App for Road of 'Trode
I: PLAYER INFO
Name (or internet handle): Silverthorne
Age: 43
Contact: PM through the gaming journal
derek_bliss
Current characters in Road of 'Trode: N/A
II: CHARACTER INFO
Name: Derek Bliss
Dreamwidth Username:
derek_bliss
Fandom: Vampires: Los Muertos
Age/Appearance: Approx. in his mid-thirties (I usually list him as being 36-the actor was 42 at time of shooting). He stands at 5”.9’ (5”.10’ in his boots), is slight-to-average in body type, and highly muscular with no body fat whatsoever. He tends to hold himself in a way that makes him look both larger and taller than he is, so it can be a surprise for people when they get up close and personal with him when they realize how ‘small’ he actually is. With bright blue eyes and blond hair with a touch of brown (it’s been called ‘caramel’ blond in interviews about the actor/rocker in the past-Ref; Rolling Stone magazine, Issue 545 on 02/09/89), he is also chronically tan and has teeth that sometimes seem almost freakishly white. He keeps his hair layered, neat, and short, the ends barely reach collar length in the back.
In canon, he prefers jeans, cowboy boots, and either t-shirts or short sleeve oxford type shirts. He also switches between a simple dark brown ‘suede’ jacket and a beige leather jacket that contains many hidden pockets for the tools of his trade. He will likely dress in a style on the Ark that echoes those preferences, if not in the exact same clothing if it is available.
Wiki Links:
Wiki.
Wiki for the ‘prequel’ to the movie.
Wiki for the original book both movies are based off of.
YouTube run of the movie.
Canon Point: Day after the end of the movie
Personality: General Personality: Overall, Derek comes across as quiet, easy-going and capable. Although shoved into the leadership role in the movie, he tends to run things by committee rather than by laying down the law and expecting others to follow him unquestioningly. It could be argued that he's a bit of a push over because of this--there are several times in the movie where he allows his own opinion and personal judgment to be over-ruled by the others, especially if they can give him a good reason for their own take on things (or he apparently comes to the internal conclusion that ‘now’ is not the time to push the other person). However, when it gets down to the wire and it’s become a do-or-die situation, he will make his own decisions independent of group consensus, and there is no talking him out of it at that point. You either go along with it, or he stonewalls you.
Personality Specs:
'The Laconic Loner': In the movie, Derek has a habit of hanging back and letting things happen with other people as they will. He uses words sparingly for the most part, and seems to measure his responses to people he doesn’t know well. There are times when he can come across as unfriendly or distant--he doesn't smile much unless he knows you or is comfortable with his situation, and his first instinct with most people is to drive them away or depart from them once business has been completed or he thinks that whatever he’s about to get into could be deadly for the people who come with him. Although he doesn’t come across as not liking people (there are several instances of him being open and friendly with different folks throughout the movie), he definitely comes across as having the ‘just passing through’ attitude.
'Talk To Me': This is very much a trademark tagline of Derek's; he says it several times in the movie to different people, usually when what he knows about the situation has been shaken and he needs more information to get it making sense again. When it's time for that information, he wants it, and wants it badly. He doesn't take no for an answer, and can actually get pretty damned rude about it if answers are not immediately forth-coming. By the same token, once people start talking, he starts listening, and usually calms down and starts to mull on the other person's words and what they could mean long before the person is done talking. If you want to get Derek into a reasonable mood, talking to him does it every time (just don’t bullshit him; that tends to irritate him a little bit. See: His conversation with Sancho when he finds out the kid left home to follow him on the hunt).
'Lightning Bolt Temper': Even Derek has a temper, and when it flares, it's loud, verbally violent...and over quickly. Usually, his bouts of temper are over sudden shocks, such as being attacked by a vampire during the day, or confronting an infected woman that he doesn't know the story on and doesn't trust. It also comes across as being one of the weapons he uses in his job to get information by intimidation or threat when being calm hasn’t worked. An example in the movie is when he's trying to figure out who's been working for the vampires, and his temper comes to the fore, even resorting to threatening his teammates with his gun in an effort to flush out the snitch. He does the same to Zoe in their first meeting after the attack on the café, by both shouting and waving his gun and being generally rough with her until he realizes she’s not to blame for the attack. Again though, once the situation has resolved--either by the other person starting to talk to him, or by the event ending, he recovers quickly, and the calm, collected demeanor is back in place. It should be noted that he doesn’t lose his temper or ‘freak out’ very often in the movie, so it’s arguably also a defensive mechanism with him when his usual way of dealing with things just won’t work.
Ideologies (and some speculation):
Derek seems to keep very simple rules of thumb as far as how he looks at the world. Utmost is the idea that he can and should be able to do things by himself. He's a loner, both because he's capable of it, and likely because it honestly costs him less emotionally in the long run. He knows full well what happens to the people in his lifestyle, and that it’s deadly and short. Since his role is to help people by being the guy that does the dirty work and takes all the risks, he wouldn’t want to drag them into it as well. He can’t really protect them and keep them safe if they’re in the thick of the fight with him.
