Shadows of Sandfield II Sign Ups

Name: Billy Slate

Gender: Male

Age: 28

Appearance: Tall, gray, and rocky, Billy resembles a statue of a muscular young man made out of a strange assortment of materials- Concrete, metal, glass, anything Billy's absorbed into himself incorporates its way into his body. His size changes depending on how much he's absorbed but normally he's about 6'7. Billy tends to wear very loud, bright colored shirts and khakis.

Personality: Billy can best be described with one word; chummy. Billy is friendly (if overly so), talkative, and very enthusiastic and supportive of people, regardless of how much he understands what they're talking about. Billy likes to assume the best in people and their intentions, to a somewhat frighteningly naive degree. Matching his chummy enthusiasm is his determination; when Billy sets his mind to something, he will make sure it gets done, no matter what he has to endure.

Despite how cheery and open he appears to be, Billy "Ain't a feelings person" as he likes to put it- If something is bothering him or if he's feeling fear or sadness, he'll do his best to mask it, ignore it, and try to push past it on his own. In particular, his feelings on his powers make him feel deeply conflicted- permanently being changed into a stone man has cost him 3/5 of his senses. As much as he doesn't like to show it, he misses feeling the wind on his face on a summer day, the smell of baked bread, the taste of a well-done steak, the feeling of his girlfriend's kiss on his cheek. His large, stone fingers have made holding a pencil near-impossible, let alone sketching like he used to do. In spite of these downsides, Billy truly enjoys using his powers to help people however he can and has a strong sense of justice, believing that, no matter how much his powers may have changed his life, it’s his duty to use them to protect those who can’t protect themselves. Despite his strange form and new duties, Billy remains a humble man, insisting that his work to protect those in need is what anyone with his powers should do.

Skills and Tools: -Although his current state doesn’t allow him to do it, Billy is and was a talented artist.

-Being a travelling handyman, Billy is exceptionally skilled at fixing things, particularly with repair of walls and doors as well as carpentry.

Magic Types: Earth

Unique Magic Type:

Absorbtion- Billy's new physiology allows him to absorb any inorganic physical material (Dirt, mud, metal, glass, concrete, sand, you get the picture), his body increasing in size to adjust to the new mass, and reform it in his body however he likes- pushing metal or glass out through his wrists for Baraka-style blades, pushing glass shards out through his whole body so people trying to punch him get cut, forming extra arms out of the new material, covering his body in metal as an extra sort of armor, etc. The downside to this is that as he increases in size, the harder it is for him to move, and he becomes slower as a result. However, he can also expel this material should he so wish.

Golem: As a man made entirely of stone, Billy’s lost the normal human limitations; he no longer needs food, oxygen, or rest and no longer feels pain. So long as Billy’s head remains intact, he can keep going and absorbing material to form a new body.

Backstory: Born to a lower-class family of blue-collar repair workers and handymen, Billy took great interest in the family business from a young age, helping out in any way he could and inheriting co-ownership of Slate Repairs and Carpentry alongside his brother Jake after his father’s retirement. During a house call, Billy and his brother accidentally stumbled upon a secret alchemical lab before being knocked out, strapped down, and experimented on.

Days of being injected with strange chemicals and slathered with foul potions eventually bore fruit, causing Billy’s flesh to become stone, turning the man into a golem. In a haze of anger, horror and sheer determination, Billy broke free of his bonds and attacked his captors, but before he could rescue his brother, the final remaining alchemist triggered the lab to explode, seemingly killing Jake and leaving Billy the only survivor. Having lost his brother, business, and his own humanity in one stroke, Billy prepared to take off into the darkness to hide from society…Or he would have, had the barrier not been set up around the town, the secret of magic gotten revealed, and the militia invaded. Now that the place he lived in and loves has become a warzone, he’s decided to take it upon himself to protect as many innocent and helpless as he can, opening his home to those with nowhere to go and no-one to look out for them.

