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Username:Gregory Dirkham
Character name: Gregory Dirkham
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Personality: Gregory is very much a scholar in many senses, but he is also a young male out to prove himself to the world as well.
Description: Physically, Gregory stands 5'8 and 150 pounds. He wears the garb of a monk and carries a shortsword and a shield. The shield is specially designed with slots through which he can stick his sword to act as a temporary sheath while he frees his hand to cast a rune spell.

Gregory is a gifted rune mage and a skilled physical combatant as well as a result of his training. He refuses to rely on his magic as a crutch, instead trying to solve problems on his own. As he says "There are many tools to choose from when solving a problem. A sledgehammer is not always the correct one." Still, he is not afraid to call upon the magical side of his training should a situation more powerful than he can handle present itself.
Character Class: Rune Mage.
Abilities: Rune magic. Described here. http://www.geocities.com/gregorydirkham/
He is also well trained with a sword and shield.
Alignment:Neutral
IC Reasons for joining the game:Prove himself.
History Gregory had a normal life growing up until his family was struck ill. He was the only survivor from his household, and at first he was merely passed from one orphanage to another. It was a band of monks in the hills that gave him his first stable home, taking him to the school that they ran and lived at. He lived with them and trained physically with them until he was 14, at which time they decided to begin training him in the very art their school had been founded for: rune magic.

Gregory took to it better than most and surprised his mentors with the speed at which his mind sharpened. He caught up to students that had been learning the art their whole life within months. He continued to train in both magical and martial arts, working on magic until his mind was too tired to focus and then spending the rest of the day conditioning himself physically. It became a routine that he not only endured but celebrated as he tried to outdo his prior day's performance with each passing day.

For nearly 14 years he kept up the routine until his masters had no more to teach him and could no longer keep up with him physically. They sent him out into the world with their blessing, although secretly they worried about the trouble his headstrong and slightly arrogant nature might get him into. He left the mountains and ventured down into the city, wondering what sort of work someone of his sort would do. Almost immediately, his question was answered in the form of a piece of paper blowing in the wind. Deciding that the gods must be guiding him, he sought out its owner, bringing him into the events of the PoC.

Alright, I found a sample of my RP'ing. I'm copy pasting it here. My character is John, an ex-assassin looking for shelter and a place to get away from his old life.

John (Me):
John meandered up the road, admiring the scenery as he got closer to the mansion. There was no reason to believe that the owner would possibly want to keep him there, but still, he had to try. He had no place to call his own, and he had heard rumors of Elizabeth and the place she kept for people that weren't always wanted by others. The thought of anyone actually wanting him in their life brought a cynical smile to his face.

As if. The only reason people even notice me are for my skills... to find some way to use me.

The boy strode up the last bit of road, towards a driveway, and then stopped. Turning back now would just be stupid, but it was certainly the only thought going through his head. He stopped, went to turn back the way he had come, thought better of it, and pressed onward toward the mansion. He got up to the front door, stopped, turned around to leave, turned back to the door, and finally brought his hand up and knocked timidly. Realizing that no one could have possibly heard it, he knocked a bit harder, and then stepped back from the door a bit, waiting to see if anyone would answer.

Elizabeth (The other RP'er, currently RP'ing Carrie, an alternate character):
Oh damn... Carrie thought, as she stood in the bathroom, not yet dressed after her comforting shower. Do I have to be the only one attentive enough to answer the door around here? Sheesh...

Taking one of the towels from the cupboard, she wrapped it around herself and exited the bathroom in a cloud of steam. She jogged down the massive Hall and up the few steps to the door. Grasping the handle, she yanked it open, a good portion of her hair falling in front of her face. "Hi, I'm..." she started, before actually taking a good look at the person. Oh... wow. He's fine. And... I'm in a towel. ... Great, she mused.

Trying not to stare, Carrie clutched the towel more tightly around herself. "I'm, uh... Carrie. Nice to meet you, er...?" she stated, extending a hand toward the man.

John:
John took an instinctive step back. He tried to smile, not wanting to scare the first person he met... and then he realized he was looking at a girl wearing nothing but a towel.

"H... hi. I'm John. I-I-I understand that... miss Elizabeth..." It was at this point that he shifted a bit uncomfortably, deliberately drawing his trench coat across his front side to obscure any incriminating evidence of his... 'surprise'.

He decided to try again, this time with a metaphorical running start. "Hi, I'm John! Would you be Miss Elizabeth, by any chance?" The entire statement was uttered in one breath, the words rammed together slightly.

Elizabeth (Still as Carrie):
Feeling herself blush a little, Carrie brushed her hair back behind her ears and smiled warmly. "No... I'm just a guest, I suppose. The last time I saw her... she was out back by the garden. She'll be around somewhere... and if you can't find her, she's said that guests are more than welcome to wander around."

She stepped back out of the doorway to allow John to enter, still trying to ensure that she was properly covered. "The uh... library's nice, if you like to read... and there's lots of food in the kitchen..." she murmured, still blushing slightly.

John:
He forced himself to smile and followed her inside, still not sure what to do from here.

"Thank you. I really don't mean to be a bother." He found himself finally able to speak in a normal tone of voice since he was too distracted by the impressive interior of the mansion. He looked around. "Really nice place... I'm impressed. Anyways, yeah, I think I might want something to eat. Which way is the kitchen?"

He turned to wait for an answer, which caused his gaze to fall back upon her and he began blushing furiously.

Elizabeth (STILL as Carrie):
Carrie smothered a laugh as she noticed him blushing. "The kitchen's through the swinging door at the back of the Hall. There's a door leading to the garden in there, if you want to look for Elizabeth. Just... erm... watch your step around her. She's scary," she shuddered.

Before John had any more time to stare or ask questions, Carrie hurried down the Hall and back into the bathroom for her clothes and a brush, her face still flushed.

