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He gave up freedom from chronic pain; he didn't give up feeling it. In other words, he's cursed with pain.

It's hard to word an affliction as a sacrifice.

(edited because wording was still off.)

edited 22nd Sep '13 12:43:42 PM by kipz61

Updated the picture and powers.

Also, I am quite confused by that too. His sacrifice gives him permanent chronic pain, or only once a month for a few days etc like you described?

• Name: Amanda "Mandy" Foxglove
• Age: 21
• Appearance: 5 foot tall with long, wavy auburn hair and deep blue eyes. Is incredibly pale and covered in freckles.
• Personality: Living up to the stereotype, she has a bit of a temper and can easily flare up. However, when calm, she is a logical thinker and can think outside the box in most situations. Is incredibly loyal to her friends and (what remains of) her family, and threatening them can lead to a flare up, which can be disastrous.
• Artifact: A green, ornate hair grip that has patterns of roses on it. Amanda can now see the dead as a result, even in her sleep. She cannot speak or touch them, only see them. She can see her dead parents.
• Demon: Nemetian (Nem-ish-eon), Rank E.
• Power: Like the dead that Amanda can see, she can levitate and float around for an unlimited amount of time, as well as ride lightning.
• Backstory: Born into a wealthy, first class English family, Amanda had it all growing up: good house, lots of friends, good grades, the works. But a tragic car accident when she was 15 left her parents dead, her 10 year old brother, Holden, in a coma and her with guilt that she wasn't there at the time, being on a school trip when the accident took place. When her brother woke up from his coma 5 years later, Amanda became his guardian. Realising that the job as a shelf stacker wouldn't be enough to live on and support Holden, Amanda signed up for ANGEL, and began training to hunt down demons.
• Other: Loves cinnamon rolls.

edited 23rd Sep '13 1:13:51 AM by PeacefulApocalypse

It's permanent chronic pain that is episodic in nature. Episodes are 4-5 days in length, and occur every other week, or occasionally with more frequency.

...or the next day. Oh well!

Name: "Professor" Russell Hardouin-Mansart

Age: 51

Appearance: Tall and lanky with gery hair that ventures on looking ridiculous. Has a few wrinkles on his face, the most prominent being on his forehead and under his eyes. Is almost always wearing black and silver, and is usually found in a suit of those two colors. A constant in his outfit are his two silver cufflinks, which are engraved with a pair of scales◊ on the outside.

Personality: Despite his dark colors, Mansart is usually quite friendly and bubbly. He certainly falls under the Absent-Minded Professor category, for he has the tendency to wander from topics of conversation; usually to replace it with an homage to some writer or philosopher that has been dead for centuries. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience that he is eager to share...even if his listeners aren't very eager to recieve it.

Artifact: The demon is trapped within Mansart's cufflinks. In order to use them, Russell had to sacrifice all the memories he's had with his wife, Julian. The most tragic part is that Julian is still very much alive, and still hasn't forgiven her husband for accepting the deal. To Mansart however, she is just a strange woman who openly hates him; the reason of which he hasn't the slightest clue.

Demon: Mansart has named his demon Bloch, after the inventor of the two-way mirror. Bloch is a Rank E demon who is described as being "a fifteen feet tall porceline elephant." Unlike many demons, Bloch was rarely dangerous unless he was provoked, though this has much more to do with his powers than with his view on humanity.

Power: Bloch gives Mansart the power of Reflection; that is to say, the ability to absorb an attack (regardless of who makes it) and redirect its power in a direction of his choosing. The reflected attack is no stronger than it was when it was first fired, but its element is converted to a composition unique to Russell; one that is neither vulnerable nor superior to any element. To put it in Pokémon terms, Russell's "Counter" attack is never "not very effective," but it's never "super effective" either.

What Mansart can and cannot reflect depends on the initial attack's size, speed, and strength. Every deflection costs Russell energy, so he needs to be sure he doesn't bite off more than he can chew, or else he'll get hurt in the process.

