Ghosts of Nueva Iberia (OOC / OPEN)

[The Grand Western Empire]

Hey folks, Co-OP filling in for the OP to provide some feedback while he's busy.

-snip-

I like the idea of Octavian's artifact but artificers are described as people who have mastered a certain skill after years of practice in a specific field, and the effects of his hammer don't seem to have anything to do with his business (construction). I'd advise you to change that. Some more detail on the bio wouldn't be amiss either. I like the character concept in general though.

Guess I misunderstood Artificers. I'll get to revising it.

[The Grand Western Empire]

Hey folks, Co-OP filling in for the OP to provide some feedback while he's busy.

I like the idea of Octavian's artifact but artificers are described as people who have mastered a certain skill after years of practice in a specific field, and the effects of his hammer don't seem to have anything to do with his business (construction). I'd advise you to change that. Some more detail on the bio wouldn't be amiss either. I like the character concept in general though.

Edited it.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Yup, that looks a lot more consistent with his line of work. I'll let North chime in further when he gets back, but that does work better.

[Union Princes]

Im up for a shared history between Xun Yijun and Blake Byrne

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Alright, finished my character's bio. Decided to try something a little different, hope it works well

[Theyra]

Im up for a shared history between Xun Yijun and Blake Byrne

Same, I am done for a shared history. What to do it now or when our chars get accepted?

[Union Princes]

Im up for a shared history between Xun Yijun and Blake Byrne

Same, I am done for a shared history. What to do it now or when our chars get accepted?

Up to you I guess. Given the histories so far, our characters may started off as adversaries

[Theyra]

Same, I am done for a shared history. What to do it now or when our chars get accepted?

Up to you I guess. Given the histories so far, our characters may started off as adversaries

Meant to say want to do it now when our chars get accepted?

Either way, and yeah. They were probably adversaries at first. Then Yijun disappearing after the end of his father's death and the end of his criminal empire. So probably off of Blake's radar until they meet again in Paso Del Rey. Or how would Blake feel about Yijun or working with him now?

[Union Princes]

They probably work together. Yijun brings in new clients while Blake help make sure him and his coworkers get paid on time.

Thats when they properly meet, face to face, rather than by name

[North America Inc]

Let's see if I can address everything with one giant post.

-Letourneau-

Accepted.

= Hector Adrián Cervantes Cruz=

We've talked about your character extensively, so of course, the Character and Spectre are accepted.

-Xun Yijun -

-Blake Bryne-

I'll put these two together since they are in the same boat. Great artificer ideas, I like it, and those are accepted. I agree with Zark that I think both of you can benefit from connecting the characters to the island a bit more; I have no issue with you guys having shared history as well.

Suppose you two can add some more connection to the lore, like a Tulpa encounter, Spectres, organized crime, corporate corruption, implants, or even a specific NPC. In that case, I'll be able to integrate you two into the broader narrative if you do that. Both of you are accepted.

Also, putting a temporary block on future detective apps may put a stop to foreign characters as well, depending on if they outmatch natives.

I didn't have a particular war in mind; I was thinking maybe New Iberia was getting itself involved in anti-communist operations. If not, we can change it to him being injured in operations with the United Nations, either is fine

We can do New Iberia and have some intervention in Central America. Actually, I have an idea. Once you finish your app and you're accepted, I'll run it by you.

-Octavian Anderson-

Looking through your RP history, is there a fleshed-out post or story that you have an example of? I haven't posted all the rules for the IC yet, but I tend to avoid one or two-sentence posts.

[Theyra]

They probably work together. Yijun brings in new clients while Blake help make sure him and his coworkers get paid on time.

Thats when they properly meet, face to face, rather than by name

Okay, I can work with that. Another source of income for him besides what he gets as a dock worker.

[Union Princes]

They probably work together. Yijun brings in new clients while Blake help make sure him and his coworkers get paid on time.

Thats when they properly meet, face to face, rather than by name

Okay, I can work with that. Another source of income for him besides what he gets as a dock worker.

