Taskmienster
08-02-09, 11:52 AM
Name: Colin McFerrin
Age: 29
Birth date: September 3rd, 1987
Gender: Male
Year: 2016
Location: Jacksonville, Fl
Job:
Chief Programmer for GramVR Inc.
~~Colin has been working for the GramVR administration for just over 5 years. He was held as a wizard of the online world, understanding and developing new and better programs for the constantly advancing Virtual Reality world. As the Assistant Chief, Colin is charged with less paper work than his boss, and mainly roams the cubicles making sure others are doing their jobs. He is also supposed to help develop new, intriguing programs.
GramVR, however, is not a gaming simulation administration, though that is what Colin is most geared towards. His job deals with the development of interactive learning programs. He brought to the scene an interactive way to learn new languages, allowing people to visit actual societies and interact with people that spoke that language.
A genius or not, he hates his job and often uses the VR pods to get on the Net to play games…
Apparently the use of the pods did not go unnoticed by the vice president or the chief financial advisor. Having watched with muted interest at the hobby of the hacker, they decided to employ him in a curious way. Though GramVR is a near purely based on technology fashioned for educational purposes, they have noticed the pull and draw of the fantasy/sci-fi based world and the profit that comes along with it. Collin has been promoted to Chief Programmer, his ideas and abilities paramount but only secondary in position compared to the Vice President. As such, his new job is to toy with the coding and ‘reality’ of Althanas, recover as much as possible in order to allow GramVR to edge out the rival companies and create their own personal world.
Appearance:
~~Colin is not the a-typical geek. He is 5’ 10” tall, and weighs a meager 130 pounds. He finds himself at least a little attractive, but is too shy to flaunt it. He has light brown hair that stands on its own. When he goes out he wears it in spikes, gelled up in place. Normally he just throws a cadet cap over it all, letting it get messy. His typical clothing is a mix of styles, from the bondage chained gothic pants, to tight girl jeans (a size 1 btw) and band shirt, or even casual boots and a popped collared shirt.
Hobbies:
~~Coding (hardcore): Colin McFerrin isn’t held as a genius for nothing. In the course of five years he has moved up the corporate ladder quickly. His skill with coding is hard to match. However, he always tries to test his skills by hacking other’s programming. It’s lead to a Net wide search for him, at times, and his constant need to shift from game to game to escape the Administrators/Moderators that don’t like his hacking.
~~Gamer (hardcore): He loves games, period. There isn’t much better than immersing himself in worlds only possibly imagined by the greatest of minds. As such, he likes to try anything and everything. However, he enjoys stickin’ with one character from world to world, trying to see how diverse he can play the same person in every situation.
~~Technical Superiority (Newbz): Colin’s father, grandfather, and great grandfather were all technicians in their own way. His father spent 7 years in the service of the U.S. Navy as a young man, working on the electrical wiring of subs and spending a good deal of time listening to sonar for enemy subs. His grandfather was a chief technician for an electrical company in the North. His grandfather was the Chief Metallurgist of the Boston Brass company in the early 1900’s, making the equivalent of 700,000 dollars a year for the times. The young man has the knack for wiring and electrical understanding, but has not studied any more than personal study.
Habits:
~~Smoking: “That’s a good cancer stick right there…” It runs in his family, on both sides. Though both of his parents no longer smoke, it’s still stuck with him bad. He runs through a pack almost every day and a half, two days when he’s having a good week. Stress has contributed to his nicotine addiction, as well as a busy lifestyle and risky investments. An overworked soul, the poor man can’t help but take a good smoke break every once in a while.
~~Drinking: Ah, another bane of living with a half Irish, half Norse family. Drinking is not a habit, or a pastime, it is a way of life. Without the alcoholic relief it would be hard to cope with life…
Background:
Born a child of the 90’s, young Colin is only the third generation born into the wonderful world of America. He started rping young, only 13 (year 2000), on little known chat boards and such. His writing was always influenced by one person or another, and over time he grew better. He only really focused on his writing more and more when he realized that he was learning to write well enough that it was actually assisting him in his English courses.
By the time he got to the tenth grade he was able to write well enough to get right into Advanced Placement courses. He, however, spent more time on playing soccer than concentrating on school, leading to a steady 3.75 average when he could have earned higher. Even that, however, was not enough to get him a college scholarship, and so he was forced to go to a local community college. Luckily, he was allowed to go free because his mother worked at the school.
It was only halfway through his schooling when he became very interested in programming and game design. That’s when it all started towards what he does now.
The world changed with the times, as it always did. War and political strife blushed like a wicked rash across the planet. With the changing of times, came advancements in technology. Originally the wave of interest was only sparked within the military for Virtual Reality. It was most advantageous to train troops in a realistic (albeit rough) simulation of the environment of the Middle East instead of trying to simulate it in the woods of most of America.
Over time the technology leaked into the mainstream, working its way into the lineup of study for most companies. It was only 2010 when the first games emerged, but the system was so bulky and costly that the only systems were half the size of the average room, and took up a good deal of electricity. That did not, however, stop the development. Within another 3 years the systems shrank, but cost no less.
Development began on advancing the coding and the resolution, merging the virtual reality gaming and programming with newly developed High Definition and Super-definition (Japanese). The gaming became so realistic over time that games such as Warcraft were able to incorporate their players into the gaming, letting them control and move their characters. Others were quick to follow, and the year 2014 was known as the year for the gamer.
Collin received his job with GramVR, a new upstart company, when they opened. His interest and skills with programming and coding quickly moved him up the corporate ladder, and allowed him to have a good deal of freedom. He’s used his freedom to connect through the internet for the past six years, watching VR grow and change, helping at times. He’s always been interested in the development, and has experimented on almost all the different systems. It doesn’t take him long to figure out the unique coding that each company uses, and most times for him to learn how to hack the system quickly and efficiently.
His last gaming adventure was on a post-apocalyptic game where technology was extremely powerful, but the mutated humans that had not escaped rampaged. He is used to dealing with technology, and hasn’t played a non-technical world of roleplaying in two years. Althanas sparked his interest two years previously, but he never had the chance to explore it… mainly due to the game being developed by the rival company of GramVR. And the rival company knew of his exploits, his skills, and his bad habits of hacking.
