Alarcity

Alarcity
Player: Cauda
Origin:	Magic
Archetype:	Blaster/ Scrapper
Security Level:	50/ 50
Personal Data
Real Name:	Elizabeth Byrne
Known Aliases:	Red, Allie, Larce
Species:	Human
Age:	Late Twenties/ Early Thirties
Height:	5'11
Weight:	139lbs
Eye Color:	Blue
Hair Color:	Blonde
Biographical Data
Citizenship:	United States of America
Occupation:	Vigilante
Place of Birth:	Topeka, Kansas
Current Residence:	Transient
Marital Status:	Single
Known Relatives:	Margaret Byrne (Mother), David Byrne (Father), various siblings.
Known Powers
Energy Blast, Energy Manipulation, Negative Energy (Dark) Armour, Force Mastery, Negative Energy (Dark) Mastery, Super Speed, Minor Precognitive Abilities.
Known Abilities
Doctorates in Transdimensional Science, Masters in Paranormal Studies, Edged Weaponry, Olympic-level gymnast, parkour, first-aid.
Equipment
Sands of Mu, medical device, emergency teleportation beacon, MAGI security clearance, Zen Foundation communicator
Footnotes
Ex Miscellanea. Alarcity /was/ proud of her role in MAGI, incredibly fastidious in filing reports and often volunteers spare time to organising MAGI's large archive library. She owns one property: a Victorian townhouse in Croatoa and has laid claimed to an abandoned shopping mall in Dark Astoria, but lives in motel rooms wherever MAGI has her on assignment. Implanted inside Alarcity's body is a souvenir of her time with the Circle of Thorns, an enchanted thorn pulsating with black magic. She is terrified that the Circle of Thorns may be able to detect its presence.

Elizabeth Byrne enjoyed a comfortable childhood with a large, but loving family on a small farm just outside Topeka, Kansas. A solitary and precocious child, Elizabeth would spend hours hidden among the corn rows, pouring over any books she could scavenge. Adored by her family and community for her helpfulness and reserved charm, very few realised that a predatory sense of competition lurking inside the girl, and without a means of expression, the seething rage it was mutating into.

Though she was gifted in literature and possessed a broad imagination that aided her pursuing the liberal arts, Byrne devoted herself fully to the challenge of hard science, particularly Physics. She graduated with high enough scores to attract the attention of Portal Corporation and was offered a full scholarship that whisked her (tearfully) to the city of Paragon where she spent a year in basic training before being dispatched to study the abnormal energies surrounding the Portal Corporation facilities on Thorn Isle, in the Nerva Archipelago, in what was sure to be a career-making move.

In the Rogue Isles Byrne developed her distaste for the casual tyranny of Arachnos troops, who she perceived as weak and pathetic creatures, abusing the authority of their distant liege, Lord Recluse. She managed to overcame her simmering anger to keep her head down and pursue Portal Corporation's work, until one day a detachment from The Circle of Thorns abducted her team, and mercilessly slaughtered those who either resisted, or were ill-suited to their plans.

The cult undertook a mass ritual to implant each of the captured scientists with Oranbegan souls. Byrne lured the Cultists into making her the first sacrifice and with a supreme act of will, Byrne was able to subsume the spiritual interloper and regain control of her body. The new energy source provided Byrne with the strength to harness the dark energies of the Circle of Thorns and wield it against the cult and escape. With some help from a mysterious benefactor, Alarcity escaped the underground city of Oranbega- struggling to contain the ancient, mystical energy inside.

Portal Corporation eventually retrieved Byrne and returned her to Paragon City for medical leave. The magic of the Oranbegan soul eventually became too much for the untrained Byrne to bear and she was driven from her own mind. As a barely sentient, slavering animal, oozing mystical energy, Byrne stalked the streets of Downside, hunting and attacking citizenry as the opportunity presented itself, becoming something of an urban myth. MAGI eventually took notice and tracked Elizabeth to an abandoned warehouse where they discovered her performing a bittersweet act of self-murder that forced her Oranbegan passenger into hibernation.

Alarcity is a stern woman whose rarely displayed sense of humour is decidedly acerbic. A thriving disrespect for appointed authority figures means she is more dedicated to the notion of justice than law. As a particularly critical researcher and scholar, Alarcity possesses a keen eye for detail and often points out when statements are contradictory or ideas are poorly communicated. A strong advocate of fighting fire with fire, she considers understanding villainy a corrupting form of knowledge and tries to spare others the burden of carrying it. She is aware this leads many to consider her an arrogant and aloof being and provokes distrust in many she encounters, but considers this the price of doing business.

In most company, Alarcity's body is often tense, particularly around her jaw which causes her to perpetually scowl and her shoulders, which are soldierly straight. It is very rarely that Alarcity openly exhibits the terrible rage that has cursed her since childhood, but the amount of restraint in her movements and the smouldering in her stare make most people unconsciously aware of her dark, simmering fury even if it wouldn't occur to them to identify her as an angry person but may leave them feeling ill at ease.

