CHARACTERS/SIGN-UPS

[Eru]

"There's so much more we have yet to discover... won't you come with me?"​

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NAME: Heath Webb
GENDER: Male
FACTION: Exhumii

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PERSONALITY:
Heath is a quiet-minded, kind individual, but he's always ready to hear someone out. He has little patience for politics, and there are quite a few laws of Awakened culture which seem unnecessarily restrictive to him, but for the most part Heath follows them dutifully. While not actively seeking conflict, Heath is the first to volunteer for assignments against the forces of Heaven or Hell. He'd rather send them to their graves than have more injustices happen. Still, if he's concentrating on a particularly new or strange piece of research, Heath prefers others to leave him alone, unless he knows them well. Although the death of his parents has quieted his temperament, at times one can find Heath enjoying a rare moment of peace in this strange new world which has opened up.
APPEARANCE:

Heath has thick, dusty orange hair, falling any which way across his face. 20 years of age, Heath stands at 5'7", shorter than most other Awakened. What he lacks in physical makeup, Heath supplies in knowledge and mental strength. He wears a lab coat over a thin sweater vest and slim pants. Heath's eyes are a brilliant emerald green, sharp and piercing.​

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TALENT: Analysis

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PURVIEW: [BCOLOR=#800000]Limit Break[/BCOLOR]
PURVIEW ABILITIES:
[Novice] Indomitable Will

• Through sheer force of spirit, Heath can surpass the physical and mental strength limits of most other Awakened. This is highly taxing to Heath's person at his current power levels, and making use of concentrated willpower is only used as a last resort.

[Novice] Energy Manipulation

• Through mental focus, Heath can control various forms of energy at low levels. This might include actions such as changing the kinetic energy of a projectile or body to alter its course, or adding motion to a stationary being. If Heath concentrates hard enough, he can even begin to siphon energy from a living being, adding it to his own.

[Novice] Breath Powers

• It's no secret that your power is proportional to how loud you can shout while attacking. In Heath's case, this is doubly true, as the very words he speaks form blasts of pure energy. The energy springs forth from Heath's everburning inner soul, keeping valid the law of conservation of mass.

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​

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BACKGROUND:

• In times of peace, before the world became something much more grim, Heath had a happy life with his parents. As scientists, Mr. and Mrs. Webb were aides to some of the country's greatest, working in laboratories and in the field to discover more and more about the world. Heath was trained in scientific methods, and ended up becoming a junior assistant at his parents' workplace. The Webbs' superiors were astounded at how quickly Heath surpassed them, and he was soon offered a full-time job, which he gratefully accepted at the young age of 17.​
• Two years later, the Webb family had been assigned a large scientific project, one that had baffled the minds of the world's greatest. Working as a team, Heath and his parents began to make... strange findings. According to the laws of physics as they understood them, things were happening that should not be. It was as if the very rules of the universe were beginning to break down. Telling no one other than their direct superior and project manager, the Webbs continued to investigate their project even deeper, even though setbacks plagued them and slowed their work. What they eventually found, after nearly a year, shook their very cores.​

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AWAKENING:

WARNING -- LONG. Specifically read the fourth paragraph.

Heath had run frantically into the laboratory, his arms stacked high with ancient compendiums and tomes. Some of these were scientific, and others dealt with the supernatural. Through a brainstorm session which lasted two weeks, poring over all the resources available, the Webbs came to a fateful conclusion. They quickly called a meeting with their superior.

"... And so, you see," stammered Mr. Webb excitedly, "these phenomenon are unnatural, they don't come from our world, but from something outside. There's something stopping us from finding out what precisely, but it must be enormous, some monstrous, wondrous work." Eagerly, Mrs. Webb nodded in agreement, clutching her husband's arm. Heath sat across from her, on his father's right side, and the trio were facing their project manager, Mr. Cerberus, who sat behind his wide office desk. The manager had taken a particular interest in this research, even for all the time it had taken to complete. As the Webbs sat before Cerberus, he sat back and stroked his fourth chin, staring out with small eyes. And then, without warning, he moved. He pushed a button on his computer, and the office door locked and sealed itself. Nobody was around to hear the screams, Cerberus had ensured that. And scream, they did, Cerberus grinning in fiendish delight as he grew to his truly massive size.

"What? You didn't think I'd really allow you to complete your research?" Cerberus sneered, drawing a giant spear from behind his flabby back. The Webbs were seated, frozen in horror, unable to scream a second time. Thrusting, the Cherubim pierced Mr. and Mrs. Webb through the heart in two blinding movements. Blood sprayed forth from their chests, and the couple collapsed onto the floor in a heap, clutching each other even in their dying moments. Absolutely traumatized, Heath could do nothing but watch as the spear flew toward his face. And then... a small voice spoke; You should get out of the way, you know.

