Shadow Swords
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| "What's with the camera?" | |
| Shadow Swords | |
| Player: @Night.Fyre | |
| Origin: | Magic |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Scrapper |
| Security Level: | 45 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Jeremy "Remy" Knorr |
| Known Aliases: | None known |
| Species: | Not quite Human |
| Age: | 26 |
| Height: | 7' 2" |
| Weight: | 297 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Silver |
| Hair Color: | Blond |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Former surfer and bartender |
| Place of Birth: | Portland, Oregon |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City, Talos Island |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Jack Knorr (father, deceased), Mandy Green (mother, estranged), half-siblings |
| Known Powers | |
| Dual-wield swords, Dark Armor, Teleportation | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Supernatural perceptions, Natural Mental Shields, Attuned to Nether-energies, Minor ability with magic | |
| Equipment | |
| Swords and Armor of manifested Shadow | |
| ((Origin story on AE! Mission arc: )) | |
Contents |
Description
Appearance
Shadow Swords is extraordinarily tall man that appears not quite human. His skin is colored rather like he uses fake tanning products, but he will assure you that he doesn't. His eyes do not have any apparent iris or pupil, and appear a uniform silvery-white. His hair is still a quite natural-looking blonde, however.
Other distinguishing characteristics are the arcane writings that are permanently inscribed on his body. They are visible on his arms and chest, but it is said they are inscribed on his entire body, all the way down his legs, but he is rarely seen completely shirtless, and almost never in shorts. There is also a mark under his right eye.
When Shadow speaks, his deep voice seems hollow and echoing, as if it is coming from a deep void or well, but yet it is at a normal audible volume, quite audible to any listener.
Personality
Shadow Swords seems rather quiet and introspective at most times, but it is possible to draw him into conversation quite easily. He is friendly and amiable, willing to chat about almost anything, but sometimes there is just something not quite right about his reactions or speech. It is almost sometimes as if he is reading from a script, and he occasionally slips up.
He is also strangely unflappable. It is not as if he acts emotionlessly, but he never seems to be surprised by anything that happens to or around him, simply acting as if it was something he had been expecting. And when he does have emotional reactions, they always seem be delayed, almost as if they were an afterthought.
History and Origin
Growing Up, Surf Style...
Jeremy "Remy" Knorr was not your typical kid growing up. He was raised by his father in Portland, Oregon. His parents, Jack and Mandy, were never married, since they were beach bums, and hadn't planned on him. They gave the relationship a try for just over a year for Remy's sake, but eventually his mother decided she really wasn't *quite* ready to settle down, much less with Remy's father. They both loved Remy, though, and since Mandy was more restless than Jack, they agreed that Remy would stay with Jack, and she packed up her bags and left them both behind when Remy was barely a toddler.
Jack Knorr did his best for Remy, though. He worked harder than he had ever before to make ends meet, and he tried to make sure Remy had ample chances to interact with other boys, but he soon learned that Remy wasn't that interested in sports like most boys. But a weekend foray to the beach soon proved more rewarding, as it soon became apparent that Remy had inherited his father's love for surfing. So, throughout his childhood, they had frequent weekend trips to the beach so both of them could pursue their passion.
Remy was never very dedicated to school, but when he began attending his local high school, he was gratified to learn they had a surf club, with organized outings to beaches, and a sponsorship from one of the nearby surf shops. During the summer months, they had frequent meets at the beach, and a couple of the local pros would coach them a bit. Seeing a true talent in Remy, they encouraged him to enter into the local competitions. He even placed in the top ten in his first few tries.
Thus passed most of his high school days. He continued to compete in the local contests, and his father would come out and cheer him on. He may not have been popular at school, but he certainly didn't lack for friends or support.
Invasion
Remy had just finished his Junior year of high school, and was looking forward to a summer of surfing and maybe working beachside for a little extra cash, when the world turned upside down . . . for the Rikti invaded.
Perhaps his nascent talent may have given him a bit of warning, perhaps it did nothing, but when he saw the red lights appear in the sky, he knew they were portals, and that there was something bad going to happen. Remy called his father on the job and told him come home immediately, but Jack assured him that there was no danger. Even if they were portals, the heroes of Portland should be able to take care of it, as most of them had trained in Paragon City, and they had a branch of the Freedom Phalanx here.
