Hey all. This thread will be, more or less, an anthology about the different members of the Night Creatures organization, and what their life is like, to some extent. Typically, there will be a story about what they'll be doing a particular day, and what their usual job is. In this way, I hope to provide a better understanding of some of the big dogs of the organization, though, it's unlikely whether or not they'll actually be used in any stories or such. Before each story, I'll provide a physical description of the character, as well as what outfits they prefer wearing. Though I doubt anybody will be using any of these characters for anything, it's still nice to have this around, in my opinion. That's all I have to say, so with that out of the way, let's get to this.
Edit: So, I've decided to add abilities and equipment to the list as well. Again, I doubt they'll play any significant role in anybody's lives, just doing this for myself really. I'll also link any stories relating to a character here (ex: Nightshade stories).
Nightshade - Leader of Night Creatures
Appearance: Nightshade stands at roughly 6'3¼" (191 cm), weighing in at 215 lbs (97.5 kg). On the thinner side, his body appears to be quite lean, though defined to the point of being unnatural. Nightshade's skin is extremely pale, being near alabaster in complexion, with spidery black veins being visible beneath the surface if one were to examine him closely enough. His hair is snowy-white, a shade unobtainable from bleach. His hair is well maintained, kept in the style of
Wild Waves. His hands are somewhat large, his fingers suprisingly thin and long. His knuckles, exposed, are filled with a chitinous black substance, protecting the bones. Matching this are his eyes, with no discernable difference between the pupil, iris, and sclera, if there is any. On the back of his neck, where it connects to base of his skull, there is a large scar in the shape of a cross, from a time long past. While Nightshade appears to be in his mid-to-late twenties, in actuality, he is considerably older. His body, however, is 32. His shoe size is 11½.
Nightshade prefers to wear suits. His preferred color is white, although he does have suits in grey, black, and red as well. All suits have black accents, and though he has several different styles, all his ties are black. He has no casualwear to speak of. He is a boxers man.
Abilities: Nightshade possesses immense physical strength, surpassing that of fifty men. Due to his black blood, he's also incredibly durable, able to halt blades and bullets from reaching very far into his body. Due to an interaction with a certain entity, he's gained access to the element of Chaos. Though they don't particularly suit his tastes, they've provided him with the ability to shift and manipulate his features, as well as clothing. It's been particularly useful in keeping his clothes clean. His most potent and powerful abilities, however, lie in his ability to delve into and control minds. He is intrinsically linked into the human psyche, and as such, is able to read, manipulate, break, adjust, twist, and overall control a human or previously human entity's mind through prolonged eye contact. While he's able to do the same with other species, it takes a longer time; once he's done so, however, it is possible for him to gain access to the collective unconscious of that species, and hence gain the ability for complete dominance over their minds.
Consumed by Darkness
His Precious Flower
Nightshade glanced down upon his bloodstained hand with nary an expression. There really was little satisfaction in killing someone with so little ability to resist. He glanced down at the young man whose life he had taken. His name had been unimportant; after all, slaves were slaves, and it wasn't as though he was one of Nightshade's personal ones. Just a nameless youth whose life had been sold away to him. He looked to be around eighteen or so, possibly older. A morningstar lie beside him, his only form of resistance. Well, it had been. Nightshade held his hand away from himself, another slave coming to clean it, before he dusted himself off. Fortunately, none of the blood had splattered onto his suit. That would've been rather irritating; blood didn't come out all that easily.
"Clean him up and prepare the body," he says coldly. "Were there any relatives?"
"A younger brother, sir. He works in the lower levels, cleaning." The female slave kept her head down, not meeting Nightshade's eyes. Nightshade looks over his hand, giving a slight frown at some remaining blood beneath his fingernails.
"Inform him that his brother was unable to earn their freedom. Whether you tell him that his brother is dead or not, I don't care." The slave nods and scurries off, leaving Nightshade alone within the room. Picking up the morningstar, he set it back on its place on the wall, sighing. It really was unfortunate that he didn't have a chance to go out anymore. There were still too many with records of his existence that he'd rather avoid dealing with; namely, the Executives in the M.A.C. Organization. Still, so long as he kept his hand to himself, those who would disadvantage him, as well as those who could prove useful, would simply reveal their cards willingly. Leaving the small arena, he took a moment to head to the floor's security office. There were many security offices; it had been necessary to ensure that betrayal was impossible, though, he had hopes at times that somebody might try. Even if they did betray him, there was nothing for them to accomplish, and nowhere for them to run to. It seemed that today, Blade was lounging in the room, carefully honing the edge of his longsword. The weapon still gave Nightshade a slight chill. Upon his arrival, Blade looked up.
