Fantasy [Sonder Links] An Anomalous Noir CS

[Probably George]

Requirements: Age (18-60), Name, backstory (doesn't have to be a lot, and you're free to make assumptions about the world. I'll more than likely allow it) occupation prior to becoming an exterminator, anomaly(s), and face-claim.

Keep in mind you are third wave anchor (or soon to be) and have been, for at most 2 months. As a new anchor, you have the weakest link with your enigma and can only create its weakest anomalies. Although the anomalies will grow and vary with usage, but most anchors cannot exclusively rely on anomalies to survive. A good anchor is cunning, willing to fight, subtle and most importantly, resourceful.
Just because you have brass knuckles doesn't mean you know how to use them.

No preference in layout, just keep it mobile friendly.

Also keep in mind what you write down for your anomalies isn't set in stone, and an anchor can create variations of their own anomalies given enough use

 

[Probably George]

Hawkshaw Voyta
Age: 28

Occupation: freelance spelunker Exterminator

Anomaly(s):
-Glowing Spades: 1-3 razor sharp playing card sized, spade shaped blades that can be thrown or held

Backstory: Coming from a low-income family in Two Feather's Gaze, Hawkshaw was a farm hand from the moment he could hold a sickle. Given responsibility over the family's wheat and sheep. He received a late education shortly after becoming an adult in order to pursue his dream of being a delegate of Chroan in hopes of helping those going through a similar upbringing.
After the anomalous catastrophe that killed almost a fifth of the city's population, including Hawkshaw's family, he had given up on his goal of becoming a delegate and moved to Slaughter's End. After a short time working as a farm hand again, Hawkshaw left for his own search for gold. He purchased spelunking equipment and basic training in order to delve into Cephlan sites and recover tech.
On his way to his first delve, Hawkshaw mistook the cry of an engima for that of his late mother and subsequently fell into the trap. Hawkshaw canceled his expedition and headed back into the city and laid low for a while, although as his savings began to dwindle, Hawkshaw got desperate. Knowing the weight of his situation, he resorted to stealing and staying in the dark. Unfortunately, he's a terrible thief and was quickly apprehended by authorities.
Since the punishment for thievery in Slaughter's End is the removal of 2 fingers, Hawkshaw saw it easier to just admit he was an anchor and embrace his new "life" as an exterminator.

 

[Probably George]

Bask Jüng

Age: 49

Occupation: Caravanner Exterminator

Anomaly(s):
Chroan's hum: Bask can send intense vibrations as far as 20 feet from what ever spot he's touching, which slowly breaks things apart
One with ground: Bask is hyper sensitive to vibrations, being able to sense footsteps as far as 40 feet away and even discern each individual step among a crowd

Backstory: Bask had a normal upbringing in Slaughter's End, assisting his parents with their fabrics store. After graduating from schooling, Bask wanted to travel across Chroan and write about its beauty. During his travels he made good relations with a clothing designer in Grohj and formed a contract where Bask would bring his family's fabrics and sell them to the acquaintance. After making a few trips, word had gotten out about him and he was provided many more offers for caravanning between Slaughter's End and Grohj. It became successful enough that Bask hired three others to assist him with his trips.
It continued for over 20 years without incident. Until one day after walking away from his caravan for some creative writing, Bask heard the cry of one of his workers. It came not from the caravan, but deeper into the oasis his men were parked just outside of. Beyond his better judgement, Bask quickly ran to the source which lead him to the pond. Jumping into the water to find what he thought was a drowning friend, Bask was invaded by an engima. The transition wasn't smooth and Bask thought he could fight against it. His attempts were useless, and only stopped him from keeping his head above water.
By sheer luck, one of his workers happened to be following him as soon as Bask ran off. The worker managed to pull Bask out of the water. Seeing the dread on Bask's face, and knowing that the third wave of anchors has already begun, the worker inferred that Bask had just become an anchor. Bask tried to convince his friend to keep it secret, but as soon as they returned to Slaughter's End, Bask was ratted out.
Bask was then made the first exterminator for Heliopause, a new extermination group with the unique permission to work outside the city. His caravan was taken by the city of Slaughter's End and subsequently ended his business.

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Name: Theresa Cantor
Age: 23
Occupation: waitress, salesman, driver exterminator
Anomaly: Doppelganger - Theresa's shadow can detach itself from her and becomes an independent entity
Backstory: After her father died from overdose Theresia had been the one who received all of his inheritance in the form of an absurd amount of debts. She was afraid that if she refuses it the mafia would target her younger siblings so she worked herself doing several jobs at once trying to fulfill the monthly quota. One day when she's walking home she heard her sister sobbing from somewhere nearby, she followed the voice which turned out to be an enigma. Afterward she was immediately found out and she got assigned into Heliopause.

 

[Ayama]

• Asya
• Adriana

• CODE BY SEROBLISS

  Asya Nur Myalaym

  Scientist | Female | 26

  Asya was born in the capital city of Grohj. Her father Ahmet was a kindly and intelligent man- a scientist who studied the technology of the mysterious Cephlans. Her mother Asel was as strict as Ahmet was kind, placing great pressure and expectations on Asya's shoulders.
  
  When Asya was ten years old (and her baby sister Adriana was 2), the first Eidolon leveled 40% of the population of Grohj, and her family moved to Two Feather's Gaze. Her father took a job at a research lab, and her mother went from staying at home to being a teacher.
  