Another factor into this mindset is the nature of his home world, especially in relation to his job. Most people don't actually believe vampires exist, unless they're clergy, government types who have access to that information...or recent victims of vampires. Everyone else discounts it, and the same people in control who know about it encourage that discounting, which makes for difficult relations with the normal, 'everyday world'. Worse yet, those people in the know are often out for themselves. Rival hunter groups will fight and steal from each other, government and law enforcement contractors will often try to jail or kill, rather than pay, the hunters they hire once the job is done, and of course, there's the vampires themselves to deal with. Derek's world is defined by fear, death, and the general untrustworthiness of his fellow human beings-a feeling that is only amplified when you add in the knowledge that even your most trusted teammate can become your worst enemy if they become infected. 'Trust No One' is a good rule of thumb, and Derek often employs it, although he will make exceptions for people who prove themselves to be reliable, capable, and trustworthy (IE: Zoe, Rodrigo and Sancho).
Despite these factors, Derek still has a very strong moral sense of 'right', 'wrong' and 'needs to be done'. He doesn't steal--the few times he needs things, he pays for them. He takes responsibility for his team-mates' well-being, including refusing to leave one of them in the hands of the vampires once he's been voluntarily captured. And even when it becomes obvious that the contract he was supposedly hired for is fake, Derek goes right ahead and finishes the job anyway. To him, it doesn't matter--'Someone has to go after her' (meaning the master vampire in the movie that started the whole mess). He's more interested in stopping the vampires and making sure everyone else is safe than he is in getting paid.
He has a strong sense of responsibility for other people. From turning around and retracing a day’s worth of travel to check on the monastery that Zoe saw getting massacred in her vision, to voluntarily infecting himself with the vampire virus just to be able to get close enough to the vampire nest to rescue a team-mate, Derek tends to take on the worst and most likely to kill tasks himself. He uses himself as bait, chasing the others off to a safe distance, and even gives them all a chance to run for it when it seems that the vampires might win after all--meanwhile making it clear that he would stay behind and handle it by himself, no questions asked, no blame for those who want to stay safe and alive. It's obvious that even though he should give far less of a shit about other people than he does, he cares more--putting their safety and well-being far above his own.
Reason for playing: I’ve been playing this character since March 2005 in various games and memes, but only rarely have I played him in an AU situation. I’d like to stretch what I think I know about him and how he would act in a completely new setting that isn’t necessarily hampered by his canon background and the results of the things he went through in the movie and the consequences he’d have to pay as a result. I also really love the setting and want to have a chance to play in it.
III. ARK HISTORY
Name: His given name is Derek Anthony. He usually goes by ‘Hunter’, though, and most people don’t know his actual name.
Age/Appearance: Same as canon, except that there are also the added traits of eyes that glow electric blue in the dark, and slightly pointed eyeteeth thanks to influences from the Thaumic zone.
History: Derek was born into a somewhat complicated life: The child of a Capitol soldier sent to infiltrate the Davaere clan that was known to roam the chaotic landscape that bordered the Thaumic zone, and one of that clan’s best hunters, he’s had to straddle two worlds since the day of his birth-worlds that are often at conflict, even as they are forced to work together to keep whatever the Zone decides to throw out at the rest of the Ark under control. The initial mission that caused his parents to meet was due to government fears that the Davaere clan themselves were planning on rising up against the Capitol; the result of superstitious villagers sending such stories to the city after witnessing the odd abilities (and the magically caused inflictions) that many of the clan exhibited. Not to mention their unnerving habit of showing up wherever an ‘infestation’ of Zone creatures occurred, which could only point towards some sort of connection, and probably one that wasn’t good for mankind at large.
This, of course, proved to be only part of the truth. The whole of it was that the Davaere clan were the descendants of a small village that had been located on the outskirts of the Zone when it was created-and although they managed to escape the destruction of that area, it left lasting scars on the surviving population-ones that proved to breed true through each successive generation since that fateful event. As time passed, the clan itself became a nomadic culture, learning to deal with both the enhancements that made them ‘more’ than human, and the deadly price that would be paid should they give in to the hunger that came with it. The culture also developed into a ‘hunter’ clan-one that was determined to both keep anything else monstrous from escaping the zone, and protecting the nearest villages that would become victims of said monsters should the clan fail in keeping things contained.
By the time Derek’s father had made the journey to win his way into the clan to spy, this way of life had been set through several lifetimes. Secretive, powerful, operating usually at night when most people cowered in their beds, and often rendering aid to beset villages without their request, and often knowledge, the Davaere were known as the odd ‘boogeymen’ of the plains-just as often blamed for Zone caused mishaps as thanked. Although the soldier-Giovanni Cascian -had no trouble being picked up by the clan (read: rescued from a Zone monster attack), it took several months for him to earn the trust of the elders…as well as the love of Derek’s mother. By that time, he had all the time to realize the true purpose of the clan, as well as knowing that there was a good chance the Capitol wouldn’t allow such a maverick group to operate on their own-not when they had such extensive knowledge of what could come out of the Zone, and not when so many of the clan possessed abilities that most humans did not. Abilities, frighteningly enough, that often seemed to mimic those of the super soldiers both sides had tried to create in the war 200 years ago.
Giovanni thus found himself in a new role; no longer an infiltrator, but a liaison, with a young, pregnant wife to protect…and a clan that he had made uncomfortable promises to. Through long and complicated negotiations, the Davaere as a whole were pressed into service to the Capitol-and although the official terms state that they are still an autonomous nation, and have been left to continue on in their traditions and roles as they see fit, in reality, they have a pretty new leash that is held tightly by the Capitol. The elders understand that a misstep can cost the clan its existence. It’s an unspoken, rankling conclusion that is never spoken about, but hangs over the head of the clan like a thinly strung guillotine.
