Ayden Nightstalker

[Ayden]

Ayden Nightstalker:

Player Name: Cal.

Name: Ayden Nightstalker. In addition to this common name that he uses, Ayden also has a 'kitten' name, Southpaw, which he only shares with family and very close friends. It is a great honour in werecat society to share this information with someone, and an indication of great trust and love for that person. Ayden's second name is also more of a title than an actual name, werecats use names that relate to things they have done in their lives. A werecats full name consists of his common name (in this case, Ayden) and then a listing of the last names he has used, in order of use. Aydens full name, as such, is Ayden Mousecatcher Eaglebane Quickjump Nightstalker.

(NB: drawing a bit from the 'Tibbit' race in the D&D roleplaying game here... copyrighted to Scott Bennie, from "Dragon" issue #135, July 1985. The concept of the 'kitten' name is somewhat referred to in this race, but I also drew from the book "Tailchasers Song" by Tad Williams, rights to these concepts remain with these people, no challenge intended).

OOC: If this naming stuff does not fit into the role play setting, I can remove it, but I thought it was kind of cool hence my use of it. I'll leave that for the staff to decide.

Age: Ayden is 17 years old, though he seems small for his age and is often mistaken as being younger.

Race: Ayden is a Shifter, or a werecat as his particular variety of the shifter race is most often referred to as.

Height: Ayden is roughly 155 cm tall (5' 1") and is somewhat smaller in stature than most people, due to his small height and unassuming size he is often overlooked and is mistaken for being younger than he really is. As a cat he is relatively small as well, in comparison to other cats (can't really give an exact height here, as its rather hard to measure a cat...).

Weight: Ayden is about 50 kg in weight (110 pounds) And pretty thin and small compared to most people or other humanoids.

Physical Description:

Human Form:

As a human, Ayden appears to be a relatively small and unassuming boy between the ages of 14 and 17 at first glance, most would assume that he is younger than he really is. Ayden is very small for his age, and almost appears malnourished, however this is to his advantage as he is very dexterous and good at staying unnoticed by others - valuable skills for a thief. He has jet black hair, that is generally very unkempt and hangs at about shoulder length, which conceals his startlingly blue eyes behind a curtain of black. His skin is very pale, and seems to be almost unnatural in its tone, the porcelain skin tone in direct contrast with his dark hair and making his features stand out like a ghost.

Ayden is not particularly well built or strong, but is very fast and has a surprising ability to fit into just about any gap that you could think of even while in human form. The clothing he wears is typical of a street urchin child, and consists of rather dirty and well used simple clothing and rags, with nothing of particular value in his wardrobe. Despite his ragged and unkempt appearance, Ayden has very well defined and some would go so far as to say beautiful features. Ayden has very little in the way of scars or tattoos, the only particularly noticeable scar being a thin cut on his left forearm, that seems to have been inflicted many years ago, possibly by a knife or other sharp implement.

Half-Cat Form:

Ayden can also take on a form that is half cat and half human, in this form he has many of the senses and physical features of a cat but also retains a humanoid shape and size. He grows ears and a tail, as well as having his hands turned from hands into paws and fur becoming prominent in parts of his body including around his face and his arms and legs. His ears and all of the fur and body parts that change are, like his hair, jet black in colouring, his eyes become slitted and more catlike when he shifts into the half form. His teeth are also more pointed and decidedly more similar to that of a cat and much more useful for fighting.

Cat Form:

As a cat Ayden is a very small and almost kitten like black cat with big blue eyes and a very sleek and small shape that is perfect for getting into small spaces and running. Despite his very unkempt and poor treatment of his human form, Ayden's cat form is very well groomed and clean, like most cats Ayden has an obsession with cleanliness. He has small claws that are always kept sharp as a precaution, and he has long elegant and very expressive whiskers, that he seems to be able to use to convey meaning to others as a cat. He has no other colours in his coat, his fur being the same colour of jet black as his hair is when he is in his human form, there is also a cut that matches the one he bears while in human form on his left foreleg under the fur.