Not like an actual job, I meant Yijun recommends future clients while Blake investigates into local corruption concerning dockyard. You know, to prevent managers trying to cheat the workers out of pay or work accident compensation. Since the corruption is starting from the top and spreading dowards

[Theyra]

Okay, I can work with that. Another source of income for him besides what he gets as a dock worker.

Not like an actual job, I meant Yijun recommends future clients while Blake investigates into local corruption concerning dockyard. You know, to prevent managers trying to cheat the workers out of pay or work accident compensation. Since the corruption is starting from the top and spreading dowards

Oh, either way still works for me.

[Theyra]

-Xun Yijun -

-Blake Bryne-

I'll put these two together since they are in the same boat. Great artificer ideas, I like it, and those are accepted. I agree with Zark that I think both of you can benefit from connecting the characters to the island a bit more; I have no issue with you guys having shared history as well.

Suppose you two can add some more connection to the lore, like a Tulpa encounter, Spectres, organized crime, corporate corruption, implants, or even a specific NPC. In that case, I'll be able to integrate you two into the broader narrative if you do that. Both of you are accepted.

Also, putting a temporary block on future detective apps may put a stop to foreign characters as well, depending on if they outmatch natives.

I got an idea, and I added that Yijun noticed some suspicious cargo containers at the port he works at and when he went to check on one. A Tulpa breaks out of it, causing some panic and damage before escaping somewhere into the city. Which the container it broke out of had some kind of restraining equipment in it but only Yijun barely sees it as the Tulpa knocks him out and the other suspicious cargo containers end up disappearing very soon after that. Does that work?

[Audunia]

Let's see if I can address everything with one giant post.

-Letourneau-

Accepted.

= Hector Adrián Cervantes Cruz=

We've talked about your character extensively, so of course, the Character and Spectre are accepted.

-Xun Yijun -

-Blake Bryne-

I'll put these two together since they are in the same boat. Great artificer ideas, I like it, and those are accepted. I agree with Zark that I think both of you can benefit from connecting the characters to the island a bit more; I have no issue with you guys having shared history as well.

Suppose you two can add some more connection to the lore, like a Tulpa encounter, Spectres, organized crime, corporate corruption, implants, or even a specific NPC. In that case, I'll be able to integrate you two into the broader narrative if you do that. Both of you are accepted.

Also, putting a temporary block on future detective apps may put a stop to foreign characters as well, depending on if they outmatch natives.

I didn't have a particular war in mind; I was thinking maybe New Iberia was getting itself involved in anti-communist operations. If not, we can change it to him being injured in operations with the United Nations, either is fine

We can do New Iberia and have some intervention in Central America. Actually, I have an idea. Once you finish your app and you're accepted, I'll run it by you.

-Octavian Anderson-

Looking through your RP history, is there a fleshed-out post or story that you have an example of? I haven't posted all the rules for the IC yet, but I tend to avoid one or two-sentence posts.

Sounds good, app's finished so waiting on the OK

[The Grand Western Empire]

Looking through your RP history, is there a fleshed-out post or story that you have an example of? I haven't posted all the rules for the IC yet, but I tend to avoid one or two-sentence posts.

Not really? I'm still new to RP'ing, so I've been in relatively few. And most weren't very story heavy. The only other example with some degree of story I've got is this: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=524105

[North America Inc]

I got an idea, and I added that Yijun noticed some suspicious cargo containers at the port he works at and when he went to check on one. A Tulpa breaks out of it, causing some panic and damage before escaping somewhere into the city. Which the container it broke out of had some kind of restraining equipment in it but only Yijun barely sees it as the Tulpa knocks him out and the other suspicious cargo containers end up disappearing very soon after that. Does that work?

Character Name: Xun Yijun

Application accepted, though, at the time, I am not sure if you would need to ship a Tulpa into Paso Del Rey. It is the epicenter of their arrival. Regardless, I can do something with that.

Sounds good, app's finished so waiting on the OK

Character Name: Jorge Bortnyik Serrano

Accepted. I love the concept of the artifact. It's a mixture of both types, practitioner and holy, yet it makes sense. Just a forewarning, Zark's spectral ability has a very similar effect in practice to Jorge's skin hardening; I am sure we can find ways to separate the two as time passes.