Why? Heath thought, somehow, as the spear slowly curved through the air, propelled by Cerberus' ugly face. Oh, I don't know, the voice spoke again. It's just what I would do. There's still some hope left, even in the most terrible situations. Why don't you give it a go? The voice trailed off, and Heath effortlessly ducked beneath the incoming spear. Confused, Cerberus pulled it back, aiming again, and Heath dodged it again. Becoming enraged, the Cherubim heaved himself atop the desk, but Heath leapt up as well. "Why won't you die!?" Cerberus spit at him in a mix of rage, horror and fear, as Heath gripped the spear and turned it against him with immeasurable force. With cold fury, Heath spoke back in a deadly roar, the force of his words tearing skin from Cerberus' face, "I don't feel like it." He plunged the spear into the Cherubim's neck, ichor and bile flowing forth.

With Cerberus incapacitated, Heath propped his parents up against the desk, but they were fading quickly. His eyes tearstained, Heath began to reproach himself for not acting faster, for not seeing the signs of Cerberus' betrayal before it'd happened, but Mrs. Webb reached up to touch his lips weakly. Quiet now, Heath held his parents as they died, and made a silent vow to finish the research that had brought demonic wrath upon them. This would be his revenge. But it would not be today. With the last of his strength, Cerberus fired a rifting projectile at Heath, drawing him into the world of Metropolis and away from Elysium. Before he was taken, Heath whispered to his parents, "I'll never know any limits. I'm going to bust through the rules, I'll become strong for you. I'll make sure none of this ever has to happen again--" and then, he was gone. A faint smile rested upon the corpses of Mr. and Mrs. Abbott, who knew their son would do what he promised.

Cerberus fled Elysium to seek healing, but soon returned to place others on the same path of the Webbs. In order for him to have a chance at having any place in the court of the new Demiurge, it was important to understand various nuances of the Machine. Meanwhile, Heath wandered the streets of Metropolis for a time, soon being approached by members of the Awakened. He was brought to the Exhumii headquarters, where his story was heard and explanations given. Though initially overwhelmed, Heath eventually was convinced that here lay his destiny. He joined the Exhumii faction, beginning to apply himself toward studying the rules of this world so different to his own. Science was a whole different subject, and Heath found himself able to do wondrous accomplishments with strange technology. Additionally, he threw himself into stamina trainings, so that his force of will might not be expended so quickly.

 

[SaiVermillion]

NAME: Damien Walker
GENDER: Man
FACTION: None, as of the moment.

APPEARANCE: If you were to gaze upon him you could see the insanity in his crazed eyes, but overall his exterior seems the antithesis of his interior. He wears what appears to be like a school uniform, but personalized to appear much grander with its navy blue exterior and golden buttons. To top it off is his vino colored hair with its peculiar style, spiked back in a wavy fashion with a long portion of hair dangling over the left side of his visage.

PERSONALITY: He is a deranged follow who does things based mainly based on whim and desire, currently his whim is making his way back towards the top and unraveling the mysteries of the machine along with the beings who inhabit it. The thing is that he doesn't care how he does it or who he must manipulate in order to achieve this goal, while he won't go out of his way to harm people he doesn't lose any sleep over having had done it.

TALENT: Reaction.
PURVIEW: Psychokinesis.

PURVIEW ABILITIES:

Mind Over Matter - This allows Damien to extend his will over things around him through telekinesis, he can manipulate objects in any manner of ways, but the complexity and scope of what he can do is completely dependent on his: training, emotional state, and his level of ascension to godhood.

Mind Over Mind - Within a 20ft radius (slowly expanding as he becomes more adept) Damien can influence minds, this allows him to slow down their reaction time, make them see and hear things that aren't present, speed up their mental processing so that they can experience a week of mental interrogation in but a moment, in truth it's simply conquest of the mind.

Mind Slicer - When placing both hands open someone or something skull he is able to absorb memories from that person, either copying them into his mind or completely taking the memory away.



BACKGROUND: Damien Walker, a disturbed individual from birth, his mind has always been different. It was like he had a brain full of static where others had a clear picture. His childhood was full of doctors appointments, counselors, psychologists, all in all it was a blur of insanity. One might like to hear the results of this insanity, but let's just keep it sealed in his juvenile record, shall we? In the end a twisted rampage that left plenty of battered bodies behind him is what got him locked up for the final time.

