a surprise attack, or an unexpected attack that he was unable to choreograph, to actually hit Jotham.
>Throwing things. From throwing a simple ball, rock, or even larger objects like a chair, Jotham always seems to hit what he wants to, when he wants to. This in combination with his abilities makes him a very deft and dangerous opponent outside of his usual trickery.

Talents:
>Reading others. From various games of poker, and many other acts of gambling, Jotham's learnt how to see through poker-faced people. Sometimes, he's able to say out loud an opponent's next action, movement, or even the next sentence that they're going to say. Whilst those with high intelligence are hard for Jotham to read, he always seems to wear an expression where he knows what's going to happen.
>Envisioning situations, which helps him set plans to make him win a battle. What would happen if I made my opponent walk there? How much damage would this stab do? Would I be able to dodge the next strike afterwards?
>Problem and puzzle-solving. Actions that require logical and complex thinking - such as picking a tough lock, completing a game of blackjack, or giving the answer to a complex riddle all comes naturally to Jotham. Though he isn't a genius at this sort of thing, he's still above-average at the least.

Non-Critical Skills and Talents:
>Languages. Jotham's education has taught him quite a few languages of the area. Whilst he's only fluent in a few, he knows the fundamentals of many languages around the world, allowing him to converse with more individuals than usual.
>Geology. His past life has given Jotham a knowledge of many gems, ores, rocks, and how to use them. Whilst it may seem useless at first, it's quite useful for picking up the value of certain items - from a money sense or usefulness sense.
>Musically gifted. Jotham can pick up most instruments and play a pleasant tune on them, though he has a personal preference for the violin.
>==================================>
Number of Shards: Two. Three, after his first battle.

Abilities:
Cursed Hands of Kharon - Underneath Jotham's white gloves are deep red, charred hands with long, black fingernails. Possessing this unsightly pair of hands grants him extreme dexterity and speed, far beyond an average human's. These hands can also be used to make powerful and fast scratching attacks in a pinch - but that would require Jotham to take off his gloves - something he almost never does. Abusing the power of the Cursed Hands of Kharon too often will cause Jotham's hands to painfully swell and bleed through his gloves for a while, revealing his dark secret to those around him if he's careless.

Soulbound Knives - Jotham's hands allow him to throw ethereal, glowing-red knives at will, seemingly out of thin air. Each knife flies extremely fast, puncturing through weak armour and searing through average flesh like a hot knife through butter. Knives stick into whatever it hits for around two minutes, before fading away. Jotham can rapidly throw these summoned knives (at least two knives per second), the more soulbound knives that are currently out on the field, the harder and more painful it is to throw the next. For example - throwing the very first knife is easy, but throwing the tenth knife in a quick succession of throws is extremely difficult. Messing up a knife throw will also likely chop off Jotham's fingers - but thankfully, he's never made such a mistake... yet.

Spirit Flash - Once every two minutes, Jotham can switch positions with one of his Soulbound Knives, essentially allowing him to teleport wherever he throws a knife. In the case that Jotham hits an enemy with his knife and chooses to switch positions, he won't telefrag inside of them, but appear behind them instead. Each teleport causes high amounts of dizziness. Jotham's only managed to pull off four in one day without fainting - and that's his record.

+Spirit Cloud - Once every two minutes, Jotham can cause one of his existing knives to burst into a small cloud of deep, reddish gas which fades away after a brief ten seconds. The gas is very easily flammable while it lasts, and can knock someone out if breathed in heavy doses. Akin to Spirit Flash, each usage of Spirit Cloud will make Jotham very dizzy, to the point where he'll eventually faint.

Corruption: Ever since he's received the shards, Jotham's noticed that he's become much more greedy than before. Ever since the incident with his father, he's just wanted more and more money, gems... anything he can get his hands on. He's become a hoarder, often scamming people, breaking into places, etc, just to pocket some shiny objects. Whilst he still does his best to be 'gentlemanly', he's unknowingly breaking his morals just to feel 'complete' by stealing whatever he can.

After using any of his abilities, Jotham suffers cramps, a shortage of breath, and blurred vision that can dampen his famed cool demeanour in battle. As well as this, Jotham's cursed hands often ache uncontrollably during the night, so severely that they emit blood half of the time, which often keeps him awake and restless. Though he's gotten used to it by now, repeated usage of his abilities can make the inevitable pain unbearable.