Sample Cat 1, Sample Cat 2

Personality:

As a person, Ayden has a very unusual and somewhat childlike personality, he is always curious to learn new things and often times is unaware that something he does might be wrong. Ayden is always looking to have fun and learn new things or explore new places and is very inquisitive in his nature, often prying into things that he shouldn't. Although he isn't evil by any means, many of the things me does could be considered as morally wrong and he has little respect for rules or restrictions. Conversely, he also has a fiercely loyal streak, and would do anything for his friends or family if it is in his power and would never betray those closest to him.

Because of his childlike views and innate curiosity Ayden has a sense of innocence about him and a lack of knowledge about right and wrong. Even though he might do something generally considered wrong or immoral, such as stealing or breaking something, he will most likely not realize that it is wrong unless it is explained to him by someone. Generally Ayden hates violence in any form, and if a conflict seems likely he will probably attempt to flee, or if impossible defend himself to the best of his ability. In the past his curiosity has gotten him into trouble with both the authorities and other people, and as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat.

Possessions:

Ayden has very little in the way of possessions as his life on the street does not allow for much in the way of material wealth or personal belongings. The only things he really owns are the clothes on his back, as well as a small neatly made dagger that although not fancy is definitely enough to fulfill its purpose. He also owns a set of lock picks and other thieving tools, which he keeps very well hidden as this type of equipment is likely to get him in trouble if it is found. Ayden generally wears a small necklace around his neck that is made from an arrowhead, he stole it from a rich manor in the city, and although unsure he believes it has magical properties.

(NB: The arrowhead amulet is in fact enchanted with a spell that makes any ranged weaponry such as bows or thrown weapons he uses almost unerringly accurate, although Ayden does not know this at the present time and has no idea how to use it. The necklace also grants the ability to hear other peoples thoughts, although the ability is limited and Ayden must concentrate carefully in order to use it.)

Powers or Strengths:

Ayden's main strengths lie in his shapeshifting ability, the cat form being incredibly useful as a thief and also in escaping from danger and notice by other people. He is small and very agile, being able to run very fast and do lots of intricate things with his hands and fit into very small and hard to reach places in both cat and human form. The half cat form is also very useful for him, as it allows Ayden to have a decent form for fighting in and gives him a useful way of enhancing his senses while still retaining a human shape. Another strange ability that Ayden has developed is the ability to read minds, however so far he can only do this if he concentrates very hard on trying to hear thoughts. It is much easier for him to do this while he is in his cat form, and although he knows magic is forbidden he remains blissfully unaware that this ability is magical in nature. Ayden is also very alert, and has an uncanny ability to notice things that others normally wouldn't notice while remaining unnoticed himself because of his small size. He also possesses the classic shape shifter ability to heal himself rapidly, although his is not quite as well developed as that of a wolf or some of the other common were creatures.

Weaknesses:

Physically, Ayden is not very strong or particularly good at fighting or other tasks that rely on brute strength or martial prowess. His small size and lack of strength makes him very susceptible to injury and he is not very good at dealing with pain or with fighting and violence, despite his fast healing. Ayden is also not particularly wealthy, living on the streets for the majority of his life and learning to lie cheat and steal in order to protect himself and get by. His innate curiosity can also be seen as a weakness if it leads him into a situation which is dangerous for him, which it frequently and often times unwittingly does. Ayden also has a great and somewhat irrational fear of authority, and is terrified whenever he meets a guard or other person in a position of power.

History:

Early Life:

The first thing Ayden remembered of his life was his home, it was fairly modest as far as homes went but it was his and that was all that mattered. His family's house was located in the poorer part of the city of Marn, and despite its small size and the poor conditions that they lived in he was happy there. There was a big tree out the front of the house, and while he was still small Ayden spent a lot of time climbing the tree, delighted by the challenge of jumping between the branches and looking down at the people who passed below. Sometimes he would stay in his cat form, and at other times he would use his human one, but it didn't really matter to him. The house was made from old grey bricks and had a big window through to the kitchen, where his mother could watch him as he played - Ayden was very curious for a kitten.