This is Russell's only form of offense, which means that he can never be the one to make the first move. He must rely on the enemy (or possibly his friends...?) to strike first.

Background: Russell Hardouin-Mansart was born in Norwich, England on the 13th of May, 1961. His mother was an author and amateur philosopher, while his father was a French immigrant and an architect for the city (supposedly, the architectural trade ran in Russell's family, for he shared his surname with Jaques Hardouin-Mansart, the famous architect of Versailles). Since he was a lad, Russell had been mezmerized by the tales of the past; so much so that he dedicated his life in revisiting (and hopefully rediscovering) works of the Western world, in hopes that reflection of the past would illuminate a brighter future.

Of course, in a world where demons run rampant and the human race is in constant fear of extinction, there isn't much use for the liberal arts. After all, why teach a young man the philosophies of Plato when you can teach him to wield a sword or a gun? In this sense, Russell was a bit of a black sheep. He bunkered down in abandoned libraries rather than train at the shooting range, which lead to his nickname "Professor" (almost all of the real professors of history and literature were dead, and there wasn't any official way to gain a Ph.D). The term was supposed to be degrading, but Mansart has always seen it as a badge of honor.

The main reason why Russell has even been considered in joining ANGEL is because he can use an Artifact.

Other: Aside from Western History and Literature, one of Russell's greatest passions is ice cream. He keeps a little notebook to write down all the flavors he's tried and to come up with new ones. If the demons ever stop attacking, Mansart wants to open up an ice cream shop.

Edited. I don't think of Reinhardt as someone who'll go out of his way to hunt humans in the modern world just for kicks. He really hates the idea of being arrested, for one, and he needs the shelter ANGEL provides.

About the Karel and his power, I changed the Karel's info accordingly. It's a lone demon now. As for his power as a whole, think of it as the supernatural exageration of cats' flexibility and resilience. He can endure tons of damage, but will die anyway if he's not treated properly, just like how a cat can sustain severe internal injury and can live for days. It's not transformation in the sense that he never changes form at all, just that his human body can do some really freaky things. Of course I can change it if you'd like me to.

edited 22nd Sep '13 5:12:16 PM by Arreimil

• Ulqahart: All right, just remember that you're not as strong as the Super Strength guy, and it'll be fine. Accepted.

• Arreimil: I see. Well, I'm not really seeing anything to object now. Accepted.

• Kipz61: I think I understand the cost now. Maybe. It's either constant pain, or frequent chronic pain. It might need a better wording, but either way, those are fine. Accepted.

• Peaceful Apocalypse: The demon wouldn't physically be on her shoulder, would it? They can't really be projected from the Artifacts. Other than that, accepted.

• Theodore Hastings: The only thing I can see to note is what types of attacks can be reflected. Is it just 'magic'/'energy', or would it be physical stuff, too? Also not really sure if it would just be E-Ranked, I'll get back to you on that later today.

edited 23rd Sep '13 1:10:04 AM by TropayXion

Whoops. Changed it.

Discussion's up. The RP's still a few days away, though.

Theoretically, I suppose Mansart could take the kinetic energy of a melee attack and redirect it back at his opponent, but that seems more trouble than it's worth. There really isn't anything stopping the attacker from killing him; even if Mansart's attack lands, it's not like he can make a sharp sword dull. One good thrust after the first deflection, and the professor's down for the count.

That being said, I see no reason why Mansart can't stop long-ranged attacks, like arrows or bullets, as long as he knows their coming. The loss of inertia will force these weapons to fall harmlessly to the ground. Just like magical/energy attacks, what he can and cannot reflect depends on the initial attack's speed, size, and power. I want to make a character that's purely about defense, but Mansart is only one man; he has as much chance stopping a powerful attack as I do of stopping a wrecking ball.

As for Bloch's ranking, I just thought she'd be Rank E because of her inability to initiate fights. Sure, she can slowly wreck stuff like any other elephant, but unless you start attacking her, there's not much else she can do.

edited 24th Sep '13 9:32:03 PM by TheodoreHastings

Hm... well, as long as the limitations prevent it from reflecting the attacks of Demons magnitudes more powerful, it should be fine. Best to leave reflecting other types of attacks for later on, anyway.

