A little about my previous experience: I've been around since before the statistics system Etla uses today came into popular use. And I was even there when said system was first implemented at all on Furc, so I might be the old fogey of the group. Those of you who would recognize me might remember me playing a hyooman named Iz from way back when. I've been away for some years, though, and the old itch is starting to come back. I'd like to think I've matured since then, and maybe on some off days I'd like to give this a crack again.
Why I'd like to join: I lurked in this place once or twice years ago, and I'm pleasantly surprised to see it's still around. I even know a person or two from back in the glory days of Harshlaw who plays here. It sure beats playing among complete strangers.
Furcadia Name: Mirig
Character Name: Mirig
Aliases: Big Paws, Monster Girl
Species: Canine
Subspecies/Race/Class: Monster/Bogeyman
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Height: 5'9”
Fur/Skin Color: Tawny
Hair Color/Style: Chocolate Brown tuft on top of her head
Eye Color: Yellow with slit pupils
Markings/Scars: Has a snaggletooth that comes over her bottom lip on the right side (viewer's left)
Appendages: Arms end in thick forelimbs and huge, strong hands. Legs are mostly normal (see Wooden Heels under Weapons)
Demeanor: Lazy, Impetuous
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Profession: Street Urchin
Resistances:
- Immune to sleep-inducing magic
- Immune to fear-inducing magic
- Resistant to illusion effects
Weaknesses:
- Weak against offensive light-based spells (searing rays, blinding flashes, etc)
- Effects that banish demons or spirits have a partial effect; they can cause severe nausea and disorientation, while more powerful spells of this nature can incapacitate Mirig.
Phobias: Liches, Constructs, Undead
Statistics:
Strength (STR): Med
Dexterity (DEX): High
Constitution (CON): Med
Intelligence (INT): Low
Wisdom (WIS): Med
Charisma (CHA): Med
Details:
Weapons
- Big Hands and Claws – While Mirig isn't much stronger than the average person, her forearms are immensely huge, possessed of claws and capable of closing hard enough to gouge and crush through all but the strongest materials. More often than not, Mirig will use this to maintain a death grip on something she has decided to pilfer.
- Wooden Heels – Due to a defect in Mirig's ankles that gives her a strained and uncomfortable partial-digitigrade stance, she wears wooden wedges as a therapeutic measure. Incidentally, the hard oak of this footwear is good for stomping.
Armor
- Armor – Mirig wears no armor, opting to travel in a thick, worn vest and shorts.
- Trinkets – A thick, black leather collar with an unmarked, gold plate on the front. She's never seen without it. Might be useful for deflecting vampire bites.
Abilities
(Natural) [Using Spoilers to keep knowledge of these on the down-low. Those who have to check can still check.]
- Big Palms – Mirig's palms can act as extra dimensional spaces. While the exact size of this space is undetermined, she can tuck away any item that would fit through a hole the size of her palm (about as wide as an average person's head), and conceal it as long as her fist remains closed. This can include items of any shape or size, including tankards, rocks, or even poles.
- Somnoport – Mirig's ancestry includes the blood of things that go bump in the night and terrorize children. As such, she can tap into the ability of monsters to move from place to place using beds. She can climb under any bed with a person sleeping in it, and emerge from any other bed that also has a person sleeping in it. She can also move other people using this power, but such people must be completely wrapped in a blanket with no portion of their body exposed to whatever nether realm Mirig walks through. Travel times range between one minute (going to another bed in the same city) and one hour (going to a bed in another country or continent).
ADDENDUM (12/12/2017)
- What constitutes a 'bed,' and how much space does Mirig need?: To clarify, a bed for purposes of Somnoport is a padded surface or fixture a person sleeps on. This can be anything from a mattress, to a couch, to even a sleeping bag or bedroll. A bare stone slab, for instance, would not count. For space, Mirig needs none so long as her target is a bed or bedding of some kind. If the space below a bed is smaller than what would physically allow her to enter/exit, she will magically compress to fit.