AWAKENING: The picture perfect example of insanity, a deranged mind tucked away in the far corners of the system to keep his crazed self away from those sweet delicate people.....but with an altered consciousness comes altered views and sometimes realities begin to be perceived differently, sometimes the lie is peeled back and the truth exposed. This was the case for Damien, sitting in his padded room like any other day he would watch the doctors stroll up and down the halls tormenting their patients before at last it was time for Damien's treatment.

The padded door was unbolted and swung open to reveal two exceedingly large men,
"Time for your medicine." They said, "It's for your own good." They said, but it was all a lie, they simply didn't want any lunatics to bring chaos to the order of their machine, but that was exactly his intention. When the guards made their way towards him he would rush them both, managing only to ram his head into the gut of one before being restrained. They pinned him down, pressing him flat while yet another one of these fine "doctors" came with his medicine. He would kneel down beside the vulnerable Damien with a cruel visage and a vicious needle. It's silver glistened, getting so very close to his flesh before he screamed out. His mind pushed outwards and so all was pushed back, the men flew away from him, his straight jacket burst, and his mind invaded those of his captors.

"Freedom..... freedom from lies and oppression."

As these words rang out the utterance of freedom would echo through the heads of the creatures like a bell forever ringing all the while his body arose from the floor like a resurrected beast. With his eyes wiped of the lies they now shined bright while gazing upon his one time slavers before he simply clenched his fist causing the throats of his adversaries to be crushed. Of course now the rest of the ward was coming after him; it was time to run. He sped out of the room and flew down the corridor with all due haste, when one of the doctors {monsters} leapt before him he would simply twist around them in a seamless maneuver thanks to his newly awoken reflexes. He went as fast as he could before tearing through the front door and setting himself free in the chaotic world he always knew to exist. Now he roams, destroying as many beasts as he can, robbing them of their memories so that he may venture to the truth, whatever it takes.

 

[Bears]

verywip.jpg somewhatwip.jpg Finished. :-)

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NAME: Dr. Claudia Lefevre
GENDER: Female
FACTION: Frumentarii
APPEARANCE: Before she had Awakened Claudia was largely unnoticeable. Spending most of her adult life as a dedicated climate scientist she had no time to pretty up. Her hair was a dull blonde, her skin riddled with blemishes and she dressed for efficiency while working in sub-zero snowy deserts. She wasn't ugly per se -- just relatively plain and forgettable. But as her latent powers awoke, Claudia also underwent physical changes. Her hair lightened into it's current silvery color while growing expansively, her skin cleared and became jarringly pale. She was free to dress as she pleased thanks to her body no longer feeling the effects of extremely cold temperatures. A long tucked away want to be confident and beautiful stirred within her and so she embraced the changes, becoming the (somewhat self-centered) bombshell she is today.

PERSONALITY: Claudia is and has always been an intelligent individual who put thought into every word that she spoke. She is fiercely dedicated to the causes she is apart of and is willing to sacrifice a lot for what she feels is the right thing to do. Though recent circumstances have made her somewhat vain, she still retains the want to make the world a better place for future generations -- the very same want that had made her forgo a typically normal life in order to study the climate in remote subzero areas. Preferring to not show all her cards however, Claudia chooses to mask her true intellect with a confident, care-free and ultimately sultry alter-ego that never lets on just how perceptive she is.

TALENT: Perception

PURVIEW: Ice

PURVIEW ABILITIES:
Cyrokinesis: At the core of Claudia's powers is her ability to create, manipulate and fully control hard ice. Her ice can be formed to anything of her choosing though its limitations lie in the fact that constantly shaping (as opposed to just blasting it) drains her energy at rapid levels currently. Also her ice, while more durable than normal ice, is still susceptible to effects of temperature and will melt eventually if she is not constantly reinforcing it.

"Snow Queen": Claudia is capable of projecting intense coldness from her own body by altering her body's temperature to sub-zero levels, making it somewhat difficult to reach and combat her comfortably in close quarters. While she is using this power her body assumes a seemingly snow-colored form that is both beautiful and intimidating.

Ice Transmutation: Perhaps Claudia's deadliest technique and definitely her most tiring, Claudia can turn any form of matter (whether it be organic or inorganic') into ice by physically touching it. The frozen structure can then be broken or stored away allowing Claudia to kill her foes or imprison them in a freezer for indefinite amounts of time. As of right now, the speed in which she can freeze a human being is long beyond what can be conventionally used in combat and will bring her close to exhaustion.

