Identity: Only a year into his powers as a Sorcerer, and still young, Irawhaki has few names and few deeds to earn him names. Still, he is known to his people as The Undying, The Great Uniter, and the Soul Speaker.
Potency:
Irawhaki is a master sailor and fisherman, capable of piloting the canoes of his people through almost any weather.
Irawhaki is a skilled warrior, though by no means a master of warfare and combat.
Irawhaki's powers are related to death, the dead (and undead), and the crossing between life and death. Of those abilities that are relating to his body, chiefly Irawhaki is no longer mortal. He no longer requires food or drink (though he does partake out of enjoyment), sleep, or to breathe. He suspects that he also no longer ages and his body is in stasis, but being only a year into his powers there is no way of confirming that.
While his body can sustain wounds and heals from them (if it can) like a normal human, when Irawhaki dies of these wounds his soul is briefly thrown into what he has named the Afterlife (where all the souls of the dead go, more on that farther down). He spends a few moments there and then is thrust back into his body, whatever wounds he may have gained before his death completely healed as if they had never occurred.
Irawhaki can also see supernatural things that are invisible to others. Ghosts, spirits, and others that do not wish to be seen.
Being in tune with the death and the souls of the dead, Irawhaki can go to what he has dubbed the Afterlife. It is where the souls of the dead all go, from the beginning of time. The oldest spirits there talk of other Afterlives, created by the Primordials that came before the Sorcerers of today. Afterlives either torn down by their creator's deaths, or sealed forever with their creator's departure. It is a place of mystery, danger, and ruin. In some places, the Afterlife will resemble the living world, and travelling between the two is simple. In others, particularly powerful or numerous souls control how Afterlife acts and what it looks like. Irawhaki has only visited some very small parts of it, and only explores very carefully. Amongst the press and flow of the mobs of souls that traverse the Afterlife, there are ancient spirits in the Afterlife. Monsters and champions of the primordials, lesser beings that sought to reach the heights of the gods, and others. If he isn’t careful, his soul will be destroyed and even he can’t come back from that.
Irawhaki can go into the Afterlife both physically and spiritually, and take others with him, depending on his needs.
Irawhaki can manipulate souls for his purpose. He can summon the souls of the dead to him in the living world, to aid him in scouting a new area, tell him of the history of the land, or warn him of dangers. He can summon the dead to fight for him though it is easier if they have vessels (similar in shape to what they were when alive) to go into. It is possible for him to create spectral warriors or monsters, but more difficult. The stronger the soul, the more power it takes and the less control he has over them.
The souls of soldiers or wolves who had died hundreds of years ago can be put into skeletons and commanded to fight for him easily. The soul of a champion of the Primordials or a monster of the Primordials is much more difficult and almost entirely independent if he can summon them. When the souls of the dead are corrupted (becoming demons or monsters) or wrathful (possessing or attacking the living) he can purify or calm them and return them to the Afterlife.
Irawhaki can let souls enter and partially possess him, granting him the skills, knowledge, and power of the soul in question. A mighty warrior would grant him their strength and skill with arms, while a hunter their tracking and ability to move silently through nature. In theory, this also means anyone with magical abilities would be granted to him so long as he allowed their souls to reside in his body. Irawhaki is afraid of doing this, however, as souls that are powerful enough to have magical abilities are also strong willed enough to potentially over power him and cast his soul out of his own body forever.
By far the most terrifying of Irawhaki’s abilities is his control over the souls of the living. He can sense and feel the souls of all the living things around him, and by concentrating can grasp onto them. So far all he can do is violently remove a living person’s soul from their body and cast it into the Afterlife (the less powerful, less magic touched they are, the easier it is, with other Sorcerers, powerful servants of them and magical creatures being impossible), but not even he knows how far these powers will develop and what more he may be able to do.
Ambition:
Irawhaki has three main goals, currently:
1) Put to rest the angry and corrupted souls of the world. With the death, slumber, or otherwise departure of the Primordials, many of the souls in the world have been put out of balance and enraged. These result in corrupted ruins, haunted forests, and other dark places mortals are taught to fear. Irawhaki wants to bring balance and peace to the world through putting those souls to rest.
2) Gather artifacts of the Primordials, especially those that will grant him access to powers he does not have and augment his abilities. He has heard whispers and rumors of older, more powerful Sorcerers that seek to shape the world to their will and bring all others under their control. He will make himself ready for their arrival. He must.
3) Craft a proper Afterlife for the souls of the dead. The most ambitious of his goals by far, Irawhaki seeks to make a proper place for the souls of the dead to go to. Currently the Afterlife is a wild, untamed place, subject to the whims of chance and wills of the strongest or most numerous, and everyone is thrown in together regardless of if they were good or evil. Irawhaki seeks to create an Afterlife where all can be content, and the most evil and dangerous of souls are locked away.
Capital Description: Made of solid white stone towering into the sky, Puranti is divided in half by the River Puran and surrounded by tall walls. Statues are scattered throughout the city, detailing heroics of either the Grand Dukes long past or heroes of Styrian legend. It still boasts intact ruins of the New Empire, not in the least being the Imperial Bridge that unites the two halves of Puranti and the Bath-house, a public gathering place for noble and commoner alike. The Duke's Palace sits to the north east of the Azure Sea as the river Puran pours into it, a walled and fortified citadel. On the other side of the river sits the mysterious House of Masks, an assassins guild that allows anyone to deposit a note with a name on it and they will receive a note back soon, detailing when they should return for a price for the assassination.
History: For most of its life as an influential city state, Puranti has stood strong and united. The old Grand Duke Bartova guided his people with a firm but fair hand doing his best to preserve their peace and prosperity. He tied the city's fate to Affoia with his first wife, a noblewoman of the Affoian royal house, from whom he would get his eldest son Murick. His first wife would die birthing Murick, and while Bartova would grieve he would remarry soon after. His second wife would give birth to his youngest son, Cosca. The two boys grew up together, wildly different from one another and clashing over most subjects. Cosca was always held to be the calm and collected one, choosing his path carefully and logically, while Murick favoured bold and brash action letting his heart decide his path.
Throughout their lives, Bartova always made it clear that the next Grand Duke would be Murick. He was the eldest and by Purantian law, that made him the successor. It was considered to be a sure succession, with little turbulence, when the aging Grand Duke died.
That all changed eight years ago. On his death bed, Grand Duke Bartova revoked Murick's as his successor and put Cosca instead. Bartova would die two days later, leaving Murick enraged and hurt. He accused his younger brother of manipulating and lying to a confused and dying old man, as Cosca had been spending night and day with Bartova while Murick took over for their father in running the city. Cosca calmly denied the accusations and had his brother and whoever would believe him banished from the city. Not cutting down Murick then and there would be a mistake Cosca rues to this day.
Murick fled to the city of his mother with his followers and pleaded for Affoian aid to reclaim the throne. Affoia agreed, and raised their banners in favor of the disposed prince. Cosca gained the aid of Ospria and Talins in securing his throne, and the Puranti civil war began.
The war lasted for three years, with Murick never even reaching the walls of Puranti. Affoia was unable to provide military aid, and between the armies of Ospria, the financial backing of Talins, and his brother's relentless pursuit in destroying all his loyal followers, Murick never stood a chance. The last of Murick's forces were destroyed on a march too Puranti, trapped between his brother's soldiers and Osprian reinforcements. Murick himself barely escaped back to Affoia, and has been there ever since.
