Post by Forsaken on Feb 21, 2009 2:26:06 GMT -5
Name: Zaq
((Yeah, just Zaq. He can't remember the rest.))
Age: Early twenties. He doesn't know for sure.
Race: Loup Garou (Sentinel)
Description: Zaq is six feet, nine inches tall and two hundred fifty pounds of muscle. Which makes him a big, scary looking guy. And the wolf eyes don't help make him look any friendlier. They are a blazing shade of true gold and tilted the way a wolf's eyes are tilted. His hair is a warm red-brown in color, with shades of brighter red and darker brown standing out in bold spikes of color. It's long enough to reach the nape of his neck but is usually so wind-blown, ruffled, and ignored to the point of neglect that it just sticks up in any odd collection of angles. His skin is a medium tan in color, which makes him stand out even more when nearly everyone else is pale for want of sun, and he dresses in drab, earthy colors. The style of that dress is simple. Warm long-sleeved shirts, hardy denim-pants, warm leather boots that have been so comfortably worn that he can stroll as silently as a panther in them, and a heavily lined dark gray jacket that is only long enough to fall just past his waist.
As a wolf, he stands about four and a half feet tall at the shoulder and is quite a sight to see.
Personality: Zaq is blunt to the point of being rude, and incredibly temperamental, but he generally means well. He's just incredibly frustrated with circumstances in CM and hasn't forgotten events long past that he couldn't change. These thoughts come and go, and tend to leave him feeling very dark and angry. But when he's not dwelling on what should be or what should have been, he's upbeat and determined to change things in CM. It's during these times that he believes anything is possible and is the last person to give up. Around other people, this is the persona he tends to fall into. It's only when he's stalking the city streets on his own that he tends to fall into a darker mentality.
History: For Zaq, this history only includes the past four years. His earliest memory is of waking up in a cool cell with stone walls and the sound of running water murmuring nearby. Styxx Penitentiary, as he would discover later. He spent about one week in that cell, give or take a few days. It's hard to tell exactly when there is no change in light to mark the passing days, and he drifted in and out of consciousness. His head ached so severely that he welcomed the lapse in consciousness whenever it came. He felt too ill to eat, and his waking hours crawled by. However, though these days felt like an eternity to him, they were still few in number.
His next destination was the Stage of Retribution. It should have been his last.
He appeared to the audience gazing up at him from the open court surrounding the elevated Stage like a wraith. His eyes were sunken into his skull, surrounding the brilliant gold with black shadow. They seemed to burn like hot coals in pits that should have held eyes. The planes of his face had hollowed and his skin tone somehow managed to look pale and sickly even through the tan. He was a mess. But he didn't want to die.
A pair of Forsaken (still too new to betray any but the earliest signs of their transformation) carried a heavy steel pole to the top of the platform and slid one end into the deep holes that had been carved into the pale stone. One of the Forsaken approached, reaching for the shackles. Zaq knew he would be tethered to that pole. He knew how he would die. Members of the crowd were shouting this information to him. He lifted his head and gazed down upon them. He was terrified, but he would not let it show. He wouldn't allow them the satisfaction that belief in their 'enemy's' fear of their strength would give them.
But it was then that the crowd fell silent with one collective gasp, punctuated by a few startled and fearful screams. A fissure opened up in the crowd just off to his left, a single furious snarl ripping forth, and a pure white wolf with a distinctive silvery sheen to the blinding brightness of it's coat appeared before him, as impossible as a mirage. The beautiful creature was over four feet tall at it's shoulder and nearly twice as long. However impossible it may have seemed, it flowed forward, it's pelt brushing against him, real, and came to a halt. Looking over it's shoulder, it focused one sparkling pale green eye on him. Zaq saw the urgency in it's eyes and suddenly understood what it meant to do. He wouldn't die.
He threw himself upon the wolf's back, lying low along it's spine, and twisted his fingers into her fur in a death grip. Something brilliant ignited around them, and then they were suspended over a crowd that swarmed desperately to get out of their way. They landed upon the thick strip of stone pavement that had just been evacuated and sprinted toward the shelter of the buildings just ahead. They were out of sight in a flash. They were across town and out of danger in just moments, moving so quickly that anyone who glimpsed their passing believed they had only seen a flurry of snow lifted upon a gust of wind. And then they were in a small, dilapidated and earthen room that only the feeblest rays of the gray day could reach and everything was silent around them.
He slid off the wolf and staggered to the nearest wall, weak with relief. When he looked back, the large white wolf was instead a small pale girl. He would learn very soon that this shouldn't have been possible. That the loup garou couldn't transform during the day, or become larger as a wolf than it was as a human. And he would discover later yet why, in this girl's case, it had happened.