He knows that if he collects more shards, the pain will worsen every night and coarse through his whole body, turning him into an abomination. But... he knows he just can't stop himself. He might as well just accept what's going to happen to him inevitably.
>==================================>
Likes:
>Valuables. Whether it be money, gems, artefacts... Jotham can't help but collect as much as he can. Speaking of which, he also loves 'collections' - collecting wine, hats, clothes... etc. Where he hoards all of these things is unknown.
>Gambling, placing bets, or anything of the sort that requires 'luck'. He likes cheating whilst doing these acts even more.
>When a plan comes together. There's no other feeling quite like it.
>Red wine. Jotham loves the stuff, often drinking it from a teacup out of (but maybe sometimes in) combat.
>Others with taste in fine fashion - especially finely dressed women.
>What's a gentleman without a spot in his heart for a nice cup of tea? Biscuits are a bonus.
>Bright colours, nicely decorated things, or anything grandiose in general.

Dislikes:
>Rowdy, overly loud, or just generally 'edgy' males. They're usual targets for his tricks.
>Those who act first and think later, without realising the consequences of their actions.
>Scruffy/dirty/generally unclean areas, and uncleanliness in general.
>Being outsmarted by others. That's his job...!
>Any other form of alcohol apart from red wine: white wine included. Rabble-rousing drunkards only touch such stuff.
>Bugs, spiders, worms, etc - all of them make him squeamish.
>People taking, using, or borrowing Jotham's own possessions causes uncontrollable, selfish anger within him.

Pet Hate: Jotham absolutely despises it when someone disrespects him by dirtying or altering his clothes in some way. Acts such as flicking dirt onto his blazer, jokingly knocking off or even touching his top hat will severely enrage Jotham, no matter who did it. Anybody who knows him well knows that the one way to break this trickster's cool, is just by simply knocking off his top hat.
>==================================>
Theme Song:

 

[Ythania]

Of course, a proper gm always listens to their players.

You know, there was a subspecies of human called Boskop man that was super intelligent, to the point that the average Boskop had an IQ of 150 by today's standard, making them walmart supernaturally intelligent. The problem is, their intelligence also led to lack of sex drive, apathy, and depression, which led to them being conquered by the dumb but physically powerful neanderthal, and those that escaped not procreating, leading to extinction

There we go then; looks like I managed to get the drawbacks correct. Not too sure about the depression part, mind you.

 

[Gateman]

Stumbled upon this whilst just browsing RP's, and this looks like a great concept! I'll just drop a CS here; please tell me if anything about my little trickster here is overpowered/nonsensical/going against some of the themes of the RP. I tried to give his abilities quite a few drawbacks, but inform me if I need more/need to make his abilities less powerful. Sorry if it's super long, too; it's one of my habits.
​

Jotham Kanji
The Broken Gentleman
​

Age: 19
Gender: Male
Personality: Jotham is a self-confident, charming, funny, and shamelessly flirtatious individual. He's often polite and well-spoken, often going by a 'gentleman's code' in everything he does. He's often sly and playful out of combat, poking fun at others, whilst being careful not to cross boundaries that might annoy potential allies. Whilst he's gentlemanly and mature, he sometimes brings out an immature side of himself by tricking others - usually out of money - with his incredible sleight of hand. Some might agree that Jotham is genuinely a lovely person, but ever since the incident with the shards, those people would be very wrong. Jotham is very secretive about his personal life, and for good reason. He's done some shameful things in the past.

Ever since he obtained the shards, Jotham hasn't lost his wit and charm, but he's become more selfish in his acts. He'll often have an uncontrollable urge to use his dexterity to swipe coins off others - even from his friends. His newly-acquired greed can cause Jotham to be stingy, neglecting, and out-of-order at times. Some of the things he does to pocket a little coin are immoral, and he knows it. Deep inside, Jotham is conflicted and ashamed about his actions - but he knows he can't fight these urges. He does his best to fight off depression about what he's become by taking a mostly non-serious attitude, toying with people.

