Art Credits: City of Heroes character builder, and art adopted from Thealess on deviantart

Lane's various shapes and appearances can be unnerving if you're not ready to see a vibrantly green / teal shaded feline Wyldkin. Even less so his 'human' shape! He cannot shift the color away, nor remove any of his rosette markings. Lane also cannot shapeshift into any other animal. He often does not have 'hair' in addition to his fur while in upright Kin shape. He tends to reserve that for a more human-like or Skin shape. He does not ever remove his tail, but he can have almost human ears, fingers, and feet. While in this Skin form, he cannot use his sense of smell. Equally however, in his Kind form, he cannot talk or write. He truly enjoys meat, and in his Kind form won't hesitate to kill and eat an animal raw (and whole). But his indulgence is pasta - particularly shrimp pastas - and berry muffins. If tea is available he will drink it, but vastly prefers coffee, and enjoys hard liquor more than wines. He doesn't care for other drugs, not happy with how they often interfere with his shifting abilities.

Dragondeep Specs (taken from character sheet forgive the formatting)

Basic Info:

Skills and Profession:

Possessions and Combat Stats:

Personality:

Like any given 'Keenan Lane' incarnation, he does act as mysterious as possible, but often it's just a front. But getting to know him and let down his guard is incredibly difficult if he doesn't want you to get close. He's taking heart however, in having met some of his doppelgangers and learning how their own worlds have gone. He among any of them doesn't really need to worry about any incursions - those have already either been quelled or aren't possible here. Whether he is going to integrate himself even farther into the multiverse remains to be seen, but most of his family absolutely are doing so. He knows he has time to play, so... maybe. There will always be someone who wants someone else dead, right? He'll take care of that later.

History:

Born to an unusually Fey-tolerant tribal group. But even they don't truly appreciate shifters in their midst, and he was cast out by the time he was 3. He was adopted by a pair of Kind ravens, who taught him unique arts and still enjoy his company.

Yes, he IS a spy and IS an assassin, but mostly keeps to himself and is often on the prowl for interesting people and places to visit.Even though he is an outcast or an unknown, his wanderings have netted him quite the fortune, as he trades secrets, goods, and bounties in equal amounts.

He is accepted among Kind because of his closeness to his adoptive family, and almost any newly known raven Kind is sent to him for work. Many other bird Kind consider it as
well, particularly mynah and owl Kind. Lane is also accepted among Griff communities, where he is not viewed as 'weird' due to his unique coloration. They have often stated they believe he is a Griff without wings, and even those his parents have as being 'his'.

Wyldkin aside from Kind are as mistrustful as they are secretly jealous of his magical strength. Even most Shifters among Wyldkin are nowhere near as magically gifted as Lane, though they don't have much if any culture of their own to reject him from.

He can almost pass as a Necromancer, if he were to grow his hair out and tuck his tail a bit. However he doesn't much care to remain in the Necropolis very long, his sensitive nose the primary reason.

The Barony relish his visits, at least in certain areas, because he spends a lot of his hard-earned gold in their cafes and brothels. In fact he has had both offers for employment as well as investments in either.

Summoners mistrust him, though they will admit his fashion sense is admirable. (Also it's mostly male Summoners not liking him, as their women seem to enjoy his company plenty.)

If Nomads didn't already outright fear Wyldkin, they would be petrified by his colors and abilities, so he avoids showing them off around that culture.

He is intrigued by the Clockwork community, though they tend to be a bit put off by his professions. He is very courteous, asking them pointed questions about technology or law, which they do enjoy answering.

He has stopped off around the Reed lands, to appreciate their music, but would never ask for asulym among them. Since they would require a sort of religious servitude he is not prepared to accept, should he ever need to hide, it won't be with them.

True Undead are a bit wary of his blood because they have little experience using Shifter blood for survival. He works in trade, among them, rather than visits costing him vital fluids.

