...Bio help thread?

[TheOtherTed]

If there's a thread that helps people "workshop" bios, let me know and I'll post the following to it.  If not, here goes my plea for help...

 

I've been playing a Dark / Nature Affinity controller for a bit, and in a move that's unusual for me, I never had a clear idea of who or what the character is.  I randomly assigned her the Magic origin and didn't think anything more of it - just enjoyed the weirdness of the powerset combination.

 

Recently, though, it occurred to me that the combo might make sense for a Seer who has either joined forces with, or been contaminated by, the Devouring Earth - but I have no idea how or why that would happen.  My gold-side lore is shaky at best.  Also, it seems like Mutation or Science might be better origin choices theme-wise.  Mutation might explain why she may have latched on to some DE vibe that other Seers could ignore, for instance, while Science might hint at some chemical contamination that screwed up her Seer conditioning.  Or something.  I know origin is pretty meaningless, especially in Praetoria, but my small mind craves consistency.

 

So - any thoughts on what might cause a Seer to gain vaguely DE-themed powers and suddenly decide to go rogue?

[Erratic1]

Sometimes character defining events occur which change/enhance/modify a superhero's powers that have nothing to do with the character's existing backstory/origin:

 

• Danielle Moonstar (Mirage) of the New Mutants originally had the mutant ability to manifest other people's fears as illusions. An adventure involving Asgard granted her the mystical ability to sense individual's impending danger/death. 
• Lightning Lass of the Legion of Superheroes had her powers altered by magic to the ability to make things light or unaffected by gravity, shifting her name to Light Lass.
• Rogue gained permanent super strength and flight after an incredibly strong application of her original power to leech other's powers and memories on Carol Danvers aka Ms Marvel and now Captain Marvel.

 

Hamidon transformed itself from human to whatever it is now via magic and science and the Devouring Earth are its creation. Since your character's origin is Magic, perhaps some sort of magical interaction occurred during an encounter with the DE to cause new powers to manifest.

[Christopher Robin]

@TheOtherTed There are much better writers here than I (many are MIA of late) but how about something like

a dark ritual gone awry in a place that has a strong affinity with nature (to better tie in to her powersets)?

 

She has a very dark premonition of something bad that will happen to her beloved emperor Cole

but her vision is blurry so she ventures down into the Underground and fights her way past

the zombies only to be attacked & implanted with spores by the Avatar of Hamidon?

 

Or maybe she tries to scry for her own fate using the Ley Lines on top of the Westerman Building

(mentioned as a ley Nexus in the 2nd part of Cerulean's arc) in First Ward but gets interrupted by Diabolique?

 

 

Edited February 27, 2021 by Christopher Robin

[AzureAngel]

3 hours ago, TheOtherTed said:

If there's a thread that helps people "workshop" bios, let me know and I'll post the following to it.  If not, here goes my plea for help...

 

I've been playing a Dark / Nature Affinity controller for a bit, and in a move that's unusual for me, I never had a clear idea of who or what the character is.  I randomly assigned her the Magic origin and didn't think anything more of it - just enjoyed the weirdness of the powerset combination.

 

Recently, though, it occurred to me that the combo might make sense for a Seer who has either joined forces with, or been contaminated by, the Devouring Earth - but I have no idea how or why that would happen.  My gold-side lore is shaky at best.  Also, it seems like Mutation or Science might be better origin choices theme-wise.  Mutation might explain why she may have latched on to some DE vibe that other Seers could ignore, for instance, while Science might hint at some chemical contamination that screwed up her Seer conditioning.  Or something.  I know origin is pretty meaningless, especially in Praetoria, but my small mind craves consistency.

 

So - any thoughts on what might cause a Seer to gain vaguely DE-themed powers and suddenly decide to go rogue?

Compelling characters come from moral choices that those characters simply cannot walk away from. Epic characters--that is to say, characters who's actions tend to determine the fate of the world--are usually built on an interesting character flaw or moral obligation.

 

Since you mentioned that your character is a former Seer, a recurring character trope is "Kali the Destroyer," or the mythically-powered woman who has the power to bring armageddon (like Dark Phoenix from X-Men or Kerrigan from StarCraft). "Kali the Destroyer" characters are usually sympathetic to the audience when they're motivated by revenge (eg, Maleficent). 