Now, however, he could do nothing more that stare at her in dumb gratitude.
For a moment she stared back. Then she rasped "They won't find you here," and collapsed.
He remained with the girl for only just over a year. He learned that her name was Asila and that her parents had died in a fire started by the Guardians. He learned about the Guardians, the werewolves, the Rebellion, and of the conflicts between the factions. He didn't know then where Asila fit in, for she herself didn't understand it.
She was the one who had called him Zaq when he couldn't remember his name, simply because she had always liked it and thought it should be his. And she tried to help him learn (or relearn?) what it was to be a werewolf, Loup Garou, though learning how to control and use their power was often trial and error for them both.
But he wasn't with her on the day she was captured. They had split up that night, in search of resources, and while he came back to the decrepit building they were currently living in, much like the one he had slept in on the day of his rescue, she never did.
He found out along with everyone else when she was captured. He had risked a trip to the Stage, blending in with the back of the crowd, and saw her with his own eyes. She looked so much like she had when he'd seen her only a little over twenty-four hours ago, but so much had changed. Her eyes were dim and without hope, and something about her just felt wrong. Off. She had been changed into one of them. One of the Forsaken. Already, it was too late. He'd never had a chance to save her as she had saved him only a year ago.
He returned to the building that they had last shared and didn't leave it for three days. On the fourth, he made the decision to travel to Wyvern and learn to fully realize his power. So that when he returned, he would be able to do some good in Manticore. Save enough lives to make up for the one that he'd allowed to slip through his fingers.
He remained in Wyvern for three years. He learned what it was to be Loup Garou. And with the title of Sentinel, he returned.
Now, things will change.
Political Standing: Affiliated with the Rebellion.
Abilities: Zaq can shift into a large wolf, is over twice as strong as a human with the same muscle density, and has a feel for natural state of the world. Basically, he can heal it, or fix what has been damaged. He does not carry a weapon, preferring hand to hand combat. His strength is a great advantage.
Weaknesses: He can not warp the world around him the way the Guardians can. In a sense, he has to play by the rules, adhere to the natural order of things, while the Guardians' remain free to break and twist every rule to his or her own advantage. One on one, he can hold his own against most Forsaken. When out-numbered, however, he is at a distinct disadvantage since the Loup Garou can only equal the stronger Forsaken in power, not surpass them.
((I hope this isn't too incoherent. I was tired and I got carried away with the story-telling.
))
((Yeah, just Zaq. He can't remember the rest.))
Age: Early twenties. He doesn't know for sure.
Race: Loup Garou (Sentinel)
Description: Zaq is six feet, nine inches tall and two hundred fifty pounds of muscle. Which makes him a big, scary looking guy. And the wolf eyes don't help make him look any friendlier. They are a blazing shade of true gold and tilted the way a wolf's eyes are tilted. His hair is a warm red-brown in color, with shades of brighter red and darker brown standing out in bold spikes of color. It's long enough to reach the nape of his neck but is usually so wind-blown, ruffled, and ignored to the point of neglect that it just sticks up in any odd collection of angles. His skin is a medium tan in color, which makes him stand out even more when nearly everyone else is pale for want of sun, and he dresses in drab, earthy colors. The style of that dress is simple. Warm long-sleeved shirts, hardy denim-pants, warm leather boots that have been so comfortably worn that he can stroll as silently as a panther in them, and a heavily lined dark gray jacket that is only long enough to fall just past his waist.
As a wolf, he stands about four and a half feet tall at the shoulder and is quite a sight to see.
Personality: Zaq is blunt to the point of being rude, and incredibly temperamental, but he generally means well. He's just incredibly frustrated with circumstances in CM and hasn't forgotten events long past that he couldn't change. These thoughts come and go, and tend to leave him feeling very dark and angry. But when he's not dwelling on what should be or what should have been, he's upbeat and determined to change things in CM. It's during these times that he believes anything is possible and is the last person to give up. Around other people, this is the persona he tends to fall into. It's only when he's stalking the city streets on his own that he tends to fall into a darker mentality.
History: For Zaq, this history only includes the past four years. His earliest memory is of waking up in a cool cell with stone walls and the sound of running water murmuring nearby. Styxx Penitentiary, as he would discover later. He spent about one week in that cell, give or take a few days. It's hard to tell exactly when there is no change in light to mark the passing days, and he drifted in and out of consciousness. His head ached so severely that he welcomed the lapse in consciousness whenever it came. He felt too ill to eat, and his waking hours crawled by. However, though these days felt like an eternity to him, they were still few in number.
His next destination was the Stage of Retribution. It should have been his last.