John:
He meandered off toward the direction she had indicated, turning to watch her hurry away. As soon as he could no longer see the girl, he sighed in relief. Whatever horrors he had imagined when he was worried about coming here, none of them were quite so embarrasing as what he had just been through. Still, he was alive and had only managed to make a slight idiot of himself. Food was in order.

He went into the kitchen and made himself a sandwich, which he then stood and ate, waiting for Elizabeth to come in from the direction Carrie had indicated. If she didn't come in soon, he would certainly go looking for her, but for now he was simply hungry and food was good.

Username: opaj
Character name: opaj
Age: 21
Gender: Male

Personality: opaj is governed by a strong sense of responsibility and a nearly-as-strong wanderlust. While he does his best to see all sides of a situation, he also holds to the belief that there is a greater order, and his first loyalty is to this order- it is to this end, and not to his friends, that he stakes his life.

In public, opaj is an avid people-watcher. If you were to place him in a random Gaia bar, he'd probably be one of the two guys sitting in the corner, watching the antics of younger patrons (or at least, younger-acting patrons) with much amusement.

Description: opaj stands at about five and a half feet tall, sporting messy, dirty-blond hair and bright blue eyes. He keeps himself in good shape, with well-toned muscles adorning his medium build. He has a faint scar that runs vertically just next to his left eye. While he does change often, his trademark-outfit is a hawaiian t-shirt, green flame pants and geta. Regardless of what he wears, he is never without his three katana. Keppashiri, the vampiric blade, is in a dirty, red sheath and has tattered wrappings. Utou and Raitou are twin blades, in elegant sheathes that feature a white, web-like pattern- the first is adorned in blue, the second in yellow.

Character Class: Kenshi

Abilities: opaj is first and foremost a swordsman. Although he carries three blades, he can only effectively use two at a time (No Zoro rip-offs, I swear!). His skill is such that he can take advantage of the unique traits of his blades to perform special attacks. With Raitou, he can amplify and redirect electric currents, and often uses this blade to turn sparks into waves of lightning and large balls of thunder. With Utou, he can use water like a weapon and cut through/deflect most non-kinetic forms of energy. Finally, with Keppashiri (a double-edged katana), he can use some of his most heavy-hitting strikes.

opaj is the sole survivor of the Ranten Nitoryuu Kenjutsu style, and so he also knows a set of techniques derived from the power of the vampire. His key ability from this set is the ability to exchange blood for force- his own blood. In exchange for that extra boost of energy, a gash mystically opens in opaj's body. This gash is infused with dark energy that must be exorcised before the wound can be healed. Most of the elemental attacks that opaj can draw from his swords require him to use this ability, greatly limiting how frequently he can use them.

Second amongst opaj's 'vampiric' abilities is his blood sense. It acts like a sixth sense in that it allows him to detect and pinpoint the location of any living being (or at least, any being that has blood). However, opaj has to be specifically focusing on this ability for it to work, so it's not useful so much as a warning system as it is as a tracking method.

Finally, after much training, opaj has learned how to infuse his attacks with the same dark energy that infect his blood-useage wounds. By taking the energy from the wound and putting it in his sword, he is able to create cuts that cannot be healed without first being purified, while in the same breath curing his own wounds. While this does allow him to use his blood useage more often (assuming he has a healer on his side), that skill is still limited due to blood loss issues.

For opaj's move list, check the first entry of My Journal. Keep in mind that opaj is capable of creating new moves using the traits of his weapons, but he is limited always by blood useage and the swords' own rules.

Alignment: Lawful-Neutral Good

IC Reasons for joining the game: What else? opaj, as always, feels a strong duty to protect the world from whatever unnatural forces might threaten it.

History opaj was raised in Barton Town, in the same neighborhood as his best friends, Tsuyoshi Munou and Rage. His childhood was rather uneventful; born the youngest heir to his family's school of kenjutsu, he was trained from an early age in Ranten Nitouryuu Kenjutsu, or the Wild Heavens Two-Sword School of Swordsmanship. When he was nine years of age, his father embarked upon a training journey, taking both opaj and his mother along with him. While stopping in one particular town known for drawing the rough crowd, bandits fell upon the inn that opaj was staying at, killing both of his parents as they slept. opaj awoke to find himself completely unnoticed by the bandits as they ransacked the room. Seeing his family dead where they lay, he seized the two family blades, Raitou and Keppashiri, slaying the unsuspecting bandits in a blind rage.

The Vampiric Sword Keppashiri, seeing an opportunity to gorge itself on a great deal of innocent blood, took this moment to seize opaj, hold him in his madness, and urge him forth into the streets. Lacking the emotional strength to regain control, opaj continued to slaughter everything in his path, and by the time he lacked the energy to push on, only one survivor remained: BobRoberts. Rather than kill opaj where he lay, Bob swore to become stronger himself, and take his revenge at a later date.

When opaj came to, his memory was somewhat hazy, but not so hazy that he couldn't remember what he had done. From that day forth, he swore off the path of the sword, deciding instead to lead a life of peace. However, he could not simply toss aside his family heirlooms, and realizing the danger inherant in owning a blade such as Keppashiri, opaj brought the weapon to a great blacksmith, where he had it dulled. For the next ten years of his life, opaj wandered about the country, avoiding combat whenever possible. At the age of nineteen, he finally made his return to Barton Town to find it completely transformed from the place he had grown up in. He soon made new friends, as well as being reunited with the old. In a place like Barton Town, however, it is quite difficult to stay uninvolved with dangerous factors, especially when those to whom you are close refuse to do so themselves, and opaj soon found himself falling back on the combat training of his youth.

