[Q] Alexis Montague | DSS Roka of the Undertow | Page 1 | Accepted Quests | Guild Forums

Daekie

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Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2022 10:09 pm

Name: Alexis Montague
Nickname: You don't have the right to use those.
Gender/Pronoun: None of your business, they/them
Age: Somewhere around 1060, looks... 24ish?
Birthday: No idea anymore. Picked June 12 at random.
Sign: By proxy of a picked birthdate, Gemini.
Blood Type: Deep red, visually darker and richer than human standard. Beyond that, irrelevant; it should be in their body.
Fav. Food: Sweets and meats of any sort.
Hated Food: None.

Occupation: Freelancer. Currently working as a club bouncer; sure, they're not too large or particularly impressive, but they're scary precise and... scary scary.

Hobbies:
parkour: Normal running is applicable, too, but this is about as close as Alexis gets to flying. They want to be as high up as possible, they want to go fast, they want to -- climbing has always been a tendency of theirs; being in impossible places, and moving in and out and through them. When they need to get out of their head, they always end up on rooftops, on architecture.
chandler: There are so few ways to keep the dark away. Even on Earth, Alexis practices the crafting of candles with obsessive precision; as much as the dark and the deep and the cold are kin and home to them, a place is safe if it is full of warm light. Scent is irrelevant. Just - wax, and oil, and wick.
hunting: The world is alive. It lives. It breathes. It bleeds. Alexis hunts for sport as much as they hunt for practicality; it's an old skill but no less useful for it, and the thrill of the hunt reminds them that they're alive. Here in Destiny City, they try to keep to the forests - too conspicuous in the parks - but they treat it with all the reverence of ritual... and all the irreverence of playtime, depending on the moment.
daredevil: Anything that summons up adrenaline is something Alexis is willing to try, even if they don't keep at it; no matter how theoretically deadly it might be, they've proven lucky so far, and they'll keep pushing that luck. They love high heights and deadly drops, leaping between and around cars on busy roads, and anything that would make a stranger think the word daredevil.

Virtues:
unyielding: Alexis never backs down. Ever. No matter how unwise it might be, how much trouble they might save themself, their refusal to just lie down and die has gotten them this far -- they'll be damned if it stops them now. And they doen't get frightened or unsettled or thrown off their rhythm by much. As much as they might play emotions up for the sake of seeming reasonable and normal, at heart they're unerringly calm, and they take it all in stride. Any obstacle in their way is just something to be overcome or worked around -- it's nearly impossible to really scare them witless or cause real, genuine, blinding rage (although this just means that when they do experience it, it's all the worse).
precise: No place for broad strokes here. Alexis likes it when things are done right, even if it means things take longer. There's no need for mess and repeated attempts if you get it right the first time, is there? They don't move erroneously, they don't speak only to blather; everything they do is precise.
hands-on: No need to delegate. If you want something done -- do it yourself... at least, if it's not something the people they'd delegate to are substantially better at. Alexis tends to be on the front line to deal with any problem that may have popped up. They're not going to bully their way to the front of the line, but more often than not they're proactive about things.
brave: Planning be damned. Alexis will face the unknown, fearless as anything; there's almost nothing that frightens them, and for the few things that do, they'll power through almost all of those, too. Their nerve never fails them, not when it really matters (and even when it doesn't); after all, they're no coward. They'll always stand strong in the face of danger.

Flaws:
unyielding: Alexis never backs down. Ever. They don't want to look weak, they can't stand the thought of it; if they're injured in a fight, they won't accept it and run, they'll keep going until they can't move. They're more than willing to concede there's virtue in running to fight another day - it's just not a virtue they want any part of. They'd rather die than concede, and only by virtue of being as stubborn as they are have they survived this long at all.
backstabber: Alexis betrays. Chronically. It's as if they're driven to do it, to twist the knife, in a way they don't fully control or understand - it's the acid test of friendship writ large. Why would you want to be kind to them, to show them anything good, when they'll never return it at all? It's not that they want to betray, they just do, reflex and instinct prioritized over reason. They've shut all those feelings that might stop them down in a little hatch at the bottom of their heart and locked the door; they've pared themself down so very intentionally, so very practically, and morals were not part of what was needed to stay.
deadhearted: There's something keenly, deeply wrong with Alexis, something deeply off-putting about them, a hole where their heart should be; they mimic emotion and feeling and reaction convincingly, but the tells are there, if you look for them keenly enough. When they drop the masks entirely, it's just cold, still water, with no trace of human kindness to be found at all.
It's not that they don't understand the virtues of pacifism and kindness - it is, simply, that they very much do not care anymore. If violence is the most efficient way to achieve a goal, then violence it is. If lying is the most efficient way to achieve the goal, then they'll lie. Why should it matter to them what laws and rules they break, who they hurt, how they do it?
hedonistic: Alexis is used to things being pared-down and miserable at best, a struggle to survive, and has taken to Destiny City with an almost frightening kind of -- something. Not glee, not exactly. But there's nothing they won't try, nothing too indulgent; they want to feel something, anything, so what's the difference between any of the options that make their heart race? They all make Alexis feel alive. That's all that matters. The person they were before Roka fell - as far as they're concerned - is gone and not returning, too broken-down to ever heal; all those years alone have seen to that, and have made them a very different creature. But that doesn't mean they can't have some fun, even if their old self would've hated it so.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Eyes: Mismatched; right eye's iris is a dull green (#6F8E6A, #82A67D, #77AC6F range). Left eye has a blueish-teal iris. Left eye has scarring on eyelid & surrounding area.
Hair: Dark brown, tied in a long braid that reaches to their knees (sometimes knotted up on the back of their head to get it out of the way). Messy bangs that stop just short of interfering with eyesight. When unbound, their hair is wavy - almost curly (between 2B and 3A). Often it has ribbons or other trinkets braided into it; they're particularly fond of a seaglass hair stick for when they have it pulled up.
Face: Pointy, angular, long nose. Has been jokingly described as 'made out of knives' before. Left eyebrow bisected by a thin scar; claw-mark scars on their left cheek, and a scar on the right of their chin.
Skin Tone: Concerningly pale by human standards, to the point of 'hasn't seen sunlight in ages'. Dark freckles all over body.
Body Type: Lithe to the point of underweight; almost worryingly skinny. Long, toned legs; kicks like a horse. Generally radiates the aura that they're held together by spite and nothing else. All sharp edges.
Burn scarring on forearms, wrists, and palms, as well as most of their back. Scarring from bite or blade or varied source scattered over much of body, but given how they prefer covering up, it's rarely visible.
Clothes: Tends towards an odd mix between lower-class Victorian & modern casual. Always in boots, always in (usually fingerless) gloves; everything else varies, as long as it's easy to move in. Think this. Often wears a wrist brace on their left wrist.

