Post by Roasted Suffering on Jul 23, 2015 2:23:55 GMT
HUMANS
BASIC INFORMATION
Name: Camille Foss
Aliases: 'Cammy'
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Class: Psychic
Faction: Independent
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Image:
Appearance:
Not much to the eye, Camille is a person who belongs at the back of a crowd. Not particularly tall, but not particularly small either; he stands at a modest 5''8, with a slight build obviously deriving from his geeky hobbies. His features are just as slight and are not really with much definition to them, giving his face a kind of boyish look; and often leading him being mistaken for a teenager. An aquamarine, unkept mop of hair extends from his head, dangling at just beyond chin-level with a small, unyielding flock of hair sticking up at the back like a bedhead. His matching eyes are big, and with his usual straight-faced demeanor, the source of most of his expression.
The bartender suit he dons while on work is of decent quality and makes for a suspiciously good fit. A navy blue blazer with darker blue folds and a red ribbon bow tie, complimented by a white buttoned shirt underneath. If it weren't for that suit, though, his dull selection of casual clothes would certainly give visitors the impression of a bum: murky jeans and a collection of dark t-shirts that are all slightly too big for him, as well as a well-worn pair of sneakers. This is often accompanied by a bland, grey hoodie while he's outside of the bar.
Personality:
A reclusive young man who dislikes attention, but not exactly shy. Traumatized by the collection of social bridges his Empathy power had inadvertently burned to the ground during his school life and even in his own family environment, Camille concluded that he was simply too flammable for the world; either that, or someone devious was pouring oil over him when he wasn’t looking. Thus, he is a man that has many times resolved to shut himself away from the rest of society; to abandon any and all pursuit of stable interpersonal connection and ensure that he would not witness one self-destruct in his face again. Unfortunately, Camille is flaky, a pushover, an extreme doormat, and deep down, does actually desire affection, so despite the antisocial tendencies he has developed, he can never find himself completely pushing himself away from people; or, well, certain people -- and is always being roped into situations he would rather not involve himself in. He has never been able to fully enact this legacy; now working as a full-time bartender at what is essentially a private pub as a 'request' from what he would consider one of his few only friends.
Despite initially seeming like a somewhat friendly person, usually putting up a friendly smile for the visitors, Camille can actually be quite the cynic -- and while he never openly expresses it, some of his views on certain aspects of humanity could be considered rather scary to the average chap. Even more than he is cynical, Camille is dangerously self-depreciating; often lowering his own value and putting blame upon himself when something goes wrong. Being quite aware of his Empathy power, he sees his high level of self-awareness as more of a curse than a blessing, and follows the notion that he doesn't deserve equal treatment to normal people because of it -- or rather, that's the excuse he uses on himself when he is being treated unfairly. When in public or working, Camille remains withdrawn and polite; often bottling most of his usual feelings for the situation - as well as most witty interjections - in his head and not really leaving much of an impression to people as a result. He also has a habit of inconspicuously slipping out of the scene when a situation is too pressuring for him. He opens up a tidbit when it's people he knows, getting a bit more talkative and possibly letting some off his meaner thoughts slip depending upon the person, but it couldn't really be considered enough to be satisfactory; though there are rare occasions of disarray where Camille's reserved show will burst to the point where he may even start monologuing, though that only happens when you somehow manage to get him exceptionally mad. When pressed, he can sometimes act very wishy-washy, and his responses will mold like clay depending upon the person, always leading him to say what could be considered "the right thing". This is naught but a defense mechanism of his; as Camille believes that by appeasing to as many people as he can when he interacts with them, he can prevent his Empathy power's effects from being too destructive, and thus prevent himself or others from getting hurt.
