helltank

Cradle of Divinity (signups always open)

Alison

"I... I'm Alison," she said to the nice woman. Was that a robot standing next to her? "I think... my princess powers are to make the thing appear." She drew in a breath, steeled her face, reminded herself that a princess had to have poise and grace in the face of uncertainty -

And the centipede exploded into black wisps, which flowed back into her hand. She bit her lip to avoid giving out a yelp when she felt how cold they were, like ice water pouring onto her palm. "The woman said we have magic, so I think I must be given a quest. I saw some bad guys in my dream, a dragon and a water woman and things like that, and the pretty woman said we must beat them so we can go home."

She looked around again, at the gleaming rows of metal pods and the futuristic room. Softly, Alison let out a sigh. "In books, the princess always wants to go home, but... I don't want to go home." She wanted magic. She wanted to learn, to make unicorns and princess fireballs later. Even the wriggly tentacle squirming under her skin, begging to be set free, was cool in its own twisted way. She almost thought that it was a bad power, which meant she must be a supervillain, but then she remembered that Unicorn Raine had taught her that if you use your powers for good, you're a superhero, even if your powers are bad themselves.

Briefly, so fast it was barely a flicker, Alison glanced at the door, her eyes widening slightly at the sight of trees and grass beyond. What was out there? What more magic was there to be discovered?

Cradle of Divinity (signups always open)

@Eklispe The ball's in your court now. I'll see how Alison reacts to Rina depending on what you do.

Cradle of Divinity (signups always open)

Alison

Get away from me!

Alison felt a... ripple in her hand, like her arm was a pond and her skin was the pond after she threw a big pebble in it and Daddy scolded her for disturbing the ducks. Immediately, the centipede curled away from her and lashed out at the pod she was hiding behind, sliding its needles off the side with a skritch. Then it fell to the floor, limp and curled up like a sleeping snake.

She could feel the tension in the centipede, the energy coiled up inside, that sensation of utter strength. Then a voice filtered in from the outside world, calm and soothing. "...but we have magic too. So we can figure this out. Stay calm and move slowly." She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, staying as still as possible in case the centipede woke up again. The bad man's face appeared in front of her, but he didn't seem to be grinning evilly, like a real villain would do. He wasn't laughing maniacally either. He seemed to be smiling at her.

Maybe he's like the ugly duckling? He seems bad, but he's really good.

Slowly, Alison pushed herself to her feet. She reached out for the tentacle again in her mind, felt it hanging down as though it was a third arm. Cautiously, she tried to lift it up, and the tentacle roiled up with such force that the tentacles passed perilously near to the skinny man's eyes.

"I... I... can c-control it now, I think. I-it must be my p-princess powers. That m-makes it so I can control the c-centipede." She flinched as she said the word, trying to move it slowly away from the man. "T-thank you, mister. I shouldn't have shouted at you." If Mummy were here, she'd agree that the place was magic, all right. Alison never said sorry, or thank you. Even when Mummy scolded her, and made her put a penny in the Manners Jar every time she forgot. She just didn't see the need to.

Cradle of Divinity (signups always open)

@akjeThis post of yours is slightly inaccurate. It makes it seem like Predator burst out of Alison immediately after she saw Libé. Instead, Alison ran randomly down the rows of pods and hid behind one before Predator emerged from her.

Cradle of Divinity (signups always open)

This looks extremely awesome just glancing through it, after more in depth reading I believe I would be interested in applying.

@Eklispe

I highly encourage you to, I've played a couple of JohnSolaris' games before and they're of extremely high quality.

Cradle of Divinity (signups always open)

Alison

You're so pretty... please don't gol

Something white and sharp, blurring through Alison's mind. She desperately reached out, trying to hold the hand of the beautiful woman that had offered her magic powers. But her fingers trembled, and nothing felt solid underneath them.

She woke up somewhere. Not her room. Tickles wasn't there, and neither were her Rainbow Dash stuffed dolls. It was soft, and smelled like a hospital that time when Grandma was sick and she had to visit her with the tubes in her arms. There was a window in front of her, but no blinds.

Oh. Right. The woman said she must get better at magic powers to escape and go home.

Alison yawned, then smiled widely. This was sooo amazing. Just like an adventure in one of Ms Carter's bedtime stories! In the stories the little girl was always a secret princess (Alison knew she would become one of those one day), and the character was always brave and strong, and fought monsters with her special powers. Maybe the pretty woman would give her special powers too.

She jumped to her feet immediately, in the excited flip that only a very young girl on her birthday could do. The glass gave way before a quick push, and she stepped out of the pod, running her fingers through frizzy brown hair as she looked in awe at the room around. There were pods everywhere, like desks at school, and there was a weird purple sign on all of them, even the walls.

