[hider=Kali Mahendra][CENTER][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjE0Mi42ZjBiYjcuUzJGc2FTQk5ZV2hsYm1SeVlRLjE/crash-bang-zipdap.regular.webp[/img][/CENTER] [i][color=#8670AD]"It just keeps turning and turning and turning and turning and turning and..."[/color][/i] [table][row][/row][row][cell] [center][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1158583197341335572/1177538466494545961/image.png?ex=6572df28&is=65606a28&hm=1396627393de38326043fe504908762c1edb04a381cc352f19246b4f29295aa9&=&format=webp&width=695&height=676[/img] [sup]_______________________________________________[/sup] [sub]Kali Mahendra He/Him [b]|[/b] 26 [b]|[/b] Indian [b]|[/b] 5'11 [b]|[/b] 180lnbs(?) (Think of it as a rough estimate honestly) [sup]_______________________________________________[/sup] Lost [sup]_______________________________________________[/sup] Skills & Talents[/sub] [i][color=#8670AD]"I hate talking about myself."[/color][/i] [sup]___________________________________[/sup][/center][hider=] [sub] [b]CQC Training ⫻[/b] For as poorly trained as the PRA is there is still a bare minimum standard required to be cleared for field deployment. Technically, he should be more adept with firearms but ever since he firs shot a gun they've always made Kali incredibly skittish. Too much power to handle mentally. To make up for it he doubled down on close combat training instead. Fists, stun batons, even knives just feel less inherently... deadly. [b]Running ⫻[/b] People say running away from your problems is easy. For Kali it's an art form. One he's mastered through years of experience. For as long as he could remember he's always been running to or from something. His legs and his heart have been forged into dynamos of motion as a result. He might not be the most graceful or the most powerful but when he starts running as long as he has feet to hit the ground, he won't stop. [b]Cooking ⫻[/b] It's a right of passage to learn to cook in an Indian household. Being taught the various spices, watching his mother cook all sorts of recipes from Bharat, and being guided until he could hold his own in the kitchen is likely the closest Kali has ever gotten to real family bonding. Now that he lives alone it's an invaluable skill, one he treasures greatly even if the memories are still bitter sweet. [b]Cleaning/Other Various House-Husband/Handyman Traits ⫻[/b] He's lived alone for a while now. He never thought he'd end up in a point in his life where he'd genuinely look forward to spring cleaning or know the inns and outs of how to repair his own sink but... life truly has a way of throwing you places you'd least expect. Regardless, someone has to fix his apartment's windows and it sure as hell isn't gonna be the landlord.[/sub][/hider] [/cell][cell][sub][b] Appearance[/b][/sub] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [i][color=#8670AD]"You know, it's funny. Every time I look in the mirror I still think... is that what I look like?"[/color][/i] [indent]You wouldn't sus him out to be your average officer, that's for sure. Yes, whilst in full uniform he pretty much looks the part of your average gun toting paranoid machine of the law aside from his skin tone being several touches darker than most, but when the long sleeves are off what follows is a very different picture. Tattoos adorn both of his toned well trained arms, full sleeves, snaking all the way to his shoulders full of iconography from various movements, religions, mythologies, the works. His back isn't much better being turned into a sort of eclectic time capsule of ideas and beliefs that he might have held or still holds to this very day. There's a sort of collage effect at work here though with how he's allowed his body to become various artist's canvasses. Hard to say if it was a cohesive vision or just a lot of correcting after the fact to make it all work, but it certainly is something. His hair, black, silken even, and wavy, especially in the wind. It rests just above his eyes though you could imagine that if the job didn't require the bare minimum of tidiness it would fall even farther than that. There's a bit of scarring above the right eyebrow, either from a bad scrape or maybe a bad mission, hard to say especially since it's normally covered well with makeup to the point where you have to squint to get a good look at it. Off duty his fashion sense can flip-flop between something you might see on the Saint Lawrence Paris catalogue, black skinny jeans and all, or something more in line with a Yohji Yamamoto lineup with large draping forms that fall above his toned yet undeniably skinny frame. Earrings do appear to be a pretty constant staple, at least when he's not in uniform. A Ruby and a Sapphire, one for each ear. Surprisingly understated but the color makes it pop enough to draw attention way from his oddly colored eyes that seem to swirl between sunset orange and sea-foam green depending on the angle you're looking at them from.[/indent] [/cell][/row][/table][sub][b] Psychology[/b][/sub] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [i][color=#8670AD]"Just- I mean it's an act, except it isn't but... I don't actually know."