Finally, after many years of training, BobRoberts came for his revenge upon opaj. opaj once more resorted to the full force of his swordsmanship, and in the ensuing duel, Bob was left hanging onto his life by a mere thread... and opaj, slain. He was brought back shortly, but not without ill-tidings regarding the Grand Wish, and so opaj took it upon himself to continue with his training, now with a third katana, Utou, presented to him by his as-of-yet unidentified benefactor, Merlo.

Despite all of his preperation, opaj fell in defeat against a samurai in the Grand Wish, whom he wishes to someday fight again in order to prove himself. In the fight opaj suffered severe damage to his left leg and eye, rendering both useless. The leg was healed with little difficulty, but the eye remained dead and useless due to the extensive nerve damage. Unable to prevent the wish itself, opaj fell into a spiral of self-doubt and self-pity; he soon after left on a sojourn away from his friend and loved ones.

Several months having past, opaj once more found himself in the Barton area, brought to the beach where the Coven of the Final Light had landed by fate. Intrigued by the group, he followed them all to a bar; a bar that he recognized as his old hangout. Engaging them in combat to protect his friends, he quickly fell to their superior numbers, once more failing to make a difference in the fight for the world. The next morning he was found by his old friend Rage and his old lover Angelbell, only to find out that Angelbell had moved on when opaj left. Once more feeling remorse, he left again after having only spent a few hours with his close companions.

This time around, his travels found him faced with a poor, defenseless old man being attacked by... what else? Bandits. Making quick work of the third-class warriors, the old man, who turned out to be an accomplished healer, decided to show his gratitude by returning partial sight to opaj's damaged eye just in time for opaj to join in the Grand Battle. And this time, opaj was able to make a difference, personally leading a squadron of hand-picked warriors into battle and helping to save Barton Town from the vast invading army.

His honor somewhat restored, opaj took once more to travelling the greater part of Gaia, now taking time to check in on his friends every once in a while. On one such visit, he found Angelbell in a relationship with one Rasmus Asimov, in which the love was rather one-sided. opaj and Angel reconnected, and soon they found that their old feelings were still alive. Whole once more, opaj faced Rasmus in what was destined to be a not-in-any-way decisive battle, a battle interrupted before any decisive conclusion could be reached.

And so opaj continued his wanderings, making sure to keep his connection with Angelbell, until he was quite suddenly forced out of his body and into a sort of psychic cage designed to feed a robotic clone information on opaj's history and swordsmanship. Luckily for him, Owle was able to snatch him from the clutches of this cage and lend him one of her bodies until he could find his own body and somehow return to it. However, this was not meant to be, for several months later he found himself once more trapped in the robot body... but this time completely in control.

For nearly half a year, opaj sought a way to return to his own body. Finally, he found that way in a shaman named Gilbert. Gilbert helped opaj to not only find his flesh-and-blood form, but to cement him firmly to it. The next few months were pretty uneventful for opaj. At one point he heard news of the destruction of Carter City at the hands of robots, and even met one of the robots after the city's destruction, but he never did find out that the robots were actually after him.

opaj once again found himself roaming without direction, when he found a scrap of litter that held information about the massive chaos that had struck the land in recent times, and hinted at the cause. Perhaps this was the same force that had behind the Grand Wish, Grand Battle, maybe even the Carter City disaster? Taking his blades firmly in hand, opaj headed for the void in the center of the tri-city area.

RP Sample: Broken City. 3nodding I'll give you a link if you want, but since you're using the same guild anyway... ninja

Theme song: Cake- The Distance

Username: Mew Ron
Character name: Masuyu
Age: Twenty Two
Gender: Male
Personality: Masuyu's personality is somewhat complex, as his actions and attitude depend widely upon his mindset at the time. Like anyone, he has a sense of humor, though it may be a bit heartier and absurd than most. At times, he's drawn to make inane comments or pull a prank, but just as often he falls into a pious mind set and speaks like the wisest of the monks he was raised under. His history has left him with a lack of knowledge concerning pop culture, which now intrigues him. He'll often quote a movie or tv show, and has been known to use tv as a reference to how he should act in life.
Description: Long fiery hair contrast deep blue eyes as they adorn Masuyu's face. Outside of combat, he often wears either a set of monk's garbs, or a sleeveless blue shirt and jeans. When exposed, the space of skin across his upper arms are dominated by large tattoos. Across the right is the outline of a spiraling dragon; across the left is the outline of a canine. These tattoos represent the spiritual sides of his past, of his lineage, and his upbringing. In combat, he dressed in a two layer augmentation suit and carries an elongated ninjato. Despite is somewhat lean frame, Masuyu exhibits a high physical fitness through his practice.
Character Class: Combat Mage
Abilities: Skilled as a swordsman of various blades, Masuyu is adept at melee combat with nearly any sword. Though he's no master, he's proficient enough to defend himself and any opponent, even if he never lands an attack. Masuyu has a small assortment of arcane abilities, but has only been formally trained in their control rather than use and expanse. For this reason, he is capable of only a few small feats, but has developed them to be more applicable and powerful through meditation and the augmentations of his armor. Though his is unaware of true nature of his powers, the scientists responsible for constructing his armor theorize that his abilites are byproducts of manipulating unseen magical energy. As he manipulates the energy it affects the physical world around him, though all he or anyone else sees, are the direct affects. To anyone with a "magic sense," it would appear that the energy he controls flows around him, where as he himself is void of it unless attacking.