This of course affected what would have been an otherwise uncomplicated, if dangerous, life for Derek. As the son of the two ‘diplomats’ in this situation, he spent a lot of his youth not only with his clan learning the trade, but also in the Capitol, taking advantage of the education system when he was there, and likewise getting quite an eyeful of life there and how the society worked. As a result, he has a much wider education and understanding of ‘world’ politics in general, even though he rarely shows it.
When he came of age, he was given the choice of taking his father’s place, or becoming one of the clan’s hunters. Although he appreciated the luxuries Capitol life could offer, he couldn’t stomach what he could see of the political undercurrent, and chose to become a hunter instead. He has never regretted the choice, preferring the freedom of lands and doing good for a number of people rather than becoming a ‘proxy’ for the Capitol, which he sees as biased and close-minded-definitely a nasty mix for the future of the people under that government. Still, many of his jobs are assigned directly by the government, and as his father’s son, he can’t refuse them, or it would risk something of an upheaval between them and his clan. Something he is likewise mindful of. It gives him no small amount of resentment, but he won’t take it out on the people he’s sent to protect-he’s well aware they have nothing to do with how the government operates; they’re just the people who need his help at that moment, and it doesn’t matter who sent him in to do the job.
To protect his father from rivals in the Capitol, and to avoid giving dissenters either there or within the clan an easy target, he has long since dropped using his given name and goes only by his job designation of ‘Hunter’…which is usually how the Capitol lackeys address him anyway. He also rarely visits either of his parents, although he still loves and cares for both deeply. He figures it is better if he keep his distance; if his parents aren’t constantly tied to him, he can’t be used as a way to control them. And if he doesn’t show any interest in his parents, the government is less likely to use them as a tool to control him. For this same reason, he doesn’t tend to nurture close friendships or partnerships. He’d rather not drag anyone into the mess of responsibilities and expectations his life entails…not to mention the dangerous and often fatal nature of his job.
At the time of his flat line vision, Derek, or rather, Hunter, will have been in his chosen field for close to fifteen years, and is quite accomplished at it. He has also started branching out to take jobs that are not necessarily approved of by the Capitol; as he sees it, it’s his duty to protect anyone who needs it, and the rules be damned. He could be headed for a problem because of that, with ‘conflict of interest’ as the reason.
Residence/Job: Derek has a small flat in both main cities, and probably a few camping spots out in the wilds due to the nature of his job-it’s extremely nomadic, but he still appreciates having a solid ‘home’ that he doesn’t necessarily have to travel far to get to. By the same token, neither of his apartments (nor the camps in between) are likely to have much more than a few pieces of furniture and enough dishes and food in the cabinets to make a decent meal or two. They’d be treated more like flop houses than fine residences.
Job wise, he’s still technically a ‘vampire’ hunter, only now his prey is the Thaumic monstrosities that break free into populated zones. His unique skills and abilities make him prime for the job. Although he technically works for the cities’ governments as a mercenary type, and is thus paid in credits, he will take odd jobs from individuals as well (and actually prefers them), usually asking for payment in the form of food or other services (clothing repair, toiletries, a nice meal, time in a ‘real’ bath tub or bed, etc.).
Skills/Powers: Skills: Hunter has all the tracking, weapon, and fighting skills of his canon counterpart, which includes the ability to use several different kinds of swords, crossbows, pole-arms, and both handguns and shotguns/rifles. Hand-to-hand wise, he has a smattering of different fighting styles, many of which focus on keeping him out of harm’s way and using his enemies’ bodies, strength, and balance against them-an important skill when dealing with creatures that are far larger and stronger than him. He also has a variety of survival skills-hunting, fishing, how to live off the land, and so forth.
Power wise, his ‘clan’ was one of the groups that stayed a little too close to the Thaumic Zone for a little too long after the war that leveled it. As a result, they, and he, have a host of now genetically transferred abilities that would be recognizable as traits relating to the old Earth myth of the ‘Dhampire’. This would include extreme physical toughness, heightened senses, sensitivity to the presence of other entities produced by the Thaumic Zone, strength that’s above that of normal humans, and some resistance to disease and poisons as well as some regenerative abilities. Again-perfect for the lifestyle that Hunter and his clan lives, but it does mark them as ‘other’ and can cause them no small amount of trouble when in the cities or dealing with some of the more superstitious villages and towns on the fringes of the ‘civilized’ areas. There is also a downside in that they can give into a type of bloodlust brought on by extreme violence or stress-if they give in to it, not only do they fall prey to a vampiric need to feed off of blood, but their bodies will mutate into Thaumic creatures as well. This, of course, only adds to the distrust they can engender from other inhabitants of the Ark, or at least those inhabitants that know of this weakness.
One note on the regen and healing processes-Derek will not be so much immune to damage as it is the fact that his body has a far quicker (and not very nice) response to dealing with the damage. Poisons and sickness are often ‘sweated’ out at a fast rate-often leaving behind a slimy, filmy sweat on the skin that tends to stink unpleasantly and usually requires a bath. Likewise, imbibed toxins are usually regurgitated almost immediately upon ingestion. Regen is a little less visually gross-operating like most current Hollywood versions are depicted as being -- but the cost is in that his body will burn healthy muscle and tissue to replace the damage, leaving Derek weak, starving, and usually at least a few pounds lighter-the amount dependent on how much damage he took. Recovery comes in the form of sleep for several hours, iron rich foods, and near-raw read meat. Again, not pretty, but it could be worse.
