Post by Smoke on Mar 27, 2016 18:03:51 GMT -5
Name: Smoke
Goes by Carter Caplan
Secret Identity (if any): Carter Caplan
More to be added as time continues.
Age: Unknown.
Affiliation: Heroes
Base of Operations (if any): Skyline City, coastal Oregon
Appearance: As a formshifter, Smoke is able to take on innumerable appearances, or even become nearly impossible to detect visually by spreading himself over an area, limited only by his will and skill at holding forms. He exercises this talent daily, as even holding his basic "normal" appearance as a human requires an act of will. He's not sure where the form that he took when he was found by his friend and mentor came from, but ever since then, it has been the easiest for him to maintain. "Carter" appears as a a Caucasian male, a smidge over six foot high, and bearing the well muscled build of an athlete. He always found it interesting that the appearance came naturally to him, even though the muscles and very body itself were completely superficial for him. A neat cut of wavy black hair brushed straight back tops his head, with a three day shave gracing his face and neck. His expressive grey eyes carry more feeling than the rest of his face combined, though he is no stranger to smiles or frowns. Even so, the way his eyes seem to swirl carries his message and mood as strong or stronger than his expressions. Clothing and equipment isn't a necessity for him since everything visible about him is a deception anyway. He simply alters his own form to appear as he sees fit. He sometimes does break down and carry some sort of heavy raincoat or duster though, to help shelter him from the winds and rains of the seasonal coastlands.
Powers: Smoke is a sentient cloud of energy which manifests as smoke, mists, or fog. As such, he ignores many of the rules limiting mortal humans. He is able to take form and appear as a human or anything else he can maintain an image of, using his will to hold himself to that shape. Over time, he becomes quite proficient at this, though complex mechanical devices are beyond his ability to craft. Being a cloud also allows him limited flight capabilies, ability to pass through small spaces, and the ability to disperse himself or spread across a wide area and remain aware. He is a living fog. Not everything is perfect though. Though he can hold himself together as a matter of will, he is vulnerable to being scattered. He is hyper sensitive to sound when caught off guard. Even with what is basically invulnerability to conventional small arms fire or other attacks, this is offset by the fact that something as simple a a stiff breeze can prove difficult to overcome when he's dispersed himself. He also won't be taking any bullets for anyone, and drops any devices, cash, or possessions whenever he disperses.
As a being of energy, he doesn't eat, sleep, or drink. He's fueled by various sources of energy, of which thermal is the easiest for him to interact with. Cold and wet can weaken him, and make it more difficult to maintain his form. If he' ever completely drained of energy or completely dispersed, he isn't sure what will happen. He's never had it happen to him, and hopes it won't come down to that.
Besides the different abilities and rules that come with his form, Smoke also bears a hidden wealth of knowledge. He's found several languages that he can speak, some mechanical talents, a skilled hand at cooking, and a few other talents. It's become a game to him to find what new skills he can discover he possesses, even though he has no recollection of learning these skills. He doesn't know what he knows, and lacks the life experience to go with these talents, but they serve him well regardless.
Personality: Smoke is curious and interested in studying not just the virtues of humanity, but also why they are considered virtues. He tentatively studies their opposite as well. He openly asks questions of those he trusts, sometimes coming off as blunt, but he normally truly wants the answer so he can log it in his memory. Someday, it might help him come to a more natural understanding of how people work. He is open minded, but judges statements by how they relate to the beliefs he's adopted, building his personality and convictions from the stories and experiences he possesses. As such everything he hears or sees is at least given a cursory examination as he takes it in.
Though not a natural optimist, Smoke has made a choice to try to be one. In fact, his personality was nonexistant when he first came into existence. Since then, it began forming based off of the stories and lessons that Ward shared with him, later being a matter of personal choice to choose to become how he is. He still retains the ability to alter himself by choice, but is cautious and fearful of major departures since he might lose the person he is in these times.
Smoke hasn't considered specifically how he could step up and use his abilities to fight crime. He's more interested in standing up for the oppressed, and in encouraging those who are fighting for themselves. Those are the actions of a hero in his eyes. He is finding the will to act. Sometimes he struggles with finding the right time or way to act though.
