I decided to get my character writeups over as well(given, well, trying to use this for a bunch of Shadowrunny stuff.)
So to start, Downfall will be the first in line; mostly since he's the most often the semi-POV character of the stories. That being said, everyone has parts in the stories, but it's easier usually if I have one focal character.
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Details:
Exceptional Attribute allows his Strength to raise beyond the racial modified limit by 1.
Mild allergy to Sun means he recieves a +1 to all TNs if in it and unprotected.
Bravery gives a -1 to all TNs to resist intimidation, and similar spells/powers
Sensitive System doubles all Essences losses from cyber
Distinctive Style grants opponents a -1 TN to remember/track him
Equipment and stats will be detailed on a character sheet.
Appearance and Personality:
Downfall is an elf of massive proportions; standing fully seven foot
seven without his boots and weighing in at about three hundred and
eighty pounds, he is one of the larger elves one would have probably
looked at. Looking trolls in the eye is something that is not uncommon
for him. (Elves average about six-four, so he is sort of an
exceptionally tall version, much like how some athletes nowadays might
stand about seven-foot-plus compared to an average-height human.) He’s
not overly bulky, though he is quite large; to say he fills in as the
team’s primary muscle along with Talon is putting it lightly. He is
highly agile given his size, though, throwing people off. He wears his
straight black hair somewhat past his shoulders(he has an undershave) and his eyes
are icy blue. He’s rather pale-he is sensitive to sunlight-metahumans
can develop allergies to various things, and tends to be nocturnal due
to this, vitamin D makes up for the loss of it so his health is robust),
and his voice is a bit on the deeper side. He seems to have some
northern European in him, but besides that and Irish he’s not sure where
else his family is from besides Tir.
He’s perhaps a
little creepy looking to some corporate types, looking like he may have
popped out of an industrial-goth club, but he’s also exceptionally
handsome, even pretty. He occasionally has a bit of goatee on his chin,
though keeps the rest of his face clean shaven. One of his ears has a
bit of a ragged look, having gotten it half sliced off in combat, though
he does put rings in them from time to time.
Due to his fairly
large build and huge limbs-he’s quite long-limbed and his legs are
longer than most average humans are tall-he can make himself look
incredibly intimidating if need be. He generally doesn’t try to scare
the populace though; that’s used more for situations where he needs to
turn on the scary. If the job says for someone to be taken alive, he can
usually scare them into submission with his natural intimidation
skills, as well as his parlor trick of kicking a holes in hard objects
like concrete and car doors.
A habit of his, when chilling more,
is to flip a coin over his knuckles; he is surprisingly adept at it, his
huge hands rather dexterous.
He dresses in the same sort of
‘goth-rivethead’ style, favoring loose cargos(black or camo), tight tank
tops or sleeveless shirts, an armored leather longcoat and huge,
steel-covered black buckled boots; given his specialty in Tae Kwan Do,
these, along with his brute strength and killing hands power, cause
immense and nasty damage to their targets. He can swap to a hoodie and
jeans if he needs to dress a little less 'club-like’, and can even swap
to nice clothing if pressed, even grudgingly dropping the black eyeliner or
nail polish, both of which he tends to wear. He’s been known to
occasionally wear leather bracelets or chokers that incorporate nails,
cogs, and other industrial bits. The team has been known to joke he and
Talon look like they fell off the same truck, though Talon has a bit
more of a 'glam-goth/VK’ look to him.
Downfall is a fairly bold
individual; he can be quick to speak, though he’s far from stupid-he has
a couple of years of education post-high school, and is naturally smart
on top of it, both in book and in street. He’s usually not going to
insult anyone he’s trying to deal with(unless by 'dealing with’ one
means 'kicking them really hard.’) He isn’t the team’s face, though he
is charismatic enough and fairly adept at dealing with a variety of
types; he’s spent enough time on the streets to know the ins and outs,
and enough time with Elven high society to understand that as well,
though corporate types elude him.
He has a particular talent with
languages; he’s fluent in Sperethiel as well as English, speaks Russian
to a conversational level and even a little Korean and Japanese on top
of it, though he’s not particularly good at the latter two yet(Talon
enjoys picking on his rough Japanese in his moments of humor.) Despite
being completely brutal muscle, he has a scattering of other skills
which makes him still valuable to a team(in the shadows, it does not pay
to be a one-trick-pony. Those types don’t last long.)
He is
passionate about things he likes; be it good alcohol and coffee, his
drivingly hard industrial-metal/aggrotech soundtracks, his martial arts,
and even his teammates. He is a 'gentle giant’ to Ortega’s charge since
he’s even bigger than Spanky, and was the person responsible for
bringing the traumatized and mentally scarred Talon out of his shell and
back into humanity(they seem to have more than just a working
relationship…but given how the shadows are, they leave it at physical.)
