Post by Gravedigger on Aug 18, 2008 12:13:36 GMT
The Basics
Name: Robert West
Alias: Gravedigger
Age: 16
Type: Human, Occultist.
Gender: Male
Location: Jump City.
Alignment: Rogue
Height: 5’ 7”
Weight: 195lbs
Relations
Lover: None.
Crush: None.
Past Fling: None.
Current Fling: None.
Linage
Grandmother: Herbert West (Deceased.)
Grandfather: Julia West (Deceased.)
Mom: Barbara West (Divorced.)
Dad: Ian West (Divorced, Deceased.)
Siblings: Sarah West (Younger Sister. Deceased.)
Personality
Robert West is a reclusive young man, secretive and defensive when people question his motives and outright aggressive towards people who tend to get in the way of his work. If his grisly practices could be called ‘work‘…
Aside from his obsessive nature and strange profession, Robert is a fairly regular person. He is far from being a heartless villain, though his work often puts him at odd with local law enforcement and the Titans, which unfortunately forces him deeper into his lonesome lifestyle.
An intelligent man for his age, Robert’s studies delve into the realms of medical science, occultism and spiritualism. Most people find his depth of knowledge on these subjects a little… ‘Creepy’, hence why, despite his wealth of expertise on the subjects, he remains very secretive on the details. Which often leads to trouble for those in dire need of details.
Another oddity Robert’s known for, (At least known by the very, very few individuals who know him well enough.) is that he literally talks to himself quite often. Though mainly when he’s alone or thinks he‘s alone.
In the company of others he will mutter or whisper quietly at an unseen companion or his gaze will follow something of interest that only Robert seems aware of.
This deranged behaviour is a result of dangerous near death experiments conducted upon him by his father’s research. Because of these dreadful experiments an annoying curse has been placed upon him.
“I see dead people.”
He sees the spirits of the long departed and it’s effect is taking it’s toll upon his psyche. The ghosts of the dead flock to him if they are not anchored to an area, they seek any form of contact with the living world, and Robert’s senses are like a radio that cannot be switched off.
They plague him day and night, asking him questions, asking him for favours, asking him to complete their unfinished business.
And other ghosts. Shades of their former selves, have more malicious intentions at heart, enjoying terrorising Robert or attempting possession of his body should they get strong enough or Robert’s own willpower becomes lax.
Needless to say. Robert has a lot of trouble sleeping at night. And his general state of health is visible to any onlookers who dare glance in his direction.
History
Robert comes from a long line of medical practitioners within his own family circle. His father was a General Practitioner, and his Grandfather was a knowledgeable doctor and student of Biochemistry. As was his father and his father before that.
Though sixty years ago, Robert’s Grandfather, Herbert West was accused of organ thieving, body snatching, kidnapping and perhaps even connected to the murder of his lab assistant.
Herbert was ceaselessly pursued by police to Jump City General Hospital where he climbed a drainpipe to the roof of the building, which sadly, the piping came loose and Mr. West fell to his death.
Two days later, Herbert West’s body disappeared from the morgue, and remains missing to this day.
His son, Ian West, continued his strange work. But what was he working on?
Reanimation. The practice of bringing the dead back into life.
Ian’s work however didn’t fall into the vile work of bringing Frankensteinian creations to life and grave robbing.
When a body dies, resuscitation must be imminent, the longer the wait, the larger the chance the body dies.
Ian West wanted to find a practical method of extending that time, thus saving tens of thousands of lives, but his peers and the medical community would not authorise the use of any volunteers for participation. It was too risky.
Ian was furious, this could have been something that launched his career into a new level of wealth and fame. He could go down in history! And these close minded ideals and morals were the only thing that was stopping him.
And so Ian conducted his experiment’s, upon his own children. Through his own twisted imaginations and selfish desires, Ian would put Robert through the first experiment. And it was a phenomenal success.
While Robert was sleeping as a young child, his father injected a large sedative into his bloodstream, placed him upon an operating table at his old medical college and stopped his heart.
For 30 minutes. Administering the treatment during the wait, before restarting his heart.
