“CRUSH YOUR ENEMIES, SEE THEM DRIVEN BEFORE YOU!†Leviathan II @ Devil Ray moments after the death of his grandmother in his own arms, and seconds before he exerted his own powers for the first time. Why a quote from a not-so-well known sword & Sorcery movie were his first choice of response is still beyond him.
Players Name: Warr
Power Level: 10 (150 pp)
Unspent PP: 0
Name: Therman Keiran “Therran†McHugh
Alias[es]: Leviathan, “Kid Leviathanâ€, “Leviathan IIâ€, “Ther' ranâ€,
Age: 17
Height: 6'1â€
Weight: 180 Ibls.
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Blue
Description: Therran was a young man of slightly over average build, who could in normal circumstances, disappear in the crowds of his fellow youths. With his messy hair, and features which really only stuck out being a stupidly happy smile whenever it was summoned, and extremely blue eyes; after the events which made his heritage revealed, his grandmother's death, and his partial merging with the Amulet of the Hyboreans, he has bulked up slightly, his eyes are almost eerie-ly blue, and his already wild hair has seemed to become almost mobile, moving as if it was underwater even when he's above land.
While his arms don't show much muscle at all and he looks mostly like a limber young man, they are clearly not 'normal' to anyone whom sees his arms, torso, or upper legs uncovered, where glowing blue script which seem to be of some archaic and obscure [and unreadable to non-experts] Atlantian dialect are clearly visible, symbols varying in size, and clearly visible.
The mere fact that he has bulked up slightly from the incident itself, his body literally transforming to a slightly taller, more muscular and heavy form of what it had once been, combined with the fact that he is still somewhat upset with the fact that he has lost his dearest grandmother [whom was perhaps his most favorite parental figure, even though he is and has always been on good terms with his parents], has made the young man lean towards hiding his body. Both because he is unsure of his body, he is mourning his grandmother in slight, and he has to hide the obviously noticeable sigils across his body which would pass at best as tattoos [if he was lucky].
History: Heroes come in many colors, flavors, and attitudes. Heroes are not always born heroes, and sometimes Villains can seek to redeem themselves, or to silently atone for their sins by no longer perpetuating them, and sometimes atoning can take a long time. Especially for villains, as they aren't known for being as brave as their heroic counterparts per capita.
While this may seem an odd remark to begin our tale with, it is the perfect one. “It's never too late to be a hero.â€
Those were words which came to Karen McHugh, or as her homeland had known her, Kara'nth; the Atlantian Witch and supervillainess whom by many of her fellow Atlantians, as 'The Leviathan'- a name chosen in disdain for her and as a constant reminder of her betrayal of the Atlantian people and shirking of her responsibilities as one of it's guardians, a name chosen to remind her of how that made her akin to the beast which had a partial hand in the sinking of Atlantis and destruction of her once great empire. Kara'nth was stripped of her clan name, becoming 'Kara' ran', Kara the Leviathan by her tribe, and found herself on the run within the seven seas no matter where she went, for if the Atlantian soldiers could find her then the following arrival of Atlantis' King and the woman known as 'The Siren' would be in short order.
So after raiding an important religious site, for an object which was spoken of in whispers as a source of power for the old Atlantians, she swam as fast as her arms and legs could take her, moving through the seven seas until she found herself somewhere off the U.S' northeastern coast, hiding on a secluded beach where her only company was the sun, the sea, and a kindly young surface dweller who sent her heart a flutter on the first sight of him. They spent months together, and slowly love blossomed where slight camaraderie had existed before, and as the patrols and passed and Kara'ran found herself capable of leaving for the seas again, she promised to return to this bright blue eyed young man. Keiran McHugh, the son of a local fisher, he waited for her as she searched the seas for a hiding place, always returning to him as patrols came to close, and after a few times, because she felt an overwhelming and uncontrollable yearning for him.