Origin Story: In Northwestern United States of America, in Skyline City, a harbor along the coast of Oregon, something awoke to the sound of a man telling him the tale of Prometheus, and how the titan gave fire to man. Whatever it was, it remained silent, unknowing of who or what it was. Unsure of what was going on around it. It had no memories of a previous life to direct it. No desire to get up and do something. No reason to interact with the voice that was telling these stories. It did know that it was alive, but failed to grasp the meaning of it. It knew that it could understand, but didn't know why. It just listened, unmoving but intent on the voice when it spoke. Soaking up the stories. Over time, more stories were told to it. Tales of heroes of all sorts. Philosophers and martyrs. People who asked questions of the world around them, and did things to better it for their fellows. It made made connections as it listened, drawing inspiration and knowledge from the tales and stories and slowly an identity came together. It heard sounds from another room from time to time. Other voices that he wasn't familiar with. TV shows, it realized. Sometimes the voices talked about traffic. Sometimes it was a woman speaking about the weather to come. He decided that whoever she was, she had a nice voice.
One day, Smoke opened his eyes. He looked around and suddenly he felt as though he remembered the world. Windows, shadows, chairs, desks, pens, blankets, beds. He looked down and found himself in a dimly lit room, lying on a couch, and covered by a blanket. He reached up and rubbed his chin, feeling day old bristles there. He remembered the act of shaving as he touched it, but couldn't actually remember doing the act himself. He shook his head, and coughed, seeing a puff of smoke leave his mouth as he did so. As he stood up, he got a good view of his from the vantage point of the small cough of smoke.He looked and saw a muscular if wiry body clad in a bathrobe and shorts. Part of him found it disorienting, but he quickly adapted to it. Instinctively, he reached for the puff that he'd coughed out, and tried to... recall it into himself intuitively realizing that it was a part of whatever he was. The world seemed to blur for a moment, and there was a soft thud as his perspective shifted. He blinked and found himself looking in the other direction back towards where he'd just been standing. A soft impact on the ground drew his attention, and he saw the clothes he'd been wearing hit the ground... no. The floor. It was all coming back to him, as well as the knowledge that maybe he ought to put those clothes back on. He scrambled down to the floor, and picked up what he could before struggling to get the robe around himself. Behind him, he heard the sound of a door creaking the rest of the way open, and turned to look to see a dark haired man with a reddish tone to his skin looking in.
"You're awake at last."
Time marched on, and Smoke continued figuring himself out. The man who'd been caring for him said his name was Ward Williams. He was a friendly man, Smoke decided. An american indian who'd moved off the reservation and moved to the city. Ward said it had been less of a bother than he'd expected, since Smoke hadn't eaten drunk or had any waste issues since Ward had taken him in. "Just more confirmation that you're something special, My Friend." He claimed. Williams told him that he'd found Smoke after he appeared out of thin air, with no warning. He'd almost called the hospital, but the strange nature of this strange man he'd found had given him pause. Instead, he'd brought Smoke home, and set him up to watch on his library's couch. Ward was not a rich man. He taught at a small college in Suburban Skyline City, where he instructed community college students in College Algebra. He said he had no real desire to deal with things more advanced than that when his students asked. His real interest was in various branches of philosophy, history and mythology, but he'd never studied far enough to make something of himself in those fields. He kept sharing his stories with Smoke as he assisted his unorthodox guest in acclimating with a new world.
When pressed for a reason, Ward was evasive at first. Eventually he just said he didn't need a reason to help those in need. His conscience was clear with it. He said Smoke could think about passing on the generosity and kindness that he was receiving to others. After hearing all Ward's stories of heroes, and seeing this man's belief and convictions in action, he earned his smoky dependents respect yet again. Not only for speaking on doing some good and trying to make the world a better place, but for standing by those goals as well.