Robert was completely unaware the incident even happened. Sleeping peacefully, dying peacefully and being resurrected quietly before plopped back into bed and waking up the following morning.
That was when he first noticed, ‘strangers’ in the house.
Robert’s father, Ian, was however ecstatic. But in his rush to access the College he never documented his results, he never recorded it, he had no way of proving it to the medical board. Or even the world that this was even possible.
He would need to do it again. This time, take measures to ensure he had proof. But Robert’s heart might not survive the procedure a second time, and if he died, Ian would be ruined.
Luckily Ian had a daughter. Sarah. Unluckily for Sarah, she did not live through the operation. And Ian was in trouble.
He went into hiding, his medical career ruined, his divorced wife couldn’t reach him, and his son had gone nuts. Talking about invisible friends and nightmarish monsters.
Ian continued his experiments, kept studying and researching. He even started looking through his insane father’s notes, mixing a foul marriage of alchemy and medical science to cheat death and resurrect the lost.
And he made Robert, the survivor, an apprentice of his works. Teaching him the basics of medicine and occult blasphemies that would turn Robert’s world upside down.
While most children would find it difficult to focus on such difficult studies, Robert was scared out his mind into compliance. He would see ghosts and horrors of scarred spirits day and night, and though he couldn’t prove it, he knew his father had something to do with his sister’s disappearance.
Robert didn’t want the same fate, and he wanted rid of the demons that haunted him. He did as he was told.
But the West’s family legacy is cursed by death itself it seems. And Ian, as he practiced with his father’s old notes, was killed in a violent experiment gone wrong.
His last dying wish was for Robert to continue the work and find a way to resurrect him. But the young apprentice has mixed feelings on the subject.
He would rather see his sister brought back from the grave than his own father.
But one question still plagues Robert.
In all his years, Robert has witnessed many strange phenomenon. He has seen the ghosts of the dead for starters. Walking around like they were still alive, appearing as how they best remembered themselves in life, young and attractive.
Others, walk around as if they were moments from death itself, memories of a particularly violent death still fresh in their minds, literally looking like the walking dead. Their once warm flesh now marred beyond recognition from disastrous accidents or brutal killings.
Other ghosts, belonging to the most vile and wicked men and women to have lived, appear as nightmares spawned from their own damaged minds.
Robert may have once… Even witnessed death itself. Though he can’t be too sure.
All he remembers of that incident, was a mind numbing chill inside his body, caused from fear, a natural revulsion to something so unnatural itself.
A shimmering, distortion of living shadows, and a horrific toothy grin which makes his eyes swell with tears and his throat becomes dry and parched whenever he dares think of it.
But still one curiosity bothers him even more.
The one thing he has never seen. Or heard. Is the voice or visage of his sister Sarah, or even his father since those fateful nights.
Whatever the reason, Robert thinks it must be a terrible one. But first he must uncover his sister’s body before he can begin.
His father hid it, and Robert is determined to find it regardless of the cost. Even if he has to resurrect his bastard of a father to do it.
The Robert of today isn’t much of a fighter, but he does have some rather unnerving abilities at his disposal.
He has been studying his father’s and grandfather’s works zealously, gifting him with a great understanding of medicine. His grandfather’s works plunged into a much more sinister world, one of the occult and ritualistic death rites used to summon and bind the spirits of the deceased.
Ghosts of the long departed heed his call and give their secrets, at a price of course… Alchemical formulae, toxins, elixirs and even necromancy. Though such a practice is as difficult to master as medical science itself.
The so called Gravedigger, as dubbed by the press and local rumour, is far from being able to raise entire legions of the dead from the ground or drain the souls of mortals from their living husks.
His activities of recent have been centred around raiding morgues and desecrating graves, attacking colleges and hospitals for supplies and chemicals, and even doing the odd illegal job for hard cash to buy anything he can’t steal.
In the mean time, Robert will continue his research, hiding deep in the catacombs of the sewers, trying to recreate his once lost family.
Pictures
Robert looks like an average kid his age, with only a few slight differences.
