Before this starts, just let me say that I am not a Southern Baptist. I'm not even remotely Christian. So if some mistake is made in religious terminology, please forgive me. I meant no disrespect. I merely based Abernathy on a good portion of the people I see around me, and my perception may not be perfect. While I'm at it, most of Abernathy's opinions are not ones I share, simply opinions I have observed in the people around me. I have a bit of a luxury in the rpg because I live in Roanoke. I see things completely different from people like Abernathy because I'm from Miami. So, to sum it all up, the following is a character who has very little relation to my own opinions, sort of a study in people different from myself and attempt to present a more three-dimensional side to certain groups I usually stereotype. No offense intended to anyone. Location: Roanoke Senshi: Ertael Knight, Grigori Senshi of Isolation Name: Abernathy Taylor Hicks Meaning: Abernathy is a last name meaning "by the ford of the river Nethy." Abernathy was named after civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy. His middle name comes from the 12th President, Zachary Taylor, and means (you guessed it) "tailor." For those who don't remember, Taylor was the one who died of indigestion shortly after assuming office. It's a convention in Abernathy's family to give male children middle names based on presidents. His last name, "Hicks," is of Scottish origin and is a derivative of "Richard," basically likened to "son of Richard." See Explanation for more info. Age: 17 Birthdate: September 16 Astrological Sign: Virgo Blood Type: O Family: Frances Anne "Granny" Hicks, grandmother, 82 Abernathy's primary caretaker ever since his parents were declared unfit to parent, Granny is a hardened old woman with nerves of steel and a strange smell. She had nine children in all, three girls and six boys; Abernathy's father, John Adams Hicks, was her youngest, born when she was forty-five. Two boys died as infants and one of her daughters passed away recently of lung cancer. In any event, Granny has probably seen everything worth seeing from the comfort of her porch and rocker. She's the type to sit there with a shotgun across her lap and glare at passing children who dare not approach the apple tree in her front yard. Granny's pride and joy (aside from Abernathy) is her dilapidated yellow house. The paint is faded and cracking, cobwebs adorn the corners of the porch, and one step into the living room tells you the floor has settled in a crooked fashion. The house sits in a neighborhood of similar houses, most in better repair, all painted different pastel colors. Granny has uneven frizzy white hair sticking out in all directions, eyes cloudy blue with age, wrinkles more numerous than roads on a highway map, knobby arthritic joints, sun-browned skin with tons of freckles, and every piece of her sags on her bony frame. Her mouth has a disturbingly cruel crookedness to it and one of her eyes is decidedly more lazy than the other. The left side of her face seems to sag a bit more than the right. Her height is undeterminable, as she rarely stands and thus cannot be accurately measured. Granny can usually be seen in floral print dresses sitting on her porch in her rocker with her shotgun. John Adams Hicks, father, 37 John never once made anything good of himself. He graduated from high school, loitered about town working in the automotive industry, met his wife, had a kid, and ran off to Tennessee. Physically, he has dark hair, haggard brown eyes, large sideburns, stands 5'11", and constantly stinks of alcohol. Has not been seen in about fifteen years, which is probably all the better for Abernathy. Virginia Maybelle Hicks, mother, 33 Hailing from Indiana, high school dropout Virginia went to Virginia (the state) to live with relatives. There she met John, got pregnant, got married, and shortly after accompanied John on his fabled trip to Tennessee. She stands 5'5", has brilliant green eyes, and had shoulder-length chestnut hair the last time she was seen. Sabrina Udele Olsen, 40, aunt Married to Wayne Olsen, Sabrina is a grocery store clerk and has two children, Courtney and Charity. 5'4", medium brown hair, brown eyes. George Washington Hicks, uncle, deceased Died as a baby. Stanley Harrison Hicks, uncle, 45 John may be the black sheep of the family, but Stanley's giving him a run for his money. He's a businessman involved in the steel industry and is guilty of extortion, bribery, and embezzlement. He dodged the charges thanks to a good lawyer and a little more bribery. Stanley is married to Elizabeth Kinsey and has a step-son, Derek. He stands 5'9", has slicked-back graying brownish hair, a fiercely disarming friendly face, and dresses in business suits that nicely hide his expanding waist. Caleb Truman Hicks, uncle, 47 Lives in Michigan with his wife Patricia. They have a daughter, Aurielle. Caleb is a supervisor in an auto plant in Detroit. 