Having an almost vampiric hatred for the sun, as well as practically never going outside during daylight of his own accord; in essence, if you ignore his job, Camille has all of the qualities of a shut-in. Whenever he’s not scrubbing dishes or attending to a drunk's needs, he attempts to isolate himself in room to indulge in video games and media, finding the escapism to soothe his paranoid mind and seeing it as an effective workaround to the social issues brought upon by his psychic power; regrettably, he is noted to spend a dangerous amount of time doing this, to the point where it might as well be his life, and has reached “no going back” on the scale of addiction -- he also seldomly refers to his room as a “mancave” and tends to incite rules for it when others are in his presence, likely because of his growing attachment to it and the fact that he considers it the only place where he can really be himself. Despite being incredibly attuned with the internet, Camille generally despises internet slang as well as a great deal of its culture, and the word “meme” should be used with caution when around him.
Camille has no key motivation of any sort, and would just prefer to waste his days away quietly and without unnecessary trouble. While he does neglect interaction with people and attempts to act disinterested, deep down, Camille does genuinely mean well, and very much wishes he had the emotional strength to pursue relationships himself; but is regrettably dragged down by his own fears and traumas. There are a minuscule amount of people in his life that are exceptions to this, and that he does hold dearly, but he often refuses to realize it himself.
History:
Camille began as what could be considered a happy, typical kid, but after a certain point in his childhood, something changed. The effects of the mutation began to properly manifest during his early childhood; an interaction with his parents soon became something equivalent to trying to hold a conversation while having decks of flash cards tossed at your face. Just by being in the same room as them, Camille began to bare witness to images he'd never seen before, as well as sensations that weren't his own. Through meager eye contact, words with no connotation would interrupt his thoughts, and colors would float in his vision whenever strong emotions were evoked. Red to yellow. Blue to purple. A sudden change in mood in the household was followed by a sudden change in color. In extreme cases, he would find his own feelings mimicking theirs: seeing his parents' smiles would instantly elate him; seeing his parents cry or shout would leave him shaking his fists with rage, regardless of his own emotional state or the context behind those feelings.
The thought that his emotions would be influenced over something so simple scared Camille, and the barrage of extrasensory information stressed him out to no end. Not knowing any better as a child, he initially gulped down his fears and likened it to a phase or a bizarre mental cycle; but it didn't just go away like that, and only increased in intensity as time passed. There were times where it felt like his brain would burst from the strain. Even as he did put forth a herculean effort to remain close to his parents, it wasn't long before he began spending as much time as he could out of their presence, either using going out or studying as his excuse. This effectively destroyed his relationship with them. In contrast, he found his school life considerably more manageable than his migraine-inducing home life. Even though there were so many more people, the bizarre sensations and imagery didn't bother Camille nearly as often there, typically only arising during eye contact; leaving him able to actually contemplate their implications when it did happen, discovering certain patterns in his new power's manifestations. He registered that his powers corresponded highly to the emotions around him, and that it allowed him to briefly observe into the hearts of people, so to speak. For example, if asked a question, an image of sorts would flash in Camille's minds' eye with implications of the answer he needed. The image shown didn't necessarily contain the right or wrong answer, but the answer the person wanted to hear.
Initially, he found building social connections to be a swift process, his power allowing him to gauge a person's emotional state enough for him to always say what would be the most correct thing. This left him in distress later however, as he realized one more catch to his power and possibly it's most destructive aspect -- it only made sense, considering how his current relationship with his family was: the closer Camille got to a person, the more sensations and images he would perceive from them. Best friends he grew to cherish soon became people he had no choice but to actively avoid, eventually leading his friendships to self-destruct and for him to close his heart. Considering his power, perhaps keeping a relative distance from his peers while still remaining friends with them would have been best for Camille, but with him being already traumatized from his previous broken friendships, he decided to isolate himself entirely. It became exactly the same case as his parents. He thought it would be different as his environment changed, and he went from primary to secondary school, but the cycle eventually repeated itself again. His childhood growing increasingly lonely and monotonous as he aged and approached adolescence, and seeking emotional satisfaction, Camille would find himself indulging in heavy amounts of escapism media; spending long hours of the night playing video games and reading comics, effectively ignoring his studies. After he'd done the obligatory amount of years, he dropped out of education and became a shut-in, feeding off of the parents that were getting increasing unhappy with his state.
