Name: Dr Eli Vance, Vurr-allu'lih, togetherness of the allies, Kindred Spirit

Gender: Male, Straight

Age/DOB: ~56 at Events/1950ish

Origin: Repurposed Earth, St. Louis Missouri

Family: Azian, wife (deceased), daughter Alyx; moderately romantic but sometimes interrupted relationship with Judith Mossman; later spliced with Zoell producing twins Ellis and Liza

Other: Literally everyone younger than him considers Eli to be 'their dad'. Seriously, even those among the Vorts who have encountered him know that he is in every possible way, a kindred spirit to all

Height: 5'10 (had been taller but gravity and time...)

Weight: 160, varies because of losing half a leg; average build, but strong hands and arms, from doing much of the repair and engineering work around Black Mesa

Hair: Greying / Silvering black, very short cropped natural afro, also has a full but close-cut more hoary grey beard and bushy eyebrows

Eyes: Medium brown, clear, worried looking brow crease, deep set

Appearance: a medium-brown skinned African American, with numerous moles and blemishes, heavy age lines on face, but well used to smiling as well as frowning, a broad and long nose, and very full lips; has a genial and comforting voice; always wears his large gold wedding band (even after Azian's death)

Genetic Abilities: none known, but the Vorts seem to congregate around him, it's possible that he might have developed empathic powers or some form of Vortal senses

Icarus Processing: None, though might have benefitted from it if applied when he was a child

Image Credits: Valve / tektek
Skills or Profession: A highly skilled and seasoned engineer, Eli spent much of his adult life working at the Black Mesa Research Facility. He has quite a bit of expertise with almost any kind of electrical device, and many mechanical ones as well. He can assemble a computer from literally nothing, modify and improve vehicles, even on occasion work with weaponry and rocketry, though he prefers not to weaponize things if possible. He's an adept mechanic, but he does work first in theory and then moves on to physical application. Creating blueprints, schematics, and flow charts is all part of how he works best. He's quite good with doing advanced math in his head, and if you give him a slide rule he'll probably look at you like you're insane because you have computers for this stuff now don't you know anything? Virtually any of the still-functional computers and machinery in the Rookery as well as prime Black Mesa facility are that way because he and a handful of others have kept them up and running. Eli is also quite good with jury-rigging and making due with on-hand parts, though he can use a lathe and machine parts himself. (truth be told he'd rather have that clever metal shaper Jared do it!) But in addition to all of his scientific studies and practical experience with mechanical design, he's also a very adept social and communications man - he would usually be the one to deal directly with Lane with regards to any of the bizarre experiments going on, and usually also, be the one complaining about it. But his presence is also known to be of great comfort - he is the defacto leader of the entire Black Mesa facility, everyone including the Vorts look to him for most of their important decision making.
Personality: Eli is a steadfast friend to basically anyone he feels worth the time, and a lot of people he doesn't. Diligent, intelligent, concerned, and aware, Eli is well aware of the risks associated with his line of work. Theoretical physics is not theoretical at Black Mesa, after all. He isn't one to jump to any kind of conclusion save for if it involves his beloved daughter Alyx. Quite defensive and protective of her, he'd like to have been there for her years in the Enrichment Center, but perhaps because they were so far apart for so long, he knows that she is completely capable of helping herself. He isn't a worry-wart, but he certainly doesn't care much for all the things that can go wrong out there.
He tends to run 'outspoken' when it comes to discussions with Lane, and that's putting it mildly. He had to have his mood altered here and there, on a reasonably regular basis, in order for those discussions to remain in any way 'civil' and productive. But that was years ago, and at this point long after the Events, the Combine's downfall, and now the Rookery... he's learned that it's not all bad to sit down with his devil-in-a-black-suit friend, and chide him for those times he manipulated people. Lane doesn't seem to mind. Eli is in the highly unusual position of Lane's 'confessor' - one of the few people in the world - any world - that Keenan knows could both contribute in a clever and conscious manner, and even comprehend why they've had some of those conversations. In point of fact, Lane has stated directly, that of all the people he's ever known, Human or otherwise, Eli is the one that he wishes he could most be like: a steadfast friend, a confident scientist, and an absolutely wonderful father. All of those things, Eli absolutely is.
Events or History: Coming from a middle-class family from the middle of the country, but Eli's family had some interesting background to it that provided him with a considerable boost in his field. His father was an engineer - though not the 'educated PhD' kind. Working on large machinery and with technical knowledge of most vehicles of the era. His mother had been a nurse in the war (WW2). His grandfather had actually been a slave, and had inherited his old master's home when that man died in the 30s. Though Eli had only met his grandfather once before his passing in 1954 (and yes, his grandfather was quite old) he knew that the man had read every single book in the home... and those books were quite advanced. Medicine, engineering, sciences, architecture. Eli and his family spent many summers at that house in the Bayou - ironically not too far from one of the Armacham facilities in the south. Because he was always surrounded by books and people who enjoyed reading them, Eli Vance quickly realized that he too had the 'bug' - he would bury himself into a book and hardly even poke his nose out of it for dinner. He excelled in school, and attended Lincoln University, and shortly Harvard. He gained engineering degrees (yes, multiple) from Harvard in 1973 and 75, and was hired almost directly after his latter into Black Mesa. In the 70s he was apt to be more quiet than expected: he wanted to make sure that he continued to be employed, rather than rocking the boat socially.
He met Azian Kwon at Harvard, and in 1978 they married, but had decided to delay any family in favor of their Black Mesa careers. Both of them were employed at different times, Azian in their Geological Survey department. In the mid-80s, he and Isaac Kleiner headed up the Anomalous Materials research, and have been friends ever since. Eli provides the more 'hands on' side of their friendship - Kleiner wrote the books, but Eli made them manuals. Also during this time, of course, they both encountered the others of their peers: Rosenberg, Simmons, Ramachandra, a dozen others who didn't make it after the Events.
At various points, Eli had worked with the Lambda department, knowing full well what went on there would impact his Anomalous Materials research directly. Also he was 'forced' to work with Lane, and would have refused to do the final experiments that led to the Resonance Cascade, had he been able. He now knows that even if he hadn't cooperated, it would have happened anyway - the Synchronicity would have occurred and thrown everything into the fire without their experiment going on.
Post-Events, Eli and his crew worked tirelessly with what few things they could still do, in the ruins of Black Mesa, turning it into effectively a refugee center, and the location of most of the world's technology that wasn't in the hands of Armacham or later the Combine. He was thrilled when the kids from the Enrichment Center managed to contact them, with help from the Vortiguants, whom he had befriended (or was it, was befriended by? because they made the first moves on that aspect). From there, a teleporter, and the rest is Black Mesa Refugee City history.
Now that the Combine have been removed from actively destroying his world, Eli and the others have turned their eyes on another alternate world. Eli is 'older than dirt' - somehow remaining stable and steady even in his 80s. (There's something in the water, Eli!) He wasn't sure why any dragon might come to him, he had enough on his plate... yet here she is. Pellucida, a beautiful lichen-and-bark colored dragoness. He has ridden on her back once or twice, but doesn't trust his own aging body to cling on, so won't go into any sort of battle with her! But he enjoys seeing through her eyes, making sure that the exterior of this new world's Black Mesa is sturdy and that any machinery on site gets fixed.