While he has taken sea trips, he rarely works with ship-borne folk. Their cities, however, are some of his favorite places to get work. Also, he stores quite a bit of wealth in the banks on Pennywell and in the Bazaar.

Dragons and Dragon Kin rarely tolerate his presense, but some individuals might. An elder dragon has commented once, that as with everything they do, they have reasons for this. It might be his odd otherworldly nature.

The elfin communities in the Rotwood area glimpse him among their caverns, treetops, and cliffsides, but he has very little to either offer or ask from them.

It's rumored that he does have regular contact with the Ravenhill Elves, for an obvious reason. Since they are notoriously sly, tight-lipped, and dangerous, no one in their right mind would ask them about it. Starcourt Elves on the other hand admit that he's both been there and that he knows their secrets. They never look pleased when saying that.

Lumin have been heard to mutter that they half-wonder whether he is part of their Bloody Mutt's line, since everything else under the sun seems to be. Lane has been known to pick off sheep from their hillside ranches, and noblemen in deepest cities... only eating the sheep of course. Because gold from other nobles can buy him more sheep than he could ever want. He is a known threat to anyone with enemies, and ... the Lumin are their own worst enemies.

The Jewel Witch community has given a standing offer to supply him with a Diadem, as his powers are accentuated by a particular amber stone. So far he has declined, however even he admits that the stones in question are able to make his powers truly shine.

Most Fey, be they summoned or social, react oddly to Lane, from trembling in fear to what appears to be worshipful awe. Only the most intelligent of them are ones which he would bother with, the rest get eaten.

More recently he has discovered the presence of the Gates between Dragondeep and other worlds. In addition, the existence of an individual quite similar to him in ways, including names and powers, who walks many worlds. Lane isn't sure what to make of this, but reasons if they're anything alike, this world-walker would be at least as curious about him, as he is of them.

His first mate with offspring is Niska Greyquill, a shadow-powered Griff. They have three children, Lance, Xenia, and Lamia. Lance is a Shifter, while Xenia and Lamia have but one form. Xenia is a 'wingless Griff', and her sister Lamia is a Full kin Griff - extraordinarily rare, unless Lance is counted while he's on two feet... They are all expected to live into the thousands of years, so any pressure to 'get somewhere' is rather low.

Lane and an unusually colored cheetah kin named Sebra hit it off, as she worked in a city he has a residence and investments in. Their daughter Sola was actually born Kind, but shortly grew into a two-footed Full shape. Though nothing could change her brilliant aqua-on-black coloration.

Most recent among his family arrangements is with, of all people, the Wolf Queen's half-Human daughter Wynette - youngest of triplets, and all manner of inappropriate for having chosen an assassin for a mate. After all, he was at the Queen's court scouting out that nobleman to kill, when Wynette found him. Surprising absolutely no one in her family, she gave birth to twins, both seemingly Kind wolves. Only one of them remained on four feet for long, though, as Lucian began to shapeshift. His sister Winter compensates for lacking thumbs
or a kin voice, by being incredibly talented in mind and meta-magic.

From Deviantart Page description:

While at first one might mistake this medium-sized panther for a Kind, as he spends quite a lot of time on four feet, he's actually a Shifter. Hardly a typical Wyldkin! And trouble has followed him since he was first seen lurking around the edges of Kin cities. But he's not exactly evil , more mysterious and mischievous. (In as much as a spy and occasional assassin can be ‘not evil'.)

He has been spotted - albeit very fleetingly - at the tops of parapets in Summoner towns, lurking improbably in sewers near the Necropolis, striding confidently across rooftop walkways in the Crystal Dome, and on rare occasions sipping coffee with an odd assortment of companions in the Orchid Peninsula.

Lane's appearance is at first glance that of a dark panther, which he is. However, his fur is a rich peacock-green shade mottled with rosettes of pale celadon and deep malachite... which should give a good idea that he's not your average Shifter either. He is a powerful Psionic, bearing both Mind and Time abilities that he clearly uses to his advantage. When he is upright, he wears a suit that might be more appropriate to a banker or lawyer than a world-wanderer.

