Silver Key
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Toki would be played by Connie Chiu IRL. | |
| The Silver Key | |
| Player: @Kamidesu | |
| Origin: | Magic |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Controller |
| Security Level: | 25 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Toki Smyth |
| Known Aliases: | Quite a few; ask to find out. |
| Species: | Avatar |
| Age: | Appears to be early twenties |
| Height: | Short |
| Weight: | Light |
| Eye Color: | Blue |
| Hair Color: | White |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Confidential |
| Occupation: | n/a |
| Place of Birth: | Arkham, Massachusetts |
| Base of Operations: | Confidential |
| Marital Status: | ??? |
| Known Relatives: | It's complicated. |
| Known Powers | |
| Gravity Control, Time Manipulation | |
| Known Abilities | |
| n/a | |
| Equipment | |
| n/a | |
| n/a | |
(Recently remade on Homecoming's Everlasting server. Relationships, archetypes etc. will be updated eventually; will probably do a complete revamp/rewrite of everything since I feel like I can write better now, but this is a good reference until that happens.)
Origins
Toki Smyth was the product of a loving marriage between Isabel and Erik Smyth. They were newlyweds and like most celebrated heavily and consummated their new union during the honeymoon, only to return to their home of Arkham a week later. The following month was full of all the playfulness and ruckus expected of a young marriage, but that all changed when it drew to a close. Isabel was pregnant. This came as a shock to the couple; they wanted kids, but hadn't expected to have any so soon! So towel-snapping turned to home renovations...Erik wanted their child to have the best he could afford.
With a newly furnished room, painted pink as soon as they found out it was to be a girl, Erik felt like he had done everything he could to prepare for the arrival of their daughter. He was proud, and Isabel glowed with joy at her husband.
This moment of bliss was short-lived.
Without any warning, Isabel crashed to the floor, suffering some sort of stroke. In a panic, Erik called 911. At the hospital it was found that Isabel had experienced a fatal brain aneurysm, and would not survive the night. His unborn daughter would likely follow in her mother's footsteps. Grief-stricken with the loss of his wife, Erik refused to let his daughter simply die. He begged and he pleaded, desperate for the doctors to try anything they possibly could to save her daughter.
Unbeknownst to the panicked father, the doctors had planned for this...For witch-cursed, legend-haunted Arkham is mysterious in its ways.
His daughter was saved, but he wouldn't realize the cost until the tragedy was far past.
Erik never stopped grieving for his dead Isabel. He buried his sorrow by doting on his daughter, and so she grew up never knowing what it was to truly want anything. As she aged, it was apparent that she had inherited her mother's frail body, which caused her father to be overprotective...Not wanting to let whatever had beset his wife to strike his darling girl. What a surprise it was then that one sunny morning he went to awake the sleeping Toki...Only to find that she hadn't slept a wink and apparently spent the whole night plastering her walls with post-it-notes containing what seemed to be doodles of bubbles.
"I am the Gate and I am the Key," She proclaimed vehemently before she passed out.
Erik wasn't sure how he held himself together, but he managed to gather the fallen body of his daughter and bring her over to Arkham's finest asylum. There they claimed that she was unstable and for her own safety and the safety of her father, she was put in solitary confinement.
From behind two-way glass they observed, muttering excitedly between each other. As days passed, Toki became more and more restless...Wandering in aimless circles in her cell, she refused food and fell unconscious at the drop of a pin. Differences in behavior weren't the only changes noted; as she spent more and more time in that room, her color seemed to drain...Leaving her a pale white save for the ghostly blue of her eyes.
This sent her doctors into an uproar. Their gamble was a success! They had managed to create a container to hold the All-in-One and the One-in-All...
Only to let out a disappointed moan when, with the fizzle-pop of bubbles, the vessel disappeared.
For what room could truly contain space-time?
