[quote=Dark Jack] It's always nice to hear someone mention their awareness of the importance of character development and growth; I know many, possibly even most, players know this, but seeing it confirmed just warms my heart (reread that and thought it might come off as sarcastic, so I better point out that I am sincere). I realize that the post wasn't directed at me, per se, but nevertheless I feel the need to assure you that thus far there hasn't been any reason that your character or the species it represents would be lore-breaking (which is my main concern with new things added to the universe; it's a huge pain having to make sure things don't contradict each other, both for me and for you as you have to deal with me maneuvering your peoples around and trying to find the particular little place they would fit in the best), and that for all intents and purposes, as far as I know by now (leaving room for the improbable), your Claw should be welcome to explore the Planes with the rest.And yeah, most beings have weaknesses... in fact I'd go as far as to say that they all have them. Dragons, as you used as an example, are indeed no exception, which is one of the reasons they have been successfully hunted to near-extinction in The Prophecy. Some weaknesses may be hard to find or entirely unexploitable due to the circumstances, but even the immortals and deities of this universe have them. So... yeah. I agree.(That little character you have there in your signature... some of the shorter animation-loops are almost hypnotizing. Before I knew it I'd been staring dazedly at it for several minutes. Interesting...) [/quote] Character growth is one of the most important things to me. I'd honestly be somewhat saddened if the RP solely revolved around combat, since it wouldn't give me much of a chance to explore Claw's key psychological shortcomings and the deliberating social struggles he experiences on a day-to-day basis. It's going to be interesting watching him function in an environment where government is the norm, where the concept of 'buying' trumps the notion of 'stealing and forcibly taking,' and where people yield to authority and control without indulging in their (at least to him) innate urge and intrinsic duty to rebel. I want to give off the impression that Claw is indeed alien and is unversed in the ways of the folk outside of his native homeland, and that he does not bear total sameness to the other intelligent species of the known world on both a psychological and physiological level. He's a frustrated and borderline lost soul that needs guidance and help--two things that his persona would not willingly admit--- in a foreign land, so I suppose that you could say that a party of adventurers do not need Claw as much as Claw needs them. In a nutshell, he isn't the one to go if a deal needs to be brokered between the group and a pompous lord of some sort, if someone needs to be non-violently persuaded to do something or if a crowd of angry people needs to be calmed down. Claw will probably suffer greatly on an emotional and mental basis, though not so much physically due to how his species is designed and the hardships he's been through. Anyway, enough rambling. Shien and I have been talking over Skype about magic. Claw's magical talents deal with the manipulation, nullification and amplification of soundwaves. I know that soul energy is used to power magic in this world, and that magic typically increases in potency and reliability with use. Claw is what you would call an 'Echoer', a term attributed to an individual del-korm male or female that was born with the power to control sound. My own setting requires Echoers to consume the voices of the defeated foes. All voices are not sufficient however, for even the thunderous roar of a lazy and unworthy wyvern is laughably weak when compared to the wizened photonics of an elderly king that has led his nation through several wars and snatched up victory with each campaign's conclusion. For Echoers, the power of a creature's soul or voice is determined by the deeds the being accomplished during its life. Strong voices augment and sustain Claw's powers and additionally help him strengthen his control over them. Shien has told me that there are certain creatures that can do something similar. If so, how is it performed? It would be nice to know so that I can make relevant changes and such if needed. Also, are all souls the same strength? Are some more powerful than others? I'm unsure if Claw can actually detect how potent a creature's soul is (would this ability be more in line with a Sniffer maybe?), but this does bring me into another point: In order to make the best use out of his more offensive abilities, Claw peers beyond the veil of space to basically detect how a creature registers in the known universe. This is just a fancy way of describing how Claw picks up the ambient frequencies at which all things vibrate at. When this frequency is found, Claw matches it and disrupts that object's molecular structure by assaulting it with sound, which (provided he throws enough magical energy into it) enables him to vibrate a person to death or level a small hovel. Or something along those lines. Honestly, it probably isn't the most efficient way of ending life (very painful and deliberating type of magic, though), but the arcane talents and sub-powers of Echoers have to do more with utility and recreational use rather than strictly offensive uses (such as acoustic levitation, sound therapy, voice mimicry, silencing one's physical movements or the sound of your partner's crossbow's firing mechanism, or repairing compromised steel or other materials using ultrasonic impact treatment techniques).