Collin was given the supreme pleasure and overwhelming honor of hacking into the rival company TechFront’s gaming world of Althanas. His pay has been increased substantially; he was given a promotion, and allowed to use the pods of the company to do whatever he felt like. He now toys with his coding and attempts to keep his character somewhat concealed from prying eyes of Althanas moderator and administrator staff.
Something strange has happened to the once prominent hacker. His company has manipulated him, warped his ideals and tossed him to the wolves. In a dog-eat-dog world he had been given no reprieve for his supposed genius. After spending countless hours and days on end working as a hacker in the virtual reality gaming world of Althanas, compiling enough base information to create a log long enough and detailed enough to work with, GramVR fired the young man and let his services be known for what they really were… nothing more than a disposable tool.
Collin has taken to a reclusive way of living, cursing his former employer and remaining set inside his home. The computer simulated programmed tinting of his windows have been turned down almost completely, his phone has been turned off, and though he has saved unimaginable amounts of money from his former position as Chief Programmer he is unwilling to leave in order to spend it. Instead he had invested more time into Althanas, using the VR headset that he kept at his house, and constantly avoiding the Althanas administration. His attempts at remaining a recluse on the server, however, were never really prominent enough in the first place. He did not try and keep himself out of the limelight, joining the Dajas Pagoda and making his way into the lower caste and holding the position easily.
Whether the eyes of the administration were still interested, still watching him, did not matter anymore. There was nothing that they could do that his deceptive allegiance hadn’t already done to him.
((Character Profile))
Name: Ethan “Lars” Calhoun
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Hair: Black with white streaks
Hair length: It is easily six inches long (and spiked), tapered upwards so that the sides are shorter than the top.
Eyes: Yellow streaked gray-blue
Favorite Location: “Whatev.”
Languages: Common, rudimentary elvish
Guild: None
Description:
Lars is an unimpressive looking individual without his clothes, weapons, and gadgets. He stands a mere 5’ 10”, weighing an average 155 pounds. His face is smooth, rounded, lacking the high cheekbones that most of his former incarnations had. He has removed all the piercings, bored with them already.
Class:
Scavenger – Lars is a scavenger, an adventurer who will seek any reason to explore. During his explorations and adventuring he often finds himself only interested in learning the coding of each different gaming system, finding newer and better ways to code, and trying to become the best at manipulating the “reality” of the games. However, at heart he is always going to be a hardcore scavenger, looking for bits and scraps that he can modify and add to. Technology is ALWAYS more important than magic, as far as he is concerned. And, despite his rather “greedy” attitude, he would always consider taking something of interest over a bag of gold, even if the bag is very big.
Sub-Class:
Pirate – “Yeeharrrrggg” he’d yell, if he felt the mood. But normally he just takes the persona of a pirate, instead of being so cliché as to say something like that. As a pirate Lars is apt to do anything, from helping the needy, to stealing from them. He doesn’t care, as most pirates don’t, who he gains because of, as long as he profits from them… and profit he does. However, he’s not used to the way pirating is done on a server/game with simple, low technology settings… He’s used to his massive flying ships, and unique weaponry.
Armor:
“Leather” Jacket – Not much of armor to say the least… His jacket is not very thick, made of a high density leather polymer, but would be hard pressed to stop anything bladed bigger than a small dagger. It is useful for softening fists, kicks, falls, and sometimes blunt weapons. However, it does have small ‘pouches’ of Kevlar wrapped around a small light-weight, steel plate. That would stop maybe a dagger or a wayward bullet, but not much more. The jacket has long sleeves with straps to wrap them tight and is rimmed around the neck by a thick layer of fake white fur. (It’s fake because he doesn’t condone the killing of animals for appearance and style alone, hence the fake fur.) The chest portion is open, lined with a zipper, and has a strap along the neck and the waist if it needs to be closed. The jacket’s only other distinguishing features are the 4 ammo pockets (at a 45 degree angle) that are on his back, and the two normal pockets on the front (which normally hold a pack of cigarettes in each).
Weapons:
Knife [x1] – He has a simple hunting knife, single edged. It is steel, 5 inches long, simple wooden handle wrapped in steel studded leather.
Scourge Long Knife [x3] – The dagger is about five inches in length. It is made of a brittle black metal called Delyn with the symbol of the Scourge on the blades pommel.
Dagger [x10]– steel daggers, 3 inches in length, double sided. The handle is part of the tang, no handle, but is blunt and rounded so that they can be wielded if necessary. Eight more were purchased from the Bazaar of Scara Brae just like the first two.
Broken 12mm ( http://www.3dactionplanet.com/redfaction/dp/images/art/rf/weapons/pistol.jpg)[x1] – A 12mm, semi-automatic handgun with empty 15 round clip, adds good damage against unarmored opponents, can punch through some less armored opponents, steel make but missing multiple pivotal pieces. The weapon is a short to medium range weapon, has the proper pieces for a silencer and pistol scope. Pieces missing or broken: broken firing pin, spring, and chamber.
Items:
Clothing – His clothing is nothing special. Under the jacket is a short sleeved black shirt, V-necked, light and soft. He wears a pair of dark wash girl jeans, boot cut that allow for a good amount of movement… however low they are. Around his waist is a thick leather belt, studded of course, with a broken heart and cross pistol belt buckle (always worn to the side). And finally a pair of leather combat boots that reach to mid-shin, covered by the base of his pants.
Magazines – Two (2) empty magazines from the crash were all he could recover, they’re stored in two of the four pockets on the back of his jacket.
Cig’s – Two packs of cigarettes, seemingly endless, Marlboro Reds
Zippo Lighter – A small zippo lighter without any designs on it, limitless fuel
Pen ‘n Paper – a very small notebook without a limit of paper and a mechanical pen that he keeps inside his jacket
Twin Shoulder Holster – A shoulder holster that he wears at all times, wraps around his back with two open holsters for pistols that rest under his armpits. Each holster and the wrap are made of high quality leather polymer.
Thigh Holster – He has one holster on either thigh, also made of leather polymer, with room for an extra clip.