-snip-

I noticed you hadn't updated Bryne's history in Del Rey. Did you see the message I gave you and Theyra?

Looking through your RP history, is there a fleshed-out post or story that you have an example of? I haven't posted all the rules for the IC yet, but I tend to avoid one or two-sentence posts.

Not really? I'm still new to RP'ing, so I've been in relatively few. And most weren't very story heavy. The only other example with some degree of story I've got is this: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=524105

I'll tentatively accept your app, though be aware the RP will be more comprehensive than your given example. Welcome abroad.

[Theyra]

Character Name: Xun Yijun

Application accepted, though, at the time, I am not sure if you would need to ship a Tulpa into Paso Del Rey. It is the epicenter of their arrival. Regardless, I can do something with that.

Maybe shipping them out, then? Whatever makes more sense.

[Union Princes]

Oh yeah, I forgot to update the history to include Yijun

[The Grand Western Empire]

I'll tentatively accept your app, though be aware the RP will be more comprehensive than your given example. Welcome abroad.

Alright. I'll try to keep up with the story. If I bog it down, I'll leave.

[Union Princes]

Alright, I updated the app history

[Segral]

Character Name: Chloe Hirano
Gender: Female
Age: 24
Appearance: Link
Occupation: Tattoo Artist/Piercer

Personality: Chloe tends to lean more towards the mercurial side of temperament. She's known for having an easily provoked temper, being very liable to hold grudges over small slights (ESPECIALLY payment-related slights), and generally being unpredictable, with no telling whether you've caught her at happy hour or screaming-match hour. Most definitely, she has her redeeming qualities; a wonderful artistic sense, all the loyalty you could ask for in a person, and even the occasional flash of kindness. All of it's just wrapped in a package that's a little...difficult to work with.

Biography: Chloe was born in 1961, one of the many members of Coatlan's rapidly flourishing industrial core. For the twelve years of her life untouched by the quake of '73, life was fairly sweet, as sweet as it could be when you were grounded in the middle of a grayed-out industrial district. Both of her parents were involved in the blue-collar trade, having met as co-workers in the same car plant five years prior to their daughter's birth. It wasn't the most lavish work, but loyalty paid well, and the family was able to eke out a decent middle-class lifestyle close to their source of income.

Ultimately, the quake of '73 was what sent that slightly tenuous existence into a tailspin. Like much of Coatlan, her family's district was ravaged by the main event and its aftershocks, and the Hirano household was no exception to this. When the house collapsed in on itself, Chloe was the sole victim, having been home alone in her living room at the time. Most of her injuries ended up being recoverable, but the ceiling of her dwelling had largely collapsed on her right arm, and the resulting prolonged compression was something that couldn't be treated. It ended with her arm being amputated at the shoulder.

Greatly disturbed by her condition and what had transpired, Chloe spent the rest of her adolescence in a state of limbo, unable to break free of her internal stasis. After a few failed stabs at resuming her normal life, she dropped out of school and began wandering Del Rey, looking for thrill where she could find it. When she wasn't hanging around various tattoo shops and car garages in Little Saigon, she was spending her free time in the upstairs bedroom of her family's new residence in the East Industrial District, alternating between re-learning how to draw with her left hand and watching Coatlan progressively decay around her.

Indeed, art was her only real comfort at the time, one of the few remaining keepsakes of her childhood she had left. Her talent for drafting had always been extraordinary, but with more free time and determination to practice, she became incredible, soon able to work with her non-dominant left just as fluidly as her missing right. When her parents demanded she get a job or find her own place to stay, she walked up the street to her local parlor and got a gig doing ink and piercings. After two years of that, she had enough cash on-hand to find her own place voluntarily, finally free from the house that could collapse on her again at any moment.

