It's storytime...
Wow! This looks like it'll be incredibly fun I'd gladly submit my twin Kheldians, the Templars of Truth and Judgement. I have no problems with you using them however you'd like within the comic, as long as they stay in-character. Otherwise, please, do tell me exactly what sort of information you'd like to know about them so I can provide you with all the info you need
Templar of Judgement Level 50+++ Triform Warshade - Server Freedom
And you thought eight Kheldians were awesome...
I didn't expect a reply this fast
Wow! This looks like it'll be incredibly fun
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- Who's the Peacebringer and who is the 'Shade?
- Are your two Kheldians related in any way? Are the hosts siblings or friends? Are the Kheldian's themselves related but the hosts aren't?
- Are they from any real-world place? or just kind of "showed up."
- How did they become Kheldians?
- What are their intentions and, if possibly, personalities like?
Any of that general info would be helpful. If you want i could use the costume designs from your youtube videos of Truth and Judgment.
Aside from that, if you have an in-game bio you could PM me that or post it here. If not, just a simple statement about how you envision your Kheldians would do.
![Smile](images/smilies/smile.gif)
***If you wanted to...I could make them both the same character. A sort of "split Kheldian personality" type of thing. Both Kheldian's conflicting over the same host. Also, once i generate some ideas and sketches I'll send them to you for an overview to ensure they're in character**
![Smile](images/smilies/smile.gif)
I would say you can have my Warshade be the villain in your story, but that wouldn't be fair for everyone else, since the only logical conclusion would be that he kills you all within the first three pages.
I would say you can have my Warshade be the villain in your story, but that wouldn't be fair for everyone else, since the only logical conclusion would be that he kills you all within the first three pages.
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![Wink](images/smilies/wink.gif)
Hmmm. I can give you two.. fairly different ones.
And I'll try not to type up a novel. Some of this plays a bit... fast and loose with potential lore (yeah, from the person who compiled the backstory guide,) but there wasn't really any info in a spot or two, so... *shrug*
Warshade: Violet Flame
Host: Violet.
Personality: Outgoing, generally friendly, helpful sort, tends to be that way to the point where she's underestimated (think "stereotypical blonde" without the hair) - until she comes up with some oddball bit of information someone needs. Big Prince fan, to the irritation of some, worse when she starts making up lyrics. (Had one person with "Raspberry Parfait" stuck in his head for a week. And yes, does own a raspberry colored beret.)
... no, didn't do that in game to anyone at *all.* *cough*
History - reader's digest version.
Vi (as she's generally called by her closest friends) started getting underestimated in high school thanks to her personality. Didn't matter how high her grades were (graduated fifth in her class,) most of her class would probably have called her a bit "spacy." (Until they had her tutoriing them, at least.) She pretty much got into anything that got her curious - cheerleading one year, softball the next, buried in the library in between.
She kept this up in college - including, to her annoyance, the underestimation from her peers. But that, as well as her knack for ferreting out information - and a strong dislike for the Council recruiters that started showing up on campus - brought her to the attention of another group.
Which is how, two years later, she found herself in a Council base. Regardless of rank, she still felt like a glorified secretary, but the base commander - himself a longtime veteran - protected her, treating her like the daughter he'd lost years ago. For her part, she ran files, got coffee, greeted dignitaries - and fed information out to her handlers about the projects in the base.
Which is how she met Cat. She'd managed to attract the wrong sort of attention with her activities, and found herself trapped and caught. Normally this would mean a few rounds of torture, then execution - but as disappointed as the base commander was, he opted for the more 'merciful' path of implanting her with a Nictus and turning her into a double agent.
Cat, meanwhile - the only bit of his name she caught was shortened to this - was an old Nictus, one who had sought to redeem himself by feeding information to the Peacebringers. He knew he was starting to draw attention himself, and so (after learning about Vi) allowed himself to "be volunteered" for this project. It was pretty much the only way out for both of them.
He used the few moments before they were joined to quickly explain and gain her trust. Vi, going on her instincts, didn't fight him. That evening - with a relaxed guard on the "new Nictus," they escaped. (Vi losing her lunch at the first teleport, but finding it "a rush" by the fifth or sixth.) They made their way to Sunstorm and his Peacebringers, Council hot on their heels - and found themselves in the care of a friend of Vi's, who'd managed - via the military - to join with a Kheldian and become a Peacebringer herself.
They broke off and started their own, small Kheldian group, attached to one of the established supergroups in the area. They ran it successfully, getting a good reputation - good enough to be given one of the Peacebringers' problem children to reform, Voidbane.
(Aren't you glad I gave the short version? WIll go into Voidbane in a moment.)
Vi refs:
The "dunno" pic I've been using.
Older set of character refs.
Vi by Sorah Suhng.
Vi and two other Khelds (including the PB mentioned above, Illume, on the right) from the group.
Vi and an annoyed Voidbane.
Voidbane
Peacebringer
Host: Diana
Personality - Headstrong, fairly aggressive, tends to be very driven towards fighting the Nictus and their creations, but accepting of Warshades. Tends to prefer to take care of things herself instead of taking care of a group. (She tends to feel far too responsible for those under her if she does.)
Voidbane's Kheldian has been active against the Nictus for a long time - since her home world was destroyed "for the advancement of science." It wasn't even the destruction that drove her on her crusade, though it would have been enough - it was the blatantly pointless destruction and death that really pushed her to fight. And fight she did, especially when she'd learn of Nictus "research centers."
It was one of these that led her on the trail to what would become the Void Hunter mercenaries on Earth. For once, she brought the information to her superiors first - who essentially told her to settle down and not worry about it. Furious at this dismissal, she went off on her own.
Arriving on Earth, she knew she'd need a host and found her - a cop who was just as headstrong and tired of being put down (in her case for being one of the only female officers in the precinct, and young at that) as Voidbane was. Explaining she could be part of something greater, a bigger fight than what she wasn't being allowed to see on the streets.
