[CHAR] The Westminster League Of Extraordinary Individuals (WWII Superhero Spy RP)

[Lady Selune]

Maria Bianco:

Name: Maria Bianco

False ID Name: Marie Duboius

Nationality: Italian

Age: 27

Height: 5'9"

Weight: 167 lbs

Appearance:

Other Appearance: Rather remarkably for a field operative, Maria has sustained no injuries that would cause her to have a scar or other such feature, and has refused multiple times to have a tattoo.
Superpower(s): Whilst research on superhuman individuals are few and far between, Maria seems to be within one of the smallest types of powers; psychic ones. She has the capability of reading the mind of any non-powered individual that she comes into direct, skin-to-skin contact, although cannot access any information the individual gained after she has made contact. This is an extremely mentally draining feat however, and is liable to cause her pins and needles in her extremities, numbness in her extremities, migraines, nosebleeds, temporary paralysis, permeant paralysis and death if she overextends herself.

Skills: Maria is classically educated and is fluent in three languages, her birth language of Italian, her second language of English, and the language she has more recently started learning in preparation for their mission, French. Her weakest language as of right now however is German, of which she knows very little.

She is also a capable cook, as was expected of her, and can play the piano with a number of years of practise behind her from her childhood. Other than this, she is also trained in a number of interrogation techniques, should she encounter a superhuman whom she needs to extract information from.

Personality: Despite being a trained spy, Maria is no James Bond. She hates killing in cold blood and has no stomach for alcohol; she’ll stick with her cigarettes thank you very much. On the other hand, when it comes to superhumans, especially those experimented on by Germany, she is almost motherly, and has an enormous personal stake in her organisation, and is almost more afraid of one of them dying than she is of dying herself.

History: Maria Bianco has quite a history behind her. Daughter of an Italian businessman, she was recruited by Italian pre-war military intelligence agents when her unique abilities were discovered. Unlike the Nazis who were determined to investigate and experiment on superhumans, the Italians trained them for their own military.
Being able to read minds was an obvious asset in covert activities, and so when the war started, she was sent to London under the guise of her fleeing an Italy at war, being fluent in English due to her training. Whilst living in London however, she became disillusioned with the Nazi regime that she was working for and began to distance herself from her command, before breaking communication with them around 1940.

This lead to a series of events that ended with her murdering a German superhuman spy who had been sent to check in on her, and she went on the run from the English officials, before being captured. When her background was discovered, she was handed over to OSS, where they were surprised to find out she was cooperative with their agents, and assisted them at every turn.

After this incident, she beseeched Brigadier John Carmond in order to set up an orginisation she had envisioned for two years now; the Westminster League Of Extraordinary Individuals. Blackmailing the Brigadier General, she got the go-ahead for the operation, and, well, you know the rest.

Equipment: All the standard gear for a British field agent, but most importantly she carries the Welrod silenced handgun, a bolt-action British made gun that is so quiet that the action of the bolt is, in fact, louder than the shot itself. She’s never used it, but she knows that dropping into occupied Europe isn’t exactly one of the safest options in the world, and her power isn’t particularly combat-oriented, so this is the only real method of self-defence she has.

[Prophecy]

Henry Blair Ashmore

Name: Henry Blair Ashmore

False ID Name: Tommy Ashwell

Nationality: British

Age: 18

Height: 6'0"

Weight: 171 lbs

Appearance:

Appearance

Henry appears relatively young for his age, with a clean shaven face and hair always worn in a loose, slicked-back fashion. Standing at 6'0" he is tall - although not imposingly so - with a slender but proportionate build. Due to his class he is always sharply dressed, and as a result of poor eyesight is almost always seen to be wearing glasses.

Other Appearance: N/A

Superpower(s): Henry is a shape-shifter. His cells have the extraordinary ability to mimic those of other living organisms, and as such he can alter his appearance and physical characteristics at will. This not only gives him the power to assume the form of other humans, but of animals too. The remarkable ability allows him to replicate others' down to the most minuscule of details, including fingerprints, retinas, and even DNA itself. Having himself tested the capabilities of his powers in a lab, Henry can comfortably state that his powers of mimicry are perfect to the nth degree.
However, restricted by the law of conservation of energy, Henry's raw physical power can never exceed that of his own. While he may be able to shape-shift into a lion or a bear, his strength will remain unchanged. Interestingly, this concept applies in the opposite scenario as well. Should he chose to morph into a person or creature who is smaller than he is, his physical power will still be that of a young man.

Skills: Having been raised in an affluent, upper-class household, Henry received some of the finest private education in the country. As a result he is extremely academic, excelling in a number of subjects. Not only is Henry a mathematical whiz, but also an outstanding scientist - in particular being fascinated with biology as a result of his superpowers. Alongside this he casually speaks a variety of languages, including French, and is nearly fluent in German.

Personality: Henry is a quiet individual. Although not necessarily shy, he is far from outgoing and usually opts to listen rather than speak when matters don't concern him. Despite this, he is a fairly upbeat - perhaps due to only having experienced the best of life. When engaged in conversation he is happily talkative, if a little awkward, and is even known to rant when discussing something he finds particularly interesting. Those who have met him often comment on his kind-hearted demeanour, and genuine passion for understanding the world. His picture perfect smile is also said to be infectious.
On the other hand, Henry's sheltered lifestyle has resulted in him having little real world experience. Having never had to fight for anything in his life, he lacks independence and would feel lost if he were to live anywhere but his family's comfortable estate. Not only does he lack the ability to cook and clean for himself, Henry is also woefully out of his depth when it comes to working in a real job. Until now the only work he has ever done would be to occasionally help his father with the accounts on his numerous businesses.

History: Being young, there is not much history to Henry Ashmore. The son of an extremely wealthy business man - who dealt in nearly all of Great Britain's key industries at one point or another - Henry grew up in a grand estate situated on the Cambridgeshire suburbs. Being little more than an hour from London, the Ashmore estate offered the perfect middle ground between work and relaxation for Henry's father, who nevertheless veered more towards work. His mother sadly died during child-birth, and while Henry evidently survived, it left a hole in the family that could not be filled. While Henry did not have a lonely childhood, he was well aware of the prolonged absences of his father. He could only assume that his father was filling the gap with work, and so too did Henry.
It was around the time Henry had turned five years old that his various nannies and maids of the estate began to make hushed talk of his strange 'abilities'. Those who worked in the house overheard an argument between Henry's main carer, and the Lord of the estate, Henry's father. The nanny was reportedly in hysterics, claiming that she had seen the face of Lady Ashmore on that of young Henry one night as she put him to sleep. Had this been any other nanny Lord Ashmore may well have terminated her contract immediately and told her to leave the estate for daring to make such absurd accusations, but this was not just any nanny, she had cared for Henry since birth and was well respected among the staff. After a night of heated discussion Lord Ashmore convinced the nanny to return to work, but gossip continued as it always does.
In retrospect, the situation was comical, if not slightly unnerving. As it turned out, the nanny had indeed seen the face of Henry's mother in place of the young boys own. Having seen portraits of his mother around the house, Henry was left to wonder at what she might have been like if she were still alive. He thought so often of her, recalling the portraits every night before he slept, that he involuntarily triggered the awakening of his powers. On the night the nanny claimed she had seen Lady Ashmore's face, Henry's own cells had actually mimicked the appearance of his mother’s face. Of course, Lord Ashmore did not come to realise this until much later.
After being privately educated for most of his life, Henry went on to study at the prestigious University of Oxford when he turned eighteen. Being a naturally gifted mathematician he pursued this career with the backing of his father, who one day hoped that Henry would take over the family business.
His abilities were not taboo, although knowledge of them was kept strictly amongst close family and household staff. As he grew up, Henry learned to master his powers and study them alongside his real academic studies. His father preferred to distance himself from the situation, but despite this he was intrigued. As the war continued, Lord Ashmore had inevitably become involved in the production of arms and ammunition, and because of this he had friends in high places. Talk of the Westminster League of Extraordinary Individuals had been filtered down through various levels of government secrecy and was nothing more that speculation when it reached him - anyone else may have dismissed it. Luckily for Lord Ashmore, he did not.