Cosca, now secure in his throne, turned his attention to proving that Puranti was still strong. Even with the aid of Talins and Ospria, the war was draining. He needed to prove that Puranti could still stand on its own, lest his allies suddenly turn on him in the name of 'order' or sheer desire to rule all of Styria. When a minor border dispute happened with Visserine, he saw his opportunity. Using the dispute to provoke a war, Cosca soon had his army besieging Visserine itself in a surprise attack. His forces would be routed, but not before claiming the life of Visserine's Grand Duke. The war would rage on for another year, when in one of the largest battles in recent memory Puranti's forces were yet again routed after killing Visserine's second Grand Duke. Cosca, satisfied that he had proved Puranti was strong enough sued for peace and the war ended.
He has now been focusing on increasing Puranti's strength and keeping his city out of the growing tension between Talins and Ospria, though he is not sure how much longer he can.
Disclaimer: History subject to change based on info from other players.
Grand Duke Cosca: Ruler of Puran
Duchess Marian: Publicly claimed head of the House of Masks, leader of the faction of Puranti nobles who wish to align with Talins. Strongest claim to the Grand Duchy should Cosca die without selecting an heir.
High General Floran: Head of Puranti's army, former leader of the mercenary company 'The Red Chargers', though it is whispered he still commands their loyalty from the shadows. Leader of the faction of Puranti nobles who wish to align with Ospria.
Bang! The bullet slammed against the back wall, the noise echoing mockingly in the makeshift shooting range Eli had made. "Fuck." Eli glared at the pristine target down range, a dozen or more shots scattering along the wall behind it. He was supposed to be ready to take on whatever was so important that it killed Hex, and he couldn't even hit an immobile target. He'd been at this for most of the day already, preparing for a fight. Or so he thought. Right now it looked like he was planning a comedy routine so that this 'Reality Bringer' could laugh to death. He scowled and took aim again, focusing on the target. He was just rusty,that's all it was. Twenty years of not firing a weapon or getting in a fight would do that too you. Just a few more shots and he'd be back to his old self. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Eli emptied his clip taking what he thought were carefully aimed shots. All but one crashed into the back wall the cacophony of noise ridiculing him as the target swayed gently back and forth, a small hole on the very edge.
Alright. That was enough.
Eli slammed the pistol down as his right arm began to writhe and shift with squelching and cracking noises as it changed to what he needed it to be. The stupid fucking sign wanted to make fun of him? He'd give it something to laugh at. He pulled back and threw his arm forward like a pitcher in a baseball stadium. Sharp claws had formed on the end of his fingers and his arm extended forward at a breakneck pace. Eli thinned and shortened as he used his own body to extend his arm the necessary distance. He put out his free hand to balance himself against the table as he began to lose the muscles to keep standing without aid, eyes narrowed in focus. His claws tore through the target with a satisfying ripping noise. Eli gave a small smirk in satisfaction. I was just a little rusty. That's a- His smug thoughts were interrupted as the pain hit him. Eli gasped in surprise as his body burned, everything screaming out against the stress he was putting it through. He yanked his arm back, gritting his teeth as the pain redoubled. He stumbled backwards as his arm slammed back into its normal shape and he fell to one knee, breathing heavily and shaking.
He'd become an old man. Twenty, thirty years ago that wouldn't have even made him break a sweat. Hell, that long ago he wouldn't have even needed to practice. He would have just marched over to this Special Agent and demanded what she knew so he could go gut the bastards for threatening the world and through it him. After collecting a pretty penny from someone, of course. Now he couldn't even hit a paper target or use a basic attack without missing or his body failing him. Well, what had he expected? That after moping and hiding for twenty years his body would just maintain its fighting shape as it always had? Ridiculous.
Eli pulled himself to standing with a groan of pain. Everything ached, but at least it wasn't burning anymore. He rolled his shoulders and frowned as his right one ground to a painful stop. Had he not....? He moved it a couple more times, his scowl deepening. He hadn't put it back together right. He was an old man. "For fucks sake." He closed his eyes and focused for a moment. His shoulder cracked loudly as the bone broke and reset itself and he winced.
He gave a sigh as he went and picked up his pistol. This was as good as he was gonna get. Might as well head to the coordinates now. He'd be early, since he knew Cedar Fort fairly well from his mercenary days, but that'd give him a chance to scope out whoever was waiting for them and who answered the call.
Present time
He no longer knew Cedar Fort.
In the twenty years he'd been gone, the city had drastically changed and he no longer knew it well enough to find his way in a timely manner. Because of course it had changed. Cities do that. Just chalk it up to something else he'd allowed himself to let slip in his old age. He'd spent the past day and a half just trying to orientate himself to the coordinates, rather than scoping the area out and getting the jump on anyone that appeared like he'd planned. The city was even more massive than it had been twenty years ago, with the same breathtaking beauty and poverty that had always classified it. Only now things were even worse. He had accidentally wandered into the defunct subway systems and the desperate people down there thought he would be an easy mark. An old man with some guns? They could take him and sell the valuables.
The smart ones ran away after he killed and absorbed the first two. The rest met the same fate. The police were likely already in the pocket of the wealthy few, so he wasn't surprised to find the rats scurrying in the dark. He was surprised that they were allowed to dig in so much rather than being beaten out by the cops. Maybe they'd gotten soft in the decades he'd been gone.
Eli finally made it to the meeting place, the two cars and voices indicating that he was late. "So much for getting the jump on people." He muttered, pulling his battle rifle out. He didn't bother with generating his costume. He couldn't make the armor useful on a large scale anymore, and anyone who answered this all already knew who he was. His trial had been massively public after all and his identity was readily available to anyone who bothered to do a quick search.
So Eli walked into the small light of the campfire, and quickly took a glance around. He was mostly disheartened. There was that Avant-Garde. Some freak that made his paintings come to life, a murderer who claimed to be fighting for the people against the corporations. He'd only become active after Eli had gone underground, so they'd never fought, but what little information Eli had of him wasn't impressive. It wasn't that he was a murderer, Eli himself was. It was that he tried to pretend he was a hero at the same time he committed acts of terrorism. The hypocrisy was palatable. Next was someone in black glowing armor and face tattoos. His face was vaguely familiar, but Eli had no recollection of working against or with him. A nobody then. Useless.
Eli's paused briefly on The Tower. That was someone he recognized personally. Their exchanges had been brief, as it was towards the end of Eli's career, but at least it was someone who he knew could handle themselves. Young and headstrong though, still a kid. Not someone to rely too much on. Didn't he have a partner he always worked with? Some girl? No matter. She, if he was even remembering the right person, wasn't here.
It was with great relief that Eli noted Stardust. Finally, someone he knew was experienced. A goody-two shoes like Hex, maybe, but he knew from personal experience that she could put up a hell of a fight and that she had enough experience not to crack under pressure. They had fought many times, as he was usually on the side of the corporations she was trying to bring to justice, but they could put that behind them for the Reality Bringer. He hoped.
"So this is all that answered your call? An old man twenty years retired, A terrorist dressing himself as a hero, a nobody who likes shiny black armor, an old woman who hasn't super heroed for almost as long as I have, and a young kid whose more robot than man at this point?" He snorted. "This is gonna be a short revenge/save the world mission isn't it?"
He nodded at Stardust. "Nice to see a reliable face."
"So, Reynolds. Aside from the fact that Hex is dead and a sob story, what do you have for us?"
"Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me, I was just gonna sit here and hope that no one snuck up on us while we were incredibly vulnerable. Because, you know, I'm an idiot. " Andrea muttered, safely assured Maria couldn't hear her, checking the surrounding space for the umpteenth time. She settled into a pattern of checking the ship's systems every few scans of the surrounding area, just to make sure nothing else broke when they weren't looking. There was nothing for her to do now except hope that the mouthy little greaseball in the depths of the ship was able to fix their engines in a timely manner. And hope that he didn't make any other 'improvements' while he was down there. She wouldn't put it past him, using this disaster to try and 'make the ship better' when she couldn't do anything to stop him from violating the Lux anymore than he already had. She rubbed the coin around her neck, hoping that its luck hadn't run out yet.