Her willingness to stand up to her superiors and the Nictus both gained her a small following of younger Peacebringers and Warshades who wanted to fight, *now.* She tried to dissuade them from joining "her" fight, not wanting to feel responsible for them, but eventually forged them (along with other allies) into a fast hitting strike group.
Her stubbornness was what finally brought her down. Knowing she was on their trail, a group of Council and Nictus laid a trap to kill - or if she somehow managed to survive, highly discredit her. It worked extremely well. Planting information, they led Voidbane to a labyrinthine, "secret" base complex where she discovered what looked like hundreds of Cysts. Had she investigated, waited even, she may have picked up something odd about them. Instead, she started to attack.
Had she done so less than an hour later, the school and public buildings above would have been full of people. As it was, the ground caved in and destroyed the buildings, sending twenty people (including two kids dropped off at school early) to the hospital.
It was a sick, quiet Voidbane brought to the tribunal. Stripped of her rank, the supergroup formed around her forcibly dissolved, the Kheldians of her group sent elsewhere (under a close eye,) she was given one last chance. Her powers restrained, essentially a criminal, she was handed over to Violet Flame and her group for retraining, after which she would either have learned to work with a group - or be locked up for the duration.
She felt she was lucky to get just that.
Voidbane - (Vigilante really suits her.)
... and those are the really, *really* short versions. >.>
Here's the long form of Starless Knight's bio. I've often wished the game would allow us just a little more room...
Warshade Name: Starless Knight
Human Name: Stephen Blythe
Kheldian Name: Event Horizon
Stephen Blythe was a college physics professor dying of cancer. Chemotherapy had been unsuccessful in halting the progress of the disease, leaving Blythe facing what would probably be the last few months of his life. He took a sabbatical from work and spent his time putting his life in order and trying to come to terms with his fate.
Late one night while gazing at the stars from his patio, Stephen saw what looked to be a shooting star. He smiled, as the last time he had been fortunate enough to see one was when he was a child. As he gazed at the purple and white light, he realized it was actually getting brighter. After a moment a tiny voice in the back of Stephen's mind told him it was getting entirely too bright....
Stephen's house was rocked by an explosion as something crashed into it. Heedless of any danger Stephen staggered over the remains of what was once his living room. He just had to see what it was. He was rather surprised to find not a stellar object or piece of a satellite, but a young man in a tattered black and purple costume. Even more startling was the fact the man was still alive.
The man looked over at Stephen, his eyes glowing with an eerie purple light. "I'm dying, but part of me can live on in you if you're willing. You will become something new, the illness I sense in you will be gone, and you will never be alone again." Swallowing hard, Stephen simply nodded. After all, what did he have to lose? The young man smiled and closed his eyes.
There was a moment of absolute silence, then a black and purple mass of energy rose from the man. It hovered in the air for a moment, and Stephen quite clearly heard a voice unlike any he had heard before say "thank you." Then Stephen's world shattered.
When the fire department responded to the report of an explosion a few minutes later, they found the house a complete shambles. Hovering in the air over it was a hero they didn't recognize. He was carrying what looked to be another hero in an identical costume. He smiled and nodded at the men, then vanished in a swirl of purple light.
The human Stephen Blythe and the Kheldian Event Horizon each faced death that night. After their merging they found a new lease on life, and they have not been idle. Since that time the combined entity known to the citizens of Paragon as Starless Knight has been an almost constant sight throughout the city.
**********
Edited to add a few image links:
Original Costume
Second Costume
Current Look
![](http://avatars.cohtitan.com/signatures/cit/u134255.png)
I'm going to quote with @Display name, just to make this SO much easier for me
@Memphis Bill: Wow. Absolutely love it, all of it. It was a great read; just enough to leave me wanting more. I already have a really good sense of Voidbane, and Violet.
@Steel_Shaman: Great bio! I'm getting that whole "Knows the value of life" vibe from Starless Knight.
@THB:
I was kind of hoping you would go in that direction I still need an antagonist, Reqiuem is just to small scale for my scope of the plot. I could use someone to fill a "Brutal Overlord" role. interested?
I'm going to quote with @Display name, just to make this SO much easier for me
![]() @Memphis Bill: Wow. Absolutely love it, all of it. It was a great read; just enough to leave me wanting more. I already have a really good sense of Voidbane, and Violet. @Steel_Shaman: Great bio! I'm getting that whole "Knows the value of life" vibe from Starless Knight. @THB: I was kind of hoping you would go in that direction ![]() ![]() |
![](http://avatars.cohtitan.com/signatures/cit/u134255.png)
@THB:
I was kind of hoping you would go in that direction ![]() ![]() |
Also, shut up Meg.
***If you wanted to...I could make them both the same character. A sort of "split Kheldian personality" type of thing. Both Kheldian's conflicting over the same host. Also, once i generate some ideas and sketches I'll send them to you for an overview to ensure they're in character**
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Cain Renauld (Pronounced: Cane - Ren-awld).
Age: 28
Weight: 176 lbs.
Height: 5'11"
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair Length: Medium. Not down to his shoulders. Normally slicked back.
Hair Color: Bole-brown
Stubble.
Body Structure: Slim
The nictus and kheldian inside of him are actually related. Not sure if they should be called brothers, cousins, or what, considering they're aliens. The Kheldian's name is Aes'denae (Ace - Deh-nay) and the Nictus (who has reformed to become what Paragon knows as a Warshade) is Tel'bek (Tell-beck).
Little is known of both the alien's pasts, but what is certain is that they have a very uneasy truce. Cain allowed both these Kheldians into his body. Unlike a normal reformation, hosting for not only one but two alien beings gives the host pretty powerful strength. His ability to bend energy is extremely proficient. The major downfall to this proficiency is the fact that the two alien's inside of Cain are always in dispute about how things should be done. This dispute causes fluctuations in Cain's powers, causing them to become uncontrollable. The side effects vary. Sometimes this causes Cain to wield even greater power (which is balanced by the fact he can't control it, making the power a danger to everyone around him), to not being able to use his powers at all, rendering him completely vulnerable. It also causes great bodily pain and physical harm when these disputes happen (coughing up blood, difficulty breathing, even to the point of passing out). Cain has to become a middle ground for the aliens inside him, trying to get the two aliens to come to a truce once more.
