Maxx

City of Gold OOC

November 13, 2014. Mendel, Louisiana

10:30 PM

It’s a cold evening in Mendel, a rare occurrence considering its southern location. It is fifty-eight degrees, and a chilling wind blows through the alleys like the tails of ghosts. The moon hangs high in the sky as restaurants begin to empty and bars begin to fill. The streets are still crowded, but the crowds are beginning to thin as most of the city lights go off. The sky is cloudy, and there is the scent of rain in the air. In some parts of the city, it is beginning to lightly drizzle.

The Vanguard


Whisper looked down over the city from the long, high glass windows of Club 76 and sighed. The city was beginning to wind down for the day, and it looked rather quiet , but all she could see were crimes. Two blocks away from the gargantuan Archimedes building, a man was being mugged, and not far from there, a man with a heavy black trenchcoat was vending his illicit wares to two teenaged boys with their pants resting on their upper thighs. She clenched her fists, and for a moment a thin wispy smoke emanated from them, as if they were about to turn to smoke. She resisted the urge, and turned away from the windows that made up one of the walls of the rectangular restaurant towards the marble-topped bar counter, where a seat was left open. She sat down next to Emilio, who was drinking a Dos Equis and watching a wood-paneled television set into the wall. The World Series was on, and the Royals were losing.

“Dammit Perez.” Emilio mumbled, to no one in particular “You’ve gotta make that throw.” As Whisper took her seat at the bar, the bartender, who was dressed in an Oxford shirt and vest like a waiter, turned back to the bar and got her drink. She came to the bar almost every day, and almost every day she got the same drink. In less than forty-five seconds there was a drink in her hand and a tip in the bartender’s pocket.

Whisper remarked to herself that the bar was rather quiet tonight. Club 76 was a classier place, with nice tables, clean floors, and occasionally live music, but no bar is safe from alcoholics for long. The small stage in the corner was crowded around the edges where spectators listened to a hipster-looking guitarist. He played a black Yamaha, and a white sticker on it read “This Machine Kills Fascists”. As usual, the bar counter was dominated by the Vanguard, some of whom were wearing their jackets and some who were not. There was a new girl at the edge of the counter, the only one dumb or courageous enough to sit in a spot normally reserved for the Vanguard. She was an attractive blonde girl wearing a white sweater and black designer jeans. A beret sat lopsided on her head, and she twirled the straw of her drink disinterestedly with one finger. She looked generally depressed.

Whisper shrugged her shoulders and turned back towards the bar before scanning the other end of the counter; an eighteen-year-old’s angst was not of her concern. Whisper took a drink, and sat the wine glass down on the marble counter gently. She was hungry, but ordering food would require more talking than she was used to. She nudged Emilio in the arm with her elbow and made a beckoning motion with her head towards the bartender. Emilio had grown quite adept at deciphering Whisper’s motions, and so he flagged the bartender down and put in an order of mozzarella sticks. Whisper nodded to his approvingly and he returned the gesture before looking back at the television. The Royals were still losing.

“Dammit.” Emilio growled.

The Skulls



The Jolly Roger is a dive bar that sits on the corner of Radium street and Haber Street. It is a small, dirty place, with floors that look like they were last dusted in 1994 and tables covered in scratches and stains. It is not, generally speaking, a family-friendly establishment. The majority of its inhabitants are tough-musclebound goons clad in leather, many of them Skulls.

Skeleton sat at the bar, a beer in his hand and his eyes fixed on one of the many sports televisions. He was watching a rather brutal UFC match, not even flinching as a grown adult’s lip split open from a punch, spraying blood rather violently across the octagon. The bar at The Jolly Rogers only had four seats, one for each Enforcer of the gang, but tonight it would gain a fifth. Skeleton turned around and looked at Matt; he wasn’t the toughest-looking kid he had ever seen, but Grease loved him to death and advertised him as the next-best thing next to Christ. The bar was alive with sound. Several tables of goons chatted, and the pool table exploded with sound as balls ricocheted all around at missile-like speed. In the corner, a few younger members shared a joint. The place was anarchy, but Skeleton didn’t care. In his mind, it was controlled anarchy, and he loved it.

After admiring his men for a few moments, Skeleton rose and, clearing his throat, silenced the entire bar with minimal effort. As the place fell deathly silent, Skeleton turned to Matt and gestured for him to rise.

“Tonight,brothers,” he began “ we are here to welcome a new member into the Skulls Big Four; Matt Detmer.” Several people began to clap, and some made loud whooping noises with their hands cupped around their lips like megaphones. Skeleton waited for silence, and not receiving it, cleared his throat once more. Everyone shut up almost instantly. Damian rose from his seat between Kylie and Caden and walked over to Matt. He clapped a heavy hand on his shoulder.

“You got any words you wanna say, Matt?” Damian said “Anyone fuckers wanna gloat at or anything like that?” Skeleton huffed semi-audibly and crossed his arms across his chest. Of course Damian would steal the show. Skeleton glared at his old friend and sat back down, allowing him to take over. Skeleton didn’t care enough to do anything about it.