  With both her parents busy working, Asya was expected to help with Adriana on top of school (and later with her baby brother Deniz, though by that time her sister was old enough to chip in with that and some of the household chores), which was a lot of responsability.
  
  Exceptionally gifted, she excelled in her studies- particularly in science, where the combination of her father's natural curiosity and her mother's dispassionate empiricism made for a phenomenal predisposition to research and scientific inquiry.
  
  She completed both a basic and advanced degree by the time she was 22 and, having been greatly affected by the childhood 'encounter' with the power of an Eidolon, immediately went to work researching Enigmas and ways to control or destroy them.
  
  Two years ago, she lost both her parents to the event that killed 19% of the population in Two Feather's Gaze, as well as Deniz, who has been trapped in a coma ever since. Her grief lending her research a twisted, manic zeal, she redoubled her efforts.
  
  A year ago, the success of her anti-Enigma technological breakthroughs got her a transfer to Slaughter's End, where a new initiative was underway. Up until then, all Exterminator groups had consisted of Anchors being led and coordinated by trained government agents, to keep an eye on them should they go rogue or try to run. But Asya's research was geared towards finding out if Enigmas could be artificially generated, controlled, and used for a specific purpose, eliminating the need to put 'regular people' in harm's way.
  
  She was given an outrageous budget and a year to see if she could get together a team that was entirely comprised of Anchors and, if she succeeded in this trial run, her funding would be increased and the model would be progressively adapted across the board.
  
  To ensure the project would be a success, she had to dedicate a vast majority of the funds to developing and improving technology that would act as contingency measures for the chosen Anchors, should they turn traitor or become destructive. The remainder of her resources went to the affiliated side project- a study of Anchors and 'volunteers' taken off the streets of Slaughter's End aimed at creating compliant, artificial Anchors.
  
  For months, she toiled in vain in this regard, and all of her test subjects died, one after the other. Finally, with her funds nearly depleted and the very real possibility of the project getting shut down if it didn't produce results, she became desperate enough to volunteer her own sister for it. She had Adriana wade out into the ocean, closely monitored on all sides, and kept her out there for three whole days waiting for something to happen. Finally, on the fourth day, her sister suddenly vanished under the water as if pulled by some unseen force.
  
  Asya lost sight of Adriana and thought that surely her sister must be dead, for no one could survive underwater for that long. She was about to pronounce the attempt a failure when the water suddenly heaved, and Adriana was shot to the surface. Half-dead, she was brought back to the lab, where she was studied extensively and interrogated for every last detail of the ordeal, revealing that she had, indeed, become an Anchor.
  
  With her sister becoming the first successful experiment of the side program (which no one had believed at all possible), Asya's funding was doubled ahead of schedule, and she was given mission execution and oversight authority over the new team, to which Adriana has now been assigned.
  
  Confidence in the project and in Asya's technology (nearly all of which was either created by her, or created by her father and majorly improved by her) has allowed Heliopause not only to be the first all-Anchor extermination group, but also the first allowed outside city limits to conduct their missions, the view being that Anchors have a higher chance of surviving under the harsh conditions that First Line leadership is reluctant to subject normal people to and that, if they happen to die doing it, they'll simply be replaced and it's no great loss either way.
• Adriana Tur Myalaym

  ★★★★★★

  Schoolgirl / Exterminator

  Female / Eighteen

  Overview

  Appearance: At 5'3 and 120lbs, Adriana is on the shorter and lighter side. She has long, jet-black hair and light brown eyes, rosy skin, and is usually covered in some kind of full-length jacket or hooded cloak.
  
  Personality: Adriana is sweet and caring, shy and reserved. She has a tendency to avoid confrontation, and has trouble standing up for herself or others- even when she feels that something is objectively wrong.
  
  She is problematically and unhealthily devoted to her dispassionate older sister, doing anything she asks without question- even if it's dangerous or morally indefensible. She's also self-sufficient and does well when left alone.
  
  Virtues: Caring, generous, and kind
  Vices: Passive, compliant, timorous
  
  Hopes/dreams: To help her sister with her goals
  Fears/doubts: Hurting other people in any way

  Background

  Place of birth: City of Grohj
  Family: Asel and Ahmet Myalaym (parents, deceased), Asya Nur Myalaym (older sister), Deniz Yur Myalaym (little brother, currently comatose)
  
  History: Adriana was born in the capital city of Grohj. When she was two years old, the first documented Eidolon leveled 40% of the population, and her family moved to Two Feather's Gaze. Her father worked in a lab that studied Cephlan technology, her mother was a teacher.
  
  She was absolutely devoted to her elder sister Asya, whom she greatly admired. Adriana didn't experience the insane amount of pressure that her sister did, and she tried her best to be helpful and useful around the house, to take some of the burden off of Asya' shoulders.
  
  When her brother Deniz was born, she took care of him as much as possible- not just out of a sense of responsability, but because she simply adored him. She tried her hardest to get good grades in school (though she wasn't gifted the way her sister was) and be a good daughter.
  
  When she was sixteen, tragedy struck Two Feather's Gaze, and in the wake of the second great catastrophe the newly orphaned sisters were left to pick up the pieces and care for a now-comatose Deniz. The loss changed them both, obviously, but in vastly different ways.
  
  Adriana became a little more somber and subdued, though also fervently convinced of the importance of kindness in such a dangerous world. Asya, on the other hand, became fanatically engrossed in her research, and in her pursuit of the destruction or control of all Enigmas.
  
