Taran McAllister
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Taran McAllister | |
| Player: Trystan Laryssa | |
| Origin: | Natural |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Scrapper |
| Security Level: | 22 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Taran McAllister |
| Known Aliases: | Strikeshadow (see below) |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 22 |
| Height: | 6' 0" |
| Weight: | 165 lbs. |
| Eye Color: | Hazel |
| Hair Color: | Black |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Celtic / Caucasian |
| Occupation: | Student / Investigator |
| Place of Birth: | Brickstown |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City, RI |
| Marital Status: | In committed relationship |
| Known Relatives: | Kurt Broadhurst, father (The Council) Lora McAllister, mother (deceased) |
| Known Powers | |
| Martial Arts/Super Reflexes | |
| Known Abilities | |
| All based on training | |
| Equipment | |
| Jet pack ( built from Sky Raider salvage), Radio Scanner | |
| No additional information available. | |
Contents |
Affiliations
Bluesiders:
- Light Stream - A Peacebringer who has been helping Taran on his missions
- Linus Red - An eccentric bartender in Pocket D, also helping in the fight against the Council, among others
- MadX - Short for Madeline Xion, a young mystic, and yes, she is now also his girlfriend (finally!)
- Tetsuryou - An able fighter who has symbiotically bonded to a mysterious suit of armor; Neviah's boyfriend
- Cole Snap - A young hero with the ability to sap heat and create ice, yet is still learning to control his powers
- The Cobalt Streak - A tough hero who has recently joined this motley crowd
- Enduring Victory - A young martial artist who has been working on improving her fighting abilities
- Willow the Wisp - A ten-year-old girl who, for one reason or another, bonded with a Kheldian... and has since come to believe she's a fairy
- Grifolken - An ancient elven mystic who has taken in Maddy and Willow; they help him and his team fight against dark magic
- Heartscry - A strange young woman he met in the D, whose odd pattern of speech he's begun to translate for others
- Shadows Dance - A young woman who recently became host to a Nictus, after which they joined the Warshades to fight the Council; now also Akashi's girlfriend
- Captain Ion - The hero in charge of the Cosmic Defenders, who introduced Light Stream to him
- Dragonberry - Was nice enough to help me create my Wiki page!
Redsiders:
- Edwin Wayland - A dark figure with a sharp wit and a sharper (often unpleasant) tongue, he has several thugs taking orders from him.
- Tanshin - A mysterious ninja, driven by honor and a promise, who seems to wind up hurting or angering everybody Taran knows
- Poca Muerte - Also known as Petite Le Morte, a young woman with a troubled past.
- Fearen Lock - Petite's rather mercurial lover, a man with past trouble of his own, most of which he has difficulty recalling.
- FelFox - A friend of Petite and Fearen, a young woman with a foxlike form.
- Xaeda Kitosai - A suave assassin for hire who becomes an entirely different person at the D.
- Lazuli Fade - A woman who has played on Taran's sympathies more than once, usually as a result of her having gotten in over her head.
Supergroup:
- The Cosmic Defenders
- Underworld Legion : Located somewhere in the ruins of Dark Astoria.
Personality
Taran McAllister is something of a young hotshot, only about 21 years of age and still somewhat naive. He in nonetheless driven in his goals, and is somewhat reactive in nature. He has next to no poker face, though he tries to act cool. His temper can flare when he's in a foul mood, but he's generally approachable, and can be fairly talkative when he gets going. He's interested in learning all he can about the Council... and since working with a Peacebringer named Light Stream, has been intrigued by their interest in the Kheldians. He also likes to read, write creatively, and practice his martial arts studies.
Character History
Backstory
Taran grew up in the Paragon City child welfare system, his mother having died young and his father serving time in the Zig for crimes committed on behalf of a group calling themselves the Fifth Column. Nobody would talk much about the group and what they stood for, so Taran grew up not knowing whether his father was a rebel for a cause, or truly a dangerous criminal. He studied Martial Arts from a young age, and once he was a legal adult, he began pursuing a security clearance out of Paragon City... not an easy undertaking as he had only his skills to rely on. Finally he was granted registration, and began looking into the Fifth Column, only to discover it had recently been overrun by a group called the Council... and finding anything about them was nearly impossible. Using his new security clearance, he started tracking down the Council, looking for the answers he'd been denied for so long.
Past Events
His first assignment was to break up a party-crashing Skull rave. On his way there, he ran across a hero named Captain Ion, who joined him on the mission. Ion heard Taran's story about looking for information on the Council, and put in word with a friend of his named Light Stream, who was currently working on Council assignments. Light Stream, as it turned out, was a Peacebringer. He told Taran a bit about the Kheldians and what their mission was here.
Not long afterward, the pair began unraveling clues to an illicit shipping of some very strange weapons that did incredible damage to Kheldians. They are currently trying to find out more about the connections the Council have to the Kheldian race.
