Lash (Accepted)

Submitted by Logan on Sat, 06/21/2003 - 10:17

Posted in

FL Character Proposals

Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by
(mashedpotato26@hotmail.com) on Friday, June 20, 2003 at 12:48:25
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charname: Zai Lash (more commonly Lash)
race: Mutant
gender: Female
group: She's basically a rogue with a neutral alliance to whatever takes her
fancy at the time.
position: HERO
descript: DESCRIPTION
Lash stands out in a crowd to say the least… at 5’11” she’s pretty tall. But
aside from that, she also has a medium grey complexion with polygonal purply
blue (PB) spots covering most of her body. Her ears are unusually large and
pointed for a human (even an elf would be hard pressed to compete), and she has
a long tail that sways languidly behind her with a tuft of PB hair at its tip
(it has also been known to be a bit of a bastard when it comes to needing new
clothes), but what really sets off her features are her golden iris’s and fiery
red hair that she usually keeps in a long braid.

She struts about with an unmistakeable confidence, with no though to conceal her
appearance. Her feet seem almost unnatural in the way they move as they glide
fluently over the ground like water off a ducks back, her head not bobbing an
inch. Many (when not describing her as the spawn of Satan) relate the way she
looks and moves to be very similar to the feminine cat. And very much like a
cat, her moods can often influence and effect the movements of her tail.

When in (what she supposes you could consider to be) her costume, it’s generally
white, though she does have varying colours, and fairly sparse with thigh high
boots and a three inch semi-stiletto heal that sets off and accentuates her
body.

She’s proud of who she is and she’s not afraid to show it. Everyone else can
think what they want as far as she’s concerned - This is basically her attitude
in a nutshell.

NATURAL SKILLS AND FLAWS
- hates dogs and dogs hate her (no encouragement required)
- good at needle work and sewing (having to tailor your own pants to fit around
your tail will do that to you)
- fluent in the use of her whips as an influenced result of her sparring and
getting to learn how to use her tail much like one. Also, the main reason she
keeps her hair long and wears it in a firm braid is so she can manipulate that
too into another form of defence.
- has superb balance
- sharp hearing
- loves fake plants, hates the wilderness (she’ll agree it’s pretty, but she
feels insecure when surrounded by things she can’t merge into for protection.
This leads onto her next flaw…)
- hylophobic (and she can also get a little unnerved by open meadows or fields
with nothing else around)
- she can read and write English, Russian (the writing intrigued her when she
was about sixteen), a little bit of German, and a splash of Italian.
- she’s a trickster though and though (make what you will of it)
- a bit of a gambler.
- she likes puzzles and riddles until she still can’t figure them out a week
later and they start to eat at her.
- loves to cook.
- hates fire in large quantities.
- computer literate.
- tendency to be over confident (this can be both good and bad)
- street smart.
- has a soft spot for cats (surprise, surprise)
- acting... to a degree
- she's obsessed by books and knowledge (even though she aint einstein, she
likes to learn what she can. Knowledge is priceless to her, she longs to be able
to enrole into a school)

history: BACKGROUND
It all started before Lash was even born….

Her parents were well-respected researchers for a silent Corp, taking part in
the development of an ideal that was Bioware. Artificial limbs and organs that
would have the ability to develop with the body as though they were already a
natural part of its anatomy, enhancing human life. Of course it was a very close
kept secret and there were few aware of the department.

One day, during the course of one of these such experiments that her mother was
conducting, an unforeseen chemical reaction occurred in the formulae. The
calculation that the team was sure had been thoroughly worked through from its
original theory over the previous year had been checked and backed up up-teen
billion times. All other experiments in the same line leading up to it had gone
according to plan…except for this one.

Before her mother even had a chance to call out to one of her fellow researchers
to run over and take a look, she fell victim to the experiments unexpected
explosion. Thrown her back to the observation window, she crashed into the wall,
accompanied by the eerie feeling of being covered in whatever substance had been
contrived in the failed experiment.

There she lay. Over a year's worth of research gone within two seconds down the
drain.

Later, after being put in quarantine and checked on by the departments leading
physicians, her mother soon emerged, cleared as being perfectly healthy with
nothing wrong. There were no traces of any foreign substance found on her
either, despite how it had felt. She later put it down as being plain paranoia.
Call it a stroke of luck.

All notes related to the experiment were filed away in the deep depths of the
compound along with every other failed experiment. Everyone had had high hopes
about this one too.