His personality in combat is simply unpredictable. Every little thing he says, does, or even the way he breathes is probably a part of one of Jotham's elleborate plans. He uses his wits rather than his muscles, doing little things to psychologically destroy opponents, and cause distractions whilst he sneakily sets up lines of traps in the blink of an eye. Jotham's intelligence may not incredible, but he's an absolute genius of trickery, pokerfaces, and winning anything - from to-the-death battles to simple card games - with sneaky yet genius tricks and tactics.

(Side Note: Original image of Jotham grabbed from here.)
>==================================>
History/Bio:

(Warning: long!)

Before Jotham was awakened, he was a simple son to a rich family who specialised in mining and excavating precious gems and minerals. Living off his father's fortune in a complete, comfortable, and luxurious life, Jotham's original plan was to take over the family business after his father passed away, and help out with the business in the meantime. Doing what he can to repay his family, Jotham was hardworking, using his natural intelligence to plan out new excavation sites, mine designs, etc. Whilst he wasn't a 'perfect son', sometimes taking his money to areas where he gambled - often getting in trouble for cheating - and meeting up with various women, he was still loved despite his issues. After a talk with his father, Jotham agreed to stop gambling for life, and leave all of his trickery and talents out of his household aside. He needed to focus on the family business, and he was happy to do so.

However, one day, something bizarre happened when Jotham was out to design plans for one of his father's quarries. Lodged within some stone, he spotted two, unknown but... strangely beautiful shards. Judging by their condition - they'd only recently got there. But how? Where did they come from? Jotham was about to report these unknown shards to his father, until he had an uncontrollable urge to... take them for himself. He wanted to own them. He didn't know why, but his mind was screaming at him to pick them up.

Moving over to the shards, Jotham picked both shards up - one with each hand - and the moment he did so, he hands felt like they were on fire. His screams echoed throughout the quarry for a while, but nobody was around to hear him. Fainting from the pain, Jotham soon woke up again. He thought everything was normal - until he looked at his hands. They'd been transformed into demonic claws. Something unwordly and awful. And there was something biting at him in the inside of his mind. Confused and scared, Jotham retreated to his household to show and explain to his father what had happened.

When Jotham shown the Cursed Hands of Kharon to his family, his father in particular was horrified at the sight of them. Swiftly, Jotham was asked to leave the Kanji household and never return by his father. Jotham didn't have any idea what was going on, but decided to oblige. Whilst his father seemed to do it out of spite at first, he then told Jotham is was for 'his own good'. But, just as Jotham was about to leave to an unknown life... he had a desire for something. A desire for wealth. A desire for... everything he could get his hands on.

As he packed his things to leave, Jotham suddenly stole as much as he could from his father's mansion. The best clothes, his wealth, his gemstones... they were all his. Using his dexterity to swipe even the most highly-guarded things from the mansion, Jotham almost cleaned the place out before he ran off, leaving his father unknowing of what had just happened. He didn't know why he'd done it. It was this... urge. He just couldn't control himself.

Without a home, Jotham wanders with his newfound talents and powers. Whilst he thought of buying his own mansion with his newfound wealth and living a peaceful life... something about that seemed... unfufilling. Instead, Jotham wanders - driven to steal and collect as many shards as possible, struggling against his own morals to make as best of a living as he can with his new, uncontrollable greed.

Motivation: Jotham's greed is what causes him to hunt for more and more shards. Whilst he's ashamed of his powers, a little voice within him just wants him to collect them all. Whilst his urges aren't yet strong enough to drive him insane, Jotham is starting to grow an unhealthy obsession with hoarding as many things as he can. Without all of the shards, he feels 'incomplete', and a neverending desire to finish what he started is what's driving him to get as many as he can. Jotham doesn't want to collect even one more shard, but his urges are forcing him to get more and more of that delicious, useful power...
>==================================>
Skills:
>Extremely dexterous. Jotham may severely lack in the strength department, but some of the things he's able to do with his hands are unreal. From making a card simply disappear out of thin air, to reloading a crossbow in a blink of an eye, or swiping a pouch or even a weapon from an opponent's pocket, Jotham's often referred to have 'magic fingers'.
>They don't call Jotham a 'Jammy Dodger' for nothing. It'll take much more than a mindless swing of the sword to hit Jotham. He knows he's very vunerable, and it won't take many hits to incapitate him - so he's perfected his reactions as much as possible. It'll take a more intricate attack - such as a surprise attack, or an unexpected attack that he was unable to choreograph, to actually hit Jotham.
>Throwing things. From throwing a simple ball, rock, or even larger objects like a chair, Jotham always seems to hit what he wants to, when he wants to. This in combination with his abilities makes him a very deft and dangerous opponent outside of his usual trickery.

