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World of Darkness: Attrition - [Vargr] Declan "Owns-The-Night" Perault


Owns-The-Night

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Quote: "It's your choice: we can do this the easy way, and that's best all round except for your pride. So tuck tail, chump, or we'll go the hard way."

Background: Different. Always different. Dreams of blood, dreams of freedom and the clean scent of sharp winter air. Declan grew up in the Montana wilderness, raised by his uncle and taught to hunt, shoot and forage in the woods and mountains that were the world for him. A world he took to almost too well. His childhood was punctuated by episodes of him running off into the forests at night, only to wake up with no memory of the long chases his uncle would have to endure in order to bring the child back home, regardless of the weather. When he was twelve, however, the old man died of pneumonia doubtless brought on by over-exposure to the elements during a particularly arduous chase through a winter blizzard, and left Declan to the tender mercies of the foster system. It was not a success.

Always home-schooled before, Declan did not adapt well to the hurly-burly of public education, and his peers did not adapt well to the taciturn, strange-eyed kid who didn't care about music or cars or video games, who stared out the window and dreamed of running through the woods, drawing idle pencil-sketches on his books. He still sleep-walked, but the episodes got milder and milder as the forests grew more distant to him and the city drowned out the wilderness's call.

At the age of 16, going nowhere, having nothing, and lacking any direction to his life he joined the Army. He found a direction there, a focus. He found the hard life of a light infantryman to his tastes, and re-enlisted as soon as his first term was up, volunteering for Ranger School and passing with flying colours. Promotion to sergeant, then First Sergeant came readily. Then came Afghanistan.

Despite all the training, something in Declan came apart in the mountains of the Middle East. He started to hallucinate and worse, sleepwalk at night time, causing his platoon leader to worry. The subtle sense of wrongness, of not belonging, crept back into Declan's mind, making him erratic and prone to fits of anger. Finally, the Storm that was hanging over the young soldier broke during a night-time ambush.

None of the survivors of Dec's unit can clearly recount what happened that night. Most agreed behind closed doors that they had seen a huge dog or wolf rip into the enemy, shrugging off bullets and rending the Taliban fighters limb from limb in a gruesome display of savage bloodlust. The insurgents broke and ran, the beast following them. The U.S. troops, unclear as to what was really going on, kept their heads down, holding position until dawn and listening to the deep throated howls that echoed over the desert and chilled the blood.

Dec woke up before dawn the next morning back at the company's forward base, asleep next to the oasis there and stark naked, covered in blood. He remembered everything of the previous night. The bloodlust, how good it had felt to tear into the prey even while his human mind had been revolting at the sensation of flesh and blood on his tongue. How the Beast and he had talked once the hunt was done, looking into the still clear pool of the oasis and coming to know one another, to complete the bond that had been predestined at birth.

Sneaking back into the firebase and donning a dirty, bloodstained uniform was easy for the young Vargr. Pretending over the next two weeks that he had snapped and lost his mind along with his will to fight was harder. Being treated with pity and even contempt by some of his previous fellows was the hardest of all. The dissembling didn't come easily to him at all. Fortunately, the violent outbursts of irrational anger helped convince his commanding officer that the best place for Declan was the V.A Psychiatric hospital.

Three months of imprisonment was the hardest burden yet. Dec barely made it through a week, and would not have if it hadn't been for a visit from a woman claiming to be his cousin. It was then that Dec discovered that lycanthropy was not necessarily a lonely condition: he had family. His mother's family, who'd been watching him for awhile now, waiting for his gift to manifest.

"Endure", the woman told him. Endure and this would pass, and then his new life would begin anew. She was proven right. The V.A. were pleased to monitor his improvement, and quickly processed him into the outpatients department, finding him a home and a job to rebuild his life with. They continued to watch him and call him in to therapy sessions for another nine months, but have finally seen fit to grant Declan his full honorable discharge. A job as a groundskeeper at U.C.L.A now assists his pension in paying his various bills, and the werewolf has come to regard the campus as his territory, already having dealt with a few 'local issues' and completing his education into his new life. For now, his extended and spread-out family are content to let the young Vargr find his own footing. Like all things, however, that state of affairs is not likely to last forever.