Hopefully there's something in there that might help you flesh out your backstory a bit more.

[Christopher Robin]

I'll see if I can cast a dark ritual of my own and summon some of our more writerly fellows.

Otherwise known as @'ing them and see if they respond to the on-screen tell.

 

Abraca- @Dacy @EyeLuvBooks @QueenBethari @Darth Delicious @Caemgen @Flashtoo -pocus!

 

 

Edited February 27, 2021 by Christopher Robin

[Dacy]

*poof* a Dacy appears.

[Christopher Robin]

Eureka, the magic works! I summoned a +3 Dacy! WB.

* waves at Dacy and goes to buy a lottery ticket *

 

Caemgen will say he is too lazy to finish writing his own heroes to help someone else and Darth Delicious

will say she doesn't play enough Gold Side to be much help (I just threw them in because they

are good at writing and I am being a pain in the tucas) but perhaps the others

can give you some good suggestions for why your character exists?

 

Edited February 28, 2021 by Christopher Robin

[stealthnight]

I love writing my toons bio's, usually have them in my head before I'm done with their costume. Here is one for you to ponder. The Seer's and D.E. have a strong connection in First Ward. The name is just a place-holder since you didn't mention one.

 

Committed to the Mother of Mercy Psychiatric Hospital "Alice" was subjected to unspeakable tests to determine which Seers Group she would be best suited for. The tests were never completed. The attack came without warning, the sonic fence had failed to keep the Devouring Earth out of First Ward. --

 

The foot stomp of a Greater Devoured shook the earth and sent "Alice" to the ground, the creature sensing dormant powers within the human hurled a swarm of toxic living spores at her. The spores attacked her body breaking down living cells. As she knelt on the grassy hill overlooking the city "Alice" watched as the D.E. consumed helpless citizens, in a final act of defiance she threw up an impenetrable physic shield around the hospital to protect the remaining survivors. A few moments later her body fell apart and decomposed there on the hillside. --

 

Months went by the city lay dormant after the D.E. had been pushed back. A calm breeze blew over the hillside. The ground shook and a dark blast shot from the earth. Emerging from the ground "Alice" now a being of darkness and flora, death and life rose.

Edited February 28, 2021 by stealthnight

[Dacy]

The Seer pivoted, her senses reaching out. Something was there...something was calling to her. Something not human. Her blood sang in response. She quickly scanned the area for other Seers: none were in range. Cautiously, she moved towards...it. Whatever it was. It sang of life. It sang of freedom.  The call was irresistible. Still...the Hamidon was not far from her mind, and she was wary. Could this be a trap? Her job was to protect her world and her people, and any threat had to be neutralized. Especially one this compelling.

 

At the edge of the city, again, she hesitated briefly, trying to fight a call that was now overwhelming. She flew ever faster towards a tree. It looked like most other trees, except to her eyes, it had a slight glow. Upon reaching the tree, an ancient magic long dormant in her blood rose in a joyous reunion with the weak but still viable tree spirit, and the Seer suddenly felt alive in a way she had never experienced before--she was connected to all of the natural world around her, and she could feel it responding to her! Understanding flooded her mind; an understanding of the wrongs Nature had witnessed for years. Her eyes now open, she determined then and there to use her training and her new found power over nature itself to fight the wrongs she now understood.

[Dacy]

I didn't do a character count on that, hoping it fits. 🙂

 

-Dacy

 

(if it does not, CR is Tops in editing)

[Dacy]

Please do tell us what you finally write, choose, or come up with. 🙂

 

-Dacy

[TheOtherTed]

I appreciate everyone's input - it was all very helpful - and especially the writing samples (always fun to read!).  After cogitating on all the above, and reading up on the spoilery bits about the Praetorian Hamidon, I think I've got a core of an idea, or at least a justification and a focus for something that's been fermenting in my head.

 

Un-artistically put, my ex-Seer has a genetic mutation (or several) that attunes her psionic abilities to a much lower frequency than the "usual" psionicist.  As a result, she finds it extremely difficult to tune in to the Seer Network, and to do Seer-type stuff.  However, her natural range of sensitivity allows her to sense, and tap into, strange psychic energies of which Seers are not typically aware.  After some testing and experimentation, it was revealed that a portion of Hamidon's own psychic carrier frequencies falls within her range, and it just so happens that the very low amplitude signals given off by plants and fungi are in this range as well.