Andrea jumped slightly when Maria spoke suddenly, the pilot having missed her captain's arrival as she focused on her scans. "Give me one moment, and I'll have your answer." She brought up the navigation, whistling quietly to herself. "We got about of the quarter of the way there. We could still get there, only a little after we're supposed to drop off our deliveries, if the plumber down stairs can't find enough straws to fix our problem, but it wouldn't be pretty. And of course, that depends on if we're left completely alone for the duration of the trip. Which, given that we're going to be going into Glao space, is extremely unlikely. We'd be covered in pirates like flies on shit."
She shrugged. "Of course, we've got a Judge with us so we can just shove him in the frontline and either he'll die or they will. A win win, as far as I can see."
Eli can control, manipulate, and absorb organic matter provided he is touching it. The more organic matter he has access to, the more drastic things he can do with it. Most often it involves rapidly healing himself or others, making weapons or armor out of his body, using his body as a weapon, or turning organic matter into weapons.
Due to his primary ability, Eli can have superhuman physical attributes. Long years of forced retirement and age have degraded this, however, and he is only capable of lifting 1.5 tons and running at 50mph with reflexes capable of catching an arrow in flight. He can only keep either the strength or the speed going at a time, however. Both puts too much strain on his body.
Weaknesses: Eli is old, and hasn't used his powers in twenty years. It hurts to use his powers, he's rusty at the various techniques, and in general is slow at using his powers.
Anything to do with fire Eli despises. Burning generally makes it difficult for him to quickly heal and anything he makes from organic matter only provides fuel for fire.
Eli is incapable of manipulating any inorganic matter. Metals, gases, plastics, etc etc.
Anything that doesn't attack Eli's organic matter specifically (Hexes,curses, psionic attacks, mind control, etc etc) Eli is very vulnerable too.
Manipulating organic matter requires energy and most often that energy is drawn from whatever is being manipulated. As Eli is most often manipulating his own body, he's often using huge amounts of energy and as such requires and equally huge if not larger caloric intake to off set it. If Eli can't regain energy, he can't use his powers.
Eli can survive and heal most wounds and, if given enough biomass absorbed, even regrow limbs but those all require his brain to be intact. Anything going through his skull and hitting his brain is guaranteed to kill him.
Appearance: Eli stands at 5ft 7in with a strong, stocky build. His forced retirement has caused him to lose the fitness of his youth as he reluctantly became used to a career where he didn't have to be ready to fight at any given moment, but beneath the layer of fat he's still powerful and capable of holding his own in a fight. His white beard and hair are kept carefully maintained, trimmed to an exact length and style. Bushy eyebrows are usually found drawn together above harsh brown eyes and a broad nose that more often than not has its nostrils flared. His lips are typically drawn into a scowl, making the multitude of wrinkles on his face even more apparent. Especially when he grumbles in his deep rumble of a voice.
His general clothing tends to be jeans and t-shirt. Simple, but kept clean and immaculate. It is rare to find him in ripped or dirty clothing by choice.
His costume used to be a menacing suit of organic armor, capable of conventional weapons and most heavy firepower. He isn't capable of covering his entire body in such a material anymore and now only generates a thin layer over his body to provide mild protection and hide his identity. Not much good it does, since his trial, but old habits die hard.
Equipment: In general, Eli has basic body armor, a pistol, and a battle rifle. He hasn't used any of them in over a decade, but keeps them on hand in case a situation ever arises where he needs to use them.
Eli and his younger brother, Frank, were destined from birth to be superheroes. Their parents were going to usher in a new era of supers, people designed to protect the world from evil and tyranny. People that were beacons of hope and justice. Their parents were dedicated to their purpose and experimented extensively with manipulating the human DNA in embryo and drawing out powers in it. By the time they had Eli, they had it down to a science. Eli never found out how many failed projects, and bodies, were behind his creation and he frankly doesn't want to know. All he knows is that when he was born with his powers, his parents were capable of accurately predicting what they were going to be and how they would develop. Every step of his life was planned to help him control and expand his abilities. For the first four years of his life, everything was the Evans family version of normal.
Everything changed when his younger brother was born. Frank was born with super powers, yes, but his powers weren't the ones that his father had predicted. Instead of pyrokinesis Frank had the ability of flight and cyrokinesis. For the first year, their father was confused and bewildered. Delighted his son had not one, but two powers of course, but confused as to why his predictions were so far off. After a year had passed, the truth came out. Their mother had cheated on their father, and an illegitimate pregnancy had come out of it. Eli and Frank were both to young to know this. All a young Eli knew was that his father suddenly had a look on his face that had never been there before, as he sent Eli to his room with his infant younger brother. They wouldn't find the truth out til years later.
Looking back, the only one who was surprised was their father. The relationship was not one built upon mutual love and respect, but merely a desire to further the future of the human race. It was their father who had made the mistake of getting emotionally attached to what was supposed to only be scientific, and pushing their mother into a relationship that was more than she expected and far more than she wanted.
That did nothing to ease their father's jealous, terrifying, rage. All Eli remembers is hiding in his room with his brother as both of their parents screamed and things were broken in the house beyond. The next day their mother was gone and all their father would say on the matter is that she had left and they would be better off without her. That was a lie of course and their father took to drinking and drugs in short order. He went from strict and inspired scientist, guiding them on their way to becoming protectors of humanity, to a mean and hateful drunk who berated or hit them for every mistake, failure, or misstep. It was in particular aimed at Frank as his very existence reminded their father of their mother, and how she had betrayed him. As Eli grew older he began intentionally provoking the ire of their father to protect his younger brother. He was the oldest, it was his job to protect Frank from whatever their father threw at them.
This continued for 11 years, with their father beating and berating them into controlling their powers more or simply just because he could. Their powers only grew stronger by the day, as did their bond with one another. Their mother was gone, their father a bastard, but they had each other. They would always have each other. One day, after Eli had turned sixteen he finally had enough. As their father raised a fist to hit Frank again for some small mistake, Eli caught it. Their father turned around in a drunken rage, only to cry out in pain and agony as his arm began to wither away. Eli kept an iron grip as his father screamed and thrashed, his eyes cold as ice. "You're never touching us again. You're never hurting anyone again." He only stopped when Frank grabbed his other arm, crying out for him to stop.
Eli hesitated, but relented to his brother's wishes. He dropped his father, who cradled his useless and stick thin arm and cried to himself. Eli and his brother packed what little possessions they had and headed out the door, with Eli sparing only one glance behind. "Don't look for us. Or I won't stop next time."
The next four years were spent scrapping by a living on the streets of Saint Louis, USA. Food, shelter, and clothing were scarce, but they were never in any danger. Between the two of them and their powers, anyone who dared to cross them soon learned the error of their ways. They tried to kept mostly to themselves, the idea of using their powers to become heroes a repulsive one after years of hearing their father scream at them that was what they were supposed to be. But nonetheless word of their abilities spread among the other homeless and desperate and they soon were the nucleus of a small community that protected one another as best they could. Regardless of their wishes, Eli and Frank became heroes of the people. When they could, they searched for their mother as best they could but it was ultimately fruitless. They were only two kids, with no money or resources to even keep a roof over their heads much less find someone they had either only vague memories of or no memories at all. After two years of nothing they gave up entirely.