BACKGROUND: Claudia never knew her father. Her mother raised her in a small apartment in Paris where she was later recognized for her intelligence during high school. She was torn away from normality and placed in a lecture hall with people well over ten years older than her and there she spent most of her younger years interacting with scientists and mathematicians. She had few friends her age whom she could relate to but she was alright. Her peers may not have been friendly but they acknowledged her brilliance and for Claudia, that was enough.

Going into adulthood Claudia transferred into a government program. She chose to specifically the climate and the changes being caused in the atmosphere. They moved her to a scientific laboratory deep into Antarctica territory and it was there where she spent the rest of her adulthood. She grew close with a fellow scientist at the base by the name of Adams and things were beginning to look up.

But then one day, the readings she was recording simply did not make sense. No matter what she did the results her studies produced were simply impossible -- but there they were at the bottom line. Claudia was dumbfounded and aimed to learn more and prove her own calculations wrong. But that just made everything in the world seem all the more incorrect.

AWAKENING: She thought she was going insane. Later that evening as she reviewed the results of both her present and past reports they seemingly threw everything she had ever known about her field out of the window. Shechose not to share her decline into madness with the other scientists at the base until Adam began to question her behavior before they went to bed. She was reluctant at first, but spilled her heart out to him desperate for some understanding. She told him how nothing about the world was making sense any more and how it seemed like everything was unraveling. All he did was stare at her blankly. She called his name, confused. He spoke no more words.

He began to transform. The next moments for her was a blur. Both her and the monster crashed out into the hall, she had barely managed to evade its grasps and at one point she puked. She called for the other scientists but they had changed as well. She fled through the laboratory, not having enough time to properly suit up before she ran out onto the into a full blown blizzard in nothing but her sleepwear.

They chased her relentlessly until the ice ran out and all that was left in front of her was the ocean. Without much choice Claudia threw herself into the violent, freezing water before the fiends could surround her. The currents took control from that point on. She tried her best to combat the tides but exhaustion set in and soon thereafter she passed out. As she felt all the energy from her limbs drain and her body rocking along the waves she thought that that was how she would die.

Instead she woke up in a distant inlet incredibly sore and confused but alive. She pulled herself from the water and was shocked to see feel how she had changed. She was ghostly white and so was her hair. She was barely clothed but felt no discomfort at the cold. She could feel the power within her stirring at the center of her palms. She was different. She had awakened. The Lie had surrounded her all this time but it was only now could she see beyond it.

For awhile she traveled alone -- a stranger with a dark secret. Monsters came for her like they had back at the lab but she now had the tools to defend herself. Her travels eventually brought her to a city which seemed to never end. She traversed it's maze like streets for weeks before people like herself had found her. They called themselves the Frumentarii and offered her a place among their ranks. She accepted their offer with a smile.

As crazy at it might have seemed, Claudia felt happier fighting the fiends off day by day than she had back in the lab. She fought viciously for her survival and carved a way for herself. She was making her own path -- something that she never would have truly gotten to do while under the illusion of the Lie and knowing that, she was content with whatever her fate might be.

 

[Mook-LandStrider]

NAME: Damian Denar
GENDER: Male
FACTION: Exhumii
APPEARANCE:
(Outside of Armor)

PERSONALITY:
Quick thinking and even faster on his feet Damian is A individual who finds it hard to stop looking for solutions and weaseling himself out of situations. Having devoted his life to Science and the pursuit of the betterment of humanity he looks at things in a different light compared to others. He believes the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. Sadly, following his awakening his mind seemed to shift in the direction of self preservation. Perhaps the fallout of the viral takeover of his body or the reflection in what he thought was his death throes caused this shift in thinking. Despite all this he remains a light hearted individual that is steeped in his work.
TALENT: Parkour/Movement Styles (This Includes Dance xD)
PURVIEW: Plague/Pestilence
PURVIEW ABILITIES:
I am a Doctor, not a quack: Damian has manifested the ability to not only culture various diseases and plagues but to bend and manipulate them to his will. Immune to Poisons, Diseases, Infections and plagues he is entirely unaffected by the worst the microbial world can send at him. As such he has found a odd fascination with diseases of all kinds.

This is Science, I swear: Through the injection, Manifestation or forceful contraction of diseases and viral infections Damian can induce sudden cellular change in a subject allow him to bend and change their biological form to his whim. During this process the being that once was infected is consumed allowing the Virus to attain sentience and follow its plaguebearer. The size of this constructive monstrosity is down to the biological matter present. EX-The more bodies the more horrible the result

Wow I am fucked Up aren't I (Self Afflicted): Due to the nature of his powers Damian is in fact infected with his own swarm of diseases and virus's. Living in symbiosis with them they have granted him at this point minor physiological changes. These can take the form of bone like appendages forced and created by the virus hijacking his cells and causing them to change shape and purpose to allowing his body to heal rapidly through internal Viral replication.

