Nikos Neo Sumner
Wolf Name Alias:
Cambitas
"Exchange, barter"
Your Color:
Amethyst purple
Age:
21
Gender:
Male
Sexuality:
Bisexual (no preference)
Role:
Traitor
Appearance:
Nikos stands at a decent height of five feet ten inches (5'10") at which point he does not tower above most people, nor is be dwarfed by the general crowd. He is about average, and he has no desire to be taller or short, his current height fits him and he isn't interested in trying to alter it. He has a more slender build than most men, more thinner and lighter that makes him either look a bit taller than he actually is, or makes him seem more weak in comparison to others. He is not actually weak, but he is not as strong as those who are suited for strength; as he is naturally suited towards speed and agility, rather than brute strength and durability. He does have a lean type of muscle covering his body, just as the rest of him is it's more slender in a way, it's something that would not be seen if he had longer sleeved clothing on, not obvious at all.
The man has dark brown hair, like that of mahogany, with a reddish tint to it. The coloring is not overly apparent, not to the point that one could say he has dark red hair rather than brown, but it is clearly there in normal lighting; and the sunlight just brings out the rich red more than usual. It's quite pretty, although most would likely consider it a common hair color for people. His eyes are a bright shade of green, the kind of hue that manages to look rich and deep at the same time; especially when the sunlight manages to shine into them, that's when the nuances of his eyes are brought out.
The man is rather fair skinned, courtsy of his father's genes, with cooler undertones. He is pale in the more natural sense, rather than being pasty or ghost-like in complexion. There a few scars marking his hide as well, most of them easily covered by regular clothing, with the exception of one. Located on his face and further along his jawline, quite near his hairline and ear actually, is a scar about the length of the index finger; it travels at a slant, starting at nearly the beginning of his hairline and ending nearly at the point of his face where the chin begins to round. Even with a hood shadowing much of his face, the edge of that scar is visible at the right angle. His Mark is a rich shade of purple, deep and vivid; located on his back and shaped rather like strings twining loosely around each other.
Attire:
He is very much inclined towards wearing simple clothing, clothes that do not stand out from the average person, and are easy to move in and are perhaps on the lighter side than normal. Mostly consisting of anything unassuming, he does not have any "fancy" clothing in his possession. His color preference naturally consists of darker shades, black and dull greens and browns, though darker blue items often catch his eye. He has managed to find a pair of shoes that match his high standards, made of brown leather and coming over his ankles, they are light so that he does not feel weighed down when moving, and still stay on his feet even during periods of high activity. He always have at least one knife on his person, the standard being one short dagger or normal knife and multiple throwing knives; luckily the cloak he now wears pads his form, and conceals the shape of any blades.
For missions Nikos adorns a deep purple cloak, which is the color of the brightest parts of a polished amethyst, it has a hood attached that casts most of his face in shadow, with only the chin being the place where a feature of his can be seen. The make of it is sturdy yet light, not heavy enough to be weighing down on the man. The hem on the cloak lands at mid-calf length, covering most of his form yet allowing for enough leg movement if he has to run.
The mask he wears under the hood is highly reminiscent of a masquerade mask, though a bit wider than the thin little things often seen at a ball; wide enough to cover most of his forehead except for the little dip in the middle, and it extends down past his cheekbones to conceal his nose. It is a purple hue, just a touch off from his cloak; and is adorned with rich gold accents, thin vines of the color curling around the surface on the mask in a manner that does not dominate the purple. The edges of this mask have a very short ruffled texture, purely decorative, and this edging is the same shade of gold.
Weaponry:
Nikos is most skilled with archery and the handling of knives, and so they are his primary weapons of choice. He has been using a bow and arrows since he was a young child, from the age of six or seven at least; and has never stopped practicing the art regularly. Needless to say, he is extremely familiar with the bow. As for the knives, admittedly the ones he is most adept with are of the throwing variety. He has been handling throwing knives for years now, and his aim is at the same accuracy as his archery. While he is very used to the two ranged types of weaponry, he is able to use a typical knife in combat as well, but not with the skill of his two other arms.
Ability:
-Animal Possession-
Nikos has the ability to essentially possess animals. By taking control of the animal's actions and mind, he can therefore see through the creature's eyes and hear through its ears; in a sense, he also becomes the animal while still maintaining his sense of self. There are several levels to this control, if he takes full control of the animal, then it is like he is the animal rather than an influencer, he can make it do anything he wants; if he were to take control of animal about halfway, then he can make the animal do something, but there is a fifty-fifty chance of said animal resisting the command if it goes against its instincts; and for the lowest level of his possession, he can only "ask" the creature to do whatever it is, but it is rather the barest wisps of desire coming through and there is a chance that the animal will simply ignore it.