Eli only went back to their old home once, when he heard about his father being taken away to a mental hospital ranting and raving about his 'perfect creations' that betrayed him like everyone always did. He only went to see if there was anything that they could use to help Frank and those depending on them. He personally had no desire to help the people that gathered around them for protection, but Frank had a kinder heart. Frank had embraced the role thrust upon them by the desperate, much to Eli's exasperation. Their old home might have had something to sell, salvage, or otherwise use to aid all the people they had to deal with now. Eli found nothing useful, but he did find their father's journal. Against his better judgement he read through the book. Most of it was scientific jargon that he couldn't understand, but it clearly laid out two things; Frank was only his half brother, and their father had murdered their mother.
Eli lit the book on fire and dropped it in the trashcan outside. He had always had suspicions, but now they were confirmed. It was a secret he planned to take to his grave.
As soon as Frank was sixteen, Eli took the two of them to the army recruiter. They were struggling to keep the community together, and were drawing attention from local gangs. The gangs wanted to use the two brothers as powered muscle in their own struggles, and were willing to hurt the people they were supposed to be protecting to force them to obey. Eli convinced a reluctant Frank that the best way to save those people now was to leave and take any reasoning for the gangs to attack them away. Frank was an idealist, but he still listened to his older brother as the authority on all matters. If Eli said it was a good plan, it was a good plan.
Frank and Eli rapidly progressed through the military, ending up in the special forces in two years. The military had uses for two super powered soldiers, especially since Eli displayed little moral qualms and Frank listened to Eli. They spent the next eight years doing black ops for the USA military. Assassinations, sabotage, kidnappings, extractions of VIPs from hot zones, supporting the main forces in armed conflicts, countering other country's supers, anything and everything that was required of them they did without question. They always had each others back and no matter they could always rely on each other.
Frank finally drew the line after a mission that had them assassinating a rural tribe leader in the middle east. They did the job quickly and quietly, only to find out later that the man was the head of a local coalition trying to stop Oil from being drilled on sacred lands. Without him, the coalition would fall apart and their sacred lands would be defiled.
"We're better than this, Eli! We should be helping people, not suppressing them!" Eli personally saw no reason for such rhetoric, but it clearly mattered to Frank a great deal and he relented. If Frank wanted to be heroes of the people, they would be heroes of the people. But he would be there when the people decided to stab them in the back. When their tour of duty ended that year, they did not renew it. Instead, they headed back to the mainland USA to fulfill Frank's dream of being heroes to the people. For the next five years that's what they did. The beginnings were rough, since they had no direct oversight or goals other than 'help people'. For the first year they were known as useless amateurs, often causing more damage than they fixed. But as they learned how to operate as heroes, rather than soldiers, they became more skilled and efficient.
They started saving people and rising in importance. Other heroes began taking them seriously and they began doing real good, in Frank's eyes. With the money they had gotten from the military and what occasional cash Eli was able to convince Frank to accept for some of their heroics, they were able to hire a private investigator company to look for their mother. Eli knew the truth, but he couldn't bear to tell Frank what had really happened. Better that Frank never know, he thought, than him go through the pain of learning his mother was killed because she had Frank.
The brothers started clashing with one another much more as time wore on. Frank began to see Eli's lack of empathy and ruthless practicality as not just a method of protecting them, but a genuine flaw that leaned him towards villainy rather than heroics. Their arguments began getting worse and worse as Eli pushed against what he perceived to be Frank's foolish idealism, hope, and kindness in a world that will only crush those types of people under its heel. The traits that Frank was holding up so high were only weaknesses that were going to get him hurt in the future, or worse. Frank didn't see it that way. Frank believed the words they had been taught when their father wasn't a drunken bastard. They needed to be symbols of hope, beacons of justice, something people could aspire to be. All Eli saw was the laughable idealism of a broken man when he heard those words.
It was during one of these arguments that Eli's frustration got the best of him. Frank just wouldn't listen. He never listened. Not when Eli said they should take more payments, not when Eli said they were risking getting themselves in trouble, and especially not when Eli said they were risking themselves too much for people who they didn't even know. He snapped out the truth that Frank wasn't their father's son and that their mother was dead because she had him. As soon as he said the words, Eli regretted them, but the damage was done. Frank's face closed off and he walked away, ignoring his brother's calls for him to come back. That was the last time they worked together as the inseparable team they had always been.
Eli continued working as a super, but one for hire. He left the idealism and hope to his brother. He would do the smart thing and use his powers to aid those who could pay the most. He wasn't a true villain, finding the ideals of 'lets destroy or take over the world' distasteful, but he was never on the 'good' side for free. He would clash with other superheroes like Hex, hired by companies or villains to do various jobs that put him in conflict with the 'heroes'. They all reminded him of his brother, and he only regarded them with disdain.
Eli kept an eye on his brother, staying close enough that he could leap into action to help if need be. They might be not speaking to one another, but Frank was still his little brother. And they watched out for each other. No matter what.
Following the exploits of 'Cyro' and how he saved the day time and time again was easy. Frank was always a flamboyant character. As he watched his brother, he noticed a small pattern beginning to form that he approved of. As his brother went on and realized he no longer had Eli to watch his back, he became more and more inclined to use lethal force against those who wouldn't let themselves go without a fight. It was good, Eli thought, that Frank was finally realizing what type of world they were in. He would occasionally reach out, try to mend the rift between them, to now avail. Frank always ignored his messages or himself when he tried to make things up in person. Nine years passed like this before he was hired for his last job. A coal power plant had been taken by some eco-terrorists determined to stop the 'murder of mother earth' by any means necessary. He was to go in and free the hostages and take care of the terrorists by any means necessary. The corporation that hired him made it clear that they wouldn't be dismayed if the terrorists were killed in the endeavor.
Eli broke into the power plant and began making his way through efficiently and ruthlessly. The terrorists were more fanatic about their ideals than they were well trained, and he made short work of them. When he reached the center of the plant, he saw just how far they were going for their plans. They had rigged a multitude of explosives to the center of the plant, intent upon destroying it and everyone inside if their demands weren't met. To make things worse, the surviving terrorists were all in the center with hostages and detonators in their hands. Eli couldn't move fast enough to stop them all from detonating the explosives.
As Eli was considering how to stop or minimize the explosion, his brother walked through the door on the opposite side. For a moment, they just stared at one another. Then Eli sighed in relief. By himself he couldn't deal with this situation in a way that ended well, but with Frank? He could handle everything. He asked his brother for help. It could be like the old days, if only for a moment. When he saw Frank hesitate and then agree, he was elated. Remembering the moment, as he has over and over for the last twenty years, he wishes he would have seen the look in his brother's eyes as he agreed.
They made a plan and sprang into action, working seamlessly with one another as if they had never spent a moment apart. Everything was going smoothly until it was his brother's last target. As Eli finished off his he turned to the man panicking and going to press the button. He looked confidently up for his brother to freeze or kill the man with an icicle.
He was still looking as the explosion ripped through the plant and sent him flying. He woke up too the police and military all pointing weapons at him as he was dug out of the rubble, ordering him to surrender quietly. His brother was floating in the background, hands at the ready. Eli doesn't know what his brother told everyone outside the plant. All he knows is that his brother betrayed him, the only person left in the world he thought he could trust. He could have fought, tried to escape. Probably would have succeeded too. He was always the better fighter than his brother and Frank was the only one there who would've been able to put up a fight. But what would have been the point? Escape and be on the run for life? Kill his own brother just to run? No. They wanted a villain, and he was just suddenly so exhausted. Tired of everything.