Talents:
>Reading others. From various games of poker, and many other acts of gambling, Jotham's learnt how to see through poker-faced people. Sometimes, he's able to say out loud an opponent's next action, movement, or even the next sentence that they're going to say. Whilst those with high intelligence are hard for Jotham to read, he always seems to wear an expression where he knows what's going to happen.
>Envisioning situations, which helps him set plans to make him win a battle. What would happen if I made my opponent walk there? How much damage would this stab do? Would I be able to dodge the next strike afterwards?
>Problem and puzzle-solving. Actions that require logical and complex thinking - such as picking a tough lock, completing a game of blackjack, or giving the answer to a complex riddle all comes naturally to Jotham. Though he isn't a genius at this sort of thing, he's still above-average at the least.

Non-Critical Skills and Talents:
>Languages. Jotham's education has taught him quite a few languages of the area. Whilst he's only fluent in a few, he knows the fundamentals of many languages around the world, allowing him to converse with more individuals than usual.
>Geology. His past life has given Jotham a knowledge of many gems, ores, rocks, and how to use them. Whilst it may seem useless at first, it's quite useful for picking up the value of certain items - from a money sense or usefulness sense.
>Musically gifted. Jotham can pick up most instruments and play a pleasant tune on them, though he has a personal preference for the violin.
>==================================>
Number of Shards: Two. Supposedly one for each cursed hand.

Abilities:
Cursed Hands of Kharon - Underneath Jotham's white gloves are deep red, charred hands with long, black fingernails. Possessing this unsightly pair of hands grants him extreme dexterity and speed, far beyond an average human's. These hands can also be used to make powerful and fast scratching attacks in a pinch - but that would require Jotham to take off his gloves - something he almost never does. Abusing the power of the Cursed Hands of Kharon too often will cause Jotham's hands to painfully swell and bleed through his gloves for a while, revealing his dark secret to those around him if he's careless.

Soulbound Knives - Jotham's hands allow him to throw ethereal, glowing-red knives at will, seemingly out of thin air. Each knife flies extremely fast, puncturing through weak armour and searing through average flesh like a hot knife through butter. Knives stick into whatever it hits for around two minutes, before fading away. Jotham can rapidly throw these summoned knives (at least two knives per second), the more soulbound knives that are currently out on the field, the harder and more painful it is to throw the next. For example - throwing the very first knife is easy, but throwing the tenth knife in a quick succession of throws is extremely difficult. Messing up a knife throw will also likely chop off Jotham's fingers - but thankfully, he's never made such a mistake... yet.

Spirit Flash - Once every two minutes, Jotham can switch positions with one of his Soulbound Knives, essentially allowing him to teleport wherever he throws a knife. In the case that Jotham hits an enemy with his knife and chooses to switch positions, he won't telefrag inside of them, but appear behind them instead. Each teleport causes high amounts of dizziness. Jotham's only managed to pull off four in one day without fainting - and that's his record.

Corruption: Ever since he's received the shards, Jotham's noticed that he's become much more greedy than before. Ever since the incident with his father, he's just wanted more and more money, gems... anything he can get his hands on. He's become a hoarder, often scamming people, breaking into places, etc, just to pocket some shiny objects. Whilst he still does his best to be 'gentlemanly', he's unknowingly breaking his morals just to feel 'complete' by stealing whatever he can.

After using any of his abilities, Jotham suffers cramps, a shortage of breath, and blurred vision that can dampen his famed cool demeanour in battle. As well as this, Jotham's cursed hands often ache uncontrollably during the night, so severely that they emit blood half of the time, which often keeps him awake and restless. Though he's gotten used to it by now, repeated usage of his abilities can make the inevitable pain unbearable.