5'7", dark brown hair, blue eyes, and a moustache. Regina Pearl Hicks, aunt, 50 The bachelorette of the family, and probably the wisest of them all. Regina is a nurse who works in a healthcare center for the elderly and helps Abernathy take care of Granny when she has the time. She has short dyed-blonde hair, dull brown eyes, and a homely face which is saved by its ever-present bright smile. She's 5'3" and is a tad heavyset. Owen Monroe Hicks, uncle, deceased Died as a baby. Hilda Leigh Eggert, aunt, deceased Chain-smoked from the age of twelve and paid the price. May she rest in peace. Survived by her husband David, son Frederick, and daughter Maureen. Robert McKinley Hicks, uncle, 56 Stands 5'9", short, neat graying brown hair, merry brown eyes, and the build of a man who has done financially well in life. Owns a small chain of local automotive repair shops, which he started from scratch. (It was he who first employed John.) His wife's name is Dorothy; they have no children. James Madison Hicks, uncle, 57 Eldest of Granny's nine children, James is retired from the military. His once-brown hair is now completely white and the hairline has receded halfway up his head. He has soft blue eyes and a commanding presence, making good use of his 5'9" height. A Vietnam veteran, but one of the luckier ones. James Tyler Hicks, deceased Granny's husband, died of liver failure before Abernathy was born. Kearney and Caroline Mallder, grandparents Virginia's parents, they still live in Indiana where they are reported to be average suburbanites. Abernathy doesn't see them much, as they basically disowned their daughter many years ago and haven't shown much of an interest in their grandson. School: William Byrd, grade 12 Likes: Bible study (the Southern Baptist kind), his computer (for reasons probably obvious to everyone who owns a computer), books (for escaping reality) Dislikes: any religion other than the Southern Baptist denomination, his computer (for reasons probably obvious to everyone who owns a computer), homosexuality Fav. Food: anything deep-fried Hated Food: nacho cheese; it sticks to his teeth and provides no end to the misery of someone with braces Fav. Subject: Religious Education (though he's invariably more than a little one-sided on the subject) Hated Subject: Biology (he's a Creationist, the teacher is not) Colors: black and white Hobbies: fishing (when he gets that rare free Saturday), going to church as much as possible (sometimes just to help tidy the place up), playing games on his computer, fixing his computer, scrounging parts for his computer, writing (on his computer), reading Aspirations: Attend Liberty University. Gemstone: Birthstone or favorite stone. History Abernathy and Family Trouble began in Abernathy's life from the moment he was born. His father's side of the family was devout Southern Baptists, typical of that stereotype in every way imaginable. His mother hailed from Indiana, his father from Vinton. She was a high school dropout, he was a high school graduate and drunkard, and it was an ideal match in every way possible except one. Virginia hated her mother-in-law. It was her one form of rebellion to name her son after a man Granny held no love for: Ralph Abernathy, a civil rights activist. Shortly after, she and John ran off to Tennessee, leaving Granny with then two-year- old Abernathy. Granny had plenty of experience raising kids, having raised seven of them, and did a passable job with Abernathy for the first dozen years. When Abernathy was ten, though, her mental faculties began to waver, so Abernathy ended up taking care of his grandmother. Up until that point, Abernathy's life was fairly standard. He broke his leg in second grade. He played with his best friend. His biggest concern was keeping his room clean. Life with Granny was far from perfect. As an older woman, Granny held a few outdated beliefs, including how little boys should behave. She pushed Abernathy a little too hard to try sports (that's how he broke his leg), told him not to cry and to be a brave boy, and would call him a sissy if ever he did cry. You might say she was a little stricter than most mothers. Part of the problem was that her husband was dead, too, and Granny had never raised a son alone before. She tried to play essentially the same role as she had when raising her own children, only without grandfather to balance it out, Abernathy's childhood left a little to be desired. He turned out fine by Granny's measure, though, being