Archive for November 3rd, 2011
#2 Anton the Butcher
Anton the Butcher left his homeland with his wife with a skip in his step and a song in his heart. He was headed to Toronto, where he had heard rumours of great opportunity and fortune. The weather, he had heard, was not as temperate as the coast, but the rumours spoke of a vibrant city where the jobs were plentiful and the money flowed.
Anton found himself employed by the William Davies Company — just another cog in the massive pork industry machine that gave Toronto its epithet of “Hogtown.” The work was brutal, messy and bloody. The labourers worked in grim silence, the sickening thud of cleaver through carcass the only sound filling the heavy putrid air.
The atmosphere of the plant had a profound impact on Anton. He no longer smiled. He no longer cared. He was trapped by his profession no matter where he went. And as h lost himself further and further into a world of dead flesh and blood, his wife found her escape in the drink. Taking advantage of Anton’s wages and long hours she fled into the seedy night-life of a city fuelled by the prohibition to the south.
Anton was not stupid. He realised what was happening while he was away. There was little doubt in his mind that his wife had not only taken up that drink, but had started seeing other men as a way of further satisfying her desires. One day he left work early, and sought her out, only to find her in the arms of another man.
He killed them both. To him they were just two more carcasses, ready to be processed.
Unfortunately for Anton, the man he killed had certain obligations to certain people. Powerful people. At once frustrated with the loss of profit and impressed by Anton’s callous killing manner, it was arranged that despite Anton having been arrested for the murders, he would be released on “insufficient evidence” — the caveat of the release being that he was to act as an enforcer and Sheriff for his would-be indemnitors until a time they deemed the debts of the man he murdered paid.
#2 Y’shmeen Farana
Name: Y’shmeen Farana
Age: 862
Race: Elf
Class: Ranger
PB: Tilda Swinton
Y’shmeen was born into a war zone. The clans of Ata’an were at war, and had been for hundreds of years. The Compraas and the F’tali were fighting for control of the continent and Y’shmeen’s clan, the Dunan, were fighting just to stay alive. Trapped between the two clans, they were forced into the forest to avoid the bloodshed. It was either that or choose a side, something the Elders swore they would never do. The Dunan were shaman, healers, they cared not for power or destruction. They wanted to preserve the way life had been before one of the F’tali discovered a vein of precious gems underground and began lusting after wealth. Thus was the birth of greed and pride on their peaceful planet.
As is usually the case, pride goeth before the fall. The Compras decided the F’tali had too much and thought too highly of themselves. They refused to be ruled by greed and placated by gems. They began the war that would soon overshadow any other conflicts in their history.
Y’shmeen was raised in the forests of Abasor, listening to the stories of the way before. She knew that she alone could not stop the war, but she could at least keep her people safe.
She quickly discovered an affinity for animals, almost as if they could understand her. She took to wandering away from the village for days at a time, learning her way around the forest. She fell in love with the trees and it wasn’t long before she learned the power that lay within.
Centuries later, she’s considered the protector of the forest. The Elders have asked her numerous times to join them, become a leader in their clan. She’s turned them down each time, deciding instead to remain at the edges of their boundaries, maintaining wards and providing a safe haven for animals trying to escape the devastation.
She learned to perform some amount of natural magic, but she didn’t rely on it. Instead, she honed her senses and skills with bow and staff. She used her knowledge to train the children of the clan how to hunt and defend themselves. They were a peaceful clan, but that was no reason why they shouldn’t learn.
She was content to live this way. Separate from most, protecting her home. However, her world was about to be turned upside down.
*****************
“How can you stand it? Sitting here, watching the smoke of war.â€
“Would you rather the smoke be your own home burning? If I can hide us, younger brother, I must do so. This is not our fight.†Y’shmeen fixed him with a stare. She knew he was part of the growing group within the clan who wanted to join the fight. He was young and impulsive; he did not yet know the way of things.
He threw a stick, watching the dogs chase it and fight for control of their new toy. “Maybe it should be. Are we to spend the rest of our days cowering in the trees like frightened children?â€
“Rowan!†She scolded, “this is not fear. It is simply not our war. What purpose do we have to join the fighting? Which clan would we join with? Or would you have us fight both of them?â€
“So your solution is to wait here until one clan destroys the other? What if they come for us, next?â€
Y’shmeen’s voice dropped and her gaze turned to the horizon, watching the smoke rise. “Then it will be our fight.â€
Rowan sighed, “the smoke grows closer every year. It’s only a matter of time before it is at our door.†He stood and strode back into the forest, leaving Y’shmeen alone with her thoughts.
He was right. It was only a matter of time before the battle shifted in their direction, and what then? They didn’t have the means to fight an army. But that was that was years away, yet. She settled more comfortably against the tree she was sitting against and closed her eyes.
