Individual Character's full name: Marcus Adrian Lannon
Alias/ Nickname/ Code name: Nickname/Alias; Will also answer to Mark or Mal
Code Name; Wildcard
Gender: Male
Age: 24
Birthday: February 23, 1986
Nationality/ Ethnicity: Irish American
Birthplace/ Home/ Place of origin: Chicago, Illinois, USA
AppearanceHair color and style: Marcus keeps his hair in a “shaggy flat top.” It’s a bit too long to be a flat top but it’s too short to be called anything else. Marcus generally just lets his hair do what it wants, which typically is falling backward so that he looks like he has combed his hair toward the back of his head. His hair is a dark rust color with reddish highlights from exposure to the sun.
Eyes: Marcus’ eyes are the green of a worn dollar bill.
Height: 6’5”
Build: Marcus is athletic but not overly muscular. Keeps in shape and
toned but isn’t packing on extra muscle mass.
Visible mutation: None
Scars/ Tattoos/ Piercings:Scars; None
Tattoos; Marcus has a green shamrock at the base of his neck, a
tribal lion on his upper right arm, and a set of four aces on his upper left arm, and the kanji for chaos surround by a tribal star on his upper back between his shoulder blades.
Piercings; None
Other features:Everyday clothing style: Marcus prefers a pretty casual wardrobe. He can typically be found wearing a pair of well worn jeans, more than likely with the knees worn thin and the cuffs tattered, held up by a brown leather belt with a silver buckle, a pair of brown work boots, and a t-shirt that may or may not have a design printed on it. His idea of dressing up simply implies that he trades the t-shirt for a button up shirt, leaving it un-tucked and rolling the sleeves up a bit.
Uniform: none, currently.(if applicable)
Sleepwear: Generally boxers but Marcus has been known to pass out in the previous night’s clothes.
Miscellaneous clothing: A simple
silver ring on his left forefinger, a 22 inch
silver chain with a
silver St. Christopher medal on it, an 18 inch
silver chain with a
silver cross on it, a
silver bracelet on his right wrist, and a
silver Fossil watch on his left wrist.
CharacterPersonality: Marcus has a strong, quiet soul. He tends to hang around the peripheral of a situation till he knows it better before moving in and making himself known. He is the same in most social situations as well. He will gravitate to the people he knows until he has a better feel for the other people there before introducing himself unless someone else does it for him. The only exception to this is at a rave or a good techno club, where Marcus doesn’t hold much back and just enjoys the music and atmosphere without much care for how people think of him. Marcus isn’t quick to anger but there isn’t a scaling degree of how mad he gets. He’s either mad or not, and he’s certain to make sure that the target of his anger knows it. Marcus is fiercely loyal to his friends but slow in trusting people enough to truly call them that. When faced with confrontation, he would prefer to be able to get a good look at the battle field first and then wade into the fight but can go in guns blazing if the need arises.
Hobbies/ Interests: Marcus is an avid fan of Electronica. His ipod is filled with hours of techno and dance music and he takes any chance he gets to attend raves and clubs. He also enjoys rally racing though he doesn’t drive professionally. Marcus enjoys taking his car, a Subaru
WRX Impreza, out into the New York countryside and pushing it to the limit.
Job or part time job and description: Currently between real jobs, Marcus has done everything from yard work and painting to working as a bar tender and bouncer. He has a small entertaining business that he runs on the side. It isn’t much, but it lets him pay the bills and gives him a little extra for himself.
Fears/ phobias/ concerns:Fears; Nothing in the way of major phobias, Marcus does have an extreme dislike for spiders.
Phobias; none
Concerns; Other than the day to day, Marcus has no major concerns.
Special talents: Bartending
MoralityGood/ bad/ neutral/ other:Neutral leaning towards Good Marcus tends to wait and see how an event plays out before getting involved in it unless there are personal motivations that would require him to react. Unless the situation is something that personally threatens him, his family, or his friends, he tries to only get involved in the situations that would get ugly if they got out of hand.
MutationsMutation description:Pectomancy: Ability to manipulate playing cards with one’s mind. A mutant with this ability can manipulate playing cards, and only playing cards, with his mind, causing them to shoot from the deck held in his hand like throwing weapons or form in front of him in a shield-like pattern.Strengths:• Marcus can manipulate playing cards made of any material as long as they are the same size as standard playing cards.
• Marcus is not limited to offense alone with the cards. Made of the proper material (something with a nice solidarity to it) he can also use the cards to form a shield in front of him.
o Forming a shield out of cards is an inherently tricky subject. With paper or plastic cards, a shield is simply a one shot protection from most things (fire, water, and most simple attacks). Paper and plastic, no matter how thick you stack them, are no match for a bullet. Metal cards are better at forming a shield against standard attacks including punches or kicks from people with standard strength and, when stacked three or four on top of each other, will also stop a bullet once before needing to be reformed.