An example of how I would see Cain, Aes'denae and Tel'bek in action: Cain (or "Templar", which is his superhero alias) has just caught a murderer who killed ten innocent children. Aes'denae's voice in his mind would say, "Deliver this murder to the PPD and have the justice system deal with him," but Tel'bek would whisper, "This man has no reason to live for what he has done. Kill him, and rid the world of his unnecessary presence." This, in turn, is always causing Cain to second guess his actions. The aliens also have very little concern for what Cain thinks, yet whenever Cain threatens to expel the Kheldians from his body, they seem to settle down and silence themselves.
Why is Cain putting up with two unruly Kheldians inside of him? That leads me to his background;
Growing up, Cain was a delinquent. His father, Derek, was a drug addict, and his mother had passed away when he was very young from cancer. He cared little for his school grades, he caused trouble and got into fights over petty reasons. Since his father was always high or out of his mind (which was caused from the passing of his wife), Cain and Derek always got into conflicts.
One night, Cain decided to go out with some of his friends and cause trouble (vandalize, start fights, etc). When he got home, it was four in the morning. Derek, who was worried sick, becomes cross and gets into a violent argument with his son. It ended with permanent damage to Cain's legs. Now wheel-chaired bound, Cain lived his life an empty shell. He had no hopes. He had no dreams. He figured they all shattered along with his legs. Cain lived this way up until his senior year.
That's when he met Faith Deviere (Deh-veer). Faith was a very academic savvy girl, the same age and grade as Cain. She had a kind heart and a strong will. She had gone to school with Cain since kindergarten, but they never really conversed until senior year. She noticed Cain's obvious suffering, and, determined to make a difference, she constantly did small favors for him, whether it be holding the door open for him, sitting with him at lunch, or simply walking with him. At first, Cain didn't want anything to do with this girl, but eventually her kindness grew on him and he really took it to heart. Eventually, these two fell into love that would lead them to get married.
After the first year of marriage, they settled down within Atlas Park. Faith gave Cain a reason to live for. He wanted to support her, even though his body was weak. She had always gone out of her way to make him feel better about his situation in life, and Cain wanted her to be the happiest woman on the planet. He took up writing as a career, writing fictional stories that sold just well enough to live off of.
One night, Faith asked him if he was happy in life. If there was anything he wanted. Cain thought about it, then simply smiled and replied that there wasn't much more she could ask for. He asked her if there was anything more she wanted. After a moment, she replied...
"... I'd like to start a family."
At first, Cain didn't know how to reply to this, but eventually he consented to her and she became pregnant. They spent more time together than they did already while she was pregnant. The day she went into labor came faster than Cain could imagine, and he was by her side the entire time she laid in the hospital bed, holding her hand and encouraging her.
The baby was born, a healthy boy. Faith's body, however, could not handle the stress of labor and she died from the stress. Cain was shattered inside. He had never thought such immense pain was possible. After many tears, he named the boy Joshua. At first, Cain didn't know how to handle life. Eventually, with much willpower, he decided that he would not end up like his father. He would be a good father for his baby boy.
Upon the second month of taking care of Joshua, the infant had a seizure. Taking him to doctors, screening was done immediately. As if nothing could have gone worse for Cain and his life; The doctor's reported that Joshua had Menkes Disease. It is a fatal disease that affects copper metabolism, and is caused by a defective gene.
Joshua was expected to live only to his 10th birthday.
Absolutely crushed by this, Cain barely managed to live with enthusiasm. He took care of Joshua until he was seven, when the child passed away unexpectedly. The disease had caused more damage than expected and in return ended Joshua's life.
Cain had nothing left to live for. The two things that mattered most in his life were taken away from him. He had no will to continue on. He would of killed himself, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. So he decided he'd let someone else do it for him;
He signed up to be a test subject for the Council. He decided the testing would probably kill him, so all the better. Cain had no idea, though, that the testing would renew his life. The test included to energy beings known as Kheldians. The Council was determined to create a super-soldier unlike the world has ever seen by combining a Kheldian and it's darker counterpart, a Nictus, within a single host.
The experiment went haywire. The two Kheldians were infused into Cain, but caused an explosion within the Council base. After much talk between these two aliens who managed to give him renewed hope, Cain decided he'd live to fight for a better future for both the aliens inside him and the future of Paragon City. The aliens, which were too weak to survive without a host due to the cruel experiments of the Council, depended on Cain to survive. This gave him a sense of responsibility. Even though he knew little about these two beings inside him, he wanted to stop the pain. This world already had enough with it's everyday problems. If Cain could put a stop to it, he decided he would.
When the three beings fused into one, they became Templar. Depending on which being was surfaced more so than the other, Cain was either Templar of Truth or Templar of Judgement. The two personalities of the aliens differed greatly. Truth always wanted to go about doing things with a sense of justice. Judgement always had a sense of vengeance, bringing down vindictive wrath upon the guilty.
Cain was cursed and blessed by these Kheldians, having to constantly strive to control both of his alter-ego's and also attempting to live his life in his horribly lonely apartment in Atlas Park.
You may/may not want to use my video's as ways to look at my character's costumes when necessary. They're in my signature, "Gaze into the Abyss" and "Walk in the Light". If you need pictures/screenies, please lemme know. I'll happily oblige
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It's a tad bit late, and if there are typos/errors, I'm terribly sorry. I'm exhausted, but I do hope this background is clear enough to work with. If not, please do ask me for whatever else you need.
![Smile](images/smilies/smile.gif)
Templar of Judgement Level 50+++ Triform Warshade - Server Freedom
And you thought eight Kheldians were awesome...
Feel free to throw my characters in there (think I told you ingame when you told me about this idea anyway that you could), Speedster.
Lady can be a Dark Watcher-esque persona (in that she doesn't really talk to anyone about her background, as she's a lot older than you would think with her young face), and if you want Squiddy, he's...um, well, youngish and enthusiastic. Lady will be the logical/methodical one (with a bit of a temper if/when she gets annoyed), and Squiddy will be eager to run up and beat up the bad dudes without stopping to think. He's...well, his bio is more of a satire of the game (He's Stone that got infected with Kheldian DNA), so you're free to ad lib that however works best.