* Alexis is pyrophobic; they are capable of dealing with candleflames, but anything larger causes severe stress, nausea, and other physical manifestations. Dangerous fire (i.e. housefires, fire magic, uncontrolled bonfires) may cause them to dissociate entirely, have a severe panic attack, immediately turn tail and run, or any number of other reactions.

Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2022 10:50 pm

Senshi: Sailor Roka, Senshi of the Undertow

Uniform Color:
Main Color: Dark teal
Secondary Color: Lighter, bluish teal. Accents with a blueish grey.

Uniform: See here for fuku concept jamboard. Basis for symbol/parts of palette/tiara/sash here.

Tiara -- Jagged arcs of metal and seaglass.
Choker -- Ribbon choker.
Collar -- Since top is buttonup, use the collar of that & extend it to normal sailor collar size?
Bodice -- Buttoned-up top with dark teal (underbust?) vest.
Chest Bow -- Minor; to some degree merged with collar.
Brooch -- Small, grey metal (same as tiara) with spiral sigil. Symbol seen in above links.
Sleeves -- Elbow-length sleeve. Sleeve tabs?
Gloves -- Either leather gloves (dark?) or fingerless lace gloves. Reaching to mid-arm, ends covered by end of sleeves? Should colormatch boots.
Buttbow -- Waistsash with long, trailing ribbons. Probably a tripping hazard.
Bottoms -- Mid-thigh(?) shorts, covered with jagged half-skirt on one side; implication that fuku contained full skirt originally but huge pieces of it have been ripped off and torn away.
Shoes -- Boots. Stockings/tights under (knee-length?) with wave pattern.
Accessories -- Translucent fabric tied around head, covering left eye. Bones and seaglass & ribbons tied into hair; braid tied off at bottom with a long strip of ribbon (that matches chestbow?).

Overall vibe is 'Victorian-era gaslamp fantasy mixed with savage mermaid'. Not a feral aesthetic, but something wild; the sea does not forgive.

Attacks:
Sailor Scout Attack: Roka's Current
Roka gestures, and their lower arms and legs are covered in veils of water that manifest out of thin air (think gloves/tights for thickness of water). Anyone who touches the water generated by this attack will temporarily experience the feeling of being trapped in a rip current and dragged under; this may include feeling as if they're tumbling head over heels, being dragged down and away, being unable to breathe, drowning, etc.
This magic is primarily an agility boost -- the debilitating effect only lasts as long as an enemy makes contact with Roka, although at player discretion they may be affected for longer.
While this magic is active, Roka's agility and speed are increased considerably, including acceleration.
This attack lasts for 30 seconds, and Roka can use it three times a battle.

Super Sailor Scout Attack: Roka's Undertow
Roka gestures, and their lower arms and legs are covered in veils of water that manifest out of thin air (think gloves/tights for thickness of water). Anyone who touches the water generated by this attack will temporarily experience the feeling of being trapped in a rip current and dragged under; this may include feeling as if they're tumbling head over heels, being dragged down and away, being unable to breathe, drowning, etc. Although this only lasts for a few seconds, for the rest of the magic's duration they will feel as if they're underwater & experience difficulty moving accordingly.
This magic is primarily an agility boost -- the primary debilitating effect only lasts as long as an enemy makes contact with Roka, although at player discretion they may be affected for longer.
While this magic is active, Roka's agility and speed are increased drastically, including acceleration.
This attack lasts for 25 seconds, and Roka can use it two times a battle.