A few hours later she was awoken by movement in the forest. She didn’t move, keeping still and listening. They were light on their feet, but unfamiliar with their surroundings. They were still a distance away so she took the chance to rise into a crouch and look around before leaping up and deftly climbing the tree. She hid among the large leaves, leaning out to try to spot the newcomers. She fought to keep her breathing under control when she saw the colors of the F’tali clan. Scouts.
“This is a perfect route. We’ll avoid the mountains entirely and get behind the Compras forces.â€
“And look at this forest. We won’t want for food and water.â€
The taller of the two looked around, “Do you think anyone lives in these woods?â€
“Here?†He scoffed, “If they do, they’re likely savages, nothing we’ll have to worry about.â€
The pair laughed and continued on their way, joking about the savages they imagined lived there.
When she was certain they were well beyond earshot she dropped out of the tree, staring in the direction they’d come from. This changed everything. She turned and raced through the trees to warn the others.
#3 Attila Gorilla
Attila Gorilla is a science experiment gone wrong.Created by the misguided,but technically good, scientist Hi-Q he has all the fighting skills and strategic abilities of History’s greatest conquerors.His efforts to bring the world under his control are only stopped by Max Action.
#3 – Elwood King: Forest Ranger, Adventurer
Height: 5 feet, 9 inches
Weight: 175 pounds
Age: 65
Hair: Balding, White
Eyes: Brown
Distinguishing features: Numerous scars due to alien interactions
Occupation: Former Forest Ranger; Nomad Scout, Eastern United States.
Known Relatives: Wife, son-in-law, daughter, grand-son, grand-daughter
History: Elwood King began his career first as a military soldier for eight years before leaving the military to attend college for a career in conservation and forestry. Elwood King was a forest ranger at Yellowstone Park for thirty years before retiring. He was enjoying his retirement when an alien invasion began to replace the Earth’s ecosystem with a toxic and deadly new series of plants and later animals. Having moved to New York to be with his aging father, he was visiting a family member in upstate when the Arrivals made the first attack against humanity. Rescuing and later marrying Martha, he and his family have become nomadic scouts working with what’s left of the federal government connecting enclaves of humanity that remain active from the invasion.
Today: Elwood has been chronicling the Arrivals, their species, their behaviors and returning that information to the the remaining federal scientists who are creating potential models on the growth and development of the alien Arrivals. In the beginning of the invasion, Elwood was horrified as the Earth’s biosphere was being replaced but in spite of himself has found a form of alien beauty in the Arrivals and their multitude of forms and niches on Earth. Recent discoveries have lead everyone to believe there is a new transition taking place among the aliens. What that entails for Humanity needs to be discovered now, and Elwood is commissioned by the President of the Eastern United States to discover what has been happening in the Gulf of Mexico, a concentration of the creatures and the site of a new creature, never seen before.
Psychological Profile: Elwood King has grown weary watching Earth as it struggles to deal with the threat of the Arrivals. He does not believe humanity nor the Earth as a whole can survive the invasion of the Arrivals. While advocating humanity continue to organize themselves, he has a personal belief that humanity must learn to adapt to the Arrivals or face extinction. This puts him at odds with his wife and the leadership of the government.
First Appearance: Tales of the New Earth
Story Description:
In The Arrivals: Tales of A New Earth, an alien invasion has occurred, but unlike anything imagined. New life has landed on Earth and is replacing everything before it. Humanity had expected alien invaders to arrive in terrible space craft, armed with the most sophisticated of weapons. When they came, we thought we would have a chance against them. We never even knew they were here and had lived here for decades, perhaps even centuries, masquerading as trees. When the meteor swarms began, we had no idea, the invasion had begun, in earnest.
The Arrivals: Tales of a New Earth features Elwood King, a sixty year old former forest ranger, wandering this new world, secretly in love with it alien beauty and fecundity. He sees a dying world reborn with new life. His more practical wife, Martha who would love nothing more than to eradicate the alien menace to the last spore.
Staying on the move, he and his family experience this new world on the front lines, sharing information for temporary room and board. When they rescue the President of the United States from the ruins of the Pentagon, they discover the Arrivals have continued to change the Earth to an unknown purpose. She conscripts Elwood and his family to guide her West to the center of the contagion and the answers they are all seeking.
Tales of a New Earth is broken down into four Seasons, each bringing new threats, challenges, beauty and terror as the Arrivals transform the Earth to an unknown purpose. Mankind, decimated, struggles to find a place in this New World. Humanity as we knew it is doomed, the only question is can we understand what is happening in time to resist?
Created by: Thaddeus Howze
About the Art: Character art created by Thaddeus Howze using the Character Generator in City of Heroes.
#3 Rex
Meet my third character, Rex. Rex is a cyborg/shark(ish thing?) girl. She doesn’t say much- she likes to let her fists talk for her.
#3 – Gossip Demon
Because demons need their gossip, too.
She who side-eyes everyone.
“Did you see what she was wearing at the last sacrifice? I was like, you’re what, 600? Girl, that shit ain’t cute.”
#30Characters Chatter…