Resources:Hunter does not spend much of what the government gives him to perform his chosen job, so much of it is stored, ready for use at some future date, and he has a decent amount set aside-certainly enough that he could keep up with some of the more ‘affluent’ residents in the Capitol. However, unless he needs to, say, purchase a new outfit to look good for a client, or replace equipment, he reserves it mostly for rent for his two city apartments. Otherwise, he tends to live off of what he can find in his journeys between places, and keeps most of his equipment and belongings with him.
What he keeps with him are as follows: Two changes of clothes (four of underwear), bedroll, frying pan, eating utensils, and a bowl, fire-making kit (flint/stone, etc.), one katana-like sword (it’s canon), a shorter hunting knife kept hidden in one boot, the equivalent of a 9mm and a shotgun and a few extra clips/bullet belts for them, various ‘charms’ (think spells written on scrolls that anyone can use) to help with capturing creatures, 200 yards worth of high quality climbing rope and rigging, small cleaning kits for both guns and blades, a compass, two canteens, a bar of hard soap, a couple of apples and some jerky (he replaces these as they are eaten), simple fishing rigging (line, a few hooks, a couple of homemade lures), first aid kit, and a high quality VR rig to use to jack into the system where ever he is located.
All of this is carried either on him, or in the two saddlebags he has for his horse, which is a high quality clockwork construct made by one of the finer inventors in the Capitol (and one of the few ‘major’ purchases he’s made in his lifetime). The horse itself is built to withstand both physical and magical damage and programmed to respond only to Hunter, or a rider designated by Hunter as ‘permissible’.
IV. SAMPLE
Arrival:
He woke up to heat on his back, wind scouring his hands and left cheek, and sand in his mouth. With a slight wheeze, he sputtered the grains out, spitting and rolling the grit on his tongue to remove it without swallowing any. He kept his eyes closed as he did this, doing his best to survey his situation without risking getting blinded by whatever might be blowing around. He was disoriented and sore, unsure for a moment as to who he was, and what he was doing here flat on the ground and spread eagled out in what he assumed was the desert, but he knew better than to make any sudden moves, or rash decisions. His own training and instincts were enough to hold him still for those few more precious seconds while his brain caught up with him and he’d gotten at least a slight idea of what was going on.
After a moment, he determined that although the wind was enough to be blowing sand, it wasn’t enough to be a sandstorm or even harsh enough to make it hard to see. He also determined that with the heat beating down on his back, it was probably mid-day…and definitely not the time to be basking under the ‘sun’. He needed to get up and get into some shade, or he’d have to add sunburn and dehydration to the list of ‘things that are way wrong right now’. This sudden urgency was compounded by the unnerving sound of something heavy taking slow, clopping steps towards him.
Before he could react to this new input, though, he felt the warm exhalation of machine exhaust on his cheek, and then the cold, metallic, but oddly supple touch of something nuzzling him on that same cheek. With a grunt, Hunter opened his eyes, and was greeted with the blurry vision of his horse-yes, his horse, trying to wake him up. He groaned as the realization helped to trigger the rest of his thoughts into action, and he gently pushed the horse away before rolling over on his back. As he did so, he saw the metallic gleam of the VR leads he’d been hooked into right before he’d passed out. They’d been pulled out of their socket at the back of his neck-the sudden interruption and violent removal when he fell was the likely cause of his current headache. He followed their path back to the terminal he’d been using to call in his most recent kill for verification. On that side, they were still attached, but spitting sparks, and the contact leads had carbonized from the brief flare of fire that had ignited when the connection had gone somehow bad.
Hunter reached up to cover his eyes, trying to dig into his somewhat reluctant memory. What had happened? He’d been calling Brody…no, wait, that wasn’t right. Brody wasn’t the name of his handler at all.
He’d been asking about the vampires’ ability to see into his head, that ‘What if they were in his head’-no. That wasn’t right either. And what the hell were vampires, other than a bad piece of old fiction?
He grimaced, feeling a little frustrated at himself. Why was he so scrambled? All he’d been doing was reporting his kill (to Brody) and asking for new coordinates for the next assignment (all of the guys Brody sent him to recruit had been killed before he got there, except the last one, which had been kidnapped by the vamp--)
No. Just. Stop that. That had nothing to do with reality, even though it kept trying to wedge itself into his conscious thought as the absolute truth. Obviously, he’d hooked up to a bad terminal, and it had fried itself while he was still connected, giving him a bad head trip in the process. There were no vampires, no Brody, no place called Serena, Mexico, and no team members that he worked with and had come close to calling good friends.
Hunter groaned, reaching up to use his horses halter to drag himself to his feet. He spared some of the precious water in his canteen to rinse the sand from his face and scrub skin, leaning against the patient mount while he did so. He needed time to sort this out, just as he needed to get a move on-out of this sun, and on to his next destination. He briefly noted that his chest hurt-as if someone had hit him full on with a tree trunk there. He reached up to lay the palm of his hand on the spot, taking a few deep breaths. He’d need to sleep, and he’d probably need to eat, too. Whatever had happened had taken a toll on him.
He’d have to find out what it was, and soon. If it was a bad terminal, then so be it, and he’d be more careful about what he hooked into in the future.
If not, then he’d have to dig-to see if this had happened before, to other people, and why. It was too bizarre, left too many questions, and had left enough of an impression to give him the feeling that the false memories he now had banging around in his head were the real ones, and the ones of his life here, from childhood to now, were patently false.
It was unsettling. Wrong. And he wanted to know why it had happened.
But for now, it was simply time to move. Retrieving the ruined leads from the terminal, Hunter tucked them into a pocket and then mounted his horse, pulling it around to head for the Capitol, and possibly answers.
