Retired Nate!
Individual Character's full name: Nathaniel Walker Holloway
Alias/ Nickname/ Code name: Andrew Burrows (retired) Stephen Graves (previous legal name, legally changed) A host of other aliases (retired)
Gender: Male
Age: 35
Date of Birth: 04/19/1984
Nationality/ Ethnicity: American, Caucasian
Place of origin: Raleigh, North Carolina
Current Home: Manhattan, New York City, NY
AppearanceHair color and style: Dirty blonde hair kept shorter since his time in jail
Eyes: Blue-Grey, like slate
Height: 6'1”
Build: [UPDATE: 1/21/2017] Formerly tall and lanky, free time serving out his sentence gave him time to add plenty of muscle
Visible mutation: None
Scars/ Tattoos/ Piercings: An ouroboros tattoo above his left shoulder blade, (the result of a lost bet in his teenage years.)
Other features: Nate often wears glasses, (preferring them to contacts,) and tends to keep a beard.
Everyday clothing style: When not attempting a con, Nate is content in plain clothing; graphic tees, button downs and jeans, often accompanied by Converse. When the situation calls for it, however, Nate has a small selection of suits and ties to choose from.
Uniform: None
Sleepwear: Boxers
CharacterPersonality: [as of 6/12/2012] Since his time in New York and with Quin, Nate has become more of a complete person emotionally. He can still feign emotions with the best of them, but he has allowed himself to emotionally invest more in the things and people in his life. Nate has developed a more welcoming demeanor aided by the patience he utilized as a conman. Nate's biggest need is to have something interesting to keep him occupied; originally, this was crime, but has been replaced with teaching and occasional encounters with rogue mutants and M-crazed humans.
Hobbies/ Interests: Over the course of his travels, Nate took up Fencing and Soccer as recreational hobbies. Some higher-class targets are the sporting-types, and Nate was never a fan of Polo, so he chose fencing instead. Soccer, on the other hand, was simply a game he had enjoyed since his youth.
Job or part time job and description: At the moment, Nate just drifts around as a conman and thief. [as of 6/12/2012]
Art Teacher for Xavier's Sister SchoolFears/ phobias/ concerns: [as of 6/12/2012] Nate was an arachnophobe, but the intervention of his pet, Parker, has lessened the fear. He will still react when he sees a regular spider, but the reaction is not as exaggerated after living with a cat-sized spider for a few months.
Special talents: (not related to mutation) Nate has practiced with sleight of hand, from his humble beginnings as a con with cards.
MoralityGood/ bad/ neutral/ other: Neutral; Nate bears no ill-will toward humans, and his “off-color” career path is not pursued with any malicious intent toward others; his goal is merely to keep himself financially stable using the talents available to him.
MutationsMutation description: Shadow ManipulationNate’s mutation allows him to manipulate his shadow as though it was an extension of his body. He can spread it and manipulate its shape within the limits of the shadow’s size. The range can be increased if the shadow touches and combines with another shadow. He can manipulate the shadow to emerge as a physical form, able to interact with the environment as a tangible form. Nate can feel the sensation of touch through the shadow, but not to the degree where he could feel texture or, more importantly, pain.
Strengths: The manipulation of his shadow is as much second-nature to Nate as moving his arm or rolling his eyes, allowing him to control it discretely, as efficiently as any other form of multi-tasking. People are often too busy and distracted with their own lives to notice a stray shadow, allowing Nate to utilize its subtlety and reach to access areas and objects otherwise out of reach. On its own, Nate's shadow can be extended to roughly thirty feet away, (varying by roughly five to ten feet based on the lighting of an area,) but with access to enough nearby shadows, Nate’s range becomes much more impressive. The strength of the shadow’s tangible form is based on Nate’s mental strength, which is more impressive than his physical strength, making the shadow's strength on par with a professional football player, lifting, holding and attacking with the same force.
Weaknesses: Despite his mutation, Nate’s shadow is still susceptible to all the rules a normal shadow abides by. Positioning of light can extend his shadow, but it can also shrink it and lessen its reach. Furthermore, without any light, Nate cannot cast a shadow, leaving him powerless in complete darkness, and with barely any reach in lesser darkness.
Nate can use separate shadows to form a “shadow chain,” but despite his increase of reach, at more extreme distances, it is more difficult for Nate to control and manipulate the shadow, leaving it less dependable and putting more mental strain on Nate. At distances of over eighty feet, Nate is unable to give physical form to his shadow.
Due to the shadow’s strength being derived from Nate's mental strength, when his mental state is weakened, so too is the shadow.