Alarcity almost always emanates a blue light from somewhere beneath her pale skin. The various shadows she casts shift, like those cast from light being shined through the surface of water. While the effect can be quite entrancing on its own, Alarcity's huntress demeanor reminds most that nature often marks its predators as a kind of warning.

Most people confuse Alarcity's controlling demeanour for an obsession with authority and order. In actuality, Alarcity is a determined anti-authoritarian due to a penchant for critical thinking, disregard for authority granted by social structure and an expectation that everyone will resist the will of herself and others as fiercely as she does. This is not always the case however, and many come away thinking incorrectly that the Warlock expects them to comply rigidly with her commands and conform to her paradigm.

The Zenvious Foundation: Alarcity was a member of The Zenvious Foundation until it was disbanded in the year 2008. Though her worldview did not endear her to many of the Foundation members, she forged something of a reluctant attachment to the child, Vagary Keller. Vagary's recent departure to Nepal may have disappointed Alarcity, had she not sworn off such petty sentiments.

Jetta "Kaijitsu" Yoshiyoto: The quiet and reserved reserve Axiom of The Zen Foundation appears to be the only one to have formed something even resembling friendship with the warlock. Those who have seen the two in eachother's presence note that they seem to communicate with mere glances and subtle gestures rather than words.

Eventide: Alarcity's path has, on occasion, intersected with that of the Rogue Isles assassin, Naomi "Eventide" Voss-Illsley, as they both inhabit the very fringes of mystical society.

Alarcity is a master of positive and negative energies, which she harnesses through complex, mystical means. Though wielding darkness and light may seem contradictory, Alarcity considers the two energies aspects of a greater whole and asserts that in an instance where one weapon does not work, the other will. By dissolving her body into pure energy, she is capable of moving speeds fast enough to render her almost invisible to the human eye, manipulate darkness and to channel kinetic energy in devastating and spectacular displays of power.

Alarcity's power has swelled as she has uncovered more lore about Oranbegan magic. Her power makes little use of potions and magical tools, instead focusing on raw power of one's will to twist reality to match her desires. Her power is primordial and without finesse and almost entirely destructive.

Though she has not deigned to speak on the matter, Alarcity appears to have attracted the attention of the Well of Furies. Reports describe Alarcity snatching bolts of lightning out of the air, summoning phantom armies and stealing the life of her adversaries. Her collegues have noted that Alarcity appears to have exhibited no signs of aging over the years, but it is unknown whether this was a pre-existing condition.

When supporting Black Starbeam against Circle of Thorns mage, Orestes, Alarcity discovered a tome that alluded to the existence of a ritual to bind and consume the power of other creatures. Deciding that her leader would not be able to decipher the tome on his own, she brought it back to the Citadel of Defiance for further study. Alarcity delved further into their plans and discovered an off-world coven operating on the Shadow Shard which planned to use Oranbegan magic to bind and consume the creature known as Faathim the Kind. Intimately familiar with Oranbegan magic, Alarcity transcribed the Circle's ritual and took it for her own.

Upon returning to Earth, Alarcity used the Reciprocators' computer, Resistance, to select and hunt down four targets that possessed mystical energy that she could consume and propel herself to godhead: Baphoment/ ARCH-A, Ruludak the Strong, The Envoy of Shadows and the Pantheon abomination, Adamastor. She gathered her requisite instruments and began hunting down the creatures one by one, in some cases even deceiving fellow Reciprocators into aiding her.

Each of the creatures fell, and unknown to her colleagues, portions of their strength were devoured by Alarcity, each victory further fueling her lust for power. Convinced that it was her destiny to become an Incarnate, she set her sights on acquiring the final element required to propel her into immortality: a symbol of great conviction, recognised the world over. With powers swelling beyond her wildest imagination, Alarcity selected the 'Hero of the City' medallion, worn by Paragon's greatest, as a fitting vessel, and within the week had earned her right to attain it.

The ceremony was held, late at night, in the basement of City Hall with Statesman himself in attendance. Though the medal was presented to Alarcity, at the last moment she had a sudden, inexplicable change of heart. Recognising her plan as an act of monumental hubris, she refused the medal and fled.

Soon after parting ways with The Reciprocators, Alarcity began to make a habit of delving into darker magics as part of her experimentation with arcane energies. She received her formal instruction in magic in a piece-mail form, exchanging favours with a variety of different teachers for scraps of mystical knowledge. This irreverent approach to mysticism did not endear her to any of the existing mystical factions in Paragon City, who regarded her as an outsider, scraping pitifully for power- someone to be used for work that was below true practitioners of the art. Despite this disdain, Alarcity achieved Archmage status and some degree of notoriety among the occult underground.

