Thread: Love, Loyalty, and the Battle Between

Name Rook Castle Gender Male Age 86 Species Cockatrice Physical Features Standing a bit taller than your average cockatrice, Rook is four and a quarter feet tall. Though his body isn't muscled by any means, he has a lean runner's body, barely an inch of fat anywhere on his feathered hide. Speaking of which his feathers only cover half his body, mostly on his chest and back with some feathers sprouting down his arms and a fan like display section along his tail. His tail resembles that of a lizard's, clearly coming from his dragon blood. These feathers dotting his body are tough and plate like, having more in common with scales than true feathers, they provide great protection. The rest of Rook's body is rather naked, made up of short pebble like scales. Most of the time he stands upright, in a human like pose so he can use his hands and arms, which almost resemble talons, though not quite as sharp or strong as those on his feat. Rook looks rather like a half-plucked chicken in general, though he has slitted reptilian eyes and jagged teeth like structures built into his beak. Rook's feathers are a rusty red in color while his scales seem to be more of a metallic green. He of course has a comb on his head as most roosters do, though it is swept back and a dull white, looking more like a cap made of bone and it is extremely strong, almost unbreakable. Sexual Preference The phrase 'randy as a rooster' caries some truth to it as Rook feels very strong instinctual urges. Rook enjoys the company of females of any sort, he doesn't much care about what they are, just that they are there. Rook however seems to prefer aggressive or combative females, the challenge of sparring with them is just as exciting as more intimate moments. This is not to say he ignores more reserved females, but he takes it as a personal goal to prove others wrong when he is looked down on as weak or unworthy. Powers All Rook's abilities come from his species, having little training in the ways of war. As a cockatrice his gaze can turn both objects and creatures to stone, making them either harder or brittle depending on which is needed. However the gaze of a cockatrice does have limits, living creatures can resist the gaze well enough, often just suffering some patches of skin being turned to stone or a shell being formed around them. Painful, but ultimately not truly deadly. The true threat of the gaze comes from when someone locks eyes with a cockatrice, only then can a living being be turned to stone. Beings wielding powerful magic can actively resist the gaze in all it's forms. While some members of the species can fly, Rook is not one of them and is affectively flightless unless one counts flapping assisted leaps. To avoid the dreaded crow of their parent species, cockatrice are nocturnal, with sharp night vision they can see and easily navigate in complete darkness. Because of these adaptions cockatrice have rather poor sight in the light of day, being a bit blurry. While they are stronger than most humans, cockatrice are quite weak compared to many monsters, Rook is only able to lift 200lbs on a good day. Cockatrice are however rather fast and agile, able to run up to 40mph and grip on to branches with their feet or tail. Thankfully Rook and his kin are gifted with extremely tough scale like feathers which can resist some of the most brutal beatings, letting a cockatrice survive the rage of a giant. This stone like skin is one of the main reasons cockatrice manage to survive at all, making sure they are enough trouble that most will leave them alone. However there is something that causes hunters and fortune seekers to target them, Cockatrice have poisonous blood that is borderline caustic to the touch. This blood is very useful for many alchemic potions and spells, making the demand outweigh the annoyance these little beasts cause when attacked. Weapon Rook doesn't like to use weapons in general, preferring to rely on his natural talons and gifts to try and prove just how strong his people are. However he has been known to use improvised weapons, like stoning a tree branch into an iron hard club or turning the clawed hand of a dragon into a stone dagger. Biography While cockatrice are not the longest lived monsters around, their lifespans are still many times longer than those of humans, this makes Rook out to be roughly in his prime as far as his kind are concerned. Many cockatrice eggs are hidden on farms, where young cockatrice blend in with their relatives and can remain hidden from hunters. Rook was no different and on reaching the age of five he went through a growth spurt that awakened his abilities and showed his true nature. Rook of course denies this, instead telling some grand lie about being on his own since he hatched, telling other monsters that cockatrice hatchlings do not need to be protected. Rook's kind are rather looked down on, as lesser cousins of dragons and closely related to the weak little birds humans farm, it isn't hard to see why. Rook strives to gain respect from other monsters and will fight for it, almost never backing down even if he lost all chance to prove them wrong. Rook is very much as stubborn as a bulldog and once he has his mind set on something, he very rarely gives up without a fight of some sort. Ultimately Rook's actions all stem from being lonely, cockatrice are fairly rare and tend to stay in hiding, he instead wishes to be noticed as a truly worthy monster to try and fill the void. At heart Rook is a wanderer, going from hill and dale in search of some way to gain fame and renown. Rook does not seem to really know what to do with himself, putting all his hopes on some vague goal which many say he has no chance of fulfilling. He is more than willing to take up odd jobs and largely does not care who pays the tab as long as it promises to someday lead to respect. Because of this Rook is moderately active in the war, constantly trying to show the strength of his kin, to show that they are just as powerful and majestic as their dragon cousins. When not obsessed with how he and his people are seen, Rook can be rather kind, objective and even surprisingly introspective. None of this has helped sway him from his path, his hidden depths do on the other hand show that perhaps the little cockatrice isn't such a bad little monster. These moments are few and far between as Rook is very quick to hide them, fearing that he might be seen as weak and destroy what little reputation he has built up. Hobbies Bit of a loner when not seeking fame and infamy, Rook enjoys birdwatching, perhaps wishing