  After the transfer to Slaughter's End, things only got worse, and Adriana watched as her sister descended further into madness, wishing there was something she could do. When the suggestion of becoming part of the experiment came up, she agreed immediately, only because she couldn't think of anything else that might make her helpful or useful to Asya now.
  
  She was frightened, of course, going out into the dark, dangerous, and unknown waters, but thoughts of her sister and her brother saw her through. After three days, nearly dead from exhaustion and hypothermia, she sank beneath the waves only to hear a voice speaking to her.
  
  It told of her parents and how they needn't have died, of how her brother might be saved, of how her sister might be helped. The last thing she remembers before blacking out was a whispered thanks, and the feeling of something sharp somehow entering her skull.
  
  When she woke, she was lying on a table back in Asya's lab. There were sensors covering most of her body, her eyes burned from the harsh fluorescent lights, and she could see the bruising and paleness of her skin. She recounted everything for Asya and her team and, once she had recovered, she was subjected to a series of taxing trials and tests.
  
  Having cleared all the tests, she was then assigned to Heliopause. As the first successful artificial Anchor (and the sister of the project lead), she was considered more valuable than the average Anchor and given a certain amount of preferential treatment- she received more advanced protective gear, and Asya insisted she was given at least a little bit of basic combat training.
  
  As a member of Heliopause, Adriana will soon go out on missions under her sister's authority, where she will have to track down and capture or kill the people she now considers to be her own kind. She is torn between her loyalty to her family and wanting to protect people, and her feeling that her fellow Anchors are victims who should be given the chance to decide their own destiny and choose their own path, even with an Enigma.

  Other

  Anomaly: Adriana seems to be able to physically mutate to adapt to an environment or respond to an immediate threat. At her current level, it doesn't mean much- she can see a little bit more clearly at night than most, stay underwater a little longer, has slightly tougher skin, etc., but presumably in the future this might evolve to much larger-scale mutations or transformations.
  
  Strengths: Her earlier losses have made her much tougher than one would expect from someone so gentle and so young- pain, suffering and horror do not shut her down. Also she's small, and good at hiding if need be. With her sister and her team's help, however, she's beginning to gain confidence in her abilities, learning how to use them in intelligent and resourceful ways.
  Weaknesses: She's had very little combat training or experience, and absolutely hates confrontation. She also feels uncomfortable with the idea of capturing, hurting, or killing anyone- especially fellow Anchors.
  
  Role(s): She usually acts as the decoy or as bait, though in the future as she gets stronger, she might become more of a tank.
  Fighting style: She honestly prefers not to fight at all but, when she must, she is economical and efficient with her movements, using her small size and relative speed to her advantage to dodge and deal precise blows, trying to cause the maximum amount of damage with the minimum amount of force.
  Gear/tech: Designed by her sister and based on Cephlan technology discovered by her father, she wears a skin-tight exosuit intended to adapt humans to the harsh conditions of inland Chroan, with a multi-use utility belt. Build into the suit is a wrist-line launcher that assists with climbing or capture of other Anchors.

  KANE

  CODE /

  SEROBLISS

 

[BuggaBoo]

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And we'll be waiting at the end...

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"Notti" - Ki'Ashya - The Thief

Kia , Ashy, Kishy

She/Her | 20yrs | 5'1" | 115lbs | Brown Hair | Blue Eyes | Light Brown Skin
Smuggler/Thief Exterminator | Empathic Sensory | Athletic Build
​

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This is Kia...

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~Anomaly: "Shine"​

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• Emotive Bubble - Kia may sense all individuals that give off strong emotions within 50' of her.
• Imprints - Kia may sense psychic residues off of items getting a sense of the imprints regarding who or what held it. She may also imprint her own messages upon items that others hold dear/important for up to a week.

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** Glowing tracers and ghostly mists of pinks and purples waft away from Kia's eyes when she uses her Anomaly. Also she talks out loud to her Enigma like an imaginary friend and calls her 'Shine' cuz all she saw was a shining purple and pink light when she got 'Anchored.' ​

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~Bio:​

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• Ki'Ashya is from a notorious pirate family known as Clan Wicked. They are smugglers and thieves of the coast and high seas that have their own remote island.
• From a young age, she was taught to earn her keep on the both on the seas and in the home. Yet despite her love for sailing, she found her calling more on the mainland pulling off hustles and cat-burglary since she was adverse to getting her ass handed to her by other pirates. Stealing had less cuts and bruises for sure.
• She worked with her cousins in an outfit called 'The Whispering' that specialized in smuggling and heists. Kia was good but they hated the fact that she was always first to escape from a fight but loved the fact that she could talk her way out of a fight too.
• And no stranger to attracting trouble, she fell in love with another girl from a rival gang earining her the ire of the Matriarch of Clan Wicked when she found out.
• Given an ultimatum to choose either her Clan or this silly girl, Kia chose her family. But the pair of lovestruck girls would have one last fantastic time together. They had one final romantic day out on the open water together on a small sailboat. Kia heard a panicked cry from the waters; her lover had fallen overboard! Kia jumped in the salty waters but she found no one to save. She had been 'Anchored.' Her lover had to rescue her but had no idea how to sail and so they were set adrift... and promptly intercepted by 'The Devastation,' a Clan Wicked flag ship captained by Kia's sister, Rai. Big sis had been spying on the pair.
• Luckily for Kia and her lover, Rai was softhearted towards her little sister and did not tell Mama. Rai returned the other girl to the mainland and took Kia out to sea in the sailboat to have a bit of sister-to-sister chat to set Kia straight and never let her family down again. It was here where Rai discovered that Kia was Anchored.
• They were making plans to somehow hide Kia away when they were intercepted by a local authority ship doing inspections. The authorities recognized Rai right away and were going to apprehend her. There was no escape. So Kia did what she had to do.
• Kia proclaimed that Rai had caught her and was going to turn her in as Kia was guilty of being Anchored. The last she saw of her big sis was her crying and screaming that it was a huge mistake and to take Rai instead. Kia just stood on the other ship and as tears streamed down her eyes she held out a hand then tossed her favourite bandanna and let it loose into the wind, flying towards her big sis in the sailboat.
• When it was all said and done, she was conscripted into the 'Heliopause' and sent off to her doom.

