ProjectMinotaurOCT chara sheet

Project Minotaur OCT Character Sheet
Twig

History and Personality
Twig, so named for his bare, skinny frame, lives in the city of Lostweyr, a city heavily divided between those who try to do only what is right and those who try to do only what will bring them the biggest gain. The western half of Lostweyr is where the latter group resides. After decades of little upkeep or repair because the wealthy were too greedy to extend monetary help to their own city, the western half has slowly been falling apart at the seams. Houses are collapsing, diseases run rampant, and crime is the only job that pays good money anymore. Jealous lords are more than happy to hire out to crime lords or mob bosses in order to have another wealthy lord permanently taken care of, and that's where Twig's story comes into play.

There had been severe escalation on both sides of a particularly nasty lord feud. They were equal in wit, wealth, and ego, neither willing to back down. Knowing his opponent would be on the lookout for all the normal signs of assassinations and murder attempts, Lord Klegor realized he need to catch the other lord off guard with a new type of weapon. Of all the places to turn to, Klegor went to the South End Orphanage for Boys and requested that one of the children be trained to use a weapon, planning on sending a seemingly innocent child after the other lord and catch him unawares. No one would suspect a child… The plan worked horrifically well, I'm sad to say, and seeing the prospective profit he could make off of similar jobs, the man who managed the South End Orphanage began to teach all the boys how to fight. However, over-crowding in the orphanage as more young boys were brought in each day caused him to make a crucial decision: as part of their training, boys would be set against each other in daily death matches, and he who survived proved he was strong enough to live another day.

This was the world Twig grew up in. Brought to the South End Orphanage at the age of four by one of the older orphans who'd been scouting for an upcoming job, Twig was thrust into this world of blood, violence, and death. And he hated it. He'd already collected an atrocious collection of scars by the time he was five years old and was one of the most agile kids in his age group. The scrappy little boy managed to maintain his sanity and humanity in the veritable insane asylum, and unwilling to have to kill another helpless child in the death matches, Twig made his escape at the age of six; he was the first orphan ever to do so. Advanced combat techniques were only taught to older kids who had proved they could survive to use them, so at the time of Twig's escape, his fighting skills still essentially relied on basic instinct, watching his opponents to anticipate their moves and stay one step ahead of them. Use their strengths against them, and if all else failed, run.

Twig spent the next six years evading capture, as the owner of the South End Orphanage could not let such an act of subordination go unpunished. With his various wealthy connections, the orphanage manager arranged to have the gates of West End watched, preventing Twig from escaping the city. In these six years, he was forced to learn how to free run to save his own skin, soon becoming adept at scaling walls and traversing the most treacherous footholds with quick feet. Twig amassed an impressive collection of daggers and other easily hidden weaponry from those unfortunate enough to find him. Hiding in the abandoned, crumbling houses of West End, Twig essentially lives as an animal for six years with little human contact beyond the occasional skirmish.

Then he met Elleon. An orphan like himself, she would have been sent to the North End Orphanage for Girls, which functioned the same way as the boys' orphanage by training assassins, except that she was blind and of no use to them. She had wandered the streets of the safer East End for a while before accidentally stumbling into West End. Twig saves her from almost certain death as she nearly gets run over by the careening carriage of an uncaring lord, sparking the beginning of an uneasy friendship. Twig simply does not trust humanity after all he's seen, while 11-year-old Elleon is determined to pay him back for saving her life and refuses to leave his side. Her blind condition provides new insights into his world, and he slowly comes to realize that humanity may not be all that bad… at least, people in the East End are nicer. Twig comes to trust Elleon with his life and would do anything for her.

However, the slower pace Twig must use to keep Elleon close is their undoing, and Elleon is killed in the ensuing struggle. Before drawing her last breath, Elleon makes Twig promise not to give up on humanity, or himself, for her sake if not for his own. She tells him that he must try to help other orphans like him, trapped in a world of hate, and bring them to better homes. Twig promises.

Another six years later, and Twig is still on the run, but he's no longer alone. Keeping to his promise to Elleon, he has helped many other orphans, both boys and girls, to escape the cruel systems of orphanages and has found them good homes in East End. Some of the orphans stayed with Twig to help him out, and together, they are forming a plan to take down the corrupt system once and for all. Twig, with anger in his heart, is determined to strike down the heads of the orphanages and the lords who most support them, which would throw West End into chaos but would allow for East End authorities to move back in.

Twig has never trusted anyone like he trusted Elleon, and it is unlikely that he ever will. Admittedly, he trusts his followers to some degree and cares for them in his own way, but he will never trust them to the degree he trusted Elleon. He had loved her, as much as a twelve-year-old boy can love at that age. Twig isn't really a follower. Typically, he'll lead those who'll follow or go it alone. Twig'd have to really respect another's abilities and believe what they believed in order for him to trust them enough to follow them. He has become extremely paranoid, although that trait has saved his life on multiple occasions. Always on alert, he says little and is always listening and watching. He's usually pretty quiet, just observing things, but will speak up on occasion if he thinks it's necessary. Most days, he hates himself, for although he's helping save more children, he often has to kill in order to do so. On his darkest days, he would end his own life, but his promise holds him back. Sleep is almost a foreign word to him, and he always has dark shadows under his eyes.


Skills, Abilities, and Knowledge
Twig, ever maintaining his scare-crow thing frame, remains quick and agile as he grows older and a little taller. Never having received the privileged formal combat training at the orphanage, his fighting skills are rather rudimentary, based solely on instinct and reflex. True, he has honed his wild fighting style over his years on the run, but matched against an opponent of superior fighting skill, Twig would be hard pressed to present a challenge physically. He can free run, which is handy in escaping or gaining the upper hand on an opponent. Other than that he, his education was minimum. During a trip with Elleon to the East End, someone had been kind enough to start teaching him how to read, a skill he has practiced so as not to forget it.


Potential TWBII Mutation
If/when Twig were to get infected with TWBII, it would manifest in the ability to manipulate shadows. Often called "The Shadow" himself for his ability to slip out of most situations unseen, Twig would be able to control shadows and bend them to his will. His abilities would range from being able to change the shape of someone's shadow on the wall to physically picking up the shadow and molding it into a newer, more solid form. He wouldn't be able to hold the solid shadows indefinitely though, so they'd mostly be used to suit the immediate situation before they dissolved back into their natural state.

It would take some time, maybe two weeks, for the mutation to become complete. Over those two weeks, Twig would find his control over shadows becoming stronger, but the mutation also affects his mind, releasing the anger Twig has tried to keep locked away. The stronger his powers become, the harder it is to control his anger. By the end of the two weeks, Twig would be torn in two mentally, as he struggles for control of himself. Also at the end of the two weeks, Twig would be able to use his final ability, which would be to bind with his own shadow. This would make him intangible, again temporarily, but that means he also cannot strike back. When bound to his shadow and not holding himself intangible, that is when he has least control over his anger, and therefore, it is when he is most unpredictable and dangerous. He can either pull the shadow onto himself and bind to it, or he can sink into the shadow, allowing him to hide in dark corners. He cannot travel shadow to shadow like Hades though.