Then she noticed the strange man near her. Instinctively, she stepped away, chewing her lip as she looked up at him. He was pale and thin, with long, messy hair, with a pointed beard like the evil clones in cartoons. And Mummy always said not to talk to strangers. His clothes were dirty and torn, just like the old men she saw lying on street corners that Mummy had said to stay away from. That was three reasons why she should stay away from him. One, he was a stranger, and stranger danger was bad. Two, he looked like the homeless people that Mummy said were just as bad as strangers. Three, he looked like a supervillain.

He looked over at hair, and Alison froze up. "A-are you here to kidnap me?" Oh no! He really was going to kidnap her! With a shriek, Alison tore away from him, not daring to look back in case he was chasing her. He must want to collect a ransom from her real father, the King of... of... whatever Kingdom she was a Princess of!

She quickly dived behind one of the pods, shivering. Didn't the woman say that she had magic powers? Maybe she'd use them, and blast him with a fireball. That'll teach him to come near her again!

Quickly, she crouched down and focused on her left hand.

I want... a princess fireball!

For a moment, nothing happened. The promised fireball did not materialize in her hand, and Alison felt a wave of crushing disappointment.

Then something swelled up in her wrist, and surged through. A black tentacle, twitching back and forth like a snake. It was segmented into sharp pieces, and at its head three jointed needles clacked together in a mocking parody of a clap. It protruded from her left palm, and snaked out with a frightening speed.

"AHHH! HELP ME!" Alison fell backwards, not caring if the bad man saw her now. A sob escaped her lips as she ineffectually shook her hand, hoping to dislodge it. The snake curled towards her now, and she screamed as she felt it touch her. Cold, almost metallic. She fell backwards on her floor, tears streaming down her face. Was this how she would die? To some black centipede hiding in her hand, without even getting a chance to be a princess or ride a unicorn or use her magic?

Cradle of Divinity (signups always open)

Alison Kiley

Name: Alison Kiley, Princess of Shadows(self-styled)

Sex: Female

Age: 11 and 3 quarters

Appearance: Alison Kiley is a female preteen with frizzy brown hair and a mass of freckles. Her eyes are a muddy brown, and have a hooded, slightly downcast look to them. Her ears are a bit bigger than average, and she has a missing front tooth that has yet to grow in. Alison tends to dress rather casually, in jeans, a T-Shirt(usually with unicorns, rabbits or some such emblazoned on the front) and a pair of magenta fingerless gloves. She wears a pair of battered running shoes.

When she dons her full battle outfit(see Abilities section below), she styles herself the Princess of Shadows. In this form, she appears as a monstrous figure, covered head to toe with swirling black armor plates. Her helm is spiked, and her face is obscured by a gleaming black visor from behind which liquid shadow leaks out and curls around her head. Two butterfly-like wings made of solid darkness arch and flex behind her, sprouting from the section of her armor covering her shoulder blades. Heavy spiked shadow boots protect her feet. Frequently, her tentacle-like combat appendage, Predator, will protrude from various sections of her armor. In its idle form, it usually emerges from her left palm and curls itself around her arm, ready to unwind in battle.

Personality: Alison Kiley tends to be immature, self-absorbed and having just a little too much fun beating various beings up with her newfound powers. At heart, she is a selfish and hedonistic girl, if someone naive. She occasionally displays flashes of pity, remorse or mercy, however. It would be a mistake to think of Alison as an evil person; rather, she merely tends to be unaware of apathetic of the long-term consequences of her actions. This problem is heavily exacerbated by her natural curious, "try it and see" attitude towards strange and possibly dangerous things, as well as her immaturity. She believes that she is on a great adventure in an epic quest to kill the gods of the Cradle of Divinity.

Biography: Having only lived for 11 and 3 quarter years, Alison is somewhat lacking in significant life events. It should be noted that she was born in the year 2004, to Madison and Dennis Kiley. In her early years, she was something of a spoiled brat due to the fact that her parents were quite rich(a stockbroker and the Vice-President of a shipping company, respectively). She was mostly raised by a succession of maids, nannies and babysitters.

Alison never attended school. Instead, she was educated by private tutors that came to her home to teach. She took a rather negative outlook on the prospect of acquiring new knowledge, instead preferring more outdoorsy activities such as horse-riding and building sand-castles. Alison briefly joined the Girl Scouts when she was 9, but dropped out due to disinterest in the activities they offered her. Although she hated reading, she loved to listen to stories, and would frequently beg her babysitters to read aloud from her favorite books.

Alison thinks that she is a secret princess who has been given magical powers to fight monsters in the new fantasy world that she finds herself in. This belief, while mostly untrue, drives her to constantly improve herself and battle monsters. She likes unicorns and wishes that she had one, and her ambition is to grow up to become the queen of a fantasy kingdom(which she proposes be renamed a "queendom" for accuracy's sake).

