Disheartener

Through several somewhat convoluted plot points and a need to have a few power combinations for my main character that didn't suck all kinds of butt, Disheartener was born from the ashes of Lady Equilibria, to replace the claws/regen scrapper as my main. She has a few more forms, but my want to play a dark melee/willpower helped fuel this need for Lady E's slimmer, and more personable^[2] form.

Lady Equilibria, a hero that had a long-standing relationship with the Reciprocators and their kind had found herself at a cross-roads. She found out that her large and highly awkward package had come with an expiration date, and it was nearing far faster than she had wanted.

She had a choice to make, to let her body fall away and take it as her fate to die there as she had always been destined to, or to make her way through the darkness and create her life anew with a new body and a new, randomly generated set of mutations or powers-- it was highly possible she might even come up with nothing at all, as the genetics were pulled from her original body, but altered slightly to give her her own personage. She chose, with the help of her family, The Reciprocators, to take a new body and shove her soul within. She didn't know what would happen, or if she'd come out of it was any semblance of actual use to them or anyone else, but she had to take that shot.

After the highly weird experience of having her soul shift from one body to another, she awoke with a newfound sense of self, realising that life had always been her own, and from that day forward she'd fight to make sure everyone had that chance. She shrugged off the former moniker of Lady Equilibria, a yoke pushed on her by her creator of before, and waited for powers to manifest to take her new one.

After her body shift, Lilith was left with little room to actually breathe, instead left in wait to see if her new body would form any sort of powers or if she would be left powerless and out of the hero game forever. It was weeks before she saw any kind of real formation from the powers front, though she did keep up with training in her martial arts, to keep herself in check and keep on her game. Through several shifts in her DNA mutation, it took a while for things to actually be apparent in her, and while most mutations form over a life time, with a body genetically engineered to perform as an organic source that was forcibly aged, she was left without knowledge of when the mutations themselves would crop up, and how many she might get after the appearance of the first few.

Originally, she wasn't sure exactly what had manifested from her, the power seeming a little beyond her grasp, but everything felt as if were swelling inside of her, an amalgam of everything she'd ever felt in her lifetime coming out through her emotions. She was, for a time, completely incapable of controlling the new powers, and spent much of her time trying to get a grasp on what they were, and what that meant for her future.

She found, however, that her powers were much more potent than she had originally thought; it wasn't just a manifesting of everything she'd felt that was weighing her down, but every target she came in contact with seemed to seep off everything they'd ever felt-- the good, the bad, the ugly, and the downright terrifying all seemed to flow from their bodies and within Lilith's own, and it was then that she realised the power her hands held.

She was able to swing some tests with a specialist who ruled that Lilith's hands were not exactly normal, a length of tiny fibrous tendrils flowing across their surface, somewhat like a spider has along its legs, only through her mutation it drew away emotions and strength from her foes, leaving them winded and sooner or later, collapsed in a heap on the ground.

It was a terrifying prospect to realise that the touch of another's hand was a thing of the past, at least as far as most people were concerned, but more than that she had to learn how to control the power that had now bubbled up inside of her, finding a way to keep hold of herself as to not drain someone to the point of pure death. Powers seeping into her body in a mix of bright colours, signifying random emotions from people nearby made her seem like some kind of tripped out raver more than a hero, but the bleeding of energy that soon was apparent from her eyes-- a flowing, ever mobile stream of the energy she had taken-- was evident of just exactly how much control she had learned.

It is only recently that she has come to terms so well with those powers as to shift the energy she drained from others into illusions and manifestations of people's darkest fears to help her allies and terrify her foes, a useful tool for her future fights with The Reciprocators and their kin.

Along with the ability to drain and use the emotions of others, she was blessed with a highly odd power of ice control, which causes her body to run a good twenty degrees colder than most, yet comfortable to her. To most she would seem well beyond dead and as if she'd spent time in a meat locker, but she seems more than comfortable in any temperature, able to control just exactly how deep that cold goes. With practice, she has been able to find a way to use that cold to bolster her allies and stop her foes cold, but it's still a work in progress as far as that is concerned.

It's a bit odd, considering her former body's penchant for fire^[3], but she seems to be adapting to the change rather well.