He knows that if he collects more shards, the pain will worsen every night and coarse through his whole body, turning him into an abomination. But... he knows he just can't stop himself. He might as well just accept what's going to happen to him inevitably.
>==================================>
Likes:
>Valuables. Whether it be money, gems, artefacts... Jotham can't help but collect as much as he can. Speaking of which, he also loves 'collections' - collecting wine, hats, clothes... etc. Where he hoards all of these things is unknown.
>Gambling, placing bets, or anything of the sort that requires 'luck'. He likes cheating whilst doing these acts even more.
>When a plan comes together. There's no other feeling quite like it.
>Red wine. Jotham loves the stuff, often drinking it from a teacup out of (but maybe sometimes in) combat.
>Others with taste in fine fashion - especially finely dressed women.
>What's a gentleman without a spot in his heart for a nice cup of tea? Biscuits are a bonus.
>Bright colours, nicely decorated things, or anything grandiose in general.

Dislikes:
>Rowdy, overly loud, or just generally 'edgy' males. They're usual targets for his tricks.
>Those who act first and think later, without realising the consequences of their actions.
>Scruffy/dirty/generally unclean areas, and uncleanliness in general.
>Being outsmarted by others. That's his job...!
>Any other form of alcohol apart from red wine: white wine included. Rabble-rousing drunkards only touch such stuff.
>Bugs, spiders, worms, etc - all of them make him squeamish.
>People taking, using, or borrowing Jotham's own possessions causes uncontrollable, selfish anger within him.

Pet Hate: Jotham absolutely despises it when someone disrespects him by dirtying or altering his clothes in some way. Acts such as flicking dirt onto his blazer, jokingly knocking off or even touching his top hat will severely enrage Jotham, no matter who did it. Anybody who knows him well knows that the one way to break this trickster's cool, is just by simply knocking off his top hat.
>==================================>
Theme Song:

It's certainly long, as you said. I can't find anything I can critique on it. A suggestion though, perhaps a pathological gambling problem? You can find a lot of ways to mess with him in inconvenient and dangerous ways, and it would feed into his greed. Anyway, he's happily accepted.

There we go then; looks like I managed to get the drawbacks correct. Not too sure about the depression part, mind you.

Just a thought. I was reading about our ancestors and it seemed like it might give you somewhere to go.

Oh, I forgot to put it on the CS, but you can have your awakened go by codenames instead of real names if you want. The more paranoid Ones might be worried about the safety of their family, or, like jotham,be worried their family might find them.

 

[Quake]

Count me in for this. I really like the concept, so I'll try to have a CS up by Friday. (:

 

[Ythania]

Sloppy phone photography of the concept sketches for my character. They're not quite done yet, but even then, any code names or name suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and once again they're up for grabs in terms of being friends/acquaintances with your character; I'm all for knowing a few people prior to the start of the RP because I doubt this one's going to be the "warm and welcoming" sort in the first place.

 

[Gateman]

I doubt this one's going to be the "warm and welcoming" sort in the first place.

You're definitely right about that one....

 

[conman2163]

Source: Photo by Ethan Ellis

"I will have vengeance, and end all of this suffering, none will stand before me when I am finished, and peace will be upon every person of this earth, with me ruling humans, angels, and demons alike. In a few short words.... I plan to take god's throne and annex hell."

Name: Johnathan Algitson

Age: 28

Gender: Male

Personality: Johnathan is in a few words, terribly flawed. His history has allowed him a particular skill, one where he uses a cheery face to mask his dark inner self. On the outside he may appear happy, friendly, and willing to accept others, but on the inside he is cold, distant, aloof. He has built a wall around his heart and consigned his feelings to exile so that he can commit whatever atrocity he must in order to achieve his goal. Which means that when he lets someone get close to him, it's only so he won't have to reach as far to slip the knife between their third and fourth rib. This man has no friends, only enemies that are closer, and other enemies that are closer.

History/Bio:

Spoiler

Johnathan was originally an average man from a rural United states town. The town itself was rather isolated, being located in the middle of nowhere in Missouri, and having no towns that it didn't take thirty minutes to get to nearby. Johnathan worked at a local bank, had a wife and kid, and a great house. He was living the dream.