The Vessel
It was an All-in-One and One-in-All of limitless being and self — not merely a thing of one Space-Time continuum, but allied to the ultimate animating essence of existence's whole unbounded sweep — the last, utter sweep which has no confines and which outreaches fancy and mathematics alike. It was perhaps that which certain secret cults of earth have whispered of as YOG-SOTHOTH, and which has been a deity under other names; that which the crustaceans of Yuggoth worship as the Beyond-One, and which the vaporous brains of the spiral nebulae know by an untranslatable Sign...
- —H. P. Lovecraft & E. Hoffmann Price, Through the Gates of the Silver Key
Through this provided body the Gate and the Key can interact with the plane of humans on a physical level, although her frame has been pushed so far beyond its natural capacity that her tangibility has essentially been halved. This is not to say that she's fragile - imbued with the power of her patron, Toki's body is near indestructible...It simply moves closer and closer to the natural form of space-time as it is damaged. Given enough rest, bubbles will realign and dissipate, and the vessel will return to its normal, mostly-human appearance.
Touching Toki is almost like touching jello. There is resistance on the surface, but with enough force, something can pass entirely through her body...Depending on the state and strength of the vessel, less or more force may be required to get through her. Due to the scale of her Patron, Toki is often pulled elsewhere while her physical form remains wherever she was at the time. It doesn't matter what she's doing, where or how, if she's required she will go. To those not informed, these appear like narcoleptic fits, striking at random and with no warning.
Although being a quasi-physical conduit for something beyond the stars has removed most of what makes Toki human, there are human needs buried deeply within her. She views these with mild indifference, neither pushing them away or truly embracing them.
Anchors
Anchoring is a process that can stabilize Toki's focus or the tangibility of her form. Although sparked through quasi-physical contact, it reaches far beyond mere touch, to a more fundamental level. Temporal beings or those associated with her patron (or its kin) can act as a nexus or pillar of strength in times of need. The longevity of such benefits are generally limited to the touch-link, though creatures of enough power can offer a buffer that lasts for days after the initial anchor is placed.
Personality
Toki is best described as perpetually relaxed. She never raises her voice or hand at anyone, and is content to simply observe her surroundings. She is polite to an extent, but isn't afraid to point out the shortcomings of humans or to let them know when they're boring her. Her speech pattern is bizarre, stressing certain words at odd times as well as using 'We' and 'Us' to refer to herself.
While not generally prone to human emotions, the presence of certain people or things have been shown to amplify the residual 'human' fragments left behind from the occupation of her as a vessel. Surprisingly, she makes for a very gentle person. She is nurturing, she is trusting, she is affectionate...Although perhaps from being so withdrawn from such emotions for so long a time, she rarely has a 'stopper' for these feelings. Her highs are unbelievably high, thus her lows are very, very low. Concern can border on obsession, and she will place her 'life' in the hands of those she determines trustworthy.
In a somewhat ironic twist, Toki has developed something of a tactile fixation. Whether brought on by the near-constant inability to truly touch anything, broken only by brief bursts of solidity, or by the surfacing of more 'human' emotions remains unclear...But sprawling cat-like on the shoulders of her favorite people seems to be a new pastime for her.
This section will be expanded as time passes.
Interactions and Relationships
(all entries subject to editing as time passes)
Mister Wisp: "Dear Wisp" as she calls him is something of a curiosity to Toki...Due to his relationship with obtaining memories and small tidbits of time, she considers him a "part" of her, and thus holds a sort of bizarre affection for and a need to protect him. She may not be able to explain her feelings for Wisp, but what she can definitively state is that she wants to preserve whatever she has with him to the utmost of her abilities. She will stop space-time and risk her existence for him, paying no heed to judgment or ridicule.
Reft: While not connected to her pantheon specifically, Reft has enough similarities for Toki to call him an Ally. She has a plethora of nicknames for him and enjoys his company and interactions on the same level she does that of the Night Messenger.
Miscellaneous Tidbits
Words:
The Silver Key (H. P. Lovecraft)
Through the Gates of the Silver Key (H. P. Lovecraft and E. Hoffmann Price)
Tunes:
Click here for her playlist