Somewhere on the other side of the city, police cars formed a perimeter around the gory murder of John Frost. From high up above, Tara watched the scene. She was a short, skinny girl with green-and-brown hair, neither color being natural. She sighed loudly as she realized the consequences of this murder, and looked straight down from the top of the apartment building. If Skeleton found out about this, he'd flip out, but not telling him would be worse in the long run. The only thing to do was to deal with his anger and tell him. Tara walked over to the building's rusty fire escape and began to make her way down to the ground. She had to tell Skeleton, whether he liked it or not.

City of Gold Act I: A Death in West Mendel

City of Gold OOC

Okay, I think we have enough people now to at least start the IC. Hopefully some more peeps will join after the IC begins.

City of Gold Character Storage Vault

Basic Information

Name: Dr.Tobias J. Wright
Nickname/Alias/Etc: Doc, Doctor Octopus, The Floppy-Floppy Spider of the Deep, Kraken
Gender: Male
Age: 35, but his power ages him, so he looks fifty at a cellular level.
Height: 5’6”
Weight: 100 lbs (not having a skeleton makes you rather light)
Faction: Neutral.

Appearance

Hair Color: No hair.
Eye Color: His eye is not like a human eye. It resembles that of an octopus’ eye, Tobias’ eyes are shaped like that of an octopus’ eyes, with a gold-and-orange white surrounding a long, elliptical pupil facing horizontally (if that didn’t make sense, google it).
Ethnicity: Is Octopusian an ethnicity?
Physical Appearance: Tobias Wright exists as a vaguely humanoid shape standing at about 5’6” and weighing around 100 lbs. In his base form, Tobias looks pretty much like an octopus/human hybrid. His limbs (all six of them) and torso have very little muscle definition, and are generally skinny, and for a cephalopod looks slightly overweight, with a pot belly. He has no evidence of any joints or bones anywhere in his body. His arms come down to points like tentacles, and the back side of the part where the hands would be is covered in suction cups. He has three pairs of these arms, each pair set slightly below the pair above them. His legs are much thicker than his arms and end with the same type of suction cup foot. Having no bones, Tobias has sh*t posture. He appears as if he’s being held up by marionette strings, sometime leaning forwards and sometimes backwards. His head is the oddest part of his body, with aspects of both a man and an octopus. It stems from an average-sized thick neck that looks more muscular than his arms. His face is flat and tall, with a curved forehead. He has a human-looking mouth and a rounded jaw line that sags slightly (due to his lack of bones). His teeth are black in color, and are pointed like an octopus’ beak. He has twenty teeth, with ten on the top and ten on the bottom. They are the only hard parts of his entire body. Tobias’ eyes are shaped like that of an octopus’ eyes, with a gold-and-orange white surrounding a long, elliptical pupil facing horizontally (if that didn’t make sense, google it). They are in relatively the same position on his face as human eyes. His nose is like a snake’s, a slight bump with two vertical slits. Tobias’ brain is held in a sack that looks like an octopus’ mantle that sags from the back of his head. His ears exist as two slits on either side of the base of the mantle. Toby’s voice is...odd, to say in the least. His voice is very muffled, and he has a rather obvious lisp (because his teeth are no longer human-shaped).

Attire: Nerd. Toby always dresses somewhat-formally. Khakis are a staple of his wardrobe, and his shirt is usually some sort of Oxford-style short-sleeved shirt with a plaid or striped design. Toby has a special tailor in town who makes him his shirts, so they’re six-armed (he really hates when they get ripped because they’re expensive). He doesn’t wear shoes because he can’t walk with them on. When in the lab, Toby wears a lab coat. The coat does not have six arms, and so four of them protrude from the inside of the coat and

Personality

Outward & Innate Personality: Tobias is a brainchild. He is incredibly intelligent, and has just enough common sense to keep himself from looking like a total moron (emphasis on total). He is one of those people who talksextremelquicklyandseemstogiveyoucompleteandtotalinformationoverloadwheneveryoutrytoaskhimaquestion. He’s one of those people who loves to hear himself talk. He is very prideful due to his advanced intellect, and doesn’t mind showing off. Once could not describe Toby as lazy,per-say, but he certainly will take a computer over handwork any day. He is rather self-conscious, and avoids looking into mirrors. When he’s near someone who he likes (like, romantically) he will retreat his tentacles into his shirt to make himself look less freakish. He is also rather socially awkward, possessing few social graces. Many people find him to be incredibly annoying at times. He has a fear of lampreys (because they’re f*cking weird) as well as trypophobia; the fear of clusters of small holes (don’t look it up. It transfers electronically. I’m not joking).

Hobbies/Interests: Tobias once wanted to be a marine biologist, and still has an interest in aquatic life. Many times, one can find Toby at the aquarium, watching the fish (though his true passion is genetics). He has a thing for Rubik’s cubes, and keeps a collection of them on a shelf near his desk in his office. He likes to read, especially science journals and science fiction. His favorite book is Brave New World. Toby is into video games as well in his free time. Television-wise, he watches a lot of BBC and Animal Planet. Planet Earth is his favorite show to watch, though he also likes River Monsters and Mythbusters. His favorite movie is Awakenings.