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** Cover story is that she is 'Notti,' a fisherman's daughter and was trying to look for employment from the pirate Rai since her father's boat sank and that she was alone now. And the reason Rai was screaming cuz she was in maaaadly love with Kia lol

The name 'Notti' is a play on her nick given to her by her cousins in The Whispering. She was known as 'Naughty-Girl' in the thieving outfit.

Has taken residence in Slaughterville's public housing. The rundown apartment complex she lives in is called 'Hotel Degenerate' or just 'The Degen' by its poor tenants. She currently earns her room and board by doing maintenance around the complex since she is handy with some carpentry and kitbashery.

Found out that there are some inland contacts that she could hit up for favours or illicit items but she does not want any info about her whereabouts to get back to her Mama. If her mom finds out that her baby is no longer on their territory, her mom will send someone to come bring Kia back home. Kia does not want her mom to find out that she is an Anchor. ​

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[BittyBobcat]

Luca Graymin

Alias: Gray

Pronouns: He/him

Age: 36

Occupation: Artifact restorationist/Reverse engineer Exterminator

Appearance: Faceclaim credit to the amazing, lovely, skilled Tapfic , extra details added since I'm not using a fullbody reference.
Gray stands at 6'1" with a skinny build and generally unkempt appearance. He doesn't shave, but also never seems to be able to grow more than a scattered, stubbly beard. Though they could theoretically go away if he started keeping a proper sleep schedule, the bags under his eyes are a near-permanent fixture of his face. His hair is black with a handful of strands beginning to grey. His entire body is pockmarked with small scars from falling asleep at his work bench while using sharp objects handling tools, the most notable of them being the thin gash across his forehead. He doesn't own a single shirt that hasn't been stained from dust, oil, coffee, or some mystery substance that's been sitting on his desk for longer than he cares to admit.


Anomalies:
Transpurrmation - Gray can turn into a cat. It's not a very threatening cat. In fact, it's rather small for a housecat, and looks more or less like it's been stray for a while given how skinny it is. When he transforms, he always looks like the same cat with short black fur and green eyes. He can be identified by the scar across his forehead that matches the one in his human form and a slight bend toward the end of his tail. Unfortunately, he hasn't yet figured out how to choose when he transforms, so it occurrs at random. His only saving grace is that he can still speak in cat form.

Supurrstition - When in his cat form, Gray is able to induce paranoia of a severity proportional (but not equal) to his own level of stress. This is not currently strong enough to affect humans in any significant way. It may temporarily amplify some preexisting worries or inspire a specific distrust in him if it's used while they're within a 6 foot radius of him, but this is minor enough that it can be easily ignored if someone so chose. Animals, however, become notably aggressive or try to flee when it's in use. His range for a noticable effect on animals is far larger (about 50 feet).
Strangely, the strongest effect observed in humans so far seems to be permanently active when he's in his cat form. People who see him out of the corner of their eye often see strange features that aren't actually real. His head may appear to be turned at a neck-breaking angle to face them, he might be frothing at the mouth like a rabid animal, or some other change might appear that appeals to a personal fear of the viewer, but, once they turn to face him fully, he looks just like a normal cat. This doesn't happen to everyone, and a person who saw it before might not always see it again the next time the opportunity arises.


Backstory: The best stroke of luck Gray ever had was being born into a wealthy family. After that... well, everyone knows what they say about black cats and luck.

They were a prideful family. Having come into their riches due to the discovery of a particularly lucrative artifact about twelve years before he was born, they promptly forgot about how unlikely it was for a person to run into such fortune and adopted a strong "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" mentality. In their eyes, those born into wealth were soft and frivulous, while those who hadn't yet attained it were just being lazy. It was a cruel, egocentric ideology, but one they sought not to make themselves hypocrites over. You weren't a Graymin if you weren't working, and they wouldn't have any doubts that their children were Graymins.

Being the youngest of six, his parents were well on their way to creating an aggressively competitive household by the time Gray came around. Once his particular interest in artifacts was discovered, he rapidly became yet another work obsessed Graymin who placed all of their personal value in what they could produce. He studied like his life depended on it. He chose projects over sleep and a social life. He was effective, that was all that mattered.

When he eventually moved out, he carried this mentality and the inevitably low self esteem that resulted from it with him. His normal workaholic routine continued for a handful of years, and he grew more exhausted with every passing day. One night, when he was in his mid-twenties, he finally caved and took a break by getting a drink at the local bar for the first time in his life. Fast forward a few hours and he's horribly overestimated his tolerance, blushing redder than a strawberry in season, and being dragged home by a stranger.