This entry was originally posted at http://derek-bliss.dreamwidth.org/344953.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Name (or internet handle): Silverthorne
Age: 43
Contact: PM through the gaming journal
derek_bliss
Current characters in Road of 'Trode: N/A
II: CHARACTER INFO
Name: Derek Bliss
Dreamwidth Username:
derek_bliss
Fandom: Vampires: Los Muertos
Age/Appearance: Approx. in his mid-thirties (I usually list him as being 36-the actor was 42 at time of shooting). He stands at 5”.9’ (5”.10’ in his boots), is slight-to-average in body type, and highly muscular with no body fat whatsoever. He tends to hold himself in a way that makes him look both larger and taller than he is, so it can be a surprise for people when they get up close and personal with him when they realize how ‘small’ he actually is. With bright blue eyes and blond hair with a touch of brown (it’s been called ‘caramel’ blond in interviews about the actor/rocker in the past-Ref; Rolling Stone magazine, Issue 545 on 02/09/89), he is also chronically tan and has teeth that sometimes seem almost freakishly white. He keeps his hair layered, neat, and short, the ends barely reach collar length in the back.
In canon, he prefers jeans, cowboy boots, and either t-shirts or short sleeve oxford type shirts. He also switches between a simple dark brown ‘suede’ jacket and a beige leather jacket that contains many hidden pockets for the tools of his trade. He will likely dress in a style on the Ark that echoes those preferences, if not in the exact same clothing if it is available.
Wiki Links:
Wiki.
Wiki for the ‘prequel’ to the movie.
Wiki for the original book both movies are based off of.
YouTube run of the movie.
Canon Point: Day after the end of the movie
Personality: General Personality: Overall, Derek comes across as quiet, easy-going and capable. Although shoved into the leadership role in the movie, he tends to run things by committee rather than by laying down the law and expecting others to follow him unquestioningly. It could be argued that he's a bit of a push over because of this--there are several times in the movie where he allows his own opinion and personal judgment to be over-ruled by the others, especially if they can give him a good reason for their own take on things (or he apparently comes to the internal conclusion that ‘now’ is not the time to push the other person). However, when it gets down to the wire and it’s become a do-or-die situation, he will make his own decisions independent of group consensus, and there is no talking him out of it at that point. You either go along with it, or he stonewalls you.
Personality Specs:
'The Laconic Loner': In the movie, Derek has a habit of hanging back and letting things happen with other people as they will. He uses words sparingly for the most part, and seems to measure his responses to people he doesn’t know well. There are times when he can come across as unfriendly or distant--he doesn't smile much unless he knows you or is comfortable with his situation, and his first instinct with most people is to drive them away or depart from them once business has been completed or he thinks that whatever he’s about to get into could be deadly for the people who come with him. Although he doesn’t come across as not liking people (there are several instances of him being open and friendly with different folks throughout the movie), he definitely comes across as having the ‘just passing through’ attitude.
'Talk To Me': This is very much a trademark tagline of Derek's; he says it several times in the movie to different people, usually when what he knows about the situation has been shaken and he needs more information to get it making sense again. When it's time for that information, he wants it, and wants it badly. He doesn't take no for an answer, and can actually get pretty damned rude about it if answers are not immediately forth-coming. By the same token, once people start talking, he starts listening, and usually calms down and starts to mull on the other person's words and what they could mean long before the person is done talking. If you want to get Derek into a reasonable mood, talking to him does it every time (just don’t bullshit him; that tends to irritate him a little bit. See: His conversation with Sancho when he finds out the kid left home to follow him on the hunt).
'Lightning Bolt Temper': Even Derek has a temper, and when it flares, it's loud, verbally violent...and over quickly. Usually, his bouts of temper are over sudden shocks, such as being attacked by a vampire during the day, or confronting an infected woman that he doesn't know the story on and doesn't trust. It also comes across as being one of the weapons he uses in his job to get information by intimidation or threat when being calm hasn’t worked. An example in the movie is when he's trying to figure out who's been working for the vampires, and his temper comes to the fore, even resorting to threatening his teammates with his gun in an effort to flush out the snitch. He does the same to Zoe in their first meeting after the attack on the café, by both shouting and waving his gun and being generally rough with her until he realizes she’s not to blame for the attack. Again though, once the situation has resolved--either by the other person starting to talk to him, or by the event ending, he recovers quickly, and the calm, collected demeanor is back in place. It should be noted that he doesn’t lose his temper or ‘freak out’ very often in the movie, so it’s arguably also a defensive mechanism with him when his usual way of dealing with things just won’t work.
Ideologies (and some speculation):
Derek seems to keep very simple rules of thumb as far as how he looks at the world. Utmost is the idea that he can and should be able to do things by himself. He's a loner, both because he's capable of it, and likely because it honestly costs him less emotionally in the long run. He knows full well what happens to the people in his lifestyle, and that it’s deadly and short. Since his role is to help people by being the guy that does the dirty work and takes all the risks, he wouldn’t want to drag them into it as well. He can’t really protect them and keep them safe if they’re in the thick of the fight with him.