Equipment:
- Standard British field agent gear
- Enfield No. 2 Service Pistol: Given to Henry more to fill his holster than anything else. While his father does occasionally take him fox-hunting, he has no real experience with firearms.
- A small notepad, along with a biro, pencil, and sharpener

[Oak7ree]

Jean Calvert

Name: Jean Calvert

False ID Name: Louis Cambronne

Nationality: French

Age: 23.

Height: 184 CM

Weight: 75 kilograms

Appearance: Jean is a lean man with an athletic build, and tall for a Frenchman. He has strong, coal black hair and green eyes, and a plain face. He has grown a black stubble.

Other Appearance: Jean has small scars all over his body from different accidents and military training.

Superpowers: Camouflage.

Jean has the ability to camouflage himself, his clothes and equipment to suit his surroundings. It doesn't make him invisible, but a much harder target to detect. Jean is like a human chameleon. He also seems to have keen senses, especially eyesight, but not extraordinarily high. Continuous camouflage can leave Jean exhausted, and he eats more than a regular man, as his metabolism works more efficiently.

Skills: Jean has been trained by the British to act as a commando during his stay on the British Isles. He also served in the French Army during the Invasion, and thus has a wide knowledge on explosives, different weapons and tactics. He can speak French, German and English fluently thanks to his upbringing.

Jean is a competent hand-to-hand combatant, having learned primarily boxing, few grapples and chokeholds while in service.

Jean has good knowledge of history, especially European history.

Personality: An easy going man and a gambler by an outside observer, but a thoughtful and serious man inside. He might joke when stressed, but also often focuses on the mission at hand.

Jean has been educated in many good schools, and as such can appear to be quite smart and appreciative of information. He is curious and perceptive. Thanks to his sniper training, he is a calm person and cool nerved when laying an ambush.

History: Jean was born into a upper-class French family with long military traditions going all the way to the Hundred Years' War, on June 6th, 1918, Jean was given the best education available at the time. Jean's father Jacques Calvert served as an infantry captain on the Western Front, leading a company in the battle for Verdun. Jacques continued his work as a travelling businessman after the war. Jean had unremarkable childhood, but during his teens, Jean started to find himself able to camouflage himself. At first it wasn't very practical ability, but as the time went on and he got older, the ability grew stronger. He was using the skill to pull pranks on his friends. He has lived most of his life in Paris.

During his late teens, Jean became romantically involved with a Parisian singer named Emma d'Anjou - the surname being her stage name, but they shared many an afternoon in the Parisian cafes nonetheless. Emma and her family were secular Jews, and her parents were humble barkeepers. She often sang in the family's bar and in a couple other establishments. Emma was a pretty brunette with blue eyes, who dreamed of travelling one day to America, to start acting and singing in New York, but as her family wasn't very wealthy, she continued singing in Paris, hoping that some manager or agent might someday pick her for a musical or something similar. The couple broke up after an argument over Emma's dream to become a famous actress.

Some days, Jean passed his time playing cards with his friends, becoming good in a few card games and mastering a couple magic tricks. He also gained a taste for Calvados in his youth.

Before the war, Jean became a Corporal in the French Army, serving as a sniper. He could use his camouflage skill to blend with the environment and sneak upon his fellow soldiers. The officers were amazed by the skill of Jean, who didn't share his secret ability. Jean left the army in 1938 after his two-year service period. Jean attended university, studying history and archaeology for a year before the war broke out, and he was called back to the army. He took part in several battles and skirmishes, often working alone behind the enemy lines and evading capture multiple times Jean made a few friends in French Foreign Legion during the invasion. As France was invaded by the Germans, Jean managed to escape France by boat from Dunkirk as the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) was evacuated. He was able to capture a Parabellum pistol, but had to leave his French sniper rifle behind.

After arriving the British Isles, Jean revealed his power to an intelligence officer, and was ear marked for a special unit that was on the talks on highest levels of the government - the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, better known as the Special Operations Executive. He was trained in sabotage, explosives, radio transmission and other fields of ungentlemanly warfare. In 1941, Jean was transferred to the Westminster League.

Equipment:

A 7.62x39 mm Winchester Model 75 carbine with a scope, folding stock and ammunition.
(Basically, an ahistorical carbine model of the Model 70 I made up.)
A 9x19 mm Parabellum 1908/Luger pistol, holster and ammunition.
OSS field agent equipment
Flashlight with batteries.
A small notebook serving as a sniper's memo.

[ayzrules]

Ying-mei Liu

Name: Ying-mei Liu ("Ying-mei" translates roughly to "silver sister")

False ID Name: Sylvia Wang

Nationality: Chinese

Age: 28

Height: 5 feet and 3 inches


Weight: 105 pounds (BMI: 18.6)

Appearance:


Ying-mei is short and slim, with relatively light skin and chocolate brown eyes. She has thick, straight black hair which she usually wears in a bun. Her hair goes halfway down her back, but she is considering cutting it to shoulder length because it can be a pain to keep long hair out of her face. Ying-mei has long, slender fingers characteristic of a piano player, although she has never touched a piano in her life (she did, however, play violin for a couple of years as a child). Ying-mei has a heart-shaped face and eyes that are rather thin. She has a small, flat-ish nose and average sized lips which are a pale pink color. Ying-mei's feet are small in comparison to the rest of her body, and she has a delicate, bird-like look to her, which is only enhanced by her diminutive stature.

Other Appearance: N/A-Ying-mei's ability ensures that she has no scars, and it would be utterly improper for her to get a tattoo of any sort (at least, in her opinion)

Superpower(s): Ying-mei is able to heal others with her hands; the silver sparks that shoot out from her fingertips can close wounds and erase bruises and put bones back together. However, when it comes to diseases, Ying-mei's power is virtually useless, and she is not capable of "regenerating" a body part-if somebody's finger was cut off, Ying-mei could possibly re-attach the finger to their hand if she had the finger (which would be a process that required a great deal of energy), but if the severed finger is gone for good, then the most Ying-mei can do is close the wound. As with all physical activities, Ying-Mei's power can be very draining and overuse could lead to bouts of dizziness and fainting.

Skills: Ying-mei is fluent in both Mandarin Chinese and the Shanghai dialect of Mandarin Chinese (sometimes referred to as "Shanghainese"). She is also fluent in American English, having studied in America for many years, and she knows a decent amount of French (as much as somebody who took four years of French in college would know, anyway). Ying-mei is an adept nurse and knows her way around bandages and splints and the like.

Personality: Ying-mei has always been demure to the point of meekness. She is ferociously loyal to her friends and family and a go-with-the-flow kind of person. She's mellow and calm, and keeps a cool head under stressful situations and does not panic very easily. Ying-mei is always up for chatting with others, but she tends to keep to herself when she is around people that she is unfamiliar with. Full of soft smiles and gentle words, she can be a pushover at times, with a dislike of hurting others. She is not easily provoked and doesn't like getting into fights, and can easily sense how people are feeling. However, if someone or something is threatening people she is close to, Ying-mei will do whatever it takes to get them out of danger. Ying-mei is used to obeying others and will readily follow orders without question; China's long-standing tradition of filial piety and respect for authority has not been lost on her. Her sense of duty and responsibility and propriety may seem rather old-fashioned at times.

