Abilities
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Long version:
Jasper's weapon is a bladed longbow. He can use it for slashing or stabbing. His archery is extremely accurate (he can hit moving targets), and his bow is quite powerful (draw weight ~50kg). He has a quiver with normal arrows on his back and another with special arrows (barbed, broadheads, poison, etc.) on his leg. His second weapon is an obsidian dagger, which he keeps strapped to his other leg.
Jasper's powers stem from the fact that he is half Shadow demon. Shadows are mentally oriented demons that feed on the minds of organisms (mostly humans) and exist through sheer willpower. They are characterized by their mental strength and stealth ability through mental manipulation (after all, you see with your brain, not your eyes).
What this means is that Jasper, has a human physical body, but can also extend his body with shadowflesh by willing such extensions to exist. He can control the movement and properties of shadowflesh (changing density, texture, or viscosity, etc.), but by default it has the properties of a viscous black fluid. He can use them to create temporary limbs, armor, or weapons, and if he is wounded, shadows will automatically come out to stop bleeding. Shadow limbs do not feel pain.
He also has a passive mental sense that allows him to perceive minds and respective mental states of humans and demons (and animals, to a smaller extent) in his vicinity. He can sense mental states, but not thoughts. He can also extend the range of his sense at the cost of more mental energy.
He is resistant to mental attack, but not usually capable of using mental attacks himself. He can use his abilities hide his mental presence, but not his physical one.
The more Jasper favors his Shadow blood, the stronger the associated abilities become. His demon instinct will react to many things (like serious damage, mental attack, or the smell of blood) and cause his demonic abilities to react without conscious consent. In this state, Jasper's powers are frequently much more potent than they would be if he was attempting them normally.
Jasper has an extraordinary ability to focus and maintain his composure in combat (as would be necessary to use his abilities). He is especially strong in the arms and shoulders due to his bow and has generally superior reflexes due to his mental abilities. He was never properly trained, however, so most of his battle experience comes from hunting and wilderness survival.[/spoiler]
Weaknesses
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Long version:
Jasper is a very good archer, but the draw weight of his bow along with the weight of the bow itself makes it so he cannot shoot very quickly. None of his arrows are magical or especially advanced. He prefers to not use his dagger, but will if he has no other weapons. Also, the dagger is made of obsidian, so it's harder than steel, but it's definitely not the hardest material. Obsidian is also a glass, so impact can shatter it.
Shadowflesh is very taxing on the mind to materialize and will dissipate if Jasper loses focus. Concentration necessary scales with distance and size, so most shadows will be small and/or stay close to the body. Shadows can move very quickly, but they are not generally durable. If shadows are severed from the body, they will also dissipate.
Jasper's demon powers are directly linked to his focus and resolve. Favoring demonic blood means that he also favors demonic survival instinct, shutting out normal rational thought. The issue lies in that Shadow and human are not practically compatible and favoring demonic powers weakens his physical form. Regularly favoring his Shadow blood will eventually cause Jasper's body to consume itself, and he would prefer that that doesn't happen.
Jasper is slightly hydrophobic. The feeling of water on skin is very similar to that of shadowflesh, and it makes him feel as if he is losing control.
While it's fairly easy to strengthen his mental "net", it's comparatively difficult to reign it back in, which can lead to an overwhelming payload on the mind in certain environments (i.e., high population density).
Shadow "bandages" can be torn very easily and cannot be used to cure poison or infection.
Jasper's human body is just a normal guy, so he's perfectly stabbable and his hand-to-hand combat skills are hardly the best.[/spoiler]
Personality
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He is not above sacrificing someone else to save himself, but usually won't if it's unnecessary.
He is constantly trying to keep his demonic blood and instinct-driven animalistic second nature in check. If instinct takes over, he becomes incapable of complex evaluation and decision making and will pick the most direct route to survival, in a sort of fight-or-flight manner.[/spoiler]
Appearance
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I have a sketch here: http://fav.me/d3cx6n0[/spoiler]
Story
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Following an unfortunate harvest and the mysterious death of the village's entire supply of livestock, the village council unanimously ruled that Jasper would be removed from the village forever. Feeling deeply betrayed, the nine year old took the few things that he owned and left the village on pain of death should he ever return.