Secondary mutation description:Malleable Shadow Mass Form (Power Growth as of 8/9/2012)Nate’s body can convert itself into shadow mass, the same controllable material created when he animates his shadow.
Strengths: In his new form, everything that is Nate’s body is now made from shadow mass, including his skin, organs, and any skintight clothing (boxer-briefs, undershirts, spandex.) Due to the semi-porous and malleable properties of shadow mass, if something were to pierce him, the shadow mass would just separate and reform, leaving no lasting damage. In his new form, with his organs converted into shadow mass, breathing and blood flow are suspended. Nate’s sense of touch as a shadow man is comparable to how he feels with his shadows, (sensing pressure that signals there was contact but not feeling any differentiation between types of contact.) As such, Nate does not feel “pain” or any other refined physical sensations. This muted sensation of touch along with his body’s malleable nature allow Nate to control and augment his form in the same way he would his shadow.
Weaknesses: While in Shadow Form, Nate no longer casts a shadow, making his own mass the only shadow he can manipulate. His form does not expand in size regardless of light angles, so he has a more limited reach in Shadow Form than he does outside of his form by as much as half. Nate’s base strength is tied directly to the brightness of the area he is in; in very bright light, he could have access to almost three times his normal strength, while in dim lighting, his shadow form would actually leave his strength halved from his normal levels. In any darkness that would make it impossible to cast a shadow, Nate cannot enter his Shadow Form, and if he is already in it, he will be involuntarily shifted out of the Form. If he is in a contorted state (i.e. a shadow puddle) and comes in contact with darkness, Nate’s will be knocked backward, quickly converted back to his normal shape, and shifted out of his Shadow Form, a process which would leave Nate’s entire body in pain and could very well leave him unconscious.
Along with its effects on Nate’s senses of touch and pain perception, Nate’s shadow form has adverse effects on other senses. Nate’s sense of hearing is left at half-capacity, while his senses of taste and smell are completely removed thanks to their dependency on taste buds and breathing, respectively.
Nate can only maintain his shadow form for a maximum of one hour at a time, and it can only be used a total of two hours between periods of restful sleep.
Shadow Hopping (Power Growth as of 6/11/2017)When Nate walks into a shadow large enough to envelop him, his form immediately disappears amidst the shadow and reappears in another shadow (also large enough,) within thirty meters.
Strength: The process is nearly instantaneous. Once Nate’s body is completely enveloped in the shadow, he will instantly sense the other available shadows in the area and his instincts and thoughts will pick one for him to pop out of, continuing the same stride he entered the first shadow with. This allows for quick changes in location that could catch an opponent off guard, making Nate unpredictable.
Being able to traverse up to thirty meters with a single step also expedites travel time, and is useful for a hasty escape. Nate does not have to see these other shadows, since he senses them just prior to the hop, so it’s totally possible to Hop to a shadow on the other side of a wall.
Nate can pull one object or person into a shadow with him to take the magical journey to a nearby shadow. This is an efficient way to bring someone along in an escape, or abscond with an important item on a stealth mission. Dragging someone along the trip unexpectedly can also throw an opponent off balance if they are not expecting to suddenly end up somewhere new.
Weaknesses: As previously established, Nate can only stay in Shadowform for an hour at a time, and for a total of two hours between periods of restful sleep. Every Shadow Hop diminishes both of these internal clocks by two minutes, so if he quickly hopped between twenty shadows, he would almost instantly be down to twenty remaining minutes of shadow time, (and an hour and twenty overall.)
If Nate steps into a shadow large enough to Shadow Hop from, and there are no other significant shadows within thirty meters, his body will be forced out from whence it came with enough force to knock him off his feet.
This ability is not optional; if Nate steps into a shadow meeting the Shadow Hop criteria, he
will Shadow Hop. If he does not have an aim or direction he was hoping to move, he will hop to the nearest available shadow, regardless of convenience.
To bring someone or something into a Shadow Hop, the shadow they enter must be large enough to envelope everything being teleported. He can pull along only one person or large item, which includes contents within or in covering the object or person. (This includes contents of boxes, contents of pockets, and most importantly, clothes.) The act of Shadow Hopping another person will take an additional minute away from his "internal clocks," and will also have an adverse affect on the person along for the ride. The first few Shadow Hops will leave the traveler lightheaded, and will lead to full-on dizziness if used in excess.
As with any shadow power Nate possesses, his abilities only apply to shadows created from light. Actual darkness cannot be used for Shadow Hopping and will kick Nate out of Shadowform as always.