He surrendered and they took him away in handcuffs. His trial was highly publicized, but he paid barely any attention. He was accused of something heinous enough to lock him away for life but Hex, that bastard, convinced the judge and jury to only give him 5 years of jail time. So Eli waited in jail, as quietly as he could. Occasionally someone he helped put away or someone who had been put away by another super would try to get revenge, and he would defend himself, but for the most part people left the quiet, bitter, man alone. When he got out he went into isolation as far from people as he could. His money from all his jobs as a super for hire was still there and he put it to good use.
The only person who mattered clearly didn't want him in the world. Eli had no doubt that if he tried to go back to his old ways his brother would try something like that again, or just try to kill him. And as hurt and angry as he was with Frank, he couldn't bring himself to actually hurt his little brother. They were family. So Eli isolated himself as best he could except for a few communications, on the forlorn hope that his brother would actually reach out to him. There was plenty of radio chatter between the supers as they organized themselves, but nothing from his brother and nothing for him. Gradually, it all died down as the supers began to disappear, and Eli was left with silence, and a dead hope that he'd ever see his brother again.
That is, until Special agent Reynolds crackled over an old channel. Eli listened more out of boredom than actual interest and was going to shut it off mid transmission. After all, it wasn't his problem that she couldn't do her job. Then she mentioned Hex. Eli hesitated, and listened through. Then he sighed and picked himself up. Hex may have been a goody two shoes nosy bastard, but he had been legitimate. If Hex had visions of a 'Reality Bringer' ending the world, something like that was coming. And as much as Eli didn't care for the rest of the world he lived on the world. Besides, he owed the bastard Hex for preventing him from being rotting in prison currently. He was an old man with one foot in the grave, but he could do something before kicking the bucket.
And maybe, just maybe, Frank would answer the call. He was always tight with Hex, always spouted the same 'heroes have to use their powers for good' garbage. It would be good to see his brother again.
Maybe.
Personality: Eli is most obviously characterized by an almost total lack of empathy for his fellow man. He never cared for the plights of anyone but himself and his family. And since his family is all either dead or have turned their backs on him, he cares even less. He views the world as a cold and merciless place and the people in it even more so. Kindness and mercy are only weaknesses that others will use to either stab you in the back, or force you to carry them through every difficulty they encounter. He views superheroes as the ultimate manifestation of that foolishness, people using powers to help those who don't want to help themselves, opening themselves to attacks they normally wouldn't be open too with their abilities. Villains are worse, greedily trying to take as much as they can, assuming that because they have powers they're unstoppable. As such, he generally finds most other supers to be insufferable.
The notable exception to his lack of empathy is children. Eli either sees his brother and himself in them, or perhaps thinks they're the last vestige of innocence in the world. Regardless, the only time anyone is able to see Eli be gentle or kind is when dealing with kids. He's even been noted to do some of the 'stupid heroics' he mocks superheroes for when they're in danger.
A generally practical and ruthless person, Eli favors an 'by any means necessary' methodology. It typically doesn't matter what has to be done or who has to be sacrificed to get the job done, Eli is willing to do whatever is the most efficient route to getting an objective accomplished. Control and detachment are traits he values and prides himself on, ignoring the fact that he himself struggles with control and detachment.
Eli lacked tact since before his self-imposed exile. A little under twenty years of being in isolation has made that even worse. In general, he shouldn't be the one doing the talking and it would be best to have someone nearby to shut him up if the team is in a delicate situation that needs to be talked out of.
Eli is still values family above all else. He has no idea where Frank is, or if Frank is even still alive, but he would do anything for his brother without question. When they were in the military, this extended to their squad that they would operate frequently with but he even has less of an idea of where any of them are. Dead, presumably, in some war or operation by the USA government.
Despite the tough and immovable persona Eli presents, he's afraid of not dying. Immortality seems like a curse, rather than boon. It was a constant worry of his when he was younger, that his powers wouldn't let him age or die and he'd have to live forever or kill himself. It was a relief when he began showing signs of aging, even though he knew that it was most likely his subconscious influencing his powers to prevent them from manipulating his cells. Heroes who were immortal or undead always unnerved him, and he kept his distance as best he could. As if they could infect him with their immortality.
Misc Facts: Eli likes to keep himself and his gear immaculate and well-groomed. A minor neurotic tick, he frequently uses his powers to keep his hair a certain way, his nails trimmed, so on so forth. He's used his power endless times in his life to prevent scars from forming.
Eli has a working knowledge of how the human body is put together and operates, and how various organic structures in the animal, plant, and insect kingdom are put together and operate. He has spent his years studying how they work and what makes them work, on the off chance that Frank would reach out to him and he'd need to use his abilities once more. It never came to be, but now that the Special Agent has reached out to him he can finally put them to good use. Hopefully.
Eli has a tendency to unconsciously hum as he focuses on something.
Eli likes arachnids. He had a pet Goliath tarantula he let go before heading to Cedar Fort, and he still misses Suzy.
Relationship with Hex: Hex and Eli were rivals, of a sort. Whenever Eli would be hired to do something for a corporation or a villain who didn't want their hands to be dirtied or any connections to lead back to them, Hex would be there spouting some general bullshit line about using their powers for good. He always annoyed Eli, with his oozing self-righteousness. His hexes were incredibly frustrating as well, given how they affected Eli as a person and not just his organic material. Occasionally Hex would convince Eli there was enough profit in helping the 'good' side that they'd work together, but such occasions were rare. Hex was the one who prevented Eli from being incarcerated for life, though Eli doesn't know what was said or why, still reeling from his brother's betrayal. Presumably some vision of his about Eli's 'potential.'
Took me a little over a week, but I got him written up.
Name: Eli Evans
Alias: Biomancer
Age: 64
Powers: Organic Manipulation and absorption.
Eli can control, manipulate, and absorb organic matter provided he is touching it. The more organic matter he has access to, the more drastic things he can do with it. Most often it involves rapidly healing himself or others, making weapons or armor out of his body, using his body as a weapon, or turning organic matter into weapons.
Due to his primary ability, Eli can have superhuman physical attributes. Long years of forced retirement and age have degraded this, however, and he is only capable of lifting 1.5 tons and running at 50mph with reflexes capable of catching an arrow in flight. He can only keep either the strength or the speed going at a time, however. Both puts too much strain on his body.
Weaknesses: Eli is old, and hasn't used his powers in twenty years. It hurts to use his powers, he's rusty at the various techniques, and in general is slow at using his powers.
Anything to do with fire Eli despises. Burning generally makes it difficult for him to quickly heal and anything he makes from organic matter only provides fuel for fire.
Eli is incapable of manipulating any inorganic matter. Metals, gases, plastics, etc etc.
Anything that doesn't attack Eli's organic matter specifically (Hexes,curses, psionic attacks, mind control, etc etc) Eli is very vulnerable too.
Manipulating organic matter requires energy and most often that energy is drawn from whatever is being manipulated. As Eli is most often manipulating his own body, he's often using huge amounts of energy and as such requires and equally huge if not larger caloric intake to off set it. If Eli can't regain energy, he can't use his powers.
Eli can survive and heal most wounds and, if given enough biomass absorbed, even regrow limbs but those all require his brain to be intact. Anything going through his skull and hitting his brain is guaranteed to kill him.
Appearance: Eli stands at 5ft 7in with a strong, stocky build. His forced retirement has caused him to lose the fitness of his youth as he reluctantly became used to a career where he didn't have to be ready to fight at any given moment, but beneath the layer of fat he's still powerful and capable of holding his own in a fight. His white beard and hair are kept carefully maintained, trimmed to an exact length and style. Bushy eyebrows are usually found drawn together above harsh brown eyes and a broad nose that more often than not has its nostrils flared. His lips are typically drawn into a scowl, making the multitude of wrinkles on his face even more apparent. Especially when he grumbles in his deep rumble of a voice.