Alignment: Nuetral
IC Reasons for joining the game: Karmatic Atonement
History Masuyu was orphaned long before he can remember, though he was found and raised by monks. Having found him in a ruined village as the only survivor, and sensing great power within him, his mentors constantly feared there was a dark aura within him. They trained him to supress his powers, fearing they were the cause of his village's destruction. Over the years, he studied the use of several martial weapons, reaching a proficient skill level with ever blade he held, though never truely mastering anything. As he grew, hints of his powers became obvious and he was finally encouraged to learn their use rather than control through resistance. Since those times, he's experimented and developed the small threads of his power, seeking to use them for good causes and atone for the supposed evil that caused his orphaning.
Recently, Masuyu have left his homeland for the more technologically civilized world and become emersed in the mass of pop culture there. Seeking those with similarly extraordinary power, to find common ground and potentially friends, Masuyu has located the mercinary group dubbed, "The Knights of Fortune." In the time of transition, before he was officially given KoF acceptance, Masuyu stayed with a brilliant scientist working for confidential employers. Later, as it turned out, the scientist, Mateo Otori, worked for one of the KoF's resource companies and is responsible for designing the augmentation suit Masuyu wears. Aiding through various tests, Masuyu considers himself an honorary physicist and visits his old room mate between missions.
RP Sample:
With a calm sigh, Masuyu stepped out on the warm sands of the battlefield. Quickly, he lurked across the dunes, away from the transport and into the range his enemy's weapons. Keeping low, he ducked between rocks and behind collapsed rigging of fallen structures, escaping the sights of snipers and guards. As he drew nearer to the enemy base, the sounds of their mobilization reached his ears. Distinctly, he heard the sounds of scrambling feet, and the shouts of experienced soliders. Clenching his fists, he rolled out from his hiding spot and rushed towards the gathering squad. Nine opponents stood between him and the base, and he'd need to dispose of each before trying to break in.

Two snipers, perched in towers opposite each other around the base, spotted Masuyu's movement first. Carefully, one drew his rifle up to his shoulder and found Masuyu in his scope. After a few seconds of tracking and finding his aim, the sniper decided where to take his shot, and fired.

Before the sound reached Masuyu's ears, the sniper's round grazed the plating of his shoulder and ricochetted into the dunes. The attack threw him into a defensive mind set and he ducked into the security of a dune, scrambling through the sands to lose the sniper's scope. Moving several feet from the location of the hit. Masuyu stood again, his focus channled outward as he held his palms in the direction of the towers.

The snipers growled in anger and drew up their scopes, plotting a dual strike at the pest. As they found aim, Masuyu focused his powers and built up a swirling area of invisible force between himself and the snipers. Smiles spread across the faces of all three and the snipers fired.

This time, the sound echoed before the bullets made contact, as they slowed and lost course in the spiraling force. Masuyu could clearly make out the shape of the rounds, flowing with the current of his powers within the invisible bubble. Before the snipers could decipher what happened and draw aim again, Masuyu closed his palms into clenched fists and dropped the spiraling bubbles of force, quickly focusing his power into his knuckles. Bright beams of blue hue, shot forth from his fists, peircing the air on their path towards the towers. He missed the snipers, but successfully struct the towers' supports and easily cut the platforms lose.

The screams of the falling snipers drew the attention of the other soldiers, who promptly drew their guns and took stances. Again, Masuyu flattened his palms and drew up defensive forces around him as the soldiers open fire. Hundreds of rounds peirced into the flowing barrier, slowed, and turned off course. Most slowed enough to flop to the ground on the other side, others carried enough speed to continue their flight past Masuyu, and few managed to strike the surface of his armor, causing much less than the sound of a tap. Shocked, the gunmen halted their fire. Lowering his palms, Masuyu shifted his fingers, aiming them quickly at the mounds behind which the soldiers hid, before channeling more blue colored beams at them. Three beams struck mark and left half in holes within the abdomens of soldiers; four more bore holes into the mounds, and another struck an ammo crate, igniting the rounds inside and taking out another three soldiers near it.

One soldier remained, standing next to the corpses of his comrades. With a scowl, he drew a katana which had rested at his side, and aimed it's point at Masuyu. Oblidging, Masuyu drew the ninjato from his back and took stance, waiting for the man to attack. It didn't take long for the man's fury to prompt him into rushing, drawing the sword to his side for a slash. The attack moved from the man's side, upwards for a diagonal cut, but stopped quickly as Masuyu caught the blade with the pommel of his ninjato, avoiding a direct clash between the blades. Pushing forward, he managed to throw the man off stance. Quickly, the man regained his balanced and shifted his sword for a thurst at Masuyu's stomach. Narrowly, Masuyu managed to spin his sword and divert the thurst past his side, using the dull side of his blade. Clearly, the man was a skilled swordsman, possibly a master slowly testing Masuyu with simpler moves. Before he could draw a conclusion, the man stepped back and moved his sword to his side, drawing back for another slash at Masuyu. This attack moved up from the man's left side, angled to slash at either Masuyu's chest or face if he did not dodge or block it. Carefully, Masuyu tilted his sword, catching the blade under his pommel. He could feel the blade's sharp edge as it cut through the cording of the ninjato's hilt. Anticipating the man's movement to rotate the blade and cut his hand, Masuyu pushed it back and turned to jab the pommel of his handle into the man's arm. Successfully, Masuyu managed to bash the man's wrists and knock his sword lose before turning the blade to catch his opponent's neck.

With a sigh of needless regret, Masuyu flicked the blood from his blade before sheathing it across his back. He'd managed to effectively take out a squad of soldiers and gain access to the base, though his felt no closer to his goal of karmatic atonement.
Theme song: Deify - Disturbed
Equipment:

All right, here we go. I tried to edit it as best I could for the sake of clarification, but I'm sure I missed a lot of stuff anyways....