Weaknesses:• Marcus’ ability, while nifty, only affects playing cards. If there aren’t any present and he forgot to bring his own, he’d be up a creek without a paddle.
• Marcus cannot create playing cards, only manipulate them.
• Marcus can only manipulate 52 playing cards, or one standard deck, at a time.
• Marcus can only maintain sustained control over the 52 cards for an hour max. This isn’t cumulative, as in every minute he uses the cards adds up, but if he is forced to keep multiple cards up in the air over a prolonged period of time it will eventually take a toll on his mind and body. The effects of sustained use range from simple headaches (forty-five minutes to a full hour of use) and fatigue (hitting the hour mark and the first five minutes beyond) to blackouts (any use or attempted use after an hour and five minutes). The headaches will clear up quickly once he stops using his power and the fatigue will fade after he has rested. Blackouts are hard to call, but typically they will take him out of action for at least 12 hours.
o Note; With exceptional amounts of focus, Marcus can use his ability for longer periods of time outside of his one hour limit. It is however extremely hard to focus through the mounting mental strain that occurs from such use. For every ten minutes Marcus uses his ability past one hour, it becomes harder for him to focus through the mental strain and will also cause his black out to last longer.
• The range at which Marcus can exert his full control over a card is limited. Up to 20 ft., Marcus has full control over a card. From 20 to 25 ft., Marcus can only add velocity to a card but cannot change its direction. Outside of 25 ft., Marcus cannot control the card anymore and it becomes subject to the natural laws of physics. Granted, anything thrown by him will continue to move outside that range, he just won’t be in control of it any longer.
• Marcus’ mutation functions with playing cards made of any material (metal, paper, plastic, etc.). However, different materials come with different drawbacks
o Paper; Standard playing cards are great in a tough spot but paper is highly susceptible to damage from multiple sources. Fire and water are particularly hard on standard playing cards. Too much water and the cards can no longer maintain their rigidity. Fire, as it is wont to do, typically incinerate them almost instantaneously.
o Metal; Playing cards made of metal are more resilient than their paper cousins but they too have some drawbacks. The edges can be, and in the case of Marcus’ metal deck are, sharpened and can therefore cut the thrower without proper protection. Metal, being an excellent conductor of heat and all, is also prone to extreme temperatures when it comes into contact with fire. Get them hot enough and not even a good leather glove can protect the hand from the heat. Push them too far and they will melt eventually. Marcus keeps a set of fingerless leather gloves on him to protect his hands.
o Plastic; Plastic playing cards, like their paper cousins, are also prone to damage by fire. With enough heat, plastic cards will melt. While they are sturdier than paper cards, they are also a bit thicker and therefore deal less damage.
Fighting StyleExplanation: Marcus prefers to try to stay at ranged during most fights, using his mutation and natural throwing ability to send projectiles at his foes. When forced into close combat, he has a little training in Bojutsu to help him out (or just enough to get him in trouble as some might say). He typically keeps a pair of tambo, short sticks meant for fighting, on his person when he’s out and about as well a deck of specially designed playing cards made from steel with sharpened edges.
Pros for fighting style: At ranged, he can potentially be a threat to everyone who is opposing him. It lets him harry his enemies while not having to get physically involved with them.
Cons for fighting style: Once his opponents close in, Marcus can still use his mutation to fight but he has to also dodge attacks. As such, he is limited in what he can do, hence the Bojutsu training.
Faction AllegianceCurrently unaffiliated
History Of Your CharacterMarcus was born to an upper middle class family in Chicago, Illinois. Even as a baby, he was quiet and reserved. His childhood was fairly typical; public school where he was a star athlete on the football and baseball teams, friends (well frenemies would probably be more correct) aplenty, girlfriends when he wanted them and a loving, if sometimes dysfunctional, family to support him. Marcus has one brother, Christian Arthur, who was born when Marcus was six years old.
Marcus left home for college after graduation, at age 18. Like most kids who grew up with the good life, it took him a while to adjust to living on his own. It didn’t take long however, for him to discover the more unpleasant sides of collegiate life.