Hmmm, okay, I have a PB and a WS, both with rather extensive backgrounds. But both of them are a bit unusual, since the WS definitely doesn't see himself as a 'binary alien fusion' and is actually kinda weirded-out by the typical Kheldian. He considers himself a single integrated entity. Which is, in a way, completely accurate, since he has been 'joined' since about 4 months before his birth.
The PB... is a human-form, 'cosmic-powered college professor'. As far as his background is concerned, he's not a Kheldian at all, but got his powers through exposure to 'The Phoenix' of myth and legend. He's a former 'Indiana Jones-type', though technically a 'villain' at that time, but encountering the Phoenix transformed him into a 1-year-old child and pretty much burned away all of the darkness of his old life.
That said, despite the way the not-PB experiences his powers and his life, there is no reason why he could Not be explained as a strange sort of Kheldian... He hears voices in his head and flings light around - thus he might, indeed, be one of those 'binary alien fusion' guys.
If you're interested, I can post the things I have for these two characters.
Be Well!
Fireheart
If any of you are interested in being included in my little project, I would greatly appreciate some information about your characters. Who was your character before they became a Kheldian? How did they get their Kheldian abilities? What do they look like (a pic of their costume, if not I'll imagine one based on what information you give me.) How do you play your Kheldian, Are you a stealthy warshade, or an in-your-face behemoth? What are your intentions as a Kheldian, world domination, defeating the nictus, saving kittens?
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Basically, though, Tevan was a short, fat, and already balding 26 year old accountant in Steel Canyon when he was abducted by the Circle of Thorns to be used in their Nictus experiments. The Thorns wanted a Nictus-Demon-Hybrid, but the Nictus energy could only bind to humans, so they did the next best thing. Turn a human into a Nictus, then have him possessed by a demon so they could control him.
Except that the Nictus fought back against the demon. So poor Tevan is now struggling through life while two voices rage back and forth in his head. As long as he keeps fighting crime (or whatever else) he keeps the Nictus fed with energy to fight off the Demon's control. This leads to a lot of irritability and random outbursts mixed with an irrational need to start any kind of trouble he can.
The entire mix might be a bit too volatile for a comic, but it's here if you want to try.
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
I think our characters may be able to relate, Dechs. Having two voices inside our head and all >_>. Can you imagine the two of them going haywire? Might not be so good for the rest of our team
Templar of Judgement Level 50+++ Triform Warshade - Server Freedom
And you thought eight Kheldians were awesome...
Thanks so much guys! There is an insane amount of potential here. With all of these unique and awesome Bios I'm already getting really attached to the characters. :3
@Diggaroo. That dual-host combination is awesome. Just like Shaman's "Starless Knight" I get that whole knows the value of life vibe. Although Starless' value is more focused on himself, Templar's is focused on others. These two could easily make a really powerful pairing, lots of good story here.
(No need to apologise by the way. I make typing errors all the timek.) *giggles*
@Stone. I figured you still wanted in I like the whole "Kheldian DNA" backstory for squid. oddly enough, i sort of envisioned squid to be that type of person. Aside from that, do you want any back story in terms of the hosts? Or a bit more of a static character?
@Fireheart. Your warshade's story sounds really enticing. Could I hear some more? On terms of your peacebringer, He'd be a great addition to the group. Even if he's not exactly Kheldian material, it doesn't mean that he can't help out his friends.
@Dechs. I'll have to take a read through your link a bit later considering that I don't have much time until my next class. >.< Aside from that, I see a lot of potential here. If Teven is fueling his nictus, who is fighting the demon's control...i wonder what would happen if he ever became weakened during combat and the demon took over for a while...*hint hint*
Thanks so much everyone for the info!
Thanks so much guys! There is an insane amount of potential here. With all of these unique and awesome Bios I'm already getting really attached to the characters. :3
@Diggaroo. That dual-host combination is awesome. Just like Shaman's "Starless Knight" I get that whole knows the value of life vibe. Although Starless' value is more focused on himself, Templar's is focused on others. These two could easily make a really powerful pairing, lots of good story here. (No need to apologise by the way. I make typing errors all the timek.) *giggles* |
![Smile](images/smilies/smile.gif)
So many awesome concepts as well. My mind is racing with ideas x)
And wah twas htat abtou tpyos?
![Stick Out Tongue](images/smilies/tongue.gif)
Templar of Judgement Level 50+++ Triform Warshade - Server Freedom
And you thought eight Kheldians were awesome...
@Stone. I figured you still wanted in
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As for Squid, his back story is that he's Stone (real name David Browne), who is a scientist that turned superhero from a lab accident. The specific occurance in which he turned kheldian isn't going to work with a believable story (in-game the bio states that it was an insane statesman, haha), so it will have to be altered a bit. Perhaps in destroying a lab at a council warehouse he was infected, or a sample he collected got absorbed somehow? He doesn't strike me as the type to purposely inject himself with it unless he knew it was completely safe.
First and furthermost, thank you
![]() So many awesome concepts as well. My mind is racing with ideas x) And wah twas htat abtou tpyos? ![]() |
![Smile](images/smilies/smile.gif)
Same here. I'm probably going to start some storyboarding when I get home. :3
Well, I haven't quite decided on which way I'm going to lean with my shade. Layla has provided me with a crazy bio for her that I'm thinking about, but in the meantime mystery will do.
