application for noctiumrp.

[whip_poor_will]

« PLAYER INFORMATION »

Name: Revu.
Are you over 18?: Yes.
Contact: Discord (revuvuzela#6927), Purk (whippoorwill), PM.
Other characters, if any: Rey (circumitus).


« CHARACTER INFORMATION »

Character: Ravine.
Canon: Original from a currently unpublished series (Days be Done) + a published novella/audiobook (Departed: A Dead Man Does Tell Tales).
Canon point: Book 1 (Culling the Crows), Chapter 1: Stuck in the Middle.
OU or AU?: OU.
Age: 3,819 (died in her early 30s).
Species: Psychopomp.


« RECORD »


Disposition: (788 words)

● Comforting: The ideology behind the creation of the reapers as they are was for sympathetic souls being the ones chosen to guide the dead. Some Psychopomps have their own way of offering “sympathy” to their temporary charges, but Ravine fell into the natural role of consoling the recently deceased. Her goal was always to avoid spirits lingering in the spectral world for too long, lest they become corrupted into shades that take the form of malevolent or tormented spirits.

While largely successful, Ravine is not without her past mistakes, and what few of her charges that had become shades weigh on her conscience greatly. Though she is sometimes forgetful of the past (trying to remember over three thousand years’ worth of history is a lot even for an immortal death spirit), the sense of guilt and failure will always follow her even if she can’t remember why.

● Liar: In order to properly send the dead, it’s sometimes necessary to tell them what they want to hear. Because of this, Ravine has become a casual liar, often making up stories about an afterlife she has never seen. This ignorance has come to bite her back a few times, as she is not always the most convincing actor.

● Passive Pacifist: Psychopomps cannot kill, period. Doing so may risk becoming a corrupted demon called a “shedim” (the Psychopomp version of shades). Ravine has a strong aversion to violence and keeps her emotions in check so that she does not lose her sense of self. Few Psychopomps have existed as long as Ravine, as most have become corrupted after the so-called “end of the world” (or what has become known as the “Collapse” of civilization), and it is due to her strong moral code to do no harm to the living.

Her philosophy can sometimes be considered hypocritical, as there are situations where inaction can also cause harm, and Ravine takes the safe path rather than risk her own sanity -- it is already such a fragile thing. While it might seem that she lacks any sense of moral standards and justice, she does at times feel personally invested in one’s integrity if they prove interesting to her.

Some may dare even consider her lazy. However, it isn’t so much that, as she has just existed for so long in a position where impartiality was key in her role, she just doesn’t feel like ethics are necessary. She’s a reaper, not a saint, but she isn’t chaotic, either. She is true neutral at best, and apathetic at worst. Though she can present words and gestures of kindness, it’s no mystery that there is something very absent in her humanity.

● Resentment: Most of her warm smiles and soothing words are a front for the true resentment that Ravine hides. It’s hard not to feel as though some mortals have squandered their precious lives, or were monstrous people. Psychopomps are meant to be objective to the souls they reap, and yet it is hard not to feel anger towards those who committed egregious acts to be granted, what she deems, the gift of death.

Because death is a gift. Psychopomps are given only rare opportunities to find peace for themselves, and Ravine was one of the few who stayed after the Collapse to clean up the millions of souls that were lost. Sometimes, she considers her kindness and resilience to be a curse, both loving and loathing life and the living. While her demeanor betrays her deep loathing, her sole motivation to continue this sorry story of hers is to watch the end of the god-like entities -- the Emanations -- that devoured the soul of someone she loved. The reason she is able to hold herself together and not become a shedim, and why she doesn’t just check out of her dying world entirely if ever presented the chance, is because her greatest desire is to watch her world burn. Just not until she has reaped the souls of those who would suffer the Emanations.

● Wisdom: Having lived for so long and encountered many kinds of souls, Ravine is very educated and worldly (despite also being otherworldly). While I wouldn’t call on her to fix your air conditioner or build a bazooka or construct a time machine, her understanding of cultures and alternate universes makes it easier for her to connect with others. Almost in a manipulative way.

Her interests are limited, as she would prefer to discuss metaphysics and philosophy than war stories. She also found a rare passion in botany, as she considers the irony of a death spirit with a green thumb to be amusing.