He spent a few months slowly starving away in the wilderness, subsisting on edible plants and occasional game. When he was near death, he was taken in by the local clan of demons, who taught him, to an extent, about his heritage, demon language, and abilities. Jasper, however, refused to eat human flesh, so he was largely a solitary hunter. After a few years, Jasper decided to leave the clan of demons, who were not displeased to see him go.
Jasper left for a town and made a meager living on petty thievery, but was eventually caught and ostracized. He survived for many years in this manner, wandering from town to wilderness to town, acquiring his bow and learning skills in the meantime.
He slowly grew out of wanting/needing human companionship since his exile, but he hasn't forgotten his acquaintances from back then. He's well acquainted (though not necessarily friendly) with demons from most areas he visits.
One day, after dispatching an assassin during his travels, he found that the man had come from some fighting tournament. Apparently someone had signed him up without his knowledge. Well, that was fine with Jasper. He could fight if he needed to. As long as he didn't die, he was fine.
As long as he didn't die.[/spoiler]
Demo
Stuff in <> is demonspeak.
Spoiler (Click to Show)
Jasper looked at the unshaven bartender and shook his head. “I don’t drink.”
The bartender grinned, revealing a missing tooth. “That’s fine too; I’ve got some soft apple cider. How would that work for you?”
Jasper took a few coins out of his bag and put them on the counter. “I’m not here for the drinks, mister. You know what I want.”
“Ah, of course I do. It’s information you want, no?” The barkeeper said, pouring Jasper a glass of cider anyways. “Well, information doesn’t come for free. I want something in return.”
Jasper accepted the drink and sniffed it tentatively. It smelled off. “Something in return?” he asked. “I imagine you don’t mean money.”
“No, I suppose I don’t. Depends on what you want to know, though.”
“I want to know about a woman named Lorlei. She has one grey eye and one black. Healing powers,” Jasper said.
The bartender grinned. “What’d the lass ever do to you?”
“She murdered everyone in my home town.”
The bartender raised a scarred eyebrow. “Oh? Are you looking for revenge?”
“No, I was exiled from my village long before it happened. I just want to know why she did it.”
The bartender eyed Jasper. “You’re a strange one. I’ll go and see if I’ve got anything that can help you.” He finished drying his glass and set it down before heading into the back room.
Jasper leaned back, stretching. The tavern was a pleasant one, as far as taverns were concerned. It was a small facility at the edge of town, overshadowed by far larger and renowned ones at the town square. The Rogue’s Glass was so small that from the outside, you could hardly tell that it was a tavern at all. There was no sign, the walls were made with with discreetly painted adobe bricks, and shutters nearly always covered the windows. Jasper guessed that that was the way the barkeeper liked it. Only the people who needed to come would do so.
It was two in the morning, and Jasper was the only customer. He took a moment to take in his surroundings properly. Even though the building looked shoddy from the outside, the inside was quite comfortable, by human standards. The walls were lined with oak beams, giving it an older fashioned look. The floor was planked with dark wood and finished to a soft shine--it had been cleaned earlier that day. The lights that hung from the ceiling were electric and produced a warm yellow light. The facility smelled like food more than it did alcohol, which had to count for something. The shutters were closed tight, and Jasper could hear the light rain hitting the windows.
He had wanted to find out something about that woman, Lorlei. She, having defected, had offered him revenge against her master, but Jasper had no love for his old home. They were the ones who had cast him out on mere superstition. But their meeting had left him curious. What would cause an assassin who could murder an entire village in cold blood to defect and ask for help from one of her victims?
Humans are so fickle sometimes.