Resolving he couldn't just stay like this, Camille eventually came to a revelation of his own, and a ray of hope shined down on the poor NEET that allowed him to temporarily escape from his despair. The Magician's Guild. His family having a light connection to a Guild Mage, he managed to use that to get in at the state's magic university; he miraculously managed to pass, doing well in theory while barely scraping by in the aptitude test -- likely due to the influence of his supernatural power. He enrolled the following semester as an undergraduate, living in a dorm and far away from the inevitable stresses of his home life. Through the academy's resources, he studied intensely there in hopes of diagnosing his condition, developing an impressive amount of knowledge for magical theory as a result. He soon pinned down that his power was those belonging to psychics, and that it was called Empathy -- as well as some of its other effects and some countermeasures to manage it, allowing his life to become ever-so-slightly more stable. Unfortunately, despite being surrounded by people who were somewhat like him, and supernatural in some form, he still found it difficult to adjust, spending a good amount of his spare time delving in his vidya. It's through this that he met Vivian Valentine, a succubus facing similar social issues to his - as well as sharing the same geeky hobbies - and bonded with her. While he occasionally found the succubus' flamboyant tendencies rather grating, he thought of her as a good friend; and perhaps due to certain intricacies of his Empathy power when around different races probably his only friend whose his relationship with hadn't crashed and burned within a few months.
Sadly, the higher-ups soon discovered that beyond his Empathy power, the young man didn't really have much supernatural potential at all; Camille found himself unable to keep up, and was forced to drop out. His life went back to the terribly unstable one it was before; though this time, he didn't go back to his parents -- hiding the fact of his exclusion from them and using the little savings he had to settle down in a crumby apartment while attempting to find a job, though with meek success. By a miracle to Camille, Vivian, the one connection he had managed to keep stable through the internet despite his harsh life conditions, ended up dragging him out of labor with a job to co-manage a private bar with her -- specifically one used for meetings with the magical community. Well, it was a job, but it didn't take him very long to realize that the job assigned to him could barely be considered such at all. Closed for most days of the week, the place was more of a freeloading haven than a bar for them -- introducing Camille to an environment where he finally felt he could relax. A bit. Much to his dismay and hatred of the outside, he'd often be dragged outside of this comfortable haven and on magical journeys with said succubus, relating to her assignments as a now-employed enforcer. Though despite all of the eccentricities of his new job/life, and the slowly increasing risk of his power backfiring on Vivian, Camille didn't find himself with any will to leave, as he soon found this private bar to be much more of a home than anywhere else he'd resided in within his eighteen years of life.
STATISTICS
Strength: F
Endurance: E
Agility: F
LOADOUT
Equipment:
Name: Ludicrously Expensive Headphones
Rank: E
Description: A pair of designer headphones that Camille has grown very attached to; which are especially notable for their impressive level of sound-cancelling. While they are not inherently magical, Camille finds the music as an escape from the outside world and others; making him able to ignore his empathy power unless there is an especially strong signal near him.
Name: Ridiculously Large Umbrella
Rank: E
Description: An umbrella designed with an especially large canopy. Used to shelter Camille from any hindrancing weather conditions while outside of the bar.
Uniforms:
Name: Refined Suit
Description: A black two-piece suit for his work at the private bar. While unremarkable, it is of impressive quality and has been cared for with utmost dedication and caution by Camille despite the circumstances of his life.
CAPABILITIES
Skills:
Name: Unarmed Melee (‘Super Bājíquán)
Description: The capability to use his/her own body as a weapon. To attack using fists, feet, and other parts of the body in combat. While Camille seems quite competent at a glance, his supposed martial art is a mess of techniques and styles thrown together to create something that ‘looks cool’. For the most part, it is defined by explosive and impressive moves similar to traditional Bājíquán’s power expressing techniques; however it is diluted with all kinds of moves borrowed from other styles. While certainly no match for a true martial artist or style, it does at least have the advantage of being utterly unpredictable.
Rank: E
Name: Scientific Knowledge (Chemistry)
Description: The general knowledge of chemistry; honed both by his theory work in high school and his practical work in mixing drinks and conducting more questionable substances, typically courtesy of Vivian’s obnoxious attitude. It mainly pertains to identification of dangerous substances or mixes, but Camille also has some experience with how chemistry pertains to magical substances.