Perhaps it should've been a red flag when he woke up in an unfamiliar bed with an equally unfamiliar stranger next to him, but the stranger—whose name was Ven—seemed nice enough and, with his (lack of) socialization, Gray wouldn't have known a red flag if it beat him over the head, so, after talking a bit, he decided that he liked him and, when he lamented the state his tab at the bar, Gray offered some of his own money to pay it off. Ven was grateful for it, but said he felt too guilty taking it without doing anything more for Gray. Perhaps he could stay over for dinner?

Thus began the absolute dumpster fire that was Gray's first romantic relationship.

Now, it should be noted that, as bare as his social life was, Gray knew he was gay long before this. He had to attend the glorified business meeting that his parents called a party plenty of times when he was a teen and, though nothing ever came of it, he met some people his own age and figured it out on his own. That night, if he had somehow tripped into dating any other man, things probably would've turned out fine. It was sheer bad luck that he ran into the one person who was quite possibly the worst person for him to date, nothing more.

They spent a few years together, Gray helping Ven out whenever he came home with another debt to some casino or another all the while, and Gray... well, he wasn't happy, but he figured every relationship had its bumps. Surely this was normal, and, even if it wasn't, it had to work out. His fear of failure and the additional pressure from his family's dissaproval of the relationship as a whole couldn't tolerate anything short of that. So when he opened the door one day to find that Ven had somehow dropped a new, gargantuan debt to a crime boss he didn't even know the name of on him and then skipped town, it was devestating in more ways than one... not that he had much time to dwell on it considering the fact that there was a knife at his throat.

The debt, it turned out, was beyond something even he could pay (in part thanks to the large chunks of his paycheck Gray had been using to pay off Ven's other debts), but he was able to talk himself into a deal since his skillset was a hard one to come by. If he successfully restored some artifacts they found each month for however long it took them to reach a value equal to his debt, then it would be paid.

That deal was made about six years ago. Ever since, his life has consisted of work, more work, and taking care of a stray cat he fondly nicknamed Pest after she wandered into his home. At least, it would have if that wasn't interrupted by what he thought was Pest's caterwauling. When he came to investigate it, he was met with a puddle formed by one of his leaky pipes and the uninvited possession of his body by an enigma.

This occurred somewhat early in the third wave. He escaped suspicion for a while by the nature of work and his anomaly. After all, it's hard to suspect at a seemingly normal cat and most of his transformations occurred while he was working at home. Like any secret, though, it was eventually found out when he accidentally transformed while coming in to collect newly unearthed artifacts and he was promptly turned in.

 

[Lost Echo]

Age 27
Name: Evelyn Butler
Backstory: Raised in an upper-middle-class family of scientists, Evelyn was taught her letters and maths early. As the lone child, she was often taken to the labs, taught by whoever’s experiment was the safest that day. Her favorite part of the day was recounting what she learned to her indulgent parents, who partially used her to keep an eye on their team.

When she grew older, she was enrolled in a more conventional school and fell in love with the environment. So upon getting her degree, she disappointed her parents (don’t we all?) to become a teacher. She was hired almost immediately (probably from her parents’ name) to a small school that catered to the rich. She taught children, preparing them for early for their degrees. For some, it was glorified babysitting, but she and her fellow teachers worked out a curriculum for each learning level, letting the kids progress at their own rate.

This continued until last spring break. She’d gone to the beach with her fellow teachers, for they were unaware the third wave was beginning. They mostly stayed in the shallows, up until Evelyn thought she heard the cry of a child. Though yes, the voice sounded familiar, she thought nothing of that, immediately swimming further out to search. Almost immediately she felt the current change, calling out that it was a riptide to her friends, she promised to meet them further down and began to swim parallel to the shore. It was during then that she went under, tired, perhaps, and thinking of a break? Regardless, she was already an anomaly by the time her friends found her, stretched out on the beach panting in the sun. They’d even joked she, the sweetest of them had become one, but she didn’t feel any different, just tired.

It was only when she’d gotten home that day, having slept for much of the return and only waving goodbye that she learned otherwise. Her enigma had been learning everything she knew and was patient. It knew the history her lessons spoke of. And could infer the rejection it’d insure. So it waited until she was going to bed, before starting small, with a simple goodnight as she was climbing into bed too tired to change. Evelyn replied in turn, not even thinking of it.

It remained quiet, merely an extra thought here and there. It helped, calmed the rowdy children in class so they would listen to her if no one else. Evelyn was a skilled teacher, always willing to listen to any of her students’ thoughts, but now her voice seemed to calm even the angriest child. Her lessons seemed better understood, her children advancing faster than before. She was pleased, joking she’d finally found her grove, but thought nothing more of it.

Until it decided to speak to her. It was confused by her intense horror. What had she been doing to her children? She was supposed to keep them safe. Having fallen to her knees, she silenced the…the voice’s reassurances with facts of children’s brains and that they did not know if there was harm elsewhere. If they were engrained in science could they have problems in other areas? Science needed curious minds, could the lack of questions have been from them no longer wondering, instead of them no longer being confused? Without experiments, there was no way to know. But Evelyn was not her parents. She was not willing to test something more on her innocent students.

Still, she could see the intent of the…voice and that it was learning. She felt its confusion at her response. She agreed to keep it within her, to let her learn new things, as long as it told her in turn of her new powers.