Concealed Sheaths – Multiple concealed sheaths are hidden around him, some spring loaded and able to push a dagger out, others simply tucked away. There is one in either sleeve, a wrap around his forearm, hidden by his jacket, spring loaded. It is built to contain up to five daggers at a time, no longer than 3 inches each, stacked just right to be shot one at a time out. Another one is built into either side of both boots, able to hold a single knife.
Class Skills:
~~Scavenger Shite~~
~~ Eye of Greed (below average): Scavengers are good at one thing, and that’s finding shit… good shit. Lars isn’t much different, though his abilities are completely dependent on whether he’s bothering to pay attention. At first look he can tell if something is going to be worth the profit or not. ((Items of interest scavenged in threads are of bellow average quality or higher))
~~ Talk ‘em into it (Budding): Once random stuff’s found, it’s good to know what the price of it is… or how to make it seem like it’s worth more. Lars is getting the hang of bartering for higher deals, or lower prices. ((Currently his ability allows him a 15% leeway for increase in price of things sold, or decrease in price of objects bought.))
Normal Abilities and Skills:
~~ Daggers (Skilled): His ability to use his daggers is a good deal above average, including their use in armed combat as well as use in throwing.
~~ Marksmanship (Average): His ability to aim and fire under pressure is average, if he had a firearm at least.
“Magical” Abilities:
((Quick Note: Magic for Lars isn’t what the ‘people’ of Althanas would take it as… he doesn’t harness some unseen force, or pray to some false gods, but toys with the fabric of reality in a way. If anyone asked of him, he would say he was cast magic that changed Reality. In all honesty, he’s doing little more than changing coding layouts, adding his own little hacks, and generally causing mayhem that most site administrators, moderators, or otherwise would hate him for))
At this point, Althanas is still extremely new to Colin, as well as owned and operated by a rival company to his. The coding is easy to see if he wants to, but very hard to understand. What little he has figured out at this point is as follows
The Key Pad [Level N/A] – Colin’s magic little pad, his secret weapon, the coder’s bible if you will. The Key Pad is a small virtual pad that forms wherever he concentrates for it to appear, be it on a wall, table, or in the middle of the air. For all intensive purposes it is solid to his touch, only he can see it, and it will not affect another person if they happen to walk into or through it. To most it seems that he’s tapping at nothing in the air, so he tries to conceal it so possible mod/admin programmed bots do not catch onto him. The keypad is necessary if he wants to use any of the coding feats he’s discovered, most of them are on ‘hot keys’ already though so it’s just a quick touch and they’re alive!
**The Key Pad has somehow become linked with his thoughts; maybe because of the odd link with Althanas, or the way the reality works. Either way, the keypad can still be summoned to hand, but Lars only really summons it so that he can do more intricate hacks other than the commonplace ‘spells’ that are listed already. On top of that, the hotkeys that are programmed can still be used, but only thinking about also summons them to work as well.**
Fade [level 0] – He’s able to take the coding that makes his body ‘real’ to the people of Althanas, be they PC’s or NPC’s, and slip out certain little codes. It allows him to almost drift into an ethereal state, making his body harder to pin point. He can only remove, safely, 25% of his material form and still ‘exist’. If he attempts to shift further than that without proper study and [insert tech. babble here] he will simply disappear forever, destroying the character and having to start all over. Also, if he holds the tendril of code outside of his character’s coding for too long than it will also unravel his existence… he’s able to remain in that state for no longer than five minutes at a time. While in the state people can still see him with good perception, normally used in conjunction with darkness or distractions. When he moves, and if he’s noticed/seen, than it will appear like him but a blur leaving a streaking afterimage.
Upgrade [Level 0] – Colin’s also figured out how to take an object, or area, and give it a slight upgrade through coding. At this point he can only slightly alter the non-animate material of an item to enhance a single aspect of it just a little (be it by strength, density, malleability, weight, and so on...). ((This skill is completely up to the mod if it is allowed to remain, and will not be powergamed by any means))
Speed Boost [Level 0] – He’s figured out, finally, how to alter the physical manifestation that has been given to him. The means of which are not simple, by any standards. As such, he can only alter his speed and very slightly, at most 150% compared to normal. That’s not a whole lot, but can put an edge where he needs it… be it escaping danger, or throwing a flashy blade here or there.
Mend [Level 0] – The ability to fix minor issues with the items he owns, or himself, had come to him through careful study. Currently he can mend his clothing if necessary, small scars on his person once the wounds have healed, or little nicks or dents in his weapons.
Clap [Level 1] – Coding the environment is far easier than coding himself or others, and he had toyed with it a bit here and there. With a flick of his wrist, and a couple buttons on his keypad, he can violently draw codes from the air around him in order to create a loud thunderous burst of noise. It is able to stun those that are close or have overly sensitive ears (elves and whatnot) and shatter weak glass if he is close to it.
Smoke Alterations [Level 1] – Because of his habitual smoking he has had innumerable chances to watch the lingering smoke and how it is affected. The code that creates the smoke, as well as what makes it move has been observed and understood at the most meager of levels. Currently he is able to manipulate the smoke expelled into shapes, like boats, circles, hearts, and whatever else comes to mind. He is also able to keep the smoke from dissipating for a small amount of time (perhaps about a minute or two). However, he cannot use it as a weapon, create more smoke than is produced by the object, or use it for any form of smoke screen or whatnot.
Time [Level 2] – Lars has slowly gained the ability to toy with time itself. He is currently only able to stop time for a maximum of two seconds. Using the ability is dangerous, and can leave him in a place of complete solitude, with the world stopped and him alone moving. So, since the risk is so great he uses the ability ONLY when it is absolutely necessary, no more than once or twice per day and no more than once in a skirmish. Using it too many times too close, such as in battle, means that the risk is even greater.
Constitutional Boost [Level 2] -- He’s figured out how to alter the physical manifestation that has been given to him. The means of which are not simple, by any standards. As such, he can only alter his constitution and very slightly, at most 200% compared to normal. That’s not a whole lot, but can put an edge where he needs it… be it taking a few extra blows or keeping a bone from breaking.
Strength Boost [Level 2; 4] -- He’s figured out how to alter the physical manifestation that has been given to him. The means of which are not simple, by any standards. As such, he can only alter his strength and very slightly, at most 300% compared to normal.