His general clothing tends to be jeans and t-shirt. Simple, but kept clean and immaculate. It is rare to find him in ripped or dirty clothing by choice.
His costume used to be a menacing suit of organic armor, capable of conventional weapons and most heavy firepower. He isn't capable of covering his entire body in such a material anymore and now only generates a thin layer over his body to provide mild protection and hide his identity. Not much good it does, since his trial, but old habits die hard.
Equipment: In general, Eli has basic body armor, a pistol, and a battle rifle. He hasn't used any of them in over a decade, but keeps them on hand in case a situation ever arises where he needs to use them.
Eli and his younger brother, Frank, were destined from birth to be superheroes. Their parents were going to usher in a new era of supers, people designed to protect the world from evil and tyranny. People that were beacons of hope and justice. Their parents were dedicated to their purpose and experimented extensively with manipulating the human DNA in embryo and drawing out powers in it. By the time they had Eli, they had it down to a science. Eli never found out how many failed projects, and bodies, were behind his creation and he frankly doesn't want to know. All he knows is that when he was born with his powers, his parents were capable of accurately predicting what they were going to be and how they would develop. Every step of his life was planned to help him control and expand his abilities. For the first four years of his life, everything was the Evans family version of normal.
Everything changed when his younger brother was born. Frank was born with super powers, yes, but his powers weren't the ones that his father had predicted. Instead of pyrokinesis Frank had the ability of flight and cyrokinesis. For the first year, their father was confused and bewildered. Delighted his son had not one, but two powers of course, but confused as to why his predictions were so far off. After a year had passed, the truth came out. Their mother had cheated on their father, and an illegitimate pregnancy had come out of it. Eli and Frank were both to young to know this. All a young Eli knew was that his father suddenly had a look on his face that had never been there before, as he sent Eli to his room with his infant younger brother. They wouldn't find the truth out til years later.
Looking back, the only one who was surprised was their father. The relationship was not one built upon mutual love and respect, but merely a desire to further the future of the human race. It was their father who had made the mistake of getting emotionally attached to what was supposed to only be scientific, and pushing their mother into a relationship that was more than she expected and far more than she wanted.
That did nothing to ease their father's jealous, terrifying, rage. All Eli remembers is hiding in his room with his brother as both of their parents screamed and things were broken in the house beyond. The next day their mother was gone and all their father would say on the matter is that she had left and they would be better off without her. That was a lie of course and their father took to drinking and drugs in short order. He went from strict and inspired scientist, guiding them on their way to becoming protectors of humanity, to a mean and hateful drunk who berated or hit them for every mistake, failure, or misstep. It was in particular aimed at Frank as his very existence reminded their father of their mother, and how she had betrayed him. As Eli grew older he began intentionally provoking the ire of their father to protect his younger brother. He was the oldest, it was his job to protect Frank from whatever their father threw at them.
This continued for 11 years, with their father beating and berating them into controlling their powers more or simply just because he could. Their powers only grew stronger by the day, as did their bond with one another. Their mother was gone, their father a bastard, but they had each other. They would always have each other. One day, after Eli had turned sixteen he finally had enough. As their father raised a fist to hit Frank again for some small mistake, Eli caught it. Their father turned around in a drunken rage, only to cry out in pain and agony as his arm began to wither away. Eli kept an iron grip as his father screamed and thrashed, his eyes cold as ice. "You're never touching us again. You're never hurting anyone again." He only stopped when Frank grabbed his other arm, crying out for him to stop.
Eli hesitated, but relented to his brother's wishes. He dropped his father, who cradled his useless and stick thin arm and cried to himself. Eli and his brother packed what little possessions they had and headed out the door, with Eli sparing only one glance behind. "Don't look for us. Or I won't stop next time."
The next four years were spent scrapping by a living on the streets of Saint Louis, USA. Food, shelter, and clothing were scarce, but they were never in any danger. Between the two of them and their powers, anyone who dared to cross them soon learned the error of their ways. They tried to kept mostly to themselves, the idea of using their powers to become heroes a repulsive one after years of hearing their father scream at them that was what they were supposed to be. But nonetheless word of their abilities spread among the other homeless and desperate and they soon were the nucleus of a small community that protected one another as best they could. Regardless of their wishes, Eli and Frank became heroes of the people. When they could, they searched for their mother as best they could but it was ultimately fruitless. They were only two kids, with no money or resources to even keep a roof over their heads much less find someone they had either only vague memories of or no memories at all. After two years of nothing they gave up entirely.
Eli only went back to their old home once, when he heard about his father being taken away to a mental hospital ranting and raving about his 'perfect creations' that betrayed him like everyone always did. He only went to see if there was anything that they could use to help Frank and those depending on them. He personally had no desire to help the people that gathered around them for protection, but Frank had a kinder heart. Frank had embraced the role thrust upon them by the desperate, much to Eli's exasperation. Their old home might have had something to sell, salvage, or otherwise use to aid all the people they had to deal with now. Eli found nothing useful, but he did find their father's journal. Against his better judgement he read through the book. Most of it was scientific jargon that he couldn't understand, but it clearly laid out two things; Frank was only his half brother, and their father had murdered their mother.
Eli lit the book on fire and dropped it in the trashcan outside. He had always had suspicions, but now they were confirmed. It was a secret he planned to take to his grave.
As soon as Frank was sixteen, Eli took the two of them to the army recruiter. They were struggling to keep the community together, and were drawing attention from local gangs. The gangs wanted to use the two brothers as powered muscle in their own struggles, and were willing to hurt the people they were supposed to be protecting to force them to obey. Eli convinced a reluctant Frank that the best way to save those people now was to leave and take any reasoning for the gangs to attack them away. Frank was an idealist, but he still listened to his older brother as the authority on all matters. If Eli said it was a good plan, it was a good plan.
Frank and Eli rapidly progressed through the military, ending up in the special forces in two years. The military had uses for two super powered soldiers, especially since Eli displayed little moral qualms and Frank listened to Eli. They spent the next eight years doing black ops for the USA military. Assassinations, sabotage, kidnappings, extractions of VIPs from hot zones, supporting the main forces in armed conflicts, countering other country's supers, anything and everything that was required of them they did without question. They always had each others back and no matter they could always rely on each other.
Frank finally drew the line after a mission that had them assassinating a rural tribe leader in the middle east. They did the job quickly and quietly, only to find out later that the man was the head of a local coalition trying to stop Oil from being drilled on sacred lands. Without him, the coalition would fall apart and their sacred lands would be defiled.
"We're better than this, Eli! We should be helping people, not suppressing them!" Eli personally saw no reason for such rhetoric, but it clearly mattered to Frank a great deal and he relented. If Frank wanted to be heroes of the people, they would be heroes of the people. But he would be there when the people decided to stab them in the back. When their tour of duty ended that year, they did not renew it. Instead, they headed back to the mainland USA to fulfill Frank's dream of being heroes to the people. For the next five years that's what they did. The beginnings were rough, since they had no direct oversight or goals other than 'help people'. For the first year they were known as useless amateurs, often causing more damage than they fixed. But as they learned how to operate as heroes, rather than soldiers, they became more skilled and efficient.
They started saving people and rising in importance. Other heroes began taking them seriously and they began doing real good, in Frank's eyes. With the money they had gotten from the military and what occasional cash Eli was able to convince Frank to accept for some of their heroics, they were able to hire a private investigator company to look for their mother. Eli knew the truth, but he couldn't bear to tell Frank what had really happened. Better that Frank never know, he thought, than him go through the pain of learning his mother was killed because she had Frank.