Marcus quickly realized that he had a knack for Hold ‘Em Poker and took to playing the back room games to make a bit of extra cash for himself. It was after one of these games that his power awakened. Having won the game, Marcus was leaving the establishment for home when he was accosted by one of the people he had knocked out early in the event. Brian Huxley, the individual in question, was considerably drunk and not entirely in control of his faculties at the time; that however, did not stop him from attacking Marcus in an attempt to steal the money Marcus has won. Marcus’ years of playing sports and his inclination to sobriety gave him an edge in the scuffle but just enough to allow him to dodge away from Brian’s drunken grab. After the failed grab, Brian pulled a gun on the young man from Chicago. Marcus’ brain exploded into action without him even realizing what it was doing. He’d always kept a deck of playing cards on him to perform card tricks with at parties and for friends and before he knew it, Marcus had mentally reached out, grabbed one of the cards, and, using the telekinetic powers of his mutation, thrown it at Brian. The card struck him in the wrist, severing both tendon and blood veins and the gun clattered to the ground followed quickly by Brian, who was clutching his wrist and howling in pain. Brian’s screams drew people from inside the establishment. The bouncers escorted both of Marcus and Brian up the street before calling the authorities. Marcus was too stunned to walk away and so had to explain what had happened. His mind was cognizant enough to leave out the part about the poker game and so the cops chalked it up to self defense in the face of attempted robbery and no further charges were filed.
From then on, Marcus practiced using his mutation, attempting to perfect his control over it. He also took up more mundane things like Bojutsu and a little karate to help him in case he ever couldn’t use his mutation to fling cards like shuriken. Marcus went on to graduate in just four years with a Bachelors of Business and Administration; and though he stopped playing the backroom poker games, he kept at his martial arts and practicing with his mutation.
After college, Marcus moved to New York, New York in the hopes of owning his own bar/club. Though that dream hasn’t been fully realized yet, he has held several jobs in various bars and clubs throughout the city. In the two years he’s lived in New York, Marcus hasn’t had to use his mutation on anyone yet though he does make use of it. He has a small entertainment business, catering mostly to parties and the like, who hire him out as a magician and card shark.
RoleplayWhere did you learn about this site?: Through old players who have left that highly recommended the site.
Do you have any other characters on MRO, if so who: No
Sample RP: The phone in Marcus’ apartment rang loudly, rousing him from the snoozing he was doing on the couch. He reached over the arm of the sofa and picked up the cordless phone.
“‘Allo,” Marcus said sleepily as he brought the phone to his to ear.
“Hello,” answered a feminine voice. “This is Mrs. Sinclair calling to see about booking your company for a birthday party on the 23rd of July.”
Now fully awake, Marcus stood and walked over to his desk and shook the mouse to bring his computer to life. “The 23rd of July, is it? Let me double check the schedule.” The computer finally came out of sleep mode and Marcus opened his calendar program. He already knew full well that he wasn’t already booked for that particular Saturday but it sounded better if he had to check. Made the client think he had more business than he actually did. “I am indeed available on the 23rd, mam. My rates are sixty dollars an hour, minimum three hours. How long did you need me for?”
Mrs. Sinclair rambled on for two or three more minutes, giving him the particulars of the party, before hanging up the phone. Marcus smiled to himself at the prospect of work; he hadn’t had a steady job for a bit a now.
“Now if I can just get a real job, that would be dandy,” he thought to himself as he swiveled his desk chair around to survey his apartment. The couch cushions were in a state of mild disarray from the almost nap he had been taking and the TV was on, though the sound was turned way down. There were a couple of plates on the coffee table, remnants of the couple meals he has eaten today, and his boots were piled unceremoniously in the corner near the door. The clock above the door read two pm on the nose. Marcus’ cell phone let out a quick series of beeps, alerting him to the new text message he had just received. He grabbed his phone from the desk, spun it around in his hand so that it was facing the right way, and checked the message. It was an invite from a couple friends to go down to the neighborhood café and lounge.
“Might as well go,” he thought to himself as he began typing a response.
“Not like I’m doing anything important.” As the text was being sent, Marcus set the phone back down on the desk and set to cleaning his living room a bit. He rinsed the plates and placed them in the dishwasher next to the sink, reorganized the sofa cushions and turned off the TV.
After finishing that, Marcus walked into his room to clean up before heading out. He took a quick shower before getting dressed in a pair of jeans with a dark wash and tattered cuffs, a white undershirt, and a dark green “guiness” t-shirt. Marcus walked carefully back into the living room and laced up his boots, humming the tune to a dance song mindlessly all the while. He stood and checked himself in the mirror hung on the back of the front door. Pleased with his appearance, Marcus grabbed his wallet, cell phone, and ipod from the desk top and slipped them into his pockets. Before turning to walk to the door, he grabbed his keys off their peg above the desk and clipped them onto a belt loop. He stopped for a moment at the door and grabbed his tambos, short wooden fighting sticks about three feet long with the lower foot wrapped in green leather, and a brown leather pouch from the table by the door. Marcus tucked the tambos into his belt near the small of his back and then paused to open the pouch. He withdrew a pair of thick, fingerless leather gloves and slipped them into his left back pocket and made sure his metal cards were still inside. Satisfied that they were, he slipped the pouch into his left front pocket and headed out the door to meet his friends.