He appeared to the audience gazing up at him from the open court surrounding the elevated Stage like a wraith. His eyes were sunken into his skull, surrounding the brilliant gold with black shadow. They seemed to burn like hot coals in pits that should have held eyes. The planes of his face had hollowed and his skin tone somehow managed to look pale and sickly even through the tan. He was a mess. But he didn't want to die.
A pair of Forsaken (still too new to betray any but the earliest signs of their transformation) carried a heavy steel pole to the top of the platform and slid one end into the deep holes that had been carved into the pale stone. One of the Forsaken approached, reaching for the shackles. Zaq knew he would be tethered to that pole. He knew how he would die. Members of the crowd were shouting this information to him. He lifted his head and gazed down upon them. He was terrified, but he would not let it show. He wouldn't allow them the satisfaction that belief in their 'enemy's' fear of their strength would give them.
But it was then that the crowd fell silent with one collective gasp, punctuated by a few startled and fearful screams. A fissure opened up in the crowd just off to his left, a single furious snarl ripping forth, and a pure white wolf with a distinctive silvery sheen to the blinding brightness of it's coat appeared before him, as impossible as a mirage. The beautiful creature was over four feet tall at it's shoulder and nearly twice as long. However impossible it may have seemed, it flowed forward, it's pelt brushing against him, real, and came to a halt. Looking over it's shoulder, it focused one sparkling pale green eye on him. Zaq saw the urgency in it's eyes and suddenly understood what it meant to do. He wouldn't die.
He threw himself upon the wolf's back, lying low along it's spine, and twisted his fingers into her fur in a death grip. Something brilliant ignited around them, and then they were suspended over a crowd that swarmed desperately to get out of their way. They landed upon the thick strip of stone pavement that had just been evacuated and sprinted toward the shelter of the buildings just ahead. They were out of sight in a flash. They were across town and out of danger in just moments, moving so quickly that anyone who glimpsed their passing believed they had only seen a flurry of snow lifted upon a gust of wind. And then they were in a small, dilapidated and earthen room that only the feeblest rays of the gray day could reach and everything was silent around them.
He slid off the wolf and staggered to the nearest wall, weak with relief. When he looked back, the large white wolf was instead a small pale girl. He would learn very soon that this shouldn't have been possible. That the loup garou couldn't transform during the day, or become larger as a wolf than it was as a human. And he would discover later yet why, in this girl's case, it had happened.
Now, however, he could do nothing more that stare at her in dumb gratitude.
For a moment she stared back. Then she rasped "They won't find you here," and collapsed.
He remained with the girl for only just over a year. He learned that her name was Asila and that her parents had died in a fire started by the Guardians. He learned about the Guardians, the werewolves, the Rebellion, and of the conflicts between the factions. He didn't know then where Asila fit in, for she herself didn't understand it.
She was the one who had called him Zaq when he couldn't remember his name, simply because she had always liked it and thought it should be his. And she tried to help him learn (or relearn?) what it was to be a werewolf, Loup Garou, though learning how to control and use their power was often trial and error for them both.
But he wasn't with her on the day she was captured. They had split up that night, in search of resources, and while he came back to the decrepit building they were currently living in, much like the one he had slept in on the day of his rescue, she never did.
He found out along with everyone else when she was captured. He had risked a trip to the Stage, blending in with the back of the crowd, and saw her with his own eyes. She looked so much like she had when he'd seen her only a little over twenty-four hours ago, but so much had changed. Her eyes were dim and without hope, and something about her just felt wrong. Off. She had been changed into one of them. One of the Forsaken. Already, it was too late. He'd never had a chance to save her as she had saved him only a year ago.
He returned to the building that they had last shared and didn't leave it for three days. On the fourth, he made the decision to travel to Wyvern and learn to fully realize his power. So that when he returned, he would be able to do some good in Manticore. Save enough lives to make up for the one that he'd allowed to slip through his fingers.
He remained in Wyvern for three years. He learned what it was to be Loup Garou. And with the title of Sentinel, he returned.
Now, things will change.
Political Standing: Affiliated with the Rebellion.
Abilities: Zaq can shift into a large wolf, is over twice as strong as a human with the same muscle density, and has a feel for natural state of the world. Basically, he can heal it, or fix what has been damaged. He does not carry a weapon, preferring hand to hand combat. His strength is a great advantage.
Weaknesses: He can not warp the world around him the way the Guardians can. In a sense, he has to play by the rules, adhere to the natural order of things, while the Guardians' remain free to break and twist every rule to his or her own advantage. One on one, he can hold his own against most Forsaken. When out-numbered, however, he is at a distinct disadvantage since the Loup Garou can only equal the stronger Forsaken in power, not surpass them.
((I hope this isn't too incoherent. I was tired and I got carried away with the story-telling.
))