The brothers started clashing with one another much more as time wore on. Frank began to see Eli's lack of empathy and ruthless practicality as not just a method of protecting them, but a genuine flaw that leaned him towards villainy rather than heroics. Their arguments began getting worse and worse as Eli pushed against what he perceived to be Frank's foolish idealism, hope, and kindness in a world that will only crush those types of people under its heel. The traits that Frank was holding up so high were only weaknesses that were going to get him hurt in the future, or worse. Frank didn't see it that way. Frank believed the words they had been taught when their father wasn't a drunken bastard. They needed to be symbols of hope, beacons of justice, something people could aspire to be. All Eli saw was the laughable idealism of a broken man when he heard those words.
It was during one of these arguments that Eli's frustration got the best of him. Frank just wouldn't listen. He never listened. Not when Eli said they should take more payments, not when Eli said they were risking getting themselves in trouble, and especially not when Eli said they were risking themselves too much for people who they didn't even know. He snapped out the truth that Frank wasn't their father's son and that their mother was dead because she had him. As soon as he said the words, Eli regretted them, but the damage was done. Frank's face closed off and he walked away, ignoring his brother's calls for him to come back. That was the last time they worked together as the inseparable team they had always been.
Eli continued working as a super, but one for hire. He left the idealism and hope to his brother. He would do the smart thing and use his powers to aid those who could pay the most. He wasn't a true villain, finding the ideals of 'lets destroy or take over the world' distasteful, but he was never on the 'good' side for free. He would clash with other superheroes like Hex, hired by companies or villains to do various jobs that put him in conflict with the 'heroes'. They all reminded him of his brother, and he only regarded them with disdain.
Eli kept an eye on his brother, staying close enough that he could leap into action to help if need be. They might be not speaking to one another, but Frank was still his little brother. And they watched out for each other. No matter what.
Following the exploits of 'Cyro' and how he saved the day time and time again was easy. Frank was always a flamboyant character. As he watched his brother, he noticed a small pattern beginning to form that he approved of. As his brother went on and realized he no longer had Eli to watch his back, he became more and more inclined to use lethal force against those who wouldn't let themselves go without a fight. It was good, Eli thought, that Frank was finally realizing what type of world they were in. He would occasionally reach out, try to mend the rift between them, to now avail. Frank always ignored his messages or himself when he tried to make things up in person. Nine years passed like this before he was hired for his last job. A coal power plant had been taken by some eco-terrorists determined to stop the 'murder of mother earth' by any means necessary. He was to go in and free the hostages and take care of the terrorists by any means necessary. The corporation that hired him made it clear that they wouldn't be dismayed if the terrorists were killed in the endeavor.
Eli broke into the power plant and began making his way through efficiently and ruthlessly. The terrorists were more fanatic about their ideals than they were well trained, and he made short work of them. When he reached the center of the plant, he saw just how far they were going for their plans. They had rigged a multitude of explosives to the center of the plant, intent upon destroying it and everyone inside if their demands weren't met. To make things worse, the surviving terrorists were all in the center with hostages and detonators in their hands. Eli couldn't move fast enough to stop them all from detonating the explosives.
As Eli was considering how to stop or minimize the explosion, his brother walked through the door on the opposite side. For a moment, they just stared at one another. Then Eli sighed in relief. By himself he couldn't deal with this situation in a way that ended well, but with Frank? He could handle everything. He asked his brother for help. It could be like the old days, if only for a moment. When he saw Frank hesitate and then agree, he was elated. Remembering the moment, as he has over and over for the last twenty years, he wishes he would have seen the look in his brother's eyes as he agreed.
They made a plan and sprang into action, working seamlessly with one another as if they had never spent a moment apart. Everything was going smoothly until it was his brother's last target. As Eli finished off his he turned to the man panicking and going to press the button. He looked confidently up for his brother to freeze or kill the man with an icicle.
He was still looking as the explosion ripped through the plant and sent him flying. He woke up too the police and military all pointing weapons at him as he was dug out of the rubble, ordering him to surrender quietly. His brother was floating in the background, hands at the ready. Eli doesn't know what his brother told everyone outside the plant. All he knows is that his brother betrayed him, the only person left in the world he thought he could trust. He could have fought, tried to escape. Probably would have succeeded too. He was always the better fighter than his brother and Frank was the only one there who would've been able to put up a fight. But what would have been the point? Escape and be on the run for life? Kill his own brother just to run? No. They wanted a villain, and he was just suddenly so exhausted. Tired of everything.
He surrendered and they took him away in handcuffs. His trial was highly publicized, but he paid barely any attention. He was accused of something heinous enough to lock him away for life but Hex, that bastard, convinced the judge and jury to only give him 5 years of jail time. So Eli waited in jail, as quietly as he could. Occasionally someone he helped put away or someone who had been put away by another super would try to get revenge, and he would defend himself, but for the most part people left the quiet, bitter, man alone. When he got out he went into isolation as far from people as he could. His money from all his jobs as a super for hire was still there and he put it to good use.
The only person who mattered clearly didn't want him in the world. Eli had no doubt that if he tried to go back to his old ways his brother would try something like that again, or just try to kill him. And as hurt and angry as he was with Frank, he couldn't bring himself to actually hurt his little brother. They were family. So Eli isolated himself as best he could except for a few communications, on the forlorn hope that his brother would actually reach out to him. There was plenty of radio chatter between the supers as they organized themselves, but nothing from his brother and nothing for him. Gradually, it all died down as the supers began to disappear, and Eli was left with silence, and a dead hope that he'd ever see his brother again.
That is, until Special agent Reynolds crackled over an old channel. Eli listened more out of boredom than actual interest and was going to shut it off mid transmission. After all, it wasn't his problem that she couldn't do her job. Then she mentioned Hex. Eli hesitated, and listened through. Then he sighed and picked himself up. Hex may have been a goody two shoes nosy bastard, but he had been legitimate. If Hex had visions of a 'Reality Bringer' ending the world, something like that was coming. And as much as Eli didn't care for the rest of the world he lived on the world. Besides, he owed the bastard Hex for preventing him from being rotting in prison currently. He was an old man with one foot in the grave, but he could do something before kicking the bucket.
And maybe, just maybe, Frank would answer the call. He was always tight with Hex, always spouted the same 'heroes have to use their powers for good' garbage. It would be good to see his brother again.
Maybe.
Personality: Eli is most obviously characterized by an almost total lack of empathy for his fellow man. He never cared for the plights of anyone but himself and his family. And since his family is all either dead or have turned their backs on him, he cares even less. He views the world as a cold and merciless place and the people in it even more so. Kindness and mercy are only weaknesses that others will use to either stab you in the back, or force you to carry them through every difficulty they encounter. He views superheroes as the ultimate manifestation of that foolishness, people using powers to help those who don't want to help themselves, opening themselves to attacks they normally wouldn't be open too with their abilities. Villains are worse, greedily trying to take as much as they can, assuming that because they have powers they're unstoppable. As such, he generally finds most other supers to be insufferable.
The notable exception to his lack of empathy is children. Eli either sees his brother and himself in them, or perhaps thinks they're the last vestige of innocence in the world. Regardless, the only time anyone is able to see Eli be gentle or kind is when dealing with kids. He's even been noted to do some of the 'stupid heroics' he mocks superheroes for when they're in danger.
A generally practical and ruthless person, Eli favors an 'by any means necessary' methodology. It typically doesn't matter what has to be done or who has to be sacrificed to get the job done, Eli is willing to do whatever is the most efficient route to getting an objective accomplished. Control and detachment are traits he values and prides himself on, ignoring the fact that he himself struggles at times with control and detachment.