Unbeknownst to anyone, however, her mother and father had a little tradition
they enjoyed keeping up on nights before a major experiment and proposed
breakthrough… such as the one that had just taken place. And unbeknownst to her
mother and father, they'd got more than they'd bargained for on that last
particular night.

Needless to say, exactly nine months later her mother, with her father getting
his hand crushed supportively at her side, gave birth to a bouncing baby… gray
thing?

Fair enough… weirder things had happened. Or so the doctors told them, possibly
in attempt though to comfort them. The babe was freaky enough as it was without
need of the doctor proclaiming it was a boy… then realised his mistake when what
he thought was a little winkle was, in actual fact, a little tail.

Part and parcel of the whole great gig of being a researcher for a silent Corp:
personal medical attention within the facility! Much better attention and
service than what you receive in even a private hospital.

As would then be expected, word of the mutated babe hadn't taken long in
reaching the ears of the Corp‘s head. The physician recalled the incident that
had taken place all those nine months ago, as he had been involved in seeing to
the mother whilst she was in quarantine after the accident. However, when one of
the head researchers (that wasn't the mother or father of the babe) was
instructed to recover all documentation related to the particular failed
experiment, the files were missing.

And so her mother and father nurtured their babe, Tiaret Lana Sanders, treating
her with as much love and care as they would if she were 'normal', possibly even
more so than they would a normal child on the mere grounds that they were trying
so hard! Eventually, though, the trying went right out the window and they loved
her for who she was, considering her a unique human that was their child.
They fell in love with her and all her innocent little quirks.

A small panic had the parents for a while when she starting developing purpley
blue patches on parts of her body only six months after her birth. Another visit
from the company's physician that had delivered her turned over results
detailing that she seemed perfectly healthy from what they could gather after
considering their limited knowledge of her anatomy.

Some discussion between the parents had them finally agreeing to let the
physicians study Tiaret for a few days and see what they could determine of her
mutation, but only on the conditions that they too would be able to sit in on
the study.

Occasionally one of the head people of the Corp would check in on Tiaret or
request an update on any progress.

After all the time spent studying her, however, little was found out beyond your
basic body structure. Even with the technology they had, they couldn't find
anything much really that was out of the ordinary (aside from the fact that she
had a tail, pointy ears and unnatural skin), only slight differences barely
worth noting. They'd learnt enough to know she was healthy for whatever it was
she was.

Afterwards, when Tiaret was discharged and went home with her parents, but not
without being requested for regular checkups to see how she was progressing.
Despite nothing turning up in the test results, she was still young and
developing, if something happened, the Corp wanted to know about it.

Months passed, as they so often do, and Tiaret's parents were given the early
parenthood blessings of witnessing their child's first step, first word, and of
course, joyous toilet trained-ness which came unnaturally early from what they
were expecting. But then again, they had a unique child and weren't going to
complain if their child had learnt "pants bad, potty good".

Her visits to the physicians' kept up too, as requested by the Corp.

Tiaret was about eighteen months when the first signs of her power manifested.
Unfortunately, for both her and her parents, it was during one of those
requested fortnightly visits.

She was receiving a tetanus injection by her good birth physician and not liking
the look of the pointy-ended needle. Bravely she held her ground, squirming
somewhat and eyeing the needle warily.

Just as the needle was about to pierce her skin she instinctively squeezed her
eyes shut to bare against what seemed an inevitable pain (she'd dealt with her
physician before, he always got his way eventually). Strangely, however, she
didn’t feel the expected prick, instead she felt the loss of the physician’s
warm hand on her arm which was closely followed by the sound of his cursing.

Curiously, she peeled open one eye to peer at what was going on only to find
that her arm had ghosted into some misty form and the physician’s needle had
gone straight through her, pricking himself. Tiaret’s face was absolutely
glowing with pleasure and joy as she smiled a big beaming grin up at her
physician, her arm resolidifying as she did so. When the physician’s wits
finally came back to him, he was naturally both alarmed and excited (perhaps a
bit peeved) by this new found ability of hers.

After fumbling around, pleading, trying to keep Tiaret ‘solid’, she was soon
convinced to take the injection and was quickly rushed out of the compound, back
into her parents hands. A personal meeting with the head of the Corp came almost
immediately the next day.

Her parents were obviously not oblivious to this newly discovered ability of
hers (they do live with her after all… not to mention, Tiaret loved to play
tricks…) and felt the sudden obligation to keep a closer eye on her, her
progress, and most importantly: their place of employment’s growing interest in
their daughter. They also took on a heavier duty of responsibility to pound
particular ideals into their daughters mind, detailing privacy and the
importance of keeping certain things secret.