(OOC NOTE: Her Willpower is considered to just be Lilith gritting her teeth and bearing it, therefore it isn't considered a mutation so much as a determination of her will to live.)

While Lilith lacks a proper family^[4], so to speak, having no siblings or parents-- her original body was a clone of a pseudo-famous hero who was meant to protect Paragon from the Rikti-- she has found family and friends within a handful of people, as well as her adopted family within The Reciprocators, something not to be taken lightly by her as she would do anything for them as she knows they would do for her. She has spent many hours toiling away at working for the Heroes of the city and never felt as close and attached to anyone as she has her family within "the 'Cips".

To break that down, there have been some personal files released of her relation to a few specific people within that group, as well as others across the board:

Black Starbeam--Though not the first person she met within The Reciprocators, Starbeam seems to be the one she has gotten closest to the quickest (along with Static Bolter), finding herself attracted to the both of them in the way a woman would be latched onto her siblings. She'd never known a love as familial as she did with Starbeam, whom she still refers to as Boss at his behest at hating being called Sir, and she doubts she'll ever feel that close to anyone again.

Static Bolter--Along with Black Starbeam, Beth seems to be one of the people that Lilith will stand in front of in the case of danger before any other, without hesitation. Even through the body transfer and the amalgam of new powers and feelings coursing through her, her bond with Beth and Starbeam shine well beyond where she imagined she'd ever find herself. Beth is the kind of person that makes you want to protect her regardless, and with Lil, she takes that twenty steps further.

Pariah Flux--Fluxie, though absent of late in Lilith's life, seems to have managed to secure a place as a long-time friend, if only because of the memory of her awkwardness on Halloween one year, and Flux's outward attempt to keep her on her toes by snapping her panties. It takes friends to make you comfortable, but it takes real friends to make you feel comfortable in such an odd way.

Officer Zap--A long time crush and brief paramour of Lilith, Akechi's sudden disappearance from her life^[5] seems to have taken a part of her that she wasn't ready to give up. It took time, but she slowly let herself realise that perhaps his absence was something far more than just him needing time away, or being on business, and she let her hold on him go, at least in part. Though, a part of her will always hold him deep within as that old man it took years for her to get to see her, and the only man to ever compare her beauty to that of the stars while taking her into space.

Androgyne--Probably one of the oddest, and most interesting people that Lilith has ever met, she found a quick rapport with Ani. Something about feeling a bit out of eir element and being completely out of this world is probably one of the biggest reasons Lilith finds Ani to be a friend. It's a budding relationship, but it's there nonetheless.

Charged Wolf--Lance is one of Lil's oldest friends, beyond those she met within the 'Cips, and for as long as she can remember he's been by her side, trying to help her and keep her afloat. When her new mutations arose and she found herself alone, the absence of Officer Zap being untimely in that instance, Lance took his place by her side and helped her as much through her troubles as he could. For years he'd been attempting to get her to date him, and finally she gave in after she gave herself a good while to mourn her heart's latest shattering, and is happy for the decision she made.

Cyberette--Jess was the other giant woman, and before Lil's body transfer, she felt an immense connection to the woman, even though Jess seemed to be more self-conscious about her own height and size, Lil went out of her way to try and show just how much you can own that type of body and make people wish they had it. Legs for days, she would say, and now that she's more petite, she still shows sorrow for the loss of her long legs. When she notices Jess' sadness, she attempts to try and cheer her up, feeling the woman could use with a little good in her life.

Kitsuki Kaijuko--Though she hasn't seen Kits in a long while, she still feels like she's one of those people that she can depend on, and whom can depend on her. Life throws you curve balls, but there's something about knowing family is behind you that draws people together, and Kits is a person you want on your side.

The Noisebomb--She found Chad in her life about the time she was realising it was about to end, and rather than feeling depressed about it, she felt somewhat upbeat about it, just being around him. There's something about Chad that draws her in, that kind of childish innocence pointed with a bravado all his own. She hasn't seen Chad much of late, and wishes he'd show up more, but she can't make a man come to her, as much as she wants sometimes.