His brown eyes are darker and his expression looks as though he hasn’t seen an ounce of sleep in weeks. His skin is pale, though not grossly so, but spending most of his time under the cover of darkness has taken it’s toll upon his complexion.
His hair looks as though he cut’s it himself. And he does… Rarely venturing above, he grooms himself half heartedly, and much of his handiwork leaves his hair an uneven, patchy and unfinished mess.
He rarely showers, burying himself in his work and studies, causing an odour of either rot or sterile chemicals to surround his body.
On his face he sometimes wears his father’s old glasses, finding that he needs them these days to read text at a distance, the spectacles work well enough, though they tend to sting his eyes after a long while. Causing headaches and something else to be annoyed with.
If encountered within his own domain, Robert can always be seen dressed in a soiled dark green t-shirt and murky blue jeans. The only thing that stands out is the dingy, blood spattered lab coat formerly worn by his father.
However, once he ventures from his lair in the sewers, Robert dons a long brown coat and duster hat, with either a shovel or a crowbar in hand, and shambolic rotting lab assistant’s en tow.
Templates:
By Others:
Powers and Abilities
Medical Expertise:
While he can’t conduct brain surgery, Robert is skilled enough to perform minor operations and fix small medical problems. So long as he has his library of text books and guides, he can act as a ‘discount surgeon’ for those desperate enough to seek him out.
Abomination:
An abomination is a cadaver resurrected in some foul frankensteinian procedure that stitches numerous body parts, organs and alchemical compounds together to create a gibbering, drooling horror completely driven on instinct and raw animalistic desire rather than the memories that were once contained within it’s half destroyed brain.
Abominations rarely serve any other purpose than guard dogs, chained to entrances of lairs or kept in traps for inquisitive troublemakers to find.
But some show enough promise to be given simple tasks, such as ’fetch’ or ’carry’, acting as poor but loyal lab assistants for a necrogogue student.
An Abomination, while not the best of fighters, are very resistant to damage. They never tire, they never rest and they only feed on whatever they kill, not that they even need to feed.
These pathetic and monstrous creatures are horrific to encounter aside from being dangerous.
They are stitched and melded together from multiple corpses, and common sights to behold are multiple arms, legs protruding from their ribs, faces twitching on shoulders and foul smelling organs dangling like fetid grapes drag behind them as they shuffle and stumble forward to their next meal.
It should be known however, that Abominations are not always obedient little pets. Some are too wild and insane to be kept alive, and must be destroyed. But some… Are so dangerous that they make for a good weapon if set loose upon the enemy.
Afterall. All they need is a little push in the right direction, and they will relentlessly chase and kill the first thing they see as an edible meal.
Ghost Whisper:
Robert hears and sees ghosts. He can’t help it. And he has no control over it.
Thus, Robert cannot switch this ability off, and it can be detrimental to his wellbeing if he is arguing with spirits and his attention is diverted from the task at hand, or an enemy sneaking up behind him.
After living with this misfortunate gift most of his life, Robert is very rarely spooked by anything anymore, but sometimes they do get the drop on him, and give him an unexpected fright during tense situations.
Aside from these mishaps. Robert can barter with these spirits for favours and assistance.
He can glean knowledge long forgotten, have invisible spies and scouts for his endeavours and can even have some powerful attackers against any psychic or magical opponents.
For a ghost, while not having much of a physical presence, can inflict severe mental trauma and even possess the weak willed if they are strong enough.
Children and sleeping or unconscious people make excellent candidates for ghostly possession, but if that isn’t available, they can cause frightful visions of death and the afterlife, not to mention creep people out.
Because when ghosts move through an area, corpses whisper, televisions flicker and revert to black and white. Radios hiss with static and faint voices can be heard in the background.
Shadows seem longer, moving and crawling at the corner of the eyes, artificial light sources flicker and die, objects move from their original resting place, and footsteps are heard when not a presence can be felt.
Forensic Gaze:
By looking at a body, so long as even a piece of it remains intact. Robert can determine the cause of death. He can’t tell who killed the person, but he can determine if the cause of death was made to be misleading to known forensic science. Such as the use of rare poisons, forced blood clotting and other exotic methods of murder made to look like accidents.