That was the last he spoke with his dad. Shortly after, the Rikti came through the portals, and destroyed much of downtown Portland in minutes. Remy knew his only hope was hiding, so hide he did. A 17 year-old kid who had grown up in the city knew it better than any invading alien force, and he was able to survive for several months that way, scavenging in the ruins. After nearly five months of dodging scouts and warriors, though, his luck nearly ran out one day when a squad of Rikti infantry cornered him in a warehouse on the outskirts of Portland. But the same squad had attracted the notice of one of the few surviving heroes in Portland, who had been able to survive because of his teleportation abilities. He popped into the warehouse, grabbed Remy, and 'ported them both to safety before the Rikti had a chance to even get a shot off.
Remy was taken to a shelter for civilians, and soon his suspicions were confirmed that his father had not survived the initial invasion. He had known the building where Jack had worked had been completely destroyed in the first minutes of the attack, but he had held on to hope that somehow his dad had made it out in time. The shelters had become networked, and his hopes were quickly dashed as the few survivors of the building were able to confirm that Jack was not among them. However, he discovered that his mother had not only survived, but was assisting managing a shelter outside of Berkeley, California, and she learned of his arrival at the Portland shelter within the week. She had apparently actually met a man down there within a few years of leaving Remy and his father, and had loved him enough to get married. Remy had five younger half-siblings the oldest of which was 13 years, and a sixth on the way. It was a few more weeks before it was safe for Remy to go to them, but when the Rikti retreated, since he was still a minor, to his mother he went.
Uprooted
Remy had a hard time adjusting to his new family. He was used to having only his father and him. Now, he was constantly tripping over younger siblings, and having to deal with rules that he wasn't used to. Though he was sorely pressed to keep his temper at times, he managed to finish High School, and tested well enough to apply for several scholarships. So when Paragon City University offered him one he immediately accepted, and moved himself across the country, away from the family he was not used to.
Paragon City was very different from anything he had experienced before. The constant battles in the street between heroes and villains was both exciting and disconcerting. The citizens of Paragon were rightly proud of all their heroes, yet they were so jaded to the constant conflict, that it was as normal to them as traffic jams were to a New Yorker. Remy quickly learned not to linger at the battles, however, as some of the gangs were less than caring about bystanders, even using them against heroes.
He was fortunate in finding a cheap apartment over one of the beachside shops on Talos Island, and commuted to PCU for his classes, working odd jobs along the beach. He eventually managed to get on as a bartender at one of the bars on Spanky's Boardwalk, which let him be part of the regular beachside crowd, eventually becoming well-recognized amongst the locals.
But he lived for the surfing, even though the waves weren't nearly as large as the ones on the west coast. He would often catch boat rides out to the outer islands on the weekends, and camp overnight. He never thought he could get in trouble out there, as he certainly wasn't the only one riding waves and camping.
Ordeal and Transformation
Unbeknownst to Remy, there were those who had taken notice of him, for he possessed a very rare natural magical talent: He was a Channel, capable of opening himself to other realms and planes of existence, and being a conduit for those energies. It was untrained, of course, but the Circle of Thorns weren't interested in giving him training anyways. They wanted to use his ability to create a permanent portal to the Netherworld, one which would enable them to tap into it's limitless dark energies, and allow congress between the Circle and its inhabitants. There was one small difficulty with the ritual, however; any Channel so used would be completely obliterated from existence, body and soul, as the portal opened. Needless to say, since they didn't need his willing cooperation, they simply took him one night when he was out on one of his weekend excursions.
Fortunately for him, The Midnight Club discovered the Circle's plans and mounted a rescue. After some small difficulty in tracking down where the ritual would take place, they arrived in time to prevent the Circle's forced sacrifice of the young man. Because the ritual was disrupted before completion, they believed Remy would be fine, and simply took him to the hospital to be checked over.