Taran, finding out that his father was most likely a fascist terrorist, ventured out to Pocket D, looking for distraction. What he found was a very friendly bartender named Linus Red, who told him that there were several Nictus holding high ranks in the Council, and they were most likely behind the weapons and special agents focused on wiping out the Peacebringers. He also told Taran about the Warshades, a group of rogue Nictus that were helping the Peacebringers in their fight.
Current Story
Taran has made several acquaintances in Pocket D of late, including Linus Red and a strange young woman named Heartscry. He also met several people from the Rogue Isles. He's been working with Light Stream in his investigation into Council activity. He plans to share all he has learned from Linus Red, in hope of finding ways to fight back against the Council.
Most recently he has learned that one of the major changes in the Council since the time of the Fifth Column was a branch referred to as Galaxy, which Linus Red claims is being directly overseen by a Nictus who ranks high in the Council. The guns appear to have been created by these agents specifically to target the Kheldians. Red also told him that the Peacebringers were not the only ones of their kind fighting back... a faction of the Nictus have turned on their brethren; calling themselves Warshades, they have been trying to work with the Peacebringers. However, they frequently find themselves targets of the Peacebringers, since it is hard to know whose side a Nictus is on until loyalties have been declared. The Council is not headed by the Nictus, though, according to him, but by somebody or something calling itself the Center... Red is currently trying to find out more by investigating Striga Isle. Taran's next goal is to attempt to gain enough clearance to go check the place out himself.
In the meantime, he's been working with a young lady name Madeline Xion, or Mads, as he calls her, who was assigned a mentor after caught using excessive force while trying to help others. Since then, the two have moved from begrudging partners to trusted friends. They do much of their work together now, Mads investigating various arcane criminals as well as assisting Taran with the Council. Rumors as to their being more to their relationship than just work had been flying around the D. Theories and questions usually resulted in denial and a lot of blushing... until Taran finally confronted Maddy about her feelings by announcing his own... out of the blue, he took hold of her and kissed her. The response being extremely favorable, the two of them are now a couple... the moment having been surreptitiously witnessed by an enthusiastic Akashi!
He also made the acquaintance of a young Warshade named Shadows Dance, the melding of a young dancer to a Nictus defector. She too is seeking to learn more about the Council and bring a stop to their activities against the Kheldians. Now that Taran has gained clearance access to Striga Isle, he and Shadow and Maddy plan to start combing the island for clues... to the Council's plan, or to the whereabouts of Taran's father, who was apparently broken out of prison two years ago. Taran, Maddy, Shadow, Tetsuryou, Willow, Cole, Cobalt and Linus Red, along with anybody who is willing and able to go along with them, have all been plaguing Striga Isle off and on of late!
The last thing that happened was the night before Hallowe'en, when Maddy and Taran were at a party in the D. Taran got a sudden call from one of his contacts, and had to leave early to go investigate something that was supposed to be relatively minor... and disappeared without a trace.
((**New updates: Taran's continuing story can be found under his new alias Strikeshadow.))
Powers
Taran relies on his skills as a martial artist to help him in his fight. Being something of a lightweight, he gets far more power from kicks than punches, and has several powerful kicks in his arsenal.
His training has also made him extremely agile. He's not super tough or armored, but he's very good at not getting hit in the first place, especially if he's on his guard.
Vulnerabilities
Taran has finally managed to overcome most of his problems with his endurance, having built up a pretty solid stamina during all his recent work. However, the deeper he gets into the increasingly inhuman activities of the Council, the harder it gets to sleep at night. Fortunately, he now has Maddy to talk to, and this helps him ease the stress of work, but again, if something were to happen to her, he would go out of his mind.
He's been doing his best to relieve his stress while working, channeling the energy into his fighting style, but this constant outpouring of tension has made his somewhat emotional nature all that more apparent... Taran has difficulty holding his tongue anymore, or standing back when he feels slighted or sees any kind of injustice being done. Much like Maddy, he's more prone to charge headlong if something particularly painful catches him off his guard. This, too, has the potential to get him into a great deal of trouble...
Rogue Gallery
This early in his career, the Council are the only ones really taking notice of him... so far. And among them, he has begun to gain the attention of the Void and Quantum operatives, mostly he assumes because of his alliance with Light Stream.
To contact this character's creator
Send a message in game... it is my preference for things related to CoX. Global handle: @Trystan Laryssa
Creator Notes and Trivia
Taran is a work in progress... and is the character I have decided to make my main on Virtue. I wanted to find some really good roleplayers to run missions with this character... preferably with some interest in the Council so that the spotlight can be shared.
I have a lot of work to do regarding his story, and I have plans for what he will be doing in the future as well... but that would definitely be telling things out of order.
Rumors
Taran is of no relation to Beatrice McAllister (aka Mistress Ohm). -- Soul Train
