After considering for a long time whether or not I should join a game, and what character to make, I've decided to finally submit something. Now, I know this character in particular might seem a bit "peculiar", but he's something I've been itching to play. He's been in two "street gang" type game, which both died off very quickly. Now, he isn't a proper runner type, and might have trouble fitting in in the grand schemes of things, so if you all would rather I roll up something else, I'll completely understand.
That being said, I do know I won't be the most active of all posters, so I have no problem with standing a bit at the periphery of things story wise.
So, anyways, that having been said:
Mahpiya “Dog” Iyapato
[ Spoiler ]
The Thirty
Background
1. Where and in what kind of environment did your character grow up?
Since the very first day he was born, Dog was hated and cursed. The offspring of a rape, he never had a father (or even a father figure), and was despised, every single second of his life, by his mother. When she was in her late teens, Dog's mother was viciously raped by a gang of elven go-gangers, in broad day light. Unfortunately for her, what she thought was a nightmare only continued further when she discovered she was pregnant. Her disgust only grew when her child was born with the pointed ears of her rapists.
And so, Dog grew up in a household where he was constantly reminded of how repugnant he was; of how much of a monster he was. With time, his mother switch from the harsh words and mental torture, to straight on beatings. Her hand gave way to a broom handle, which broke many times on his back, to cigarettes, and finally to the chains and whips. Every day, she would find something about his behavior that needed to be corrected; something he wasn't supposed to do that he had to be punished for.
In a way, Dog was fortunate... With time, he began to think of the relationship he had with his mother as something normal; something every child had. He began to love the pain. He began to accept it and crave for it. Every time she would lay her hands on him, he would squirm with pleasure in the back of his mind. Serious abuse at the hands of his mother has left Dog deeply scared; not only physically, but mentally. Beside the clear pleasure he takes in receiving pain, especially from women, Dog has inherited his mother's hatred for all of elven kind... something which drove him to cut the tip of his own ears. The daily beatings and abuse he received has also impacted his psyche quite seriously; Dog, for all intent and purposes, is blindingly obedient to whom ever his “handler” is, to the extend of almost behaving like a pet. He is almost unable to connect with any other human beings.
The disgust he has for his own body has now pushed him so far he will do anything to transform himself as far away from an elf as he can. Not too long after turning fourteen, Dog came home one day to find his mother dead from a BTL overdose. He lived and cared for her body for close to 6 months, until the smell became so intense the Star finally showed up. When they took his mother away, Dog went into a mad rage, attacking both the medics and social services workers, killing some, and maiming others. The young elf then fled to the streets, where he survived alone for a few more months, making his way to the Redmond barrens.
2. What are your character’s relations with their family? (Does your character keep in touch? Where are they now?)
Dog holds his mother to the status of God. Even though she died of a BTL overdose when he was 14, Dog still hears her voice on a daily basis. Sometimes, when he finds a whore willing to beat him, he'll see her traits on the working girl's face.
3. Does your character have an ethnic background? (Is it relevant to them?)
Dog is part Sioux, part he doesn't know what at all. His ethnic background holds no nostalgia for him, and beside the tongue, he knows next to nothing of the Sioux.
Appearance
4. What does your character look like?
Dog is tall and slender, with dark skin, dark eyes, and probably dark hair (if he didn't shave his head smooth). Years of physical abuse have left his entire body covered in vicious looking scars. He has very angular and long features, with thin eyes and an equally small and thin mouth... all of which make him look like a somewhat vicious bird. Since discovering cybernetics, Dog has been quite keen on modifying his own body. The added artificial muscle mass, on top of his already somewhat impressive physique, make him look slightly disproportionate. A few years ago, Dog went ahead and decided to cut the tips of both his ears.
5. What does your character dress like?
Dog wears exclusively a set of worn out and faded urban fatigues, which are haphazardly patched up here and there. His black combat boots seem to be as well worn as the rest of his outfit. Although rarely unarmored, when he is, Dog will replace his jacket for a simple black beater.
6. What are your character’s physical quirks?
Beside the fact that he looks like a vulture on steroids, and the numerous scars....
Skills, attributes, resources
7. What did your character always want to be? (How did they go about getting this job/position/ability/image? Did they succeed?)
Dog wants to be a good boy. He wants his mother to love him.