Suitability: It has been millennia since Ravine has touched or tasted anything. In order to function properly in the game, her Gembond will force her to interact with the world in ways that she could not ordinarily in her own. While she won’t necessarily need to eat or sleep, the fact that she will have this option will be both a unique and terrifying experience for her. She is used to closing herself off to others and choosing not to get attached, being as old as she is and knowing how fleeting a life can be. Synchrony will be a great way for her to break out of her comfort zone, and may even allow her to form meaningful connections with others again. As a living woman, she was never a very touchy-feely person so, for now, the gloves and coat stay on, but that is very subject to character development that I very much look forward to.

Having been around for so long and seen so many things, Ravine is easy to adapt to an ever-changing environment. Change in herself? Not so much. Although she is used to her body not maintaining one form, the transformations will force her to engage with her environment (and those within it) in a more physical and almost mortal way. This will rattle her usually cool temperament, but once she gets accustomed to it, the better she will adjust (especially since her transformation periods will offer her a provisional reprieve from the chaos of her own powers, she may actually come to like this).

Condition upon arrival: Whole but not quite so hale. Though she will be forced to connect with her environment in ways she hasn’t been allowed in thousands of years, she will attempt to try and manipulate the memories of those who encounter her (especially GemSci, as they might express an interest in her not-entirely-physical state of being). When this fails, it’ll be enough motivation for her to seek some assistance to procure Manna.

Abilities: There are more details on her abilities here, but given the OP nature of just who/what Ravine is, she is gonna be nerfed to Hell and back.

● Psychic: Born with the gifts of clairvoyance and telepathy, Ravine is capable of seeing one’s future, past, and alternate timelines. She can tell whether someone is nonhuman or immortal just by looking at them. Her clairvoyance will be greatly nerfed so she can’t see the future beyond a few minutes or hours, but the past might be more available to her. This will be a convenient excuse for her to skip the “where am I?” stage of arrival.

Telepathy allows her to be able to communicate over long distances, projecting her thoughts while also receiving feedback from them. Since this drove her insane when she was human, I plan to nerf this ability so she’s not so much a walking info-modder unless given player permission.

● Immortality: Allows rapid regeneration from most injuries, but this will rely on the game mechanics so she won’t be invulnerable to Chrysalis. When injured, she won’t spill blood but emit a shadowy substance instead.

● Thanatokinesis: Almost completely nerfed, as she won’t be able to induce death. At most, she can likely tell how long someone is going to live, but that’s it. It is worth noting that Ravine absolutely cannot kill a living being. Or, she could, but it would go against her very nature and possibly corrupt her soul, which she would much rather avoid.

● Darkness & Reality Manipulation: In her purest Psychopomp form, Ravine appears as a golden-eyed shadow. While reapers are capable of altering one’s perception of reality, Ravine mostly utilizes this ability to bend the shadows around her. It is less a combative ability and more for her personal use of travel, walking through walls, and self-defense. And by “self-defense” that is to say potentially driving someone or something balls to the wall by trapping them in a pocket space of pure darkness in order to contain them for a very brief period of time.

She can also use a piece of her own soul to heal spiritual wounds, but it comes at the expense of her own continued existence.

Use of any of these things will require Manna in Noctium.

● Spatial-Temporal Lock: All Psychopomps exist in a realm outside of space and time. Since she’ll be “locked” to the world of the living while in Noctium, she’ll be more susceptible to her surroundings, allowing her to feel, taste, and almost live for the first time in thousands of years. While she still won’t necessarily need to eat, drink, and sleep, the fact that she can actually experience these things will be a novelty to her.

This will also affect her “omnipresence” ability, which will be completely nerfed.

Inventory: Nothing at all, nothing at all! Her clothes aren’t even real.

The only item worth noting would be her bone scythe as that comes out of her actual body, but it is virtually useless against any living thing and can only be used to reap spirits of the already deceased. At most, she can use it to create a temporary “soul wound” that can stun her target, or against a ghostly target.

Gembond: Emerald.
Gem Location: Scattered fragments on her throat, under her choker.


« MISCELLANEOUS »

Sample: TDM top level with a few comments.

Notes: Ravine’s canon is pretty bonkers. They’re kinda old, but there’s additional info on her journal: Character History, Setting Description, World Lore.

I’ll include some of the more invasive aspects of her psychic powers on her permissions post, of course!