BACKGROUND:
Curiosity has always found a way to end the cat's life. Sadly, this did not come to fruition when it comes to Damian. Flying through school his need to figure out the world and how it works drove him to the one world he found to be the most interesting. Looking through a microscope he found a world far smaller than one could ever imagine. To those who never knew or cared he felt they were in the end useless. To him, that which they could not see could be the hand that strikes hardest. Life had proven that the smallest of things can cause the biggest of troubles. Due to this he facilitated his life to the research of diseases and their viral counterparts. To him, it was through this that humanity could rise to new heights. Sadly, he did not realize the cost to himself.

AWAKENING:

Third world countries and civil war. Two of the things that he hated to hear together in a sentence. Serving in a South African country driven to near insanity through years of Civil War he decided to station himself at the front line of the conflict in a hope of studying the effects of the war on the population. In line with past observations the moment sanitation and freshwater fell through the roof the people began to take on different diseases and became highly susceptible to viral infections whether Airborne, water or through simple human to human contact. Sadly, he had chosen to side himself with the Nationalistic and Autocratic side of the civil war. Soon, the people were tired of their living conditions and they rose up.

The day it all began was the day the rebels broke into the city. Everything fell fast and it was like a torrent of death had spiraled through the streets and fixated itself on revenge... or simply sport. Lights within his secluded laboratory began to flash signalling a containment breach. Turning around he saw the body of someone whom he thought had passed suddenly begin to convulse. Biting his lip he casually made his exit patting his colleagues on the shoulder. By the time he was near the exit the noise of fighting or... more or less horrible death echoed through the hallways. Turning around he looked directly at a creature stumbling down the hallway at him.

The two seemed fixated on each other before Damian moved his head to the side. The creature did the same time and mimicked his movements. Raising an arm it did the same thing and he began to smirk. Little did he know another of their subjects was beginning to re-animate itself behind him. Figuring it was best to get out of dodge he turned around and almost ran face first into a man with his chest ripped open. Staring into the maw of teeth and bone Damian slipped to his side and around the creature as its chest tried to bite at him. Eyes going wide he broke into a sprint and began to run towards the exit only to find himself nearly cornered by the unknown entities. The bodies he recognized but their physical attributes were distorted and horribly mutated beyond almost all recognition.

His exit blocked and with many of the bodies they had been studying rising up changing he found himself confined and his claustrophobia began to rise up. Ducking through the hallways he nearly ran straight into one of his now deceased colleagues and slipped under him. Reaching the containment room for their achieved diseases he ran his fingerprint and was inside just as one of the creatures slammed itself against the door. Kicking it several times he managed to get it away but had successfully trapped himself within what was his now re-enforced tomb.

Temperature low and his body reeling from the cold and through the inability to find food within the tomb he had simply kept himself busy by continuing his studies despite the situation he was in. Casually glancing out to the creatures still beating on the windows he finally seemed to snap. If they were going to kill him he was going to bring them all down with him. Driven by not only desperation but an odd sense of everything coming full circle he began to delve into the diseases he had catalogued and took out all of them at once. Taking out three syringes he began to play mix and match with the virus and disease vials. Injecting them one by one into himself he exhaled a deep breath and began to laugh. The scientist who had dedicated his life to studying and curing diseases had allowed himself to succumb to them by choice.

Three hours past and the incubation period sped up through their mix matched properties began to wrack him. Collapsing onto the floor he cried out in pain as his body began to change, skin becoming darker and turning almost into a calcified material his hands elongated and his jaw seemed to stretch. Groaning he felt himself dying but his life did not fully leave him. The changes continued to force him into convulsions but ceased suddenly three days later. Eyes staring out and his mind seemingly shattered through the constant torture he had in his view passed the test of death.... or undeath. Twitching he rose to his feet and looked at his hands. They looked normal... but soon they began to change as he remembered their appearance days earlier.

Instead of pain, he felt only pressure and it eased itself into non-existence within seconds. Hands elongating and changing he recognized the properties of the black protrusions as almost bone like in quality. It was on this day that he found himself in his re-birth. No longer a man of morality... he found that in the insanity of the moment he became his own greatest work. Body internally writhing he looked down at his hands once more and slid them along a stainless steel lab bench and watched it cleave a decent sized gash within it. Laughing he looked at the door and didn't hesitate at all. Slicing apart the door and carved his way towards the exit taking the creatures whom had once been his patients down one by one. Clearing out the facility was simply his first task.... He did not understand nor did he fully comprehend what had occurred... but he would. In time all secrets could be uncovered with perseverance and patience.