Another factor into this mindset is the nature of his home world, especially in relation to his job. Most people don't actually believe vampires exist, unless they're clergy, government types who have access to that information...or recent victims of vampires. Everyone else discounts it, and the same people in control who know about it encourage that discounting, which makes for difficult relations with the normal, 'everyday world'. Worse yet, those people in the know are often out for themselves. Rival hunter groups will fight and steal from each other, government and law enforcement contractors will often try to jail or kill, rather than pay, the hunters they hire once the job is done, and of course, there's the vampires themselves to deal with. Derek's world is defined by fear, death, and the general untrustworthiness of his fellow human beings-a feeling that is only amplified when you add in the knowledge that even your most trusted teammate can become your worst enemy if they become infected. 'Trust No One' is a good rule of thumb, and Derek often employs it, although he will make exceptions for people who prove themselves to be reliable, capable, and trustworthy (IE: Zoe, Rodrigo and Sancho).
Despite these factors, Derek still has a very strong moral sense of 'right', 'wrong' and 'needs to be done'. He doesn't steal--the few times he needs things, he pays for them. He takes responsibility for his team-mates' well-being, including refusing to leave one of them in the hands of the vampires once he's been voluntarily captured. And even when it becomes obvious that the contract he was supposedly hired for is fake, Derek goes right ahead and finishes the job anyway. To him, it doesn't matter--'Someone has to go after her' (meaning the master vampire in the movie that started the whole mess). He's more interested in stopping the vampires and making sure everyone else is safe than he is in getting paid.
He has a strong sense of responsibility for other people. From turning around and retracing a day’s worth of travel to check on the monastery that Zoe saw getting massacred in her vision, to voluntarily infecting himself with the vampire virus just to be able to get close enough to the vampire nest to rescue a team-mate, Derek tends to take on the worst and most likely to kill tasks himself. He uses himself as bait, chasing the others off to a safe distance, and even gives them all a chance to run for it when it seems that the vampires might win after all--meanwhile making it clear that he would stay behind and handle it by himself, no questions asked, no blame for those who want to stay safe and alive. It's obvious that even though he should give far less of a shit about other people than he does, he cares more--putting their safety and well-being far above his own.
Reason for playing: I’ve been playing this character since March 2005 in various games and memes, but only rarely have I played him in an AU situation. I’d like to stretch what I think I know about him and how he would act in a completely new setting that isn’t necessarily hampered by his canon background and the results of the things he went through in the movie and the consequences he’d have to pay as a result. I also really love the setting and want to have a chance to play in it.
III. ARK HISTORY
Name: His given name is Derek Anthony. He usually goes by ‘Hunter’, though, and most people don’t know his actual name.
Age/Appearance: Same as canon, except that there are also the added traits of eyes that glow electric blue in the dark, and slightly pointed eyeteeth thanks to influences from the Thaumic zone.
History: Derek was born into a somewhat complicated life: The child of a Capitol soldier sent to infiltrate the Davaere clan that was known to roam the chaotic landscape that bordered the Thaumic zone, and one of that clan’s best hunters, he’s had to straddle two worlds since the day of his birth-worlds that are often at conflict, even as they are forced to work together to keep whatever the Zone decides to throw out at the rest of the Ark under control. The initial mission that caused his parents to meet was due to government fears that the Davaere clan themselves were planning on rising up against the Capitol; the result of superstitious villagers sending such stories to the city after witnessing the odd abilities (and the magically caused inflictions) that many of the clan exhibited. Not to mention their unnerving habit of showing up wherever an ‘infestation’ of Zone creatures occurred, which could only point towards some sort of connection, and probably one that wasn’t good for mankind at large.
This, of course, proved to be only part of the truth. The whole of it was that the Davaere clan were the descendants of a small village that had been located on the outskirts of the Zone when it was created-and although they managed to escape the destruction of that area, it left lasting scars on the surviving population-ones that proved to breed true through each successive generation since that fateful event. As time passed, the clan itself became a nomadic culture, learning to deal with both the enhancements that made them ‘more’ than human, and the deadly price that would be paid should they give in to the hunger that came with it. The culture also developed into a ‘hunter’ clan-one that was determined to both keep anything else monstrous from escaping the zone, and protecting the nearest villages that would become victims of said monsters should the clan fail in keeping things contained.
By the time Derek’s father had made the journey to win his way into the clan to spy, this way of life had been set through several lifetimes. Secretive, powerful, operating usually at night when most people cowered in their beds, and often rendering aid to beset villages without their request, and often knowledge, the Davaere were known as the odd ‘boogeymen’ of the plains-just as often blamed for Zone caused mishaps as thanked. Although the soldier-Giovanni Cascian -had no trouble being picked up by the clan (read: rescued from a Zone monster attack), it took several months for him to earn the trust of the elders…as well as the love of Derek’s mother. By that time, he had all the time to realize the true purpose of the clan, as well as knowing that there was a good chance the Capitol wouldn’t allow such a maverick group to operate on their own-not when they had such extensive knowledge of what could come out of the Zone, and not when so many of the clan possessed abilities that most humans did not. Abilities, frighteningly enough, that often seemed to mimic those of the super soldiers both sides had tried to create in the war 200 years ago.
Giovanni thus found himself in a new role; no longer an infiltrator, but a liaison, with a young, pregnant wife to protect…and a clan that he had made uncomfortable promises to. Through long and complicated negotiations, the Davaere as a whole were pressed into service to the Capitol-and although the official terms state that they are still an autonomous nation, and have been left to continue on in their traditions and roles as they see fit, in reality, they have a pretty new leash that is held tightly by the Capitol. The elders understand that a misstep can cost the clan its existence. It’s an unspoken, rankling conclusion that is never spoken about, but hangs over the head of the clan like a thinly strung guillotine.