he to could fly. He is also a rather impressive singer, though Rook hides this fact, thinking it would hamper his desire to show his race as strong. With the ability to pull his voice up or down, matching just about any pitch, Rook has a massive vocal range. When alone he amuses himself with writing poems and songs, singing them out for his ears alone. Name Booming Sky Gender Male Age ???Older than some mountains Species Thunderbird Physical Features In his true body Booming Sky is quite large, not bigger than the average thunderbird but that doesn't take away from his size any. Standing he is fifteen feet tall with a massive wingspan of thirty-six feet in total. Strong enough to carry a loaded minivan in his talons or several people on his back, Booming Sky might be a senior citizen of the monster world but that does not make him weak. For the most part he resembles an over-sized eagle, though he has twin ear-tufts on his head, much like those of a great-horn owl. The coloring on his body has faded with age, mostly white now with a smoky grey pattern flowing across the underside of his chest and wings, letting him blend in to storm clouds as he flies with them. The form that most will see is that of a hunched back old bird, using his blackened staff to hobble around. Booming sky looks old and decrepit, never moving anywhere faster than at a snail's pace. The thunderbird stands 6'3 feet tall, though about a foot is shaved off since he normally keeps himself n a hunched posture. He very rarely straightens out his back to stand at his full height, when he does it is almost always important. Resembling an anthro version of his true shape, his wings fold across his back but are normally pulled forwards to wrap around his body like a feathered cloak. Sexual Preference Quote-I'm too old to have my head turned by some doxy. Powers In his true form Booming Sky is rather huge, as old as he is the ancient thunderbird isn't anywhere near his prime and is not as strong or agile as he once was. He seems to prefer wandering about in his humanoid body rather than spending his time in his true shape. Regardless in his normal body he is very large, only the great rocs and dragons have ever challenged thunderbirds in their element and won. In this shape Booming Sky's great size lets him move large objects with ease, though not quite the elephant hunters that rocs are famed as, thunderbirds aren't too much weaker. Booming Sky's greatest strength is his understanding of nature and the weather itself, all his kind can manipulate it to some degree but most can only whip up storms, create thunderclaps or call down lightning. Booming Sky on the other hand has perfected control over these powers, creating hailstorms, light mists, even small tornadoes if he is ever threatened enough to use such destructive force. Perhaps one of his strangest powers is using lightning to heal, somehow he can direct it through a body in such a way that it mends wounds. There are very few mages who can claim Booming Sky's level of skill over magic and he wields it with deadly authority. Weapon Booming Sky's weapon of choice is normally his magic or his own talons, preferring to keep enemies at a distance more than anything else. He does however carry with him a blackened walking stick that is about as tall as he is. This stick as a gnarled lump at the top that makes it a rather effective club when called for. Booming Sky was meditating in an open field when a storm blew up and struck a tree not far from him, one of the branches landed at his feet. Seeing it as a divine gift from nature itself the old shaman formed the branch into a proper staff and has not parted with it since. The staff itself has been around the old bird for so long that it has absorbed some of his magic, letting it counter bladed weapons without damaging while it's burnt nature protects it from fire. The staff will even come to it's owner's call if the two are ever forced apart. Biography To say Booming Sky has lead a long and fulfilling life is a grave understatement, he is the oldest known thunderbird to have ever existed and is respected even outside of his own clan. Technically a neutral party in the war against humans, he is just as likely to help them as he is any of his monster kin, this earns him no end of critics but they are careful not to voice their opinions too loud. Booming Sky was a powerful warrior in his younger days, when he grew older, losing his wife, the thunderbird devoted himself to shamanism and the study of the elements. Somehow he just sort of kept on living, just growing older and more tired with each passing decade. On the surface Booming Sky is jaded, cynical and downright unpleasant to be around, but this is all just an act. He has a very large and soft heart, Booming Sky can not accept seeing any injustice and is quick he berate the younger beasts until the wrong is righted. Nothing pains him more than seeing innocents hurt, which is a problem with living so long as Booming Sky has seen several lifetimes worth of suffering. He used to wander the world, helping out where he could, but finally he felt like his age was just too great a mountain to pass. The thunderbird retreated to the depths of his homelands, far from even where his kin would dare fly. There he stayed for well over a hundred years, nothing but silence and the wind to keep him company. He lost a good chunk of his social skills, what few remained that is, in this time and became even grouchier than he had before, snapping at any who dared tread on his territory. However one day changed all this, there was a girl brought before him and no matter how loudly he screeched or how many thunderclaps he created, her guardian did not back down. Finally when Booming Sky listened, he found himself with the care of a small child. Though his days as a parent were long dead and his children's children gone, Booming Sky for the life of him could not turn away this little creature. Her name was Susan Baldwin, worried that staying isolated would stunt the little thing's growth. Booming Sky took his young charge and once more began to explore the world, complaining every step of the way that his old bones ached. Hobbies When not meditating or taking care of his charge, Booming Sky like to whittle, turning blocks of wood or sticks into little wooden animals and toys which eh passes out to whoever he meets as he travels. Sometimes he even casts a little magic into these toys, enchanting them to protect their owners with a burst of lightning or simply absorbing in the magic around them so they can come to life and give the owner some company.