Character Request - Nathan

GENERAL

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REAL NAME: Nathan King (Nathaniel Zhang)
AGE: 22
GENDER: Male
WEAPON: Small bladed weapons (Throwing knives, switchblades, and ballpoint pen knives)
PERSONALITY: He is normally rather passive and quietly forgiving in relationships (platonic and romantic), particularly with people he doesn’t know very well. With those he does know (either as an enemy or friend), he’s more active and cheerful. When it comes to breaking the law, he’ll look the other way. Survival comes first, whether in his case or someone else’s. Exceptions occur if someone tries to harm, physically or verbally, him or his siblings.

He’s fairly cautious in most situations. He’s extraordinarily careful in keeping various facets of his life separate. He rarely uses his power where others can see, with the exception of those who already know his power (and thus, those who he trusts quite a bit). In fights, he’s not a coward and can certainly hold his own, but he is certainly reserved about it, preferring to run if the odds aren’t stacked high enough in his favor. He’s not exactly calm, but not energetic either. He has a nervous alertness to him, as though he doesn’t know if he’s safe or not.  

He has a tendency to keep things to himself or his inner circle. Considering his restitution and generally day-dreamy attitude, his ability to hold his tongue is a good thing. However, that’s his will doesn’t go too much farther. It’s fairly easy to persuade him for one thing or the other, though he does take loyalty and alliances seriously.

He gains quite a bit of confidence when working, either at the nightclub or as Cheshire. He feels safer with the varying degrees of anonymity, even if there’s still an appropriate amount of wariness attached. This confidence it noticeable in his voice - where normally he speaks quietly/reservedly, his voice is bolder when working.

BRIEF HISTORY: Nathaniel Zhang went from an abusive home to an abusive orphanage to the harsh streets. He met three people he ended up calling his siblings, the King family, and he began using the name Nathan King. On the streets, he discovered and honed his powers, leading him to create the Cheshire Cat identity. As Cheshire, he gradually built up his name as a reliable and gang-neutral smuggler of both people and objects. The four siblings eventually got an apartment, though the younger two – Nathan and Hanna – moved to their own a year later. While their older siblings ran a perfectly legal coffee shop in the East district, Nathan and his sister continued with their criminal activities, with – often temporary – day jobs for extra cash. Nathan eventually encountered two ‘strangers’, one a healer harbinger, who had saved him from death by infection when he’d still lived on the streets. Despite his age, they offered him a job at their nightclub, and he accepted out of a feeling of indebtedness and the need for a stable job besides smuggling. Present day, he still lives with his sister in a small-but-relatively decent-sized apartment in the South District, bordering the East, juggling day and night work.


IMAGE:

Headshots:

5 ft 7 in (170 cm) and has a wiry build. He has a fairly generic haircut, with raven hair partway to his shoulders. As a civilian, he wears a fake highlight of bright color, usually but not always red, on the left side of his hair. He has a small scar, from a knife, running down the right side of his lips. His clothes are cheap and plain, and he prefers T-shirts, loose-fitting (but not baggy) pants, and sneakers. Plain as they are, they’re not entirely bad, just generic, perfect for someone that doesn’t want to attract attention. For accessories, he has a jade double eternity loop on a red string, and wears it as long as he’s not doing any “shadier” work. He usually has a couple of plain metal bracelets as well. He carries a messenger bag for his possessions.

He has green contacts, but only wears them for nightclub work. In this particular line of work, he wears makeup, most notably covering the scar on his lips. His ears are also pierced just to add to his costumes at the club. Here, his clothes and shoes are flashier and of higher quality, with flashier accessories to go along. Also, glitter.

For Cheshire work, he forgoes the contacts and makeup for two masks. The primary mask covers his whole face, and is made of a sturdy, near black, material with white paint to make his distinctive diamond smile. The secondary mask is a half-mask, made of a thin cloth that covers the bottom half of his face to about his collarbone. In case someone or something breaks the primary mask, he still has something hiding his identity. His hair is also tied back into a tiny ponytail to keep it out of the way. His clothes are practical and of a good quality for the job. No accessories, soft-soled shoes, black gloves, and form-fitting clothes that restricts his movement as little as possible. Over those, he wears a jacket and carries a messenger bag, different from his civilian one, for deliveries.


HARBINGER

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POWER: Darkness Merging
He is capable of entering and merging with existing shadows/darkness. The most common and obvious application of this power, besides hiding, is “Shadow Walking”. It is not instant teleportation but is still quick: double his base Speed stat.

