Sulphurous
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Sulphurous | |
| Player: @Peripheral | |
| Origin: | Magic |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Mastermind |
| Security Level: | Confidential |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Unknown |
| Known Aliases: | John Sumner, formerly Jane Sumner |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | Actual age unknown, current age irrelevant |
| Height: | 6'2" |
| Weight: | 160 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Brown |
| Hair Color: | Blond |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | N/A |
| Place of Birth: | Unknown |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City, Rhode Island |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Unknown |
| Known Powers | |
| Demon summoning, some magic, functionally immortal | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Confidential | |
| Equipment | |
| Silver necklace, notebook | |
| No additional information available. | |
Contents |
Affiliations
- "She"- John refuses to name the demon who owns his soul, but he remains convinced that she is constantly out-thinking him and enjoys tormenting him.
- Glimmergirl (aka Tricia Sorrell)- Despite his insistence that he doesn't have children, John has allowed himself to be adopted as Tricia's "foster father," reasoning that he owes Tricia for returning his notebook to him after his last death and that he can never fully repay her. His attempts to provide for her consist of throwing himself ever more into his work while still trying to hide its nature from her. Tricia has taken it upon herself to run their household and remind him to eat and sleep regularly, and he arguably needs her more than she needs him.
Personality
John is unstable at best. He is paranoid, hypervigilant, and prone to hysterical laughing fits when frightened. It is unclear how much of this stems from his original self and how much is a result of ongoing difficulty accepting his situation or the fragmentation of his personality as the bulk of his memories are lost upon each of his deaths. When calmer, he is an opportunistic coward. He tends to fall into a pattern of petty criminal activity while taking compulsive and often counterproductive measures to avoid drawing attention to himself. Given a chance, he will try to talk his way out of any threat he encounters.
His main goal is survival. Despite his dissatisfaction with his situation and insistence that bargaining with demons is a bad idea overall, he is unwilling to consider a straight reversal of his deal. He maintains that he likes being alive and that without his ersatz reincarnation it's probably not a possibility.
Powers
Though John would rather avoid combat, when pressed he will reflexively start summoning demons to his defense. He displays some limited magical ability, ranging from creating a flaming whip to minor healing and defensive spells, but he cannot explain how he manages these or why he chooses those specific effects. These seem to follow the same pattern as John's remembered abilities: he can only produce effects automatically and will generally fail if his attention is drawn to the process.
John is functionally immortal. Upon each of his deaths, his soul transfers to a new body and begins again. However, most of his memories are lost or confused in the process. Death remains a large setback.
Abilities
John retains some procedural memories from his past selves, and this sometimes gives him skills in areas where his current self may have no experience. Such actions are usually performed automatically, and drawing John's attention to them can jar him out of the state needed to retrieve the applicable memories.
Weaknesses and Limitations
Most of John's memories are lost each time he dies, and those that remain are often jumbled and without context. He may recall something an earlier self did several decades ago but have difficulty remembering what the Internet is or that the Soviet Union collapsed. Sums of money have very little meaning to him unless paired with some explanation of their current worth.
This partial mindwipe on death has been exploited by the demon owning John's soul at least once, and may have been originally intended to make him more compliant. It also means that John cannot remember the original terms of his deal or why he thought it was important. However, this may actually help keep John relatively sane by helping him repress memories of his many deaths.
Equipment
Each version of "John" wears a fine silver chain necklace despite apparently being allergic to it, and he will scratch himself raw within a few days of getting a new body. If pressed, he will admit that he thinks he sold his soul for the chain and will refuse to consider removing it.
At a friend's urging, John's last self, Jane, kept a notebook of her recollections including lists of people and places she wanted to remember and other information that could help her or her later selves piece together their original identity. John keeps this close at hand.
Character History
The bulk of John's history is unknown. Some of his recollections place him in Paragon City as early as the 1930s, but he has not lived in the city continuously since then. His last self spent most of her life in the Rogue Isles and was certain none of her earlier selves had been there before.
Trivia
- Theme song: "The Royal We" by Silversun Pickups