Misc: Jacob is still alive and…not exactly well. The alchemy experiments also horrifically altered him, except rather than becoming a stone man like Billy, Jacob was melted into a blob of lethal alchemical potion. Unlike Billy, he *can* absorb organic material, split off smaller pieces of himself to act as scouts, and spew corrosive poison. The form of anything he absorbs he can temporarily shift into. Unstable in both mind and body, he wanders the dark corners of Sandfield, looking for living creatures to absorb and seeking vengeance on his brother, who he believes abandoned him.

Edited by bestmand902 on Jul 17th 2023 at 8:46:15 AM

Accepted.

• Name: Colt Griese
  • As he has been for decades, such a man can be known only as The Aspirant.
• Gender: Male
  • Many and none.
• Age: 19
  • The Aspirant’s eyes tell a story of centuries of failure. In their golden radiance, light refracts into shapes of untold millions of iterations. Many were knights. Some were honorable, some cowardly. Some were noble, others black-hearted. But all shared the same eyes; the same power. The mind of The Aspirant is as old as the goal to justify death.
• Appearance:
• Personality: Two reside in the young body. One who was born into it, and another who claimed it as age-old birthright.
  • The first is that of a young boy. He was born into the world as Colt Griese. Though the usual pilot of his shared body, Colt is incapable of using the full potential of The Ultraviolet and as such must rely upon The Aspirant to harness its full power, which leads to many a tense situation where Colt ponders the possibility that the next time he closes his eyes, he’ll open them as someone else. And stay that way. Forever. Colt himself is a very upbeat and optimistic boy. He tends to look at the bright side of situations and has a talent for finding unlikely silver linings. Below the surface, he often tumbles with the fact that his purpose in life is to further a goal he doesn’t fully understand, and as such sometimes clashes with The Aspirant and especially the restrictions that it’s presence placed upon his life. He resents the entity for its derailment of his existence, and wishes for normalcy, though he also sees some truth in the justification of death. How much if this cooperation is due to The Aspirant’s influence on his mind is unclear.
  • The second is that of The Aspirant. The reincarnating, everlasting, ever-growing hive mind. They are a branching tree, roots lost to time. How could one person live so many years and still call themself the same? It’s true it is almost impossible to describe the magnitude of The Aspirant’s experiences, nor the effect they’ve had on their character, though their personality remains somewhat consistent in it’s effect on the vessel in which it resides. They’re serene, abnormally so. Never will they raise their voice, lose composure or otherwise make themselves appear to not be in control. They exist for one purpose and one only: to justify death through the consolidation of the power of the old god of death. To achieve this goal, they will employ any means necessary, though certain actions are impossible due to the restrictions placed upon The Aspirant by The Origin. These restrictions are detailed under the ‘Unique Magic Type’ entry.
• Skills and Tools:
  • Lionheart Locket: A gift from his late girlfriend, Colt wears this locket everywhere he goes. He uses it as a channel for The Ultraviolet when not willing to relinquish control. Inside is a picture of Colt and his lost Lenore taken just days before she passed.
  • Sunglasses: Worn by Colt to hide the peculiarity of his eyes, these red-lenses circular sunglasses are reflective. They also block the channeling ability of The Aspirant, and as such are doffed when they are fronting.
  • Streetwise: From his years running the streets of his hometown, Colt is adept at subterfuge. He’s good at blending in, is an incredibly fast runner, can pick locks, can typically tell when someone is lying, can haggle prices, etc.
• Magic Types: N/A
• Unique Magic Type:
  • The Ultraviolet: A heavily specialized form of light magic, The Ultraviolet is a seemingly mundane school that only shows it’s true potential-and drawbacks-when utilized by an individual under the Will of The Origin, such as The Aspirant. This solemn vow allows this ‘weak’ magic to show unprecedented power such as levitation, minor healing capabilities and even hard light armor.
    • The Ultraviolet essentially functions by giving the user the ability to ‘channel.’ This ability gathers and stores UV rays from the sun and facilitates their transfer into new energy, usually kinetic. When utilized by an individual under The Will, however, the capabilities of TU become incredibly expansive. Firstly, the amount of energy that can be channeled is dramatically increased which allows for increased strength behind kinetic attacks as well as access to other facets of the magic that requires large reserves of energy to produce. Secondly, it allows the user to convert the UV rays into several alternate forms of energy such as pure heat, hard light and healing energy. The channeling device for a user without The Will can only be a physical item such as Colt’s locket, but sworn in users can devote parts of their bodies to The Ultraviolet. The Aspirant in particular devoted their eyes.