​

 

[Cerulean]

Yes, it's me. Deal wit it.

WIP


NAME: Scott Wilder
GENDER: Mantato (Just man)
FACTION: Rudiarii

APPEARANCE: 5'8, Blue Eyes, Also wears glasses, Usually wears a t-shirt and jeans



PERSONALITY:

TALENT: American Football -

PURVIEW: (An Awakened's purview is the domain or manner in which their divine magic begins to manifest. It is a reflection of who they are as a person, and can often be tied heavily to the circumstances of their awakening. The firefighter who witnesses impish devils dragging victims further into a burning building and launches himself after them emerges from what should have been his fiery grave as a living inferno, capable of igniting his entire body at will without it ever harming him. Another of the Awakened meditates in order to wreathe his skin in a layer of impervious stone.

These powers develop over time. It is important to note that the Awakened are not full Gods in their own right: not yet. Should they survive long enough to come to grips with their powers they may well become such but given that all the remaining forces of the Demiurge are hunting them mercilessly (when they aren't warring with each other), they have their work cut out for them. None of the Awakened has yet survived long enough to ascend to full godhood.

Though they say one of them is close.)
PURVIEW ABILITIES: (All Awakened begin the story with THREE abilities relating to their purview. An Awakened with the purview of 'Ice' might be able to wrap his fists in frozen gauntlets, for example, and an Awakened with the purview of 'Sky' might be able to grow wings at will. As the story progresses, and the characters grow more powerful, they will be able to acquire stronger abilities. Initially, however, try and keep them from being overly story-breaking.)

BACKGROUND: (Who was your character, before their Awakening? What did they do? What were they like?)
AWAKENING: (What happened during your character's Awakening? What trials did they face? How did they survive, and go on to find the faction they now belong to?)

 

[/aino]

done yeeeee

name:
Daniel Rivera
gender:
Dude
faction:
Rudiarii
​

personality: David has a quick mind to match his quick body. Even with the time-consuming practice that's necessary for his passions, he finds time to study and develop his brain alongside his body. His understanding of physics helps him figure out his limits and learn new stunts.

Before his Awakening, David was a very relaxed and social guy. He greatly enjoyed helping people and make new friends.

After the Awakening, David is still a calm and relaxed person, however he is much more reserved and paranoid of others. Suddenly realising your existence is a lie can do that to people.

talent: Running and parkour, martial arts tricking and gymnastics, and of course, skateboarding.

purview: The body.

abilities:
Fast Learner: A sort of "passive ability" of Daniel's. His understanding and awareness of his body surpasses the need to learn how to perform many actions. As long as he can picture how to do something in his mind, he is able to effortlessly do it. For example, someone tells him how a skateboarding trick is performed: "Do a 360 shuvit, and add a kicklip." After a very short moment of processing, Dan now can perform a 360 hardflip with ease. This ability also covers his enhanced reflexes and vastly improved overall muscular strength and endurance.

Frick, Man: Daniel has the ability to change the friction of any object he touches. This could mean lowering the friction of a surface he's running on to slide under an obstacle, raising the friction of a floor someone's standing on to effectively trap them, and so much more.

Alright, Fuck It!: During moments of extreme stress or conflict, Daniel can remove the restraints set upon him by himself, or specifically, his brain. This means the lack of fear, pain, and limitations on his muscles, and an excess of courage and recklessness. This helps him accomplish many feats he would otherwise be unable to do for various reasons, however it often leaves him winded and his body injured from working itself too hard.


background: Daniel Rivera was born to Jamie and Miriam Rivera on February 15th, 1993, making him 24 at the time of his awakening. At a young age, he developed passions for two types of people: Skateboarders, and ninjas. He aspired to become both, much to the amusement of his parents.

As he aged, he became skilled with gymnastics and track and field, leading to him quickly learning parkour and tricking skills. He also began learning to skate at a young age, using skateboards as a method of transportation from the age of eight.

Fast forward to current times, before the awakening. David's a respected traceur with a big bag of tricks, and a professional skateboarder for a local company with board control to boot. It seems that he's gone above and beyond his childhood dreams.

awakening:

warning: long as shit

Daniel awoke from his sleep with a sigh.

For the past week, squirrels have been scuttling around the roof of his apartment, doing whatever the hell squirrels did up there in the fall. It woke him probably every other night, but he didn't want to call management. He knew that they would put traps up there to kill them, and he didn't really want the poor squirrels to die because of him. They were just trying to live, after all.

