Shepard (Plot Character)

Full Name: 6054-23-35:102
Nickname(s): 23 (to family and close friends who know who he is and where he comes from - in a word, other members of The Guild), Shep (To just about anyone on the surface who knows him)
Codename: Shepard
Alias(es): Sage
Age: 30
Classification: Metahuman
Affiliation: Neutral Good, member of The Guild





Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Black
Height: Five foot nine
Weight: 160
Other Traits: Shep is the kind of man who looks as if at least a quarter of his body weight is made up of scar tissue. The most prominent of his numerous healed injuries is a wound that took his right eye, which has grown cloudy and blind. His arms, his chest, his face, he literally has scars on almost every square inch. He's been burnt, cut, smashed, shot and more - and it shows. His face is not well suited to smiling, but he is handsome... in a rough sort of way. He has several tattoos - a symbol of The Guild over his heart, wings spreading from a black-clad angel with her face in her hands with a hundred and sixty feathers each side - each bearing a scar making up the median line that was burned in place as they curl down his shoulders, and all across his back. At the angel's feet is a tablet upon which is written (in arabic) "I will carry out great vengence on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the lord, when I take my vengeance upon them. - Ezekiel 25:17". Upon a blue band on his right bicep is written (also in arabic) 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of god. Matthew 5:9'. His hair is often unruly - it really does do what it pleases on his head if he doesn't keep it in a pony tail.




Powers:

Aura of Peace: If Shepard wills it, his presence, even the sight of him, is like rays from a soothing, cool star or a cooling breeze. It temporarily weakens a warrior's resolve, eases powerful emotions, and pushes those within his aura (60 feet or sight) into a pleasant state of serenity. By no means does this control another, but the strength to fight, to harm another, to do great or terrible things, is simply gone, and stays gone for several minutes after contact has broken. For now, the fight is over.
--Voice of Reason: He can channel his Aura of Peace into his voice. Anyone who can hear him gets the effect.
--Open Hand: He can also channel his Aura of Peace into physical contact, to much greater and more sudden effect. Via touch, he can also convey complicated ideas at the speed of thought.

Diamond Soul: Though not literally made of diamonds, Shepard is very, very tough. A bullet will bounce off of him - even an anti-material rifle will barely leave a mark. He can withstand the heat of a flow of magma, and the cold of liquid oxygen with only minor injury. He can withstand the crushing pressure of the ocean's bottom, and the sucking nothingness of the void of space with only discomfort to show for it. Physically he is no stronger than any man, though. just infinitely more durable. He is not invulnerable however - he can be injured. His bones can be made to break with sufficient force. He can bleed like any man. He can be burned, frozen, or electrocuted - it simply takes a great deal more of it to hurt him.
--Gisei: Literally, 'Sacrafice'. Shepard can deliberately draw harm upon himself. With this exertion of his will, he can become the sole target of any attack, even pull attacks meant for others off course to strike him only. The drawback to this is that he takes the brunt of the attacks - entirely, with no chance of missing. If he were to use this upon an RPG, the rocket would literally curve off course to strike him.
--Mountain Stance: This wide stance infuses him with earth energy. Though he cannot move in this stance, he is hardened, and becomes difficult to move. A truck moving at 60 miles an hour would hit him as if he were an immovable object. Normally this would bruise him, maybe even hurt his ribs or crack a bone, but in this stance... he would be unscathed. It takes a second or two to enter mountain stance, he cannot move even a little (arms, legs, head, hands, anything) while in it, and after leaving it he is winded. No, he cannot do this and Ginsei at the same time.