Accepted.

Xion, why exactly does Karia's link lead to my character?

Just missed a number when copy/pasting. Fixed now.

Name: Excellence Browning

Age:

Appearance: The chef who cooks heavenly meals with the fires of hell

Personality: Excellence really, really wants to live up to his name, specifically by becoming the greatest chef in the world so that he can cook a meal so amazing nobody will ever equal it. Since he can never eat his own cooking, he's decided he needs comrades he can share his goal with so that at least someone will be able to benefit from his dream. As such while he sees the demons as nothing more than strange and dangerous ingredients, he'll go to great lengths to protect others from them.

Artifact: The demon is sealed within the handle of a gigantic wok.

Demon: Rank D

Power: Excellence's Demon allows him to heat his giant wok to insane temperatures without melting it, allowing it to turn into a burning bludgeoning weapon or to 'cook' anything inside of it without any need for a flame.

Backstory: might fill this in later as I come up with something.

Other: Feel free to add other information that doesn't fit elsewhere.

Sorry for the delay. Your character's accepted. Might want to fill the age in, though.

Also, RP's up. Sign ups are still open, though.

edited 28th Sep '13 8:14:11 AM by TropayXion

• Name: Domino
• Age: 17(ish)
• Appearance: “Light off? Apologies.”
• Personality: Domino is friendly and polite to people in general, but she can be rather... terse. Long conversations give her a headache (specifically, her own voice) and she tries to get things over as quickly as possible. Hates loud noises of all descriptions, and never takes her headphones off—even on a mission, all she does is turn whatever they were playing off.
  Tends to like hanging out in libraries, despite not really being able to make that much use of them.
• Artifact: Somehow, this thing still fires.◊ Domino gave up her sight in order to contract the demon.
• Demon: E-Rank, a monstrous figure that looks vaguely humanoid but has blades instead of limbs, and a back full of spines. It has no eyes at all. So far as communicating goes, all it desires is to prove superiority—which is why Domino has named it Tarquinius Superbus.
• Power: With the demon tied intimately to the concept of 'blind mastery', it has two effects. One is due to being sealed within a high-tech bow, and the other is the true boost. The former? It generates arrows of gleaming energy spontaneously, though they don't seem any more effective than using run-of-the-mill physical arrows.
  The other effect? Vastly, somewhat alarmingly, amplified hearing. For instance, even with the headphones playing, she can still hold a conversation and avoid all obstacles without even trying. This cannot, however, be turned off—and it's enough that speaking too long gives her a headache. Might be why she whispers all the time...
• Backstory: When she was young, Domino's parents died. That, well, that was bad—and what was worse, it was the fault of demons. So, not really that good at thinking things through, the child headed straight for ANGEL: not looking to join, because she knew they wouldn't let her, but instead to steal from them.
  Normally, the security on artefacts would have been sufficient to prevent her acquisition of her current bow. Normally. However, with an A-Ranked demon attacking, and everyone's attention diverted, the protection on the E-Ranked armament was lacking...
  Those in charged were faced with a dilemma when they apprehended her: do nothing, and let a child escape unsupervised with an artefact; try and stop her, risking that somebody gets shot by the all-too-apparent energy bows; or recruit her despite the age... and then take the artefact away, making her wait years before binding.
  Option 3 almost went to plan, but nearly turned into option 2 and their hand was forced lest somebody get hurt. Afterwards, they kept serious training at a minimum until Domino reached the normal age, and sent her on missions more recently.
  Security around artefacts was noticeably improved after that fiasco.
• Other: The headphones mostly provide noise-cancelling; most people have difficulty hearing anything that plays. Without them... well, I'll just point out that Domino's room is extremely soundproofed.
  Reason she doesn't give a surname? “Can't pronounce. Can't spell.”

Accepted.