a generally responsible and mature person. Abernathy and Granny When Granny began to succumb to old age, it signaled a big change. Abernathy remembers the first big event well. Granny was shuffling around the kitchen and yelling out her dead husband's name. Abernathy came in, said James was dead, and Granny whacked him with her cane for "disrespecting his father." Then Abernathy began to cry. Granny shuffled off into the living room and a short time later came back into the kitchen to ask Abernathy why he was crying. She didn't seem to remember the earlier escapade and Abernathy never told her. Over the next few years, she became worse and worse. Finally, when he was thirteen, Abernathy just sat Granny down on the porch and brought her lemonade and sandwiches to keep her there. Sometimes she'll say awkward things, ask for people who are dead or inquire about TV shows that ended their runs years ago, but she's harmless so far. Throughout his teenage years, Abernathy was aided in caring for his grandmother by his various aunts and uncles, almost all of whom have given something. Aunt Sabrina sends down groceries every week. Uncle Stanley buys things occasionally. (He's not the most generous of the bunch.) Uncle Caleb and his family send cards often, sometimes even when it isn't a holiday, just to show their support and give Granny a little something in the mail that's not junk. Aunt Regina, Uncle Robert, and Uncle James are the best. They come by often to check up on Granny and Abernathy. James and Robert come by on alternating weekends to play cards with Granny and Regina is an almost constant presence, since she lives only two blocks away. Barely a day goes by without a visit from at least one of them. Abernathy is eternally grateful for their help. Abernathy and the Computer Among the items Uncle Stanley Abernathy has received from Uncle Stanley through the years is a computer that sits in Abernathy's room next to his fish tank. This aging box has been the source of Abernathy's greatest joys and ire for the past five years. When Uncle Stan bought it, the machine was top-of-the-line, but since it's now a five-year-old Windows system, much of Abernathy's time is consumed with its repair and maintenance. When it is working properly, Abernathy uses it to play games. He can only really run older games well, so he ignores any and all newer games and focuses on the old ones. There are plenty for him to choose from, but his favorites are Civilization, Outpost, Master of Orion II, and other games in that vein. Abernathy and Friendship Moving along and backing up a step, Abernathy's best friend in his elementary years was Lewis Albertson, a boy from a poorer family who couldn't really criticize Abernathy's situation too much since he himself was in the same social situation as Abernathy. Since neither had many store-bought toys, the two often used to play story-type games together, dreaming up schemes in which they were astronauts, spies, knights, or soldiers. Their "toys" were common household items. When they were astronauts, their spaceship was a cardboard box; when they were spies, they carried around ratty old notebooks with meaningless scribbles in them ("notes") and put on Lewis's father's hats; when they were knights, they fought with sticks for swords; when they were soldiers, a set of colinders acted as their helmets (and occasionally Uncle James' old army jacket was thrown into the mix). These games later contributed to Abernathy's writing. Most unfortunately, after elementary school, Abernathy and Lewis went to different schools (they lived in the same elementary district but different middle school districts), and from that point on Abernathy was, for all practical purposes, on his own. Abernathy and School Abernathy first entered the school system when he was six. His kindergarten teacher was Mrs. Fields (no joke), and while her classroom was hardly the most entertaining place to be, there were plenty of coloring books and crayons. The only really big problem for Abernathy throughout elementary was the teasing he endured on account of the fact he lived with his grandmother and not his parents and was fairly poor. It'd be nice to be able to say Abernathy eventually got over it, but he really didn't. Middle school was even harder. To begin with, the classes were more intensive, but for Abernathy, things seemed to take a turn for the worst. Granny started losing it, he had to get braces and glasses, his didn't know many people in the middle school and most of those he did know he didn't like, and biology entered the picture. Abernathy survived mostly by keeping to himself and studying. There were some high points: he did extremely well in English class (though Religious Education is his favorite course), he got his computer, and he started going fishing with some of his uncles on occasion, which led into a full-blown hobby. Once out of middle school Abernathy found himself thrust into yet another tumultuous school situation: high school. This was finally Abernathy's chance to flourish. He first found solace in the school's Bible Club, a place of friendly faces who all believed in the greatness of Jesus Christ, and from there made some friends. (Not best friends or even good friends, but people to talk to or eat lunch with.) He did well in most of his courses, with the occasional science fiasco, and once again excelled in English. He started contributing short stories to the literary magazine and ended up helping edit it. (He's not big on poetry except for rhyme and meter exercises.) He became president of the Bible Club in eleventh grade. Abernathy is currently starting twelfth grade, about to embark on his final high school year. He hopes to get a car for his graduation present; Uncle James has been hinting at such a possibility Abernathy and Neot Abernathy met Neot when he was in ninth grade. (Abernathy, not Neot.) Abernathy was out fishing by himself one Saturday morning on a small lake and pulled up a trout who was praying to Jesus for mercy. Abernathy nearly threw the fish back in the water, but the fish told Abernathy he was sent to guide Abernathy. Abernathy put it in the pail and thought about that. The fish had been praying to Jesus, after all, so it couldn't possibly be possessed by the devil. And the fish seemed to know an awful lot of scripture. The fish told Abernathy there was only one way to be sure. Abernathy was a good Christian, and so, the fish said, he had been granted some powers by God. Abernathy had only to say the word "Ertael Grigori Power, Power Up," and he would find the power inside him. So Abernathy did, transformed into Ertael, and capsized the boat. Ever since then, Abernathy has been fighting the war Neot told him of. Abernathy and Tubiel Shortly after his discovering his powers, Abernathy encountered Tubiel and his guardian. A brief battle ensued, during which Tubiel was killed. Let's leave some of this for story fodder, mmkay? Abernathy and Church Abernathy has been going to church ever since he was given a clean bill of health and discharged from the hospital shortly after birth. His earliest memories are of Reverend Bill Williamson's Sunday sermons. Reverend Bill wasn't the greatest of priests, but he always gave the kids candy, so was quite popular with the little uns. Abernathy grew up around Reverend Bill and considered the man to be like a father. When Abernathy had a problem he couldn't discuss with Granny (mainly for fear of being called a sissy), he would walk down the street to the church. Reverend Bill was always ready to listen and offer advice. He loaned Abernathy books (not just religious ones, either) and introduced Abernathy to the general joys of reading. (Mostly the escape from reality aspect. That helped Abernathy cope a lot of the time.) Abernathy was saddened when Reverend Bill moved to a different church toward the beginning of high school, but his involvement with the church never stopped and he remains a loyal and dedicated member to this day. Personality Abernathy is probably every priest's ideal young parishioner. He's polite, respectful, doesn't do drugs, alcohol, or smoke, helps the elderly (his grandmother in particular), contributes to community service projects, comes to church regularly and studies the Bible. That's only his outward appearance, though. While Abernathy is well-liked in his community, inside he is still the unhappy person he was in middle school. Granny taught Abernathy never to show his weaker side so he keeps it well hidden, mostly by isolating himself from others, a tactic he picked up during middle school. Now that Abernathy has a little position all worked out in the high school social structure he has the option of adjusting his mannerisms, but he's accustomed to being solitary and will probably never change. Several factors contribute to Abernathy's isolation. He's a senshi, which makes him secretive and not willing to open up to others. Before, he'd eventually talk when someone attempted conversation, but now, if you try to go past conversational banter, he'll shut down and become evasive. The last thing he wants to do is reveal his double life. (Thankfully, the only people who ever noticed this change in Abernathy chalked it up to his becoming a teenager.) When he was younger, kids used to tease Abernathy for being "grandmomma's boy." It was never too terrible, just the normal kind of teasing all kids dish and receive, but