Alison's virtues are mostly her happy-go-lucky and optimistic nature. Although selfish, she isn't unkind, and will stop to help people in need as long as it doesn't interfere with her own activities or pleasures. She is also rather friendly and imaginative. Her vices are her impulsive nature and her self-centeredness, as well as her naivety. Her temperament is not stable and she can experience severe mood swings, although given enough time she will naturally fall back into her "happy" mood. She hasn't spent enough time thinking about religion or philosophy to have any real opinion other than "people probably disappear into outer space when they die" and "if it feels good, it is probably good". She is too young to have a well-defined sexual orientation, and her most notable quirks are her tendencies to smile overly widely when meeting new people and tugging on her ear when she feels upset or nervous.

Alison is left-handed.

Skills: Alison is better than average in the fields of swimming, playing tennis, riding horses and dressing up as various mythological figures.

Elemental Cores: Dark x2

Abilities:
Alison possesses five abilities at present.

Predator: A large serpentine appendage protrudes forth from one of a few given points on Alison's body. These include between her shoulder blades, at her tailbone, from her throat, from her ribcage, from the backs of her hands, from her palms, from her arms and from the back of her skull. She can control which point it emerges from, and she usually prefer her left palm. This appendage, named Predator after one of the title characters in the movie Alien vs. Predator, is made of solid darkness and is extremely flexible. It is sharp, able to strike or cut at high speeds, and can be converted into a liquid-like state where it snakes along the ground as well as solidified for the purposes of, say, forming a barrier. Predator is prehensile, and about three times as strong as an average adult male. It can also protrude a hooked needle from its end for the purposes of stripping flesh from bone or skin from flesh, depending on how curved the hook is. Alison can control how long Predator protrudes, up to a maximum of ten meters. She can also desummon it instantly by causing it to explode into wisps of darkness. Although Predator deals mostly physical damage, a small amount of dark-type corrosive/decaying damage is mixed in when it lands a direct strike on an enemy. This ability is attuned to the element of Dark.

(OOC note: I realize this may be a difficult ability to visualize. I haven't been able to find a real equivalent in any fictional medium that I know off, but the closest to Predator in terms of appearance and function may be Kureo Mado's quinque weapon in the anime series Tokyo Ghoul. Videos of said character using it in combat are available on Youtube.)

Armor of Sorrows: Alison can summon armor made of solid darkness around her body. This resembles medieval body armor, although it is weightless due to the substance that it is made of. It is covered with vicious spikes to discourage melee attackers. While wearing her Armor of Shadows, Alison's strength and striking power are increased to that of threefold an average human male's. The armor is slightly more durable than steel. If the armor is damaged or destroyed, they have to be desummoned fully and resummoned again, a process that takes about a second. This ability is attuned to the element of Dark.

Wings of Unholy Swiftness: Alison can summon wings that sprout from her shoulder blades. These wings are made of semi-liquid darkness and resemble that of a butterfly's. Their size, length and approximate shape are controllable by Alison, although these factors have no real impact on their function. While Alison's wings are extended, she may fly and her speed is increased tremendously. The wings are not particularly resistant to attack, having the approximate durability of a piece of oak wood of equivalent size and shape. If they are torn or destroyed, they have to be desummoned fully before being resummoned at full condition, a process that takes about a second. This ability is attuned to the element of Dark.

Abyssal Shards: Alison can fire shards of darkness from various points on her body at an extremely high rate. The points are those that have been mentioned as possible emergence points for Predator; however, shards may not be fired from a point that Predator is emerging from. Shards deal a mixture of physical and corrosive damage, and are shaped like slender, hiltless knives. When a shard successfully strikes a target, including an enemy, physical terrain or some other obstacle, Alison can choose to set that shard as a homing beacon. This will cause all other shards in existence to immediately change course and home in towards that shard, losing no momentum while doing so. Shards that are already stopped may still be propelled by magic towards a homing beacon. Homing shards are effective at locking onto the beacon, but not particularly maneuverable; they may curve, but not turn corners. Alison can only have one homing beacon at a time. This ability is attuned to the element of Dark.

Revolving Ruin Alison can summon seven magical orbs that constantly encircle her at high speeds. Two orbs are made of solid darkness and deal physical damage, two drain life from anything they hit, two drain mana from anything they hit and the last causes whatever it hits to decay at an extremely high rate. Each orb is the size and shape of a bowling ball, and must be desummoned and resummoned should they be destroyed, taking about half a second. Orbs are about as durable as Alison's Armor of Sorrows. Alison may also order all seven orbs to converge at a high velocity on a single targeted point. This ability is attuned to the element of Dark.

Familiars: None

Possessions: A thin blue T-Shirt with a unicorn summoning a unicorn from the tip of its horn pictured on it, a pair of jeans, underwear and a pair of magenta fingerless gloves.

Cradle of Divinity (signups always open)

<Snipped quote by helltank>

Tanky? I don't like the sound of that. Makes me sound like a target.

@akje

They'd have about 5 seconds to do their worst to you, because the moment they target you Alison's going to be right on top of them with her tentacle monster.

Cradle of Divinity (signups always open)

You're in Shrine 3 with me. Your tankiness should synergize well with Alison's lightning bruiser-ness.

Cradle of Divinity (signups always open)

Any in-universe reason for a group of only 3 people?