Then it all came to an end.

A shard of Lucifer fell into the center of the town, demons and angels alike appeared to claim the shard for themselves. The ensuing battle was isolated from the outside world, as the very power of the battle occurring caused natural disasters all over the state, it was every city for itself, no one had seen the likes of a natural disaster like this before. So no one came to help. The demons themselves ran rampant, not only attacking the angels, but feasting on any human unlucky enough to get caught by a demon. The angels did nothing to save the humans, and let innocents die screaming in terror. As a last resort, people were holing up in the local church, guns loaded, makeshift barriers prepared. The world outside had gone to hell, and the humans of the town, including Johnathan, were determined not to go to hell with it.

The humans never stood a chance, the demons attacked the church and slaughtered those inside, Johnathan barely made it out after watching his wife and child be eaten alive. He ran for his life, not really watching where he was heading. Eventually he found himself in the center of the town, the shard the angels and demons had been fighting over was there, and Johnathan stumbled upon it.

The shard was tantalizing, all Johnathan wanted to do was touch it, and so he did. The shard
was absorbed into his body, and afraid for his life, Johnathan ran, moving on foot out of town. It was only once he reached the outskirts of the town did a few demons finally get to him. Acting on instinct, Johnathan summoned a sword and killed both the demons. After learning of this, he fled into the wilderness and learned to live off the land.
After a year of near constant running, hiding, fighting and barely surviving Johnathan decided that it was time to fight back. His year of being pursued had taught him more then enough about his abilities, and he fought a valiant first battle, slaying thirty demons, and scattering the few that remained.

Heavily injured after this fight, he fell back, but the few demons he left alive returned to hell to gather reinforcements. Knowing that Johnathan was still recuperating and couldn't have gotten far, they returned with a horde to hunt him down. For a moment, all seemed lost, but not before two other awakened appeared, and battled the demons to a bloody stand off. The fight took place in a remote forest, far from any help, the demons were driven off and defeated, but not before the two other awakened who appeared died in battle. Johnathan took the shards, and continued onwards, not bothering to bury any of the bodies.

Now Johnathan is wondering the globe searching out the shards just like the demons and angels are, planning to take them all, regardless of whether or not he has to take them from humans, demons, or angels.

Motivation: He wants to surpass both Lucifer and god himself by taking all of the shards, then uniting the entirety of heaven and earth under one banner, eliminating any war, and creating the largest kingdom anyone has ever seen. He doesn't plan to stop with just Lucifer's shards either, he plans to take any power he can possibly get. In short, his motivation is a lust for power and peace

Skills:
-Athletic, both fast, agile, and strong when compared to your average person. If it came down to a one to one against a military special forces member, he could probably give the guy a run for his money.

-He has learned more then enough swordsmanship to become a dangerous opponent, even when battling multiple enemies.

Talents:
-Dangerously cunning
-Excellent tactician

Non-Critical Skills and Talents:
-Johnathan has a large wealth of knowledge when it comes to the outdoors, mainly because that's where he lives most of the time.

Number of Shards: 4

Abilities:

Abilities

Sword of hellfire: Johnathan can summon a long sword made of hellfire that can easily cut through steel at will. Unfortunately it comes at a great price, every time he uses it his hand and right arm are also engulfed in the flame, and it slowly burns his skin, with even a few minutes of use being capable of creating fourth degree burns on his arm and his hand, if not reducing both to ash. Along with that comes the price of anything that is covering the arm he summons the sword into being burnt away, meaning that no matter when he summons it or where he summons it, he will always be in a great deal of pain. The sword also takes a great deal of energy to summon, so the effort that will come with a battle is more then likely to leave him exhausted.

Blood manipulation: Johnathan can utilize his own blood as a weapon and a defensive shield. He can draw it out and form it into weapons and other equipment at the textile density of steel, however it has a couple of limitations. The first is that he can only utilize his own blood, and the on the outside of his body. Second, he has to draw the blood he uses from an open wound, with the size of the wound limiting the amount of blood he can draw from it, since blood will naturally clot, so he can't just continuously use blood from himself. Keeping control of blood past a range of three meters also requires concentration, so when attacking anyone at range with the blood he will be forced to remain still and not move, or else he won't be able to manipulate the blood. The blood can move at a continuous steady rate of 5 mph.