the effects of that teasing were to make Abernathy distant from other children. He never talks about any of it; he's too frightened that he'll be further ostracized, and though he's well out of elementary school, his fear remains. It even intensified during middle school when his grandmother started having problems. Abernathy was raised with a few out-of-date sensibilities. Granny was always a good surrogate parent to him, but her ideals were several decades outdated, so she was always a bit distant as well. (Plus, there was the thing about Abernathy's name being Abernathy. Granny never bothered to change it, though at one point she tried to call him "Jonathan." It didn't last.) He learned from Granny that emotions and feelings were sissy things, not for boys, and he was better off keeping things to himself. Because of this he's a very private person, not accustomed to sharing his feelings (he barely even knows how). Throughout his childhood, Abernathy found escape in books, science fiction in particular. (Reverend Bill was a closet sci-fi freak.) He was pegged early on as a nerdy kid and never bothered to shake that designation. It was fairly on target. When Abernathy wasn't with Lewis, he had his nose in a book. Once Lewis was gone, the nose-in- book phenomenon exploded. Abernathy just loves to be able to put the "real world" away for a time and immerse himself in the myriad worlds of science fiction. He prefers hard scifi, even though he's a miserable science student. To be fair, Abernathy's dissatisfaction with science stems more from philosophical disagreement than actual hate of the laws of the universe. Even though many intelligent people can easily blend science and theology, science will always have the stigma of being mostly atheistic in the eyes of many people, Abernathy included. So long as a science fiction novel doesn't try to discount God too much, Abernathy digs the science aspect. Abernathy naturally loves libraries. It's not the peace and quiet (noise doesn't bother him very much), it's just the books, all those glorious little visions of other worlds and people. He's been going to the library since he was old enough to walk to one by himself. Currently his regimen includes visiting the library every Saturday. Abernathy devours books like nothing and enjoys reading his favorites again and again. (Chances are, if you can't find a copy of that classic sci-fi novel by a grand master, Abernathy's checked it out again.) He really tends to read only sci-fi, though. Fantasy's not his cup of tea, romance is an absolute no-no (part Granny's influence, part natural revulsion), Westerns are boring, nonfiction is boring, much of theology and philosophy is too blasphemous, and Abernathy has little interest in subject-oriented books, except for those books on computer repair. Abernathy is a fast reader (in case you couldn't guess) but his retention could be better. That's why he often reads good books again and hoards the computer manuals. You could say Abernathy is smart, but his intelligence isn't very diversified. He has the intelligence to defend his religious beliefs fairly eloquently, to string together a sentence in a grammatically correct, understandable manner (a real feat for many people), to perform mathematical computations, and to analyze problems. He's actually pretty good at math. Not spectacularly great, but he can pull in B's in his high school math classes. And it's already been mentioned that while he doesn't like science, he's good in that as well (all A's and B's except Biology, in which he has a C). No, in truth, the area Abernathy sucks at is history. He doesn't hate it, he just… sucks at it. He can do numbers and words, but somehow connecting those numerical dates to events is difficult for him, not to mention he has little interest in the rest of the real world. And in world history, not only do they try to tell you the world is millions of years old, they also try to tell you about other religions, and those are two things Abernathy doesn't particularly want to hear. Abernathy is set in his ways. He certainly can be stubborn about things, and his single-minded analytical skills make it hard to argue him out of something. Thankfully, while he dislikes people challenging his beliefs of opinions, he doesn't force his ideas on others and won't engage in conversation just to try and make an argument. Sure, he dislikes the way the world functions with so many people who are unlike himself, but so long as he doesn't know which people in particular, he's fine with it. That's another of his tactics: he resists learning about others so he won't have to think about their dissenting opinions. He's kind of ignoring the problem. Overall, Abernathy