Ying-mei does not wish harm upon others unless they're the ones causing harm in the first place. She likes to appreciate the simple things in life-stopping to smell the flowers, so to speak-and adapting to new situations is not her strongest area of expertise. She genuinely cares for people, perhaps even too much at times. However, she can take charge under pressure if she knows what she has to do and how she has to do it. During those times, Ying-mei can transform from a shy, reserved woman to a focused, confident leader in a matter of seconds. This is an extremely rare occurrence, and usually only happens when she is the only person with any sort of medical experience in the room.

History: Ying-mei was born to a wealthy family in Shanghai right after the Chinese Revolution of 1911-1912. Her father had various connections with Sun Yat-sen, the leader of the Nationalists (the two had gone to school together), which afforded Ying-mei's family various privileges and gave her father an important government position. She is the oldest of three children (she has a younger sister and a younger brother) and grew up in a spacious modern house in the wealthier parts of Shanghai. She was taught by private tutors while she was young, and attended an all-girls secondary school in her teen years. Her father, who had gone to school in the United States, arranged to have Ying-mei and her sister attend a college in the country when Ying-mei was seventeen and her sister was fifteen.

Ying-mei was taught English alongside Chinese in her youth, and as a result, she is very fluent in both languages. In college, Ying-mei originally decided to major in classical literature. She was about halfway through her first year when she discovered her ability.

One night, Ying-mei accidentally spilled a pot of boiling water on her arm. Nobody was around, and Ying-mei began frantically searching for cold water when she felt a tingling sensation in her hands. To her surprise, there were silver sparks streaming out of her fingertips and towards her left forearm. When the silver sparks made contact with the affected area, they somehow, in some way, healed the burn. Ying-mei was convinced that she was hallucinating, until she saw the sparks erase faint scars from mosquito bites that Ying-mei acquired while living in Shanghai.

Ying-mei told nobody about her newfound abilities. There was no place in the new world order for supernatural powers, especially not in her social circle of modern, educated, and rational thinkers. She could only imagine the scandal if the daughter of one of the President of the Republic of China's top officials announced that she could magically heal people! Not only would it ruin her reputation (and quite possibly her father's) for the rest of their lives, but it could also tarnish the new image that Sun Yat-sen was working to create for China. It would do no good for her to reinforce the world's stereotypes that all Chinese people were superstitious.

Nevertheless, Ying-mei experimented with her ability in her free time. She learned to "activate" it on will and how to control the flow of sparks, and the more that she learned, the more she wanted to use her ability to actually help others. After her second year of college and studying classical literature, she made the decision to transfer to the Yale Nursing School. Her father was originally against this idea, but Ying-mei managed to convince him to allow her to transfer. It was probably the first time that she had ever challenged her parents' authority.

While she was attending nursing school, Ying-mei gained some experience in actual hospitals, and although it was not what she had imagined herself doing five years earlier, Ying-mei found it to be extremely fulfilling. Whenever she was left alone with patients, Ying-mei would send a few sparks their way-not enough to arouse suspicion due to a miraculous recovery, but enough to alleviate some of the pain or speed up the healing process. Ying-mei knew that she would eventually have to return to Shanghai and most likely marry some rich politician or the other, but she knew that she had been most happy at nursing school and that she would not have traded the experience for the world.

After graduating, Ying-mei remained in America because her younger brother had just started his education in the country. Ying-mei worked at a local hospital and kept her brother company in the United States. Ying-mei found that she was quite fond of her quiet existence.

In 1941, right after her brother graduated, Ying-mei's uncle (who was living in Great Britain) invited the two to visit him in London. Ying-mei accompanied her brother across the Atlantic and arrived that spring. Although everybody was nice enough, Ying-mei did not like life in London very much. There was too much going on and everyone was always going somewhere and doing something.

One night, Ying-mei's younger brother convinced her to take a short cut through one of the poorer parts of the city. As they were walking, the pair was set upon by armed thieves who demanded that they hand over all their valuables. Ying-mei's brother, a stubborn young man with an easily hurt pride, bluntly refused. Ying-mei could do nothing but watch in horror as one of the thieves shot her brother in the chest and took all their valuables by force before melting away into the night. Distraught, Ying-mei did the only thing that she could think to do-she began to heal him with her abilities. The police, who had been alerted by the gunshot, soon arrived at the scene to see Ying-mei's silver sparks closing up a gunshot wound.

After that, Ying-mei was taken away and shuttled through various offices, holding facilities, and headquarters before ending up with the OSS and the Westminster League of Extraordinary Individuals.

Equipment: Standard British field agent gear and a basic (though more extensive than what a typical field agent would carry) first aid kit.

[Korkoa]

Jason O'Grady

Name: Jason O'Grady

False ID Name: Jason Graves or Turnabout

Nationality: Irish/Roma (Gypsy/Traveler)

Age: 22

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 190 lbs

Appearance:

Other Appearance: Heavy scarring on his left arm, up to the elbow. Some loss of mobility in the limb due to this.

Superpower(s):

Powerset

((So far, Jason only has access to the Kinetic portion of his powerset, the rest will evolve over time.))

Jason describes himself as an 'energy vampire'. He can absorb, deflect, and redirect many different types of energy, and by 'charging' his weapons with stored energy he can make his hits much harder. For example, if he were to absorb the energy of a train wreck, charge his staff with it, and hit you with the staff, it would be as if you were hit by the force of the staff driven by a train. He can store up to two different types of energy at once, although this shortens the duration he can safely store them. He can also charge objects with different types of energy as well, giving them different properties when they're released, or the energy reaches its limit. Different types of energy also grant him different 'buffs', which, while much weaker than true superhuman levels, put him at a higher tier than most normal humans.

-Kinetic: Kinetic energy is the most common type of energy Jason uses, as it's the first he discovered, and the one with the least benefit to him. This allows him to absorb the energy of a physical attack he is aware of, rendering it null, and redirecting the attack by charging his weapons with it, essentially hitting you with your own force.

-Electrical: By storing electrical energy in his body, Jason can enhance his physical speed, running a maximum of 20-30 MPH. When not burning off that energy, he is extremely hyper. Using this energy for an attack makes it a lightning attack.

-Heat: By storing energy from fire or heat from the surrounding air, Jason can enhance his physical toughness, making it more difficult to be hurt. He becomes hot to the touch while storing this energy. Using this energy for an attack manifests in a fire attack.

-Sound: Aborsbing this energy has a twofold effect. In addition to allowing Jason to alter the sounds he makes, whatever object he's absorbing from, which must be making noise, is silenced. When used as an attack, it creates a loud cracking noise.

Jason has been unable to absorb biochemical energy or light energy.

This power also comes with an inherent weakness, the more energy he stores, the more quickly it becomes unstable. Unstable energy will cause Jason immense pain, and finally reach a critical failing point, resulting in a catastrophic breakdown of energy wherever it's stored, to disastrous results.

Skills: Jason is a master entertainer, an actor able to put on any accent and false personality; a singer and violinist that will get even the most stoic of toes tapping, and a storyteller able to engage the mind of the most curmudgeonly crone. This is helped by a near-fluent understanding of English, German, and French. He also is able to find overlooked hiding places with ease thanks to his background as a nomadic wanderer.