Username: ragingtofu

Name: Rage (or Axel, as he's known by relatives)

Description: A lot of people believe Rage got his name from his own personality, and they really wouldn't be far off at all. Standing at about five foot nine and weighing in at a less-than-astonishing 154 lbs., Rage isn't exactly the most average person around. Despite his misleading appearance at first, a young man wearing simple clothes (usually a t-shirt, jeans, and sandals with some sort of campshirt or a bomber jacket), Rage has been training for almost his entire life - making unarmed combat almost as lethal as his skills with the three katana that are at his right hip. Having earned many cheesy nicknames for his antics, including the "Lethal Left" (denoting the fact that he is actually left-handed), Rage is always distinguished by three key features that are easy to pick out. The first is his dark skin. Not extremely dark by any means, but just enough that he stands out a little bit in that respect. The second key feature that is constantly being listed on wanted posters, among other things, are his eyes. Being described as everything from pitch black voids of color to shining red like a demon, the truth is that Rage's eyes are an extremely dark brown - and because of this, they tend to reflect quite a bit. The world, people, his emotions... they say that the eyes are a window to the soul, but if that's true, then Rage's soul is just a reflection of the people who surround him. The final, and arguably most important thing about Rage's appearance is his bright green hair, which tends to vary in length since getting a haircut isn't the first thing that usually comes to mind. Most often tied in a ponytail, it trails down his back and has been described as "the dragon's tail" by some. To those who don't know him, Rage is little more than a young man with an odd look to him - but to those who do know of him, he's something to be feared... or hunted for the bounties on his head....

In the ways of personality, Rage is actually a pretty reserved, quiet person. Although he tends to keep to himself (until recently, anyways), he has a very quick wit, often attacking his opponents with more than just physical violence. Although he likes to have a good time with fun and games, and often when he's in a fight he likes to try to make a mockery out of who he's fighting (or at least embarass them before getting down to business), his mood tends to swing in favor of being far more serious when it comes to true challenges or to the protection of his friends and loved ones. Some say he becomes an entirely different person - from the fun-loving, slow-going Rage that his friends know and love to the brutal, murderous and vengeance-driven soul that weilds a blade like it's an extention of his body and soul. Whatever this trigger is, it activates when his friends are in danger - and he'll stop at nothing to keep them safe. There's one final personality that Rage exhibits - one known as Sakura. Unfortunately cursed by accidentally falling into a... erm... cursed spring, Rage becomes female whenever he's submerged in cold water, but returns to his normal male form when he comes in contact with hot water. There are very few differences between these two forms, except that Sakura is marginally faster, but not quite as strong due to less training. This has no actual effect in a fight besides the awkwardness factor... and that Sakura has a slight tendancy to get caught up in Rage's clothes, since they're a bit looser and don't fit as well due to her smaller frame.

Character Class: Makeshift Hero. Rage has always been up for a good fight - chances are if there's a big brawl going down, Rage is either in the middle of it or the one who's started it. This also seems to give him a keen sense of protecting those who need to be protected, although that generally only applies to the people he cares about. Still, if there's real trouble going down and it's obviously bad, Rage always tries to step up to the plate to stop it, even if he's in no physical condition to do so....

Equipment: Not a fan of bulky armor, Rage very rarely has any protective equipment. If he knows that a major battle is coming up, he occasionally wears metal shuko, a gauntlet-like piece of equipment with claws on the inside wrist to stop swords or just tear into enemies. Most of the time, however, he relies on his own abilities to protect hismelf. Of course, he also uses the three katana that he carries (two at his right hip, one on his back) as protection. The katana on his back, the hilt of which is wrapped in cloth bandages, is used the most often - although it shows no signs of wear. Designed to require minimal care, it is also his most balanced and useful weapon, and is somewhat lighter compared to other katana. The first of the two blades at his right hip is a purple-hilted blade with an intricate gold and white tribal designs etched into the scheath. Somewhat heavier and a bit longer than the average katana, Rage isn't completely sure of it's properties or how it works exactly, but it is powerful nonetheless. He calls this one "Gravity" since it seems to hold an odd pull on the phyisics around it. The second one is a bit more enigmatic, as it's constantly changing elements to the most powerful element surrounding it - the hilt and scheathe of the weapon are constantly changing to compensate for the weapon itself, so it's very hard to pinpoint it's exact properties. It should be noted that all of Rage's equipment is more or less-custom made by his grandfather, a.k.a. "Gramps." (Usually some modifications are done to the weapons by Rage himself.) Even the most skilled swordsman could pick up Rage's blades and swing them around, but very few, if any, would actually know how to unlock their abilities.

Abilities: Rage, as you may have guessed, is an avid swordsman, but also has innate abilities that set him apart from a "normal" human:

Swordplay - Rage's specialty to use katanas. This is his basic (if you can call his haphazard style "basic") school for fighting and it is made up of his primary Techs:
* Normal - Rage makes use of his first blade, fighting with the power and deftness that only years of training and knowledge can bring. It is Rage's most trusted and balanced style, using an un-named style of swordplay passed down though his family. This particular sword was given to him by his father, and, despite bad blood with his elder, it is his most prized posession. This particular blade was crafted to require minimal care, and as such, has no scratches, chips, or stains on it, and presumably never will.
* Elemental - The second sword that Rage weilds is a bit of an enigma. Refered to as the "Elemental," it absorbs and reflects the most powerful element in it's presence, reflected by the color of it's hilt. (For example, sticking it in the dirt or a tree would cause it to "attune" to Earth). The weapon inherits all the properties of it's given element (including special attacks related to said element) but will return to it's base element, Steel, if counteracted with the opposite element or if it goes unused for a period of time. As Steel, the weapon functions just like a normal katana. Rage woke up several months ago with this particular weapon stabbed straight through his pillow with a note from his grandfather explaining that he should take good care of it.
* Gravity - Commonly called the "Gravity" or "Physics" blade, this katana is strangely heavier and has a slightly wider blade than most but has a very odd ability - it can move objects as well as itself. Besides being able to hover several feet off the ground and move (somewhat) depending on it's owner's will, it also stores force acted upon it to be used later. What htis means is if a massive broadsword were to strike it, it would then store that exact force and reciprocate it the next time it was used. This was also made for him by Gramps, but this one was given to him directly and with less violence.