isn't a terrible fellow, he's just not a great one either. He's a private individual and is determined to keep things that way. Appearance Abernathy stands a good 5'9", which seems to be about average for males in his family. He may still grow an inch yet. His hair is a dirty blond mixture, a coloring that gives him a perpetually tousled look, but in actuality its very neat. He has a bit of a bowl cut, with the bangs parted on his left in the front. His bangs end just above his eyebrows in a smooth line. He shaves regularly and is never seen with a four o'clock shadow or any other amount of facial hair, for that matter. In terms of build, he's not skinny or fat or muscled, he's just about right, with enough meat on his bones to hold his clothes up and demonstrate the fact that he's well-fed and eats regular meals. He's even developed the tiniest bit of tone over the past few years from senshi training. The extent of this muscle is to enable him to fight for lengthy amounts of time without tiring too much. So, in other words, his muscles are developed for endurance, not strength. Abernathy wears both glasses and braces. His glasses, wireframes with dark tortoiseshell on the rims, help his weak brown eyes perceive objects at a distance. He can still function without them, he just can't read street signs or identify birds or recognize people beyond a distance of about thirty feet. His braces are the clear type. They're only visible when they have food stuck in them. Abernathy's very fastidious about checking his braces after every meal. The composition of Abernathy's face is agreeable to the eye, though he falls a few steps short of handsome. He has high cheekbones (though they lack good definition) and smooth skin. His eyes are spaced normally and his nose rests nicely in the center of his face, though if you look close you'll see the nostrils are a bit crooked. His nose is well-formed, a tiny bit long, but it looks right on him. His lips are thin and often pursed in a semblance of thought or seriousness or determination. Such impressions of his mouth are aided by his firm jaw and slightly squared chin. The most perfect thing about him is probably his ears. They frame his face without drawing attention or sticking out. Besides the hair on his head, Abernathy is gifted with fine hair that barely shows to the casual observer. His eyelashes match, offering only the faintest outline to his eyes. His skin is only faintly tanned, resulting from a combination of the time he spends inside on his computer and the time he spends outside training or walking to the library. Abernathy generally dresses in fairly loose clothing. He doesn't like the way tight clothing feels on his body. He absolutely despises turtlenecks, so don't ever expect to see him in one. Most of the time he has on a t-shirt, more often that not a button-up, and pants or shorts. Pockets for him are a necessity. He always has at least two on his pants (frequently more, thanks to the influx of cargo styles) and prefers shirts that have a single breast pocket. You can find all sorts of things in Abernathy's pockets, from his wallet to toolkits for repairing glasses. He carries Band-Aids most of the time and almost always has a few on his fingers. (He's perpetually getting papercuts.) Fuku At the base of his costume Ertael wears a black long-sleeved shirt and pants. The sleeves and pants legs are very big and poofy. The pants tuck into thick, white cloth greaves which snap along the inseam. His shoes are made of thick cloth, smooth and black, the tops of the shoe covered by those same greaves. He wears a tunic that extends midway down his thigh and is belted with a shiny black belt. On his head is a black ski mask, only his eyes (and glasses) visible. This is hidden underneath a white cape and cowl. The cape and cowl have a silver buckle with a sort of three-cross design on it. (Not Christian-style cross, just cross like a plus sign.) The cape extends down to his ankles. With the cowl up (and it usually is), only the glint of light on his glasses is visible-a rather scary effect at times. Ertael's sleeves tuck into cloth bracers, fastened just like the greaves along the inside side of his arm, which also cover the tops of his fingerless black gloves. Where weapons are concerned, Ertael has two choices for combat. First is his staff, a 6' white pole with a black, cross-shaped blade at the end of it. The blade is about six inches in length and quite sharp and the crosspiece is some eight inches across. Ertael's second weapons are his hooks (or claws, as they're also called): black metal devices that attach to his hands. There are two hooks for each hand. They're attached to black metal loops that fit around Abernathy's