Naturally though, being a child and all, Tiaret’s love of being the centre of
attention as well as the sheer pleasures she found in being a bit of a
trickster, proved certain things to be more of a challenge than hoped. She also
enjoyed the praise she received from all the researchers, physicians, and heads
of her parents employment.

And so more and more tests were conducted, testing the extent of her abilities
and finding anything new. By the time she was two she already had a large enough
file to compete with that of another’s whole life! Not a single thing about her
went unchecked or unnoticed.

The prospects of having someone like Tiaret under their instruction was too good
of an opportunity to pass up, especially with being young and all made her easy
for moulding. However, there was still a slight warning hanging over their minds
with how powerful she already was and how much she’d advance as she grew.
Nothing could stop her from walking straight through walls to confined secure
areas within the company and get her hands on any information she desired. Aside
from her looks and abilities, Tiaret was just as human as the next person and
there was no garauntee that she wouldn’t be persuaded by the right offer.

As far as they could make out at this point, she couldn’t even be shot, at least
not without difficulty. Of course they didn’t shoot an actual bullet at her (are
you insane?) but instead, they replicated an extremely mild simulation that
involved piffing a ball at her. She easily avoided being hit by the unexpected
attack by instinctively ghosting into her mist like replica of herself that the
ball continued to pass straight through undisturbed like a plane in the clouds.
They determined soon enough that if she was quick enough, she could do the same
with a flying bullet.

All in all, it was decided that something needed to be done.

Years passed and Tiaret continued to grow, learning and living life, observing
its little quirks along the way. Her visits were still regular, (they never
really lessened. If anything, she was more likely to get the surprise
extra visit) and they continued to get more intense with every session.
Pushing her limits, seeing how far she could go. Her parents also continued to
sit in on these tests, as was the agreement, and they too learnt the extent of
her abilities.

One day, not much after Tiaret's fifth birthday, following one of her visiting
days, an urgent knock pounded on their home front door.

One of the physicians, for some strange reason it wasn't her birthing one that
usually appeared in an emergency, was revealed on the opposite side of the door.
Flustered and gasping for breathe, he hurriedly explained that something had
turned up on her previous days results and Tiaret needed to be rushed
immediately back to the compound for follow up tests.

At the time it was only Tiaret and her mother at home. The father was out on
some special research assignment he was, coincidentally, called out to that very
morning.

Tiaret's mother was forcefully recommended to stay out of the theatre for
reasons given over her personal relationship to her daughter and how it could
blind her from clear thought at a vital moment. She had still refused to stand
aside, only to soon find herself dozing in a vacant briefing room as her
daughter was rushed from her protective grasp.

Hours later when her mother had finally come around, Tiaret was under close
surveillance in a recovery room. Her father turned up a while later after he'd
received an erratic call from his shaken wife explaining what had happened and
how she must have fainted in theatre. He was there in moments to pick her up
along with Tiaret, despite the warning protests of his 'fellow' work
colleagues, now somewhat alienated from each other by the paranoia that grew
within the parents minds since the birth of their daughter.

Once home, it didn't take long for her parents to suddenly notice a change in
Tiaret's behavioral use of her power. They major giveaway being the fact that,
when called for dinner, Tiaret used the stairs and made the effort to open
doors.

An immediate issue was aroused and discussed over the following two nights, now
that her parents worst fears had been all but confirmed, their was only one
option left for them to take.

Tiaret wouldn't make it to her next visit.

If all went as planned, she wouldn't make anymore that followed, nor would she
sleep another night in their home. Her parents were going to pack up and quietly
leave with her under the shadowed cover of the night till she was safe from
further harm.

However, an unexpected knock roused their attention to the door. No one usually
visited at this time of night, and as fear rose within their hearts, they knew
their time was up. They had to leave… and now.

They scurried desperately towards the back door when the front suddenly burst
open admitting the sudden raid. Unfortunately, there was also a little welcoming
party awaiting them at the back door, blocking their escape and leaving them
with no place to go. Yet still, they refused to give up Tiaret. Even as they
were apprehended and Tiaret stood frozen stiff with fright, a solid shove
desperately managed by her father as he struggled to keep free was enough to
push start Tiaret into a run before they could grab her too.

It was the last she saw of her parents as she fled from the nightmare. She could
only hear their pleading cries for her to get to safety as she ran erratically
about the house, weaving and dodging the bad people that had invaded her home.
Someone grabbed her as she kicked and flailed wildly to get free. Slamming her
up against the wall, they cuffed her hands together just in time to watch her
disappear into the very wall she'd been forcefully acquainted with.

