Name: Evander Pelagius Blackfeather II
Age: 22
Birthday: 2 June
Gender: Male (He/Him/His, etc.)
Species: Gryphon
Category: Student
Class: College
Grade: Sophomore
College Major: Environmental Science
Appearance Description:
Evander is a bit on the small side for a gryphon; while he looks a bit larger from a distance, if one were to walk up to him, they would see that he only comes up to 2’9” at the shoulders. Like most gryphons, Evander has the body of a big cat, and the head, wings and talons of a falcon or some other bird of prey. The feathers on his head and neck are a dark brown, which fades to creamy beige the closer one gets to his belly, standing in contrast with the greyish-brown fur of his mammalian hind quarters, which resemble those of a small lion. On his wings, his coverts are a dark grey, while his tertials, secondaries and primaries go from dark grey to almost pitch black, respectively. He makes it a point to keep his feathers well-groomed and looking their best. The gryphon's beak and talons are an inky grey hue, and his eyes are like a pair of shining red rubies. Evander can often be seen wearing a black flat-cap, a faded red scarf and a rectangle framed pince-nez.
Personality Description:
Evander can be easily described as a creative eccentric; his mind is constantly bouncing with ideas and solutions to various problems. That being said, patterns and various discrepancies intrigue him greatly; “Why is it that way?” or “What happens when this changes?” are things the gryphon often thinks about when pondering a mystery. He can come across as shy and withdrawn; it’s hard for him to express his feelings to relative strangers, and thus makes it hard to find friends, which, combined with his generally quiet nature in public, can lead others to think of him as antisocial. Evander is also rather self-conscious and can sometimes take criticisms of his ideas personally if one is not careful with how they word them. Behind his reserved, sensitive mask, though, Evander is a kind and overall optimistic person who cares deeply for his small social circles. He can be a good shoulder to lean on and an open ear when needed, but providing too much emotional support can leave him feeling drained and reclusive.
As far as hobbies and interests go, Evander goes for anything that involves science or history, with botany and European history being his favorite subjects in both areas, respectively. To those ends, he keeps both a bonsai tree and window-sill garden stocked with sprigs of basil, thyme and a couple flowers such as bluebonnets and tulips, as well as a small bookshelf stocked with historical texts on the finer points of history from the collapse of the Roman Empire to the Age of Exploration. As sort of an extension of his fascination with the early 1900s, Evander also keeps a small but growing collection of vinyl records in a box under his bed, namely of swing jazz tunes and early opera singers (of which he is rather protective), and is frequently asked to put a sock in it when he puts them on the gramophone.
Species Abilities:
Gryphon physiology -
Being a gryphon, Evander has many differences when compared to humans when it comes to physiology. The obvious bit of him being a feathered quadrupedal being with wings aside, perks of being a gryphon include:
That being said, there are also some downsides as well, namely
Powers:
Language Transfer –
An odd but utilitarian ability, language transfer allows the user to almost instantly teach a language to, or learn a language from another person, although several studies have shown that it only allows for the vocabulary and grammar of the average fourth grader. While the method of using the ability varies from user to user, they all share the same requirement of being in physical contact with the intended target. In Evander’s case, this entails touching his talons to either side of the other’s skull at the temples, in what looks like a Vulcan mind meld. There are downsides to this ability, however; for starters, due to the limitations of the actual transfer, the recipient of the new language will have an obvious accent, and will have poor fluency; they will also be unable to read something written in another language if the language uses a script that they did not recognize before (i.e. an English speaker with no exposure to Hindi trying to read it written in the Devanagari script). The other major downsides are the side effects; using this ability, one can expect intense headaches and dizziness for a few hours as their brain processes the massive amount of information that was just thrust upon it.
Common Magical Item(s):
None.
Biography:
Evander is a born and raised Manta Carlos native; his mother and father were first generation immigrants from Scotland and Texas, respectively, and that’s all he particularly cares to mention; not that he’s got anything to hide, but rather he just thinks there’s nothing noteworthy aside from learning to fly at the age of five. His parents enrolled him in Starlight Academy when he was 15 after his language transfer ability became apparent (a change he wasn’t happy about at first), and he’s been there ever since, and is now three years into an environmental science degree. Recently, he made arrangements to move into a dorm at the academy so he could focus on his studies a bit more.
Resources:
Evander has a lower middle class standard of living thanks to an allowance from his parents that allows him to focus on his studies without having to get a job.
Additional Information:
Evander’s accent is somewhere between a Texas drawl and a Scottish brogue, with a bit more influence from the former.
Age: 22
Birthday: 2 June
Gender: Male (He/Him/His, etc.)
Species: Gryphon
Category: Student
Class: College
Grade: Sophomore
College Major: Environmental Science
Appearance Description:
Evander is a bit on the small side for a gryphon; while he looks a bit larger from a distance, if one were to walk up to him, they would see that he only comes up to 2’9” at the shoulders. Like most gryphons, Evander has the body of a big cat, and the head, wings and talons of a falcon or some other bird of prey. The feathers on his head and neck are a dark brown, which fades to creamy beige the closer one gets to his belly, standing in contrast with the greyish-brown fur of his mammalian hind quarters, which resemble those of a small lion. On his wings, his coverts are a dark grey, while his tertials, secondaries and primaries go from dark grey to almost pitch black, respectively. He makes it a point to keep his feathers well-groomed and looking their best. The gryphon's beak and talons are an inky grey hue, and his eyes are like a pair of shining red rubies. Evander can often be seen wearing a black flat-cap, a faded red scarf and a rectangle framed pince-nez.