He can use his power for up to five minutes per Stamina point (aka: 35 minutes) at a time. The time it takes to “recharge” his power is equal to the time he used it for. For example, if he uses all 35 minutes, he’d have to wait another 35 minutes to have the full time limit back at his disposal. If he uses 5 minutes, he’d have to wait 5 minutes to return to full time – however, he can continue to use his power with the time he has left over. Note that if he stops using his power, his restitution is activated.

He can enter and exit any shadow large and dark enough. Nighttime, particularly nights with a new moon, practically turn the city into his playground. However, he can only enter solid ones – aka, those on a surface (example: If he’s in a pitch black room, he can’t just merge with the darkness and float around, he has to stick to the ‘solid’ darkness on the floor, walls, or ceiling). He can move through shadows that are smaller/thinner/lighter than ones that can serve as entrances/exits, but of course he can’t leave through them properly. As a shadow, he can cross into light for 2 seconds per Willpower point (aka: 6 seconds). However, touching light with his power activated hurts – it may not be a physical injury, but the mental and imagined pain works well enough. If he’s in too much pain (as in, he spends more than 6 seconds in light in one go), he gets ejected from his power from the nearest acceptable shadow.

He can bring people and objects with him. While he only needs to come in contact with a shadow to enter it, anyone or anything he takes must be completely in shade. He can bring up to two people with him as long as he or they hold onto him (clothes won’t suffice as a grip, but a wrist will). As for objects/non-human entities, he can bring as many as he can carry or hold onto – note, he must be the one holding the object for his power to affect it. If at any time during the trip he loses contact with a passenger or cargo, they are automatically expelled from whatever shadow they happen to be in. If the shadow is too small for exit, then they leave via the closest acceptable one.

Bringing passengers or cargo costs a time fee – 5 minutes per person, and 5 minutes per 2 non-human entities. Worn clothes and items in pockets count as part of a person, though bags or backpacks do not. It is possible to combine objects into one entity by storing them in one another – for example, a backpack with a package inside counts as one entity, not two. However, passengers and cargo do not slow him down.

He can hear and see the real world while using his power, albeit from the awkward perspective of a shadow. Sounds are also muffled as though blocked by a wall, and his view of “outside” is darkened and distorted, as if by water, by several degrees.

His power disorientates any passengers he brings along. Disorientation and dizziness varies from person to person, depending on their Willpower stat and general resistance to motion sickness, respectively. The disorientation comes from the fact that, while he “sees” the shadow world, passengers experience complete darkness with the faint echo of sounds outside for the duration of the trip. Combined by the motion of being dragged through shadows, it’s not a particularly pleasant experience. This side effect does not affect harbingers with darkness or ‘-portation’ powers. Interestingly enough, certain creatures are also not affected, cats and rats being the notable ones.

NOTE: His entry on the Index incorrectly lists his power as "Non-Instantaneous Teleportation" ((I think this got cleared, right?))

RESTITUTION: Type 2, Hallucinations
He often describes his hallucinations as “Wonderland-esque” – aka, complete BS, ranging from objects drifting lazily through the air to spiders and blood covering every surface.

Depending on various factors of his power use, his hallucinations become more severe and longer-lasting. Mild ones only affect his vision, while severe ones can cover all of his senses.

Mild hallucinations also only add to the world, and do not affect existing objects or people. As they worsen, real things can be changed. However, he never imagines a real person – for example, he might imagine a person, but it’ll never be someone he actually knows. The worst hallucinations affect shadows, in both how he physically sees them and how he “feels” for them – at this point, he can’t use his power.

Generally, his hallucinations cover at least sight and touch. With touch, they can cause pain but do not actually inflict wounds.

His emotions and experiences tend to – but not always – affect his hallucinations.

Through experience, he can somewhat tell the difference between hallucinations and reality. The former feels a bit off, though it’s definitely more obvious with things that don’t naturally exist (example: cats walking on air). The one good (?) thing about his restitution is that he’s almost never fazed by other harbingers’ powers.

Most hallucinations are random, though a few are reoccurring.

EYE COLOR: Cat eyes (elliptical pupils and all) of dark navy blues and violets. (Mainly navy blue, with murky violet on the bottom half).

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Extra Things

ALIAS: Cheshire Cat (often shortened to Cheshire)

PROJECTED GANG AFFILIATION: Network

---STATS---
STRENGTH: 3
STAMINA: 7
SPEED: 9
COORDINATION: 10
WILLPOWER: 3

Stat-based Mutation-related Limits:
-Power-
MOVEMENT – 2 X base Speed (9) = 18
TIME LIMIT – 5 minutes X Stamina (7) = 35 minutes
>>> -5 minutes per human passenger
>>> -5 minutes per 2 non-human entities
LIGHT LIMIT – 2 seconds X Willpower (3) = 6 seconds


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account info:

Character approved. Helios retired.