Personality: Jason is a this point in his life, quiet and reserved. He will open up to those who may take the time to get to know him, but he projects an air of cold indifference as a barrier. If one were to get past that however, Jason shows himself to be a very carefree individual. He wants very much to be happy, and to bring happiness to others; though with the war on he thinks he must suppress that desire.

Jason feels at home in the center of attention or on the outskirts of a crowd regardless, only wanting to feel included in some way with anything going on. If he trusts you he is an open book, answering any questions about himself he has answers to, and asking the same of his conversational partner in return.

History: Jason's story began as so many others do: With his father, John. A poor farmer in Ireland, the elder O'Grady was first in line to inherit the farm from his father. Having seen his son grow up nothing but a farmer, never having half a day to call his own, Grandfather O'Grady offered the boy a chance to go out on his own, to spend a couple years seeing the world and being a boy before settling down. The man accepted, and soon found himself traveling across the Eastern European countryside with a knapsack and a song. Jason't father stumbled upon a wandering group of entertainers, Gypsies as they were called by the city folk; though they themselves preferred the term Roma. After meeting one of the young women in the family, John was smitten, and spent the rest of his time away from the farm with the group.

Some months after the departure of John, back home to the farm, the troupe gained two new members. Twins, a boy and a girl. Jason and his sister Emma. They were raised as part of the large family, though their history was never hidden from them. The pair were always inseparable. They did everything together, and soon learned most of what the Roma had to teach. They learned how to draw a crowd, how to keep interest, how to act and sing, and how to perform. Their lives seemed to be a neverending whirlwind of adventure.

The Roma traveled everywhere during the twins teenaged years, from Spain to Russia to Greece and everywhere in between. Not all of those places welcomed them with open arms, however. Many people distrusted them, called them thieves or worse. One day, while the family was performing and raising money near Budapest, a small crowd of superstitious villagers tried to form a mob and drive them out of town. Miraculously, even though he had been hit on his left arm by several thrown rocks, Jason and the rest of the family walked away without being hurt. Unbeknownst to them however, Jason was about to go through a trial.

Jason's latent superhuman abilities had spontaneously activated, protecting him from harm during the mob. However, with energy stored up from the attacks he'd blocked and no way of knowing what had happened or how to release it, the energy began to break down. In the days following the attack, Jason complained of sharp pains in his arm, first only every once in awhile, but soon a near-constant pain. Finally several days later, the energy broke; the bones in Jason's forearm and hand shattering spontaneously as the skin split open. The family panicked, but reacted quickly. When Jason awoke in a hospital several days later he was told they had saved his arm, but he had lost some mobility. It was then that the family revealed their only secret to Jason and his sister: Much of their number were superhuman as well.

Driven out and ostracized by their respective communities because of their supernatural abilities, the elders of the family of Roma had found each other and banded together at a young age. Now three generations later, the large group held nearly a dozen of their number as superhuman. These members of the community stepped in now, helping to teach Jason the basics of his power and how to control it. For the next several years, the young man spent every moment learning how to control this newfound gift. It was an exhilarating time in his life, but unfortunately, all chapters must close.

The family was caught in Germany when war broke out. They decided it was too dangerous to try and sneak the large group out of the country, and instead decided to hide. They underestimated the hatred Hitler's regime felt towards Gypsies. Soon after the war broke out, they were ambushed in the night. Solders ripped through their camp, setting fire and taking prisoner those who didn't resist. Those who did resist... Even the superhumans the family had fostered found themselves little match for the surprise attack against a full army. Jason did the only thing he could do. The last thing his mother ever said to him as blood poured down her face. "Run my child, run!" She had cried. "Save yourself, please!"

Jason ran. He never knew what happened to the rest of them. His mother, his sister, all of his friends and family... He never went back. Two days later he bluffed his way out of the country. A week after that he found himself on a ship heading for Ireland. And then, a father he had never known, a farm he had never seen, a family that was not his own. Jason toiled there in anonymity until rumors reached his ears of a secret division of the British war machine, a place where he might be able to help. Packing up his paltry collection of things, Jason left in the middle of the night. He bluffed his way onto a cargo ship as a crewmember, stole a uniform from an off-duty solder, and then decided on some fun. Removing the identifying markers from the uniform, he spent the next several days shuffling himself around through various offices, claiming at each one to be a different officer of a different rank who had conveniently been mugged and no of course I don't have any papers you utter buffoon I was MUGGED now how do I get my things replaced? When finally he had been given a set of 'replacement' papers and found someone he suspected could help him, he dropped the act and asked about entry into the Westminster League...

Equipment: A pair of aviators goggles.
A black handkerchief.
A 5 foot long wooden staff.
A pocketful of bolts.

[RomanAria]

Kazia Andrysiak

Name: Kazimiera Andrysiak

False ID Name: Anna Slaski

Nationality: Polish

Age: Seventeen.

Height: Four feet, nine inches.

Weight: eighty-nine pounds (BMI 19.3)

Appearance: Her shortness being her only notable trait, Kazia is in most other ways fairly average. In part due to her height, and in part due to the way she styles her appearance, she is often taken to be several years younger than she actually is. She has an average, if slightly on the thin side, figure, dull hazel-blue eyes, and unremarkable wavy medium brown hair that hangs to the middle of her back. Aware that it’s too long for practicality, she normally keeps it braided and rolled into a low bun, and the flyaways held down with a colorful headscarf, though she has also been known to plait it into pigtails when attempting to appear more childlike.

Other Appearance: Kazia has fairly unblemished skin, save for a scattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose and a small vertical scar at the very corner of her mouth, from once being too close to an exploding window.

Superpower(s): Kazia’s power is rather passive- vocal mimicry. She can mimic nearly any sound she hears, from the full range of human voices to various bird songs and animal sounds. She has also proven adept at mimicking alarms, though she’s fairly useless at many other environmental sounds. It should also be noted, though she’s not entirely sure if this counts as part of what makes her special or if this is just a quirk of her mundane brain, that she has a nearly-perfect photographic memory. The combination of her memory and her mimicry is such that she is sort of a human tape recorder – she can listen in on a conversation and repeat it back days or weeks later, verbatim, and with the voices of the people who had originally spoken. Given the passive nature of her powers the only real limitation on them is the strain on her vocal chords, but an interesting quirk of them is that she doesn’t seem to have her own voice- whenever she must converse with someone, she uses phrases that she’s heard spoken around her in a variety of other people’s voices.

Skills: Kazia is conversational in Polish, reasonably understanding of Russian (As she was required to study it in school, and has some (broken) understanding of English, French, and German due to listening to the people around her. The nature of her power is such that she can use full sentences of any language she’s overheard with no accent or hesitation, but a lot of times what she says will not be entirely fit to the scene at hand, as there is no promising she understands all the words in all the sentences. She’s physically fit, though never properly trained, and a decent runner with good endurance. Also, she is known to be quite resourceful, if a bit impulsive.

Personality: Kazia is, to be summed up in one word, very reserved. She always prefers to listen rather than talk- though once she decides she can definitely trust people she will at least begin conversing with them, if not ever really “open up.” Her outlook on life is rather cynical, and she is normally rather sarcastic- though she does a good job of (externally, at least) seeming to be perfectly docile and naive. This said, she is decidedly not a killer, never having taken a life despite working in and around the front lines – if the resistance could even be seen as having a “front line”. Above all, she is fiercely loyal to whatever cause she puts herself behind.

History: Born in Warsaw in 1924 to an upper-middle-class family, Kazia lived a relatively normal childhood. She has one elder brother and a younger brother and sister, and her family is devoutly Catholic. She went to a public school for all six years of her primary school, and three years of grammar school.