The way he takes control is interesting. He can sense the presences of animals to an extent, and this is the factor that allows him to know if there is an available animal to possess nearby. Nikos will always describe the sense of the animals as "Strings" in the back of his mind, an awareness that is subtle but just knowing. When not possessing them, an animal's presence feels like a loose thread or string in its direction, and its leading to him, but not actually connected. To take control, he takes hold of that mental thread and pulls, until he feels that strange but familiar sensation that indicates a connection; he often likes to describe that as something clicking into place. The sensation is simultanous with being in the animal's mind/senses. And to stop possessing an animal, he just has to pull back on "his" string and pull himself back to his own body; when in a panic or a state of high emotions, it can be difficult to find that string again.
Now for the drawbacks. He cannot take control of animals too far away, they have to be within a reasonable distance to him for him to do this; -insert number-. He is also unable to maintain full control for very long, it drains him of energy fast and the animal may start trying to fight back as his influence starts to slip if he is in there too long; and if he is possessing an animal too long, he can fall unconscious, he'll wake in his own body, but it'll be a bit harder to successfully connect to another animal for a day or two. Basically it is like he strains a muscle, pushes it farther than he should, and then he has to favor it for a bit to recover. Out of the three levels of possession, the lowest level lets him stay in the animal's mind for the longest, as he is not really controlling it, but negative effects will still occur if he is in there too long.
And of course, he is still getting used to the presence of his power, he is inexperienced and is prone to mistakes when using it. No doubt he will be much more skilled in a decade, if he lives that long.
Personality:
Perhaps Nikos is not the most confident with other people, or perhaps he is a shy person in regards to those he doesn't know, both of these are valid options for people that haven't been around the man too much. In truth he is naturally more on the reserved side, it takes him a while to properly get used to someone and to really show his true feelings on a subject, or even to be comfortable enough to show his full emotions. He is not one to wear his heart on his sleeve, nor is he one to withdrawn, by default he tends to be in the middle, with a strong lean towards reservation.
Something that has never changed through the years, nor has changed in light of his new profession of sorts, above all things, Nikos is loyal. Once someone earns his loyalty, they will come to find out that it is unshakable, and he will stand by their side no matter what. In fact, it is his tendency to fiercely and wholly devote himself to those who earn it that got him into trouble in the first place, his willingness to protect his friend whom he hasn't seen in years and the family who he hasn't even met before, that willingness drove him to accept the role of informant and subsequently traitor.
One of the lessons from his childhood that has always been carried with him through his teenage life and into early adulthood, is to be alert. No matter how calm and routine things are or seem to be, it always pays to be watchful for anything that could disrupt life; that is what he was taught when he was young, and that is what he has applied to his whole life. Even while relaxed, there is always a part of him watching out for any intruders, keeping a keen ear out for any suspicious noises or an eye out for a person or sight that is off. It takes a lot for him to not notice things going on, in which cases he is either dealing with emotions or wounded and not caring about much at the moment. Otherwise he is quite observant, and will pick up on things, although it is not guaranteed that he will know what is going on, only that something is wrong.
Not that Nikos is in the habit of being jittery, but recently he has gotten a bit more nervous than the norm. The recent changes have not helped a bit, the stigma and hatred that is directed toward the Others, and the uncertainty of most things have not helped to steady the man, more like the opposite. And then being strongarmed into a role that he does not like in the least, was added on top of that. Needless to say that his nerves have taken a beating in the past year, and having to live with the same organization that he's betraying? He is not having a good time of it. The pressure of having to act the informant in order to keep his trusted and loved ones safe, and the knowledge that he cannot keep this façade going for a long time weighs on him and slowly but surely gnaws away at his nerves.
As a counter of sorts to his loyalty, for there always has to be a part of him that opposes another part, is Nikos' trait of not being able to forgive another person. More specifically, the man has a very hard time with forgiving another's wrongs to himself or his loved ones, it can even apply to those who had his faithfulness but then turned and broke that trust. In this regard, in regard to those who have thoroughly made it clear that they are against him and his, even if they are a former ally, then he is not the one to look to for forgiveness. It may not seem like he is the type to be downright cold-hearted to some, he does not give that feeling to those he meets, but he definitely has maintained this disposition in the context that requires it. Merely because a wrong does not drive him to be seeking revenge, not actively at least, does not mean that he will not hold a long lasting grudge, especially when in the promixity of the person. Unfortunately this way of thinking also leads him to believe that other people will treat a wrong such as betrayal in the same manner he will, mayber even worse than he will.