Skills/Talents: Well firstly, you’d be hard-pressed to find a man smarter than Tobias Wright, at least in his fields of expertise (biology, genetics, and mathematics). Partially due to his abilities, he has an IQ of 240. He is a chess grandmaster, and holds the world record for Rubik’s cube solving.

Prized Possession: His research/laboratory.
Quote(s): “So you want to know about DNA, huh? Well <insert 20-page college thesis on DNA structure here> Wait where’d you go I have more to tell you about it!”
History/Bio: Tobias was born in San Francisco. As soon as he was born, he looked...different. Toby was born with transparent skin and octopus-like eyes, a partial manifestation of his extreme genetic mutation in his structural chromosomes. Doctors at the time of his birth didn’t completely understand metahumans, and so while they knew that he was one, they didn’t really know how to treat him. Because of this, Toby’s childhood was filled with a long litany of doctor’s visits and treatments for diseases that he never had. Unluckily, Toby’s father was a doctor, and so his son got the best in unnecessary medical treatments. When Toby was five, his arms began to turn into tentacles, and his father had him treated for muscular dystrophy. At age seven, when his other arms began to sprout, his father tried to have the arms removed. This failed, and soon Toby Wright was a nice young octopus child. His father was horrified, especially when his son’s skeleton began to dissolve. Toby’s father, being a bigshot in the San Francisco medical community, decided to send Toby to a boarding school when he turned thirteen, and so Toby went off to an Academy in Maine, where he learned how to use his powers and cultivated his sharp mind. He developed an anger against his father, and vowed to never have to rely on him for anything. Toby got into college himself, via a full ride to Stanford. He got a PhD in genetics (as he was interested in his own genetics) at age 24, and also got a minor in marine biology. He left college a new man, both physically and mentally (his mutation finally matured to the point where he looked like he looks now). From there, Toby decided to attempt to research metahumans, and went to Mendel University to do such. He has been there ever since. (Bad bio, but whatever).

Family:

Alan Wright: Father
Karen Wright: Mother
Katrina Wright: Sister

Relationships

Relationships:

Abilities

Power Class: Anatomical/animal
Power: Tobias has the powers of the mystical floppy-floppy spider of the deep, the octopus. Firstly, he is an invertebrate, which is both a strength and a weakness. It is a strength because it allows Tobias to be able to fit through any hole larger than his teeth (he can fold them up to fit through things) and makes him extremely strong, as his limbs are made almost entirely of muscle. It is a weakness, however, because without bones, Tobias has no way to protect his organs from damage (although he does have bands of muscle around his vital organs that provide him with some protection, though this isn’t as good of protection as a skull or ribcage would grant). Secondly, Tobias is a color magician. His skin is packed with chromatophores, cells that can control the release of pigment. Because of these cells, Tobias has the ability to change his color to match any background almost perfectly. His invertebrate nature also allows him to change his shape and texture, making him extremely good at camouflage. The more he studies an object, the better he is able to camouflage as it. His hands are another vital ability. The suction cups allow him to scale walls and other flat objects with relative ease Each suction cup can rotate and grasp independently, and can taste/smell what they touch. Because of his powerful eyes, Tobias can see infrared light, giving him a sort of thermal vision. He can pick out people hiding with ease (although this sense is thwarted by large amounts of plants or animals). He has the ability to breathe underwater.

Weaknesses/Limitations/Drawbacks: Due to the shape and small size of his ears, Tobias has poor hearing. He is now something of a glass cannon-without bones to absorb the impact of blows and protect his internal organs, Tobias is in danger of severe harm even from blunt trauma or what were before minor wounds. Secondly, his new octopus nature has changed his blood from relying on hemoglobin to transport oxygen: he will find himself less efficient in warmer environments, particularly out of the water. In the cold and the wet, he will excel, but otherwise, he may find himself drawing short of breath or getting light-headed if he overexerts himself. Also, and most importantly, is his lifespan. The octopus in real life lives a rather short lifespan dedicated to breeding. Once they mate, they die. Because of this, octopi age very quickly. So does Tobias; Toby’s cells age very quickly, shortening his life span. Because of this, Tobias probably will not live very long.

Other: Dr.Tobias Wright is a professor of genetics at Mendel University. He studies metahuman genetics, and in his lab has a menagerie of meta animals. They are as follows:

Bowser, a pitbull with flaming teeth.
Lassie, an Irish Wolfhound with a sonic bark.
Pavlov, a Beagle with telepathy (it never speaks, and only barks in people’s minds).
Chip, a Himalayan guinea pig that can teleport.
Steve, an archerfish that spits hydrochloric acid instead of water at prey.
Colony Alpha, a colony of rats with electric skin.

City of Gold OOC

@ comment 1: Not gonna fly here. Sorry Cruiser. I'm not having your character be able to paralyze people without any way to counter.

@ Comment 3 and 5: That doesn't satisfy me. Just saying he's scary and a psychopath doesn't give you an excuse for not giving him a personality weakness.