He’ll eat anything he can get his hands on; not a vegetarian like some
elves, he likes everything from meat to fish; sushi and bibimbap(the
latter introduced to him by his old trainer, a kind Korean elf who lived
in Tir and worked as a bodyguard; he has sadly not seen him in years
and wonders how he is)are two huge favorites of his and he’ll be seen
eating either of them more than once a week. The local Korean restaurant
in Tacoma loves when he comes in, given his ginormous appetite; they
even keep one of their Troll-sized tables ready for him. (They usually
throw in a free gimbap if he buys a quadruple order that day.)
Like
Talon, the two detest soykaf, choosing to spend their last nuyen on
real coffee and fighting in a pit for more before they’d drink the other
foul swill. At the end of the day, he’ll fill himself with McHugh’s,
Bucket-Burgers or stuffers if he’s on the run.
When in combat, he
much prefers fighting unarmed; given his skill in different martial
arts, he doesn’t need a weapon. He shares this with Talon and they spar;
the two of them are able to actually withstand each others blows(though
he naturally does not use his lethal force in sparring matches.) He
will kill with little hesitation if lethal force is used against him; he
can get quite brutal and vindictive if people close to him are messed
with, and things can get messy with him quickly due to his massive
strength; 'colorful head wounds’ have been mentioned when he’s finished.
He doesn’t mind fighting in underground bloodsport pits against people
who he knows are dirty, and he’s done it long enough he can tell the
desperate from the vicious. He has taken wetwork before as well. His
mindset is that the shadows are sometimes kill-or-be-killed; while he
does not seek out death-dealing, he will not shy away from it. He won’t
mess up a job though; if the request are no bodies, then he will load
gel rounds in his handgun(which he only uses if necessary, he’s not a
huge firearms fan though he respects their versatility), and strike with
non-lethal force(though he can’t promise bones won’t break.) He messes
around with edged weapons for fun, and Talon has been showing him some
tricks with them, though he prefers to simply fight with martial arts.
He
utilizes all of his known styles-Tae Kwon Do, Carromeleg, Karate and
kickboxing-well together, but Tae Kwon Do is his favorite, and quite a
sight when dealt out by a gothic-rivethead that stands over seven and a
half feet tall. His overall style is brutal, aggressive, and
overwhelming; he uses his huge size and reach well to his advantage.
Relaxing
to him is music, videogames, possibly books, or just sleeping in with a
bit of trid; he also has taken a liking to the flatvid movies that go
around his current team. He does not look for a serious relationship,
though he has shared more than one intimate moment with Talon; right
now, being on the same team they’re keeping it 'friends with benefits’,
and aren’t looking to push it further. It’s not a constant thing, more
like 'if they feel like it.’ Even going to a club with driving music and
some drinks is 'relaxing’ to him, as he sits in the back somewhere.
He
has quite an interest in the workings of magic and the occult; being a
trained adept, he knows there is further his abilities can go. He’s been
known to talk to Silver about magical things, though her specialty is
more with the hermetic, scholastic side of magic and spellcasting, she’s
an expert on the subject and finds his insight into some of the occult
studies interesting. Politically he’s bored of most of what goes on and
tends to go for 'the least evil’ in these days, and he runs agnostic-in
his opinion, with all of the planes and things out there, just trying to
say there is or isn’t 'one main thing’ is short-sighted. His adept
powers are geared more toward the 'mundane’ rather than the outlandish;
he funnels it to increase his already insane strength, to allow him to
smash objects and enemies better, to increase his reflexes and better
protect himself. (He would love to further develop his astral sight;
he’s seen it before, thanks to deepweed from a talismonger to find out
some information, but he cannot do it himself yet.)
He doesn’t
have too much on him that he would be completely lost without; he would
not like to lose his geas, given the trouble he would have getting it
back(and he’s a little attached to that particular collar), and he
happens to like his massive boots, but besides that he has a soft spot
for the heavy silver and steel ring given to him by Talon the night he
went 'home’ from Dr. Douglas’ clinic, since Downfall had helped him
through everything and he insisted he take it.
Quotes:
“I’d rethink your current situation. You’re just about small enough for me to step on.”
“'The bigger they are, the harder they fall’ is only relevant if you can knock them down.”
“You bleed too much, chummer.”
“If the gods do exist, I’m pretty sure they’d ask for bibimbap instead of ambrosia.”
History: Downfall
was born Gaelorite Tiergnach(a name he considers one of the snootiest
in the world, though certain people are allowed to call him Gael…VERY
few) to an upper-class Tir Tairngire family in October of 2028. They
worked with nobles, were one step below nobles themselves and Gael was
set toward big things. As he grew rather immensely, there was talk about
getting him toward the more elite guard later in life; when he
expressed magically as an adept, many people took a great interest in
their potentially new and deadly person; there was talk of Tir Paladins
in his future if he proved loyal and all went right. Besides being
schooled well, he was sent toward training with some of the best Tir
warriors-he trained mainly in Tae Kwon Do which he took a major liking
in(and it fit his long-legged and massive physique and strength), but he
also trained some in the traditional elven martial art of Carromeleg,
and even some kickboxing for clinching and traditional Karate to round
him out. He was trained in the use of handguns, simply for versatility.
