[center][img]https://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/b3RmLjcyLmFhMDBlNi5WMlZ5Wld4cFoyaDAuMA,,/itikaf-free.regular.png[/img] [img]https://drfhlmcehrc34.cloudfront.net/cache/7a/2e/7a2eca87d796d9fd03a702d75817da61.png[/img] [color=a252d8][b]"You don't get to dictate how people live their lives. Least of all me."[/b][/color] [/center][hider][indent][h3][sub][ [color=#a252d8]♦[/color] ] Bio[/sub][/h3][hr][b][color=#000000]♦[/color] Name:[/b] Damien Borde [b][color=#a252d8]♦[/color] Age:[/b] 17 [b][color=#a252d8]♦[/color] Loyalty:[/b] Junior Guard [b][color=#a252d8]♦[/color] Appearance:[/b] Damien has long, black hair that leans more toward unkempt than not. He's 5'8 with dark brown eyes, and his facial features sometimes make him seem more serious that he actually is. [indent][hider= ][img]https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/648359ed-a6ae-41c5-b205-01bf39396bf1/db63yf9-49e677b5-b43c-4d3c-ad31-c930c34831dc.png/v1/fill/w_894,h_894,strp/zener__updated_origin__by_mr_redx_db63yf9-pre.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTAyNCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzY0ODM1OWVkLWE2YWUtNDFjNS1iMjA1LTAxYmYzOTM5NmJmMVwvZGI2M3lmOS00OWU2NzdiNS1iNDNjLTRkM2MtYWQzMS1jOTMwYzM0ODMxZGMucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEwMjQifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.DFdSjMG2GPWUzPQjLNZBwqr2JuzfzY4mOglo4op1Vf0[/img] Replace the star with an orb, swap out the cape for a helmet and the equipment mentioned below, and reduce his build to that of a moderately fit teenager, and you have Werelight. [/hider] [hider=Damien's orb] [img]https://i.etsystatic.com/7421639/r/il/829714/1465442086/il_570xN.1465442086_l80r.jpg[/img] [/hider][/indent] [b][color=#a252d8]♦[/color] History:[/b] [indent][hider= ]Damien was always the odd one out in his family. The youngest of two siblings, Damien was a bit more inclined to be adventurous, rebellious, than his parents and older sister. His older family members liked the town of Burlingon, they enjoyed managing their small restaurant, and they were satisfied with their lives. Damien, however, was less enthused by the prospect of becoming a cook--he wanted his life to be more [i]interesting[/i] than that. Nonetheless, he still loved his family, and when they managed to fully reconstruct their business in the wake of Behemoth's attack through sheer effort and determination, he couldn't help but respect their resilience. Damien's relatively ordinary world was upended, along with the city of Burlington as a whole, when Gold Morning arrived. The end of the world brought with it chaos, instability, and a wide variety of problems looming on the horizon. Damien’s parents, convinced that they would be able to adapt and carry on, refused to join the fleeing refugees; Damien’s sister was held back from leaving by her deep-seated and selfless desire to help rebuild Burlington. Damien, in contrast, was growing increasingly worried about the city’s highly uncertain future. Tensions grew when, six months after Gold Morning, Damien’s sister died during an ill-fated search and rescue mission in the middle of the first winter. The loss created a growing rift between Damien and his parents. Damien saw his sister's death as evidence that Burlington would only become more inhospitable with time; his mother and father retorted that abandoning the city now would be an affront to everything his sister had stood for. It took Damien a while to realize that arguing was fruitless, that his parents’ minds couldn’t be changed. However, while resource shortages grew and violent skirmishes involving gangs and scavengers rose in frequency over time, his reluctance to abandon his remaining family members always won out over his apprehension. A little over a year after his sister’s death, an increasingly delicate truce between two major factions in the area fractured. Damien had heard the rumors and the gunshots at night, but he was still blindsided when a gang pursuing a Changer stormed through his neighborhood, killing everyone they encountered in an attempt to ferret out their enemy. As armed soldiers combed through the area, he took refuge in a shed. He was close enough to see the building he knew his parents were in--close enough to watch the gang members enter the building, and to hear the gunshots followed by silence. In the midst of his grief, two thoughts crossed Damien’s mind. His parents should have listened to him. And there was no way he would be able to escape the notice of incoming soldiers with a hiding place as obvious as the shed. He was going to die. Damien's thoughts resurfaced from an instant of oblivion to find a large, crystalline orb hovering in front of him. [i]Help me,[/i] he asked it. The orb responded eagerly. He only realized he could tell it to stop after he had taken advantage of the diversion to escape and unintentionally left five dead or crippled gang members behind him. Over the course of the next few weeks, Damien made it