Dragonheart - Innate abilities passed down by genetics or otherwise. Despite his past, it has very little to do with his heritage:
* Deep Fried - A simple skill involving manipulating fire either by superheating the air itself or quite litterally scooping fire into his hand. Generally used as a defensive or distraction technique, since although he can make a fireball, it doesn't travel very far at all and dissipates quickly. This ability also allows him to superheat parts of his body to prevent grabs, or in extreme cases, weaken or melt weaker metals. These abilities are used rarely in battle since they can be very exhausting, although he has been known to use it in conjunction with alcoholic beverages to actually breathe fire - a skill he learned about at an alarmingly young age....
* Hero's Spirit - An ability to ignore pain and endure wounds, mostly due to an unatural adrenaline boost and the simple will to continue on. It also accelerates his healing from mortal blows when he goes unconcious. By no means is he invincible - but if he can escape a battle or if his opponent is sloppy, it's a life-saving ability when there's nobody around to heal him. This does not prevent physical ailment or anything like that - a busted leg is still a busted leg, and he still won't be able to walk on it until it's set and heals on it's own... although it also makes him immune to the effects of very minor poisons... such as alcohol.

Alignment: Chaotic Good / Neutral. If there's something in between I'll go with that. If there isn't, Neutral. He really fights for the sake of the safety of his friends or just for the sake of fighting, but if there's evil afoot he'll do his best to stop it.

IC reasons for joining the game: Twofold. First, his friends will probably get him involved in one way or another, and second, Rage loves a good fight. Yeah, that's it.

History: (Self-written) The town of Firebrand, circa 1985. Within the city walls resides a small, comfortable house - not the greatest ever built, but by no means worn down. It was the typical house you'd expect for a family, just off the cobblestone streets that had yet to recieve the sort of update the rest of the world was now accustomed to. It was within the walls of this home that young Axel was born to loving parents - Alys, his strong-willed mother, and Axel Sr., his strong-headed father. For the first few years of his life, Axel grew up like any other child, alabeit occasional trips to his grandfather's hut (a decrepit-looking shed on the edge of town) to teach him from a very early age how to weild a katana. Due to Gramps' instruction, he quickly learned the ins and outs of the blade, but was constantly being reprimanded for how he used it. Being a natural troublemaker (known to be the son of two of the more... questionable people in town), Axel generated several nicknames as a child, the one getting the most mileage being Rage due to the odd fires that seemed to spring up now and then when he was around. Even so, the people of Acorn Town seemed far more accepting of him - but as they say, looks can be decieving - and when some major trouble happened, it all fell upon the "dragon child," Rage. Nobody's exactly sure how the fire broke out at the child's house... all that's certain is that Alys and Axel Sr. were gone, and the younger Axel was seen sleeping soundly amidst the flames, as if the fire and smoke had no effect on him at all, not a single green hair on his head scorched in the least. According to the firefighter who had managed to pull him out of the building, anyways. But not all was well, even after this fact. Charged with the murder of his own parents, seeing as there was nothing left in the house but scorched remains, Rage was spared the penalty of death - partially due to the pleas of his grandfather, but also in part due to how everybody seemed that much happier that his parents were not of this earth any longer. Throughout all these years, a giant stone dragon in the middle of town watched over it peacefully... but some people still believe to this day that the dragon never looked angry before the day that Rage was cast out.

It would be several years before Rage, now in his early teens, would force himself through the gates of a small hunting town far north of Isle de Gambino. Struggling for life, and considering in all cases he should be dead, he was nursed back to health by two middle-aged parents, Marco and Eri, and their daughter, Eriko. For several months, the four lived together just like a family - Rage couldn't help but come to think of Eriko as a sister, and her parents as his own. Although the town was small and quiet, the thought of something odd going on never quite escaped Rage's mind. But, like many other things, he just pushed it away, figuring it was just leftover paranoia from being a drifter for so long. Yet it all came crashing down on him... and it was this event which would unlock more of his history, and at the same time, seal it away from him. On one of his usual hunts, training his bow and arrow skills (he had usually done so with his sword, but figured it was time for something new), he heard the town square's bell ring. He had always been told it was the sign of an attack, and without a moment's hesitation he ran straight back towards the town. When he arrived, the entire place was deserted. Worried about what he might find, nothing could ready him for the slaughter that had taken place in the house he had called home. All he saw was blood... and for the first time, an unholy anger and twisted justice burned in his heart. Finding the bodies in short order, he gave them what blessings and comforts he could before charging back outside. Surely Eriko had escaped. She was fast, and smart. It was easy, Eri and Marco had died protecting her, and she was... laying against the monument in the center of town, a sword penetrating her chest straight through to the stone on the other side of her body. Whatever sanity and humanity was left of him was now far, far gone as someone touched his shoulder. Screaming in anger, Rage pulled the blade from his sister's chest and slashed wildly at whoever stood behind him, cutting in half the first drop of rain before it could touch the ground. The storm only got worse as the hooded man tried to restrain him with cultist's prayers and words... and more figures emerged from the darkness. The first man, the one who had started it all, began to speak. But Rage cut him off at the last minute. "Now... be a good boy and..."

"DIE!!"

When Rage woke up the next day, he found himself laying on pools of blood mixed with water, slowly draining from the cobblestones into the softer ground nearby. Eriko's body was nowhere to be seen, and Rage had assumed the worst. Spending the next three days burrying the bodies of the cloaked people, which were members of the town, he made three special graves - two for his fallen adoptive parents, and one for the sister he couldn't find. Despite all the lives he had taken, he couldn't bring himself to atone for his sins with his own. Only when he saved as many lives as he had slain, and only when he knew that he could do no more with his life... that was when he could rest in peace. Even if he had to conquer death itself.