As for Squid, his back story is that he's Stone (real name David Browne), who is a scientist that turned superhero from a lab accident. The specific occurance in which he turned kheldian isn't going to work with a believable story (in-game the bio states that it was an insane statesman, haha), so it will have to be altered a bit. Perhaps in destroying a lab at a council warehouse he was infected, or a sample he collected got absorbed somehow? He doesn't strike me as the type to purposely inject himself with it unless he knew it was completely safe. |
![Smile](images/smilies/smile.gif)
Thanks so much guys! There is an insane amount of potential here. With all of these unique and awesome Bios I'm already getting really attached to the characters. :3
@Fireheart. Your warshade's story sounds really enticing. Could I hear some more? On terms of your peacebringer, He'd be a great addition to the group. Even if he's not exactly Kheldian material, it doesn't mean that he can't help out his friends. |
Hero Identity: Starlight Saint
Name: Simon Alexander Templeton
Given that the man with that name is supposed to have died in the 1970s and was not a nice person, he is likely to have had several aliases. None of them apply to his current life, but there’s always the chance of some ‘old ghost’ popping up to trouble him.
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Age: Undefined – appears 30-ish
Height: 5’10” ~ 180 cm
Weight: 185 lbs ~ 85 kg
Eyes: Deep Blue - Green, changeable.
Hair: Red-gold/Blonde – Long-ish, thick, wavy.
Place of Birth: Rochester, NY, 1902-1905
Marital Status: Unmarried
Known Relatives: Elder brother, Michael Simeon Templeton – “Scarlet Ace”. All other close relatives deceased.
Education: Very broad college/graduate level education. PhD equivalent in History, Philosophy, Languages, Mythology, Literature, Archeology, Psychology, Anthropology, etc.
Occupation: College Professor – History, Mythology, Language, Literature, Philosophy, Psychology, Cultures – Might, easily lecture in any such subject.
Citizenship: Considers himself a citizen of the Universe. Certainly has U.S. citizenship; may have multi-citizenship in other countries.
Powers/Abilities:
Cosmic Energy collection/generation/manipulation/channeling/conversion/projection.
He calls this power ‘The Light’. It manifests as a bright glow in his eyes and around his body, when he is ‘working’. It is very flexible in application, blasts and bursts of bright force, shields and fields of glowing plasma, and re-constructive cascades of healing.
Cosmic Unconscious: He has access to a vast ‘library’ of experience.
He calls this ‘The Chorus’ and Saint experiences it without conscious thought, he simply ‘knows’ things or does things reflexively. In a basic sense, consider the Chorus as the ‘collective unconscious’ of all people, past and present. It is possible to ‘know’ anything anyone ever knew... if you can extract it from the continual hubbub of ‘everyone’ talking at once. The Chorus is essentially unorganized, but there are strong currents of collective thought running through it – voices that can pierce the ‘noise’, particularly when the subject is relevant to Saint’s current experiences.
Limitations:
Imagination and Will. Saint is able to tap the energy in the space between things, the energy that makes up all matter, the energy that might be called the soul and essence of everything. By will and imagination, he could draw power from sunlight, or a city electrical-grid, or an enemy’s attacks and defenses. He could deconstruct a brick, a banana-peel, or a half-empty can of beer and convert the whole mass into energy – if he had the imagination to try it and the will to do it.
A problem with that is that, when he fully opens himself to the cosmic energy, he tends to lose his sense of ‘self’, becoming an instrument of ‘cosmic will’, rather than his own. It scares the hell out of him! Also the energy is channeled and stored through his own body/mind and he’s not confident of his ability to handle it all... so he is wary of over-doing it. In ultimate duress, he might convert his own body into energy and then forget how to get back to himself, leading to dissolution.
One side-effect of channeling this energy, particularly when used for healing, is that it constantly regenerates the user. Simon Templeton, the Starlight Saint could/would/should remain young and strong and vigorous... indefinitely. Baring a catastrophic accident leading to death, he is functionally immortal. Except if he should lose the will to continue living, or some how be cut off from the Light. At that point, all of his years may come crashing in on him at once... or, perhaps he might simply be released to live out his ‘normal’ span – whatever that is.
Imagination and Will. The Chorus is truly the collective ‘voice’ of all beings, sentient or not. Saint has never even wondered about the squid-people of Alpha Omicron Six – therefore, he doesn’t ‘know’ about them, he is tapped into the ‘local channel’ and that is more then enough for him to deal with. Some of the insights he receives from the Chorus are gifts, sometimes what he learns is... a curse – too much information.
Saint can delve into the Chorus through introspection or meditation, in search of answers to specific questions, but the process is often slow and tedious, and the ‘answers’ aren’t always clear. This ‘library’ doesn’t have a catalog or index. An alternative is to... ‘absorb’ a portion of the collective knowledge – in a way, he has done this every time he studies a new subject. The risk in doing it ‘wholesale’, rather than through slow study, is that he also absorbs the personality or personalities that held the knowledge.
Thus, the risk of over-using the Chorus is personality-death and/or madness, as the cacophony of voices overwhelms the (ab)user.
Starlight Saint has been granted, or simply discovered within himself, incredible powers, but he is still growing into those powers. He takes a philosopher’s approach to the issue, rather than a scientific interest and, so far, none of the scientists he knows have suggested a course of experimentation. Perhaps that’s wise – Saint doesn’t know the limits of his strength and it may be for the best that this is true... for now.
Equipment: No ‘special’ equipment – may use various common tools and gadgets.
Wears light body-armor, with a helmet and goggles. Armor incorporates reinforced guards on forearms/elbows and shins/knees, supporting martial-arts-type blocks and strikes. Helmet incorporates communications and data-transfer equipment.
Origin Notes: His power is essentially ‘natural’ in origin, though his acquisition of that power may be considered ‘super-natural’.
Biography:
There is, in literature, in mythology, and in history, the concept that some people are born to be heroes. This is Not so. However, throughout all humanity, in every person, there are... hooks that ‘heroism’ can latch onto. Some people, even whole families and bloodlines, but more often just single individuals, have Many such ‘hooks’. Even so, heroes are not born, but Made, by the thoughts and attitudes and by the choices and actions of heroic people.
Simon Templeton was born in the first years of the 20th century – 1902 – 05, the second son of a Mechanic and a Nurse. His elder brother, Michael was a prodigy and subject to well-earned praise, completely overshadowing young Simon. Simon loved and ‘worshipped’ his brother as much as anyone, but the constant weight of being ‘second’, at best, in the thoughts of everyone – if they even bothered thinking of the other child... oppressed Simon.