This of course affected what would have been an otherwise uncomplicated, if dangerous, life for Derek. As the son of the two ‘diplomats’ in this situation, he spent a lot of his youth not only with his clan learning the trade, but also in the Capitol, taking advantage of the education system when he was there, and likewise getting quite an eyeful of life there and how the society worked. As a result, he has a much wider education and understanding of ‘world’ politics in general, even though he rarely shows it.
When he came of age, he was given the choice of taking his father’s place, or becoming one of the clan’s hunters. Although he appreciated the luxuries Capitol life could offer, he couldn’t stomach what he could see of the political undercurrent, and chose to become a hunter instead. He has never regretted the choice, preferring the freedom of lands and doing good for a number of people rather than becoming a ‘proxy’ for the Capitol, which he sees as biased and close-minded-definitely a nasty mix for the future of the people under that government. Still, many of his jobs are assigned directly by the government, and as his father’s son, he can’t refuse them, or it would risk something of an upheaval between them and his clan. Something he is likewise mindful of. It gives him no small amount of resentment, but he won’t take it out on the people he’s sent to protect-he’s well aware they have nothing to do with how the government operates; they’re just the people who need his help at that moment, and it doesn’t matter who sent him in to do the job.
To protect his father from rivals in the Capitol, and to avoid giving dissenters either there or within the clan an easy target, he has long since dropped using his given name and goes only by his job designation of ‘Hunter’…which is usually how the Capitol lackeys address him anyway. He also rarely visits either of his parents, although he still loves and cares for both deeply. He figures it is better if he keep his distance; if his parents aren’t constantly tied to him, he can’t be used as a way to control them. And if he doesn’t show any interest in his parents, the government is less likely to use them as a tool to control him. For this same reason, he doesn’t tend to nurture close friendships or partnerships. He’d rather not drag anyone into the mess of responsibilities and expectations his life entails…not to mention the dangerous and often fatal nature of his job.
At the time of his flat line vision, Derek, or rather, Hunter, will have been in his chosen field for close to fifteen years, and is quite accomplished at it. He has also started branching out to take jobs that are not necessarily approved of by the Capitol; as he sees it, it’s his duty to protect anyone who needs it, and the rules be damned. He could be headed for a problem because of that, with ‘conflict of interest’ as the reason.
Residence/Job: Derek has a small flat in both main cities, and probably a few camping spots out in the wilds due to the nature of his job-it’s extremely nomadic, but he still appreciates having a solid ‘home’ that he doesn’t necessarily have to travel far to get to. By the same token, neither of his apartments (nor the camps in between) are likely to have much more than a few pieces of furniture and enough dishes and food in the cabinets to make a decent meal or two. They’d be treated more like flop houses than fine residences.
Job wise, he’s still technically a ‘vampire’ hunter, only now his prey is the Thaumic monstrosities that break free into populated zones. His unique skills and abilities make him prime for the job. Although he technically works for the cities’ governments as a mercenary type, and is thus paid in credits, he will take odd jobs from individuals as well (and actually prefers them), usually asking for payment in the form of food or other services (clothing repair, toiletries, a nice meal, time in a ‘real’ bath tub or bed, etc.).
Skills/Powers: Skills: Hunter has all the tracking, weapon, and fighting skills of his canon counterpart, which includes the ability to use several different kinds of swords, crossbows, pole-arms, and both handguns and shotguns/rifles. Hand-to-hand wise, he has a smattering of different fighting styles, many of which focus on keeping him out of harm’s way and using his enemies’ bodies, strength, and balance against them-an important skill when dealing with creatures that are far larger and stronger than him. He also has a variety of survival skills-hunting, fishing, how to live off the land, and so forth.
Power wise, his ‘clan’ was one of the groups that stayed a little too close to the Thaumic Zone for a little too long after the war that leveled it. As a result, they, and he, have a host of now genetically transferred abilities that would be recognizable as traits relating to the old Earth myth of the ‘Dhampire’. This would include extreme physical toughness, heightened senses, sensitivity to the presence of other entities produced by the Thaumic Zone, strength that’s above that of normal humans, and some resistance to disease and poisons as well as some regenerative abilities. Again-perfect for the lifestyle that Hunter and his clan lives, but it does mark them as ‘other’ and can cause them no small amount of trouble when in the cities or dealing with some of the more superstitious villages and towns on the fringes of the ‘civilized’ areas. There is also a downside in that they can give into a type of bloodlust brought on by extreme violence or stress-if they give in to it, not only do they fall prey to a vampiric need to feed off of blood, but their bodies will mutate into Thaumic creatures as well. This, of course, only adds to the distrust they can engender from other inhabitants of the Ark, or at least those inhabitants that know of this weakness.
One note on the regen and healing processes-Derek will not be so much immune to damage as it is the fact that his body has a far quicker (and not very nice) response to dealing with the damage. Poisons and sickness are often ‘sweated’ out at a fast rate-often leaving behind a slimy, filmy sweat on the skin that tends to stink unpleasantly and usually requires a bath. Likewise, imbibed toxins are usually regurgitated almost immediately upon ingestion. Regen is a little less visually gross-operating like most current Hollywood versions are depicted as being -- but the cost is in that his body will burn healthy muscle and tissue to replace the damage, leaving Derek weak, starving, and usually at least a few pounds lighter-the amount dependent on how much damage he took. Recovery comes in the form of sleep for several hours, iron rich foods, and near-raw read meat. Again, not pretty, but it could be worse.