@ Comment 3: Two words; genetic testing. Everyone in the US government knows Zac is a meta because the moment he got incarcerated they stuck his ass with a needle and took a blood test. Now that doesn't mean that the gov't knows his power, per-say, but he couldn't pass off as just a very lethal human.

@ Comment 5: If he's so inhuman, then why is he human? I mean, I think every person, no matter how twisted, has some humanity to them. Zac does not.

I realize that I kinda sound dickish in these replies, and I'm sorry if I do. I don't want you to think that I don't like your or that I'm just an asshole. I don't have a problem with Alphonse, so long as you change that power so he can't paralyze people, but I don't feel comfortable having a psychopath supercriminal running around the city with a power that cannot be countered in traditional means. I mean, there's some strong characters in this rp; Skeleton is immune to physical damage, Matt can do literally anything, and Whisper is a ton more powerful than you all think (because I didn't reveal the exact parameters of her abilities) but all of these powers have very clear-cut weaknesses that can be used in a fight. Zac's power is undetectable, by the way you've stated it, and there's no way to counter it without knowing what he's doing, so unless someone is a telepath, they're boned.

EDIT: Yes, but if you slow down someone else's perception of time so that they cannot react fast enough, Cruiser, then they become basically useless. Zac and Alphonse can simply freeze other people in time and then do whatever they want. Bullet time is when you slow your own perception of time, like in the Matrix; Neo isn't super fast, but he sees everything as if he is. That's what I thought you meant by your power.

City of Gold OOC

@Cruiser: Interesting sheets. It was a neat idea to make identical twins with identical powers. However, I'm not sure I quite understand your characters' powers. I mean, the way you described it to me before was like bullet time, where the character slows down his own perception of time, not someone else's, which isn't OP because just because you can slow down time doesn't mean you can still dodge things. If he changes other people's perceptions of time, then I can't allow either of them because that's basically auto-dodge. The time erasure is okay with me so long as the target can still react during the time period (like they forget it afterwards, but if the character strikes at them with a sword, they can still parry).

City of Gold OOC

Well I just took Precognition off the ban list (allen is very persuasive when he's twisting your nuts), so go on ahead.

City of Gold OOC

Interesting. I should note, however, that the gangs have never fought before, so I don't know how "tired" of the fighting he can be.

@Engel: Accepted I appreciated the leg day joke (leg day is some ass). She'll jive quite well with the Vanguard fighting style.

@McHaggis: Also accepted. Very interesting power. WIll you be making Malcolm as well?

@All: I also need to mention to all of you that I'm adding some powers to the ban list.

The following abilities are now banned:

-Time manipulation
-Blood manipulation (if the blood is not the user's)
-Roleplay manipulation (More or less synonymous with reality manipulation)

More may be coming once I speak to my mods and managers. I will not add any powers that someone already has (lookin at you Matt Detmer).

EDIT: Allen has convinced me to take precognition off of the ban list.

City of Gold OOC

I will read both now. Once I do that, I will finish my last character and I'll clean up the OP and put up sheet links.

City of Gold Character Storage Vault

Basic Information

Name: Taylor Rouleau
Nickname/Alias/Etc: Taylor, Ice Dancer, Glace Girl
Gender: female
Age: 21
Height: 5’6”
Weight: 120
Faction: Neutral at the time being.

Appearance

Hair Color: Her hair is a gold-like blonde color.
Eye Color: Sky blue.
Ethnicity: French
Physical Appearance: Being the daughter of a former model, Taylor has been gifted with very good looks. She is petite and somewhat frail-looking, as if she were a delicate glass sculpture, prone to breaking at any moment. She has perfect skin tone, pale enough to show that she’s not very outdoorsy but tan enough that she doesn’t look like a ghost. She has a long, graceful body, with long legs and hands that always move in elegant, sweeping gestures. She is compact in physique, with some curvature and a higher-than average bust-to-butt ratio, though her breasts are not large enough to turn heads. Her face is round and heart-shaped, with plump cheeks and a beauty mark near the left corner of her mouth. She has small ears that are always adorned by diamond stud earrings. Her eyes are sky blue, and seem rather wide above her soft nose. Her hair is kept a little below shoulder length, and is always tied up in a ponytail, bun, or french twist. She loves her hair very much, and takes great care of it, making sure that she never gets split ends or anything of the sort. Taylor is rather prone to acne, and so she puts herself on a strictly-regimented set of acne control creams and soaps. This, combined with her makeup, makes Taylor’s face look nearly flawless. Her lips are unnaturally red, and her eyelashes are unnaturally full. Her nails are always freshly manicured, and are usually painted white or clear. She keeps them longer than average, and has a habit of drumming them on things when she's bored. She has no tattoos of any kind, but she wants one on her left shoulder. However, knowing her family, she’d get in huge trouble if she got one, so she doesn’t bother with it. Taylor speaks with a pretty obvious French accent, although it is beginning to sound slightly less French because she’s been in America for so long.