Reiki: Literally, this translates as 'Universal Life Energy'. He can heal another physically and spiritually by touch, easing pain, sealing wounds, mending bones, and giving comfort, promoting a well-being in his patient. He can heal a simple flesh wound easily enough - it takes but a handful of seconds (30-60) for him to mend such an injury. A deeper wound, or a broken bone will take longer - minutes, or hours. Superficial curses, simple enchantments, they take a few minutes to an hour or two to unravel. But arguably the most potent use of his talent to heal another is to help them heal emotionally and spiritually. By no means is this pleasant - it unstops the levees the mind erects, the sensation very much like pulling away a bandage to clean an infected wound, and though he cannot wave a wand and heal someone's heart instantly... it removes the buildup, the burden of pressure that can be so damaging, and sets it on the road to healing.
--Center: He is capable of healing himself, though it is not something he could do in a fight - even a shallow wound takes minutes at a time to heal away, as he is likely in pain to start with. He cannot easily heal himself of something more serious - a potentially fatal wound might bleed out before he managed, and a broken bone might be too mind-numbingly painful for him to concentrate.
--Reiki Tamashi: The act of deep healing. Reiki itself is limited in scope. Sometimes the body is a prison for the soul, a torture chamber into which no light may reach. Maybe a nerve is damaged, or there is deep-rooted taint of madness. Maybe the mind has fled somewhere else in the face of mortal torment... but there he can seek them - the broken. In extended contact, extended meditation, he can reach out to them... and offer them a way out. If they are willing... he can begin to mend their broken nerves, enter their shattered mind to guide them through the depths of madness or despair, or combat the terrible taint that has beset them. He cannot give the secretive heart respite, the unwilling mind aid, nor the obstinate spirit comfort - they must be willing.


Skills:

Shepard is an expert swordsman, and is similarly skilled in several martial arts - Akido, Iado, Judo, kenpo karate, defendu, Krav Maga, kendo, and others. some of that is out of practice, but he is a keen practicioner of Akido even now.

Shep has a knack with animals. He has yet to meet a living creature he cannot get along with on the face of this world. Dogs? No problem. Tigers? Big kitties. And he loves it - he's an animal lover to his soul.

23 can sing. Maybe not fantastically well, but he can do so. Just one of those things, I guess.


Weaknesses:

Ahimsa: He will not harm any living creature unless there is no alternative. It is not that he cannot fight, or won't defend himself - he is simply a noncombatant, by choice. If he violates this even out of need, he loses inner peace - rendering his Aura of Peace and Reiki Tamashi powers completely inert until he can re-center himself in meditation - depending on what he's done, that could take a handful of minutes, or weeks. Maybe longer.

Dour: Shepard is a grumpy fellow. He isn't exactly friendly, prone to snark and silence when it suits himto be obstructive - which is usually. It can make it hard for him to make friends.

Cyclops: Shepard has only one functional eye - his other is scar-white and blind. This has done nothing kind for his visual acuity - as a cyclops, his depth perception is not 100%.

Inner Peace?: He must have peace to give in order to give it. If he is worked up emotionally, or injured badly enough, he cannot center himself and both his Aura of Peace and Reiki abilities work at reduced capacities, if they work at all.

Air Magic: As an earth-tuned person, air-tuned energy is his natural weakness. Air magic is twice as effective against him. A lightning spell (operative word being 'SPELL'), a frozen gale, and any air-infused magic cuts right into him with ease. Simple electricity does NOT count.

Lightning: Natural lightning is natural air magic. He is not invulnerable to this. Lightning called by magic, however, qualifies only as Air Magic.

Water: He can drown. It isn't clear to him why this works, but while he can hold his breath for hours when submerged, he can neither swim nor float in water and feels shaky and weakened, similar to how you feel when you're coming down from an adrenaline high or have a very bad flu.

Aura of Peace: In case it is unclear, his aura effects EVERYONE, friend or foe. Anyone who hears him using it via his voice, sees him using it, or is within sixty feet while he's using it is thrust into serenity.

Equipment:

Shepard's samurai sword, once his trademark weapon and the slayer men, is blunted, its blood thirst sated. He carries it even now, a symbol of who he is. Upon it is inscribed, as on his flesh, the passage of the angel on his back in arabic.

Shep has a communicator, a first aid pouch, and a compact games kit in the folds of his haori.