[/color][/i] [INDENT][b]MAIN GOAL ⫻[/b] Fully establish himself in an identity and lifestyle that he can truly call his own, outside of the influence of others, of societal pressures, of the strange call that supernatural entities have to each other. He'd like to one day settle down somewhere, maybe at a beach if the climate crisis hasn't ruined those yet, doing a job he loves with people that he loves, whatever that might be. But for now, he's just trying to survive and maybe pay back some debts he thinks he owes to people who are now dead. [b]PHILOSOPHY ⫻[/b] "Somethings felt wrong ever since the accident. I can't shake it. This gnawing feeling inside of my chest that something about me isn't right, that there's a problem with me that I can't fix. Every time I look at myself in the mirror it's like I go farther and farther away from the person I'm supposed to be. But is that person even the person I [i]want[/i] to be? I feel like for the past fifteen years I've been dragged around from one place to the next, one job to the next, one life to the next, without anyone ever asking me where I want to go, and now it's happening all over again. Still, if you can't swim against the tide, might as well keep floating with it and hope you run into an island, right?" [b]SECRETS ⫻[/b] There was an accident that he was involved with years ago, before he was ever involved with the Coven. He tells people it was just a bad scrape, and to the people of the Coven that it was just an unlucky encounter with an apparition that cursed him, but honestly... a part of thinks he really did die that day and for some reason any time he wants to bring that possibility up something silences him before he can even try. [b]SEXUALITY ⫻[/b] Straight? Honestly he's not too sure himself either. He hasn't had a lot of time to explore this side of himself and even then he's not really sure if he wants to right now. [b]FEARS ⫻[/b] He fears that everything he does is just an act, a facade, and that somewhere in the middle of all the acting whatever is his real true self somehow got lost. He's also afraid of taking life, and how that can affect him. He's fine with participating in violence but he is horrified about being the person to actually pull the trigger. He also has an irrational fear of cats. Something about their eyes... it's like they can see through him. [b]REPUTATION IN OLD COVEN ⫻[/b] Kali, to the coven was like a picked up stray. When he first came to them, shivering, alone, recently run away from his parents they offered him a home, shelter, a place to remain comfortable. But something about him always seemed to put him in the fringes. He never stood out, never put himself in the center of any of the Coven's affairs. He pulled his own weight during the battle against the snake no doubt but otherwise he almost seemed like a part of the furniture. When the Coven dissolved, he was there. He heard quite a bit regarding what happened, not because people told him but because people didn't notice enough to realize he was within earshot of those conversations. In the end, the tide of fate was what threw him into the Coven in the first place, and life a piece of driftwood as soon as the Coven dissolved he would continue to float down stream as if nothing happened. [b]ROLE IN THE BATTLE AGAINST THE STYGIAN SNAKE ⫻[/b] At first, he was just another person on the front lines. Dealing with the lesser apparitions and doing his best to support from a position of weakness. But then, to everyone's surprise, he started saying things. Things about what the Snake would do, and what his intentions were. They were clearly speculations but more often than not he was actually right. It was as if Kali was somehow able to read the Stygian Snake and through his insights they were able to better maneuver around what it was doing and counterattack. Though, for some reason, near the tail end of the fight Kali had vanished. It wasn't that important however, the Snake was more or less cornered anyway and he was known to run when the going gets tough. [b]FLAWS ⫻[/b] He's extremely skittish, paranoid, and generally conflict averse. He's harmless, but in a way [i]too harmless[/i]. He's used to being pushed around a lot by people with extremely strong personalities and holding bottling up his feelings, to a point. His general weirdness about his own identity and the constant sense of discomfort that he gets from it also makes it difficult for him to connect with others. Stress, anxiety, and general sensory overload can cause him to shut down in crucial situations if someone else isn't there to knock him back into his senses, but when it all reaches a [i]breaking point[/i] he can also lash out violently without much care for anyone else around him both physically and emotionally as a defensive response. [/INDENT] [sub][b] Backstory[/b][/sub] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [i][color=#8670AD]"We don't need to bring up the past. Nothing good lives there."