Weapon Manipulation -- At the end of the day, it really all comes down to one thing for Lars, his daggers. No matter what he knows about the coding of the world of Althanas, it never seems to be enough. He’s no “reality manipulator” type mage, so constantly relying on his abilities which appear to be nothing more than powerful spells can’t always be relied on. As such, he has developed a specialized manipulation that he can use on one blade/manipulation at a time as long as he is familiar with the weapon. So far he has only a couple abilities, which seem an awful lot like magic but are little more than code manipulation.
Bigger Blade -- This manipulation allows him to double the overall size of the weapon being used theoretically altering the overall weight of the object do be twice as heavy as well. This can only be used on his own weapons, and they must be within ten yards of him in order to be used.
Multiple blades -- This manipulation allows him to double the number of a weapon, potentially creating two throwing daggers were one was originally. This skill can also only be used within ten yards of him.
Unnatural Eyes [Level N/A] -- Well… there are side affects to jumping ship from a post-apocalyptic world and being forced into a new world that doesn’t have the same technology. Side affect may be a harsh word for it, since it’s actually a small boon to say the least. The higher tech world offered many different means of personal augmentation without having to change codes to do it. The most prevalent and easiest to acquire, as well as constant and continuously attached to the character, are the changes that affect the eyes. Though they are constantly apart of Ethan, since he did not legally come into the world of Althanas, it takes a while for damaged codes to come back… and they finally are starting to.
Night vision [Level 3] -- The ability to see in the dark is not just a useful skill, but something that you can have physically implanted in the world he had come from before entering Althanas. This physical augmentation is in affect when he closes the light sensitive lenses. Currently they possess the ability to allow him to see in the dark, but the downside of when they are active any sudden bright light (like a candle or spark of fire) causes him to turn away and be momentarily blinded. They only help with low light, not perfect darkness.
Power Sight [Level 4] -- The ability is little more than an OOC knowledge of the opposition’s power level, or character level. It allows him to know who’s possibly the strongest, given that they aren’t some powergaming nonsense character, and allows him to focus his attention and codes against people. It also helps him know if certain codes worked, such as the Reduction hack.
Power Thrust [Level 4] -- A heavy slam, and the ground before him is upturned and sent flying. Lars is able to cause a rift to form, forcing a wave of energy through the ground in order to cause quaking for unsteady footing and possibly knock-down potential. However, the true magnificence of the code is that the ground’s thrust can harm his opponent. It travels in a single direction away from him, up to ten feet long and three feet wide, and the ground is hurled sharply upwards to at most five feet. The speed is equivalent to him sprinting forward. The damage done is up to the players involved in the attack.
Reduction [Level 4] -- An ability that is unlike anything else that Ethan has ever thought he’d be able to do on Althanas. If an opponent is within twenty yards of him, he is able to use a devious code on them. It is something that cannot be seen, cannot be felt (sometimes), and is not able to be controlled. When he clicks a hotkey on his keypad the target is struck with a code that reduces their overall level until either Lars is dead, they are dead, or they flee away from the area. If the code works:
A person who is struck by the alteration has to use abilities, spells, and anything else other than weapons that were present only in the level that they are docked to.
The ability cannot reduce a person to a level lower than the person who used the code. So whatever Task’s level is, they would be equal to that.
A person who is one level higher than Lars has a very, very slim chance of ignoring it. One who is two levels can avoid it, but will be reduced to his current level should it work. A person who is three levels or higher will be able to avoid it if the person behind the character chooses, but if they allow it to work they cannot be dropped more than two levels from their current level. ((Character A is level 5, Task is lvl 4; the code works and they get dropped back to level 4. Character B is level 6, Task is level 4; if it works they are dropped to level 4. Character C is level 8, Task is level 4; If they allow it to work they would drop to level 7 or 6 at most. People can allow their characters to drop more than that if they chose… meaning if someone is level 10, but decides to make it more fun they’ll accept the full drop to level 4 instead of level 8, they can do that.))
All ability drops must be approved by the other PC’s involved. NPC’s can be affected, but only within reason.
This ability does not, in any way, affect people equal or lower level than himself.
Magnetic Manipulation [Level 4] -- Lars has the ability to slightly manipulate magnetic forces. The code warping allows him to move and manipulate objects, as long as they are no higher “tier” than Steel, or he has had experience with the metal for some time. He cannot change the shape of metal, or anything like that, simply make it rise or fall by changing the polarity of the magnetic forces around the metal. It is mostly used in order to err a projectile, put a incoming weapon off course as not to kill him, and things like that. This ability does not affect anything weighing more than five pounds Current list of metal’s: Iron, Steel.
Lost Items:
Guns [many], a hovering pirate-esque Ship, and so much more…
History
[0]
He broke through the firewall, immediately jolting himself into the world of Althanas. It wasn’t, however, without consequences. The post-modern, almost renaissance style world was hardly acceptant of the technology the hacker brought with him. His weapons were either lost or broken, leaving him with only a few daggers and a broken 12mm pistol. Also, the crew that followed him through the vortex from Grimm (the server he had been playing on) have been scattered and lost. No matter how many messages are sent none have responded, he can only assume they aren’t getting them.
His crash brought him to the small island of Scara Brae, where he decided to wander and explore. So far the most he had been able to accomplish is wandering through a forest and finding a lost kid. It ended up leading him to one hell of an issue regarding some form of scandal, a conspiracy over illegal logging and something called the Scara Scourge, and a hell of a headache. He did, however, come out with a good deal more knowledge about the small island.
Further random wandering brought him to the cursed and broken land of Raiaera, the land of the high elves. Fuckin’ pricks, they were hardheaded, nose in the air, ass holes but gave the hacker a task to do nonetheless. It was, at the most, little more than a ‘get rid of them with something’ type mission, sending himself and a couple others into the sewers of New Aurient. The other two were mercenaries also come to help Raiaera, a heavy set warrior who proved to be a lot more bark than bite, and a silent human who proved to be something called a Hex Magi who was the most useful of the three. The task turned out to be interesting, leaving the hacker with new knowledge of Althanas, Raiaera, and the troubles that plagued the world.