Orders to burn the house, once word reached the orchestra ter of the raid, were
carried out swiftly. Tall, searing hot flames licked hungrily at the walls as
the operators of the raid stood on to watch till their mission was carried out
down to the very last cinder.

And so Tiaret was killed. Burnt within the walls of her very home along with
some papers of a failed experiment…. Or so they thought….

After suffering against the searing flames that licked the walls she was merged
within, there was a sudden change in the solid structures atmosphere: it was
weakening. It had started to break down. With no other choices left for her and
nothing to lose, Tiaret tried her luck and leaped out, re-emerging like a shot
on the outside of her burning home.

She ran. As soon as she was free of the oversized bonfire, she ran. She ran into
the night until her lungs burned just as much as her body, then she ran some
more.

As far as she knew, her parents were dead. Burnt down along with her home and
her childhood.

For the majority of what was usually most other children's childhood, Tiaret
learnt how to survive on the street. Many condemned her for her looks, some even
tried to kill her, calling her the very spawn of Satan and other such remarks.

Tiaret chose to ignore their accusations, she was who her parents raised her to
be, only in her eyes: she was better than the lot of them!

Abandoning the birth name given to her by her parents, she took on a new name to
change right along with her forced upon life. She didn't want to soil her old
name. Too many good memories went with it, and she didn't know what the future
was to hold for her. So instead, she only held her birth name close when she was
alone, but otherwise, she is known as Zai Lash. Lash for short.

Lash learnt how to fend for herself, and as a result of surviving on her own,
she became an extremely street smart individual. Over time she even made a few
friends. She was at least ten before she got even a sniff education other than
what her parents and the street had taught her.

She met a little boy called Jeremy (whom she came to nickname Jermy), he’d
gotten lost whilst out shopping with his mum for a new pair of shorts. At first
Lash just watched him with a sly grin on her face, wondering what lollies he
might be carrying that she could swipe.

After taunting him for a while, making him think he was hearing voices, she went
to make her move when the boy suddenly tripped clumsily over himself and she
caught him by accident with her tail (he thought it was an act of kindness, when
really, her tail just happened to be there). As freaky as she was though, Jeremy
saw her as some sort of cool thing from a movie (but later found out she wasn’t,
much to his disappointment).

Through Jeremy (under his parents disapproval at their sons association with
Lash) she got an education as best as he could relay his classes. She grew fond
of his English classes, much to Jeremy’s surprise and bad luck, developing a new
love for books and languages. And from a young age the two started to play fight
(as all little boys love to play their favourite action hero), Lash ended up
finding a new use for her tail, this was soon accompanied by Jeremy’s whinging
at his lack of one… so she continued to use it to her advantage. As they grew it
became a ritual thing between buddies with the two of them inventing new moves
and testing each other.

Lash lives on her own in a dilapidated two story house in .
For her it’s cozy, contrary to its appearance, and came equip with a small
network of an old underground sewerage pipes (more like tunnels really).

She makes own her way in life, living for herself. She’ll occasionally team up
with others provided she personally gets something out of it. She generally wont
go out of her way to do good deeds just for the sake of it.

So far she’s just a unique person with a unique ability who occasionally does
some side acting to play the unique character (you may have seen her in LOTR:
one of the departing elves in a cloak holding a lamp).
enemy: VILLAIN
She does have one... but as far as each party goes, they don't know each other
exists of yet.
powers: POWER
Lash is ultimately a form of Ethereal. She has the ability to merge/melt
(depending on how you’d prefer to see it) into any inanimate object and move
around within its boundaries. However, most Ethereal are able to pass straight
through objects without hindrance, when Lash was once able to do this as a
child, an experimental chip was implanted in her at a very young age (but by now
has fizzed out) forming a block in her mind inhibiting her from being able to do
so whenever she wishes.

Only under certain circumstances can she appear to pass through an object
unhindered, and that’s on the condition that the opposite side of the object is
not blocked off. In other words, she is still limited by some rules of the
normal physical world. ie.

This is a room…it is closed. If Lash is on the inside, she can merge
into the wall and move around within its boundaries, she cannot pass straight
through to the opposite side and get out of the room while the door is closed
unless she, or someone else, opens it properly. But she can merge into the wall
on one side of the room, appearing not to be in there, then step out of it on
the other side of the room. Her speed whilst in merged within an inanimate
object is only double that of a regular being.