palm. The hooks are about ten inches in length. Abernathy can fight with either the staff or the hooks, not both. When he's not using once of the weapons, it disappears until it's called for again. (Basically just fades away and snaps back in when called.) Transformation Abernathy starts with his hands down at his sides says, "Ertael Grigori Power, Rise Up!" He throws his hands up and black energy rises from the ground, encasing him in a fountain of darkness. The energy flows forth for some ten seconds before falling back to the ground, revealing Ertael in full costume. Ertael then usually summons one of his weapons and says something like, "Sinners in the eyes of God, repent or be destroyed!" or some other suitably self-righteous, religious statement like that. Powers "Lockdown!" Ertael raises his staff over his head, pointing it straight up, and shouts "Lockdown!" He swings the staff down until it's touching the ground and spins around in a circle, the tip of the staff digging a small groove in the ground. A translucent yellow energy barrier shoots up from the circle and extends outward to about two hundred feet in diameter and fifty feet in height. No one may move through this barrier. (It is possible to fly over should a senshi possess that ability.) The barrier disappears when Ertael wishes it to, is knocked unconscious, or one side can be perceived as victorious. Ertael can perform this once a day. Its purpose is to isolate those involved in battle from reinforcements and to prevent running away. It also serves to keep out the police if a battle runs too long and law enforcement is called. It cannot, however, prevent a defeated senshi form fleeing. Basically, once one side is clearly winning in the battle, the barrier disappears. So if Ertael and, say, Sailor Chicken were inside and Sailor Chicken screamed and ran away, Ertael would be the perceived victor and the barrier would disappear. It would not keep Sailor Chicken captive until Ertael could kill her. It only counts a whole enemy, though, so if Sailor Chicken's teammate Sailor Mushroomcloud continued to fight, Chicken would just have to wait for Mushroomcloud to win, retreat, or lose. "Ice Box!" Ertael begins with his claws down at his sides, hands in fists with palms outwards, arms tensed. He shouts "Ice Box" and throws both his arms upwards into the air above his head. A ten-foot circle of black metal bars seven feet in height rises from the ground and encircles any area within sight that Ertael desires it to, effectively locking those trapped inside with one another and preventing them from physically attacking anyone on the outside or anyone on the outside physically attacking them. (The people stuck inside are free to beat one another up, of course, as are those left outside.) Magic attacks are still fair game. The circle can only form in an area with enough open space, so it's best used outside or in large rooms. Ertael must be able to see the whole area he's targeting. He can't form a prison in a place where he can only see half of it sticking out from behind a wall or anything like that. The bars of the prison are not impenetrable. Any earth-shattering technique can break the circle by disturbing the foundation, and a sufficient amount of pushing or pulling can dislodge the bars, it just takes some strength. There's no roof, so it's possible to fly or climb out, but be careful since the bars are pointed at the top. The bars are each about five inches apart. Beyond that, the prison does not dissipate after a period of time nor can it be destroyed with energy blasts. Ertael can do this once a day; it requires eight hours of sleep to recharge. As a side note, anyone standing directly on the area where the bars rise up would either a) find him/herself suspended in the air or b) be knocked away, either inside or outside, depending on where they're standing. While the bars are pointed, they're blunted just enough that they probably won't hurt much. "Solitary Confinement!" Ertael places his hands about shoulder-width apart, palms facing each other, and brings his hands together while shouting "Solitary Confinement!" As he draws his clasped hands upwards, an energy barrier rises from the ground and surround a single senshi. The barrier is a translucent yellow capsule that automatically sizes itself to fit the senshi it contains. When it forms, it traps that senshi in their current position. (For example, a senshi sitting on the ground would find the barrier prevents him/her from standing or stretching his/her legs out.) This barrier is completely impenetrable and is intended to isolate a single enemy from his or her teammates. They cannot perform any magical attacks (and if they do the attack will