The weeks continued with Ward going to attend to his classes in the mornings and afternoons, and occasionally staying later to help some of his students maintain the will to learn. He believed that it was his job to help provide an education to those who would claim it. They talked about Smoke too, and what he was or could remember. It wasn't much. Whatever Smoke was, he had no memory of a past. That made it difficult to explain the talents or facts that he would discover from time to time though. While flipping through channels while Ward was away one afternoon, he hit on a channel entirely in spanish, and realized that he could understand it easily. He hopped on a computer, and found that he could read it as well. That triggered a quick browse of Google Translate, at which point he found he could understand German, as well as a few other languages. His host's jaw just about dropped one time when he came home and found that Smoke had cooked a three course meal up from scratch, even though he still hadn't found a way to eat. He seemed able to work on cars, but was prone to swearing as he did so almost as much as the next man. Both facts that Smoke found interesting and amusing. He couldn't recall where these skills had come from, or anything of his life before Ward had found him and brought him home. Finding the next hidden talent became a game to Smoke, alongside other experimenting. After a while, he managed to convince Ward to try hit him with a baseball bat, to see what would happen. With much trepidation, his friend agreed. Smoke braced himself for the impact, fully expecting to let the blow pass right through him. Well, he ended up taking a baseball bat blow to the head and falling down, at which point he then dispersed into a small cloud. Fairly quickly, Smoke reformed. Ward was unhappy, and never will let the cloud being live it down.
Smoke was an open book, learning quickly from everything going on around him, but he didn't take things as easily as he seemed to on the outside. He knew and accepted that he wasn't of this world. He wasn't a human being, and so he felt aloof. He struggled with knowing how he should feel, unable to give a good answer to himself as to what he should do. It was Ward's actions and words that led Smoke on the path that he chose. He believed in doing right, in strengthening the weak, and in encouraging optimism. And the best way he could pursue that was by putting aside his own troubles in favor of others. Perhaps he'd find his own healing in theirs. To further pursue his goal, he picked out a name to go by so he could interact with the rest of the world. Smoke may be what he was, but it wouldn't be a name that people would accept easily, much like he himself, he expected. He didn't dwell on it, instead taking the name Carter Caplan for his own.
With a little assistance from Ward, Smoke has started entering the world as Carter Caplan, but it's a big big place, and there is still much that he doesn't understand. Right now, coming to understand what humanity is is one of the most pressing issues on Smoke's mind, but he thinks he'll find ways to emulate what his friend and mentor.
Edits:
Edited Mentor's name to Ward Williams. 04/04/16
Goes by Carter Caplan
Secret Identity (if any): Carter Caplan
More to be added as time continues.
Age: Unknown.
Affiliation: Heroes
Base of Operations (if any): Skyline City, coastal Oregon
Appearance: As a formshifter, Smoke is able to take on innumerable appearances, or even become nearly impossible to detect visually by spreading himself over an area, limited only by his will and skill at holding forms. He exercises this talent daily, as even holding his basic "normal" appearance as a human requires an act of will. He's not sure where the form that he took when he was found by his friend and mentor came from, but ever since then, it has been the easiest for him to maintain. "Carter" appears as a a Caucasian male, a smidge over six foot high, and bearing the well muscled build of an athlete. He always found it interesting that the appearance came naturally to him, even though the muscles and very body itself were completely superficial for him. A neat cut of wavy black hair brushed straight back tops his head, with a three day shave gracing his face and neck. His expressive grey eyes carry more feeling than the rest of his face combined, though he is no stranger to smiles or frowns. Even so, the way his eyes seem to swirl carries his message and mood as strong or stronger than his expressions. Clothing and equipment isn't a necessity for him since everything visible about him is a deception anyway. He simply alters his own form to appear as he sees fit. He sometimes does break down and carry some sort of heavy raincoat or duster though, to help shelter him from the winds and rains of the seasonal coastlands.
Powers: Smoke is a sentient cloud of energy which manifests as smoke, mists, or fog. As such, he ignores many of the rules limiting mortal humans. He is able to take form and appear as a human or anything else he can maintain an image of, using his will to hold himself to that shape. Over time, he becomes quite proficient at this, though complex mechanical devices are beyond his ability to craft. Being a cloud also allows him limited flight capabilies, ability to pass through small spaces, and the ability to disperse himself or spread across a wide area and remain aware. He is a living fog. Not everything is perfect though. Though he can hold himself together as a matter of will, he is vulnerable to being scattered. He is hyper sensitive to sound when caught off guard. Even with what is basically invulnerability to conventional small arms fire or other attacks, this is offset by the fact that something as simple a a stiff breeze can prove difficult to overcome when he's dispersed himself. He also won't be taking any bullets for anyone, and drops any devices, cash, or possessions whenever he disperses.