New horror ran through her. A sort of vocal mind control or hypnosis. It laughed, assuring her she was not that powerful. She’d have to get much stronger than that. Instead, it was merely an influence. Her children liked her and wanted to listen to her, it just helped them along. Maybe if she were more powerful, she could command, but now it would take everything out of her. It assured her.

Still, she’d been careful with her words, quieter. She tried not to let others worry over her, but with every reassurance, she feared influencing them. It, unhappy she was unhappy, promised to keep themselves at bay, as long as she would study in turn, teaching them new things. So she returned to her usual teaching, trusting the voice inside of her. And she’d started studying once more, earning the joke to get another degree.

But that day, a week ago, was when her life truly changed forever. When armed men entered the school with guns, wanting to ransom the children of her class, she and the voice were in agreement. They tried to talk him down and spent five excruciating minutes with his focus on them, but then Lindsey started to cry and his attention shifted to her. He yelled and stepped forward, starting to aim. Stop. Sleep They’d planned their words, knowing the darkness that would come afterward. She fell as he did, unconscious from the over-exertion.

They’d slept the rest of that day, her body moved to observation. The parents, many of whom were in government, wanted her killed. Any word in her defense by fellow teachers or students wasn’t trusted. But Asya had a plan. To collar her voice, only released for missions. It silences her vocal cords, sending a shock whenever she attempts to speak or hum. She could still be useful.
Occupation: Teacher Exterminator
Anomaly(s): Vocal manipulation
Face-claim

 

[Mineczka]

Name: Ionna Snežana Korol

Age: 29

Gender: "Unsure? That's reasonable. But, I identify as a woman, y'know, she, her, etc."

Occupation: Machinist, Blacksmith, Exterminator

Anomaly:
Metallurgy - "How fitting. An ex-Machinist and blacksmith with the special ability to alter the metals around her."
Ionna's Anomaly gives her several effects, as her very touch onto metal can alter it's very principles, whether it be the magnetism of it, it's hardness, all the way down to knowing what is in an alloy innately. This also gives Ionna several abilities, as she can alter the shape of the metal into something else, whether it curl around her and form a makeshift armour, move as if it was weightless in the air, or her personal joy.

Reforge-
A secondary part of Metallurgy, with enough time, Ionna can take any processed metal, and reforge it into something else, ranging from turning a sword into a pile of slag, and that pile of slag into a rifle barrel, to creating raw ammunition for cannons, rifles, and the like on the fly. While less dense metals would be easy for her to reforge, altering metals like Aluminum, Titanium, and Magnesium in seconds, whereas denser metals like Tungsten, Platinum, and Gold take longer to reforge, due to their higher density.

Backstory: "Ah shit... Here we go with this..."
Born and raised in the North, Ionna grew up in a relatively lower class family, while not directly poor by any means, her family was a known family of Blacksmiths, and Machinists. It did not take long for Ionna to learn the trade of her family, at seven, her father would wake her early to work the bellows before her lessons would begin, often telling her "Every inch counts." When she complained, unaware that the little bit of work she did, helped her parents pay for the tutor she had, allowing Ionna to learn about the world long before they had.

As she grew older, Ionna would spend more time in the Forge with her father, going slowly from working the bellows, to hammering, all the way down to forging her first work, a simple knife, made from the scrap tungsten and steel her father had sitting around. One which she had put to use so often as she grew older, whether it be cutting simple ropes, or handling herself in a street fight, to her, her precious knife was nigh indestructible. Taking up the mantle of her father, at sixteen, Ionna became a full-time blacksmith, working one part in the forge that she shared with her father, along with in one of many factories, helping repair machinery, replacing parts, or what-have-you. Surviving multiple fires, attacks, and even fights as the world around her seemed to fall to pieces with Anomalies, and the usual nonsense that came from humanity being... Well humanity.

However, she wouldn't know how much she'd be a part of the Third Wave of Anomalies, and that her life would be upended by something far out of her control... Learning of her new anomalous abilities, Ionna kept it secret for at least a month and a half, using it only when no one was there, where no one could discover her secret, and turn her in. People, naturally were suspicious after some time, as Ionna would finish projects at a speed which seemed almost inhuman, working metal as if she were a Forge God of ancient lore... With suspicions, came one letter, someone sending it out to Heliopause, it didn't take long after that, to find a simple blacksmith and wrangle them in.

By the time she knew it, Ionna was within the ranks of Heliopause, her distaste of violence ever there, but, if it means she gets to live, that's about all she cared for the time.

 

[Gaius Danius Griinia]

Name: Fayze Senjak

Age: 25

Occupation: Bouncer Exterminator

Anomaly(s):
Spectral Arm: Fayze generates a spectral clawed arm that is capable of lifting objects as heavy as a person. The arm can be used for throws, punches and swipes. The large arm has a rather large wind up. Only a single arm can be generated at a time. They mimic whatever the arm that conjures them does.
Crimson Line: Fayze uses a similar technique to Spectral Arm but trades power for precision. He can latch on to objects with a thin wire-like arm at a distance to pull himself towards said object.

Backstory:
Fayze was born in the slums of a coastal city, likely the abandoned child of a woman of the night. He grew up among other discarded orphans and riff-raff. Desiring more for himself in spite of his circumstances. Fayze took to lying and stealing in order to survive. Regularly beaten by gangsters, officers of the law and even other orphans. The young Fayze grew accustomed to pain. One day he was taken in by a wandering martial artist along with other hopefuls abandoned by society. Excelling in his studies and discovering an aptitude for fighting. Fayze grew to enjoy inflicting pain on others. It was when he broke the arm of another pupil over a minor dispute that he was cast out. Sent back out into the streets once more. Fayze got a job as a bouncer after saving a bartender from armed thugs. Working that job for a few years gave him steady income and a decent reputation. His life was once again upended after he became an Anchor. The voice it used was that of his master, the day she met him. It offered power that would trump anything. Fayze knew it wanted to nest in his body like a parasite. However he was inevitably tempted by the offer of strength for just a split second. That second was all the Anomaly needed to anchor itself using Fayze.