Fighting Style Explanation: A moderately talented fencer, Nate can hold his own if necessary, but due to his average-at-best physical strength, he prefers to keep his enemies at a distance where he can let his shadow do the dirty-work. He can use it offensively, forming fists, traps, spikes and other shapes, as well as (less effective) defensive walls.
Pros for fighting style: While maintaining his distance, Nate holds a distinct advantage against enemies with close-range strength and abilities, and allows him to hold his own against other ranged fighters.
Cons for fighting style: If an enemy is somehow able to close the distance or if the fight is occurring in darkness, without a saber on hand, Nate does not have much means to defend himself.
History Of Your CharacterGwyneth Graves, a frail, twenty year-old single mother, gave birth to Stephen Graves at Rex Hospital on April 19, 1988. When she brought her child home, she was concerned to find he would not stop crying when she was putting him to sleep. It was not until she found a candle and lit it that he calmed down. The next day, she found him a nightlight—a device he would rely on for some time to come.
Gwyneth was not particularly well off, and with a father who vanished after a one-night stand, as well as nothing more than a high school diploma, she had to work as waitress, a temp and (with much regret) a dancer to care for her child. Her one hope was to provide a life her child could be happy with, but Gwyneth had always been prone to sickness; with all the stress of overworking herself for over half a decade, she passed at the age of twenty-six, leaving her child to enter an orphanage.
Taking after his mother, Stephen was a skinny child who needed glasses, which made him an ideal target for bullies. He was picked on and on occasion, beaten up, until he became clever enough to outsmart his pursuers. He would trick and deceive bullies into picking fights with one another or getting in trouble with the headmistress and the religious that worked there.
This pattern of taking advantage of bullies and occasionally getting beaten up continued until Stephen was thirteen. Throughout those years, many potential parents were unable to adopt Stephen because he made himself conspicuously absent when they would visit. Once he learned to trick bullies out of money and out of his hair, he decided he could handle the occasional lost fight if it meant staying in a testing ground where he could test his skills. It was when Stephen was thirteen that his mutation began to manifest itself. Still only comfortable sleeping with some light on, Stephen kept a dim lamp on his bedside table. One night, while dreaming about reading poetry by a river, Stephen woke up to find his Robert Frost book lying next to him. Similar events occurred for the next week before Stephen was able to rule out sleepwalking or outside influences, before deduced he might be a mutant.
Even with this knowledge, he still did not know what his mutation was. He had heard of mutants with kinetic powers, which he thought might be a possible explanation for items moving in his sleep. He placed a glass on his table and tried to focus on moving it with his mind. He was trying to understand how he would even put a power like that into use, (
“What am I supposed to do? Think harder?”) when he saw a shadowy hand emerge from the tabletop and grab the glass. When he saw the hand connected to a shadow stemming from him, his surprise cased the hand to dissolve and the glass smashed.
As he learned how to utilize his mutation, Stephen started applying his newfound talents to his old games. The shadow could sneak under doors and into lockers, and physical altercations dropped off dramatically when bullies started “tripping” around him at a startling rate.
Unfortunately, as subtle as his shadow was, one day, Stephen got careless. He entered the kitchen for a midnight snack, and while making his sandwich on the counter, his shadow grabbed the milk carton from the fridge across the room. As fate would have it, a member of Stephen’s “fan club” walked into the kitchen in time to witness this. Wide-eyed, he screamed, “M-mutant! Wait until the headmistress finds out!” The boy turned to run, but Stephen’s shadow was quicker, snagging the boy’s foot, leaving him to fall and hit his head on the counter.
Realizing this was the first predicament he could not think himself out of, the only option left for Stephen was to run. He grabbed enough food to last him a few days, as well as a small amount of clothing, and he left with the hour.
From that point on, Stephen found “work” for number-runners, learned tricks of the trade from others on the streets and earned his money with card tricks and minor theft.
Eventually, Stephen left Raleigh, traveling to several other cities for months at a time. He used his wit and his powers for more white-collar crimes; bank codes, personal vaults—Stephen preferred the moral ambiguity of stealing from rich targets to the more questionable act of hustling people on the streets.
With the payout of his cons increased, Stephen’s activity became more spaced out; he had no desire to acquire great wealth, much less bring more attention to his crimes than he already did. He would just live off of his last job until the need arose for a new one, and after a few months, he would move on to a new city.
In the summer of 2011, the new city of choice was New York City.
[UPDATE: 1/21/2017]After coming clean with his past, Nate has spent the past four years serving out part of a prison sentence to atone for his crimes with considerations for information he was able to provide to the FBI and authorities regarding crimes and criminals he had knowledge of. Early in 2017, the former conman has been released on probation to the custody of the Mansion.