As a being of energy, he doesn't eat, sleep, or drink. He's fueled by various sources of energy, of which thermal is the easiest for him to interact with. Cold and wet can weaken him, and make it more difficult to maintain his form. If he' ever completely drained of energy or completely dispersed, he isn't sure what will happen. He's never had it happen to him, and hopes it won't come down to that.
Besides the different abilities and rules that come with his form, Smoke also bears a hidden wealth of knowledge. He's found several languages that he can speak, some mechanical talents, a skilled hand at cooking, and a few other talents. It's become a game to him to find what new skills he can discover he possesses, even though he has no recollection of learning these skills. He doesn't know what he knows, and lacks the life experience to go with these talents, but they serve him well regardless.
Personality: Smoke is curious and interested in studying not just the virtues of humanity, but also why they are considered virtues. He tentatively studies their opposite as well. He openly asks questions of those he trusts, sometimes coming off as blunt, but he normally truly wants the answer so he can log it in his memory. Someday, it might help him come to a more natural understanding of how people work. He is open minded, but judges statements by how they relate to the beliefs he's adopted, building his personality and convictions from the stories and experiences he possesses. As such everything he hears or sees is at least given a cursory examination as he takes it in.
Though not a natural optimist, Smoke has made a choice to try to be one. In fact, his personality was nonexistant when he first came into existence. Since then, it began forming based off of the stories and lessons that Ward shared with him, later being a matter of personal choice to choose to become how he is. He still retains the ability to alter himself by choice, but is cautious and fearful of major departures since he might lose the person he is in these times.
Smoke hasn't considered specifically how he could step up and use his abilities to fight crime. He's more interested in standing up for the oppressed, and in encouraging those who are fighting for themselves. Those are the actions of a hero in his eyes. He is finding the will to act. Sometimes he struggles with finding the right time or way to act though.
Origin Story: In Northwestern United States of America, in Skyline City, a harbor along the coast of Oregon, something awoke to the sound of a man telling him the tale of Prometheus, and how the titan gave fire to man. Whatever it was, it remained silent, unknowing of who or what it was. Unsure of what was going on around it. It had no memories of a previous life to direct it. No desire to get up and do something. No reason to interact with the voice that was telling these stories. It did know that it was alive, but failed to grasp the meaning of it. It knew that it could understand, but didn't know why. It just listened, unmoving but intent on the voice when it spoke. Soaking up the stories. Over time, more stories were told to it. Tales of heroes of all sorts. Philosophers and martyrs. People who asked questions of the world around them, and did things to better it for their fellows. It made made connections as it listened, drawing inspiration and knowledge from the tales and stories and slowly an identity came together. It heard sounds from another room from time to time. Other voices that he wasn't familiar with. TV shows, it realized. Sometimes the voices talked about traffic. Sometimes it was a woman speaking about the weather to come. He decided that whoever she was, she had a nice voice.
One day, Smoke opened his eyes. He looked around and suddenly he felt as though he remembered the world. Windows, shadows, chairs, desks, pens, blankets, beds. He looked down and found himself in a dimly lit room, lying on a couch, and covered by a blanket. He reached up and rubbed his chin, feeling day old bristles there. He remembered the act of shaving as he touched it, but couldn't actually remember doing the act himself. He shook his head, and coughed, seeing a puff of smoke leave his mouth as he did so. As he stood up, he got a good view of his from the vantage point of the small cough of smoke.He looked and saw a muscular if wiry body clad in a bathrobe and shorts. Part of him found it disorienting, but he quickly adapted to it. Instinctively, he reached for the puff that he'd coughed out, and tried to... recall it into himself intuitively realizing that it was a part of whatever he was. The world seemed to blur for a moment, and there was a soft thud as his perspective shifted. He blinked and found himself looking in the other direction back towards where he'd just been standing. A soft impact on the ground drew his attention, and he saw the clothes he'd been wearing hit the ground... no. The floor. It was all coming back to him, as well as the knowledge that maybe he ought to put those clothes back on. He scrambled down to the floor, and picked up what he could before struggling to get the robe around himself. Behind him, he heard the sound of a door creaking the rest of the way open, and turned to look to see a dark haired man with a reddish tone to his skin looking in.