Along
with his great strength and developing skill, however, came a bit of a
temper. He would get into scraps now and then; usually with the sons of
other nobles. The thing was, his family was sort of 'almost-noble’; they
had plenty of money, but were sort of just under the status, and some
of the nobles’ kids were a little jealous of his special treatment due
to his ability. Still, he held back fairly nicely, only smacking them
around a bit. He had a few friends, mostly enjoying training, testing
his limits, but also reading, games and music. He would frequent Tir
clubs as a teenager, though the more underground ones.
It was his
20th year that would mark the big change; a particularly nasty son of
one of the noble families decided to ambush him one night with his
friends, hoping to injure him enough that he would fail the tests he
would have to take later that week. Gael, in a rage of getting attacked
with lethal weapons(they had knives), fought them off pretty badly; he
did not kill any of them, but the noble’s son was left very badly beaten
within a few inches of his life. Naturally, the parents were not too
pleased with this…that being said, they were not evil people(snooty and
elitist, yes, but they recognized that the wounds on Downfall-he had a
few-were caused by knives wielded by the others), and so no charges were
pressed.
However, the situation made the others who would have
possibly taken Gael on as looking over him again; his temper proved to
be fearsome if pressed, and they wondered. On top of that, while the
parents of the son(hospitalized-he would live but it’s said he does not
have particularly good sight in his right eye nor use of his left arm
these days even now) were somewhat understanding, though a bit fearful
now, other family members were a bit more hostile to the Tiergnach
family as it was. Gael did care for his family, and he could see by
being there he was not helping them press forward in anything, as his
reputation was that of somewhere between 'scary’ and 'a threat.’ No one
would take the family higher, as they feared the huge elf’s reprisal.
He
decided to cut the losses of his family a few months later, and
disappear into the night, heading toward Seattle. Thanks to his family’s
general wealth, he had a decent nest egg; with that, a large pack
filled with some of his favored possessions(music chips, his pocket
secratary, some of his favorite rivethead clothing, a ring he received
for winning a martial arts tournament and his choker which acted as a
geas for the adept powers he had developed; the choker was linked to his
reflexes) he headed out. Getting to Seattle was no issue; with a real
SIN and everything he was able to travel easily, though he chose to lay
low in the new city, getting an out-of-the-way place in the Tacoma area
and tried to find work that would suit someone like him. He thought a
bouncer might be the best bet, and was able to get some part-time work
in a bit of a lower-end place, often frequented by organized crime
folks, the Vory would pop up there not uncommonly. When asked his name,
he simply went by 'Downfall’, having felt it fitting-he did not fancy
letting too many people know his real name, as he was trying to lay low.
His switch to the shadows happened one night when enemies of
some men who were at a table(Vory, unbeknownst to him) attacked; being a
bouncer, he had to protect anyone else in the club, of course, so he
did just that, and since these men were fighting for keeps, so did he.
By the time Downfall was finished, he had taken a few wounds, but no
patrons were hurt and three men were in various states of dead on the
floor, their heads basically kicked in. (The proprietor of the bar
claimed they never did get all of the blood out of the wood, and there’s
a carpet there now.) Having not killed before, his instinct told him
organized crime folks like this would not have taken it lightly if they
had roughed him up; given the weapons they had on them, he would have
been right.
His boss did NOT turn him in, as he did sort of save
the lives of everyone there, though he regretted that, due to possible
revenge, he would have to let him go(he slipped a paper with a number on
it in his pocket before he left; the name was 'Spanky’), and it turned
out the Vory he ended up saving liked what he did…and thus, he ended up
doing a few odd jobs for them over the next year or so; they also
introduced him to the world of underground bloodsport rings. Given his
highly brutal way of fighting, he became a favorite as the rings were
usually left a mess afterward. For awhile, his life was running odd jobs
of random violence and fighting; he was suriving, though. He was even
starting to do wetwork, which was able to complete rather effectively,
though he was not used for quiet jobs…more ones that there was meant to
be a severe message sent to whoever found the remains.
He had to
pull back to think when he became so damned comfortable with beating
people to death; it sort of alarmed him, but looking at the growing
number of scars on his body, and seeing just how foul some of the people
were in the underground-taking part in organlegging and human
trafficking and other sorts of human misery, he began to see himself as
sort of doing his part to clean up; the people he killed in the ring
were people who were fairly foul as well; the lowest of the low. He
didn’t see himself as a vigilante, but more of someone who didn’t mind
doing what he did. The shadows can do weird things to one’s morals.