Life's been up and down since then, a series of challenges with eventual uphills. Being broke and living out of a basement in Saigon was a challenge, but she pulled enough shifts and side gigs to move out. Tattooing with one arm was a challenge, but eventually, she pulled together enough in savings and gifts to buy a decent replacement arm. Working a hundred hours a week to scrap for that arm was a challenge, but she practiced so much that she became psionic with her ink. Losing her job after punching her coworker in the face over a "severe disagreement" was the hardest challenge of all, but Santa Francesca was hiring, and the move was easy to make. Whatever challenge comes next is sure to be temporary.

Notable Cybernetics or Implants:

• Cybernetic Arm: The quality of this arm is somewhat...questionable, coming at a lower-than-average price point and only available through a cyber den. It tends to give Chloe irritating pain with strong exertion and is subject to occasional spasming fits and twitches. That being said, it's able to carry out all the functions of the average human arm, can hit a decently-hard punch without ripping at the joint, and is fitted with several tool mounts at the fingers and wrist to hold Chloe's needles and equipment while on the job.
  
  
• Cosmetic Skin: In addition to the arm, Chloe also has multiple cosmetic skin grafts on various parts of her body that were installed following the earthquake of '74. They're purely for cosmetic purposes, mostly to hide superficial scars from the injuries she sustained.

RP History: Young Bloods

---

Artificer Application

Artifact: Tattoo Ink
Appearance: Ink captured in a plastic, rounded tub, usually loaded into various stencils and needles while working. Current color of choice is pink, but if the ink runs out or disappears, the power can be transferred to identical ink.
Inheritor or Practitioner?: Practitioner
Years of Practice: 6

Ability: Healing, can be used to patch together both skin/flesh-deep injuries and cosmetic deformities (i.e, scars).

Strengths: The ink is versatile; it doesn't necessarily need to be loaded into needles or an entire equipment set-up to be applied to the skin and can be washed across one's body to heal injuries with a towel, brush, or anything else on-hand. When applied to the skin, the ink has a few properties. Firstly, it soothes (and in some cases, numbs) pain sourced from that patch of skin, allowing for relief. Secondly, it can be used to correct cosmetic deformities; when a scar, burn, trauma injury, etc. has ink applied to it, it will heal in degrees depending on how much ink is applied and the severity of the deformity. Finally, and perhaps most crucially, the ink can be used to heal actual injuries of the skin and flesh. This includes wounds, punctures, and bruises of most types. It's perfect for taking care of minor-to-moderate injuries or performing post-op care.

Limitations: The ink can't go deeper than skin-deep to heal, so if broken bones, torn or separated muscles, internal injuries, amputated limbs, etc. are at play, Chloe's healing powers won't be of much help. All of the strengths of the ink are proportional to the situation. Small wounds and scars can be healed with a small amount of ink and a few minutes of constant application, but severe wounds or burns will require several layers of ink and constant application/coating of ink over an extended period of time.

[North America Inc]

.

If you guys want to read my finished app, feel free to click on this link. I'm accepted of course.

[North America Inc]

Character Name: Chloe Hirano

Accepted. Glad to see you join Seg.

Accepted; thank you for the additions.

I plan to make a complete list of accepted characters tomorrow. I apologize if I missed someone; please let me know if I did.

I plan for the IC to be up on Friday, so I have time to flesh out the introduction post a bit and give me time to watch the first few posts over the weekend.

In the meantime, I would like to discuss if you guys want to include any specific landmarks or communities in Santa Francesca so that we have more unity in its layout.

In addition, if you have any lore, technology, or alt-history recommendations, please feel free to message them here.

Would you guys want a discord now, or wait a bit to see if anyone else wants to join?