No sooner had they returned from dropping Remy off, when they received a panicked call from the hospital, that Remy had suddenly begun attacking everyone in sight with some sort of dark magic. They quickly returned, and discovered that Remy had been possessed by a demonic entity. After a difficult fight (for they didn't want to kill the young man, or permanently hurt him), they were able to forcibly subdue him, and attempted to drive the entity out. Though weakened by the fight, the dark spirit was still able to resist them, for the ritual had caused Remy to be forcibly opened to the Netherworld, and so the entity was able to use his talent to draw the energy it needed to keep from being driven out. When they instead attempted to destroy the entity, it fused itself to Remy's soul, choosing to have at least some part of it survive, rather than face complete annihilation.
Remy's mind and personality came out as dominant due to the Midnighter's actions, but he was no longer quite human. The Nether-spirit had changed him, body and soul: He was now permanently attuned to the dark energies of the nether-realm, and his ability to channel any other kind of magic was reduced almost to nothing; and the being had wrought such changes on his body that he no longer could pass as human.The Midnighters helped him learn to control his abilities, but they could not reverse the changes. However, they pointed out to him that with his new abilities, he would no longer be in danger of anyone attempting the same plan as the Circle. He could actually also use them to strike back at the Circle, and protect others from facing his same fate. He agreed reluctantly at first, but as he began to assist the Midnight Club in their endeavors, he found he enjoyed the thrill of the fight, and threw himself into it with whole-heartedly. And so Remy Knorr became Shadow Swords
Today
Shadow Swords has been an active, registered Hero for a few years now, and is still a member of The Midnight Club. He still resides in Talos Island, but now has a roommate, the hero Leather Fyre, and the two of them take turns looking out for the citizens of Paragon City. His power has grown such that there are few opponents he finds challenging. Although he certainly is not one of the most powerful heroes, he is not too far below them in ability either.
He has learned some things about his powers as well. Although he still can't appear human, he has learned how to return to his normal height, as well as transform into something even less human -- although he is not very comfortable doing so.
Powers
Shadow Swords' connection with the Netherworld allows him to channel it's energies in several ways, but as classified in his hero registry, his primary power is melee with Dual Swords, and secondary is Dark Armor.
Dual-wielded Swords
The source of his nom de guerre, these swords are made of manifested shadow-energy through his connection to the the Netherworld. Although he can vary the shape, he tends to favor the longer-bladed styles such as longsword or katana.
Because of their nature as manifested shadow, they can be solid or phased, allowing Shadow Swords to physically cut his target, or psychically disrupt without physical harm. This also means that such insubstantial beings such as ghosts or spectres are not immune to his strikes as they are to many physical attacks.
Dark Armor
Shadow Swords can also channel the energies of the Netherworld into protection, manifesting armor that protects him from much of the rigors of his day to day adventures. His teachers say that the visible armor plates he usually manifests are unnecessary, but he rarely worries over that detail.
Teleportation
Shadow Swords can bypass normal space-time travel due to his extra-dimensional link. With a moment's concentration, he can reach through the space between dimensions to pull a friend to him, across long distances. He can also step through that same space himself, allowing shorter, line-of-sight travel.
Flight
Recently, Shadow Swords has begun to manifest demonic wings that have granted him the ability to fly. He has actually admitted some dismay at this development, but has been consoled that with some effort he can make them disappear. This ability may have something to do with his half-demonic nature, but he hasn't been eager to explore what this may mean, being unwilling to delve deeper into that side of his nature.
Other
Due to the merging of his soul with a nether-being, Shadow Swords possesses the ability to see magic, spirits, and ghosts, even when it is not apparent to others. He can see into the ethereal and astral planes, and is especially attuned to the presence of demons and other nether-entities.
Being a conduit to the netherworld, his mind has become occluded by its energies, effectively giving him a strong natural mental shield. It takes a very powerful Mage or Psychic to bypass these shields, and those few who have, report that his mind isn't quite human, but neither is it quite demonic. This may be why he tends to see past illusions and deceptions as if they weren't there, as they were not created to deceive a mind that is neither human nor demonic but something in between.
He has also learned some minor magics, such as some minor healing spells, and charms, although he tends to use these only occasionally, as he tends to be in the middle of melee too much to be an effective healer.