Meeting Spanky, the proprietor of Goal!, the craft beer and sports bar,
helped give him more of a choice of work; Spanky was a skilled fixer,
and he even hired him on when his own bouncers-also Tir expatriates and
twin brothers-were off. The way he met him was a rather unforgettable
experience; a man tried to kill Spanky for some reason; his usual
bouncers were not there. Since Downfall was at the bar, he had the
shotgun pointed at him, as well.
Downfall, in the way, did not
appreciate the threat to his own life and moved quicker than the man
expected; he then subsequently kicked the man’s head off in a single
blow, between his natural strength and adept powers. Spanky coughed,
called for a mop and cleanup, and hired him on the spot as a part-time
security enforcer of sorts. Downfall joked that this was the first time
he had ever done that that did not result in someone wanting him
dead(his previous job as 'underground pit fighter’ had gone bad after
his 'manager’ tried to fix his loss for extra money. It didn’t work out
well for him either, though Downfall still has the scars from that.)
He
was pulled into a job from a team who needed muscle and who lost
theirs; they were going to deal with raiding a bunraku parlor. He knew
how nasty these places could be. They were mostly going for the goods,
though after they saw some of the people, they rescued them, as well.
One of them was a heavily cybered elf-a big fellow in and of
himself-that Downfall unplugged and let loose; he ended up killing the
rest of their opposition before collapsing in a pile. The team, having
some scruples about them, funneled everyone out and most of them went
off on their own; the rest-including the black-haired elf-were taken to
Dr. Douglas, a friend of Spanky. Most of them were fixed up and chose to
go off; the nameless elf was nearly catatonic. Dr. Douglas had a soft
spot for the more broken types, and so set him up in a back room to
stay…though he was regretful there wasn’t much he could do for him.
For
two days Downfall went back to his routine, but he was bothered by that
one. He wasn’t sure why. He decided to go check up on him one day while
he was there; Dr. Douglas had said he had eaten, but was not
particularly responsive. He had interest in one of Downfall’s
cigarettes, which he gave him. From there, he brought him coffee, would
bring him music(once they discovered one of the genres they shared was
that hard industrial-aggrotech), and every day try to get him to sort of
come out of his shell. He didn’t know if he had been broken by the
memories, if it was the BTL, or a little of both; Douglas had thought it
was the BTL which had driven him into the near catatonic state.
It
took awhile, but eventually Talon started to speak; Dr. Douglas thought
this wonderful. He was able to do some things on his end, as well-some
brain scans said that Talon could recover, though he would be sensitive
to flashbacks if overwhelmed by simsense stimuli. The two became better
friends…and then friends with benefits, once they discovered they had
that in common, as well.(This took a few months).
By the time the
two were about twenty four, they were hooked up with their current
team(Jolt came later, given his age-he’s the youngest), and they had run
together now for three years. Occasionally gaining or losing another
member one way or another, they’ve been fairly successful, despite them
being a rather different bunch put together. Downfall has not really
found a spot that he can leave the shadows at this point-he’s too far
in. He simply takes it as it comes and wonders what the future will
hold.
Adept Powers:
Improved Strength(2)
Improved Reflexes(1)
Killing Hands(M)
Mystic Armor(1)
Smashing Blow
Contacts:
Besides the ones the group shares(Spanky, Dr. Douglas, Mama, Pedro, Killswitch, Huginn&Muninn):
'Mr. Steve’: A
dwarf club owner of a place called 'The Black Machine’ in downtown
Seattle. An industrial-gothic deal, it’s color scheme seems to be black,
gray, red, and camouflage, it’s open from 6pm to 6 am, plays stuff like
Grendel most of the time, if you held a magnet up to the place a lot of
people would come flying out due to the amount of chains and industrial
equipment they’re wearing, and the drinks all glow interesting colors.
Downfall has worked the door of this place before, and it has a couple
of underground meeting rooms for more 'street types’ who are useful for
getting bits of info on the down-low. If Downfall wants to unwind, this
is probably the place you’ll find him. Oddly, 'Mr. Steve’ does not look
like someone who would frequent his own club-he looks like an 'Everyday
Guy’; he knew there was a lot of request for a place like this about a
decade ago, so he opened one, and is rather well liked besides not being
'one of them.’ Mr. Steve also happens to be a Johnson, so there’s
that.
Future Plans:
-Initiate to at least Grade 3 or 4
-Develop Astral Perception
-Increase
his already impressive Strength score to the Attribute Maximum(which
may take a lot of Karma but would be incredibly fitting to his
character, the sheet shown is his starting sheet and not the developed
one with some Karma)
-Increase his Unarmed Combat and Athletics
-Pick up some more odds and ends of skills out of interest
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