[Reverend Norv]

Character Name: Henry "Harry" Adams Latimer Gender: Male Age: 41 Appearance: Harry is a man of average height. His body reflects both years of training and, more recently, years of decline: his limbs are still corded with powerful muscle, but too much liquor and too little exercise has left him barrel-shaped around the midsection. He is fair and pink in complexion, and he seems constantly slightly sunburned. His lank hair is the color of ash, and he wears it in a messy side-part; it is just beginning to grey at the temples. Harry is also constantly unshaven and somewhat disheveled; greying stubble flecks his jaw, and there are weary circles under his eyes most days. He usually wears rumpled but professional clothes: chukka boots, slacks, collared shirts, a tweed or camelhair blazer. (The blazer conceals his handguns in their shoulder holsters.) Harry's eyes are green, and a close inspection will show that the left eye is a little too reflective and does not move quite in sync with its counterpart. He handles himself efficiently, with a precise animal grace. His breath smells almost constantly of alcohol. Occupation: Freelance journalist (a "stringer"), primarily for the Associated Press. Personality: Harry Latimer is a broken-down, washed-up remnant of a man, and he knows it. A scion of the American patriciate, he retains the benefits of a Yale education and a privileged childhood: he is well-spoken, well-read, conversant in five languages, and surprisingly comfortable in high society. But these are the hangovers of the man he used to be. Harry was too gentle a heart for Vietnam, and so he hardened himself in order to survive, and therefore the war left him calloused and cynical and sardonic. Too many ideals have proven false for Harry to trust in principles; too many friends have died for him to trust in people. He has despaired of any remaining purpose in life, and he gets through each day mostly as a matter of inertia: filing stories a few hours before deadline, ignoring his long-expired visa, and pickling himself in whiskey and opium to drown his emptiness and his repressed self-loathing. His sense of humor is cynical and dry and bitingly funny; he has few illusions about himself, and little regard for his own dignity. And yet, despite all his cynicism and despair, there is still no coldness in Harry Latimer; despite himself, against his own will, he cares compulsively for underdogs and strays and victims of power. This is the paradox at the heart of his character: Harry cares too much, not too little - and all his hard-drinking cynicism represents an ultimately futile attempt to protect himself from his own soft heart. Biography: Henry Adams Latimer was born in 1944 outside Boston, Massachusetts, into a life of exceptional privilege and responsibility. His mother was a direct descendent of President John Adams; his father was the heir to the Latimer shipping fortune. The family had a long tradition of public service: it had fought in every American war since the Revolution, and it had produced dozens of senators and congressmen. Harry's father carried on that tradition, serving as a bomber pilot over Nazi Germany, and he was shot down and killed when Harry was just under a year old. Harry's mother never completely recovered. She was kind, but distant; she retreated into academic study, and eventually became the chair of Harvard's department of neural physics - a position she still occupies. Harry was raised initially by tutors and governesses, and then at the age of eight he was packed off to boarding school: first the Eaglebrook School, and then Deerfield Academy. He played rugby and squash and practiced fencing and horsemanship; he learned French and Greek and Latin. Harry became a product more of his class than of a particular family. He was formed in the image of the old New England elite: of men and women who considered themselves the country's natural leaders, and who held themselves to an accordingly high standard of personal excellence and public service and good taste. He was admitted to Yale almost as a matter of course, and studied history, and wrote articles for the Yale Daily News about the need to defend American democracy both at home and abroad; he supported both the Civil Rights Movement, and the war in Vietnam. And just as his teachers had bidden him, Harry Latimer put his money where his mouth was: he spent one summer as a Freedom Rider in Alabama, and passed several weeks in jail. And after graduating from Yale, he volunteered for United States Army officer training, and was deployed to Vietnam. The war gradually unraveled Henry Latimer just as it unraveled the American elite that had created him. He served one tour as a platoon commander in the First Cavalry Division, leading foot patrols through the jungle amid the feet of the giant air cavalry walkers. His men burned villages and rice barns to deny shelter to the enemy; Harry gritted his teeth, and hardened his heart. After that tour, convinced that conventional operations were hopeless, Harry applied for Special Forces training. The training course activated