8. Where and how did your character learn their Active and Knowledge Skills?
After managing to survive in the streets for about 2 years (by scavenging what he could, stealing what he couldn't find), Dog finally hooked up with a gang. He didn't really understand what a “gang” was, but it seemed almost as kind as his mother. Always obedient to whom ever was leader of the gang, Dog became a sort of “pet”; traded or inherited by whomever took up leadership.
9. Where and how did your character get their major equipment and ‘ware?
What Dog didn't steal from others, he collected as personal trophies over the numerous bodies he has left in his path.
10. Where and in what kind of place does your character currently live?
Since Dog travels from roof tops to roof tops, at least as much as he can, he tends to live there also. Somewhat of a loner, he's never been quite keen on living amongst his fellow gang members, preferring to pick a spot, on a nice roof, somewhere close by. Generally speaking, Dog is rather nomadic, although he'll almost always stick to taking shelter in places on his gang's turf.
11. Who are your character’s contacts? (How did they become contacts? Why do they still talk to your character?)
Actually, Dog doesn't know a lot of people. He avoids talking to strangers, especially women. Mother doesn't like it...
12. Who are your character’s enemies? (How did they become your character’s enemies?)
Since Dog has mostly been used as something of an “assassin” ; a killer who strikes with precision instead of blunt raw force, he has without a doubt gained many enemies. His obvious hate for elves have put him on rather bad terms with members of the Ancients. On more than one occasion, he has been known to single out an Ancient in particular, stalk him for a few days, and finally kill him, making sure to deface him, and leave his body where others will find it.
13. For Awakened characters, how did your character learn their magic? For non-Awakened characters, how does your character feel about magic?
Dog doesn't comprehend what magic is, or stands for. He'll usually approach it with the curiosity of a child, but he has already learned that magic can hurt, and not in a pleasant way like Mother did.
Personality
14. What are your character’s personality quirks?
Dog's personality can be akin to that of a very loyal and vicious dog. Years of mental abuse have left him somewhat simple minded and dim witted. He'll always refer to himself in third person, and will talk greatly about his Mother's opinions. He enjoys keeping little “souvenirs” from whom ever he has been sent to hunt. Beside taking something that belonged to the person (an object, or something a body part), he'll always record his kill, and the aftermath, on an optical chip.
15. What are your character’s likes and dislikes?
He likes: Pain. Delicious, slow, pain. The sound pain makes. Mother. How pain feels warm. Other's pain.
He dislikes: Elves. His own body.
16. What is your character’s moral code?
Dog is loyal to whomever he recognizes as his handler. He will always do as told, in an almost blind fashion. He feels no remorse in killing, and he'll take any life without a single second of hesitation. He does not take any pleasure in killing... but rather in inflicting pain and feeling it. When he is given a target, Dog will always focus solely on it, ignoring everything else around it. Although this means he might sometimes bypass great occasions to “free up” some space in other gangs, he can be trusted to hit his target, and his target only.
17. Does your character have personal beliefs?
Mother is always right. Mother loves her boy.
18. What are your character’s personal motivations?
To find pleasure and to please Mother.
Running with the gang
19. Why does your character run with the gang?
Dog doesn't really acknowledge the fact that he is “part” of a gang, let alone some sort of family. In his own mind, the only relation that can exist are between two people; a dominant, and a submissive one (and he loves being the submissive, like Mother always wanted him to be). For all intent and purposes, Dog runs with his handler, not exactly with the gang itself.
20. When and how did your character join the gang?
21. How does your character contribute to the gang? What is his role; not just in terms of how he/she makes money, but where does he/she fit in the social hierarchy?
Dog is a stalker and a hunter. Although he much prefers to deal in pain, he has also been often used as a scout, even tho his main expertise will always remain that of an assassin.
22. What would make your character ever leave the gang?
If Mother came back to take him with her.
23. How does your character feel about their life in the gutter as part of a street gang? What is their view of the rest of the world? (i.e. Non-gangers)
Dog doesn't really “feel” anything toward his life as part of a street gang. Beside his life with his mother, it is the sole thing he knows, and cannot imagine anything else. He doesn't really like the rest of the world, because they came and took Mother away when she was taking a nap.
24. If your character could have their ideal life outside of the gang, describe what that ideal life would be.
Back with Mother, in the tiny apartment, where she could love him every single day.
I will probably alter his background a bit, to break off any tangible connection to a gang, so that he's free to roam Seattle.