 

However, she has no particular love (or even like) for Hamidon, or plants, or nature in general.  Plus, she reports that there are "other voices" that no one has yet been able to confirm, and that she can't (or won't) describe.  In the end, it was decided that she would be better suited for service in the Powers Division than as a Seer, and that's where her story begins.

 

I'll probably write this up as snippets of a third-person technical report explaining the decision.  However, if people would lke to bounce ideas off the above, I'd love to read them!

[Christopher Robin]

@TheOtherTed

My first thought upon reading your text is "What about Praetor Tillman (Mother)?"

She is one of the most powerful psychics in the world and totally devoted to Emperor Cole.

She's not about to let one of her precious "children" leave to join powers division or have anything to

do with (as far as the public is concerned) the sworn enemy of her Emperor. I believe at one point you even learn...

Spoiler

Mother Mayhem is literally "trimming" the seer's psyches! She cuts away

any fragments of their being that are disobedient to her will. So any

talk of reporting "other voices" or different frequencies and SNIP!

 

This is where the apparitions running loose in First Ward come from, they are the snippets that she

cuts out of her seer network. You could still work something like that into your story but you

may need some mention of how she is able to hide her abilities from Mother's sight or

some reason (mysterious or explained) why Mother would allow these defiant bits to exist.

 

Alternatively maybe Alice was rejected from her school as being too weak and then accidentally

absorbed one or more of these snippets or felt a connection to an apparition that used

to be part of someone close to you. Just some things to mull over for you.

 

Some good points @AzureAngel, @Erratic1 and I like the stories you both came up with @stealthnight and @Dacy.

Stealth's does touch on how Mother was doing her "work" but was interrupted by a DE attack and from Dacy's

I get the sense that Mother feels she completed her work on "Alice" and considered her a success but once

out of her care Alice ran into a force even more compelling in the call of Hamidon and you could even

weave in the mutations you mention into this story as they were latent Mother didn't notice them

but something in nature triggered them and once active she could now hear the Will of Earth.

 

 

 

Edited March 1, 2021 by Christopher Robin

[Caemgen]

     I've never been one to pay much attention to Hammy and that storyline.  I know the basics of the Devouring Earth but *shrug* not my favorite storyline. 

 

     Still, when "origin" doesn't necessarily suit your background / backstory you can always punt - The last thing I expected during my battle with the Devouring Earth was for War Witch to show up!  What spells she thought she was slinging and for what purpose, I'll never know... What I do know is that her arcane magics somehow mixed with my psychic powers and the Devouring Earth and changed everything in a flash!  

 

     You can have whatever backstory you want while still having a reason that you're of magic "origin" PLUS you get a nemesis to blame all your woes upon!

[Flashtoo]

I'm not hugely up on my Praetorian lore (though I should be better about it, seeing as one of my own characters is a Praetorian Carnie). 

 

That said, the concept of a Seer gone rogue because of DE contamination is entirely plausible - the contamination and subsequent influence from Hamidon might be itself enough to overpower Mother's hold. While this would still point at a Science (representing the DE alterations to the character) or Mutation (representing the innate psychic powers that would bring her into the Seer program in the first place) origin, it is in my mind the simplest and most sensible way to play things. Perhaps it's some Magic phenomenon that gave her back her free will.

[_Kai_]

Somehow I missed this...hi, player of the junior leader of the NPI, we know stuff about goldside 🙂

 

So if you want to stick with Magic origin? Blame Master Midnight.  Your character could have been another interchangeable Seer in the First Ward attached to a DUST unit who got wrecked by the Hamidon Seed and its spawns, but rather than die, Master Midnight decided to use her as an experiment, imbuing her with dark magics that cut her off from the Seer Network. He didn't really intend for her to survive, and when she did, he kicked her to the curb essentially because she was already infected by the Hamidon, it was only when the Carnival of Light/the Primals/someone with magical knowledge/take your pick stopped to examine her that they realized she wasn't a threat, that the dark magics had somehow counteracted the Tellurian plague but left her the ability to control plants in a small way.