Attire: Ask yourself three questions when deciding if something is in Taylor’s wardrobe or not: 1) Is it designer? 2) is that designer French? 3) Does it cost more than most people’s weekly salaries? Basically, Taylor doesn’t mind flaunting around the fact that she has money using her clothing. She has no preference between pants or dresses, and relies solely on how cold it is outside to decide which to wear. In the summertime, she will wear flowing dresses and designer swimsuits, and in the wintertime, she will wear sweaters and warm leggings with designer boots. She is commonly seen wearing a white beret, as she finds it funny how stereotypical Americans think French hats are. When it’s cold out, she will switch to a knit beret to keep her head nice and warm. Almost every pair of shoes that Taylor owns have heels to them, as she’s paranoid about her height despite being of average height for a twenty-one-year-old human female.
Taylor doesn’t exactly go skimpy on the jewelry either. She likes sapphires and diamonds, though only wears one at a time. She almost always wears a diamond ring on her right ring finger, and will switch it to her left when she’s in a place where she doesn’t want to be hit on. She prefers silver to gold. Taylor wears a charm bracelet on her right wrist. On it is a pair of dance slippers, a pair of ice skates, an Eiffel Tower, a bead with the letter C on it, and a pink breast cancer ribbon. She normally carries a designer purse with her.

Personality

Outward & Innate Personality: A life of riches can lead one to easily become pompous. Taylor is one of those people. Now she’s not the type to brag; she won’t walk around counting her money or telling you about how many yachts her father owns (the answer is four), but she is incredibly judgemental and generally turns her nose up at people who look dirty or non-rich. She almost subconsciously judges books by their covers, and disassociates herself with people who do not look or act like they have money. From a friend level, Taylor is alright. She’s a tad shy, and acts rather innocent when she’s in a group; you won’t find her making dick jokes anytime soon. She’s rather awkward, socially, often stumbling over words and lapsing into French when she makes a fool out of herself so that people can’t tell what she’s saying. She has a habit of talking to herself when she’s alone. The annoying aspect of Taylor is that she loves being the center of attention. It’s not uncommon for her to interrupt others simply to bring the focus of conversation back to herself.
When out and about, Taylor looks like the “it” girl. She spends much of her time with friends (maybe a bit too much) and is always laughing. In reality, this is a mask to shroud her true feelings of insecurity and depression. Taylor was diagnosed with clinical depression at age thirteen. She takes medicine to help her deal with it, but she still has trouble fighting off the feelings of worthlessness and paranoia some days. She is very slow to trust, and always believes that the people she loves are going to abandon her someday and leave her all alone to die. Because of this, Taylor acts almost smotheringly towards friends and lovers. She’s quick to use the L-word in a relationship simply to keep the boy from leaving her, and it’s not the most complicated thing for a boyfriend to get her into bed. Now allow me to clarify here so that the name of Taylor Rouleau is not too overly-besmirched; Taylor is not what modern society would call a slut. She is not promiscuous for the sake of being promiscuous, but she will go out of her way to get romantic partners so attached to her that they won’t leave. She is very easily bothered by the idea of people leaving her. She cries a lot when no one’s watching.
All in all, Taylor’s not really a bad person. Annoying, sometimes, but her motives are rarely sordid. She can be very sweet and kind to people who are her friends, but with the tradeoff of her attention whorism and capacity to smother people with warm fuzzy feelings. If you are someone who is patient and likes intimate relationships, then Taylor’s your girl. However, if you are generally introverted and not a fan of the warm fuzzy feelings parade, then Taylor could quite possibly rub you the wrong way.

Hobbies/Interests: Dancing, ice skating, acting, painting, poetry; she’s very left-brained. Taylor doesn’t read often. She listens to a combination of classical and electronic music. She listens to everything from Yo Yo Ma to Coldplay to Brusspup. Her favorite artist by far is Lindsey Stirling. Her favorite food is French onion soup. She has a thing for aquatic animals, especially bright-colored fish. She has a sizeable fish tank in her house.

Skills/Talents: Taylor goes to college for art, and so is a pretty good artist. She majors in dancing, and is amazing at ballet. She’s a fairly good artist too, able to draw decent paintings. Taylor’s true talent, however, lies in the ice rink. She is one of the best ice skaters in the country. She skates competitively, and was considering trying out for the French Olympic team until metas were banned from it. Her poetry in English sucks, but her French poetry isn’t half-bad. She speaks better French than she does English, though she speaks English well too.

Prized Possession: Probably her charm bracelet.
Quote(s): “If there is a soul, it is made of water. Water in its truest form is pure and calm and washes away all imperfection.”