through the hundred mile journey westward to Denver. Aspiring to follow in the footsteps of his selfless older sister, he donned a mask and became a cape, making an effort to protect the community of refugees who were still waiting to immigrate to the Silver City. He soon caught the attention of the Final Guard, and after agreeing to join their junior division, his citizenship application was fast-tracked. Now seventeen years old, Werelight is determined to do his best to protect Serstol...even though he knows that in the end, none of what he’s been through was worth losing his family for. [/hider][/indent][/indent] [indent][h3][sub][ [color=#a252d8]♦[/color] ] Personality[/sub][/h3][hr][/indent][indent][indent] [b][color=#a252d8]♦[/color] Motivation:[/b] Like his sister, Damien wants to help people. He knows that fighting other capes is only one element of this--when on patrol, he'll often make an effort to intervene in more mundane situations, although he hasn't quite reached the point where this is natural for him. He's not reluctant to throw himself into fights, and in combat, he's determined yet methodical in his approach. However, Damien isn't a perfect person. He has an ingrained bias toward giving up early or retreating in situations that he perceives as hopeless. He also tends to overestimate how good his own judgement is, and sometimes makes bad decisions with excessive amounts of confidence. This, coupled with his reluctance to cave after he's taken a firm stance on something, can make him tough to work with at times. A few hypothetical situations where Damien would be likely to get himself into trouble are: - There’s a nearby, immanent threat...and someone’s refusing to evacuate or cooperate with him, endangering their lives in the process. If the endangered person is nice about it, Damien will let it slide. But if they're not, there's a decent possibility that they're going to end up mastered by Damien's orb, intentionally or unintentionally. [i]Now[/i] they'll listen to him. - The Guard places heavy restrictions on when and where he's allowed to go out on patrol. This worsens the friction between him and the leaders of the group. When a crisis in the city causes Damien to conclude that he should be out there doing something instead of sitting around at the whims of his superiors, he may go out looking for a fight on his own, possibly egged on by his power. - Damien proposes a strategy to his team. The others point out flaws, maybe critical ones that an older member of the Final Guard has noticed, but he sticks to his guns hard and eventually convinces the Junior Guard to go along with it. Then it goes wrong. [b][color=#a252d8]♦[/color] Derangement:[/b] Damien's power doesn't directly influence his personality, at least not more than the average power does. However, Damien has gotten better over time at understanding what his power wants, and what it wants tends to play into his worst impulses. See below for more details.[/indent][/indent] [indent][h3][sub][ [color=#a252d8]♦[/color] ] Parahumanism[/sub][/h3][hr][/indent][indent][indent] [b][color=#a252d8]♦[/color] Skills:[/b] Damien knows some basic first aid thanks to a few improvised courses offered by those associated with the Guard. He's also in reasonably good shape, though he doesn't place an especially strong emphasis on working out, and is fairly handy with a toolbox due to the construction work he helped with following Gold Morning. Lastly, Damien is an exceptional cook, having picked up a fair amount of his parents' skills during his childhood. [b][color=#a252d8]♦[/color] Classification:[/b] Shaker / Master [b][color=#a252d8]♦[/color] [u]Mechanics:[/u][/b] At will, Damien can summon a translucent, purple orb from his body, with a diameter of around two feet. While easy to spot in daylight, the orb is silent and does not emit light. It's solid with a high coefficient of friction, though smooth to the touch. Damien can telekinetically control the orb, accelerating it at 1g in any direction up to a maximum speed of approximately 30 mph. Typically, he attacks by physically slamming the orb into objects or shoving enemies around with it. If he's careful, it's possible for him to restrain opponents by pinning them beneath the orb, although this is a bit tricky and risks injuring the target due to his power's nature. The ball's weight is hard to gauge, but it hits roughly as hard as an equivalently sized sphere of water, and it resists moving when struck by other attacks. Damien's power has a second aspect to it that he tries to draw less attention to. Upon touching his orb, he can shift it into a different state; its color intensifies, and the light passing through it bends less than usual. In this state, the orb is half as fast, much lighter, and easier for enemies to deflect. A thrown shoe would be sufficient to knock it off course. However, upon making contact with another person, the orb will immediately be absorbed into their body. For roughly thirty seconds