[/color][/i] (I'm gonna write this in First Person if you don't mind. It's just how I like to do things.) [indent]For as long as I could remember I've always had these... expectations... put on me. My mom and dad they were both, successful, I think. She did something with banks and dad was a doctor, or something like that. I don't really remember I haven't talked to them in fifteen years. Still, I can't tell why but something, something was wrong back then. There was this [i]thing[/i] gnawing inside of me, scratching away at my chest like it was trying to get out. I could feel it, growing, every day until I just- I couldn't take it anymore! I had to leave I had to run I was... I was. I was running somewhere. Into a field. It was a big one filled with wheat as tall as trees. There was a scarecrow in the distance. I don't know why I remember that but there was. It was tall, so tall. You couldn't miss it. And it just had these... eyes? Yeah, eyes, and they kept following me. And I just kept on running and running and running until before i knew it I was out of the field and into one of those back country roads and then. Well that's when it happened. The accident. Something caught up to me there. I can't remember what it looked like but I just knew I was afraid of it, terrified even. I was on the ground, I was bleeding, I think I fell onto the asphalt and my heart was pounding so hard I swore it was gonna jump straight out've my chest but then it just left. Thankfully someone was nearby and they took me to the hospital but I still have the scar. That wasn't the only thing it left me with though. Something changed. I could tell instantly. It was like my entire body was filled with this... sickness that I can never cure. I could see things, hear things, know things that I never could before, that I shouldn't have known. For a while I was just drifting around. An odd job here, an apprenticeship there. Sometimes I got by hiding in people's basements, creeping out from below when they were asleep to grab whatever I could from the fridge. But no matter where I went something just kept dragging me further and further along. Then, eventually I was just... walking. Walking, and walking and walking until finally I was just, somewhere else. That was when the Coven showed up. Or more like I showed up to them. I can't remember why but for some reason I was just sitting there in front of their base, shivering, cold, was it raining? Probably, but it was definitely cold. They were nice. Or well, they at least helped me [i]understand[/i] what exactly happened to me. Those were some wild years now that I'm looking back on it but, even if they weren't really my friends they still gave me a home. They gave me food, shelter, a place where I could just be myself for a little while. It was a good thing going for me. Right? Yeah I had to... technically, help in a fight against a horrific abomination from across the pale or something like that but it at least I belonged there. At least I think I did. But, at the same time I just can't help but wonder if I even had a say in any of that. Did I want to be there or was I just there because that's just how things went? I, no, no there's no point in thinking about that. Eventually, things started going south though once the Snake was gone. It was funny, the Snake kept us together. No matter how much they might have hated each other as long as the Snake was there then it was fine. They all had something to hate together. But after that it all just crumbled. It was slow. very slow. Too slow honestly. But once it all rotted away I left with it. I was alone again. Nothing but the clothes on my back and a bit of loose change to try and figure something out with. Then it happened again. I was found again. Not by the coven, but by the government. The PRA. I don't know what they see in me honestly but it's not a bad gig all things considered. The training is tough but... not much tougher than what I went through at the Coven. The jobs are honestly a little easier as well. They pay me, the housing is subsidized, I get discounts on the bus and train passes and can use the veterans discount at the grocery store. All I have to do is just deal with some paranormal things occasionally which is definitely not where I thought my life was going but it's not the worst, especially with all the benefits and insurance. It's cozy. Comfortable. [b]But is that what I want?[/b] There it is again. That feeling. That thing gnawing away at the back of my skull. I can't listen to it this time. Nothing good happens when I listen to it. I'll figure things out. I have to. I always do. No matter what happens no matter where I go. I am me. I am [b]me.[/b] Then, one day, a letter shows up at my apartment door. A letter... old fashioned but, I like it that way. Then the name, Auri Auclair. Like a shot to the chest. No, no it can't be. There's no way right? Then the seal on the letter hits my eyes. It is. It's her. What the hell could she want with me? No, I should just throw it away. I'm done. I have a new life now I'm not going to let [b]the damn pull[/b] drag me back in! But that feeling... there it is again. I'm running away, just like I always do. I hate it. I hate it [b]so much.