History/Bio: Taylor was born in Marseille, a coastal city in southern France. She grew up rich and overprivileged, her father being a millionaire president of a perfume company. Taylor’s mother was a supermodel, but her dad wasn’t exactly the best at keeping women happy, and so by age four, they divorced. Taylor was mostly raised by her stepmother, who was American. Her stepmother was a former ballet dancer, and she enrolled Taylor in dance classes as soon as she could. Taylor showed herself to be very adept at ballet, and while on a family vacation in the Italian Alps discovered a love for ice skating.
She discovered her power at age eight while at the beach. There was a wounded sea turtle laying on the beach, dying, and Taylor willed an orb of water to carry it back into the sea. Her father, having a reputation to keep up, kept his daughter’s powers secret. Taylor grew up thinking that she was a freak. Despite her father’s stern warnings, Taylor never stopped practicing, and soon became quite skilled with her abilities. At age fifteen, Taylor was “practicing” her abilities in the family’s backyard koi pond when she lost control and accidentally smacked a business partner of her father’s in the face with a fish. This was the last straw for her father, and so he sent her to an American superpower training school; Academy 218. While at the Academy, Taylor learned how to use her powers well, and returned home two-and-a-half years later with an incredible amount of skill. She returned home to a shock; her mother had breast cancer. She stayed home for a year, despite her father’s apparent loathing for her abilities (which she showed off whenever possible) and took care of her mother. After about a year, her mother began to recover, and Taylor began to look for some sort of employment, not wanting to be one of those heiresses who just sit around and do nothing. She auditioned for a French ballet school’s production of The Nutcracker, and got the part of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Her dancing impressed many people, especially a talent scout from the Johnathan Corvo University of the Performing Arts in Mendel. She went on a full ride (though she didn’t need it) and her father, to get her away from his house primarily, paid for all of her expenses and for a fancy penthouse condominium. This is where Taylor stands now, a young, filthy-rich dancer on her way to becoming famous.

Family:

Antoine Rouleau II- Father
Marie Delacroix-Mother
Natalie Rouleau- Stepmother
Marissa Rouleau- Stepsister
Justin Smith-Rouleau- Brother

Relationships

Relationships:

Abilities

Power Class: Elemental
Power: Taylor has the ability to manipulate water. In essence, she is a waterbender, like from Avatar. As this ability is very broad and is hard to specifically define, I will instead give examples of what Taylor can do with water, rather than just say “she can throw water and shit” a bunch of different ways. To accomplish this task, I will use the magical power of bullet points!

-Water manipulation. Basically waterbending. Taylor can move water telekinetically, allowing her to utilize it both offensively and defensively. Offensively, she can whip orbs of water at high speeds, and can use its surface tension to deal physical damage to enemies. She can use surface tension defensively as well by making shields out of fast-moving water. They can’t repel bullets, but in a pinch can work to repel debris and weaker physical attacks.

-Sensory scrying. Taylor has perfected the ability to sense minute ripples in the surface tension of standing water, allowing her to use water to greatly amplify her hearing. She can use puddles and raindrops to sense when people are coming, and in rain can actually form a visual map of her surroundings using the surface tensions of raindrops.

-Temperature regulation/resistance. Water is renowned for its high heat capacity and low cold tolerance. Taylor’s tissues are saturated with water (just a byproduct of her ability), and she can use this water to form a shield against heat and cold. It is more difficult than average to burn Taylor, and she can survive hot climates much better than your average mook. Also, because her tissues are so saturated, Taylor almost never needs to drink to survive.

-Water affinity. Taylor cannot drown, and when underwater she is able to breathe indefinitely. She can swim without moving, simply by bending the water around her, and can use her scrying not only to get a map of the area around her, but to hear what is going on above the surface.

-Taylor will eventually be able to manipulate the other forms of water as well (Ice and steam) but cannot as of yet.

Weaknesses/Limitations/Drawbacks: Firstly, Taylor cannot produce her own water. She needs to get a source from somewhere, thus why she carries a few bottles of water with her at all times. No water source equals no power. Weather affects her power as well. If Taylor is in a hot dry climate, she will be weaker than she would be in the rain. Secondly, Taylor cannot control water that is mixed with oil. This prevents her from using water dirtied by synthetic oils, but more importantly prevents her from being able to manipulate the water in biological organisms. Thirdly, the more diluted a water source is, the less Taylor can control it. She is best with fresh water, and has learned how to skillfully bend saltwater, but has problems moving dirty or muddy water, as well as other thick liquids (though she has practiced the art of alcohol manipulation and has gotten fairly good at it).

Other:

City of Gold Character Storage Vault

Basic Information

Name: Damian Rosseau
Nickname: Diablo
Gender: male
Age: 28
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 185
Faction: Skull Big Five

Appearance

Hair Color: dirty blonde, bordering on brown.
Eye Color: Blue
Ethnicity: French/German. White.
Physical Appearance: Damian is a compact man with a thick build. He is one of those people that don’t look big until they take their shirt off. He is very well-defined, with a slightly doughy stomach area. Possessing a v-shaped body and strong back and arm muscles, he looks like he could do pull-ups for a living. Unlike most gym rats, Damian’s legs are actually more toned than his arms. He works them out regularly, as they come in handy with his power. He has long arms and long fingers that end in badly-kempt nails that he tries to cut himself, but fails. Like the other original members, Damian has a tattoo of the Skulls symbol on the left side of his chest, below his collarbone. He has another tattoo about halfway down his right side of the French Fleur de Lis. Damian’s right shoulder is badly torn-up, with several scrape-like scars from a motorcycle crash. Another spot on his back has a crescent-shaped scar made by stitching, from where a piece of asphalt from said motorcycle crash tore though his jacket and was embedded just above his right kidney. Damian’s hair is cut in a crew cut in a very soldierly manner. Even though he is young, his hairline is starting to recede, and so he has a large forehead.
Damian’s head is roughly pentagonal, with a pointy chin and a sharp jawline. There is a cut above his right eyebrow made by a knife from a member of a rival gang a few years back. The wound appears as if it was meant to take his eye out, but missed. Damian has thin, dark eyebrows that look bushier than they are, and a large fleshy nose. His ears are somewhat large, and stick out since he has little hair. Damian's voice is mellow with an obvious Southern drawl.