And so she decided, as she lived there on that beach and in the cottage which his parents had shared, she would take him to the seas. She would unlock the powers of the amulet, to do as legend had spoken, as this was an artifact especially noted for its power because it could grant land-dwellers the ability to live beneath the sea. She toiled for days as he fished, went to the market, and tended the slight garden which his parent's cottage afforded. She toiled for days in his house, speaking little to him and bothered only by him only to give her some warm food. She toiled for days, studying the artifact and the tomes she had brought with her, only to realize that she loved him. This yearning was love, and that if she gave him access to the seas, to be with her as he had been, they would never be happy beneath the waves. She would be dooming her love to the life of a refugee at best, but a wanted man in all the more likely scenarios. She gave up her dreams of changing him, or challenging the Princes of Atlantis for their thrones. For she had found love.
And so Kara'ran, or Karen as her love pronounced it, lived in their cottage for a time, and married. She forbade herself to return to the sea, and while she begun to feel the urge to return the amulet, and apologize for taking it, she knew that Atlantians were rarely forgiving, and she would be lucky if she ever saw her love again if she did so. So she and Keiran moved deep into the continental United States, with him selling his ancestral home, and the two of them moving to Texas, where he worked for an aircraft company, and she raised their newly born son, Daniel, until he grew up, graduated high school and went on to college, and found himself love. They were a happy family, and as Kara'ran got to know her daughter-in-law Julie, a happy family of two became a happy family of three, and then four. Karen's attitudes on never visiting the coast, or swimming in the ocean, they were viewed as concern for Daniel's well being, as as the tale was told, Keiran's father Therman was drowned in the sea many years ago.
---
In time, Daniel and Julie announced something entirely new to Kara'ran, that she would have a grandchild, Therman Keiran. Time passed, and Therman could not have been a happier baby, loved by his parents, but positively spoiled by his grandmother, everyone was keen to remark he had her eyes, and that he and his little sister both resembled her. And so the McHugh family lived a happy, mostly uneventful life [Little Kara, Therran's sister, had an incident in a pool where she was knocked in and nearly drowned before being saved by grandma, and convinced that swimming was not the best thing to do], that is until Therran's seventeenth birthday, when his grandmother took him to a coastal town on the Gulf Coast, saying she had something to tell him, that she and his grandfather had decided it was the time to tell.
Therran, or 'Ther' ran' as grandma had always called him, went without a word. It was probably going to be something like her and grandpa telling him that they were giving him the money to go to college as a sort of early inheritance, or something cool like that. And so it seemed to be, as the young man splashed on the beach's edge with his grandmother.
Until a storm came in, and something he had only seen about on the news, or in tabloids, rolled in. A battle between the villain 'Devil Ray', and the Atlantian King, Theseus otherwise known 'Sea-King', which the source of was not apparent, but in which Devil Ray tried to make cause collateral damage quickly and as efficiently as he could, trying to strike buildings in the seaside town/beach, and more importantly strike people. As Sea-King was knocked back from a blast of energy, and the devilish ray raised his blaster at a little girl, Karen had saw enough. Before the trigger could possibly be pulled, she howled, “Enough!†and sent a swirling whirlpool rocketing at Devil Ray via her mystical abilities.
Throwing her grandson back, she charged into battle. This Villain would not hurt her adopted people, not hurt children, and definitely not be allowed to hurt her beloved grandson. She raged forth and struck swiftly, enough to momentarily allow Theseus The Sea-King to regain his footing in the battle, but in the process making herself a target, and sending her aged body in the target sights of an irate Devil Ray, whom hit her with his energy at full blast, refusing to retreat and seeing her as a threat on par with Theseus. In her younger days, Karen may have survived such a strike, but she was sent reeling, and her grandson rushed to his doting grandmother, pulling her into his arms and trying to stabilize her as he could. He sobbed at the sight, not questioning his grandmother's show of power of mystical abilities, but sobbing in sadness that she was hurt, and fear that he might lose his favorite grandparent.