Age: 29
Birth date: September 3rd, 1987
Gender: Male
Year: 2016
Location: Jacksonville, Fl
Job:
Chief Programmer for GramVR Inc.
~~Colin has been working for the GramVR administration for just over 5 years. He was held as a wizard of the online world, understanding and developing new and better programs for the constantly advancing Virtual Reality world. As the Assistant Chief, Colin is charged with less paper work than his boss, and mainly roams the cubicles making sure others are doing their jobs. He is also supposed to help develop new, intriguing programs.
GramVR, however, is not a gaming simulation administration, though that is what Colin is most geared towards. His job deals with the development of interactive learning programs. He brought to the scene an interactive way to learn new languages, allowing people to visit actual societies and interact with people that spoke that language.
A genius or not, he hates his job and often uses the VR pods to get on the Net to play games…
Apparently the use of the pods did not go unnoticed by the vice president or the chief financial advisor. Having watched with muted interest at the hobby of the hacker, they decided to employ him in a curious way. Though GramVR is a near purely based on technology fashioned for educational purposes, they have noticed the pull and draw of the fantasy/sci-fi based world and the profit that comes along with it. Collin has been promoted to Chief Programmer, his ideas and abilities paramount but only secondary in position compared to the Vice President. As such, his new job is to toy with the coding and ‘reality’ of Althanas, recover as much as possible in order to allow GramVR to edge out the rival companies and create their own personal world.
Appearance:
~~Colin is not the a-typical geek. He is 5’ 10” tall, and weighs a meager 130 pounds. He finds himself at least a little attractive, but is too shy to flaunt it. He has light brown hair that stands on its own. When he goes out he wears it in spikes, gelled up in place. Normally he just throws a cadet cap over it all, letting it get messy. His typical clothing is a mix of styles, from the bondage chained gothic pants, to tight girl jeans (a size 1 btw) and band shirt, or even casual boots and a popped collared shirt.
Hobbies:
~~Coding (hardcore): Colin McFerrin isn’t held as a genius for nothing. In the course of five years he has moved up the corporate ladder quickly. His skill with coding is hard to match. However, he always tries to test his skills by hacking other’s programming. It’s lead to a Net wide search for him, at times, and his constant need to shift from game to game to escape the Administrators/Moderators that don’t like his hacking.
~~Gamer (hardcore): He loves games, period. There isn’t much better than immersing himself in worlds only possibly imagined by the greatest of minds. As such, he likes to try anything and everything. However, he enjoys stickin’ with one character from world to world, trying to see how diverse he can play the same person in every situation.
~~Technical Superiority (Newbz): Colin’s father, grandfather, and great grandfather were all technicians in their own way. His father spent 7 years in the service of the U.S. Navy as a young man, working on the electrical wiring of subs and spending a good deal of time listening to sonar for enemy subs. His grandfather was a chief technician for an electrical company in the North. His grandfather was the Chief Metallurgist of the Boston Brass company in the early 1900’s, making the equivalent of 700,000 dollars a year for the times. The young man has the knack for wiring and electrical understanding, but has not studied any more than personal study.
Habits:
~~Smoking: “That’s a good cancer stick right there…” It runs in his family, on both sides. Though both of his parents no longer smoke, it’s still stuck with him bad. He runs through a pack almost every day and a half, two days when he’s having a good week. Stress has contributed to his nicotine addiction, as well as a busy lifestyle and risky investments. An overworked soul, the poor man can’t help but take a good smoke break every once in a while.
~~Drinking: Ah, another bane of living with a half Irish, half Norse family. Drinking is not a habit, or a pastime, it is a way of life. Without the alcoholic relief it would be hard to cope with life…
Background:
Born a child of the 90’s, young Colin is only the third generation born into the wonderful world of America. He started rping young, only 13 (year 2000), on little known chat boards and such. His writing was always influenced by one person or another, and over time he grew better. He only really focused on his writing more and more when he realized that he was learning to write well enough that it was actually assisting him in his English courses.
By the time he got to the tenth grade he was able to write well enough to get right into Advanced Placement courses. He, however, spent more time on playing soccer than concentrating on school, leading to a steady 3.75 average when he could have earned higher. Even that, however, was not enough to get him a college scholarship, and so he was forced to go to a local community college. Luckily, he was allowed to go free because his mother worked at the school.
It was only halfway through his schooling when he became very interested in programming and game design. That’s when it all started towards what he does now.
The world changed with the times, as it always did. War and political strife blushed like a wicked rash across the planet. With the changing of times, came advancements in technology. Originally the wave of interest was only sparked within the military for Virtual Reality. It was most advantageous to train troops in a realistic (albeit rough) simulation of the environment of the Middle East instead of trying to simulate it in the woods of most of America.
Over time the technology leaked into the mainstream, working its way into the lineup of study for most companies. It was only 2010 when the first games emerged, but the system was so bulky and costly that the only systems were half the size of the average room, and took up a good deal of electricity. That did not, however, stop the development. Within another 3 years the systems shrank, but cost no less.
Development began on advancing the coding and the resolution, merging the virtual reality gaming and programming with newly developed High Definition and Super-definition (Japanese). The gaming became so realistic over time that games such as Warcraft were able to incorporate their players into the gaming, letting them control and move their characters. Others were quick to follow, and the year 2014 was known as the year for the gamer.
Collin received his job with GramVR, a new upstart company, when they opened. His interest and skills with programming and coding quickly moved him up the corporate ladder, and allowed him to have a good deal of freedom. He’s used his freedom to connect through the internet for the past six years, watching VR grow and change, helping at times. He’s always been interested in the development, and has experimented on almost all the different systems. It doesn’t take him long to figure out the unique coding that each company uses, and most times for him to learn how to hack the system quickly and efficiently.
His last gaming adventure was on a post-apocalyptic game where technology was extremely powerful, but the mutated humans that had not escaped rampaged. He is used to dealing with technology, and hasn’t played a non-technical world of roleplaying in two years. Althanas sparked his interest two years previously, but he never had the chance to explore it… mainly due to the game being developed by the rival company of GramVR. And the rival company knew of his exploits, his skills, and his bad habits of hacking.