Personality Description:
Evander can be easily described as a creative eccentric; his mind is constantly bouncing with ideas and solutions to various problems. That being said, patterns and various discrepancies intrigue him greatly; “Why is it that way?” or “What happens when this changes?” are things the gryphon often thinks about when pondering a mystery. He can come across as shy and withdrawn; it’s hard for him to express his feelings to relative strangers, and thus makes it hard to find friends, which, combined with his generally quiet nature in public, can lead others to think of him as antisocial. Evander is also rather self-conscious and can sometimes take criticisms of his ideas personally if one is not careful with how they word them. Behind his reserved, sensitive mask, though, Evander is a kind and overall optimistic person who cares deeply for his small social circles. He can be a good shoulder to lean on and an open ear when needed, but providing too much emotional support can leave him feeling drained and reclusive.
As far as hobbies and interests go, Evander goes for anything that involves science or history, with botany and European history being his favorite subjects in both areas, respectively. To those ends, he keeps both a bonsai tree and window-sill garden stocked with sprigs of basil, thyme and a couple flowers such as bluebonnets and tulips, as well as a small bookshelf stocked with historical texts on the finer points of history from the collapse of the Roman Empire to the Age of Exploration. As sort of an extension of his fascination with the early 1900s, Evander also keeps a small but growing collection of vinyl records in a box under his bed, namely of swing jazz tunes and early opera singers (of which he is rather protective), and is frequently asked to put a sock in it when he puts them on the gramophone.
Species Abilities:
Gryphon physiology -
Being a gryphon, Evander has many differences when compared to humans when it comes to physiology. The obvious bit of him being a feathered quadrupedal being with wings aside, perks of being a gryphon include:
- Flight - What use would Evander's wings be if he couldn't use them? Needless to say, Evander can fly with them, but, unlike more mundane avians, he can not fly for extended periods of time without needing to stop and rest due to his size.
Flight duration, without the extra burden of carrying a passenger, is about two to three hours. With a person, it’s about 40 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes, depending on the weight of the person in question.
His max flight speed while gliding is about 68 mph (110 km/h), while max speed while diving is about 150 mph (241 km/h).
- Heightened Senses - Being descended from a species of apex predators has its advantages, namely a heightened sense of eyesight and hearing. With his superior eyesight, Evander has 20/5 eyesight, meaning he can see something in the same level of detail at twenty feet as someone who might be standing five feet away. Evander's hearing is also superb; he can quite literally hear a pin drop from the other side of a room if it were silent.
- Increased Physical Strength - Another advantage of being a gryphon is a greater physical strength than that of an average human. For a metric of how strong he is naturally, he can easily lift and carry the average 16 year old teenager in flight (at the cost of a shorter flight duration), although much more than 150 lbs. (approx. 75 kgs) and he starts to struggle.
That being said, there are also some downsides as well, namely
- Hollow Bones - Hollow bones are wonderful things for any avian creature that actually wants to fly, and Evander is no exception. That being said, the main downside to having hollow bones is that they are easier to break and fracture.
- Sensitive Hearing - Sensitive hearing is both a blessing and curse for Evander; on one hand, he can hear all the latest gossip from across the room without even having to try. On the other, loud noises affect him more severely, leading to headaches, and high, shrill noises cause acute, sharp pain for their duration (i.e. no mosquito tone around him).
- Particular Diet - It should come as no surprise that Evander, as a gryphon, has a different diet than most of his classmates. Meats such as beef, rabbit, venison and various species of fish are all okay in his book, generally eaten raw (or rare, in polite company). While his digestive system can tolerate fruit and stalky vegetables such as broccoli and asparagus, he frowns upon leafy greens like cabbage and lettuce. Starchy foods such as bread, potatoes and corn are a no-go, as are dairy products, as he lacks the enzymes necessary to break down lactose.
Powers:
Language Transfer –
An odd but utilitarian ability, language transfer allows the user to almost instantly teach a language to, or learn a language from another person, although several studies have shown that it only allows for the vocabulary and grammar of the average fourth grader. While the method of using the ability varies from user to user, they all share the same requirement of being in physical contact with the intended target. In Evander’s case, this entails touching his talons to either side of the other’s skull at the temples, in what looks like a Vulcan mind meld. There are downsides to this ability, however; for starters, due to the limitations of the actual transfer, the recipient of the new language will have an obvious accent, and will have poor fluency; they will also be unable to read something written in another language if the language uses a script that they did not recognize before (i.e. an English speaker with no exposure to Hindi trying to read it written in the Devanagari script). The other major downsides are the side effects; using this ability, one can expect intense headaches and dizziness for a few hours as their brain processes the massive amount of information that was just thrust upon it.
Common Magical Item(s):
None.
Biography:
Evander is a born and raised Manta Carlos native; his mother and father were first generation immigrants from Scotland and Texas, respectively, and that’s all he particularly cares to mention; not that he’s got anything to hide, but rather he just thinks there’s nothing noteworthy aside from learning to fly at the age of five. His parents enrolled him in Starlight Academy when he was 15 after his language transfer ability became apparent (a change he wasn’t happy about at first), and he’s been there ever since, and is now three years into an environmental science degree. Recently, he made arrangements to move into a dorm at the academy so he could focus on his studies a bit more.
Resources:
Evander has a lower middle class standard of living thanks to an allowance from his parents that allows him to focus on his studies without having to get a job.
Additional Information:
Evander’s accent is somewhere between a Texas drawl and a Scottish brogue, with a bit more influence from the former.
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Name: Evander Pelagius Blackfeather II