[b]Name:[/b] Nathaniel Hawthorne
[b]Age:[/b] 28
[b]Sex:[/b] Male.
[b]Appearance:[/b] Nathaniel stands about six feet tall and has dark hair and skin on the pale side. His eyes were once a rich brown color when he was a child, but they are now somewhere between pink and red thanks to one of his mutations. He is not particularly muscular, nor particularly attractive, but he is not rail-thin or horrifying. He is decidedly average in appearance aside from his height and the signifiers of his mutations.

[b]History Type:[/b] Custom
[b]From Commune To Bunker:[/b] Nathaniel was born and raised in a small commune of mutants, made up of those who hated the way they were treated by non-mutants and chose to brave life in North America outside the Bunker colonies. They did not fare well, but they more or less scraped by in the ruins of a small town in what used to be Missouri. Nathaniel had only ever associated with mutants until his adulthood, whereupon turning sixteen he decided to go to the Chicago Bunker and see what life was like there. It was not pretty in the outermost ring, but it was a hell of a lot better than trying to live outside the walls, and so he stayed and there he fared well enough and got used to normal humans. Spending his developmental years in the company of mutants made Nathaniel highly sensitive to their particular personality quirks, and spending the rest of his life amongst regular humans has honed his social skills with them as well. However, due to his particular life circumstances, Nathaniel never had much exposure to technology and is thus at a disadvantage when trying to use anything more advanced than a gun.
(Bonuses to social interaction with mutants and non-mutants alike, penalties to understanding and using advanced and foreign technology.)

[b]Biography:[/b] Nathaniel was born in a mutant commune and knew only mutants for the first half of his life. He was never sure who his parents were, though that could be said of almost all his fellows as they were raised by the community rather than by one couple. He was a very socially adept person from the time he was a young boy, able to make friends without much effort and capable of winning over adults as well. He had a penchant for drama and delusions of grandeur, but everyone wrote it off as the products of a child's active imagination... at least until he was about thirteen and they saw it as time for him to put away his play and become a man. Pressure from these sentiments plus a desire to see and interact with the great crowds of the Bunker colonies were the combined cause for his choice to leave the commune at the age of sixteen.

Upon arriving to the Chicago Bunker, Nathaniel found that things were not as grand as he imagined, though admittedly he only saw the slums of the outermost ring for most of his time there. The soldiers hadn't seemed very keen to let him into their home, understandably enough, but he had been able to convince them of his lack of ill intent after a lot of questioning and so he was allowed to stay. Having learned by this point to keep his mouth shut about his grand image of himself, Nathaniel managed to blend in fairly well. He learned that regular humans were not so different from mutants after all, despite all the cynical talk in the commune about how they might as well be another species.

Of course this revelation did not change anything for Nathaniel. He had always viewed mutants and humans as being equal in all relevant matters. More specifically they were all beneath him, for he was the greatest there ever was or would be. For all their apparent differences they were in truth all the same. After all, why should differences of physiology in lesser creatures matter to a god?

Self-affirmed divinity aside, Nathaniel led a rather mundane life in Bunker Chicago. He learned how to ingratiate himself with humans just as he had with mutants, and he did so with aplomb. Though he somtimes slipped and freaked people out by talking of his godhood (sometimes as if he was a god, others as if he was going to become one somehow, it varied from day to day), Nathaniel managed to smooth things over by claiming things from idle fantasy to a poor attempt at humor. Eventually he evened out somewhat, thanks to the use of narcotics stirring his scrambled mind about and leaving him with a more or less cohesive story about his godhood in his own mind and quieting his need to verbalize his thought processes. He later stopped using these drugs, for they were unbecoming of a god, but he held on to the apparent stability.

Upon hearing of the Shadow Zone, Nathaniel immediately weaved it into his mental narrative. Therein would be the place where he would die and be reborn as a god, though not until he had passed through the trials and tribulations necessary for the transformation. Thus he sought to join the efforts to learn about and fight the Shadow Zone, for he saw it as his calling.

[center][u]Technical Information[/u]: This information is your character’s skill sets and inventory.[/center]

[b]Career Path:[/b] Listener

[b]Mutations:[/b]
[u]Swarm[/u]
[b]Synaptic Parasite:[/b] Upon touch, a parasite can leave the hand of the Swarm mutant, which burrows its way under the skin and into the nervous system of its victim. After a few seconds it begins to transmit psychic energy to the infecting character, which allows said character to forcefully control the victim. Due to the traumatic nature of possession, some will resist better than others, and some may even simply die or fall unconscious from shock instantly. (Forced Control over victim on physical contact) (Mutation effect: Occasionally has bulges under the skin which move.)
Note: Can be used to “trap” food and drink or other objects for a few minutes before the parasite dies without a host.
--[b]Familial Legacy (Rank 2):[/b] Parasites can now travel a small distance independently to attempt to sneak up on and take over a host. They can also be thrown akin to grenades, however the parasites are quite vulnerable. The parasite now also has a 'kill switch', if someone attempts to remove it from its host or on command of its master, it will snap the spinal column and kill its host. Parasites can now attempt to dig into the host body's memories to find secrets and transfer these memories telepathically to the Swarm mutant, but this also gives the host a chance to overpower the parasite for a few moments. (General upgrades.) (Mutation Effect: Cockroaches and other insects are drawn to the swarm host.)