(RP) It took a few years before Rage made his way back to Barton Town. Nineteen at the time, the young swordsman had managed to get back into communication with his childhood friends, opaj and Tsuyoshi. The joys of reunion were brief, however. The Gaian Bar, Rage's favorite place to crash, had very recently come under attack by MagiTek enterprises and it's owner, Karean Takanago. Joining up with a rag-tag group of heroes, and driven by the joys of being able to hurt things, Rage took his part in the plan to topple the corporation, save the Bar, and maybe earn a few free drinks in the process. After acting as a bouncer, kidnapping Karean, taking down several advanced armor systems known as T-Suits, and blowing away a Gundam with a massive fireball (while incapacitating himself for the next few days with that stunt), the heroes finally succeeded... in a sense. The Bar was finally safe, and a long-standing bet was called off - a bet between the Gaian Bar's owner and an assassin, which had started the whole situation in the first place.

Not too long after this, Rage met who would become his long-time girlfriend - a necromancer by the name of Elvidnir. Initially simply trying to keep the girl from getting killed, as well as teach her his methods of fighting so she could protect herself, the relationship naturally progressed over time into something that was clearly more than just friends. Still, it seems as though they don't really act like they're really a couple. But some people just think it's the way their personalities clash....

Anyways, Rage involved himself with an interesting problem having to do with his friend opaj's girlfriend, Angel. The kitsune girl was stuck with a strange necklace that gave her horrible shocks, and opaj had hired an investigator, Bob Robberts, to help out with the case. After a few trifling incidents, Rage had his hand in taking down Bob, but ultimately leaving everything to his friend - it was opaj's battle, and Rage was too overwhelmed by the magical energies of the Council of Magi grounds to do anything of much effect anyways. After the dust settled, all was well again, more or less.... But another storm was brewing. The end of the world, to some, a grand tournament the likes of which nobody had ever seen to others. The Grand Wish Tournament. Many of the rag-tag heroes, now a little less rag-tag and a little more heroic, heard about this great tournament and what it could mean if the goddess Hysteria was able to fulfill her own wishes. Entering the tournament with friends and even enemies, Rage fought valiantly but was struck down by an axe in the first round when saving Elvidnir from that axe, which was meant for her. It was several days before he would recover, only to find out that the tournament had ended, and that the world still existed. His friends and those he cared about were still alive... and he could rest well.

(Self-written) It was quite a time later when Rage had ventured out on a short journey for the purposes of exploration and training. Somehow making his way into unfamiliar territory with his horribly bad (perhaps even legendary bad) sense of direction, Rage stumbled onto a great number of cursed springs. Well, he didn't know they were cursed springs. And he didn't really stumble upon them - he fell into one. Hacking up water as they surfaced, Rage felt a bit... different. His clothes were a bit too lose, and something just didn't feel right. He looked down only to find that he wasn't exactly a "he" anymore... the cursed springs had turned him into a woman of the same age.

(RP) Soon becoming acustomed to having to live as such, Rage (or rather, Sakura), found her way to Bob Robbert's bar and grill - the Montage. It was here he (she?) would meet a girl who would become something like a younger sister over time - Owle Isohos. It wasn't exactly in the most pleasant of ways - Sakura had tackled Owle to the ground to keep her from being oblitherated by the weapons of Morgan Flare's mech's weapons. After repelling several attacks from Morgan, things calmed down for a time... at least, until Bob and Angel became a couple while opaj was gone. But the relationship wouldn't last - Bob had gone rather... insane... and it was up to Sakura and friends to put him out of commission before he could hurt Angel more than he already had. After Bob was gone, Sakura decided to take over the Montage, and give it a new name - the Firebrand. And at about the same time that Rage learned a way to reverse the curse with hot water (cold water would still cause him to change to a female form), he found out that Owle was being held captive by Morgan. The battle against Morgan and his NGC (a small group dedicated to eradicating "muties" from Gaia) was long and painful, and many joined the fight to save Owle. But it all came to a sudden, disturbing end when Morgan took his own life....

Not too long after came a sort of extended family reunion. A very dysfunctional, anger-filled reunion.... And it all started due to the mysterious corporation known as X-Tech. somehow managing to get a hold of Rage, X-Tech mutilated his right arm, and eventually removed it, casting him into the streets to die. But underestimating the man's spirit was not wise. Overcome with shock and vengeance, Rage had managed to make his way back to the Firebrand, but just barely, nursing where his arm used to be with the utmost care. It was about this time that he was reunited with his father, and met his younger brother (also named Axel) for the first time. His father was forced to keep him from killing the younger Axel, snapping him back to his senses in short order. It was also his father who retrieved the son's arm... and re-attatching it with forbidden arts that he learned in the afterlife. Although the elder dissapeared, the two brothers took out their vengeance upon X-Tech, seemingly destroying it forever.... Not long after, there was another shock in store for Rage. Eriko was alive. Having spent several years hunting Rage down, the girl was hot on his trail with a guitar that had a katana hidden inside. The first thing she did upon seeing her brother was, of course... smash him across the head with the guitar....

Rasmus Asimov isn't a name that Rage is very friendly with. After several battles with the man, he found that his bar and livelihood, the Firebrand, was burned to the ground thanks to a clash between Rasmus and opaj. Stuck with the aftermath of rebuilding it, Rage decided to hire the rotound Watts, a grizzled old dwarf who promised to rebuild the Firebrand... for a price. But at this point, the bar was the least of his worries, as a massive battle... no, a Grand Battle was on the horizon. Although never really one to see things in a sense of good and evil, Rage couldn't stand the thought of losing his friends and losing yet another town that he had called home, and so joined the Barton defensive as a general, doing what he could to command the armies of Barton and getting into the fray himself.

It was some time later that Rage dissapeared for an unusually long time... only to have his brother deliver a message to his friends. Rage was gone, having succumbed to unknown wounds and asking his brother to deliver this very message to those he knew. But Rage promised that some day, some how, he'd return. It just... might take a while.

