Ghostwalker
From C2Wiki
| Ghostwalker | |
|---|---|
Travis Fimmel as Ghostwalker | |
| Concept | Villain Legacy turned Mystic Hero |
| Status | Retired |
| Alts | None |
| Vitals | |
| Real Name | Dante Nicholas Blackthorne IV |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair | Honey Blond |
| Eyes | Silver grey |
| Height | 6'2 |
| Age | 26 |
| Profession | Billionaire Playboy |
| Characteristics | |
| Notable Aliases | None |
| Alliances | Various rich and famous, mystic, and some criminal elements |
| Base of Operations | Blackthorne Estate, Port Liberty, VA |
| Abilities | Mystic ability to transform into a ghost state (concealment, incorporeal, flight, immunities) and what he calls a 'living ghost' state (reactive incorporeality a la Matrix: Reloaded ghost twins, coupled with a mystic strike that can affect incorporeal). Mystic awareness. Ritualist magics. |
To the public, Dante Nicholas Blackthorne IV is just a billionaire playboy from the illustrious Blackthorne family, known for its real estate empire and social connections. The truth about the family is a little darker though.
Going back for centuries they have dabbled in sorcery and the mystic and been part of the world-spanning organization, the Anaximander Priory. The latest scion though, Dante, was always a great disappointment for his moral streak and lack of mystic power.
On the ill-fated day of the Ring of Destiny, his parents sought to enact a ritual to infuse him with great power and unlock his mystic potential, but the ritual was enhanced by the comet and the result was their deaths and Dante's change into a ghost-like being.
Since gaining better control of his powers, Dante has taken up the name of Ghostwalker and has been seeking to honor his parent's sacrifice by helping others, totally unaware of exactly how dark his family's past really is.
Contents |
History
The Family
Blackthorne. A simple family name, used for centuries. And yet a name that essentially everyone in the continental United States would recognize. For it is a name that holds within itself various connotations. Money, borne of the family billions. Old riches constant infused with new. City building, borne of the real estate empire that feeds that wealth. Hotels, casinos, high rises, and clubs, all crowned by the famous Blackthorne Estate outside of Port Liberty. Connected, borne of the web of associates and friendships to the rich and elite throughout the country. Connections that the family has never tried to hide, ranging from the renowned parties to the paparazzi scandals around some of the scions through the years. All of those are things known to the many. There are, however, other connotations known to only a small few. Darker connotations.
Crime, borne of the more secretive connections that the family has long upheld. Organized and disorganized, but always with a finger on the pulse of the the shadowy underworld through which they often operate. Vicious business, borne of the often unethical, even illegal, business practices that have only fed the wealth of the family still further. Trample the weak and take what you can is said to be the family motto. But there is one connotation most secretive of all. Sorcery, borne of centuries of power and knowledge passed down through the family. Power to twist the very fabric of the world. Power put into the service of an organization more secretive than any of the rest. The Anaximander Priory. An organization that the Blackthornes have helped to try and take the reins of the world in an iron fist. Needless to say, this wouldn't seem to be the family for anyone of purer spirit to be born to, now would it?
And yet, that's exactly what happened.
The Disappointment
Dante Nicholas Blackthorne the fourth was borne October 11, 1985 to Dante III and Angela Browning-Barnett Blackthorne, two rather powerful and knowledgable sorcerers and Knights of the Anaximander Priory. From birth, Dante was raised in manner that some princes couldn't match, his proverbial silver spoon of solid diamond. And yet, as he grew, so too did the expectations of him by his parents, for they sensed a mystic potential inside of him, despite fact that he showed no aptitude for it as he grew older. As such, it was only some small consolation that he held a truly amazing talent for memory, especially where it came to the arcane lore, dead languages, and history that his youthful study was steeped in. And yet, for all that talent he had and the pressure to learn it, Dante craved only to be like other children and have friends and playmates. A social leaning which would later give him some usefulness to his parents.
For Dante's mystical potential never broke free more than as a vague awareness he had of the mystical in his vicinity. And so, year by year, he was becoming more and more of a disappointment to his parents, no matter how hard he strived to please them. Sitting on one of his parents' lap during a business meeting and telling them after, word for word, what was said as their subtle little bug system. Learning how to use his childish good looks and natural charisma to break down the guard of guests who didn't expect a child to be a threat. Even pressing himself with his self-defense instructors to show that he could be strong and dedicated for them. All things that his parents found useful, but ultimately not enough to come near overcoming the disappointment in him they daily reminded him of, for not living up to his heritage.