 

[Xen6n]

Alarik Aurelion

Everybody is a book of blood; wherever we're opened, we're red.

Basic Information

Full Name

Alarik Vârcolak Aurelion

Nicknames

Rik

Epithet

Herrscher of The Blood

Gender

He/Him

Age

39

Gender

Male

Occupation

Mercenary/Exterminator

Appearance

Hair Color

Black

Eye Color

Red

Height

6′3″ (1.91 m)

Weight

225 lbs (102.06 kg)

Alarik is a very tall, wide-set man of a bulky, athletic build, with lightly tanned skin, and a few visible scars showing on his left cheek and the left side of his neck. He has short pitch black hair which is usually parted sideways, away from his face, the only exception to this being the small clump of hair that hangs down over the left of his forehead. He has sharp red eyes, and he has thin reddish lips with a scar across his left eyebrow.

Spoiler: Visual Appearance

Spoiler: Attire

Personality

Alarik gives an impression to all who meet him of total enigma and utter ominosity. Alarik is something of a gruff and aloof sort of person when he's not with his immediate inner circle of friends. He doesn't tend to be outgoing and often seems to be wearing a frown, which doesn't help open conversations with strangers. He tends to cherish his privacy and doesn't appreciate people poking their noses into his personal life. He knows that a lot of what he's done is still wrong, but even so, he doesn't like to talk about it.

Alarik is naturally selfless, always giving, and genuinely concerned about the welfare and happiness of not only those nearest and dearest but humanity as a whole. He is the type that would give his last dollar to someone in need, or do without lunch in order to feed someone less fortunate than himself. However, this all keeps Alarik rather too busy to look after himself, so he sometimes suffers because of it. This selflessness stems from his low esteem and self-hatred, incapable of seeing himself in a positive light and endorsing the self-deprecating thoughts in his head.

Several other traits:

Angry - It's a nice way to put it that Alarik has a lot of anger in his person. He has anger at the world for the way he was brought up, anger at his parents for abandoning him, and even more so at the world for claiming to be civil and law-abiding, but ending up being just a rather large level of hypocrisy. All of this that's occurred in the world has left Alarik with an almost endless well of rage in his person.

Relentless - Quite simply, Alarik is relentless. Once he has a task in his mind and a plan, he will essentially do whatever is necessary to ensure that the task is completed. This can come about in his focus on crime against the innocent, on getting revenge, or on his subtle levels of plans. Either way, he will operate on a minimum of rest to ensure everything goes about smoothly.

Vicious - Over the years, Alarik has become very vicious and is capable of some truly horrible things in the search for what he views as the greater good. Whether this means killing a scumbag who had no task in helping society as a whole, or whether it was something even more brutal as sending a message to other anchors using someone else, he's not above resorting to the nitty and gritty to accomplish his tasks.

Determined - Alarik, as said before, is quite easily a very determined young man, as he will set his mind on something and will not settle or barter for anything less. Once he has a final goal in place, he won't settle for anything less than that goal, he will be of a single mind and purpose to achieve whatever he has set forth as his goal.

Backstory

Content Warning: This story contains themes of abuse and violence that some readers may find disturbing.

Alarik grew up in a tumultuous household and never had a childhood normal children would and adults would look back to. During his childhood, Alarik's brother Randall drowned in a cave while they were playing, starting a strenuous and spiteful relationship with his parents, who frequently abused him. They blamed him for his brother's death and often voiced how they wish it was him instead, but little do they know that Alarik blames himself the most for what happened. His parents were abusive, both physically and emotionally, and often subjected him to unspeakable acts of violence. Alarik was forced to work as a slave for his parents, doing menial labor and enduring their abuse day after day. Alarik's life changed when he discovered he had an extraordinary ability to manipulate blood and learned that he was an anchor. He discovered that he could control his own blood, and he used this newfound power to defend himself against his parents' attacks. One day, Alarik had enough of his parents' abuse and unintentionally slaughtered his mother in an attempt to defend himself and left his father at death's door, fleeing from his home -- if he could ever call it home.

The entity, whatever it was, merely fueled his negative emotions and all those horrible thoughts in his head. His enigma didn't know any better, assuming these emotions were for his benefit but just drove him to greater self-destruction. He decided to make a new life for himself on the streets, but he quickly discovered that life on the streets was just as brutal as living with his parents. Alarik was forced to do whatever it took to survive, including stealing and engaging in violent confrontations with other street dwellers. He also quickly became something of a street urchin, capable of stealing food as necessary, as well as making some sort of survival of his own on the streets of Chroan. Rather than beg for money or food, however, Alarik started to fall into the wrong crowd, and even became adept at stealing objects for reselling so he could make some money.

One day, a crime lord named Amara took notice of Alarik's unique abilities and saw potential in him. Amara offered Alarik a job as a mercenary and hitman for hire, promising him a life of wealth and power. Alarik, desperate for a way out of his current situation, accepted the offer. For several weeks, Alarik worked as Amara's enforcer, using his powers to carry out Amara's dirty work. Alarik became increasingly ruthless and violent, but he saw no other way to escape his past.