This is the same room…but the doors now open. If Lash is still on the
inside of the room, or outside even, she can merge into the wall and move around
till she’s on the other side and remerge there via the door (a break in the
boundaries). As long as the door stays open, she can remerge on the opposite
side of the wall, but she can’t still just pass straight through like she should
be able to do. Even whilst she’s merged within the wall, she is still aware of
what’s happening in the room she merged from, but is also aware of the opposite
side as well. If the door closes whilst she’s still in the wall, she’ll be aware
of it, same goes if a door is opened.

To an onlooker, when she merges into an object she seems to disappear, then
appears to have passed straight through the objects when she suddenly reappears
on the other side. She still has to take the time to make her way around the
rest of the object before she can get there though…but of course, an observer
would be unaware of this, they usually only take in what they see and don’t
think of the in between.

OTHER ABILITIES WITHIN HER POWER
Lash is able to carry other materials into objects with her provided she can
cover most of it with her own body and has a good grip on it. This means that
she can not merge into an object and take a double king size bed with her, even
if she was strong enough to carry it, it’s by far too big.

The materials she can carry with her include living things.

If she attempts to carry something with her that she, either, doesn’t have a
good grip on, or is just too ridiculously big, whilst she can still merge into
an object whatever she was carrying will just hit it by the simple rule that two
objects cannot occupy the same space. If she was, for some unknown reason,
attempting to carry something into an object that was too big for her, depending
on the object she was merging into, whatever she was carrying could very likely
knock it over, if the object was delicate it could break even. Her presence
within an object does not make it any stronger or sturdier.

This being able to carry other materials with her into inanimate objects also
works in reverse. Once both are merged within the object, some form of contact
must remain in order to keep the foreign material from rapidly ‘reforming’
within the object.

If the material is too big for the actual space within the object (obviously a
solid object = no space!) it is probable that they will, depending on how
strong/solid the object is, be crushed, suffocate, have the object break down
around them, expand, or explode. Either way, some form of damage is dealt to
whatever the foreign material is. Small, soft, flexible or malleable objects are
usually able to ‘reform’ within objects without much hassle, unless it’s the
case of a completely solid object.

Another ability her power allows is the absorption of smaller inanimate objects,
but never anything too big for obvious reasons. A hundred mil-measuring cup
cannot hold a litre of water.

VUNERABILITY
Lash can still be harmed whilst merged within an object. Smash an object, or the
area of an object where she happens to be and she will be hurt. She cannot,
however, be killed by a bullet, arrow or crossbow bolt shot at an object or area
where she happens to be merged as she is not a physically present being, only
the break down of an area she’s in can harm her.

When the breakdown of an object she’s merged in occurs, she ‘reforms’ to her
physical self by default until she merges into another object.

Fire is a bastard for her, definitely able to cause damage whilst she’s merged
into an object that’s set alight and will usually be successful in flushing her
out unless, for some strange reason, she wants to die a horrible slow death.

QUIRKS
Whilst Lash is merged within an object she is still able to talk and be heard by
others on the outside of the object. To observers, when she speaks her voice
emanates off the object with which she’s merged, and in the case of a room that
she’s merged into the walls of; her voice reverberates off the surrounding walls
seemingly to come from everywhere, yet nowhere.

Another thing she is capable of doing whilst she’s merged within an object is
being able to selectively stick out individual limbs at her own discretion. For
instance; should she choose to extend her middle finger out at someone who’d
made a wisecrack, she can do so without needing to step completely out of the
object.

items: ITEMS
- a whip
- a wok (birds gotta fly, gal needs to cook)
- a couple ‘o’ books (and by a couple I mean a lot! Practically a library, and
she worships them all)
- and a makeshift double bladed staff (her attempt at wood and metal work that
Jeremy helped her with when he was in high school)
played_by: Playing Zai Lash is Catherine Zeta Jones
player: ABOUT ME
Hi. My name's Amanda...um...i'm 19 years old (gods! only one more year to be a
rebellious teen!)... i like stuff....
...
Okay... am pissing myself off now. I so cannot play the bimbo game for too long.
GAmes i've played before include Shadowrun, Wheel of Time, D&D (although i think
i can't really qualify to put that one down as i only played one session of it
on a roleplaying camp).
I've also played an online free-form RPG called LA By Night... you may not of
heard of it, but it's the best fun, you should check it out. ps. the people
there are great (they tolerate my spelling and grammar)
I like to knit and create really bad home videos that make me look like a smart
idea has never come within a 10 mile radius of the free space between my ears.
I basically just like to have fun and piss about with friends (by 'piss' i mean
'muck', 'play', 'stuff'... by the by, did i mention i'm from the land down
under? (Australia))