(Self-written) Sure enough, Rage found himself in the afterlife, but not for long. (RP) After meeting up with Owle for a brief moment to discuss their otherworldly plans, (Self-written) Rage met up with the King of the Dead, who was supposed to determine his fate in the afterlife. But Rage struck a deal with him. If he could beat the King in a game of Rock Paper Scisors, he could return to Earth - and the King took him on. Death always wins, of course... well, almost always. Somehow, Rage won the not-so-grueling battle, and was returned to Earth through a massive explosion at the Firebrand... but devoid of nearly all his memories from the past few years. All he had to go on was instinct and fragments of his former life. His memories were not lost forever, but rather locked away... waiting for the right time to return to him.

(RP) Still going through most of his days getting accustomed to the fact that he might never know what happened to him over the last few years, Rage was alerted to a strange event going on in Carson City - robots. Three of them, to be exact, and slowly but surely leveling the city and everything in it, giving it the solomn nickname of "The Broken City." Although the thought of taking one of these robots down in a good fight was appealing, so was the massive reward on each robot's head. Once again grouping up with a rag-tag group of heroes, including old friend Tsuyoshi who had seemed to blow into town at just the right time, Rage plunged into the remenants of the city to bag himself a robot CPU. Of course, nothing is as easy as it sounds, as Rage soon learned as his team clashed with others looking for the bounty on the robot heads. But the team managed to find one of the robots, CR32-B, and quickly chased it into a nearby subway, even though there was another team hot on their tail and chasing the 'bot as well.

It was in the subway that things took an interesting and painful twist. With the bulk of the damage being done by Tsuyoshi and Rage as the other members of their team and the other team battling it out, CR32-B interrupted one of Rage's attacks by using his advantage of reach to grab the man around the throat. After a brief exchange of insults (and Rage spitting blood in the robot's face), CR32-B thought it to be a much better idea to use Rage as a battering ram, smashing him into the subway wall until the robot was able to make an escape. The battle continued out into the streets once again, until Tsuyoshi was able to catch up with his friend, and he and Rage started their final encounter on CR32-B. The robot's kung-fu was strong, but Tsu and Rage were stronger, especially with the company of an odd cat lady (Mangoagogo's character) and her healing cats. With one final, rage-fueled attack, Tsuyoshi took out the legs of the robot while Rage clung to it's chest, raising his white-hot katana one last time to slice off the robot's head.

With a broken arm, several broken ribs, and a completely exhausted body, Rage joined Tsuyoshi and the cat lady as they decided to make their escape. They could only hope that the other members of their team, Ryoko and Daniel, were safe... but things didn't end there.

Returning home with his core, Rage realized that he had no idea what to do with it just as he was hit with a massive lethargy, as if his energy was constantly being drained. It felt like a burden just to stand up, and he knew that it was the core doing it to him. But he refused to give it up until he got something out of it - his friends had struggled and suffered too much for this whole situation to come to a crashing halt now. Even as he still healed from his injuries he came under attack, causing him to change his strategy from his usual gung-ho attack plan to one of stealth and evasion. It worked - after a few days he recieved a message of instruction as to where to drop off his core and claim his reward. Unfortunately, he was also instructed to go alone....

Arriving at the old warehouse in Desert X, Rage met up with a few other holders of the cores, and all of them did as they were instructed - placed their cores in a circle and claimed their rewards. But, like anything else surrounding this whole event, it was not as easy as it seemed, as the two robots melded with all four cores of the robots plauging Carter City, forcing the four previous core-holders to band together to take down what was now a super-robot. After a long battle, full of action and vigor and all that sort of thing, an unfortunate turn of events nearly caused the death of everyone inside. As one of the more technology-driven men released liquid nitrogen in an atempt to freeze the robot, just as Rage latched onto it to try to melt it by superheating his body. The results... were explosive. A massive explosion rocked the building, destroying the robot and nearly killing everyone inside. But... the threat was over, and the Broken City saga had finally come to an end.

Once Rage had gained his bearings back again, he called for Ryu the dragon once again to carry him home where he'd get the rest he so fitfully deserved.


((To be perfectly honest this was written almost entirely in a rush, under lack of sleep, and the timeline might be a little off in some places, but all of these events did happen for sure, and probably a few I've forgotten. So... yep. If I had more time it'd be far better written, too... eh well.))


RP Sample: The blood was rushing to Rage's head. It had been a while since he had been in a barfight, but he had to admit this was the first time he was stuck hanging upside-down from the rafters like a bat. His shoes were hooked onto the top, and he was really kinda hoping that things would die down before he did something similar. The angry drunkard who had attacked him returned to his seat, never once considering the possibility that there were directions besides left and right to look at. Swinging himself up to grab the rafter, he sat for a while trying to plan his escape. He wasn't opposed to fighting the brute below him, but at the same time, he realized that if someone spotted him leaving he'd probably have to pay his tab. Or just kill the bartender, but he liked the guy.

He walked the length of the rafter, switching to other ones as necessary to reach the balcony above the bar area. It wasn't as well-lit as the rest of the place, and nobody really paid attention. Just as he was about to commend himself for his daring act, a bottle whizzed by his head, crashing a few feet behind him against the wall. "Git back here, boah," came the slurred, rumbling voice of the rotound man from earlier. "Ah'v got a bone ter' pick wi'choo." Another volley of bottles as Rage bounced around to avoid them, catching the last one and tossing it to himself. "You wanna do this, huh?" He said, throwing the bottle behind him with a crash. He put his right hand on his left shoulder and rotated it a few times. "Then...."

He jumped over the railing, slamming his fist into the boards on the floor, and causing a nearby table to turn over. "... let's rock."

((Also very short and not descriptive. Sue me.))

Theme Song: "Hand That Feeds" - Nine Inch Nails