RoleplayWhat’s your OOC alias?: Neo
Where did you learn about this site?: Internet Search
Do you have any other characters on MRO, if so who: Rebecca Grey-Morris,
Vanessa BerrySample RP:Stephen sat in the lobby of a law firm in Pittsburg, rolling a quarter over his knuckles to fight boredom. That was the trouble with businesses and corporations; they have no issue with keeping anybody waiting. What was the point of “representing” a company seeking to become a new client if it meant waiting on an uncomfortable chair in a bland lobby for half an hour.
“Mr. Walker?”
Stephen looked up.
Right… Walker. Almost forgot. He stood from his seat and grinned, granting a firm handshake to the man with slicked-back hair and a greedy look in his eye. “Yes, Joshua Walker of Wilson Medical! It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir!”
The man, Ian Halden, chuckled, “No need to call me sir! I’m just a humble lawyer.”
Lying ass, you are a mid-level partner—you love the attention. “Follow me, Mr. Walker.”
The two entered an elevator, bringing them to the sixth floor and into the lawyer’s office. The two men sat down at Halden’s desk, with the excited lawyer shuffling through several folders. “I must admit, I was honored that your company chose me to personally oversee their deal. I suppose they must have reviewed my work with Wayne Pharmaceuticals!” he beamed proudly.
“I’m willing to bet that was it! My employers seemed pretty adamant on hiring you.” The arbitrary fact that Halden had worked on a client in the medical field had no impact whatsoever on his selection; in fact, until that moment, Stephen had not even known about the deal, (which, he thought to himself, he should have picked up in his research.) Ian Halden, a marginally unimpressive partner of Pearson Carver, was chosen to handle the fictional client based solely on the fact that his office was closest in proximity to the office of the head of the accounting firm.
As Ian Halden stammered on, trying to seem impressive, and Joshua Walker read the mental script of made-up facts and needs of his employers, Stephen’s shadow was already moving across the floor, under the door to Halden’s office, across an open area that was noticeably empty due to Walker’s insistence that they meet during typical lunch hours, and under the door to the Accounting Office. The shadow bent upward, traveling up the door until it reached the knob. From the shadow emerged a dark hand, finding the latch that would unlock the door. The hand groped around near the door, making sure there were no security devices that did not turn up in Stephen’s research. Once he deemed the room safe, Stephen recalled his shadow and Joshua Walker arose from his seat. “My apologies, but I need to take a quick trip to the restroom. In the meantime,” he pulled an envelope of pointless files and dropped it on the desk, “Feel free to look at our projections for the upcoming year when we put our new drug on the market.”
That oughta keep that greedy ball of ambition and hair gel distracted. Stephen left the room and scanned the hall to make sure there was not anyone in sight who decided to eat lunch at the desk on a Friday. With the area clear, he turned the knob of the newly opened Accounting Office and discretely entered. He booted up the computer, entered his flash drive, and walked away, leaving the door cracked open and allowed the technology on the drive to do its work.
He reentered Halden’s office, counting to two-hundred in his head. Halden looked up as he entered, keeping himself from salivating at the potential goldmine Walker’s papers made him out to be. Joshua sat down, still counting to himself, which was easier now that Halden was willing to do enough “smooth talking” to fill a small seminar.
198…199…200. Thank God. Stephen’s shadow traveled up his leg, pressing down on a button on the phone in his pocket, causing it to go off. “I’m sorry, Mr. Halden. One moment.” He pulled the phone out to have a one-sided conversation with his “boss.” “Sorry, I have to take this. Sir? …Yes, I am here with him right now… but I… sir, he is meeting with me during his lunch break… yes, I… I understand. I will be there in ten minutes—I mean five, sir.” He closed the phone and stood up once more. As he explained to Halden that he had been given the urgent order to apply for a patent on a new drug, Stephen’s shadow crossed the distance to the office once more, located the flash drive, which should have been done locating and downloading the correct files, and pulled it out. After turning the machine off, the shadow retreated toward the door, waiting.
Joshua Walker shook hands and apologized to Ian Halden, a man he was seeing for the last time; a man the persona of Joshua Walker was created for in the first place. As he exited the office, the shadow did the same across the hall, closing the door behind it. Once the flash drive was dragged across the floor and into Stephen’s hand, his shadow returned to its final task of re-locking the door. With the bank information of the firm sitting in Stephen’s pocket, he exited the building. After walking a block away, he pulled off his red wig, peeled away his matching beard, and removed his green contacts. He deposited the evidence in a trash can on the street and considered moving on from Pittsburg.