+Shield of Hellfire: Johnathan can form a shield of hellfire hot enough to melt anything coming at him. This shield will extend from his palm, and will be about the size of a modern riot shield. However, Johnathan cannot move whilst using this ability, and the fire itself will continuously burn him, leaving his hand burnt to the fourth degree in less then fifteen seconds, and leaving third degree burns on his wrist. Additionally, while it can be summoned instantly, Johnathan must wait at least three seconds before desummoning the shield, and he will suffer a first degree burn on his hand and the lower part of his arm in the process

Corruption: Johnathan is slowly going mad from the power he is gaining, and the two shards he took from other awakened have only served to increase the rate at which his sanity is eroded. At the moment Johnathan retains reasoning, but has cast off all morals that he might otherwise be constricted by. He does not mind killing innocent people anymore, with the excuse that he will bring them all back once he has surpassed god and united the entire world under one banner. While it hasn't eroded on him to far just yet, the two additional shards he recently picked up will no doubt prove to wear even further down on him.

Currently the corruption is also changing him physically, with his once brown eyes having flecks of fiery red in them and his canines sharpening to fine points.

Likes:
Board Games
Sparring
Kids
Rain
Thunderstorms

Dislikes:
Demons
Angels
Awakened

Pet Hate: Cold weather

Theme:

Spoiler

 

[Gateman]

Source: Photo by Ethan Ellis

"I will have vengeance, and end all of this suffering, none will stand before me when I am finished, and peace will be upon every person of this earth, with me ruling humans, angels, and demons alike. In a few short words.... I plan to take god's throne and annex hell."

Name: Exkharna Algitson

Age: 28

Gender: Male

Personality: Exkharna is in a few words, terribly flawed. His history has allowed him a particular skill, one where he uses a cheery face to mask his dark inner self. On the outside he may appear happy, friendly, and willing to accept others, but on the inside he is cold, distant, aloof. He has built a wall around his heart and consigned his feelings to exile so that he can commit whatever atrocity he must in order to achieve his goal. Which means that when he lets someone get close to him, it's only so he won't have to reach as far to slip the knife between their third and fourth rib. This man has no friends, only enemies that are closer, and other enemies that are closer.

History/Bio:

Spoiler

Exkharna was originally an average man from a rural United states town. The town itself was rather isolated, being located in the middle of nowhere in Missouri, and having no towns that it didn't take thirty minutes to get to nearby. Exkharna worked at a local bank, had a wife and kid, and a great house. He was living the dream.

Then it all came to an end.

A shard of Lucifer fell into the center of the town, demons and angels alike appeared to claim the shard for themselves. The ensuing battle was isolated from the outside world, as the very power of the battle occurring caused natural disasters all over the state, it was every city for itself, no one had seen the likes of a natural disaster like this before. So no one came to help. The demons themselves ran rampant, not only attacking the angels, but feasting on any human unlucky enough to get caught by a demon. The angels did nothing to save the humans, and let innocents die screaming in terror. As a last resort, people were holing up in the local church, guns loaded, makeshift barriers prepared. The world outside had gone to hell, and the humans of the town, including Exkharna, were determined not to go to hell with it.

The humans never stood a chance, the demons attacked the church and slaughtered those inside, Exkharna barely made it out after watching his wife and child be eaten alive. He ran for his life, not really watching where he was heading. Eventually he found himself in the center of the town, the shard the angels and demons had been fighting over was there, and Exkharna stumbled upon it.

The shard was tantalizing, all Exkharna wanted to do was touch it, and so he did. The shard
was absorbed into his body, and afraid for his life, Exkharna ran, moving on foot out of town. It was only once he reached the outskirts of the town did a few demons finally get to him. Acting on instinct, Exkharna summoned a sword and killed both the demons. After learning of this, he fled into the wilderness and learned to live off the land.
After a year of near constant running, hiding, fighting and barely surviving Exkharna decided that it was time to fight back. His year of being pursued had taught him more then enough about his abilities, and he fought a valiant first battle, slaying thirty demons, and scattering the few that remained.