Collin was given the supreme pleasure and overwhelming honor of hacking into the rival company TechFront’s gaming world of Althanas. His pay has been increased substantially; he was given a promotion, and allowed to use the pods of the company to do whatever he felt like. He now toys with his coding and attempts to keep his character somewhat concealed from prying eyes of Althanas moderator and administrator staff.
Something strange has happened to the once prominent hacker. His company has manipulated him, warped his ideals and tossed him to the wolves. In a dog-eat-dog world he had been given no reprieve for his supposed genius. After spending countless hours and days on end working as a hacker in the virtual reality gaming world of Althanas, compiling enough base information to create a log long enough and detailed enough to work with, GramVR fired the young man and let his services be known for what they really were… nothing more than a disposable tool.
Collin has taken to a reclusive way of living, cursing his former employer and remaining set inside his home. The computer simulated programmed tinting of his windows have been turned down almost completely, his phone has been turned off, and though he has saved unimaginable amounts of money from his former position as Chief Programmer he is unwilling to leave in order to spend it. Instead he had invested more time into Althanas, using the VR headset that he kept at his house, and constantly avoiding the Althanas administration. His attempts at remaining a recluse on the server, however, were never really prominent enough in the first place. He did not try and keep himself out of the limelight, joining the Dajas Pagoda and making his way into the lower caste and holding the position easily.
Whether the eyes of the administration were still interested, still watching him, did not matter anymore. There was nothing that they could do that his deceptive allegiance hadn’t already done to him.
((Character Profile))
Name: Ethan “Lars” Calhoun
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Hair: Black with white streaks
Hair length: It is easily six inches long (and spiked), tapered upwards so that the sides are shorter than the top.
Eyes: Yellow streaked gray-blue
Favorite Location: “Whatev.”
Languages: Common, rudimentary elvish
Guild: None
Description:
Lars is an unimpressive looking individual without his clothes, weapons, and gadgets. He stands a mere 5’ 10”, weighing an average 155 pounds. His face is smooth, rounded, lacking the high cheekbones that most of his former incarnations had. He has removed all the piercings, bored with them already.
Class:
Scavenger – Lars is a scavenger, an adventurer who will seek any reason to explore. During his explorations and adventuring he often finds himself only interested in learning the coding of each different gaming system, finding newer and better ways to code, and trying to become the best at manipulating the “reality” of the games. However, at heart he is always going to be a hardcore scavenger, looking for bits and scraps that he can modify and add to. Technology is ALWAYS more important than magic, as far as he is concerned. And, despite his rather “greedy” attitude, he would always consider taking something of interest over a bag of gold, even if the bag is very big.
Sub-Class:
Pirate – “Yeeharrrrggg” he’d yell, if he felt the mood. But normally he just takes the persona of a pirate, instead of being so cliché as to say something like that. As a pirate Lars is apt to do anything, from helping the needy, to stealing from them. He doesn’t care, as most pirates don’t, who he gains because of, as long as he profits from them… and profit he does. However, he’s not used to the way pirating is done on a server/game with simple, low technology settings… He’s used to his massive flying ships, and unique weaponry.
Armor:
“Leather” Jacket – Not much of armor to say the least… His jacket is not very thick, made of a high density leather polymer, but would be hard pressed to stop anything bladed bigger than a small dagger. It is useful for softening fists, kicks, falls, and sometimes blunt weapons. However, it does have small ‘pouches’ of Kevlar wrapped around a small light-weight, steel plate. That would stop maybe a dagger or a wayward bullet, but not much more. The jacket has long sleeves with straps to wrap them tight and is rimmed around the neck by a thick layer of fake white fur. (It’s fake because he doesn’t condone the killing of animals for appearance and style alone, hence the fake fur.) The chest portion is open, lined with a zipper, and has a strap along the neck and the waist if it needs to be closed. The jacket’s only other distinguishing features are the 4 ammo pockets (at a 45 degree angle) that are on his back, and the two normal pockets on the front (which normally hold a pack of cigarettes in each).
Weapons:
Knife [x1] – He has a simple hunting knife, single edged. It is steel, 5 inches long, simple wooden handle wrapped in steel studded leather.
Scourge Long Knife [x3] – The dagger is about five inches in length. It is made of a brittle black metal called Delyn with the symbol of the Scourge on the blades pommel.
Dagger [x10]– steel daggers, 3 inches in length, double sided. The handle is part of the tang, no handle, but is blunt and rounded so that they can be wielded if necessary. Eight more were purchased from the Bazaar of Scara Brae just like the first two.
Broken 12mm ( http://www.3dactionplanet.com/redfaction/dp/images/art/rf/weapons/pistol.jpg)[x1] – A 12mm, semi-automatic handgun with empty 15 round clip, adds good damage against unarmored opponents, can punch through some less armored opponents, steel make but missing multiple pivotal pieces. The weapon is a short to medium range weapon, has the proper pieces for a silencer and pistol scope. Pieces missing or broken: broken firing pin, spring, and chamber.
Items:
Clothing – His clothing is nothing special. Under the jacket is a short sleeved black shirt, V-necked, light and soft. He wears a pair of dark wash girl jeans, boot cut that allow for a good amount of movement… however low they are. Around his waist is a thick leather belt, studded of course, with a broken heart and cross pistol belt buckle (always worn to the side). And finally a pair of leather combat boots that reach to mid-shin, covered by the base of his pants.
Magazines – Two (2) empty magazines from the crash were all he could recover, they’re stored in two of the four pockets on the back of his jacket.
Cig’s – Two packs of cigarettes, seemingly endless, Marlboro Reds
Zippo Lighter – A small zippo lighter without any designs on it, limitless fuel
Pen ‘n Paper – a very small notebook without a limit of paper and a mechanical pen that he keeps inside his jacket
Twin Shoulder Holster – A shoulder holster that he wears at all times, wraps around his back with two open holsters for pistols that rest under his armpits. Each holster and the wrap are made of high quality leather polymer.
Thigh Holster – He has one holster on either thigh, also made of leather polymer, with room for an extra clip.