Harry's latent psionic abilities, and bound them to his weapons: a pair of custom handguns that, in Harry's hands, now became tools of remarkable precision and lethality. Henry Latimer became an Acolyte. He also learned Vietnamese and was assigned to the Phoenix Program: a joint operation by CIA, Army Special Forces, and South Vietnamese special forces. The program's goal was to destroy the Viet Cong's support in the countryside by identifying, interrogating, and executing VC cadres. Harry's war became an endless cycle: raid a village, seize a suspected communist, torture him until he identified a collaborator, then execute him and move on to the supposed collaborator's village to do the same thing again. Sometimes, the team stumbled onto an actual Viet Cong stronghold, and a desperate firefight ensued; sometimes, there were weeks when no orders would come at all, and Harry would get to know his Vietnamese counterparts and feel his soul unclench. But soon enough, the perpetual wheel of atrocity would begin to spin again, and Harry would grit his teeth and harden his heart, and go on. One day at a time, he told himself; one day at a time. In the end, "one day at a time" added up to eight and a half years: July 1966 to August 1973. South Vietnam, North Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia. By the end of it, Harry had wandered into a moral wilderness. All the ideals he had learned at Deerfield and Yale now seemed like sick jokes. All the comrades he had known when he had first come to Vietnam were dead or wounded or mad, and he felt utterly alone. Even his body had changed: loaded with one state-of-the-art CIA implant after another, until even his eyes were no longer fully his own. He was already getting drunk on rice wine and high on opium almost every night, and nobody seemed to care. When the war ended, he knew only that he could not go back to America. He withdrew what remained of his inheritance from the family bank, and set off to wander. His path took him through Thailand into Burma and then India, and then north into Nepal and Tibet, and west across central Asia. Harry did some mercenary work along the way; he spent six months in an Indian jail; he sold photos of nuclear test sites in Kazakhstan to his old contacts in the CIA. Mostly, in the end, he spent his time writing: his education had given him a beautiful prose style, and he found that he could make easy money by reporting on local stories in hard-to-reach countries, and selling the copy to the Associated Press. He kept moving: running from the war, from himself, from the possibility of staying long enough anywhere to become attached. Until, in the end, he found himself in Paso del Ray, in the spring of 1982. And there, without ever entirely meaning to do so, Harry stopped running. Perhaps it is the sheer size of the city, the anonymity that is possible here, that convinced Harry to linger. Perhaps it's that there is always something happening, so that Harry never runs out of stories to report for the AP; he has certainly made himself a nuisance to Comisario Velasquez with a series of internationally syndicated pieces on crime and police corruption. Perhaps it's that, having lived for two years in a rented room above Enrico Infante Montilla's taqueria in Santa Francesca, Harry has simply grown too fond of the food to move on (this is Enrico's preferred theory). Or perhaps it's that, while reporting a story about refugee resettlement in Tlamatzonco, Harry narrowly fought off a spectral jaguar-like creature - and he has been searching for answers ever since. Finally, perhaps it's just that Santa Francesca feels like home: something that Harry Latimer has not truly known since he was packed off to boarding school at eight years of age. Whatever the reason, the lanky gringo reporter who drinks too much - and who overstayed his visa more than a year ago, requiring him sometimes to dodge the immigration authorities - has become a fixture of the neighborhood. Notable Cybernetics or Implants: Raytheon AN/IOS-31 Optic: Harry's left eye is replaced by a military-grade optic, widely used by CIA personnel and other American special operators. It uses image enhancing to allow Harry to see in the dark and zoom in on distant targets; it also allows him to see into the ultraviolet and infrared spectra. In concert with his prefrontal cortex coprocessor, the optic also offers a wireless link to Harry's gunsight, allowing him to "see" wherever his weapon is aimed. Among other things, this lets him shoot around corners. Finally, the optic can function as a silent, neurally-activated camera. It is camouflaged behind a lens that (imperfectly) matches Harry's right, organic eye. General Dynamics AN/OYK-17 Prefrontal Cortex Coprocessor: Harry's primary neural implant is standard for American special operators. It allows the control of his other cybernetics directly by thought, rather than by the exertion of organic muscles. In concert with his optic and cochlear implants, it also gives Harry a significant boost to reflexes based on visual or audial stimuli. Through extreme concentration, the coprocessor