after, Damien will be unable to summon a new orb, but can issue vague commands to the person in the same way that he controls his orb. There's several limits to this ability: It's much easier to evade the ball in this state due to its limited maneuverability, it may be blocked by heavy armor or by certain powers, and if a parahuman is affected by the orb, it struggles to use all but the simplest of powers. Damien's range varies somewhat, and is defined by his shard. The orb doesn't like going more than 300 feet away from him; it won't do so under ordinary circumstances. If Damien feels trapped, however, or if he feels like he's inevitably going to die or get hurt in a situation, his range will increase. He's not limited by line of sight, but his limited access to the orb's fuzzy senses make it tricky for him to use his power reliably when he can't see it. (His shard can see just fine--it's excellent at parsing the sensory input, even though Damien is bad at it--but it doesn't have as many qualms about collateral damage as Damien does, which can be dangerous if Damien doesn't know exactly what it's attacking.) His orb is durable enough that most conventional weapons can't damage it. However, powerful attacks may shatter it. If this happens, Damien will instantly lose control over the shards and be forced to spend roughly thirty seconds generating a new orb. The shards do not disappear over time, so tinkers may find various uses for the material. Damien cannot voluntarily relinquish control over his orb and generate a new one. [b][color=#a252d8]♦[/color] Additional notes on Damien's shard:[/b] Damien's power is somewhat unusual in that he's not fully in charge of the orb's movements. Instead, he mentally tells the orb what he wants it to do ("ram this person", "stay between me and that enemy", "float around me in a square", etc.), and his passenger interprets what he's asking for and acts on it. On one hand, his shard is much better at using his power intuitively than he'd ever be, giving him a respectable amount of fine control. On the other, this means that an alien supercomputer that only [i]mostly[/i] wants what Damien wants is in charge. It'll almost always listen to Damien and is excellent at reading his intentions, but it still has a mind of its own. For instance, if Damien lets it act entirely of its own volition during a fight, it might head off on its own and start attacking whatever targets it finds the most interesting--possibly including teammates and civilians. Compared to most other shards, Damien's shard is almost hyperactive. It [i]really[/i] likes being used, and it often tries to act on its own if Damien isn't actively reining it in. If he's angry out of costume, it'll try to emerge from his body, forcing him to consciously tell it to back down. Sometimes it'll 'nudge' him gently when he's bored, or poke him less gently if he's feeling guilty about not being out on the streets helping. Damien's learned over the past year that he needs to devote constant attention to his power when out on patrol or in a stressful situation, or it's liable to cause an accident. In return, however, Damien's power rewards his for using it: The more conflict he gets into, the stronger his power becomes. (Increased cooperation, slightly faster acceleration, slightly longer control duration, etc.) The difference is small under ordinary circumstances, but it increases as the magnitude and frequency of the conflict increase. By now, Damien is fully aware of this pattern, and is reasonably certain that his power is alive in some way even though he can't communicate with it directly. [b][color=#a252d8]♦[/color] Equipment:[/b] [indent]- An earpiece to keep in contact with his teammates. - A handful of zip-ties. - A pocket containing some first aid supplies, primarily intended for severe injuries. - A harness that he can attach to his orb to carry objects, particularly people. It's lightweight and easy to carry, consisting mostly of fabric straps. - Two foam pads that can attach to his orb to help cushion impacts when he doesn't want to hurt someone. Damien has noticed that his orb becomes slightly harder to control while using them. - A five-piece, bullet-resistant ring that he can attach to his orb, turning it into a four-foot-diameter shield. It takes him around twenty seconds to apply it, possibly fifteen if he's rushing and doesn't make any mistakes. Damien generally carries it on his back. - And lastly, his costume, which is tough enough to resist small-caliber firearms and mitigate the force of weaker attacks. [i]Note: Damien's orb can still be absorbed into people while using the above gear, but with a few caveats. Firstly, the gear will fall off upon absorption and must be reattached. Secondly, the ball itself must still make contact with the target; the straps and pads will block the power. Lastly, the second state is effectively useless with the shield attached due to the shield's weight.[/i] [/indent][/indent][/indent] [/hider]