"Sir."
"Blade."
"Looks like you once more felt no challenge."
"True. Perhaps you'd wish to spar a bit?"
"Not interested," Blade says, glancing back to his sword. "We both know you're simply asking out of courtesy, not because your heart is in it. Or should I say, not because Laurence's heart is into it?"
"The orphan died when I was given his body. I'm not sure he even remembered he had a name, considering the condition it was in. But you're correct, nonetheless. Neither of us would have anything to gain of it. Continue on then... oh. Do you know where Bastet is? I have need of her to speak with our associates at NexCorp, and I'd rather not send a slave to find her. You know how she plays with them."
Blade points to one of the screens. "She'll be passing by this camera in a few minutes. Fifteenth floor, corridor ZY. If you go now, you'll be able to catch her quite easily. Do be careful, she's in a mood."
Nightshade nods, and moves on his way. Corridors and slaves passed by in a blur, as Nightshade moved along, almost as if in a daze. After reaching his destination, he stood calmly, waiting for the arrival of the mercenary. True to Blade's word, she arrived mere moments after him, her mask watching him as usual. "Bastet," he says, quickly grabbing the blade as she attempted to stab him. It had become a trend with her, a way to detect weakness within him. He broke the blood-red blade between his fingers, using it to deflect the kusarigama she'd swung to hit him from behind. "Satisfied?"
She lets the blood disintegrate into dust, giving him a nod. Nightshade reaches into his coat, pulling free an envelope.
"Here is your pay, as well as your current mission briefing. Once the package has been secured, you're free to enjoy some time out in the open, or whatever it is you do when you're not here. Tell Grey and Bek that they're also off for now." Bastet nods, taking the envelope and sliding it into her sleeve. Nightshade knew that there was more to her wardrobe than meets the eye; but it was of no concern to him, so long as she continued to prove her use. He passed her as she pulled open the envelope to count the bills.
Arriving in his throne room, he brought down a large screen, looking into the RHG System's surveillance system. The slaves down in the tech lab were doing well; the subliminal messages within the broadcasts of the battles led to a notable increase in bloodlust in several areas. It was like a feast for him. It would take time before mankind fell completely to their inner darkness. Pressing his fingertips together, he snapped, a male slave arriving with a goblet for him.
"How long until my dinner is prepared?" Nightshade asks as he takes his beverage filled with life essence. The slave's voice has a slight waver to it; it seemed he was new, and unused to his new position in life.
"He is still cooking, sir. The chefs say it will be another hour before he is ready."
"Good. You may be on your way. I've things to attend to." Once he was alone, he switched the screen, now looking from a satellite's camera. The image was of land that had been bought off and kept from the public, not allowed by any government to be touched. He smiled as memories came back; he had caused this destruction so long ago. People had come and people had gone. There was little that actually remained of the old settlement. It wasn't exactly a thriving town, population less than twenty thousand, and that was over a century ago. Now there were simply the ghostly remains.
Nightshade sipped from his goblet again. Perhaps it was time to take a trip, get some fresh air. After all, there was nobody left alive to know about the old destroyed city. Yes, it would be nice indeed to look to the past...
Bastet - Night Creatures Mercenary
Appearance: Bastet stands at 5'6" (168 cm) and weighs 124 lbs (56.25 kg). Her physique is extremely athletic, lending to her bearing a smaller frame, though it does give her highly refined muscles. Bastet's skin is smoky mocha in complexion, almost as if a fine layer of ash constantly coated her. Her hair, which is
English Violet naturally, appears to be done up into a
pixie cut with cat-ear like protrusions on the sides. Numerous faint scars line Bastet's body, though this is primarily the case on her arms and legs. Her three sizes are 34A-24-38 (75A-61-96.5). She wears size 8 shoes.