In regards to her power she, and her family and friends, have known about it since she was little more than a toddler. She distinctly remembers one day in particular as the “onset” of her ability. She’d been toddling around the house while her mother was cooking and singing along to the radio, and then for whatever reason her mother had stopped and turned the radio off. She had wanted to hear more of the song, but didn’t have the words to ask, so instead had mentally replayed the song and sang along with her mother’s voice. Understandably her mother was absolutely confused, as her daughter who had never made a sound before had suddenly perfectly mimicked her voice, but they assumed it was just a quirky talent. They didn’t think it might have been something more until a few days after Kazia turned eight; she had overheard her mother and father arguing about something, and a few weeks after the argument confronted her mother about it by reciting it verbatim and then asking in her schoolteachers’ voice, “Now what was the meaning of THAT?”

Rumors of “magic” and such were prevalent, of course- but this was Poland, full of hyper-superstitious Catholics. And in any case, whatever this… quirk or power that Kazia had was, it seemed mundane enough to pass as a normal talent. She was everyone’s favorite study partner in school, given that she could repeat verbatim her teacher’s lectures, no matter how long ago they had been.

All in all she had a rather happy childhood…Until, that is, the bombs started falling, on September 1st, 1939. Kazia had been walking home from school, minding her younger siblings and entertaining them by singing various songs from the radio in the artists’ voices. A flight of aircraft, not like any they’d really seen before, flew in formation over the center of the city, dropping what she would later realize were bombs, though she wasn’t aware of that at the time. The blast, though they were over a kilometer away, was still enough to knock them off their feet, and immediately they saw the columns of smoke and fire. Fleeing to their home on the outskirts of the city, the younger children were the ones who had to describe to their mother what they had just seen.

Kazia’s older brother had recently enlisted in the Polish army, and her father- a reserve soldier – was soon called away. The church soon became a sanctuary for their family, a place they could go no matter what, and for a few hours at least shut out the terrible thought of what was going on outside.

On September 28th, the city was surrendered, prisoners of war taken. Kazia had no idea if her father and brother were in that number, dead, or perfectly safe elsewhere. The following Sunday found the family in church, of course, and that same Sunday the Germans marched in, took everyone at gunpoint into the courtyard, shot the bishop and priests and anyone else who dared make a sound of protest.

At first it seemed like the people would be broken by it. But then, not even a month later, there was a not-so-quiet rebellion, the secret Polish army. Quiet whispers that they were seeking people with “unusual skills” circulated. Finally, Kazia mustered her courage and went to TAP, convinced her ability would be outright rejected- it wasn’t like she had something terribly useful. It was much to her surprise when they seemed glad to have her, and even more to her surprise that she was shuffled around to increasingly more-important reconnaissance jobs. It seems she underestimated the value of a small, quiet listener.

Finally, she was shuffled over to a French operation that was working alongside the polish resistance, and then over to a British operation working alongside them, and now she’s landed here, still slightly befuddled as to what, exactly, is going on.

Equipment: Standard British issue, an assortment of the crude, handmade smoke and noisemakers that youth in the resistance were so fond of.

[MegaOscarPwn]

A living meme's App

Name: Óscar Guijarro

False ID Name: Tony Bamanaboni/Omega.

Nationality: Swedish, lived most of his life in Spain, escaped from Franco's regime.

Age: 27
Height: 1,89 Metres.

Weight: 21.00 kg/m2

Appearance: Óscar is simple at first sight, his body being that of an average male of his age, but it seems that he takes care of his health and body, shown by is slightly muscular body: Nothing too crazy, but he's fit. He tends to wear dark, baggy clothing, tending to choose black amongst all other colors. He also seems to be a fan of numerous comics. He also dons a full beard, completed with a black pompadour that he takes care of, sometimes putting it softly under the hood of his...well, hoody. His eyes are brown, which aren't really special or anything, but he sometimes seems to have some sort of twitch on the left one, the causes are unknown, more than likely accumulated stress of some sort. He has baggy eyes, possibly related to his unscheduled sleeping time and/or insomnia.



Other Appearance: Lumberjack beard, seemingly over-enthusiastic most of the time, multiple tattoos on his arms, which vary from skulls to roses, passing by Spanish words as tattoos.

Superpower(s): Liquid Manipulation.
So, Óscar's power is basically a form of..."concentrated telekinesis": Instead of moving all matter, it centers itself on liquid substances, being able to concentrate more "power" onto them...either being able to manipulate them with more force, skill (such as creating very tiny filaments of water) or freezing/heating up the water or whatever substance it is.

On early stages, the substance must be on his cone of vision, to concentrate more...but at later "levels" and ranks, he can sense the liquids of the room he is in, and practicing may even get him to alter the ones in another room, or even building.

This power is purely for entertainment, but can be used as an attack method or defense: Either boiling someone's face with some water, crushing someone with enough water or even expanding someone's blood and making them explode, but each of these "states" consumes more and more stamina, leaving him tired and unable to do anything. He could also, hypothetically, create the shape of a sword with water and freeze it, obtaining weapons, shields, even ammo for bows and such. I know ice isn't really hard, but I'm sure it hurts.

Weaknesses:

-Óscar is human, his physique is treated as such...so physically he's like every other human, fit and all.

-He's sometimes too brave, vouching for himself and biting more than he can chew, finding himself in numerous bad situations.

-Emotions, he is really the emotive guy. If he sees something that gets him sad, you can clearly see it, and he sometimes acts due to emotions, not planning ahead.

-His power is really useless in early stages, maybe he can use it on very very rare occasions, but it isn't powerful until he has got experience with it.

-Even though he may seem antisocial, he is really, really outgoing, so he often talks about things that he shouldn't.

-Also, Óscar loves black humor, and that can get him in sketchy situations if people take it wrong.

Skills: Knows how to stealth practically anywhere, also knowing Spanish, English, French and Swedish. He also knows how to lockpick doors, due to having to steal while young. His "job" has given him a much needed skill of acting and performing in general, knowing how to play at least 2 instruments and to sing.

Personality:

He isn't the smartest guy in the world, that's for sure. He also isn't the most kind-hearted person either, seemingly taking care of his own before others and more than once running away from a situation, but once you get to know him, you can see that there is more that catches the eye. If you take care of him, he will take care of you. He's a believer of the status-quo and the karma, meaning that if you do something to him, he will do exactly the same to you, good or bad. Since stuff happened while he was a child, Óscar feels the need of love: Not just sexual love, but friendship and overall care. Most of the time you can find him listening to music, trying to zone himself out of the world, so he doesn't think about anything and just...be there. If he finds someone that needs him, he'll be there for them, but most of the time they don't return the favor, sending him into a spiral of sadness and drinking, thinking that nothing in the world would change if he wasn't here. He tends to hide under humor, most of the time being unfunny and/or offensive, but getting the job done and making him look like a normal unemotional idiot. Also, his movements are sudden and really... "special", often making use of his hands while talking to give them more emphasis; this also affects his overall actions, such as singing while walking on the street, dancing to a song without actually knowing how to dance, etc...

History: Óscar was born in Sweden, later being taken to Spain due to the sheer pressure of his father, wanting him to know how Spain was like...but then Franco came up to the power, putting up a dictatorial regime all over the country and allying with the Axis, even tho he literally did nothing in the war, just letting Hitler test some bombs on a city of "Euskadi". Óscar wasn't the best at school, but watching how the Civil War halved the country and how that fucking nazi came up to power? Oh no, he wasn't up for that, he was out of there. He left his studies, finishing the basics and going out of the country onto Europe, first stop? Occupied France.