A negative tendency of his is that he does not always give himself a release for his emotions. Nikos often bottles up his more negative emotions, and keeps them to himself, opposed to tracking someone down and talking it out. Or going for a run or something to act as a release valve so his feelings don't threaten to overwhelm him. The result of this is that he will just snap when there's one thing that gets to him more than normal, and causes that storm of pent-up emotions to be released; this is end with him in a state of barely controlled fury, or tearing up almost out of nowhere. It is not a pleasant thing for either parties to have to deal with.
Something that really depends on his mood, is his inclination to fight. At default he is not the type to actively seek confrontation, but will fight if all else fails; but sometimes he will not always show it, though he will be chomping at the bit to get into it with someone. Regardless of his willingness, Nikos holds a ferocious streak within his being, and he is not an opponent to be underestimated. He is fierce when provoked and that can translate into combat or into a more verbal type of battle, and while not the best at comebacks on the spot, he is quite good with his knives in a fight. And the man is not the type to play fairly either, when in a true fight for his and others' lives, he cannot afford to be beholden to a thing such as "honor", with the only lines he does not cross under any circumstances being dragging innocents into the fray
Likes/Dislikes:
+Reading
+Nature
+Starry skies
+Sparring
+Alone time
+Cool weather
+Well cooked food
-Loud and/or brash people
-Crowds
-Extremely warm weather
-Bees
-Lying/deceit
-Heavy clothing/gear
-Feeling trapped
Strengths:
-Combat, if given freedom of movement
-Alert
-Ranged weapons, i.e throwing knives/archery
-Training from childhood
-Ability to possess animals, great for listening/spying
-Speed/agility
-Can be underestimated
Weaknesses:
-Very unforgiving
-Bottles up emotions
-Brute strength
-Closed quarters combat
-Can come off as cold/aloof
-Inexperienced with power
-Too loyal for his own good sometimes
Backstory:
Born an only child, to a mother and father who were not the most loving, yet they were not entirely closed off, he had a decent childhood. His mother who had been either a spy or assassin, was the one to spearhead his weapons training; getting him used to practicing with throwing knives and how to improve accuracy, although it took a while for the lessons to stick. And his father who hailed from a better off lineage but had ended up as a mercenary in his younger days, did not slack in teaching his son as well. As he grew older, his mother started to disappear for periods of time, sometimes as short as a day or as long as several months; leaving his father to be the one to take care of the teenager.
When the storm hit a year ago, his father succumbed to the illness brought by the strange water, he had been already weakened by recent injury caused by a incident while riding his horse. He and his mother however, both of them are another story; he survived the illness and in the wake of the nearly fatal sickness, was left with the ability to control animals and with the purple mark of lines across his back. His mother similarly survived, if by a margin, and was left with a light blue mark depicting jagged lines on her right arm and shoulder.
After she recovered after the illness, his mother disappeared and he has not seen or heard of her since. He had absolutely no idea what happened, whether that was due to an ill fate befalling the woman, or if it was like her regular periods of disappearing. After that, he resumed his period of working odd jobs to provide for himself, still secretly hoping that his mother would return; he never settled on any particular thing though. He was equally happy to help the local healer and treat patients, and to help with any animal related needs. Though he did not limit himself to local errands, as he did track down and return a few lower profile bounties when he saw fit, though he did not take up bounty hunting as a settled profession; as those few bounties were taken in times where he needed the money, and perhaps one or two of them had gone after his home.
Now this is where it starts getting interesting. One day as he returned to his house, he met a cloaked person who asked his name, and then handed him a letter. He was hesitant and wary, but still he went, and still he swore his loyalty to the group. Not long after that, not any longer than a week later, he went back to his old home for personal reasons. There he was met with a man with amber eyes, and he was "persuaded" into a private conversation with the stranger.
From there it got worse for Nikos, and he rather wished that he had walked away, although he does not know how that would have gone if he had walked away. The man, who turned out to be Commander Iorwerth of all people, told him in no uncertain terms that he was to be a spy for him. Evidently a few people had taken note of the letter being exchanged, even though it had been evening. Nikos had balked at the idea, and very clearly shown a lack of will to take the task up; and so came the threat to a childhood friend and his family, the friend being several years older than he and having recently started a family. At the ultimatum towards the little family and just knowing that the Commander would absolutely follow through with his words, Nikos buckled and reluctantly agreed to being the spy, the traitor, to the group he had recently joined.
Affiliations:
Open,