Simon’s mind turned to books and the past, and rediscovering old things, while Michael was skilled in mechanics and science and new technology. Whether that was just his own inclination, or a reaction to the praise his brother’s passions garnered, is unclear. Michael became a devotee of the newfangled flying-machines, a WW1 flying Ace, international Air Mail pilot, and an agent of the Special Intelligence Service.
Then, at the age of 29, Michael Templeton, the ‘Scarlet Ace’, disappeared – presumed dead among catastrophic earthquakes and tsunamis, on his last secret mission.
Simon was left, bereft of his beacon and anchor, trying to prove his worthiness... contesting with nothing but ghosts and shadows. Always a bit of a brooder in the dark, he fell hard. He became selfish and willing to steal and manipulate and lie on a grand scale, to advance himself.
Meanwhile, the Great Depression staggered the world economy and things are hard for everyone – which only drove Simon deeper into the dark.
Yet, driven by his passions, Simon become a skilled, knowledgeable, even semi-famous Archeologist of the more ‘adventurous’ sort. He was a dark mirror to Indiana Jones, though he was too self-centered to join or serve the Nazi Party in the 40s. He was truly ‘against’ everyone and interested only in more fame and fortune for himself, through his discovery of historical treasures. And, as time passed, Simon Templeton became progressively more obsessed with the legend of the Phoenix.
Rather than try to describe all of the adventures and discoveries that Simon made on his quest, let us speculate a bit about the Phoenix. Legend says that it is a great, multi-colored bird, incredibly rare, or perhaps truly singular. Living for 500 or 1000 years, the bird builds a nest of aromatic resin, wood and herbs – it dissolves itself within this nest, in mist, or odors, or flames, depending on the source. The Phoenix dies, but a new Phoenix arises from the ashes or remains of the old one.
The story also goes that it is possible to capture the Phoenix while it is weak, in the throes of this death/rebirth cycle, and... extract wealth, power, magic, even long life from it. At least, until it escapes and renews the cycle.
But, is ‘The Phoenix’ a natural or supernatural creature, or is the fabulous bird simply heraldry, or symbolism, or iconography, and ‘The Phoenix’ itself a spirit, a force, an object, or even an event? Simon’s story does not need to define it.
Instead, simply consider that Simon Templeton, Archeologist, master Linguist, Historian, and master of arcane lore, managed to find ‘The Phoenix’. It had, indeed, been captured, constrained, and... perverted by truly, monstrously ‘evil’ persons, to the detriment of the world. And 70-some year old Simon ‘selfishly’ broke its chains and stole it away, only to have ‘The Phoenix’ escape from him in turn, renewing its cycle of rebirth.
Caught up in ‘The Phoenix Incident’ the thoroughly miserable, selfish, and unloved man was, himself, ‘reborn’ in some fashion. All of the dross of his life was burned away. In his place, all that was found was a squalling child, about a year old.
The strange child was found by a Red Cross worker and transported to the U.S., where he was adopted by a childless couple in California. The new parents were ‘left-over hippies’ with a very different lifestyle and attitude towards parenting than the Templetons of 1900. They also had no other children of their own, although their extended family was numerous, so they lavished attention on Simon.
The second time, Simon grew up a prodigy… well, again. Not just because he was carefully nurtured by his parents, given myriad opportunities to learn and grow, and not just because he was genetically inclined towards brilliance. Somehow, Simon Remembered. He remembered the skills and knowledge of his previous life.
Oh, not clearly! He was not oppressed by memories of his old life, but he found it quite easy to reacquire what he once knew. Further, his vague recall of the negative results of his previous life strongly encouraged him in maintaining a positive outlook in his present one. He was still a strongly self-sufficient and self-motivated boy, but he never fell into the traps of greed, insensitivity, or other-denial. Indeed, he seemed to possess a pool of deep wisdom and sensitivity to the feelings of others. Already, the thing he later came to call ‘The Chorus’ was whispering to him.
Skills and knowledge were not the only legacy Simon had of his former life, as he slowly remembered How, he re-assumed control of his finances and property. Most of it, he simply put into storage and investments, until he was grown up enough to value it again, but some smaller items he arranged to fall into his new parents’ hands. Studying and re-learning his own history, he was, by turns, appalled, amazed, and angered by what ‘that poor old vulture *******’, as he came to refer to his old self, had done. He also pitied his old self, for his loneliness and the misdirected, recursive hate that haunted and drove him.
When Simon had reached his full adult stature, he dismantled the structure of his old life. For a while, the ‘Templeton Collection’ was nine-day-wonder among antiquarians, before the last items found permanent homes. Many ancient treasures, once presumed lost, found their way into the museum collections in which they belonged.
Secret accounts that had lain dormant for fifty years or more, shrugged and shifted as new money and old moved through them. Various properties, some long vacant, were either available for sale, for rent, or were renovated, or dismantled with new buildings going up in their place. Old investment portfolios met new ones and danced across the markets, before settling into new configurations – and young Simon Templeton emerged comfortably well off.
Finally, once everything seemed settled, with Simon comfortably established, teaching at the local University… he began having nightly dreams and visitations. He was vividly reminded of his experiences with the Phoenix and, while he wasn’t sure what it all meant, he knew that he would not be allowed to simply rest on his laurels. He sought ‘warrior training’, auditing a dozen different dojos, before he found a style that fitted him and began to work in earnest.
Despite an active life, Simon had never really Worked at acquiring physical skills. At first, the sweat and ache are almost more than he can take, but soon his rising skill brought him a measure of pride and he learned to appreciate the evidence of his growth. At the same time, he could sense the changes in his body. He felt the way that the ever-present ‘Chorus’ of voices and strange impulses that had been with him throughout his second life was continually adjusting his form, improving his ability. He was learning at a phenomenal rate, surprising and gratifying and mystifying his trainers.
The martial arts he was learning focused on collecting, manipulating, and moving invisible energies through and around his body. The principle was to divert, deflect, or absorb an opponent’s energies, turning them back to confound the attacker. One’s own energies then served to amplify these errors, encouraging the enemy to destroy himself from the inside out. Still, it was a shocking experience when, during a particularly intense workout, there was a sudden flash of light accompanying each of Simon’s strikes and blocks!