Heavily injured after this fight, he fell back, but the few demons he left alive returned to hell to gather reinforcements. Knowing that Exkharna was still recuperating and couldn't have gotten far, they returned with a horde to hunt him down. For a moment, all seemed lost, but not before two other awakened appeared, and battled the demons to a bloody stand off. The fight took place in a remote forest, far from any help, the demons were driven off and defeated, but not before the two other awakened who appeared died in battle. Exkharna took the shards, and continued onwards, not bothering to bury any of the bodies.
Now Exkharna is wondering the globe searching out the shards just like the demons and angels are, planning to take them all, regardless of whether or not he has to take them from humans, demons, or angels.

Motivation: He wants to surpass both Lucifer and god himself by taking all of the shards, then uniting the entirety of heaven and earth under one banner, eliminating any war, and creating the largest kingdom anyone has ever seen. He doesn't plan to stop with just Lucifer's shards either, he plans to take any power he can possibly get.

Skills:
-Athletic, both fast, agile, and strong when compared to your average person. While he doesn't excede human levels in any of these, he certainly isn't your average joe either.
-He has learned more then enough swordsmanship to become a dangerous opponent, even when battling multiple enemies.

Talents:
-Dangerously cunning
-Excellent tactician

Non-Critical Skills and Talents:
-Exkharna has a large wealth of knowledge when it comes to the outdoors, mainly because that's where he lives most of the time.

Number of Shards: 3

Abilities:

Abilities

Sword of hellfire: Exkharna can summon a long sword made of hellfire that can easily cut through steel at will. Unfortunately it comes at a great price, every time he uses it his hand and right arm are also engulfed in the flame, and it slowly burns his skin, with even a few minutes of use leaving third degree burns on his arm. Along with that comes the price of anything that is covering the arm he summons the sword into being burnt away, meaning that no matter when he summons it or where he summons it, he will always be in a great deal of pain.

Blood manipulation: Exkharna can utilize his own blood as a weapon and a defensive shield. He can draw it out and form it into weapons and other equipment at the textile density of steel, however it has a couple of limitations. The first is that he can only utilize blood on the outside of a body, and the blood must be human. Second, he has to draw the blood he uses from an open wound, with the size of the wound limiting the amount of blood he can draw from it, since blood will naturally clot, so he can't just continuously use blood from others or himself. Keeping control of blood past a range of three meters also requires concentration, so when attacking anyone at range with the blood he will be forced to remain still and not move, for fear of losing concentration. The blood can move at a continuous steady rate of 5 mph.

Corruption: Exkharna is slowly going mad from the power he is gaining, and the two shards he took from other awakened have only served to increase the rate at which his sanity is eroded. At the moment Exkharna retains reasoning, but has cast off all morals that he might otherwise be constricted by. He does not mind killing innocent people anymore, with the excuse that he will bring them all back once he has surpassed god and united the entire world under one banner.

Likes:
Board Games
Sparring
Kids
Rain
Thunderstorms

Dislikes:
Demons
Angels
Awakened

Pet Hate: Cold weather

Theme:

Spoiler

Please change the first name, it's a little hard to read. Also, if you can, please try to make your cs a little more concise.

Regarding your power, if it's gonna be hellfire that burns hot enough to melt through steel, it should probably turn his arm to ash if he isn't careful. As for the blood, it would make more sense to be able to control his own blood rather than others, at least until he gets stronger. After all, any wounds from the sword would be immediately cauterized, meaning his first power would render his second power moot.

 

[conman2163]

Sorry, but more concise how? If you could sort of narrow it down it will help a lot, There is a lot of stuff, and while I could go with the more simplistic style and do a bunch of editing to make it so, it would be a lot easier if I head a few areas to target.

On top of that, I edited the bits you asked me about, and generally went through and tried to clear up any wording that may have been confusing.

 

[KatherinWinter]

I may have missed this but what do the shards look like? Do we just find them on the streets? Could a person have gotten a shard, say maybe it landed on their hair, got stuck to their shoe or something? I am assuming that the humans don't know what the shards are. Do we start with a power and the shards simply make it stronger or does it depend on the shard we find? Are the shard drawn to each other? Do can we feel if someone else has a shard?