Alarcity's rogue status was ensured when it became apparent that while she had obtained all the strength of Archmage, she had studied none of the philosophies or principles concerning the perils and responsibilities that accompany such power. Unable or unwilling to allow comrades in The Codex help her negotiate the newfound power, Alarcity took her first steps along the path she felt destined to explore: that of the lone wolf, lurking among the flock. Beholden to no friends or greater authority, for the time being Alarcity is a powerful wildcard, answerable only to her whims and personal demons.

Alarcity and Kaijitsu were independently targeted by assassins on the same night. After overcoming their adversaries, the two heroes set about finding the instigator of these attacks and bringing them to justice. Their investigation lead them to an abandoned Arachnos base, where they encountered the enigmatic Agent Six of Omega Watch. Six informed the two heroes they had been selected for a program to hunt down and eliminate potential Destined Ones, but that an Arachnos Seer had discovered Six's plans and attempted to kill the heroes before they could begin. Worse still, the Fortunata's cell was retreating to Faultline to tell Arachnos of their discovery and gather reinforcements.

Kaijitsu and Alarcity set off in hot pursuit and intercepted the cell in Overbrook Dam. The heroes and villains clashed, with the former emerging victorious.

Following the dissolution of The Zen Foundation, Alarcity retreated from hero life. Deciding that the purging of her fallible, human traits had progressed far enough, she took the experiment to the next level and chose to test her ability to live as a paragon of stoicism without the crutch of posthuman powers. She rid herself of her mystic abilities, storing her power within the Oranbegan thorn at her core and returned to her life as Dr. Elizabeth Byrne. Her body, so dependant on mystic energy, did not take to the change well. Slowly but surely, the memories she had created since first gaining arcane power began to dissolve until Byrne was little more than one of the humans she had once pitied, without even the knowledge of her life as anything more. Though few records exist of her during this time period, it is understood that at some point, Byrne conceived a child with a partner whose identity she has so far refused to divulge.

Enemies of her former supergroup, The Codex, found Byrne in her vulnerable state and abducted her. In interrogating her they unlocked fragments of her hidden memories but Byrne remained defiant. She taunted the men into brutally stabbing her to death, unleashing the Oranbegan soul that had been implanted in her on Thorn Isle. The soul tore Byrne's interrogators apart, but bound to a dying body, found itself unable to escape. Realising that it had been her plan all along, the soul tapped into the energy of the Netherworld to restore Alarcity to life, but left her with a warning that it would always be waiting for her to fall, so it could take over.

As Alarcity's memories were restored they overwrote those from the year prior, including the birth of her child. Her captors attempted to use the information of her child against her, but Alarcity pronounced it did not belong to her, but rather the woman that came before. In her cold rage, she exacted bloody revenge against her captors and made her way back to Paragon City where she was rescued by The Codex.

Fleeting Visions: The origins of the two women that came to be known as Alarcity.

Velociter: A hero's place in the world of the arcane.

High Octane: An old-fashioned, two-fisted car chase story.

"I don't know what is more pitiful: that her past is a lie, her present is a delusion or that her future has already been decided."

-Eventide

"In the most fundamental way, Alarcity is a wonderful example of so many inhuman things that humans must know; that which you admire, you rarely understand. That which is beautiful is rarely truly examined. She is a clockwork of ice, cold and mechanical, and brilliant and beautiful. I give thanks, strange as it is, to have so little to do with her - so I can truly appreciate the depths of her brilliance."

- The Rose Paladin

"She's our fallen star!"

-Vagary, describing Alarcity's place in her 'crew'.

"You can say all you want about her taste in shoes and her refusal to dye her hair purple, but she will never, ever let you down! Unless, you know, you need a backup singer on karaoke night... but in the field she's the best there is! Oh, and don't call her 'Al'! EVER!"

-Julie Surace

"I could not trust the lighter nor the darker sides of my conscience as they were notions that developed before I had a chance to critically assess them, but by the same token I distrusted my primal instincts because they are the product of centuries of human evolution, and biological wants rather than thought processes developed on my own. In doing so, I made an enemy of my own body, separated myself from the human superego and perhaps humanity itself."

-Journal entry.

"I realised that by examining war, and the way that people interact with it, I could perhaps come closer to catching a glimpse of the purity which had so far eluded me."

-Journal entry.

• No, her name is not an unintentional misspelling of "Alacrity".
• If you look closely at the profile picture, you can make out a purple triange. I made Alarcity an archvillain in Mission Architect to get a better screenshot.
• After the events of "Eternity and a Day", Alarcity is an unregistered hero. As far as the CSA is concerned, she is still in retirement.
• Possibly the first ever character on Live to score a killing strike against the Lanaru aspect of Rularuu in the Cathedral of Pain Trial (17 Sep, Yankee Time). Thanks to the three teams who participated.

Professional Murder Music - Something New

Silversun Pickups - It's Nice To Know You Work Alone

Within Temptation - Faster