However, Alarik's life took a turn for the worse when Amara betrayed him. Amara believed that Alarik was becoming too powerful and posed a threat to his own position, so he arranged for Alarik's capture and arrest by the police. Alarik was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes, and he spent the rest of his days reflecting on the choices that led him down this path. Despite his violent past, Alarik could not help but feel a sense of bitterness and betrayal towards Amara......and everyone, the man who had promised him a way out of his troubled past but ultimately led him to his downfall, and everyone who he turned to would always let him down. But later on, he was granted a second opportunity. The government recognized his talent and presumably felt sorry for him because of his terrible history, but whatever the reason may be, he intends to make the most of it.

Abilities

Enigma's Name: Lo'dianc Cal

Enigma's Personality: Lo'dianc Cal rarely materializes out of Alarik's body, but when he does, he behaves in a highly aggressive manner. It has a volatile and deadly effect on any who comes into contact with the host in a manner that the Lo'dianc Cal perceives as threatening. Besides its hostile nature, Lo'dianc Cal deeply cares about Alarik's well-being, to the point of disregarding others' safety for his own.

Spoiler: Familiar Appearance

Enigma's Abilities:
Lo'dianc Cal possesses the unique ability of Haemokinesis, allowing Alarik to manipulate blood, an essential body fluid in humans and other animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. The majority of the time, Alarik mostly exerts control over his own blood, using them for various purposes, such as for medical purposes, examining, or most commonly combat. He can shape his blood into tendrils to strike enemies from afar or use it to form various weaponry. He can concentrate blood to form bands to bind others, or sharpen his blood to the point that it can slice and tear flesh with ease, or solidify blood to make various weaponry or ice-like constructs.

(Limited) He would be able to indirectly control the movement of objects by leaving traces of blood on them and manipulating that blood in order to move said object. When manipulating blood, he is at risk of anemia and dying of blood loss since he uses his own bloos. Being in a wet environment can also prove troublesome, as exposure to water will cause the membrane of red blood cells to tear, making 45% of blood uncontrollable.

Another use of blood manipulation is controlling the blood within the body of himself, increasing physical abilities by speeding up the transport of nutrients and oxygen via blood to all parts of his body, thus improving his energy and power. He can also use this to speed up healing by immediately clotting his blood, preventing blood loss, and speeding up the recovery process, gaining a form of manual healing factor. Sometimes, he would be able to control the composition of his blood down to the number of red blood cells present in his bloodstream. Alarik also gains a form of cold immunity by increasing body temperature through blood flow.

Weaknesses: (Including the weaknesses stated in the description) Alarik's ability uses both his own blood and his life force, if it wasn't for Lo'dianc Cal's intervention he would be dead when his familiar ability first triggered. Over-usage of his abilities spells death for Alarik (from bleeding to death or just dying from the lack of blood in his body), so it stands to reason Alarik would be more cautious with his powers, having the fear that he might just overdo himself and get himself killed. But he isn't, which also makes him more likely to die or get critically injured.

Another drawback of his familiar ability is his constant struggle with Iron Deficiency Anemia, which he very frequently gets when using his abilities too often. So Alarik would often eat foods rich in iron lest he wants to develop bodily complications that also kill him (like heart failure, lung collapse, brain damage, etc.

His need to hurt himself in order to use his anomaly effectively is seen as his main weakness. Owing to this condition, Alarik is constantly injured, either outwardly or by being covered up to hide his injuries. Nonetheless, it is impossible to ignore the smell of blood on him. He's more likely to die than the typical person because he's literally risking his life to exploit his peculiarity, and despite having hemophilia, he'll always be exhausted after a battle.

Extra

01.

Adept Martial Artist: Alarik has proven himself to be a superb hand-to-hand combatant. Achieving great proficiency over combining and utilize multiple forms of martial arts at once, allowing him to effectively create a new fighting style unique to him and flawlessly move from one form of martial arts to the other, improvise new attacks and more. Alarik is a force to be reckoned with in battle due to his exceptional martial arts skills and being very difficult to predict and counter.

Expert Strategist: Though Alarik seems to suffer from an impulsive nature, instinctively jumping into situations of life-or-death, it's apparent that he works best this way possessing considerable strategic skills, which have been employed in leadership structures, and spontaneous situations, all of which is a necessity in the random environment of the supernatural.

02.

Self-control is a bit of an issue for Alarik. It isn't that he can't control his powers, it is that he enjoys using them so very much, that he sometimes has trouble controlling himself. If his emotions are running high -- anger and pain are notorious triggers -- and he can't get a lid on them, he could go overboard.

03.

Hemophilia: Alarik has the rare genetic disorder that doesn't allow his blood to clot normally. Ever since he was a kid, any blood loss, no matter how minor the injury, could be life threatening. Upon awakening his anomaly, it potentially lessened his malformity.

Alarik also exhibits hypoalgesia, which is another important detail. Meaning that he experiences less pain when presented with stimuli that usually cause pain. He thus has a higher pain threshold than other humans.

Another thing to note is that Alarik possesses the Rh-null blood type, or the "Golden Blood". Blood is considered Rh-null if it lacks all of the 61 possible antigens in the Rh system. This not only makes it rare but also means it can be accepted by anyone with a rare blood type within the Rh system.

Theme Song

01.

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