Concealed Sheaths – Multiple concealed sheaths are hidden around him, some spring loaded and able to push a dagger out, others simply tucked away. There is one in either sleeve, a wrap around his forearm, hidden by his jacket, spring loaded. It is built to contain up to five daggers at a time, no longer than 3 inches each, stacked just right to be shot one at a time out. Another one is built into either side of both boots, able to hold a single knife.
Class Skills:
~~Scavenger Shite~~
~~ Eye of Greed (below average): Scavengers are good at one thing, and that’s finding shit… good shit. Lars isn’t much different, though his abilities are completely dependent on whether he’s bothering to pay attention. At first look he can tell if something is going to be worth the profit or not. ((Items of interest scavenged in threads are of bellow average quality or higher))
~~ Talk ‘em into it (Budding): Once random stuff’s found, it’s good to know what the price of it is… or how to make it seem like it’s worth more. Lars is getting the hang of bartering for higher deals, or lower prices. ((Currently his ability allows him a 15% leeway for increase in price of things sold, or decrease in price of objects bought.))
Normal Abilities and Skills:
~~ Daggers (Skilled): His ability to use his daggers is a good deal above average, including their use in armed combat as well as use in throwing.
~~ Marksmanship (Average): His ability to aim and fire under pressure is average, if he had a firearm at least.
“Magical” Abilities:
((Quick Note: Magic for Lars isn’t what the ‘people’ of Althanas would take it as… he doesn’t harness some unseen force, or pray to some false gods, but toys with the fabric of reality in a way. If anyone asked of him, he would say he was cast magic that changed Reality. In all honesty, he’s doing little more than changing coding layouts, adding his own little hacks, and generally causing mayhem that most site administrators, moderators, or otherwise would hate him for))
At this point, Althanas is still extremely new to Colin, as well as owned and operated by a rival company to his. The coding is easy to see if he wants to, but very hard to understand. What little he has figured out at this point is as follows
The Key Pad [Level N/A] – Colin’s magic little pad, his secret weapon, the coder’s bible if you will. The Key Pad is a small virtual pad that forms wherever he concentrates for it to appear, be it on a wall, table, or in the middle of the air. For all intensive purposes it is solid to his touch, only he can see it, and it will not affect another person if they happen to walk into or through it. To most it seems that he’s tapping at nothing in the air, so he tries to conceal it so possible mod/admin programmed bots do not catch onto him. The keypad is necessary if he wants to use any of the coding feats he’s discovered, most of them are on ‘hot keys’ already though so it’s just a quick touch and they’re alive!
**The Key Pad has somehow become linked with his thoughts; maybe because of the odd link with Althanas, or the way the reality works. Either way, the keypad can still be summoned to hand, but Lars only really summons it so that he can do more intricate hacks other than the commonplace ‘spells’ that are listed already. On top of that, the hotkeys that are programmed can still be used, but only thinking about also summons them to work as well.**
Fade [level 0] – He’s able to take the coding that makes his body ‘real’ to the people of Althanas, be they PC’s or NPC’s, and slip out certain little codes. It allows him to almost drift into an ethereal state, making his body harder to pin point. He can only remove, safely, 25% of his material form and still ‘exist’. If he attempts to shift further than that without proper study and [insert tech. babble here] he will simply disappear forever, destroying the character and having to start all over. Also, if he holds the tendril of code outside of his character’s coding for too long than it will also unravel his existence… he’s able to remain in that state for no longer than five minutes at a time. While in the state people can still see him with good perception, normally used in conjunction with darkness or distractions. When he moves, and if he’s noticed/seen, than it will appear like him but a blur leaving a streaking afterimage.
Upgrade [Level 0] – Colin’s also figured out how to take an object, or area, and give it a slight upgrade through coding. At this point he can only slightly alter the non-animate material of an item to enhance a single aspect of it just a little (be it by strength, density, malleability, weight, and so on...). ((This skill is completely up to the mod if it is allowed to remain, and will not be powergamed by any means))
Speed Boost [Level 0] – He’s figured out, finally, how to alter the physical manifestation that has been given to him. The means of which are not simple, by any standards. As such, he can only alter his speed and very slightly, at most 150% compared to normal. That’s not a whole lot, but can put an edge where he needs it… be it escaping danger, or throwing a flashy blade here or there.
Mend [Level 0] – The ability to fix minor issues with the items he owns, or himself, had come to him through careful study. Currently he can mend his clothing if necessary, small scars on his person once the wounds have healed, or little nicks or dents in his weapons.
Clap [Level 1] – Coding the environment is far easier than coding himself or others, and he had toyed with it a bit here and there. With a flick of his wrist, and a couple buttons on his keypad, he can violently draw codes from the air around him in order to create a loud thunderous burst of noise. It is able to stun those that are close or have overly sensitive ears (elves and whatnot) and shatter weak glass if he is close to it.
Smoke Alterations [Level 1] – Because of his habitual smoking he has had innumerable chances to watch the lingering smoke and how it is affected. The code that creates the smoke, as well as what makes it move has been observed and understood at the most meager of levels. Currently he is able to manipulate the smoke expelled into shapes, like boats, circles, hearts, and whatever else comes to mind. He is also able to keep the smoke from dissipating for a small amount of time (perhaps about a minute or two). However, he cannot use it as a weapon, create more smoke than is produced by the object, or use it for any form of smoke screen or whatnot.
Time [Level 2] – Lars has slowly gained the ability to toy with time itself. He is currently only able to stop time for a maximum of two seconds. Using the ability is dangerous, and can leave him in a place of complete solitude, with the world stopped and him alone moving. So, since the risk is so great he uses the ability ONLY when it is absolutely necessary, no more than once or twice per day and no more than once in a skirmish. Using it too many times too close, such as in battle, means that the risk is even greater.
Constitutional Boost [Level 2] -- He’s figured out how to alter the physical manifestation that has been given to him. The means of which are not simple, by any standards. As such, he can only alter his constitution and very slightly, at most 200% compared to normal. That’s not a whole lot, but can put an edge where he needs it… be it taking a few extra blows or keeping a bone from breaking.
Strength Boost [Level 2; 4] -- He’s figured out how to alter the physical manifestation that has been given to him. The means of which are not simple, by any standards. As such, he can only alter his strength and very slightly, at most 300% compared to normal.