"You're awake at last."
Time marched on, and Smoke continued figuring himself out. The man who'd been caring for him said his name was Ward Williams. He was a friendly man, Smoke decided. An american indian who'd moved off the reservation and moved to the city. Ward said it had been less of a bother than he'd expected, since Smoke hadn't eaten drunk or had any waste issues since Ward had taken him in. "Just more confirmation that you're something special, My Friend." He claimed. Williams told him that he'd found Smoke after he appeared out of thin air, with no warning. He'd almost called the hospital, but the strange nature of this strange man he'd found had given him pause. Instead, he'd brought Smoke home, and set him up to watch on his library's couch. Ward was not a rich man. He taught at a small college in Suburban Skyline City, where he instructed community college students in College Algebra. He said he had no real desire to deal with things more advanced than that when his students asked. His real interest was in various branches of philosophy, history and mythology, but he'd never studied far enough to make something of himself in those fields. He kept sharing his stories with Smoke as he assisted his unorthodox guest in acclimating with a new world.
When pressed for a reason, Ward was evasive at first. Eventually he just said he didn't need a reason to help those in need. His conscience was clear with it. He said Smoke could think about passing on the generosity and kindness that he was receiving to others. After hearing all Ward's stories of heroes, and seeing this man's belief and convictions in action, he earned his smoky dependents respect yet again. Not only for speaking on doing some good and trying to make the world a better place, but for standing by those goals as well.
The weeks continued with Ward going to attend to his classes in the mornings and afternoons, and occasionally staying later to help some of his students maintain the will to learn. He believed that it was his job to help provide an education to those who would claim it. They talked about Smoke too, and what he was or could remember. It wasn't much. Whatever Smoke was, he had no memory of a past. That made it difficult to explain the talents or facts that he would discover from time to time though. While flipping through channels while Ward was away one afternoon, he hit on a channel entirely in spanish, and realized that he could understand it easily. He hopped on a computer, and found that he could read it as well. That triggered a quick browse of Google Translate, at which point he found he could understand German, as well as a few other languages. His host's jaw just about dropped one time when he came home and found that Smoke had cooked a three course meal up from scratch, even though he still hadn't found a way to eat. He seemed able to work on cars, but was prone to swearing as he did so almost as much as the next man. Both facts that Smoke found interesting and amusing. He couldn't recall where these skills had come from, or anything of his life before Ward had found him and brought him home. Finding the next hidden talent became a game to Smoke, alongside other experimenting. After a while, he managed to convince Ward to try hit him with a baseball bat, to see what would happen. With much trepidation, his friend agreed. Smoke braced himself for the impact, fully expecting to let the blow pass right through him. Well, he ended up taking a baseball bat blow to the head and falling down, at which point he then dispersed into a small cloud. Fairly quickly, Smoke reformed. Ward was unhappy, and never will let the cloud being live it down.
Smoke was an open book, learning quickly from everything going on around him, but he didn't take things as easily as he seemed to on the outside. He knew and accepted that he wasn't of this world. He wasn't a human being, and so he felt aloof. He struggled with knowing how he should feel, unable to give a good answer to himself as to what he should do. It was Ward's actions and words that led Smoke on the path that he chose. He believed in doing right, in strengthening the weak, and in encouraging optimism. And the best way he could pursue that was by putting aside his own troubles in favor of others. Perhaps he'd find his own healing in theirs. To further pursue his goal, he picked out a name to go by so he could interact with the rest of the world. Smoke may be what he was, but it wouldn't be a name that people would accept easily, much like he himself, he expected. He didn't dwell on it, instead taking the name Carter Caplan for his own.
With a little assistance from Ward, Smoke has started entering the world as Carter Caplan, but it's a big big place, and there is still much that he doesn't understand. Right now, coming to understand what humanity is is one of the most pressing issues on Smoke's mind, but he thinks he'll find ways to emulate what his friend and mentor.
Edits:
Edited Mentor's name to Ward Williams. 04/04/16