Rank: E
Name: Stealth
Description: The capacity to be clandestine. To reach a goal or destination without anyone noticing. The skill to lower what presence the body may possess. A required skill for thieves, infiltrators, and assassins. Despite his suit, Camille has the age-old skill of just seeming unremarkable even in an unlikely circumstance; perhaps a side-effect of his empathy’s manner of making him suit other people’s feelings.
Rank: E
Abilities:
Name: Empathy
Description: The power to feel emotions akin to a sixth sense; being able to visualize the emotions of nearby people in some manner based on their intensity. Due to his lack of practice, Camille is only able to sense strong emotions that are from people near him with any kind of clarity, but often picks up little bits and pieces from people’s feelings and thoughts akin to telepathy. It is at its most clear when he makes eye contract with another person and focuses on its use, like tensing a muscle – however, he struggles to keep himself focused enough to maintain this tenseness due to his inexperience.
With this power, Camille visualizes the emotions within his mind with words and connotations of the emotion – while this can distract his train of thought, it also means he can pick up far more specific feelings and intentions than most manners of empathy. However, this also can make what he senses especially vague and often just unhelpful should he be concentrating the ability; and they are more prominent with the more emotional weight the original person put on the subject. In the case of strong emotions from others (especially aimed at himself), he can outright see them as faintly colored auras that represent the feeling; although this tends to be a much more general signal.
These auras and signals can be seen more strongly should he have a relationship with the person at hand, and develops as he essentially synchronizes with the way they portray their feelings on this extrasensory level. In extreme cases of intensity, Camille is actually able to take on the subject's emotions, feeling spikes of strong emotions that they might feel upon glance. While he is still very inexperienced with its use on the whole, Camille has begun to develop the ability to ‘use’ this psychic ability himself rather than just comprehending its passive effects.
Since the thought processing between different races are fundamentally different, the feelings of other races could be considered more difficult for Empathy to decipher, and will often slip off its radar in cases where emotions would normally be perceived. This does not inhibit the potential of thoughts from a non-human race giving off intense sensory signals, though.
Rank: E
Name: Mental Strength
Description: The capacity of one's ability to resist mental interference. It should not be confused with Bravery as that ability is more focused on persevering through fear. Where fear could still be a factor in which this ability may not be able to cope with. Due to having handled having empathy through his life and thus being privy to random people’s frustrations and fears on a regular basis, Camille is able to keep control of his mind even under pressure.
Rank: E
Name: Sixth Sense
Description: The natural talent to sense danger through various sensory details no matter how small. This may come from having a form of "Sixth Sense", intuition, or other senses. Based from his empathy, Camille is able to sense violent intentions aimed at him from other people; giving him a slight warning as to when danger is heading his way.
Rank: E
Techniques/Spells:
Name: Subject Search
Description: While he tends to have his empathy controlled by other people’s emotions and the importance they place on thoughts; with this technique Camille is able to concentrate his empathy on a particular thought or emotion in someone’s mind and find the associated emotion or thought to it. This technique is best used on calm and neutral people, as it can be overwhelmed by stronger emotions from the target or even just others around Camille. In general, it can only give a single word or feeling in return for the search – for example, if trying to define a person’s feeling on a particular food it might return with ‘favourite’, ‘home’, or ‘disgust’.
Rank: E
Type: Psychic
Name: Lie Detector
Description: If Camille has focused his empathy on a person during a conversation or an action, he is able to recognise if they are lying about their motivations or statement given the way their emotions play out to him. However, experienced frauds can avoid this effect as they have likely relaxed into their lies; or people who are unintentionally lying since they cannot feel the emotion stress themselves.
Rank: E
Type: Psychic
Name: Unquestionable
Description: If a question is given to Camille while eye contact is established with the questioner, Camille will often get sensations and images hinting towards that person's 'ideal' answer. This technique has a good chance of falling flat with academical questions that involve concrete facts, as the asker might not know the correct answer themselves.
Rank: E
Type: Psychic