Resources:Hunter does not spend much of what the government gives him to perform his chosen job, so much of it is stored, ready for use at some future date, and he has a decent amount set aside-certainly enough that he could keep up with some of the more ‘affluent’ residents in the Capitol. However, unless he needs to, say, purchase a new outfit to look good for a client, or replace equipment, he reserves it mostly for rent for his two city apartments. Otherwise, he tends to live off of what he can find in his journeys between places, and keeps most of his equipment and belongings with him.
What he keeps with him are as follows: Two changes of clothes (four of underwear), bedroll, frying pan, eating utensils, and a bowl, fire-making kit (flint/stone, etc.), one katana-like sword (it’s canon), a shorter hunting knife kept hidden in one boot, the equivalent of a 9mm and a shotgun and a few extra clips/bullet belts for them, various ‘charms’ (think spells written on scrolls that anyone can use) to help with capturing creatures, 200 yards worth of high quality climbing rope and rigging, small cleaning kits for both guns and blades, a compass, two canteens, a bar of hard soap, a couple of apples and some jerky (he replaces these as they are eaten), simple fishing rigging (line, a few hooks, a couple of homemade lures), first aid kit, and a high quality VR rig to use to jack into the system where ever he is located.
All of this is carried either on him, or in the two saddlebags he has for his horse, which is a high quality clockwork construct made by one of the finer inventors in the Capitol (and one of the few ‘major’ purchases he’s made in his lifetime). The horse itself is built to withstand both physical and magical damage and programmed to respond only to Hunter, or a rider designated by Hunter as ‘permissible’.
IV. SAMPLE
Arrival:
He woke up to heat on his back, wind scouring his hands and left cheek, and sand in his mouth. With a slight wheeze, he sputtered the grains out, spitting and rolling the grit on his tongue to remove it without swallowing any. He kept his eyes closed as he did this, doing his best to survey his situation without risking getting blinded by whatever might be blowing around. He was disoriented and sore, unsure for a moment as to who he was, and what he was doing here flat on the ground and spread eagled out in what he assumed was the desert, but he knew better than to make any sudden moves, or rash decisions. His own training and instincts were enough to hold him still for those few more precious seconds while his brain caught up with him and he’d gotten at least a slight idea of what was going on.
After a moment, he determined that although the wind was enough to be blowing sand, it wasn’t enough to be a sandstorm or even harsh enough to make it hard to see. He also determined that with the heat beating down on his back, it was probably mid-day…and definitely not the time to be basking under the ‘sun’. He needed to get up and get into some shade, or he’d have to add sunburn and dehydration to the list of ‘things that are way wrong right now’. This sudden urgency was compounded by the unnerving sound of something heavy taking slow, clopping steps towards him.
Before he could react to this new input, though, he felt the warm exhalation of machine exhaust on his cheek, and then the cold, metallic, but oddly supple touch of something nuzzling him on that same cheek. With a grunt, Hunter opened his eyes, and was greeted with the blurry vision of his horse-yes, his horse, trying to wake him up. He groaned as the realization helped to trigger the rest of his thoughts into action, and he gently pushed the horse away before rolling over on his back. As he did so, he saw the metallic gleam of the VR leads he’d been hooked into right before he’d passed out. They’d been pulled out of their socket at the back of his neck-the sudden interruption and violent removal when he fell was the likely cause of his current headache. He followed their path back to the terminal he’d been using to call in his most recent kill for verification. On that side, they were still attached, but spitting sparks, and the contact leads had carbonized from the brief flare of fire that had ignited when the connection had gone somehow bad.
Hunter reached up to cover his eyes, trying to dig into his somewhat reluctant memory. What had happened? He’d been calling Brody…no, wait, that wasn’t right. Brody wasn’t the name of his handler at all.
He’d been asking about the vampires’ ability to see into his head, that ‘What if they were in his head’-no. That wasn’t right either. And what the hell were vampires, other than a bad piece of old fiction?
He grimaced, feeling a little frustrated at himself. Why was he so scrambled? All he’d been doing was reporting his kill (to Brody) and asking for new coordinates for the next assignment (all of the guys Brody sent him to recruit had been killed before he got there, except the last one, which had been kidnapped by the vamp--)
No. Just. Stop that. That had nothing to do with reality, even though it kept trying to wedge itself into his conscious thought as the absolute truth. Obviously, he’d hooked up to a bad terminal, and it had fried itself while he was still connected, giving him a bad head trip in the process. There were no vampires, no Brody, no place called Serena, Mexico, and no team members that he worked with and had come close to calling good friends.
Hunter groaned, reaching up to use his horses halter to drag himself to his feet. He spared some of the precious water in his canteen to rinse the sand from his face and scrub skin, leaning against the patient mount while he did so. He needed time to sort this out, just as he needed to get a move on-out of this sun, and on to his next destination. He briefly noted that his chest hurt-as if someone had hit him full on with a tree trunk there. He reached up to lay the palm of his hand on the spot, taking a few deep breaths. He’d need to sleep, and he’d probably need to eat, too. Whatever had happened had taken a toll on him.
He’d have to find out what it was, and soon. If it was a bad terminal, then so be it, and he’d be more careful about what he hooked into in the future.
If not, then he’d have to dig-to see if this had happened before, to other people, and why. It was too bizarre, left too many questions, and had left enough of an impression to give him the feeling that the false memories he now had banging around in his head were the real ones, and the ones of his life here, from childhood to now, were patently false.
It was unsettling. Wrong. And he wanted to know why it had happened.
But for now, it was simply time to move. Retrieving the ruined leads from the terminal, Hunter tucked them into a pocket and then mounted his horse, pulling it around to head for the Capitol, and possibly answers.
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