Huntsman Fury--Absent of late, Jack is one of the friends she made through connections in the Isles and his father, Goji Zihla, finding a fast friend in a man she had no idea about and is/was pretty sure is evil. Jack seems to have made his way to Paragon and taken up the mantle of his father in an attempt to redeem himself after his father's death, and taking care of his mother, Anniellante, but Lil has yet to see much of him. He has his own family, but he always has a place within hers as well.

Boulder Wolf--Lance's brother was the first person to ever actually go out of his way to protect her, even though she was giant sized and didn't seem to need much protection- he took it upon himself to protect her, looking over her as her guardian. She still has the set of spiritual chains he wrapped around her one day that were meant to let him know if she were ever in trouble.

Troy Darkwood--She still isn't exactly sure what happened to Darkwood, but she does know that for a while she was tutoring Alexander, and that was long after Troy had disappeared- somehow it seems as if Troy stopped existing on this plane, even though he was meant to be Immortal. He was a friend, and though they had drifted apart, she still worries about exactly what happened to him.

Tzun Locke--Another friend that seems to have fallen off the face of the map. As much as she wishes she could spend time searching for Tzun, her hands are full with the life she has now, and she only hopes that he finally took her advice and ran off with his would-be wife.

Seer Arcana--Estranged is one way to describe the relationship between Lil and her proverbial soul mate, Rome. Once engaged, they seemed almost perfect for each other; he made her more of a lady, and she made him loosen up when he direly needed to stretch his legs, but through no one's fault they slipped apart and she still feels the brunt of that deep within her, despite the lack of ill will between the two of them. If he were only around more maybe they could mend fences even further.

According to Lilith, the entire ideology behind most hero names is ridiculous. It usually is doing nothing to protect their secret identity, as almost all the heroes she knows are pretty open about who they are-- instead it seems a way to tack on some kind of pun to your personage through your power sets or something about your heritage. Sometimes, it even seems as if hero names are merely chosen for how pretty they look when written down, and for that reason when Lilith was asked for her new hero name for her Hero ID, she shrugged and called in a secondary source to choose one for her.

Said source has asked to remain anonymous, but helped with the thinking of the Disheartener, because of how her powers were manifesting and their ability to literally draw the heart right out of people and make them wish they'd never seen daylight. When her secondary mutations were born, her name benefactor joked that she should lose the skirt and pants, put on a leotard (a modification of the uniform she designed with Reciprocators specs), and take on the name Rime and Unreason, a poke at the fact that her powers showed people what they least wanted to see and her ice powers were cold as ice. Her benefactor seemed to find this hilarious, and Lil just let it go, realising that she would merely wear the moniker as a yoke wrapped around her shoulders again, but still continue on her own heroing path.

• Lilith has a severe love for spicy food, especially shrimp.
  • her controller does not.
• Lilith loves music; it's her passion, and she plays piano like a goddess, one of her biggest 'talents'.
• Lilith had a dog when she lived with Rome-- his name was Rex, Destroyer of Worlds^[6], but at the current time it's unknown where Rex is.
• She once worked in retail, and now works as an Intern, the place of which is undisclosed.
• Her story revamp is stupid and a bit convoluted, but I wished to play my character, so I'm aware but don't care.
• She reached 50 on Double EXP Weekend, 2011.
• She has several powers^[7].
• Lilith doesn't believe in God.
• Lilith chose the name because she liked it, her original form of Lady Equilibria was given no name at creation.
• She's an amalgam of a lot of concepts I kind of dig, and she's not meant to make anyone happy, but if you enjoy her; bonus.
• Sometimes Lilith doesn't respond to people talking to her because she's listening to music through ear buds carefully hidden beneath her mask.
• As much as she loves the Reciprocators, sometimes she feels she doesn't belong anywhere.
• She's her controller's first character, and her most beloved, surviving through many hissy fits and rumour spreads that ran her controller off game.
• She has a long scar down the length of her back after having a mishap with a guy using a broadsword just after her body transfer-- her regeneration was gone and it scarred beautifully^[8].
• Punks jump up.

Nothing speaks as ridiculously hard to me, or Disheartener, as music and art. So here will be displayed her playlist^[9], which will be a deeper sight into her heart and soul than anything I could write, as well as commissioned art pieces^[10] I've had done of her that didn't fit into the page proper (as well as links to the original, full size images and artists who they were commissioned from, for great justice).