Dragon

Name: Pellucida, 'Pelly' 'Lucy'
Gender: Female
Size/Shoulder/Length: Small, 7' shoulder / 39' l / 64' ws
Colors: Greens and Tans; mostly medium to faded green body and limbs, tail, and head, but with substantial amounts of tan scales on shoulders, spine, along tail, and at head and paws; darker wood-brown belly scales from chin to tail tip; wingsails, spine webbing, tail fin lighter green, back spines darker green; claws white; eyes usually sky blue
Features: Leafwing, four legs, two wings, feet have 5 and 4 short-clawed digits; leathery wings have four visible fingers with added elbow strut and wrist thumb, all bearing short claws, wingsails have extensive veining, though some is decorational; scaled hide, even softer armor belly, scattered small plates; head has hooked nose armor, external ears, back and upswept horns; webbed spines on back of neck, and lower back/upper tail, tail spines have single attached fin, and tail tip is finned
Powers: Winged Flight, Pellucida is a strong flier, adept in close quarters and unusual angled areas - used to the forest and branches, but easily adapted to ruins with fallen walls or rebar. She flies considerably slower and more carefully with Eli or anyone else either riding or being held, but she can zip around a ruin like nobody's business without a rider. In warm weather, she can remain aloft for an hour or more without tiring, in cooler weather she tends to work harder and rest more.
Verbal Speech, Pelly is good with English and Draconic, and tends to sing with Vorts in their own tongue. Her voice is quite parrot-like, though she cannot emulate individuals, she has a flair for repeating back what's been recently said. She has a strong and deep connection to Eli, the Vorts comment that it is something that 'completes him', in some mysterious way.
Plant-Based Power Supply, Pelly is able to eat regular food, usually small animals and insects, but can rest with her wings wide open to the sun, and effectively recharge without the need to eat. Ideally she would be in a forest to do so and blend in with the surroundings, but she can still carefully do so when there's no Combine threat on the horizon to see her. Also, she can manipulate lichen to a small degree, usually sensing through it to tell whether it's been disturbed recently.
Spore Breath, not commonly found among any dragons, her ability to breathe a weaponized form of spores is a broad and powerful ability. She can clog filtration systems - from air intakes, to personal gas masks - with one large belch of her spores. She cannot control their drift, once she spits them out they're airborn and will dissipate on the wind or settle to the ground where they will eventually just turn to dust. It can be spat out in one big lumpy mass, which has been used for spreading across toxic sludge, and allowing for people to move across it, though eventually it sinks. She can spit this stuff up to 20 meters with accuracy, in a large 3-meter across wafting cloud, or can narrow her aim down to a 10 meter long swath that acts as a visual barrier. It is not flammable, nor toxic, in and of itself. However, living things should avoid breathing it in, because it will settle quickly in lungs and clog them. It may take three or four deep breaths of it to do much damage, but by then the damage will definitely be permanent.
Parentage: Unknown, not clearly related to any of the other Pantalan Leafwings present. Had been born on their homeworld, but was rather young when arriving here.
Origin: Adopted from catbreeze212 at Deviantart, lineart by Joy Ang.
Other Info: Pelly enjoys the company of anyone that Eli favors, his daughter Alyx in particular, and remains aloof when those he doesn't trust or think much of are around. She is very protective of him, and a self-starter, so she'll actively be scanning around in an unfamiliar place to make sure it's safe for him. She thinks that he should ride her more often, but then she doesn't seem to really understand that he's ... well, old? He's far from the oldest dragon-bonder in the Rookery, however, and she sees him as the leader of them in any case. She doesn't care for Paxton and his whole... what is it, squad? Wing? of his dragons, but she will certainly listen to him if lives are at stake. She's remarkably brave and wants to make sure that the equipment that Eli needs is always at hand. She doesn't pretend to understand what he's doing with it all, but she knows a socket wrench from a sonic screwdriver.