A disappointment which only grew all the more poignent when Dante revealed to them a damnable moral streak that led him to start resisting their direction and refusing to help their more unethical deals. Yes, it was official, Dante was practically not even worthy of the Blackthorne name. And yet, due to accident when he was young, the sorcerous couple could never bear another child and so they accepted what they had to work with, but started researching ways in which his power could potentially be unlocked.
Onward past his eighteenth birthday, where he should have been initiated into the secrets of his family's darker ties and service to the Priory, but instead was considered too much of a risk for his moral streak and occasionally rebellious nature. Onward past his twenty-second birthday, when he was supposed to have taken vows of Priory Knight and have taken some of the control of the family business and criminal interests. Onward to nearly two years past. A year that found Dante still caught between his own inner war of desire to strive for his parent's affections and to rebel against them to fuel their inevitable disappointment. A young, handsome billionaire playboy to the outer world, known more for his constant jetsetting and club-hopping, dating of actresses and models, and his fondness for traditional Blackthorne parties, but made utterly infamous for the extravagence and power plays behind the scenes that went on at them.
Oh, all of this served his parents somewhat. His natural social talents left him as ideal to forming new connections and contacts for the family dealings, though he had no real head for business and generally had to be kept clear of the darker side of the family dealings, even if he knew about some of them. Throughout it all, however, his parents had never given up on the hope of awakening his true potential and, in October of 2010, approaching Dante's twenty-fifth year of life, they finally found the answer in a crumbling Egyptian papyrus. They had their opportunity to infuse their son with mystical energy in powerful ritual and awaken what was inside of him. Once he got over his shock at his parents excitement at their hope finally being fulfilled, Dante reluctantly agreed to come home from his latest trip (in Egypt ironically) and let them perform the ritual on his birthday. It was a day that would go down in history for the world, but a day also that would be seared into Dante's memory or all time.
The Change
The details of it are not really relevant. He arrived to find parents changed from those he'd knew all his life. Bursting with eagerness and something on the brink of pride, leading him into their ritual space and making sure everything was prepared and perfectly aligned. It all was, as it turned out. It was a truly powerful ritual and their skill enacted it to perfection. At the pinacle of it, however, what was powerful, became something beyond mortal control with the fateful formation of the Ring of Destiny and it's effect on the mystic energies that no one foresaw. Had they known, Angela and Dante III would likely have held off. As it was, the power tore through them and into Dante and the backlash of it enhanced by the comet destroyed them all and much of the workshop. The only thing is that, though destroyed, one member of the trio, the focus of the ritual, was also remade.
Dante came to after it all to find himself laying on the blasted remains of the altar, his very soul throbbing from the vast power that was thrust into him. But stranger still was the swarm of people around him, bustling about without the slightest glance to where he lay. Police and crime scene investigators, crying servants, and one particularly rich friend of the family and owner of the Diamond Oaks, looking grim and giving his testimony, about the tragedy of this bizarre murder done to his friends and his belief that Dante was on vacation seeing the pyramids of Egypt. Needless to say, Dante was stunned by all of this and the lack of reaction of the people around him. Of course, that shock was nothing compared to what he felt when one of the officers walked through him with nothing but a little shiver.
Clearly, Dante believed himself to be dead and so did he remain in that state for weeks, free from hunger and sleep, weakened somehow by the very life-giving sunlight and pained by being near fire, doomed to wander unseen, trying to make sense of what had happened in the chaos after the comet. And so it was that, in a fit of rage one night, he struck out at a mirror that he couldn't see himself in, and for the briefest of instants, he felt something shift inside, saw his haggard eyes looking back at him, and then watched the mirror shatter from his punch. It was only a moment, but it gave him hope, and that hope guided him. It wasn't long until he managed to find the knack for returning himself to his natural state, realizing that he wasn't dead by his sense of the power lying inside, infused with his parents' dying breathes as they burned from it.
It wasn't long after that he made the necessary calls, lying outright to continue the belief that he'd been away in Egypt, backpacking and out of touch entirely. The tears he shed on the 'news' of his parents may not have been from shock of it, but it was genuine enough grief. And so, even as he tearfully promised in public appearance to honor their memory and take up his proper place as a Blackthorne, inside he promised to honor the sacrifice they made and learn to use the power they gave him.
The Present
Nearly two years have passed since then, and day by day, Dante has grown in power and learned to control the magic inside of him more and more. The dead state that he can achieve with a thought now, watching the world without being of it. The half-dead state, blurring the lines and nearly immune to harm, while letting him focus his power into deadly attack. And then the most surprising gift of all, remainder of his parent's power. The ability to focus his inner power along the arcane paths he was taught growing up. Not the sorcery his parents hoped for him, but powerful ritual magic instead. Power to change the world, and power that he has kept hidden from almost all.