There was a knock at the door and two men walked into the tavern. One was holding a mace, the other, a pistol. They wore identical blue outfits of some sort with a weird symbol emblazoned on the chest. Jasper pulled an arrow from his quiver and clipped it to his bow. Whoever these people were, they were certainly not up to any good.
The man with the gun fired a shot into the ceiling. “Bartolomeo!” he bellowed. “We have given you our demands, and you have yet to comply! We have come to take what we wish, and you will stand aside as we do!”
The barkeeper emerged from the back room. When he saw the men, he sighed in agitation. He looked at Jasper.
“I found some things on your girl, and I think I just thought of a suitable price.”
Jasper looked from the barkeeper to the men. “Is that so?”
“I’ll take the one with the mace,” the barkeeper said, pulling a pair of tonfas from under the counter. “I want him alive if you can manage. Be careful, though. The other guy’s got some tricks up his sleeve”.
“Got it,” Jasper replied, drawing his bow. The men, realizing that the barkeeper wasn’t going to comply peacefully, attacked. Jasper loosed his bow, shooting his man in the pistol hand before he could shoot. Shocked, the man dropped his gun. He turned towards Jasper.
Jasper drew his second shot and fired, but the arrow stopped before it could hit its mark.
A shield?
The man ran at Jasper, and he realized that it wasn’t a shield that had stopped his shot, it was an arm.
It was an arm growing out of the man’s abdomen.
That’s a new one.
The man stretched out his arm and another arm shot out from his palm. He flung the extended arm at Jasper and it looped around his face and neck. With a start, Jasper realized that it was tightening around his throat.
Jasper cut at the arms with his bow and blood sprayed all over his face, but the man didn’t react. He must have been on painkillers.
As the man tightened his grip around Jasper’s neck, Jasper set his bow against the arm’s first joint, closest to the shoulder, and pushed down as hard as he could. The blade sheared through the elbow and the arm around his neck loosened. Jasper sensed no reaction from the man as his severed arm hit the ground.
The man, apparently unfazed, threw a punch at Jasper with his elbow stump. A replacement arm fired from the bloody flesh, hitting Jasper squarely in the jaw with the force of a small hammer.
Jasper staggered backwards. Wiping blood from his mouth, he grabbed onto the bar counter to regain his balance. That punch was no joke. Looking at his opponent, he set his bow behind him. It was too unwieldy for this space. He pulled a broadhead arrow from the quiver on his leg. It wasn’t a knife, but its blades were as sharp as one. Carefully, Jasper put the shaft of the arrow in his mouth and put his hands on the bar stool.
The man lunged at him, and Jasper smacked him with the stool. There was a hideous crack of wood on flesh and the man stumbled, dazed but not stopped. Jasper grabbed the man’s shoulders and thrust him down. Arms started to sprout from the man’s back like morbid wings, all blindly trying to grab at Jasper as he leaped over the man and pulled the broadhead from his mouth. Grabbing the man at the back of the neck, Jasper took the broadhead arrow and stabbed the man between the shoulder blade and clavicle, creating a massive cross-shaped gash and severing the brachial plexus nerves. The limbs attached at that shoulder fell limp.
So you can regrow limbs from anywhere, but they won’t work if the root body part is lamed.
Jasper pulled the broadhead back out of the man’s shoulder and tried to hit the other one, but one of the man’s flailing arms grabbed his leg and pulled it out from under him. Jasper went to the ground, his head impacting the floor.
He could feel hot blood flowing from his scalp and through his hair. Shadows were creeping out to cover the wound.
The man stood again, shaking. His shoulder was bleeding profusely. Jasper summoned shadows to his skin.
He’s lost a lot of blood. If I don’t want him to die, I need to end this now.
Backing away, Jasper fired shadows at the man in loose coils. They wrapped around the man’s neck and face, flowing into his nostrils and mouth. Jasper hardened them in place.
Arms and legs sprouted from the man’s chest and stomach, grabbing at his face to try and remove the suffocating mass, but in vain. The severe blood loss had weakened him, and now he was just wasting his en