After a moment of listening however, Dan realised that something was off. The sound of the steps weren't the fast scuttling that squirrels usually made. They were slower, more deliberate, patient. Many thoughts crossed his mind as careful listening revealed that the sounds didn't seem to be coming from the ceiling as much as from through the door across the room. His mind raced as he realised that there was an intruder in his home.

Adrenaline begin to kick in as Daniel carefully slipped out of his bed and quietly opened his nightstand. He pulled out a small Glock 27, a self-defense piece he purchased almost immediately after turning 18. His experiences with skateboarding and parkour training in the evenings and nights led to him getting robbed multiple times, something that he hoped the gun would help prevent in the future. He never really thought he would have to depend on it in his own home. He slowly cocked back the slide, loading a bullet into the barrel, and kept the gun trained at the door as he quietly walked over and opened it.

The living room was ransacked. He walked into it and saw his couch and entertainment center flipped over and drained of anything remotely valuable, as well as the lack of his TV. The door leading to the stairs and out of the apartment was wide open. He lowered his gun and cursed. They had already taken what they wanted and left. Or so he thought. He was caught by surprise when he heard loud footsteps rushing toward him, and turned just in time to see a hooded figure leap onto him with a knife.

Daniel dropped the gun and quickly clasped his hands around the wrist of his attacker, holding the tip of the blade inches from his face. Daniel drove his knee into his offender's groin, causing the man to falter, and used the opportunity to flip his attacker off of him and stumble forward toward the gun. He grabbed it and clumsily cocked it, causing a bullet to fly out of the side of the barrel. He trained the gun on his assailant as they stood with their knife, and walked backward to the opposite side of the room.

"Don't move a fucking muscle, or I swear to God I'll pump this entire fucking magazine into you!" Daniel yelled. The intruder was eerily silent as he dropped the knife and slowly raised his hands. Daniel kept the gun trained on him as he turned to grab the fallen landline phone on the floor.

In an instant, the intruder was once again on top of him. Dan didn't even feel himself move or hit the ground. All he saw was his assailant on top of him, raising the knife into the air. The thought, "How can he move so fast?" fleeted through his mind as Daniel jerked his neck and body to one side. The knife sunk down to it's hilt in the floor where his head previously was.

The gun was still in his hand.

Without thought, Daniel twisted his body, throwing the attacker off balance. He aimed his gun at his opponent and pulled the trigger once, twice, three times, four times. He kept pulling the trigger as he stood and stumbled back away from the man, sending holes through the intruder's body and the floor next to him. The gun finally clicked with an empty magazine, and Daniel stared at the bloody mess of a man on the floor in front of him. He felt his conscious once again take control over his body, dropping the gun to the floor and continuing to stare at the gruesome sight of his dead assailant. He quickly reached down and grabbed the landline phone, hardly taking an eye off of the body. He dialed 911 and held the phone to his ear.

A woman spoke from the other side of the receiver. "911, what is your emergency?"

Daniel stammered into the phone, still staring with wide eyes at the man he had just killed. The blood pouring out of him didn't look the right color... "U-uh, yes, hi, I, uhm, there... there was an... a-an intruder, and, we... I..."

The woman's voice spoke again. "Please, sir, take a deep breath. Where are you calling from, and what..."

Daniel lost focus on the woman's voice as he saw the body of the man in front of him change. Its limbs became longer, darker, the muscles gnarled and torn, and the clothes faded away into rough, leathery skin. The body of the man he killed was turning into that of a monster before his eyes.

"I-I..."

The voice coming from the phone began to shift from a calming woman's voice to low, spluttering, guttural vocals, as if spoken by a demon with its throat slit.

Daniel dropped the phone, stumbling backward into a wall. Cogs and gears struggled to turn in his mind. He saw visions of powerful humans and unknown worlds and of God, a being that he suddenly held with intense hatred and contempt. He sank down against the wall behind him, covering his head with his arms and curling up his body into a ball. He looked back at the body of the monster in front of him. It took the disguise of a human robber, and unsuccessfully attempted to murder him. Daniel began to see the world for what it was: A prison, designed to torture and condescend and kill.

He became aware of the Lie, and now was able to look past it to see the truth of the Machine he was trapped in.

No sirens were heard that night, and no police arrived to Daniel's apartment as he sat wide-eyed against the wall, glancing between the floor and the dead body of his failed killer, reflecting on the world from the new perspective of an Awakened.