For the world sees Dante Nicholas Blackthorne IV, billionaire playboy, socialite, and heir to the Blackthorne empire. A young man still with a hint of mystic potential, though no real power to speak of beyond financial. Someone for the Anaximander Priory to potentially seek to manipulate, even as they've quietly been buying off the shadier enterprises that Dante's been happy to excise from his family holdings. Assuredly though, no threat to them, nor worthy of actual membership. Those things are what are seen. The truth is, as it usually is, a tad more complicated.
For when Dante promised to honor the sacrifice of his parents, he meant it, even if his way of honoring would not have pleased them in any way. For in the last year, all across the country, sometimes even in other places of the world, there has been whispers through the underworld and darker sorcerous circles. Whispers of a new being that has appeared like something out of a movie or comic book. A hero, for lack of a better word, that appears out of nothingness, glowing with deathly energy, his face hidden and his body untouchable. The Ghostwalker is what some have called him. A title that the Anaximander Priory have marked to watch for after more than one of their plots has been ruined by that figure. Someday perhaps, the secrets will come crashing down around his head. For now though, Dante will continue to fight the sense of evil that he's always hated in the world. After all, what better way to make up for some of the things he's discovered about his family?
Stat Block
PL: 10 (180 pp)
ABILITIES:
STR: 14 (+2) DEX: 16 (+3) CON: 16 (+3) INT: 16 (+3) WIS: 16 (+3) CHA: 18 (+4)
SKILLS:
Bluff 7 (+11), Climb (+3), Concentration 5 (+8), Diplomacy 6 (+10), Disguise (+4), Drive 1 (+4), Escape Artist (+3), Gather Info 11 (+15), Handle Animal (+4), Intimidate 4 (+8), Knowledge/Streetwise 5 (+8), Knowledge/Arcane Lore 11 (+14), Knowledge/Business 2 (+5), Knowledge/History 5 (+8), Knowledge/Theology and Philosophy 4 (+7), Notice 7 (+10), Search (+3), Sense Motive 9 (+12), Stealth 2 (+5), Survival (+3), Swim 2 (+5), Language 7 (+7)
FEATS:
Attack Focus (Melee) (4), Attack Specialization (1), Dodge Focus (5), Uncanny Dodge (hearing), Evasion (1), Defensive Attack, Diehard, Eidetic Memory, Attractive (2), Well-Informed, Connected, Contacts, Benefit/Wealth (6), Equipment (5), Ritualist
POWERS:
Alternate Form: Ghost 14 [70 point container, cost 70]
-Insubstantial 4 [Vulnerable to magic] [container cost: 20]
-Immunity: Suffocate [container cost: 2]
-Immunity: Poison [container cost:1]
-Immunity: Disease [container cost: 1]
-Immunity: Sleep [container cost: 1]
-Immunity: Starvation [container cost: 1]
-Immunity: Fear [container cost: 1]
-Super Sense 5 [Detect Magic, Darkvision] [container cost: 4]
-Flight 10 [container cost: 20]
-Healing 5 [Fl: Self Only; PF: Regrowth, Persistent, Db: Action x2 (5 Min)] [container cost: 5]
-Conceal 6 [Normal Sight, Hearing, Scent/Taste, PF: Close range, Selective] [container cost: 14]
-AP: Alt Form: Living Ghost [cost: 1, 70 point container]
--Deflect All 10 [Ex: Action x3; Db: Power Loss: Affect Insubstantial negates -1] [container cost: 59]
--Strike 10 [PF: Affect Incorporeal] [container cost: 11]
Super Sense: Magic Awareness [cost: 1]
EQUIPMENT:
Blackthorne Estate [Size: Colossal, Toughness +15, Communications, Computer, Dock, Fire Prevention System, Garage, Gym, Library, Living space, Pool, Power System, Security System 3 (DC 30), Workshop; Equipment Cost: 21], Costume [Equivalent to Tac Vest, Protection 4, Equipment Cost: 4]
WEALTH: 32
COMBAT:
Attack 4 [Strike DMG +10 ATT +10, Unarmed DMG +2 ATT +8] Defense 10 (3 flat-footed) Init 3
SAVES:
Toughness 3 (3 flat-footed, 7 with costume) Fortitude 5 Reflex 5 Will 5
DRAWBACKS:
Vulnerable: Positive Energy [uncommon, moderate, -2], Vulnerable: Fire [very common, moderate, -4]
TOTALS:
Abilities 36 + Skills 22 (88 ranks) + Feats 32 + Powers 72 + Combat 18 + Saves 6 – Drawbacks -6 = 180 / 180
Categories: PC | PL10