    • The Will of The Origin comes with its fair share of drawbacks. For one, it forces whoever vows to it to always pursue The Origin’s goal of justified death and automatically course corrects them if every the begin to stray from this objective, essentially erasing their free will. It also curses them to reincarnation until this goal is completed. This reincarnation will continue to occur until all remnants of the original contractee’s bloodline are eradicated, thus preventing further activity and rendering the vow unfulfilled. The vow also places upon the user multiple restrictions. The first of which is pacifism; the user cannot use The Ultraviolet to kill anyone unless doing so is necessary to the realization of justified death. Next is rebellion; the user cannot bow before or venerate any magic god, as the Will intends to usher in a new age of control via death. Finally is chastity; the user and vessel if reincarnation has occurred must not be joined with any being of the flesh. They must act as extensions of The Origin, and as such must remain chaste as she did.
• Backstory:
  • Ages and ages ago, it is said a woman descended from the heavens and spoke with Cecily Lillithane, a nun and practicing Catholic. After this event, Her Holy Silence Lillithane conducted great miracles in the name of a sect of Christianity she called ‘The Ultraviolet.’ A woman racked by constant loss, Lillithane became obsessed with the idea of justified death; a method of judgement where all death is considered necessary. As public opinion began to sway to the negative and The Ultraviolet was increasingly demonized, Lady Lillithane distributed her gift amongst her followers, creating 5 Great Holy Houses. Each head of these houses vowed to enact the will of Lillithane, and as such The Will of The Origin was born. Unfortunately, all but 1 of these houses was completely destroyed by enemies of the sect. All that remained was the house of blades, Holy House Libertaria.
  • As persecution came to a head, a minor holy war broke out between the encroaching anti-UV forces and House Libertaria. Though it was hard fought, Libertaria lost, and Lillithane was executed. Before she was slain, she issued a command to the head of house Libertaria to carry out her goal of justified death. Now scattered to the 4 winds, Libertaria became an echo of the past. The name became a death sentence, and quickly the remaining nobles went into hiding among the general populace. The head of the house was caught and slain, and as such the cycle of reincarnation began. Now deprived of nobility, he was little more than an Aspirant. An arbiter of Lillithane’s will. His own family was little more than a tool now. And he was little more than a puppet.
  • Flash forward decades. Colt Griese, 17 years of age, is a juvenile delinquent serving time in juvie for assault. He got into a few too many fights, busted a few too many heads. This was his only time in, but it wasn’t his only brush with the law. The main importance of this stint was his chance encounter with one Chance Kauffman. Kauffman had come from Colt’s neighborhood, and they bonded while in and stayed together when they got out. Chance served as a confidant for the oft lonely Colt, and also he had a sister. I believe we all know where this is going.
  • Grace Kauffman was a very harsh woman. She was around Colt’s age, though initially that didn’t help at all when it came to how they fired each other. As opposed to her brother, Grace was very straight laced and devoted to her studies. She viewed her brothers delinquency as an annoyance, though one she was prepared to deal with. Colt’s, however, was another beast entirely. As he wasn’t family, she felt his presence was worsening her brother’s behavior and in general incredibly annoying. Over time they began to grow closer, though, and eventually ended up dating. I realize this is bare bones, but I figure the exact details of their relationship aren’t exactly pertinent.
  • There was but one problem. Grace was sick. She had leukemia and, despite a valiant fight against it, she eventually succumbed to the disease. Over the course of their relationship, Colt had become a better man, but losing her threatened to tear him apart entirely. That was, until his life was given renewed purpose by the emergence of the Aspirant. Now his eyes are set on Sandfield, zeroing in on the 13 times of death…
• Misc:
  • Colt has a light northern Irish accent. The Aspirant is notably rid of it.
  • Chance Kauffman was essentially abandoned by Colt and may be resentful. Do with that as you will.

Accepted

Are signups still open?

Yes, that they are.