Weapon Manipulation -- At the end of the day, it really all comes down to one thing for Lars, his daggers. No matter what he knows about the coding of the world of Althanas, it never seems to be enough. He’s no “reality manipulator” type mage, so constantly relying on his abilities which appear to be nothing more than powerful spells can’t always be relied on. As such, he has developed a specialized manipulation that he can use on one blade/manipulation at a time as long as he is familiar with the weapon. So far he has only a couple abilities, which seem an awful lot like magic but are little more than code manipulation.
Bigger Blade -- This manipulation allows him to double the overall size of the weapon being used theoretically altering the overall weight of the object do be twice as heavy as well. This can only be used on his own weapons, and they must be within ten yards of him in order to be used.
Multiple blades -- This manipulation allows him to double the number of a weapon, potentially creating two throwing daggers were one was originally. This skill can also only be used within ten yards of him.
Unnatural Eyes [Level N/A] -- Well… there are side affects to jumping ship from a post-apocalyptic world and being forced into a new world that doesn’t have the same technology. Side affect may be a harsh word for it, since it’s actually a small boon to say the least. The higher tech world offered many different means of personal augmentation without having to change codes to do it. The most prevalent and easiest to acquire, as well as constant and continuously attached to the character, are the changes that affect the eyes. Though they are constantly apart of Ethan, since he did not legally come into the world of Althanas, it takes a while for damaged codes to come back… and they finally are starting to.
Night vision [Level 3] -- The ability to see in the dark is not just a useful skill, but something that you can have physically implanted in the world he had come from before entering Althanas. This physical augmentation is in affect when he closes the light sensitive lenses. Currently they possess the ability to allow him to see in the dark, but the downside of when they are active any sudden bright light (like a candle or spark of fire) causes him to turn away and be momentarily blinded. They only help with low light, not perfect darkness.
Power Sight [Level 4] -- The ability is little more than an OOC knowledge of the opposition’s power level, or character level. It allows him to know who’s possibly the strongest, given that they aren’t some powergaming nonsense character, and allows him to focus his attention and codes against people. It also helps him know if certain codes worked, such as the Reduction hack.
Power Thrust [Level 4] -- A heavy slam, and the ground before him is upturned and sent flying. Lars is able to cause a rift to form, forcing a wave of energy through the ground in order to cause quaking for unsteady footing and possibly knock-down potential. However, the true magnificence of the code is that the ground’s thrust can harm his opponent. It travels in a single direction away from him, up to ten feet long and three feet wide, and the ground is hurled sharply upwards to at most five feet. The speed is equivalent to him sprinting forward. The damage done is up to the players involved in the attack.
Reduction [Level 4] -- An ability that is unlike anything else that Ethan has ever thought he’d be able to do on Althanas. If an opponent is within twenty yards of him, he is able to use a devious code on them. It is something that cannot be seen, cannot be felt (sometimes), and is not able to be controlled. When he clicks a hotkey on his keypad the target is struck with a code that reduces their overall level until either Lars is dead, they are dead, or they flee away from the area. If the code works:
A person who is struck by the alteration has to use abilities, spells, and anything else other than weapons that were present only in the level that they are docked to.
The ability cannot reduce a person to a level lower than the person who used the code. So whatever Task’s level is, they would be equal to that.
A person who is one level higher than Lars has a very, very slim chance of ignoring it. One who is two levels can avoid it, but will be reduced to his current level should it work. A person who is three levels or higher will be able to avoid it if the person behind the character chooses, but if they allow it to work they cannot be dropped more than two levels from their current level. ((Character A is level 5, Task is lvl 4; the code works and they get dropped back to level 4. Character B is level 6, Task is level 4; if it works they are dropped to level 4. Character C is level 8, Task is level 4; If they allow it to work they would drop to level 7 or 6 at most. People can allow their characters to drop more than that if they chose… meaning if someone is level 10, but decides to make it more fun they’ll accept the full drop to level 4 instead of level 8, they can do that.))
All ability drops must be approved by the other PC’s involved. NPC’s can be affected, but only within reason.
This ability does not, in any way, affect people equal or lower level than himself.
Magnetic Manipulation [Level 4] -- Lars has the ability to slightly manipulate magnetic forces. The code warping allows him to move and manipulate objects, as long as they are no higher “tier” than Steel, or he has had experience with the metal for some time. He cannot change the shape of metal, or anything like that, simply make it rise or fall by changing the polarity of the magnetic forces around the metal. It is mostly used in order to err a projectile, put a incoming weapon off course as not to kill him, and things like that. This ability does not affect anything weighing more than five pounds Current list of metal’s: Iron, Steel.
Lost Items:
Guns [many], a hovering pirate-esque Ship, and so much more…
History
[0]
He broke through the firewall, immediately jolting himself into the world of Althanas. It wasn’t, however, without consequences. The post-modern, almost renaissance style world was hardly acceptant of the technology the hacker brought with him. His weapons were either lost or broken, leaving him with only a few daggers and a broken 12mm pistol. Also, the crew that followed him through the vortex from Grimm (the server he had been playing on) have been scattered and lost. No matter how many messages are sent none have responded, he can only assume they aren’t getting them.
His crash brought him to the small island of Scara Brae, where he decided to wander and explore. So far the most he had been able to accomplish is wandering through a forest and finding a lost kid. It ended up leading him to one hell of an issue regarding some form of scandal, a conspiracy over illegal logging and something called the Scara Scourge, and a hell of a headache. He did, however, come out with a good deal more knowledge about the small island.
Further random wandering brought him to the cursed and broken land of Raiaera, the land of the high elves. Fuckin’ pricks, they were hardheaded, nose in the air, ass holes but gave the hacker a task to do nonetheless. It was, at the most, little more than a ‘get rid of them with something’ type mission, sending himself and a couple others into the sewers of New Aurient. The other two were mercenaries also come to help Raiaera, a heavy set warrior who proved to be a lot more bark than bite, and a silent human who proved to be something called a Hex Magi who was the most useful of the three. The task turned out to be interesting, leaving the hacker with new knowledge of Althanas, Raiaera, and the troubles that plagued the world.