Since he didn't finish his studies, he didn't get anything special...and since music was a big part of Spain and it was really having a good catch on all countries, he decided to become a musician/singer/actor, all in once, starting in a small café of France. He was really good, knowing how to introduce the songs and even entertain the watchers with his jokes and even just talking with them, before starting to play that acoustic guitar as just a "flamenco" can do, pulling the strings and playing besides them, not with them, letting them flow as they want and continuing the rhythm as the guitar tells him.

Once, coming out of a café, he saw multiple Nazi officers beating down a French civilian, that just flicked him off, after watching so much pain back in Madrid, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Valencia...and now even here? Well, now he could do something. "Hey!" he yelled at them, pressing his knuckles as the officers advanced towards him, before one of them got tackled down and KO'd with a punch straight to the nose. Óscar was quickly grabbed, being thrown onto the ground as the rain poured down on everyone, multiple wounds appearing on his face as he started to bleed, anger building inside him as the rain seemed to stop; all of the raindrops suddenly aimed themselves at the nazis, throwing themselves at them right before turning into ice-bullets. He woke up sometime later, still night, surrounded by dead officers that had "bullet" holes in every part of their body, their eyes popped off as he ran off, trying to understand what was happening.

A week later, he was already doing "vigilante" work, fighting off bands of officers and pro-germany assholes that even dared to touch a peaceful civilian. It seems he attracted attention, since some weird persons tried multiple times to catch him, loosing him always in rainy nights, almost as if he could hide in the water. He moved to England, where he continued to do "justice" whilst also practicing with the guitar and making a living. Finally, the weird people caught up with him in a café as he was drinking. "Welp, here I am...you can detain me now..." he said, right before he understood what was going on, smirking as he did.

Equipment: Basic lockpicking tools, a swiss knife, and tons of bottle of either plain water or cooking oil.

[AdobeFlash]

Akiva Eichholz

Name: Akiva Eichholz

False ID Name: Alex Edward

Nationality: Polish Jew

Age: 19

Height: 6'3"


Weight: 16.5

Appearance: Akiva is a tall, gaunt young man. He has pale, white skin, and blue eyes. His hair is on the darker side of the spectrum, and is almost always unkempt and messy. He has no facial hair, and can easily blend into a crowd. He often wears regular, almost boring clothing.

Other Appearance: He has a small scar on the bottom of his chin.

Superpower(s): Friction Manipulation.
Akiva can manipulate the surface of any structure to a certain degree. When he puts his bare hand down on a surface, and concentrates, he can alter the friction and firmness of said structure. There are quite a few limitations. For example, it has a radius of 10 meters. This range can be frustrating on brick surfaces, as every small indent counts towards those ten meters. Along with that, it takes five seconds for the effects to begin, and five seconds for them to wear off. Also, depending on the molecular structure of the surface Akiva is influencing, the effects can be either magnified or reduced greatly. It can be conducted through certain materials, should Akiva wish it (See Equipment). A con is that it CAN effect living matter, but takes an hour for any effect to kick in and will most likely kill the subject it is used on.

Skills: Due to living a fairly quiet life, Akiva doesn't have many skills. At most, he is good with ropes, pulleys, and all things related to physics, as they have fascinated him since he was young. Otherwise, nothing. He has very little experience with guns, knives, or anything of the sort. Is fluent in English, Polish, and Yiddish. Knows the family traditions by heart, and has memorized all of his grandmother's recipes.

Personality: Akiva is very quiet. Often choosing not to speak, he merely observes and acts. Everyone else caught up in banter? He's on the lookout for any traps. Due to his ethnicity, Akiva holds a strong hatred for those who work under the Third Reich. He is not one to get attached to people, and is just trying to accomplish his goal and survive.

History: Akiva's story begins long before his birth. For generations, the Eichholz family of southwestern Poland has dreamed of moving to America. Away from the plagues and blights. Away from the famines brought on by a poor harvest. Away from those damnable neighbors and their tendencies to trash all they saw. No, America would be a land of promise. A land of prosperity. And so it had been the Eichholz family dream to move to that beautiful land of freedom and crops aplenty. Unfortunately, most of them wouldn't live to see the day.

War was brewing. Years had passed, and most of the Eichholz family had given up. Their attempts had been all but squashed by the glaring restrictions placed upon them. There was no way for them to get to that promised land. In Germany, those damnable Nazis had taken control. Their campaign to segregate and oppress Jews was a menace. Distant, yet looming ever closer. Soon enough, that nightmare would become an all consuming part of Akiva's life

Akiva was born in 1923, in a small farmhouse. He lived with his 6 siblings, mother, father, two uncles, and his grandmother. His blessed grandmother. He adored her so. Sweet, charming, and funny. She taught him everything she knew about cooking, and even spoiled him by buying him physics books when they went out to town. But, they shared more than just bloodline. Akiva first exhibited his power when he was a young boy, playing in the fields. His father came out to check on him, and found the soft dirt felt like pavement. He rushed the boy to his grandmother, who had also exhibited such abilities in the past. With her guidance, he was able to learn more about his powers. He developed the ability to not only increase and decrease firmness, but increase or decrease friction. Life was good and grand. Eventually, using his knowledge of physics, Akiva invented his grapple. A long metal rope, with a silk string running inside it. It had a handle on one end, and a hook on the other. By using his power, Akiva could meddle with the rope and the grapple independently of each other. Alas, he could not control them both at once.. To go along with this, it allowed him to conduct his power. Akiva could change the friction and firmness of wherever the grapple landed. However, he could not manipulate the grapple and the ground at the same time. One day, though, he would learn how. So he swore.

Life was interrupted in 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. The family panicked, and began to pack in a rushed manner. They couldn't be caught by the German troops, or they would be brought to prison or subject to whatever heinous experiments the Germans performed on the Jews. But, they couldn't save everyone. They lost both uncles and three siblings escaping Poland alone. Yet, the death that would hurt Akiva the most was his grandmother; She had died early on, shot by some German trooper. This filled Akiva with rage, yet he knew he couldn't fight back. In the end, only him, his father, and one sibling survived the escape to England. Almost immediately, Akiva registered for the draft. Even more hastily, he exhibited what his powers could do. So, he was registered to the Westminster League of Extraordinary Individuals. Not out of a sense of justice, but a sense of revenge.

Equipment: The grapple, a simple switchblade, a leather cookbook, and some vegetables

[shylarah]

Sturmkleinkreiger (Stormbreakers)

Valentine "Belasý" Siskin (Blue, Sky-Blue)

Alias: Mieli Meyer
Nationality: Swiss citizen, German-born
Age: 25
Height: 5'8/173cm
Weight: ~150lbs/65kg

Appearance: Belasý is fairly average height, with a well-toned physique that is a little on the soft side. Her skin is sun-bronzed but will lighten a few shades over the course of the winter months. Her wide eyes are a startling blue that would be the envy of any Aryan supremacist, and frequently hold a nervous or uncertain expression. Her hair is dark brown with a slight natural wave and she wears it long, often using it as a barrier to separate herself from others. She also frequently bites her lip, or plays with her hair. She uses subtle makeup, nothing eye-catching, and likes having her nails painted.

In a similar vein, Belasý has a fondness for cute or pretty clothing. She likes dresses, though nothing too fancy. Simple and classy is best, in her opinion. However she is aware of what clothing is appropriate for a situation, and her everyday dress is on the higher end of casual. She likes loose cut or flared pants, long sleeved shirts, and oversized jackets. She always wears a bracelet on her left wrist, just simple shells and deep blue glass beads -- her favorite color. It was a gift, and she values it highly.