****
And that's as far as I've gotten with the bio, but I'm sure you can extrapolate that beginning into a first-level hero, who then goes on to have 'frickin Lasers shooting out of his Eyes!' and other cool stuff.
[Edit] Okay, a picture.
![](http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m207/fireheart5150/StarlightSaint.jpg)
I've also written a bit of 'pure story', to show a bit more of Starlight Saint's character.
**Okay, after some more discussion and thought, and juggling a few more ideas, I decided I should Write. Don't worry much about powers and origins, villains and heroes, but just write the character and see what comes of it.
Therefore:
The Chorus is quiet tonight, an undifferentiated whisper, like a quiet tide, rustling against a distant shore. No surges of idea, no unexplained sensations, or urges, no mysterious reflexes.
This is fine by me, as I’m not on duty, not wearing the mantle of the Champion, not on patrol or out looking for trouble. I’m just relaxing in my own self, down at the neighborhood palace of pretentious potations, sipping some very nice cinnamon chai and grading a few papers. The evening is warm, but the breeze is cooling, sweetly scented by someone’s night-blooming jasmine, with a hint of old smog coming off the street, for contrast.
I hear a bit of laughter and see three young people, two boys and a girl, strolling up the street, out for a bit of fun on a warm Friday night. Dinner and a movie, drinks and dancing, or just hanging out, it was a nice night to be enjoying life.
I’m not sure what it is that calls to me, a stray gesture, a bit of too-loud laughter, or perhaps the Chorus is not as quiet as I thought, but something is not right. I put down my pen and carefully stack the papers, while I glance about – what’s not right? The girl… my eyes sharpen as I carefully, casually, look at the girl and her friends. I glance around a bit more, to be sure there’s nothing else, then focus back on the lady in question.
The girl needs escape – she’s hiding it well, trying to act ‘naturally’, but something about her practically shouts ‘trapped, must escape’ and I have no idea why or how I know that, I just do. The fellows… they seem perfectly ordinary guys, but there is an air of coercion about them, nothing particularly bad, or wrong, but they have plans and they don’t expect to lose their… fun. I understand that I’m interpreting extremely subtle body language, much more subtle than what I’ve learned in classes at the dojo…
Or something in me is reading that language and telling me the meanings. The Chorus and its gift of knowledge is always subtle. Happily, this doesn’t seem to be major trouble, the Chorus is not ‘shouting’ at me, like it sometimes does. Just ordinary, everyday trouble… a young lady who is having second thoughts about her friends and their ‘fun’… whatever it is, and I really don’t want to know… but… I do have to intervene. I have to open the gate for her, to escape, to think, to reconsider, and to choose the path to her future.
Decision made, action chosen, I feel a surge in the Light and, carefully smooth it out. There will be no need for violent action, no desperate call for healing, it’s a purely social problem with a purely social solution. Talk, not fight, and certainly not Light, is the answer to the problem.
Still, I feel grateful for the wash of energy, simmering beneath my skin, I’m fully alert now, though I haven’t moved from my relaxed posture. And, yes, the Chorus is livelier now, too. I can feel it pulling close, still quiet, still subtle, but ready. Ready to rush thousands of years of experience into helping me solve the problem, the very simple, simple problem – just open the gate, so the girl can get out.
The trio is getting closer, now, so I get ready. I open my senses, ready to react to the smallest change, ready to act… perfectly normal. I’m a college professor, not a superhero… at least not here and now, perfectly ordinary... right.
I look up and pretend to ‘suddenly notice and recognize’ them… or her, at least. “Oh… excellent,” I exclaim, waving the sheaf of papers at them. The top paper is boldly blazoned with a scarlet ‘F-minus’, “I hoped I’d be able to catch you outside of class, Miss,” I say, with another flourish of the ‘F-minus’. All three of them have stopped now, surprised at a stranger’s interruption, and to my heightened senses, the lady is clearly confused, while the lads were cycling guilt, fear, and defiance, along with their surprise.
“M-my paper… um, Professor?” she stumbled in confusion.
I smiled reassuringly, but inside I was straining, pushing, thinking “Come on, you! Come on, Chorus! Reach her, kick her, Clue her! This might be escape! Go, go, go!” and I strove to reach out, through the voices in my head, and touch her with inspiration. “Yes, the paper you were going to write for my class.” Playing for time, I glanced at the ‘F-minus’, then said, “Oh, not this paper!” I chuckled warmly, “This bozo is trying to pass off quotes and plot elements from ‘300’ as a legitimate paper on the Battle of Thermopylae. ‘This. Is. Sparta!’ my ***!”
“Anyway,” I continued, “I’d like to talk about your paper.” ((Reach her Chorus! Clue her!)) “It shouldn’t take very long, just a few minutes.” I shift my attention to the boys, “If you gentlemen don’t mind, please. I just need a moment. She can catch up with you later.” ((Go, go, go!))
I’m not psychic, never telepathized, or whatever, anything in my life, but somehow she got it, and I watched the penny drop and hope flared in her eyes, and I smiled and relaxed. She said, “Oh, that paper, of course Professor!” Then, “I’m sorry guys, I need to do this. You go ahead, I’ll catch up in a few minutes and meet you there, okay?” The lads were reluctant, but soon persuaded, and they left.
“Please have a seat, rest a bit, Miss,” I said quietly. She was thinking quite hard, but held on to her purse and settled gracefully into the offered chair, “Janet,” she muttered distractedly, “My name is Janet.” I smiled gently and said, “Thank you, Miss… Janet. May I offer you a warm drink, or a cool one? The cinnamon chai is quite good.” I raised my cup and took a drink.
“Hmm, no, not yet, maybe,” she murmured, “How did you know?” She looked me in the eye, and firmly repeated, “How did you know?”