She whispered calm in his ear, using some of the last of her magic and energy to do it. She whispered she loved him, she loved all of their family, and that he was to tell them that she loved them, and that she was sorry for leaving, but not for taking action. She whispered for him to tell Atlantis that she was sorry for what she had taken, and she handed him the artifact, that amulet which had been upon her necklace as long as he had existed, and she placed it upon his neck. She whispered, “Be a hero, my little Ther' ran.†and then kissed his forehead, dying soon after.
The boy was sent into tears, sobbing uncontrollably as he held his grandmother close, held her hand even as she passed, even as he closed her eyes, sobbing so much that tears dripped down his face an onto that ancient, orchicalcum artifact-amulet, whispering 'Nana, nana, nooo...' and then interrupted by the laughing of Devil Ray as the villain continued to fight with Sea-King, the suited villain thinking it was 'absolutely delicious' to see a grown young man sob over his grandmother. Lost for words, Therran sobbed, and the amulet found itself floating in the air in front of him, filled with energy as his tears had moistened it.
Lost for words and not even noticing the energy, the boy muttered a quote from some sword-and-sorcery flick he and his grandmother had loved to watch, but they were dampened by the sound of energy. As he placed his deceased grandmother calmly on the ground, the young man found himself engulfed in bright blue sigils, and as Sea-King was distracted by the sight and sound, Devil Ray hit the Aquatic hero -and harder than before-. He laughed, turning to the boy, and raising a gauntlet. Therran moved quicker, or rather the waves did as he rushed from the beach, across the water itself, and motioned his left hand into a fist, his right hand flying open. The waves shot around Devil Ray as the villain thought only to dodge the kid's punch, and Therran found himself momentarily punching the villain with his newfound strength, repeatedly for moments, until 'Sea-King' pulled him away, stating “that is not the way, son of Kara 'ran.†and shortly wedging the now throughly unconscious villain from the boy, taking him to proper lock up with civil authorities, and returning later to reveal to the boy what his family might not know.
To deny the boy's grandmother access to Atlantis for burial, to deny his family the right to send her ashes to sea, and finally- to demand the young man learn to use his powers as a hero should. The implication that he thought Therran might repeat his grandmother's misdeeds was clearly evident, and so it went. Theseus spoke with Therran's parents, with the Claremont Academy, and arranged transport for the young man, a scholarship, even with promise that he might earn himself a place within Atlantis.
Grandpa Keiran, ever the devilish man, took his family to the shores of what had been the place that he had met Karen, and prepared her a funeral fitting, sending her on a boat out to see, and firing a flaming arrow as it drifted beyond the shoals. Keiran gave his lifelong love's journals to his grandson, and then the family sent Therran off to Claremont Academy, and Freedom City. No one tried to tell him how he should feel, and so he find himself with a slight seething resentment at the hypocritical way that things went down.
But he find himself more moved by his grandmother's words, driven by them. He will become a hero, but not because he fears what will happen to him if he doesn't, no. Therran wants to help people, and to redeem his grandmother's name. That is why he goes by 'Therran', instead of the first or middle names he might've went by in his schoolings before. As he found out the translation of 'Ran', and that his grandmother was called the Leviathan as she was a criminal within Atlantis, that has been cemented in his mind.
He would redeem her name in more ways than one. As one Leviathan had died, another would be born.
Complications: Secret Identity: Therran is driven to try to keep his identity as a 'super hero' hidden, the best he can. He's not sure he wants to be a hero, in the long run, so he's not willing to let his identity be known.
Prejudice: Despite his limited knowledge of Atlantians, because of what he believes [somewhat incorrectly] as his grandmother's travails and because they didn't have the heart to forgive her even after she died in battle helping Sea-King in a battle with Devil Ray, Therran has a definite distaste in his mouth towards Atlantis and Atlantians, while it is not a direct hate or anything bordering a racial hatred, it is a profound and sudden dislike for any Atlantian [or person he thinks is Atlantian] he meets.