affect only themselves) or do any physical damage. They can't even be heard; the barrier is soundproof. The barrier stays up so long as Ertael is not hit by a sudden wave of emotion (be it pain, sadness, love, surprise, etc.) and remains within fifteen feet of the confinement. Oh, and, of course, so long as he's alive and in senshi form. Guardian Ertael's guardian is Neot. He was once a monk (a dwarf standing fifteen inches tall, by all reports) in Glastonbury. He became a hermit, died of natural causes, and spent a good many years in psychic limbo wondering where God was. Currently, he is a trout who resides in a series of fish tanks in Abernathy's room. When he was reincarnated, he was fairly bitter about the whole ordeal and decided that the most impressive thing was humanity, so he became a guardian for the Grigori, those angels who were supposedly outcast for helping humans. Neot doesn't really know the whole story (he wasn't around back whenever it supposedly happened) but he's happy enough to stop the non-Grigori Angelus, since to him they represent God's lack of concern for humanity and His vengeance. (At least by Neot's logic at this point.) Neot is a fairly easygoing guardian. He's extraordinarily calm and patient. (He would have to be; he is stuck in a fish tank day in and day out. Without a good deal of patience he'd go insane.) He doesn't believe there is no God, merely that God cares nothing for humanity, and as a member of humanity who does care about it, Neot feels it is his duty to stop those messengers of God who represent the opposite ideology. Neot may be a saint, but he's not perfect. He's been deceitful to Abernathy from day one, telling Abernathy what Abernathy wants to hear versus the full truth. He can be a little selfish at times as well and is not much of a team player. Ertael is *his* senshi. He doesn't care about any other senshi, nor does he want Ertael to consort with other senshi. Thus he has turned Ertael into a bit of a lone wolf with the instructions, "Don't hurt the other Grigori, but don't help them, either." Neot generates magic speech like most guardians. His voice is the kind of faintly melodious, mesmerizing, calming voice you want to hear when you're sad or upset. It's neither high nor low, somewhere in the middle of the vocal range, and he has a very pleasant way with words. He's not prone to embellishment or excess. He chooses his words methodically with the intent of speaking plainly. He speaks a bit slowly, but his words are so carefully chosen that each one carries a lot of weight and impact. As a trout, Neot measures 9 in. in length with typical rainbow trout coloring. His residence is a series of tanks and tubes that forms a semicircle around the walls of Abernathy's room. Part of the reason Abernathy has had to learn makeshift computer repair is that all his spare money goes to this gigantic tank system. Explanation There's honestly no information available on Ertael. Go check yourself if you don't believe me. :P That's why I chose it. Free reign to create a power base. :) Plus, we needed another Grigori senshi already. I picked the power base by my traditional favorite challenge: stick finger in Random House Unabridged Dictionary and see where it lands. This time it landed on the slang definition for "icebox": an isolation cell in a prison. Yep, the dictionary never fails me. I'm afraid I can't quite explain how the power base relates to the Grigori myths. It's just nifty. Interesting name references: http://www.open.org/~glennab/abernathyhistory.htm http://www.americanpresidents.org/presidents/president.asp? PresidentNumber=12 http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~valerienichole/hicks.htm Neot was a funny little chap. First, monk at Glastonbury, then hermit in Cornwall, supposedly a dwarf fifteen inches in height. He is the patron of fish, and the story which relates him to fish goes thusly: "[Neot] spent his devotions up to his neck in water in a holy well. His food was provided for him by an angel who appeared to him one day and told him that there were three fish in the well. As long as he only ate one each day their number would never decrease, but when the saint was ill a servant went to the well and caught and cooked two fish. When brought to St. Neot he was horrified and ordered that the dead fish be returned to the well. While he prayed the fish were taken back and when they entered the water they came back to life." I picked Neot because I wanted a fish guardian because I'm mad like that. Hey, at least I didn't make him someone's hunting trophy which sits on a wall and sends malicious mental messages to people, driving them insane. … Darnit, that sounds like fun. Writing Sample Skip!