“I can’t say,” I replied honestly. “I can’t say how I knew, or what I knew, or if I knew anything. I know what I saw. At the dojo, I’m learning many things… how to see your opponent, how to read his strengths and weaknesses and intentions. I saw you and I didn’t get any of those. I looked at you and I saw… the uncertain bird, trapped in the flock, and not at all sure you wanted to go… where they were going. So I opened the gate, to let you out, so you could stop, and think, and choose where you want to fly.”
“Are you sure you’re a professor and not a philosopher?” she asked, with a wry tilt of her head.
I laughed quietly and said, “Oh, I am many things, teacher, student, philosopher…” I shook my head, “Many things. Right now… I’m just some benevolent stranger, offering you a chair, half a table, and a beverage, and some time and quiet to think.”
And she smiled. And she was beautiful. And she went and got her own drink – some vile coffee-thing, with sixteen hyphenated names and a cherry on top, but, hey, it was her money and her choice. And we sat in silence, while I graded papers and she thought.
Finally, she stood and said, “Thank you, Teacher. This little bird will fly away home. From now on, the flock can go where it will, but I will chart my own course. Maybe find a dojo and see if I can learn how to see the truth in people.” She gave a little bow of her head and walked away into the darkness, but I think she was seeing more clearly, now, despite the dark.
“Be Well, little bird, fly free!” I whispered after her.
***
Be Well!
Fireheart
@Dechs. I'll have to take a read through your link a bit later considering that I don't have much time until my next class. >.< Aside from that, I see a lot of potential here. If Teven is fueling his nictus, who is fighting the demon's control...i wonder what would happen if he ever became weakened during combat and the demon took over for a while...*hint hint*
|
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
I'm of the opinion that it's always helpful to have a character who either isn't ... or can't be ... all that they seem. The very nature of that "blank slate" in the direction of "unfinished" can occasionally be very useful in lending a necessary interest in resolving the ambiguities that revolve around such incompleteness (since they beg for answers).
One of the things that I noticed and marked about everyone else's Kheldians that I came across (when reading bios), whether they be PC or NPC is that the Kheldians always seem to have an extremely major impact on the Host's sense of identity ... even when that bonding results in more of a symbiotic "sharing" of minds rather than anything akin to a "hostile takeover" (per se). Sometimes the merging of personalities results in quite radical changes, enough so that the resulting blend bears little resemblance to that of the prior individuals. Others put the Kheldian aspect of the relationship into such a Front and Center position as to render the Human partner into being virtually a background character (or an afterthought) where the Kheldian person/personality is the dominant force in the relationship.
I wanted a character where that sort of "conventional wisdom" was turned on its head ... where the Kheldian involved in the host/symbiont relationship not only *wasn't* the dominant partner in defining the resultant blend of personalities. So instead, I took things to the opposite extreme, where being able to identify the "original" Warshade who blended with Ms Terry is something of a mystery ... which then brings up all kinds of questions as to why that should be so. Is Ms Terry's Warshade counterpart "on the run" or otherwise in hiding from someone/something? Was her Warshade partner incredibly weak willed or in some other way "deficient" such that he/she/it either can't be, or isn't willing, to be more dominant/forceful in their relationship? Is Ms Terry (the human) more "powerful" than she appears to be, meaning she's somehow gained the upper hand over her Kheldian parter and is somehow "dominating" them (either deliberately or un/subconsciously)?
What makes this all the more interesting is that Ms Terry's $Battlecry is ... "Your soul is my chew toy!" ... which earned her a comment of "MFing Warshade indeed!" from none other than The Man Himself (a Mr. D K) on a Dr Q TF one fine afternoon this past year. Ms Terry often speaks about her Warshade abilities (particularly Stygian Circle) in decidedly Necromantic terms with the sort of relish rarely seen outside of gamer geek circles. She is also a Tri-former, so it's not as if the "range" of her Kheldian abilities are somehow "limited" to just those of being human.
And yet, it is always Ms Terry ... the human persona ... which everyone who interacts with her sees ... leading to the still unanswered question of ... who *did* Ms Terry blend with to become who (and what) she is today?
![](http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/7840/groove1.gif)
Hello my fellow Kheldians! You might be wondering why you're here...so i might as well tell you!
With the end of my college semester coming up fast I've been drumming up ideas to help increase the skills I've been developing towards my major; Animation.
First, an animator MUST be a good story teller, and artist alike. So to develop both of these skills further I've decided to write a story over the summer months about my Peacebringer concept, named Se'At, and his fight against the Evil nictus that plague our Kheldian Race. From this story, I'm hoping to develop my own illustrated comic about him and his struggles.
Now, how does this involve you, my fellow Kheldians? Well, aside from my own Kheldian characters (Dividing the Dark, Speedy Avenger, and Se'At), there are many awesome and creative Kheldian players out there (that's you guys) with their own back stories and persona's. If I'm going to tell & illustrate a story about Kheldians, I'd absolutely love to involve you guys, the players, and your experiences with Kheldians.
Yes; I could just generate my own characters and write the story myself, but that doesn't develop my skills outside of my own little world. You guys, the players, represent a future client. In that sense, It will be my job to represent Kheldians the way WE want them to be represented, rather than solely how I see them.
If any of you are interested in being included in my little project, I would greatly appreciate some information about your characters. Who was your character before they became a Kheldian? How did they get their Kheldian abilities? What do they look like (a pic of their costume, if not I'll imagine one based on what information you give me.) How do you play your Kheldian, Are you a stealthy warshade, or an in-your-face behemoth? What are your intentions as a Kheldian, world domination, defeating the nictus, saving kittens?
For you role-players out there, what kind of personality does your Kheldian have; are you a sarcastic wise ***, or an emotionless harbinger of destruction?
Any of this information is useful and would be greatly appreciated.
If you choose to have your character/s included, all credits will be given through the use of board display names, or however you see fit. You guys are the boss of the characters here, not me
(This is solely for developing my skills as an artist and a storyteller. It will not be sold/copyrighted/ect...ect | also, No trademarks of Paragon Studios will be claimed as my own either, credit will be displayed where it is due.)
Thanks for reading guys! I look forward to your feedback!
~"Speedy"~