Superpower:
hydrokinesis - Belasý is able to control water and direct it to follower her will. She cannot create water, nor change its temperature, and must have a source of some kind, be it a lake, a puddle, water vapor, or even the liquid inside of living cells. Pulling water from the air is not possible where it’s very dry, and in most cases will only yield a small quantity -- a glob perhaps the size of her fist. Pulling from living sources, particularly animals, is generally more difficult and a slower process. Once the water is separated and under her control, she can shape it as she wishes and move it around. This includes using it as an offensive and defensive weapon, as a small jet of water under pressure can have surprising cutting power. She can control it as ice or steam, if it is already in those states. Steam is fairly easy, ice is a bit harder. Other applications of this power include purifying some quantity of water (time consuming, done by moving the water and leaving the impurities which are not under her control behind), making or calming waves in bodies of water, and some interesting applications underwater -- such as trapping bubbles of air under the surface. Belasý’s control is fairly good, but she lacks the power her brother displays, and instead must use her skills wisely, if she wishes to have a significant effect. Brute force is not an option, and her strongest ability in terms of force is actually a shield formed of two layers moving in opposite directions, and it functions more to turn objects aside than actually stop them. If sufficiently upset, angry, or otherwise emotional, her ability is not entirely stable and water sources around her may react violently.

Skills:
An excellent marksman, particularly with time to aim properly. She has sniper training in particular, and is quite good at it. She's something of a gun buff.
CQC training both unarmed and with knives, as well as use of makeshift weapons.
Quick to learn new languages, and fluent in several. She speaks German best, able to switch between Swiss Standard German and German Standard German (the one spoken in Germany) without difficulty. Close seconds are lightly accented British English and a Swiss German. She knows French, though it’s accented. She knows enough Russian to be able to get by in a pinch, though it’s quite rusty (if she uses it a lot she’ll remember more). She can have a simple conversation in Italian, Slovak, or Yiddish, if the speaker didn’t go too fast. She also recognizes the sounds and a scattering of words from various other European languages.
Tactical ability, though nowhere near that of her father.
Superb swimmer, ironically. She does love the water, particularly the ocean.
Excellent cook.
Knows a bit of ballet and some ballroom dance, as well as swing.
Not a bad singer, if she can be convinced to sing.
Can use her left hand for some things, though she is not fully ambidextrous.
General survival skills, navigation, basic first aid, etc.

Personality: Belasý is a withdrawn individual, reluctant to interact even with those she knows. She prefers to let her brother do the talking, and will go so far as to practically hide behind him. She doesn’t say much, and avoids eye contact and physical proximity to others. She is generally nervous or even frightened in social situations, and often uncertain of where she stands with other people. When on missions she does somewhat better, able to hide her nerves, though the shy demeanor remains.

Despite her introverted nature, she can be a sweet person. For her very few friends, she is willing to go far above and beyond what she would do for herself. She has a good sense of humor though it rarely shows, buried underneath uncertainty and a lack of confidence off the field. On the rare occasions when she is pushed into losing her temper, she can be fiercely protective and often unreasonable. Her protective side can also be seen in silent disapproval, or when she simply moves between the one she wishes to defend and whatever she is trying to ward off, creating a wordless but stubborn barrier.

She is not generally violent, but when it comes to the Axis armies she has little mercy. They threaten the lives of those who have done nothing, and need to be dealt with. Nazis especially she hates, as that first facility was unofficially associated with what eventually became the Nazi party, and she feels they ruined her life and killed her father. Furthermore, she actively dislikes powered individuals, particularly herself. She sees them as threats to society and believes that if they do anything to harm civilians, they must be removed. She is reluctant to use her own power unless there is no good alternative, and in training scenarios it’s not uncommon for her to choose injury over a powered defense. She accepts injuries without flinching in many cases, and her pain tolerance is high. She also has good self control in general, but the switch from calm to out of control is abrupt instead of gradual.

Equipment:
lightly modified Karabiner 98k (carbine) with scope
Luger P08 (pistol)
combat knives
large canteen of water carrying fine grit, with modified cap for rapid access.
Victorinox Offiziersmesser (later known as a Swiss Army Knife), hers is simpler than Izkry’s
small notebook
torch
lighter

Other:
As a child she was much bolder, outgoing and even bossy. Some of the bossiness remains, but only on the field.
Hates and fears superpowers, including her own -- especially her own.
Does not seem to have a romantic interest in anyone.
In general, Izkry is the one she loves and trusts, and he is best able to understand her. A single word, slight gesture, or subtle change of expression can convey a lot between these two. Without him around she tends to be even more awkward than usual, if that’s even possible.
She does not answer to Valentine, Val, or any variant thereof. She /might/ if Izkry called her that, but he never does. Nor does she ever call him anything other than Izkry.

Johan "Izkry" Siskin (Sparks)

Alias: Izaak Meyer
Nationality: Swiss citizen, German-born
Age: 22
Height: 6'1"/185.5cm
Weight: ~150lbs/70kg

Appearance: Izkry is a tall young man, over 185cm when he doesn’t slouch. His light brown eyes approach amber, bright and lively, and he has a broad, easy grin that often puts others at ease. He wears his blond hair spiky, and keeps it cut short save for a slender braid at the very nape of his neck. He’s slightly tan, what with it being July and spending much time out of doors, but he loses that in the winter months. His time in the Swiss army has him riding the fine line between athletic and just plain thin.

Casual clothing is the rule of the day for Izkry. He hates suits and other formal attire. Tshirts and jeans are where it’s at, maybe slacks and a button down if he wants to dress a bit better. He would rather parade around in a revealing dress than put on a tie. He favors brighter, cheerful colors, particularly sky blue, yellow, and orange.

Other Appearance: Izkry has a faint but noticeable scar on his right temple just at the hairline, a memento of a childhood injury that needed stitches.

Superpower:
technomancy/technopathy - Izkry has an electrical affinity and a sensitivity to machinery. While he is capable of generating a lightning bolt that can strike up to a few meters away, this attack is not particularly accurate, and he cannot limit what is hit. He can deliver a considerable electric shock by touch, from just enough to be noticeable to enough to incapacitate (though generally not enough to kill outright). While he can restrict the generation point to a specific portion of his body, he cannot limit where it goes. If he shocks someone touching him, and there’s another person touching that person, both will get shocked. The single exception to this is his sister, who he can avoid hurting as long as he doesn’t use too much power. He can generate current to power devices, or fry circuitry with a touch. Physical contact also allows him to feel if a device is in good repair, and if not to tell what’s wrong with it. This ability is very finely tuned with electronics, but will work in a broader sense for most machinery. If he touches a machine, he can then control it -- but this takes all of his concentration, and he is completely vulnerable while doing so. A side effect of his power is a complete immunity to electrical shocks.

Skills:
Limited firearms skill. He’s better with a pistol than a rifle.
CQC skill, primarily unarmed. He can use a knife, but he’s really not much good with it.
Whip and lasso proficiency. He’s a huge fan of Western novels and movies.
Speaks a couple languages. German Standard German is his best, though he is fluent in the somewhat different Swiss Standard German and extremely different Swiss German as well. His English is strongly accented, and his French is understandable but not good. He can have a very slow conversation in Italian if he must, but he’s shaky at best, and knows only basic words and phrases. Anything beyond giving directions and making purchases is beyond him.
Excellent driver, and very familiar with the workings of cars and a variety of other engines. His power helps, but it’s not the only thing he has going for him here.
Excels at tinkering and repairwork, likewise aided by his ability, but not limited to that alone. He likes taking apart pocketwatches and reassembling them, second only to car engines.
Playing guitar (and reading music). He can play piano, too, but not well.
Pretty good at blackjack and checkers, and loves games in general.
General survival skills, navigation, basic first aid, etc.