[b]Too Innocent To Kill:[/b] Subtle changes in bodily posture and displayed emotions from the eyes, as well as low wave psychic energy emitted in all directions, gives this character the most distinctive impression of innocence that shouldn’t be killed. It won’t stop enemies from using non-lethal force or wounding your character, or firing back if your character commits to hostile action, but it does mean that intelligent enemies will otherwise avoid lethal attacks on this character. (Survival, Diplomacy bonuses.) (Mutation effect: The Iris’ of the eyes turn to a pinkish-reddish hue.) 

[u]Other[/u]
[b]In Forma, Quod Puritas:[/b] Having a closer connection to the mutants in the fog than any human could ever hope to have, these individuals have started to realize their true potential in the face of the oncoming force. They can now acutely hear and understand what the mutants in the shadow zone say to each other verbally or telepathically, and are immune to the horrible side effect of coming into direct contact with them: They cannot be either absorbed or burned. Situations which would petrify a normal person, such as the glare of a shadow wolf, have no effect on this mutant.

Wounds sustained are now rapidly healed, though this exhausts the mutant. For perspective: They can heal broken bones in minutes. This doesn't however render them immune to pain, which can still send them into shock, nor to blood loss, which can end their lives. Though notable their blood has taken on a somewhat lighter hue than that of a regular human, a more pinkish colour than red. 

[b]Divine Flesh:[/b] Nathaniel's body, having experienced its first real life or death combat with a gun, has adapted to improve his odds of survival. His hand-eye coordination has improved quite a bit, and his arms are much steadier when holding a gun, though both of these mutations seem to be almost entirely tied to use of guns and have had no noticeable effect on his coordination and steadiness in other activities. (Bonus to gun accuracy) (Mutation effect: The veins in Nathaniel's hands and arms now stand out very clearly and vividly through his skin, and they appear red instead of blue.)

[b]The Voices:[/b] Nathaniel has noticed that on occasion he can hear the voices and conversations of entities within the Shadow Zone, even miles away back in Bunker Chicago. The only issue is when this happens, he has no way to discern or filter the voices, and so thousands of voices ring through his mind, some louder than others. This can induce nose bleeds and cause him to hallucinate. On the other hand, this can also give him extremely valuable intelligence about what the enemy is about to do. (Mutation effect is clear) (Mutation Effect: While in this state he very visible sweats and his pupils envelope the entirety of his eyes.)

[b]Achievements:[/b]
[b]Mind on the Money:[/b] More often than not when Nathaniel takes a guess at where his objective or target is, he's spot on. (Increases odds of randomly finding whatever it is he's looking for.)
[b]The Chosen One:[/b] Having been touched by the ghostly touch of a very important figure, other listeners and enemies within the shadowzone tend to be more likely to listen and comply with Nathaniel's requests. (Bonuses to diplomacy with mutants of all kinds, intelligent or not.)

[b]Inventory:[/b] Your character’s inventory. You may add as many miscellaneous items as you wish, within reason. There are some things added here already: You get to keep these unless they’re replaced by a different item based on your career path. (ex: Pilots would replace Medkit with Technician Kit.)

[hider=Weapons][b]Combat Knife:[/b] The standard army combat knife. A design over a century old still more than effective enough to carry on into the future.

[b]Standard Issue Council Pistol:[/b] Your standard issue, eighteen shot clip pistol provided to nearly everyone in the bunkers and on most homesteads, to both civilians and armed personnel alike. This is based off of the glock-18 model, with some near-future modifications.

[b]Standard Issue Council Rifle:[/b] Your standard issue, thirty shot clip semi-automatic rifle, based on the M16AR2 of old with some near-future treatment to make it a little more effective.[/hider]

[hider=Armour][b]Civilian Clothing:[/b] You wear a set of civilian clothing. This has no armour value and is thus pretty good to sneak around in, but, then again, if anything so much as breathes on you, you're a dead man.

[b]Light Armour:[/b] Standard issue armour. It's light weight and looks like it might be able to defend against a kitten assault if you hold it just the right way. Needless to say, this armour won't stop anything from harming you, but it may at least lessen the damage you take.[/hider]

[hider=Medicine & Tech][b]Medkit:[/b] Your standard medkit, including bandages, stitches, rubbing alcohol, and more.

[b]Radio:[/b] A simple radio for contacting others.

[b]Frag Grenade:[/b] A small hand held explosive. Pull the pin and throw it into a small room for maximum effect, as it isn’t all that effective in a large area with several pieces of cover... Each character starts with two frag grenades.

[b]Flashbang:[/b] A non-lethal version of the Frag Grenade, this weapon’s purpose is to cause a bright flash of light and a loud bang, blinding and deafening opponents. Each character starts with two flashbangs.[/hider]

[hider=Miscellaneous]Anything that is just excess fluff in most situations, like dog-tags, or a watch.

[b]Dog-Tags:[/b] A way to identify your horrible mangled corpse. Congratulations! At least you won't die forgotten mister... Uh... What was your name again?

[b]Standard Watch:[/b] Your standard wrist watch, likely powered by gears and springs as in old clockwork, only compartmentalized to fit on the wrist.

[b]Flash-Light:[/b] Useful in dark places. Often mounted on a shoulder or duct-taped to a weapon.

[b]Bracelet:[/b] A bracelet made of a plain silver chain with various bits and bobbles attached to it, mainly things like pull tabs from soda cans and other oddly shaped pieces of metal.[/hider]

[b]Signature:[/b] I, Jorick, hereby swear to not be a little bitch about my character dying if/when it happens. I also acknowledge that Vlad has Camoflauge.