[/b] So with a shaky hand I reached out to it, touched it, carefully undid the seal like I was handling a bomb before peeking at the contents. Oh God. Ashley Stone is dead. I stare out into the distance from my front door. I read the address. I know where that is. I know it all too well... [b]So this is where I'm being dragged too next?[/b] [/indent] [sub][b] Abstraction[/b][/sub] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [i][color=#D01417]"Let me become you."[/color][/i] [indent][b] Aberration (Abscised) ⫻[/b] [b]ABSTRACTION ⫻[/b] Mimicry: It is not simply enough to copy the superficial, you must embody them, take their essence, make it yours, and lose yourself in it. [b]ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻[/b] It can take many different forms depending on who Kali is in contact with and for how long. However, the key sign of its usage no matter how little it is being used is a shift in the coloration of his eyes, almost as if paint is being mixed into his irises. [b]Embody:[/b] When in long periods of contact with another entity or individual Kali can begin to take on their traits. This happens in stages, first from the superficial traits and thoughts to eventually, if taken far enough, becoming an identical copy complete with all of the various traits, emotions, and capabilities included. This embodying even extends to abstractions if they are present though until Kali has fully "synced" with the identity of his target the abstraction itself will always be naturally weaker than what the original target is capable of. [b]Base:[/b] The "base form" of the apparition that has inhabited Kali's corpse. It is nothing impressive manifesting itself as shadowy claws and spikes that wrap around Kali's arms and can be used both offensively and defensively with enough durability to at least survive low caliber bullets but otherwise these offer no other benefits to his physique, reaction speed, or anything else for that matter. When using only his base abilities he simply has to rely on whatever mortal physique he has to make the best of it. The more he [i]"Embodies"[/i] another however the less present his base form becomes, starting from the shadowy thorns at the top of his arms and receding further and further until the claws themselves also disappear when he has become fully "synced". [b]Empathy:[/b] This is more of a side effect of [b]"Embodying"[/b] something but it also has its uses. When Kali is in the process of embodying a target he also gains access to their thoughts. Not in the sense that he is reading them but in the sense that his brain is being shifted around to think in the same way his target is and therefore is naturally forming those thoughts on its own as if it were that target. This process starts at the superficial level. Immediate goals, surface level desires, strong emotions, but if the process continues it will allow for access to even deeper, more subconscious, even horrifically personal thoughts though that is if Kali would even be able to retain enough of his own identity by that point to use this information. [b]LIMITS ⫻[/b] [b]Time/Compatibility:[/b] To embody a target requires sustained close proximity, roughly within thirty feet but this can vary depending on a number of factors, and it also requires an extensive amount of time. Becoming another person is not a fast or easy process and if the target is not another apparition or someone that Kali has a high emotional "compatibility with" (Knows extremely well on a personal level) then that time will take even longer, maybe even weeks to fully complete the process if the target is too incompatible with Kali and his own desires. Deep admiration for the target may shorten that time frame however though this is not always the case. [b]Ego Death:[/b] The closer Kali becomes to "fully syncing" with the target the more his own identity becomes lost in the process. There is a sort of undertow to this where the more he becomes the target the harder it is for him to pull away from the process to return to being himself. There might be a theoretical way to return Kali to who he once was after he "fully syncs" with someone but that is not something he has ever attempted nor is it something he ever wants to risk attempting. [b]WEAKNESSES ⫻[/b] By mimicking someone, Kali begins to gain their memories... however, he loses the ability to differentiate what are his memories and what is someone else's. The more he uses this abstraction on a target, the more he loses his memories as they are replaced with the targets. By mimicking someone's abstraction, he also gains their weaknesses. [/INDENT] [sup][b] Other[/b][/sup] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [i][color=#8670AD]"I am me. I am me. I am me. I am me. I am me. I am me. I am me. I am me. I am me."[/color][/i] -They can also speak Hindi and Telugu as well as Spanish (Learned via DLI course). -He has a dog at home named Pebble. He's a Shih Tzu. [color=#8670AD]-Color Code: #8670AD[/color] [color=#D01417]-Additional Color Code: #D01417[/color] [/hider]