Legacy: He is the grandson of the first 'Leviathan', and is visibly
Enemy: The Devil Ray
Stats: 56 pp
Str: 28 [26] (+9)
Dex: 16 (+3)
Con: 30 (+10)
Int: 14 (+4)
Wis: 16 (+2)
Cha: 14 (+4)
Combat: 16pp
Attack: +4
Grapple: +19 (+6 from Superstrength, +9 from Strength)
Defense: +4 (+2 flat-footed)
Knockback: -7
Initiative: +3
Saves: 11 pp
Toughness: +13 (+10 Con, +3 from Protection)
Fortitude: +10 (+10 Con, +0)
Reflex: +7 (+3 Dex, +4)
Will: +9 (+2 Wis, +7)
Skills: 36 r = 9pp
Bluff 5 (+)
Concentration 4 (+)
Computers 2 (+)
Diplomacy 4 (+)
Gather Information 3 (+)
Investigate 6 (+)
Knowledge (History) 5 (+)
Language 2 (Spanish; Atlantian Native: English)
Swim 5 (+13)
Feats: 3 pp
Environmental Adaption [Aquatic]
Leadership
Improved Pin
Powers: 55 pp
Atlantian Descent: 21 PP
Immunity 3 (Suffocation [Drowning], Pressure, Cold) [3 PP]
Super-Senses 1 (low-light vision, tremorsense) [2 PP]
Super-Strength 5 (Heavy Load: 29.44 tons) (PF: Thunderclap) [11 PP]
Swimming 4 (25 MPH; PF: 1 Alternate Power) [5 PP]
AP: Leaping 4 (x25)
Hybrid Evolution & Mark of the Hyborian: 29 PP
Thanks to being the first to activate the Amulet of the Hyborians in centuries, all the pent up energy from within the artifact washed over Therran, and combined with his hybrid human-Atlantian genetics, left a lasting mark on his skin, as well as accelerated the latent mutation within his body. These two factors combined to give him a level of natural toughness and protection, an psychic and 'supernatural' ability to manipulate water, and more drastically and strangely, an enhanced metabolism that seemed to be able to regenerate!
Protection 2 [2 PP]
Hydrokinesis; (Water Control 9, PFs: 4 Alternate Powers) [22 PP]
AP: Blast 9
AP: Create Object 9
AP: Current Control 9 (Boost or Drain Swimming)
AP: Obscure 9 (visual, mist)
Regeneration 4 (Power Feats: Regrowth, Persistent; Flaw, Source: Water) [Cost]
Amulet of the Hyborians:
The heirloom of the first Leviathan, Therran's grandmother, and the subject of the last heist and crime she made upon Atlantis, this ancient artifact stood as a simple pendant upon the necklace of his grandmother, “Karenâ€, from the time of her theft of the object onwards. It is an ancient artifact, predating even the sinking of Altantis, and was known in circles within Atlantis as simply a 'trinket which might have latent magical powers, but which are likely weak.'
The amulet is a source of power, which naturally generates hydrokinetic mystic energy, and which could be used by a Hydrokinetic to amplify their power, and which was originally supposed to bestow hydrokinetic power [in slight form] to those who used it. The last known user of the Amulet prior to its theft was thousands of years ago, by a mysterious Atlantian who claimed to have been 'raised in the seas beyond the north wind'.
Device 1 (5PP Container, Flaws: Hard-To-Lose, Feats: Restricted [Hydrokinetics], Indestructible) [5PP]
Water Control 0 (2 APs)
Strike 10 “Hard Water Weapons†(Power Feats: Variable Descriptor Slashing/Bludgeoning, Mighty)
Healing 8 “Amulet's Regeneration†(Flaw: Limited to Self, Power Feats: Regrowth, Persistent.)
Stun 6 “Electric Shock†(Extra: Ranged)
Enhanced Ability: Strength 2
Drawbacks: 0pp
DC Block:
Unarmed --- DC 23/Toughness --- Bludgeoning
Blast --- DC 23/Toughness --- Water/Bludgeoning
Costs: Abilities (56) + Combat (16) + Saves (11) + Skills (9) + Feats (3) + Powers (55) - Drawbacks (00) = 150 / 150 Total Cost
I'm doing a trade-off of - 3 Defense / +3 Toughness Bonus.