Bastet exclusively wears kimonos. Though they may bear different designs, the style is always the same: long sleeves which go quite a bit past her hands, keeping them obscured at all times they're not in use, the kimono reaching just past her hips. Bastet also wears tabi, patterned after her kimono's pattern. Aside from her kimono and tabi, she wears very little in the way of clothing, though she is sure to wear silken lace panties on the few occasions someone lives to see up her skirt. Around her neck, hidden from view a good deal of the time, Bastet wears a chain with a lock on it. The reasons behind this are unknown, and the chain and lock are both dull silver with a golden leaf design all throughout it. The most unique part of Bastet's apparel, however, is her mask, which she never removes, and has kept her face hidden from view at all points. Pure white, it has four slits, two on each side where eyes would look out, a blood-red symbol of an eye between them, and a cat-like smile painted on carefully. Whenever her mask is removed, she covers her face in a blood mask until her mask can be retrieved; even if damaged, it will eventually repair. Nobody has seen Bastet's face and survived.
Abilities/Equipment: Bastet is able to manipulate her blood for a certain distance outside of her body. Primarily, she uses her blood to form crystalline weaponry. As she can crystalize and liquify it at will, she'll often ingest drugs or poisons in order to get her blood into her targets, either through liquefying the weapon while it's in them, or simply mixing her blood into their food, drink or a product to be absorbed into them. A lesser used ability of Bastet's is her ability to "jack" the senses of others, as well as take over the minds of the weak willed or unconscious. This includes animals and other beasts; the reason Bastet doesn't much care for this ability is due to its disorienting nature which makes her assassinations annoying. Bastet carries very little equipment, as it would simply weigh her down. On her person, she carries her cell phone, two plasma blades with enough charge to last fifteen minutes each. She also carries a recharging EMP device capable of shutting down all electronic devices for two hundred meters around her.
Bastet really didn't enjoy being stuck in the base. It always left her feeling claustrophobic, and when she was claustrophobic, she needed to lash out at things, move her body. Luckily for her, Nightshade told her she had time off. Sure, she had nearly tried to kill him, but it wasn't as though that was some new occurrence. Besides, if she actually wanted him dead, she wouldn't have left so many openings, nor simply relied on her blood. She was still impressed at his reactions, however; most would've at least flinched or been injured. Oh well, it just meant that if he became her target some day, he'd prove to be high quality prey.
Speaking of prey, she had to see Grey. That would be fun.
Bastet knew that she made the dragon uncomfortable; she'd seen him look at her when he thought she wouldn't notice. She noticed everything though, and it was just delicious watching him squirm. Slicing open the envelop as she headed for his room, she counted out her pay carefully. Nightshade paid her quite the pretty penny to remain under him, and she made sure their arrangement never changed in the slightest. If he tried to undercut her, he wouldn't live long to regret it. Satisfied that she had received the few hundred thousand that was her monthly wage, she looked forward to her service fee for accomplishing whatever job NexCorp gave to her. It was how things often went between them and the Night Creatures: NexCorp provided gear and other services, and in exchange, the Night Creatures performed some jobs for them, gave them information to attempt to broker deals with the M.A.C. Organization, and let them perform the occasional test on certain members. It worked well, especially since on occasion, NexCorp hired her without it requiring that it be in regards to their relations with the Night Creatures.
Knocking on Grey's door, she pulled out her phone. Talking was bothersome, and she preferred speaking as little as possible. Different things had power though, and the fact next to nobody alive knew her face or voice meant that she wielded all the power over herself. Grey opens the door after a few moments, clearly surprised to see her. "Bastet. Does Lord Nightshade have need of me?"
"No," Siri's voice rings out in place of Bastet. "You, Grey and myself have time off. Do whatever you want with it; I, however, will be enjoying my time in the open. You are free to join me if you like." Predictably, Grey declined, shaking his head.
"Thank you for informing me, and I will be sure to inform Bek of this as well. However, I shall find my own way to occupy my time." With that, he closes the door. Behind her mask Bastet grins, having enjoyed seeing the discomfort in his eye. He was so easy to mess with, it was almost a pity. But that was something to think about another time. For now, she needed to get going to the Translocation Room so she could get going. After all, it wasn't polite to be tardy when there was a job to be done.
Grey Silverscale - Night Creatures Second-in-Command
Appearance: Grey is 6'1" (186 cm) and weighs 285 lbs (129.27 kg). Grey's skin is chocolate brown in color, a stark contrast to his eyes and hair, which are platinum and ashen grey respectively. Built for combat, much of hi