Personality: Though by no means anyone's definition of a gentleman, Shepard is a gentle man. He is insulting, childish, crude, generous, selfless, honest, lazy, and dedicated. He defaults to a bored, intense expression in the absence of something to do, and tends to get creative. Mostly with regards to napping so he doesn't get caught doing so, like it's a game. Maybe that means doodling in the sand, maybe that means disorganizing your movie collection or playing with your dog (he LOVES animals). He puts on a tough face, and he makes like he doesn't care what happens, but if you needed help, he would be the first guy standing up for you. Despite his endless vats of snark and bad language, complete lack of appearant give-a-crap, and questionable personal hygeine (seriously, its like the guy has a permanent five o'clock shadow and his greasy, wild hair might contain lost children somewhere), he is a good man, honest to his soul, and stalwart in his cause - protecting mankind.

Shep rarely smiles, regardless of his mood. What he does, what he says and how he says it are more accurate indicators of his emotional state on a face so naturally suited to a stony glower. A smile from him is like a brass band and a choir of angels singing his joy - don't count on it. More often, insofar as any expression crosses that scarred countenance, you might get a quirk of the brow, a lifting of one corner of his mouth, or a smile or frown that makes it no further than his eyes. He does have a few tells though - when he is nervous, he tends to pull his arms out of his sleeves to cross them across his chest. When he is angry or upset, he often smokes. If he is REALLY worked up, he'll skip the ceremony and just smoke a cigarette.  When he's thinking, he spaces out and goes quiet. When he is frightened, he gets snarkier and more smart-aleky (unless he's got a pressing reason not to be. Seriously. The man has a crappy rank in the guild because a) he's lazy and b) his big fat mouth.)

Strengths:

The man does not know fear. Seriously. He would snark at a godling or play fetch with freakin' cerberus if it suited him to do so. Happily.

Shepard is compassionate. Even if you were his mortal enemy and swore to eat him or something... he would still help if you came to him. He would heal you, shelter you, and see to it you were ok. He might not lay off the snark, and you would probably end up lodged with the proper authorities if it suited him to do so... but he'd still help you, no question.

Shep is honest to the point of fault. Even if it would end badly for him to be honest, he won't lie to you. He doesn't have to speak the truth - he can remain silent, but.

In the worst situations, in the most grim circumstance when everything has gone to hell, he is the kind of man that can find a joke and laugh about it. He lives in the moment.

When he decides to do something, when he has set his mind to it... he will not stop until it is done.

Interests/Habits:

Shep likes games! Chess, checkers, poker, blackjack, majong monopoly, dungeons and dragons, whatever - he enjoys them. He keeps a compact games kit on him at all times, in fact!

Shepard smokes. He tends to roll his own and take his time doing so, but does not chain smoke - he savors, takes his time with every aspect of the act. If you're gonna have a bad habit, why not enjoy it?

Sheppie is lazy. Seriously. The man elevates laziness to an artform. He naps like a cat, and can do so anywhere. He's not at all irresponsible, dedicated to what he does, just unambitious. When he has nothing to do... he does nothing. He's really, really good at it.



Family Members: He has a few here and there - brothers and sisters mostly, but Tiberius is technically his father.
Place of Origin: He's born and raised in 102, one of the underground cities of the Guild. To public knowledge though, he's from the Saudi Arabia area.
History: As he might tell it:

"This... is a story to believe. Once upon a time, a little boy was trained to be a warrior. He was told what he was doing was right, that it was for the good of everyone that the monsters should be punished. The boy believed this so strongly that he threw everything he was into his training, night and day. By the time the boy was a man, he had judged in the name of his Father many times. But why, he questioned? Why should he even be questioning himself, his deeds? He knew in his heart they needed doing, and that the ones he punished - three hundred and twenty - were every one of them monsters. Everything he knew told him that. But still he questioned.

"Tormented to the edge of sanity, the good son asked of his father if he might seek wisdom, if he might be given leave to do so, and to his surprise his father granted him this sabbatical. He walked the world a while. He climbed the highest mountains, he sought the most distant sages. He quested for answers and found himself, and what he was seeking. He came back a different man. His friends, his family, they did not know what to make of the boy at first, but this new person brought with him the wisdom he'd accumulated in his travels, and his father saw worth."

He was the first metahuman to register under the soverign state of california's new law.

Already looked this over 3 times now so