 

[XC]

NAME: Giselle "L" Alvarez
GENDER: Female
FACTION: Rudiarii

APPEARANCE:

Her people would describe themselves as mestizo, the point where indigenous and European blood met half a dozen generations ago. Powdery smooth skin and eyes that were made to smile, Giselle's features carry a delicate yet dignified aura not unlike that of an angel of mercy, with lips that look like they sing songs of rapture. Leanly built with a strength to her structure that in no way impresses fragility honed by regular exercise and a healthy diet, Giselle cuts quite the genteel figure.

After the Awakening, Giselle favours outdoorswear, favouring military surplus jackets and grey-hued camo, preferably digital. Still, she wears it without the strict standards someone in service is forced to conform to, resulting in a compromise between comfort and practicality.

PERSONALITY: She yearns to be a pacifist, but understands that needs must when the Devil drives. Prudence is something Giselle lives by, eschewing dualities and dichotomies for the nuance that comes with shades of grey. There is no way to do something completely right, nor is there a path that is absolutely wrong. She seeks understanding before judgement, always, and if she were to raise her voice in anger, to raise her arm in violence, it will always be in a situation she deems necessary, and will regret.

Friends come easy. Not unlikable by any means, Giselle is always ready with a smile and a listening ear, somehow capable of projecting this aura that puts others at ease. A voice that had been used to provide refuge to the masses in song prior to her Awakening seems to be the key to making people open up, something Giselle dedicates her free time to. She feels, and she finds strength in such feeling. To her, the fighting, the exploring - everything they do, is a means to an end where there will be no more conflict, and she believes that empathy on both sides forms the foundation to a lasting peace.

TALENT: Music
PURVIEW: Song
PURVIEW ABILITIES:

The Song of Harmony: This melody dissolves hostility, anger, hatred. It calms a beating heart and stills the restless soul. To those in need of spiritual, mental healing, listening to this song allows the first steps towards mending to be taken, if it otherwise were not to be.

The Aria of the Stand: She sings with multiple voices, producing a dream-like effect that fuzzes Truth and Lie. As long as she holds the melody, as long as she stays in tune, Giselle transforms from a barely competent fighter to someone who seems as if they have been fighting for years. However, the condition for her Voices to stay in harmony is that she has to have faith in the cause that she fights for - to protect innocents, to shatter the Lie. To unjustly abuse her Voices would be to sunder the song and strip herself of power.

The Whistling of the Wind: One of her many voices manifests itself in the form of a walking cane, appearing to be made of a ridged, varnished wood of unknown age and origin. From the top, a blade concealed within can be revealed, approximately 2 feet long at full draw. Unnaturally sharp without need for maintenance, it produces a high-pitched sound as it cuts through air, and when used alongside The Aria of the Stand, the metal glows white.

BACKGROUND: By the age of 8, Giselle was better at playing most instruments than many adults at one. By the age of 12, she was declared a virtuoso. By the time she was 16, she was a savant. She took to the stage, discovered the way musicians always were in those days, posting snippets of her talent, tributes of lesser musicians she nonetheless admired. Yet as she sung, as she strummed and played and swayed, the crowds clung on to every note and every chord, every verse and every chorus. Never did she stray far from the church organ, from her place in the church choir. No matter how big the stage, how big the stadium, she would always return to the space beneath the cross. Her parents thought themselves blessed, a miracle to be bestowed a baby by the Lord in the December years of their life. They would not live to see her sing to the world, dying within days of each other when she was 13.

AWAKENING: There was a riot. They were protesting against hunger, against unemployment, against injustice as they always did. The cause mattered little, overshadowed by the anger of a crowd that fed upon itself and grew beyond control. They marched and burnt, looted and smashed, seeking a justice that they no longer deserved. But Giselle did not condemn. She pained for those that protested, to have been driven to such frenzies by the injustices they faced daily, she pained for those affected by this chaos, for those that have lost someone and their own lives to it all. So she did what she did best, and she took the stage. As she sang, Giselle wove the crowd under her spell, lyric and melody flowing together with the most sacred instrument of them all - her vocal chords.

Bewitched with peace, the riot ebbed, and the crowd dispersed. Victory attained, or so she thought. Too far from the soothing effects of her Voices, she drew the unwanted attention of the Denizens, creatures that were more than eager to prey on someone so helpless. She ran and ran, ran and ran until her feet gave up on her, until her back was against the wall. She tried to sing but her lungs failed. She screamed, as her hands were crushed by the bulk of the abomination she faced.

She screamed, and they fell apart. Unraveled, unmade by the power of this falsetto of unknown heights. But the damage was done. Curled up and cradling her ruined hands, she lived only because she was found by the Rudiarii, her adopted faction.