Attire: Damian dresses similarly to the other Skulls. On a usual day, Damian will wear a white tee shirt, a pair of dark-colored jeans, his vest, and a pair of throwing shoes (I’ll get to that in a second). Damian’s vest is made of leather, and has the Skulls symbol on the back. His pants are held up by a nylon belt with a large silver skull-shaped buckle on it. Throwing shoes are shoes used in track and field for throwing discuses. The bottoms of the shoes are smooth, and there is a groove under the ball of the foot to make rotation easier. Damian wears a pair of Asics Cyberthrow London spinning shoes (google them because I’m lazy). They will help out with his power. Another thing that Damian keeps on him 24/7 is a discus carrying bag, a satchel of sorts that holds two discuses made of carbon fiber with a carbon steel ring.

Personality

Outward & Innate Personality: The two words that best describe Damian are crazy and arrogant. Damian loves him some Damian. He looks in the mirror a lot, even though he’s not the most attractive bloke, and talks with a certain tilt of the head that makes people think he’s a lot more important than he actually is. He’s a jerk a lot of the time, making fun of people and making some rather cruel jokes, but it’s all harmless. Most people who get to know Damian well know that his teasing is good-natured. He has a mouth on him, cursing fluidly and possessing the wit to come up with some very creative off-the-cuff insults. Damian is a very social and extroverted, spending most of his time hanging out with friends. When with friends, Damian does some very stupid things. He is prone to peer pressure, and when enough people convince him to, he can do some incredibly stupid things. He can’t hold liquor well either, which exacerbates this problem.
Despite his good nature and generally silly attitude, Damian is a bitch if he gets pissed off. He’s the definition of a homeboy, loving both his city and his friends with a deep passion. If he had the choice between Skeleton and Grease and eternal happiness, he’d pick his friends and let his soul rot in Hell.

Hobbies/Interests: Damian is a fan of many sports, such as track/field, football, baseball, basketball, and lacrosse (do they have lacrosse in Louisiana?). He both watches and plays these sports. Damian also really likes working with cars, and is trained in being a mechanic. He usually functions as the gang’s mechanic. he owns a very nice custom-built Corvette Stingray that he and his father built together. He keeps it in a locked garage at headquarters. Touching Damian’s corvette is punishable by death. He’s fond of old music (50s and 60s) and classic cars.

Skills/Talents: He’s a master at basically every sport that involves throwing things. He has a little background with karate, but learned most of his fighting on the streets. He’s a good mechanic (good enough to build a car). He knows how to throw a discus extremely well, and throws throwing knives well also. He is learning how to throw shurikens.
Prized Possession: A tie between his corvette and his discuses.
Quote(s): “Asking if Skeleton still has a penis implies that he had a penis to start with, Grease!”
“Hey! Get yo filthy dickbeaters off my corvette before I put a bullet in your fucking head!”

History/Bio: Damian was born and bred in Mendel. He grew up in the poor part of the city. His dad was an entrepreneur who owned his own mechanic shop in East Rail. His dad managed the shop and worked as a head mechanic, and his mom was the secretary at the front desk. The Shop, as Damian now calls it, was his father’s life. They lived in a small flat above The Shop, the three of them, and never really asked for much at all. Life was good; the bills were high and the income was low, but they always made it work. It was a charmed life, living above The Shop. Damian’s family rarely fought (in front of him, at least). Damian showed a knack for sports early in his life, and played quarterback in Pop Warner football. Damian’s powers slowly began to increase over time, and soon he was famous for being able to throw footballs extraordinarily accurately.
In middle school, Damian got made fun of a lot because he wasn’t (and still isn’t) the most attractive guy to ever walk the earth. He always wore somewhat ragged clothes and never had much money. Then he met Peter Osten. Unlike most of the kids around, Pete didn’t judge Damian for his money, and the two became the best of friends. By their freshman year of high school, Damian and Peter were joined by Amber and Kylie. The four of them prowled the streets of East Mendel, hanging out and doing all kinds of illegal stuff. Damian was the varsity quarterback on the football team, and the gang would be there for every game, both home and away. He flourished in high school, getting fairly good grades and being a pro at sports. He broke the school record in discus and won the Louisiana state championships with a throw of 175ft. sophomore year (that is monstrously far). He won Penn Relays (a huge track meet) with a throw of 228ft. By this point, he knew that he had powers (he threw a football so hard once that it busted through a concrete wall) but through practice with Pete, he managed to learn how to control the power enough so that it wasn’t blatantly obvious.
When Damian graduated high school, he could throw a discus 235 feet with his powers dialed down (but not absent), making him the best discus thrower in the country. He went to Mendel University on athletic scholarship, but the first year there, the NCAA started performing genetic tests to make sure that meta humans weren’t trying to cheat. He failed the gene test, but that wouldn’t have mattered anyways, because in the first meet of the year he was angry because his longtime girlfriend had been cheating on him, and so threw the discus four-hundred feet and caused it to glow via black body radiation. The discus was found four-hundred-fifty feet away from the ring, on fire and stuck into a concrete slab. Since he no longer played football, Damian had no sport to play in college, and he lost his scholarship. Damian’s parents couldn’t pay for a college education at MU, and so, with a heavy heart, his father had to tell Damian that he could no longer attend the university. Now that he couldn’t throw, Damian didn’t really care much about this. He decided to become a mechanic like his dad, and got training on the job.
Then the riots came. When Pete killed that protester, the entire city went to shit with Damian still inside. Peter, Kylie, and Damian fought side-by-side against the humans, and when Peter became Skeleton, Damian was the one that rushed him to the hospital. Damian stuck by his friends through and through, and still does to this very day. The gang was his idea, and he, Grease, and Skeleton were the first three members. Damian is the only one of the original members of the Skulls who keeps in touch with his parents. He still works at The Shop every once in a while, and helps out his dad, who is going through the early stages of Parkinson’s Disease.