- Dreamscaping – While Somnoporting, Mirig can instead choose to enter the dreams of any person sleeping on a bed. There she can simply watch, influence that person's dreams, communicate, or even induce nightmares. Should a person wake up before Mirig can leave (exiting under that person's bed, or slipping back into the collective Somnoporting 'space' to exit under another bed), she becomes trapped in that person's mind, unable to leave until that person falls asleep again.
While inside a person's mind in such a manner, Mirig ceases to physically exist, but can still communicate with that person (perhaps to greater effect, since she will be talking to a conscious mind). Should a person refuse to sleep to keep Mirig trapped, she can gradually induce stress, anxiety, paranoia, and eventually vivid hallucinations in an attempt to wear out the subject and force them to rest.
On Dreamscaping and Mental Wards/Anti-Telepathy Effects - Dreamscaping operates on fundamentally different principles from typical mind-reading and divination, and thus wards designed to prevent mental influence tend to be ineffective or not have their full effect. Dreamscaping, unlike telepathy or mind control, interacts with dreams in progress by physically entering them. Mirig would not be able to forcibly glean secrets from a person unless they were actively dreaming about them. It isn't impossible, however, for Mirig to 'nudge' a person's line of thought towards a subject she wants to know about, or make a suggestion that a subject could react to or interpret in their own way (really, think 'Inception' mechanics of espionage). If no mental wards exist in a subject, it is easier for Mirig to modify a dream or induce nightmares, but any such modifications would be pulled from her own imagination and memory. If a subject has particularly robust mental wards, Mirig may not be able to modify a dream at all, though she would still be able to pass through and observe.
On Lucid Dreaming and Mental 'Combat' - Put shortly, unless someone else is also Dreamscaping or using a similar ability to physically enter dreams, Mirig cannot harm anyone, and no person dreaming can harm Mirig. It is possible for Mirig to manifest items and weapons while Dreamscaping, though these can only harm herself or other people whose physical bodies exist within a dreamscape. Those who experience 'lucid' dreaming cannot harm Mirig and cannot be harmed by Mirig as normal, but are completely aware of her presence if they ever enter a lucid state.
On Hiding in a Mind when it Dies - If Mirig is hiding in someone's mind when they are slain, she is forced to immediately exit from underneath the nearest 'bed' with a person sleeping in it as per Somnoport, regardless of how convenient it is for her.
(Learned)
- Climbing – Mirig can scale with the best of them, making use of her big hands to either secure a tight grip on any holds, or claw out new ones herself.
- Sneaking – A history of slipping past sleeping people throughout her life has given Mirig a good deal of experience with moving silently.
- Acupuncture, Massage, and Pressure Points [12/12/2017] - Mirig has spent some time in Taigorria, and during her stay she learned of exotic therapeutic arts, some of which can be used for medicine.
Appearance
You see what you might assume is a canine woman, perhaps wolfish, but her peculiar build makes a single species hard to place. Shoulders were narrow and wispy, but her forearms were monstrous, ending in a pair of thick, clawed hands that could easily palm one's head. Legs were within more reasonable standards, though hips were quite built up from moving those arms around; or were they for running? Her ensemble is mostly simple tans and browns; a thick vest over her upper body, and what could generously be described as pants on her lower body. It seems at some point she got frustrated and tore the legs off, leaving her in short, maneuverable shorts. Feet were mostly bare, aside from some wooden wedges held in place with leather straps. The nicest part of her clothes, it seemed, was a thick, sturdy collar around her neck, adorned with an unmarked gold plate.
UPDATES:
12/12/2017
- Defined 'bed' and space required for purposes of Somnoport
- Added 'Acupuncture, Massage, and Pressure Points' to learned skills
12/24/2017 - Attached an image of Mirig!
12/29/2017
- Added several notes to Dreamscaping, including interactions with mental wards, interactions with dreamers, and what happens if a mind she occupies is slain.
1/17/2018
- Changed wording on Dreamscaping to better fit its purpose: Mirig can enter the dreams of any person sleeping on a bed, regardless of whose bed she climbed under first.