His odder quality is that he has a collection of ravens - one might think that isn't all that impressive until it becomes clear that they are Kind ravens. With them, he spies on monarchs and fey alike; but what he does with the things they whisper to him only he knows. After all, he was born to a tribe and cast out, and raised by raven Kind. Griffin often proclaim that he should have been born to their breed, he only lacks wings, and his heart-parents have those in spades.


***

Lane's powers are actually a bit more complicated than shown on the sheet - I was trying to work with the existing Elane rules, but they just don't cover the kind of psionics that exist for Dragondeep. As a mentalist he's able to sense and to an extent manipulate people's minds, emotions, and perception. He can remain unseen if he really wants to sneak by, but also can put rooms filled with people 'on hold' as he slinks past. Whether it is to get a glimpse at highly guarded secret documents, listen in on conspirators as they plot, kidnap or rescue a well-guarded person, or even kill someone in need of killing, Lane does it silently and with an intensity that would scare the crap out of most guards - if they ever managed to see him.

His clothing basically vanishes, it's shapeshifting magic after all, he can do that. Many other shifters can't also keep their clothing, but some can. His choices of garments are based largely on where he is working or residing at the time. His very fancy looking cloak is in fact both a form of nigh-unpierceable 'ironcloth' armor, as well as an improvised entangle weapon that he has needed on rare occasions.

Though adept with a sword he's more comfortable with both the small, quickly reloading wrist crossbow, and throwing knives. They don't do a lot of damage, but they have the potential to kill quite easily with the right shot. Also the crossbow bolts he uses have a reservoir for poisons, and he does make sure that they're thoroughly cleaned when he retrieves them so as not to complicate his life by accidentally killing someone he means to knock unconscious.

As a Shifter Wyldkin, he was actually born as a 'Kind' - that is in Wyldkin terms a 'four footer'. As such he was not going to be accepted by his parents tribe anyway - and by the time he was three or so, he was cast out to fend for himself. Most Kind are actually sent to specific locations to be picked up and taken to communities they're accepted by, but his tribe either didn't know about those, or didn't care to find them. The fact that he was *green* tipped them off that he was way different than they could handle anyway.

They were not wrong. The ravens that raised him were Kind - slightly larger than normal animal ravens, but strongly communicative and highly organized. They took the young Lane in and once he was relaxed enough to do so, he shifted in front of his new adoptive family. They encouraged him, rather than pushing him away. As rare as Kind are among Wyldkin communities, Shifters are even more so, and often seen as bad omens or worse. He IS troublesome, but he's made it work magnificently.

Because he was more Kind than 'Full' (Wyldkin come in Skin, Full, Kind, and Shifter varieties), and because he could easily keep up with the birds, his raven family and their Kind bird community continue to work with him for spying and information gathering. They don't often get 'regular jobs' because of course without thumbs any Kind would have trouble - and birds? Well, they're not exactly durable enough to guard or transport. And not all of them can speak - that at least was a benefit that the ravens have.

Since he knows he doesn't 'fit' with those who tossed him out, but was accepted by not only a family that wasn't his breed but were outcasts themselves, Lane feels remarkably strong attachments to those who treat him well. When he considers someone 'family', that is a loyalty that should be cherished and returned, because he's a very dangerous man and crossing him is not advised.

The world of Dragondeep is filled with a huge variety of people, cultures, and breeds. Lane doesn't quite fit in with any of them perfectly, but then he fits where some just wouldn't even try. Griffin populations adore him - after all he's already half a griff. And his family of Kind ravens supply the rest! Plus, Griffins on Dragondeep are often showing in different weird color schemes when they have odd or strong powers. That he's green is hardly a problem for any of them.

As shown on the sheet, he has plenty of travel under his belt, and has in fact visited almost all the cultures available on the world. Some fear him, some mistrust or balk at his presence, while others eagerly await his return and have a good hot pot of coffee waiting for him.