Ayden was the youngest of his family, and by far the smallest, standing out because of his pure black fur and his blue eyes, that seemed almost like sapphires because of how bright and big they were. Ayden had several brothers and sisters, but he didn't remember very much about them at all, he had still been very young when they had died and he had always been a bit of a loner. He did remember his mother though, Ayden's mother was a patient woman who always made sure that him and his siblings behaved themselves and stayed out of trouble. His mother was the one who had given him the kitten name of Southpaw, because of the way he always used his left paw instead of his right paw for nearly everything. Ayden didn't see his father very much during his kitten hood, the older werecat staying aloof and mysterious in nearly everything.

He was nearly six years old when they came. A group of powerful battlemages had appeared at the door to his family house, Ayden watched them cautiously from his perch in the tree, invisible in the concealing branches. He didn't really understand what had happened next until he was much older, it had been a far too painful and shocking a scene for a small kitten to go through. Many years later after much investigating he found out that his father had been using illegal magic, and had been caught out by the government of the city. The punishment for his crimes had been death, and the battlemages had wiped out his entire family when they tried to protect him from the sentence. Ayden stayed up in the tree for the whole night long after the warriors had left, waiting for his mother to come and get him, shivering from the cold. She never came.

The next morning had been hard for Ayden. He went to investigate the house, only to find that there was no trace of what had happened to his family, it was like they had disappeared off the face of the earth. Not knowing what else to do, he stayed at the house for nearly a whole week, waiting hopelessly for them to come back and find him. Nobody ever did come back, and eventually it dawned on Ayden that they weren't going to come back and that he was alone. Taking a last look around the deserted home, trying to remember it and the happy memories that had taken place there, it was almost too much. Finally, his big blue eyes downcast and feeling hungry he left, never to return to that place and the memories of his kitten hood ever again.

Life On The Street:

The first few months of his new life living as a street cat, and having no place to call his own were some of the hardest of Ayden's short life. He was still small though, and soon he turned to a life of crime in order to support himself and make sure he had food in his belly and somewhere to sleep. Pickpocketing and minor theft soon became second nature for the young boy, and he learned to become attuned to the more visceral and less pleasant aspects of existence. He spent much of his time in his cat form, preying on kind hearted and foolish people for food and shelter, always leaving with the morning sun. He never stayed in one place for long, and was always on the move. Life was hard, but against all of the odds, he survived.

By the time Ayden was ten years old, he found it very difficult to imagine a life where he didn't live on the streets, stealing and lying his way through his existence. He was something of a local legend amongst the younger street children, even the few other shifters among them, because of his great skill at the art of theft and his speed. He had very few friends, preferring to be alone most of the time, but he grew close to another young werecat called Remi. They spent nearly all their spare time together, and worked together to pull off even more daring and illustrious acts of thievery and deceit than they would have achieved individually. However, as is always the case with relationships born of bad circumstance, it was to end badly.

When they were 16, Remi came up with a bold plan to rob the manor of a rich local merchant, and naturally, after careful consideration, Ayden agreed to go along with it. The heist went off almost without a hitch, and they made off with a large sum of money and an odd necklace made from an old arrowhead, giving off a mystical, even magical feel. However, fate is often cruel, and just as they were making their escape a group of guards found them and gave chase, hunting across the whole of the market district for them. Ayden got lost from Remi, and was cornered in a dark blind alley with the guards very close by, searching carefully for him. He knew that if they found him, he was dead. Ayden, absolutely terrified, concentrated was straining to hear the guards, when all of a sudden he heard what could only be their thoughts inside his head.

Ayden was shocked. He had never before had anything even remotely similar to this happen to him and frankly it scared him more than the guards did. Magic was forbidden in the city, and he knew this as well as anyone else. He took advantage of the opportunity however, and managed to avoid the guards, barely escaping with his life after a very close encounter. Feeling confused and scared, he tried to find Remi after that, waiting at the meeting spot they had decided on earlier, but he never showed up. Ayden assumed the worst, that his friend had been caught by the guards, but he never did find out what happened to him. Ayden continued on alone in his life of crime and slowly started to unlock the odd powers of the amulet, even though he knew it was illegal and contraband. He lived enough on the edge anyway, and there were things worse than magic, he reasoned, Weren't there?

[Frug]

Approved.