Eli lacked tact since before his self-imposed exile. A little under twenty years of being in isolation has made that even worse. In general, he shouldn't be the one doing the talking and it would be best to have someone nearby to shut him up if the team is in a delicate situation that needs to be talked out of.
Eli is still values family above all else. He has no idea where Frank is, or if Frank is even still alive, but he would do anything for his brother without question. When they were in the military, this extended to their squad that they would operate frequently with but he even has less of an idea of where any of them are. Dead, presumably, in some war or operation by the USA government.
Despite the tough and immovable persona Eli presents, he's afraid of not dying. Immortality seems like a curse, rather than boon. It was a constant worry of his when he was younger, that his powers wouldn't let him age or die and he'd have to live forever or kill himself. It was a relief when he began showing signs of aging, even though he knew that it was most likely his subconscious influencing his powers to prevent them from manipulating his cells. Heroes who were immortal or undead always unnerved him, and he kept his distance as best he could. As if they could infect him with their immortality.
Misc Facts: Eli likes to keep himself and his gear immaculate and well-groomed. A minor neurotic tick, he frequently uses his powers to keep his hair a certain way, his nails trimmed, so on so forth. He's used his power endless times in his life to prevent scars from forming.
Eli has a working knowledge of how the human body is put together and operates, and how various organic structures in the animal, plant, and insect kingdom are put together and operate. He has spent his years studying how they work and what makes them work, on the off chance that Frank would reach out to him and he'd need to use his abilities once more. It never came to be, but now that the Special Agent has reached out to him he can finally put them to good use. Hopefully.
Eli has a tendency to unconsciously hum as he focuses on something.
Eli likes arachnids. He had a pet Goliath tarantula he let go before heading to Cedar Fort, and he still misses Suzy.
Relationship with Hex: Hex and Eli were rivals, of a sort. Whenever Eli would be hired to do something for a corporation or a villain who didn't want their hands to be dirtied or any connections to lead back to them, Hex would be there spouting some general bullshit line about using their powers for good. He always annoyed Eli, with his oozing self-righteousness. His hexes were incredibly frustrating as well, given how they affected Eli as a person and not just his organic material. Occasionally Hex would convince Eli there was enough profit in helping the 'good' side that they'd work together, but such occasions were rare. Hex was the one who prevented Eli from being incarcerated for life, though Eli doesn't know what was said or why, still reeling from his brother's betrayal. Presumably some vision of his about Eli's 'potential.'
Thanks for the invite, but I just started University and won't have the time for a while. Once I get time and if you guys are still accepting I'll hop aboard.
Andrea snorted at the first mate's remark. "Still floating, more like. Some jack ass probably tried to blow up the ship again. You'd think they'd have given up by now and just stormed the ship to gun us all down." She checked the systems and scanners again, hiding her anxiety behind busyness. She spoke up, speaking as much to herself as he was to Kevej. "We're gonna be fine. Ansgar can't speak worth a damn but he knows his way around ships." She glanced quickly at the Naka. "Don't tell him I said that." It wouldn't do to have the ugly little goblin crowing about any compliments he begrudgingly got from her.
She gave a small sigh as Kevej reported that they didn't have any company, even though it only slightly eased her worry. "Well, that's a relief. No piracy for us to deal with today." They couldn't run from a transport ship right now, much less a pirate ship that's designed for speedy hit and runs. If pirates or, even worse, the people who sabotaged the ship did show up they'd just have to pray that the bastards didn't just blast the Lux out of space and pick over the remains like vultures.
She gave a quick nod as the captain's voice crackled over the comms. At least they didn't have any injuries to deal with. Not that she would have been heartbroken to hear that their dear passenger had been injured in the explosion, but injuries were messy and costly. They couldn't afford to waste bandages and stitches on the likes of the Judge and she would be the only one in favor of just letting him bleed out on the floor.
The pilot was going through her third, completely unnecessary, check of everything when their eloquent engineer decided to speak up. She visibly bristled at the thrown insults and tone, her finger practically stabbing into the comms button to reply. "Oh, you mean that split that has slowed us down so much we almost got shot out of the sky five times over, plumber? You're lucky I'm so good at 'fiddling' with the flight stick otherwise we wouldn't be able to have this conversation! Let me know when you've shoved enough bendy straws into the fuel lines to get us up and running again. Or would you rather preen yourself on something that's only worked in your favor once so far some more?" She cut off the comms and continued her check, muttering to herself in irritation. "Who does that little shit think he is? Telling me off for something that slowed us down and only saved him this one time because he didn't do his check as soon as he should have. God damned mouthy little grease troll...."
Hugon's eyes snapped towards the curtain as it began to move by itself, his hand instinctively going towards his dagger. The hair on the back of his neck began to stand up as he heard the rings of the curtains scrapping against the rod. Something awful was coming, he could sense it. He watched the servant approach the curtain, waving the man forward. Hugon's dagger was ripped out of its sheathe as the servant suddenly fell to his knees and wailed, a sound reminiscent of the screams of the dying but somehow so much worse than any Hugon had heard in his long years of violence and war. What is out there? More importantly, what is coming? Hugon thought, tightening his grip on his dagger. Maker how he wished he had his axe and his armor, but those were both carefully stored away in the manor. He had assumed that even with how bad the surrounding area was, the darkness hadn't crept fully into the town yet. That it was relatively safe for him to let his guard down in. Now it looked like he was going to pay for that foolish assumption.
Hugon carefully began to move to check on the screaming man as the orc servant panicked and attempted to run. The door was jammed by some foul magic, Hugon could hear the desperate struggles as he drew near towards the other man. When the orc began howling as well, the paladin turned around in time to see the light in the room be snuffed out, and a creature straight out of the depths of hell enter the room. The hideous screaming of the servants suddenly ceased, and the silence that followed was thick and oppressing.
Terror raged through Hugon as all the symbols of the Maker on the walls of the room fell to the ground, destroyed. He had been afraid before. When his brother was destroying the village, during battle against the orcs, hunting rogue mages, charging into the lines of heretics during the crusade, but he had never felt pure primal terror like this before. Everything in his being told him to flee this place. Flee this town, this area, this entire country before that vile thing came any closer. But he could not. He had made a promise to Lord Lochborne, and if he abandoned his promise now, not only would he be a wretched coward but what happened in Yolocto would happen here. It took all of his might, but he managed to keep the terror from his face. He wouldn't give this creature the satisfaction of seeing his fear on his face.
As the monster leaned towards him, his palms began to burn with an old pain.
He didn't hear what the creature said to the others, too focused on standing his ground to bother paying attention to what lies it was spewing. Faith was his corner stone, and he would not lose it. The Maker provided, even in dark times such as these. He glanced down at the servant at his feet. The man was dead, that much was obvious. The paladin doubted that the orc had survived this ordeal either. Hugon's eyes widened as he saw his own mutilated corpse swaying in the noose. Then he gritted his teeth. He would not let the creature get the best of him. He would not. As the monster finished his prophecy, Hugon's free hand reached up and clutched the symbol of the maker around his neck. Courage. The Maker provided. He would not be bested by such a horror.
"Begone, demon!" Hugon forced strength into his voice, making himself look the blackened skull. He would not let fear control him, or this damned monster have its way. Righteous fury welled within, giving him strength to speak past his fear. "We may not be the chosen, but we are the ones who will succeed! We will fight our way through these cursed lands, we will cut down the monstrosity that hangs over this city, and we will send you back to hell! The Maker wills it, and it will be done! Begone! You cannot turn us away from our path!"
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