Eternal Sailor Attack: Cruel Tides
Beginning at Roka's feet and spreading outwards, the area around them in a roughly 20-foot-diameter (beginning ankle-height, rapidly increasing through the first portion of the attack) rapidly floods -- first outwards in a wave, and then inwards, supernaturally dragging anyone and anything caught in the wave into a coalescence of tides and trapping them in the current.
After the tide comes inwards, Roka is surrounded for 35 seconds by a rapidly-moving wall of chilly seawater, roughly six feet tall and 18 inches wide. The water is cold, airless, salty, and also holds whatever objects and other entities were trapped in the wave. Anything trapped in it will be dragged around in the water at high speeds and high pressure until either they manage to escape or the attack ends, and anything that contacts the water will also be dragged inside. When the attack ends, the water shoots outwards again at high pressure, expelling anything it was holding.
Roka can walk through this water without being harmed by its watery properties; however, they are not immune to getting hit in the face with a brick it picked up, so they are effectively trapped in place for the duration of the attack.
At player discretion, characters who are trapped in the current may experience injuries from having objects inside it flung past them at high speeds; they may also experience symptoms of drowning and consequences of seawater inhalation.

Deep Space Senshi:
Physical Features:
Bioluminescent freckles: Alexis' freckles glow faintly in the dark; they do not provide enough light to navigate a dark area and are essentially cosmetic, although they may glow more brightly in times of stress.
Webbed fingers & toes: What it says on the tin.
Overall sharpness: Clawlike nails (both fingers and toes); these have dulled over time trapped on their homeworld & do not add any additional combat capability. Also, fangs. (Given proper nutrition, these can regrow quickly when lost; they... do not do that currently.)
Odd eyes: Alexis has black sclera & slit, catlike pupils. Their left eye is differently colored, and when unglamoured has a pale cyan pupil, almost white; it is a graft used to replace a missing eye, and has no special powers beyond 'being an eye'. They also possess a third eyelid for use underwater.
Much like a cat's eyes, their eyes reflect light.
Gills: Alexis has a set of gills as part of their natural biology. They are fully capable of functioning for an unlimited time underwater on their homeworld, provided that the water contains oxygen. Due to differences in water composition, these may work on other homeworlds or wonders; they do not function on Earth proper.
Fins: Alexis' ears finish with fins, i.e. Sailor Dagon. These are mostly cosmetic, but are capable of displaying a small range of emotion.

Backstory/History:
Roka has never been a kind world. Governed by a wild sea, its people retreated to carved-out cavern-cities or fleets of ships, linked together; its tales and myths are bloody things, stories of trickery and cruelty in the dark. Alexis was not a popular senshi, for what it was worth, given how long it'd been since their predecessor: they were wildhearted, hard to find at any given time, and wildly disobedient to their betters, with a tendency to sneak offworld unannounced and make their own friends in their own time.

As long as they never directly acted to harm their world itself, this behavior was tolerated, it would've been too hard to change, but - something went off the foreseen path, even before the Chaos came. Something broke. It's not as if there are records of any of this; if there were, they've long since been destroyed. It's not as if Alexis can give a clear response or has a clear memory of it, by now. What they do remember is that they were deeply hurt, in a way that reached right down to the soul, some kind of betrayal that scarred them so badly it redefined their entire existence - and they reacted... badly.

It's hard to say how much of it was the Chaos spread across their world by the time everything really went wrong, eating at its heart, driving them to extremes they might never have considered. It's hard to say how much of it was cold, conscious choice, and how much of it was a blind rage; tear it down, tear it all down, so it can never hurt them again. An Eternal Senshi at the height of their power can do a lot of damage, anyway.

Roka was a bustling world, once, full of life in the shadow. By nine hundred years ago, over 90% of the population was gone. Alexis' memories of the intermittent years between the betrayal and then are blurry, sketchy things, from trauma and fear and all other sorts of problems, and are mostly experienced as impulse and concept; and Alexis is certain that they killed their world, although the truth of this is much more complicated. But their people feared them, that much they remember, in a way they hadn't before. Over time, the Rokans aged or grew ill and all - one by one - died, and Alexis, unaging, was the only one left, their power bleeding away bit by bit.

Alone, on a dying world, with no time for anything but continuing to survive. It was out of spite, at the end, towards everything that wanted them dead: the crops long since withered, the skies darker than they'd ever been, waters poisoned, cities in ruins, even the scavenging creatures dead of famine and disease and bled out by Chaos' monstrous creations. There was very little time for anything but survival: the world had been hostile even when it had been healthy, and now it was as far from healthy as it had ever known.
The sea opened to them, then, when they were alone, after years and years of trudging on and fighting for it tooth and nail, when they were ready to finally give up in one moment of all-encompassing, numbing, despair. Maybe fifty years ago, they walked into the sea and did not look back; they, with their bloody nails and wild hair and dead eyes, were still something their world wanted to save. No matter how Alexis felt on the matter at that moment. Their world could not heal their heart, but it could let them rest safely, for a time.

And eventually - one day - there was a tug. Something bright, and new, and something burning from far away. Sailor Roka woke up, then, and they reached out to it and pulled -