Personality: Izkry is cheerful and laid back, preferring to go with the flow. He neither angers nor takes offense easily, and he tolerates others' quirks and shortcomings without giving it much mind. He is friendly and generally smiling, always looking on the bright side of things. His upbeat personality is nice to be around, and his good humor frequently rubs off on those around him. He loves socializing and is happiest in a room full of people talking, laughing, and otherwise having a good time.

He does not like killing, though he understands it is sometimes necessary, particularly when defending something. He managed to avoid much of the brainwashing that the German facility tried to impress upon him, though he is quite loyal to people he knows, and is willing to do a lot for them. The idea that some people are better than others makes no sense to him -- after all, wouldn’t it be better if everyone helped whoever they can? He likes his power, and the insight it gives him into mechanics, one of his passions. He’s a sucker for a person in distress, particularly the elderly and children. He doesn't like seeing people upset, and will provide a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on for just about anybody. These traits, along with his ever-present cheer, make him very likable and he makes friends with ease.

Although he is younger than his sister, he still looks after Bits as if he were the elder. He allows himself to be used as a crutch, keeping others at a comfortable distance for her, and doing most of the communicating. He loves her dearly, though he wishes she would open up and hopes she someday will learn to rely on him less. Still, he doesn't have the heart to force her.

Equipment:
Karabiner 98k (carbine)
Luger P08 (pistol)
combat knife
7ft (just over 2m) bullwhip with shortened handle, synthetic fiber with metal threaded through it to allow transfer of electrical current
Victorinox Offiziersmesser (later known as a Swiss Army Knife), his has more tools than Belasý’s
torch
lighter
Swiss pocketwatch, a gift of sentimental value
small change in a few different currencies

Other:
Oddly enough, Izkry was actually rather shy as a toddler.
He’s bi, but with a definite preference for guys.
Izkry is exceptionally good at understanding Belasý, to the point where it looks like they have a mental connection. He can understand her gestures and expressions like none other, and it only takes a slight motion for her to communicate a great deal. This also means she has trouble keeping things from him.
He answers to both Yohan and Izkry.

History

Johan and Valentine Siskin were born to Armin Siskin, a decorated German military officer. He enlisted prior to the first World War and served during most of it, quickly proving himself to be an exemplary soldier in combat. He was eventually promoted to sergeant, and greatly respected by his fellow soldiers. When his lieutenant and a number of other commanding officers died in a particularly vicious battle in late 1916, Armin found himself promoted to fill the vacancy while in the field, and eventually was elevated to captaincy. He was badly injured near the end of the war and honorably discharged. By then, much of his once-bright patriotism had dulled to disappointment and a desire for a quiet life.

Valentine was conceived while her father was home on leave and born in July of ’16. Her little brother followed about a year after the end of the war. Even though the country was in a depression following the sanctions imposed by the victors, Armin always believed that better days would come. The family of four did not have much, but on the whole they were happy.

When Val was six and Yohan three, a bully decided to pick on Yohan. They were out on a frozen river, and the ice was uneven. When the older boy pushed the child down, he hit his head hard on the edge of a large fallen tree limb sticking up out of the ice. Upon seeing the blood, Val was absolutely furious. She said something unkind, something threatening -- and the power she didn’t know she had broke the ice, sending both boys into the frigid water. She managed to grab her brother by the hood and keep him above the surface until someone could pull him out, but the one who’d been causing trouble went under.

By the time they could get him out from under the ice, the boy had drowned.

Things changed dramatically from that day forward. Val herself became an entirely different person. And within a month, armed men working for an unofficial military program to train powered children came to collect both the girl and her brother. Armin and his wife did not wish for them to go. He had no desire for his children to become soldiers, or tools for the government. A quiet life, that was what he wanted, both for himself and for his family. But it was not to be. The children were taken, and it was the last he saw of them for a number of years.

The facility was nothing like the two were used to. Yohan adapted quickly, even though he didn’t really like some of what he was taught as he grew older. Valentine did not, refusing to speak to people, and refusing to use her power, even when the alternative was injury. She took far better to much of the military training, but on the whole she was seen as something of an uncertain asset, at best.

Meanwhile, their father was livid. He had done his duty, had served his country -- had been nearly killed doing so, and yet now they wanted to take his children from him? Unacceptable. And while he had never once thought of speaking against the German government outside the privacy of his home, he had heard others blame everyone and everything for the trials they now faced. Quietly, discreetly, he contacted those he thought might be willing to help him. He knew there would be only one chance, and so he had to make /sure/ they would succeed. It was eight long years of plotting, planning, and quietly gathering what he and those he persuaded to join him would need. He managed to stay in occasional contact with his children by way of an uncertain guard he’d known in the war, who admired Hauptmann (Captain) Siskin der Polarfuchs, and sympathized with the man’s desire to get his children back.

In very early spring of ‘31, Armin and his group made their move. The attack was swift, almost surgical, with the tactical brilliance that had earned Captain Siskin his nickname of Polarfuchs. A number of the team were killed, but they’d known there would be a poor chance of survival going in, and they managed to destroy a respectable chunk of the facility in the process. Val and Yohan were not the only powered children freed; Val had quietly figured out who there might be interested in leaving and she’d helped handle organizing things on the inside. The group made for the Swiss border on foot, by car, and by train. It was not an easy trip, but between the tail end of winter and the start of spring with its rain and mud, as well as Armin's understanding of tactics and misdirection, they managed to reach the border.

Crossing was harder. The guards there had been alerted of the fugitives, and told to keep an eye out. An encounter with an unexpected patrol turned to tragedy, resulting in the death of one of the children and several of the adults. Armin, knowing that the group would be done for if the reinforcements called caught up with ten, entrusted the children to his former sergeant and a couple others. The remaining men he took to lay a false trail. It was the last time Val ever saw the man, and she believes him to have died, along with most if not all the others with him.

In Switzerland, they met up with sympathetic locals who helped them link up with the powered community there. The adults went their separate ways, with the sergeant keeping the teens with him. They eventually settled near Geneva, in a small apartment, and with the consent of the teens all three enrolled in a nearby boarding school for youths like them.

The sergeant though kind, never replaced her parents for Val, and Yohan barely remembered them. Both gained their nicknames at the school from a young teacher whose parents were Slavic Jews, Iskry for his power, and Belasý for her eyes. It was this man that finally convinced the young lady to learn proper control of her power. She never did learn to like it, but at least she could use it when she wished -- and more importantly, maintain control even when upset. As the Nazi party took power and threatened war with various countries, including Switzerland, Belasý wished to oppose them. She continued to practice her skill with firearms, and in CQC, things she'd never entirely given up since coming to Switzerland. She enlisted, her brother with her because he felt they should stick together. Because of their powers, they were assigned to a special unit of the Swiss army. Though mostly kept in reserve, Belasý's skill with a gun did find them sent to target high ranking officers or other significant targets from time to time, as well as participating in a few skirmishes on the Swiss-German border.

When the call came for powered individuals, the pair heard the news. Switzerland was officially neutral, so they were not offered the option of joining, but Belasý was dead set on going somehow, and with a bit of negotiation they were officially discharged, though with the consideration that they’d be allowed to take something equivalent to their previous positions back if they wished upon their return. The pair immediately set off for Great Britain.

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