Family:
Arthur Sparks: Father. Works at The Shop.
Danielle Sparks: Mother. Also works at The Shop.
Claire Sparks: Younger sister. Is attending Sparrowdale Academy (superpower school in Nebraska).

Relationships

Relationships:

| Peter Osten | Good | best friend | “I’d bleed for that fucker. He’s been my best bro for years.”

| Kylie Detmer | Good | Best friend | “Kylie’s fucking awesome. She’s one of the coolest people I know, and one of my best friends.”

| Matt Detmer | Good | Friend/colleague | “Skeleton’s a little sketchy on Matt being a leader, but I’m fine with it. The kid’s got great potential and he’s pretty fun to be around.”

| Whisper Kiyoshi | neutral | ex-friend | "I don't hate Whisper like Pete does. I just really wish she hadn't run away like that all those years ago. I'm more disappointed than I am angry."

Abilities:

Power Class: It's control over a law of physics, so I guess super system?
Power: Centripetal force manipulation. Basically, Damian can control and amplify centripetal force. In a nutshell, centripetal force is the force of acceleration behind circular motion. Centripetal force is what keeps things moving in circular motions, and why things like cars move faster when they move in a circular path. What this means for Damian is complete control over anything that spins. Damian can amplify the acceleration of objects moving in a circular pattern, amping up both their speed and force. Damian’s main weapon is a discus because it spins both during the throwing windup and after being let go (look it up on youtube). Thanks to his power, Damian can send discuses flying at speeds of nearly 350 miles per hour, fast enough to catch cars from behind and hard enough to obliterate whatever they strike (his discuses are made of carbon fiber and reinforced steel because they actually glow with heat in flight because they’re moving so fast). The discuses can tear through concrete and on more than one occasion have gutted SUVs. Damian can move extremely quickly in circular motions as well. He can move his arm so fast that he can curve bullets and deliver crushing blows. He can deliver spinning kicks hard enough to shatter bone, and he’s the only person in the world that can keep one of those damned novelty plastic spinning tops spinning for more than five seconds. Damian can limitedly influence the path of spinning objects that he has recently touched, making his throwing attacks much more accurate (ie don’t overdo it with the fucking autododge).

Weaknesses/Limitations/Drawbacks: Well firstly, Damian’s body wasn’t exactly made to throw bone-crushing punches or launch carbon fiber discs at blazing hot speeds. He can overexert himself extremely easily, and his spinning physical attacks can break one of his bones as easily as it can break an enemy’s bones. This essentially means that Damian has to hold back when in close quarters, because if he goes full bore, he could hurt himself just as badly as he hurts his enemy. Secondly, while Damian’s ranged weaponry is deadly fast and accurate, he can still miss, and if he does it’s not going to be pretty. The discuses Damian throws have so much force behind them that they can bust through concrete and obliterate automobiles; basically anything he hits is fucked. This can act as a weakness as well, because if Damian misses he could possibly harm innocents through collateral damage. His power is more like artillery than it is sniping in this sense. Because of this, Damian normally does not employ his weapons in crowded areas because he doesn’t want to kill any innocent people. Thirdly, Damian cannot break other laws of physics, ie the second law of motion (every action has an equal and opposite reaction). This means that if Damian really rips a weapon at full speed, he will be spinning for quite a bit to get rid of all the recoil. Spinning, of course, makes people dizzy, and so overexertion can cause Damian to become very dizzy, making him temporarily vulnerable.

Other: Damian rides a black 2015 Harley-Davidson Night Rod Special into battle. The saddlebags on the motorcycle carry six extra discuses, as well as some throwing knives.