Use of this power can also determine how long a corpse has underwent decomposition, even if embalming or preservation methods have been used to fight back decay.
Alchemical and Necromantic expertise:
In time, Robert hopes he can resurrect the bodies of his broken family. By all accounts, he believes he can do it, he just lacks the bodies needed.
However, the procedure does have a chance to horribly fail. And should not be taken lightly.
Should anyone have the idea, that this grave robber can reunite them with their loved ones, might not get all that they asked for.
Suppress Aura:
Living creatures carry an aura, one that can be read by those mystically attuned to seeking them out.
Empaths and spiritualists or even some types of horrific spirits use these auras to find people of interest, or even… prey.
The dead do not have aura’s. At least not anymore.
A Necrogogue learns first and foremost to suppress their own aura, hiding it away so that they can remain hidden from those that might persecute their work.
By hiding their aura, the human can appear as dead to those he meets, while those searching for him will find nothing at all. Additionally, by suppression of their own aura, it can be more difficult for empaths to detect lies and falsehoods spoken, making it hard to tell if the necrogogue is nervous while speaking or has devious intentions.
Roleplay Example
“It’s Alive! It’s ALIVE!!!” Echoed a maniacal voice from deep within a small sewage maintenance chamber.
And lazily slumped in a tatty old armchair was Robert, watching a hazy black and white movie of Frankenstein’s Monster on a small portable television set.
The reception so far down, was terrible, you’d either get crappy audio or crappy picture quality, but at least it was something. He couldn’t complain.
Well he could complain… He often complained about his squalid living conditions to those that would listen. The only people down here that would listen.
The dead.
But today they were quiet. An unusual thing, but it brought enough peace for Robert, the ‘Gravedigger’, to kick back and relax.
Not that he was paying much attention to the old Hammer Horror movie, he couldn’t help but start to mock it initially, and gradually lost interest, resigning himself to staring at the tiny screen. Allowing his eyes to slowly close and bring sweet slumber to aching bones and a drained mind.
Sleep was a luxury, it happened when it happened. He couldn’t reserve time for it, make a schedule and mark a date in his year planner for the ‘special occasion’ to come. He would either get a rare moment to himself for a few minutes to a few hours, or he would get so exhausted he would collapse into a nearby chair or pass out while reading.
Good God, did he miss the days many, many years ago when he took it for granted. When he wanted to stay awake and play with action figures all night long.
If Robert knew what was in store for him years later, he would have went into perpetual hibernation up until this point. Hoarding as much rest as his body could take before such a long haul was due.
As his eyes closed he could hear a distant shrill howling that made him listlessly look to his left, staring at the filthy stone wall.
One of them was close. Perhaps seeking him out? Perhaps just lost or in their own state of flux. A repetitive cycle it had to endure again and again until it’s mind was put to rest.
Could have even be the wind…
Robert laughed at the thought. Reminiscing about how his father used to say that very same comment in such a arrogant and condescending tone.
“Don’t worry son. It’s just the wind.”
”But daddy, the wind doesn’t say I’ll eat your f***king soul, does it?” A young Robert would reply innocently, unaware of the impact the words had or their meaning.
Ah those were the days…
In his sleepy delirium Robert chuckled happily at the old memory. Most of the things that scared him back then, he couldn’t help but laugh about nowadays.
And whatever this howling annoyance was in the sewers, it could wait. Because whatever the hell it was would enter to find Robert sleeping, and not a d**n thing would wake him for at least another six hours.
Good night.
About Yourself
Name: Rab
Gender: Male
RP Experience: (How long have you been RPing?)
Activity: Usually daily.
Horror enthusiasts will note the use of Herbert West from H.P. Lovecraft’s short story, the Re-Animator. Powers and abilities were also stole- *ahem, I mean borrowed from WoD’s Mage the Awakening roleplay supplement.
Consider him a tribute to one of my most favourite authors of all time and a tribute to one of my favourite games of all time.
Lawyers that wish to sue, will have to catch me first.
And one last thing to say before I go.
“Watermelon.”
Yum.