can be "overclocked," increasing Harry's reaction time so much that time seems to slow around him; this is a dangerous procedure because it overheats the implant, reducing its lifespan and risking injury to the surrounding brain tissue. Harry's drug and alcohol abuse also impede the effectiveness of his neural ware. Lockheed AN/OYQ-24 Basal Ganglia Interface: This is a mostly dormant piece of neural ware that allows Harry to use Second Skin armor, which was issued to US special operators in Vietnam. Since he no longer has a suit of Second Skin, it serves little purpose at present. The interface is a steel socket at the nape of his neck, usually covered by a skin-colored cap. Raytheon AN/IOC-11 Cochlear Microphones: These implants sit inside Harry's inner ears. They use audial enhancement and a direct link to the prefrontal cortex coprocessor to enhance Harry's hearing and audial processing: Harry can identify the direction and distance of a sound with uncanny accuracy. They are essentially an improved and ruggedized version of a civilian hearing-aide implant. General Dynamics AN/PRC-122 Communications System: A specialized software system that connects Harry's optic and cochlear implants to a miniature microphone implanted next to his vocal cords, and to a subdermal antenna attached to his radial bone. The system functions primarily as a built-in walkie-talkie radio, and it allows Harry to wirelessly transmit and receive images or video. Because the microphone is implanted in Harry's throat, he can communicate by subvocalization: the microphone detects the movements of the larynx, whether or not they make any audible sound. Boeing Modular Rheumatological System (MRS): A set of augmentations designed primarily to improve physical durability. The connective tissue in most of Harry's joints is replaced by high-tensile bioplastic; the attachment points for his muscles are strengthened by titanium staples anchoring the muscles to the bones; his metacarpals are fastened to titanium rods, which means that he can punch much harder without breaking his hands. These augmentations cause constant low-grade inflammation of Harry's joints, which he self-medicates with (as always) alcohol and opium. RP History: Please refer to my sig; Zark can also vouch for me. Choice of Weapon: A pair of customized Colt M1969A2 pistols, .45 cal. Armor/Weapon Appearance: Years of Practice: 7 years active practice, 18 years total sporadic practice. Harry underwent special forces training in 1967, and was engaged in psionic combat operations from 1967 to 1973. Since then, his training has been less consistent, and his skills have declined from their peak - though he remains a formidable fighter. Notable Proficiencies: Harry's mastery of his weapons is remarkable: his reflexes, speed, skill, and hand-eye coordination are all so superior that - at least against an ordinary human target - he essentially never misses. In concert with his optical implant, his psionic abilities allow him to fire accurately far beyond the ordinary effective range of his pistols. With focus, Harry can make each individual bullet the anchor for his psionic power, which means that he can literally bend a bullet's trajectory in midair toward its target. And with his guns in hand, through an effort of will, Harry can slow his own perception of time: he can fire five or six accurately aimed shots in just under a second. Strengths: Harry's acolyte training makes him a versatile combatant. He is deadly at short or medium range, and a conventional sword-wielding acolyte will find it difficult to get into melee without being riddled with bullets. Against most opponents, Harry remains effective even in hand-to-hand combat: he uses his enhanced reflexes and martial arts training to parry his opponent's blows with his guns themselves, creating an opening through which to fire at point-blank range. Unlike the Imperial Royal Guard, U.S. special operations acolytes emphasize ruthless efficiency rather than knightly honor, and this makes Harry especially dangerous: he strikes without warning, uses every dirty trick and unfair advantage he can find, and does not pause to give his opponent a chance to fight back. His fighting style is defined by inexorable aggression, and he presses every possible advantage until the other man is dead. Limitations: While Harry is competent in hand-to-hand combat, he does not excel in it. Against a truly skilled acolyte swordsman or close-combat Tulpa, he will eventually be overwhelmed; he is most effective at range, not in a point-blank melee. His skills are also not what they used to be; time and liquor have taken their toll on his reflexes, eroding the physical fitness and spiritual discipline that psionic combat requires. And because Harry's psionic anchors are firearms, it can be very difficult for him to use nonlethal force; in order to access his acolyte training, he has to shoot people (or, at a minimum, pistol-whip them). This means that he cannot employ his psionic power to defuse or deescalate a situation, and the use of his training remains necessarily an option of last resort. .