Dec acts predominantly as a vigilante in his predations to date. The beast needs to hunt, and the worst of L.A's drug-dealers, pimps, and gang-bangers are his self-justified prey of choice as he seeks to remove the rot from the Herd around him. A frat-boy with a penchant for slipping Rohypnol into girl's drinks has also been on the receiving end of his tender mercies. Dec's not reckless about it: he makes sure that the prey are truly deserving (in his mind, admittedly) of their fate - his boss, Eugene Farquad, despite being an asshole with poor personal hygiene, falls below the demarcation line, no matter how often Dec fantasizes about ripping his throat out. Just being an asshole doesn't mean a guy deserves to be killed and eaten - and he's cautious about leaving signs that a wolf the size of a small horse is killing people in L.A. Some of the time, this means eating the evidence and dropping the cracked-open bones down the nearest sewer or into the UCLA incinerator. At first, he had no compunctions about eating his kills - after all, wasn't it natural to eat what you killed? But as the first flush of freedom and power faded he rethought his position. After all, he was a wolf AND a man, not one or the other, and he wasn't eating out of necessity, he was eating to make a statement. Since then he has confined himself to only a few impromptu meals, usually just tearing his victims apart and dumping the bodies in the incinerator.

The local police don't trust him - he sets off their 'troublemaker' vibe even when he's being cooperative, such as in the pusher incident last year. The campus cops resent him - he makes them uneasy and they imagine they can feel his contempt for them in his silver stare. His boss is too scared to fire him - not that he has grounds to - but finds every excuse NOT to be the one that deals with him face to face. Being a Vargr is tough on interpersonal relationships, too. One-night stands and professional association aside, Declan doesn't have much to do with others. The huge wolf-shaped elephant in the room is somewhat of an obstacle to genuine friendship.

Yes, he's a monster. But there's worse out there than him.


Image: Six feet-and-change of lean, hard muscle topped by shaggy dark brown hair, Declan's looks reflect the harsh truth of a wild thing in human shape. His most noticeable feature is his eyes: a grey so pale as to be silver, with dark circles ringing the outside of the irises. When he focuses those eyes on a person, they often cannot help but feel the urge to step back. Even the most drunken and boisterous frat boys steer clear of "Crazy Perault" when seeking targets for their pranks. Some subconscious signal or vibe the large man sends out sets off most folks survival instincts. In women, however, he tends to set off different instincts altogether. There is something primally compelling about the groundskeeper that is more scary/exciting than scary/terrifying for females (and males) of the right gender-orientation.

His wolfen shape is no less imposing. An exceptional example of a Vargr, Owns-The-Night stands nearly six feet high at the front shoulders and weighs in at over 400lbs of long-limbed, deep-chested lupine, with jaws capable of engulfing a human head. His thick, shaggy coat is dark grey with black and brown markings, and even when calm the near-totemic aura of all things Wolf about him is awe-inspiring. When he's angry, Owns-The-Night is nothing short of terrifying to behold.

Psychology: An alpha predator, pure and simple. Declan was somewhat dehumanised by the action he's seen, and turning into a large mythical carnivore hasn't exactly made him any softer. Owns-The-Night isn't stupid, and he's been warned that there are other predators out there in the Night he lays claim to. He's met some, too. They didn't taste great, but they died easily enough once he figured out that his massive jaws could readily sever a neck. He's still finding his feet with the whole 'werewolf' deal, but so far he loves being one. He has his territory, his range, and he's the boss wolf in those parts, adopting a 'live and let live' approach to any predators that are merely passing through. Those that seek to stick around without acknowledging his primacy, however, may be in for a rude shock.


Name: Declan Perault
Concept: Big, Bad, and a Wolf. 'nuff said.
Breed: Canid
Species: Vargr
Accord: Heart-Ripper

Virtue: Fortitude (Uncompromising)
Vice: Wrath


Height: 6'4"
Weight: 220lbs
Hair: Dark brown, thick and shoulder-length.
Eyes: Silver.
Age: 25



Attributes

Mental: Intelligence - 2, Wits - 3, Resolve – 3

Physical: Strength - 4/7, Dexterity - 3/5, Stamina – 3/5

Social: Presence - 3, Manipulation - 1, Composure – 2


Skills

Mental Skills (-3): Crafts - 2; Investigation - 1; Medicine - 1
Physical (-1): Athletics(Long-distance running) - 2; Brawl Bite - 3; Firearms - 1; Stealth - 3; Survival(Hunting) - 2;
Social (-1): Animal Ken - 1; Empathy - 1; Expression - 1; Intimidation(Non-verbal) - 3; Subterfuge - 1

Other Traits

Merits: True Breed - 2; Fighting Style: Tooth & Claw - 3 (Hunter's Eye, Slip Through, Pounce); Fighting Style: Bareknuckle (Aggressive Striking) - 3 (Body Blow, Iron Skin, Combination Blows); Fighting Style: Grappling - 2 (Sprawl, Takedown); Predator's Bearing - 2; Iron Stamina - 2; Striking Looks - 2; Fast Reflexes - 1; Resources - 1; Danger Sense - 2; Heavy Hands - 3 (+1 damage on unarmed strikes); Two Legs or Four - 2 (x3: Fang & Claw, Grappling, Aggressive Striking); Ground and Pound -2;

Feral Heart: 1
Willpower: 5
Harmony: 5
Respect:

-Ferocity 3


Health: 8/12
Initiative: +6/+8
Defense: 3
Armor: 1 vs Bashing only (Iron Skin)
Speed: 12/25
Size: 5/7
Perception Roll Bonuses: +2 / +6



Favors & Aspects:

Fang & Claw: (Bite 2, Claws 1)
Keen Senses: (Sight, Hearing and Smell) (+2 on Perception rolls in all shapes)
Speed +8

Darksight (1) [Can see in the dark and gains +2 to stealth in the dark]
Extraordinary Specimen (1) [+1 Str and Size in Dire Wolf Form]
Leap 2 [Triple leaping distance. In human shape can leap half the beast form's distance]
Unsettling Eye (1) [Double intimidation dice pool once per scene]
Warrior's Restoration (2) [Heals as an Uratha]
Alarming Alacrity 1 [Can double running speed for 1 turn per dot]
Catwalk 1 [+1 stealth and balance dice pools. Hard soles to the feet in human shape.]
Magnificence (2) [+4 dice on Social rolls when making an impression in Dire Wolf shape]
Hound's Honor 1 [+1 dice on scent-based tracking, identification or perception rolls]

Tell -1: Silver eyes the same in either shape.







CREATION LOG
ATTRIBUTES
Primary Physical: 2 Strength, 1 Dexterity, 2 Stamina
Secondary Mental: 0 Intelligence, 2 Wits, 2 Resolve
Tertiary Social: 2 Presence, 0 Manipulation, 1 Composure
SKILLS
Primary Physical: 2 Athletics, 3 Brawl, 1 Firearms, 3 Stealth, 2 Survival
Secondary Social: 1 Animal Ken, 1 Empathy, 1 Expression, 3 Intimidation, 1 Subterfuge
Tertiary Mental: 2 Crafts, 1 Investigation, 1 Medicine
SPECIALIZATIONS Athletics (Long-distance Running), Survival (Hunting), Intimidation (Non-verbal) Bonus from Accord: Brawl (Bite)
MERITS
2 - True Breed, 1 - Resources, 3 - Fighting Style: Tooth & Claw, 1 - Fast Reflexes
BEGINNING FAVORS:
Fang & Claw: (Bite 2, Claws 1)
Keen Senses: (Sight, Hearing and Smell)
Speed 8
ASPECTS:
Magnificence (2)
Extraordinary Specimen (1)
Leap (2)
Warrior's Restoration (2)
Tell (-1) Silver eyes: the same colour in either shape.
Darksight (1)






Date Trait / XP Source Ranks XP Gained/Lost XP Remaining

,,

04 Mar 2010 Creation Points - +50 50

04 Mar 2010 Bonus XP from -2 Harmony - +10 60

04 Mar 2010 Merit: Predator’s Bearing 2 -4 56

04 Mar 2010 Merit: Iron Stamina 1 -2 54

04 Mar 2010 Dexterity from 2 to 3 1 -15 39

04 Mar 2010 Intelligence from 1 to 2 1 -10 29

04 Mar 2010 Aspect: Alarming Alacrity 1 -5 24

04 Mar 2010 Aspect: Unsettling Eye 1 -5 19

04 Mar 2010 Merit: Striking Looks 1 - -4 15

04 Mar 2010 Aspect: Catwalk 1 -5 10

04 Mar 2010 Aspect: Hounds Honor 1 -5 5

01 Aug 2011 Merit: Danger Sense 2 -4 1

01 Sep 2011 XP for August - +12 13

06 Sep 2011 Merit: Heavy Hands 3 -6 7

06 Sep 2011 Fighting Style: Aggressive Striking 1, 2 -6 1

01 Oct 2011 XP for September - +5 6

13 Oct 2011 Fighting Style: Grappling 1, 2 -6 0

01 Feb 2012 XP for Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan - +12 12

01 Mar 2012 XP for Feb - +8 20

03 Mar 2012 Strength 3 to 4 - -20 0
01 May 2013 XP for March, April and Revival - 26 26

01 May 2013 Merit: Two Legs or Four: Striking 2 4 22

01 May 2013 Merit: Two Legs or Four: Grappling 2 4 18

01 May 2013 Merit: Two Legs or Four: Fang & Claw 2 4 14

01 May 2013 Fighting Style: Aggressive Striking 3 6 8

01 May 2013 Merit: Ground and Pound 2 4 4

01 May 2013 Iron Stamina 2 4 0

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Significant Markings.

This is the tattoo found high on Declan's right arm, below the shoulder. For characters that would be in the know, the design superimposed over the Ranger badge is a Special Operations Group (S.O.G) logo.

DecsTattoo.gif

Here's what everyone's favorite shapeshifting nut-job looks like naked!

DecWolf.jpg

Had ya going wink.gif Pervs.

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