Name:
Image Credits: Valve / tektek
Note also that Griggs and Sheckley's personalities are a bit swapped in Repurposed, that's my mistake but I'm not gonna fix it.
New York City
Is likely to have at least one child with a local refugee
Has two children, a boy and a girl, with one of the on-site EC staff that remained after the Events (unknown names)
Height: G - 5'11"; S - 5'9"
Weight: G - 170, evenly toned though not remarkably strong or muscular; S - 155, average build, sometimes skips leg day
Hair: G - Greying dark brown, kept cut short, quite curly; S - medium dark brown, straight, kept short and usually under a beanie
Eyes: G - dark blue-grey, with hazel/brown tints, usually looks quite concerned about something; S - green, though not as brightly green as shown, also hazel/brown overtones, tends to be wide and darting during any action
Appearance: G - fair skinned with small moles, freckles, and scars, has a mustache and tends toward stubble, always has his Medic patch so people do know where to look for any aid; S - light skin with acne scars and more recent shrapnel and scrape scars from combat and Antlion spit, has a grey-shot beard he tries to keep a bit nicer than it wants to be; Both wear lifted Combine and Armacham gear, they had been in PHEAR before the Events so those outfits are still available to them.Genetic Abilities:
Griggs - none known, though he was picked for the PHEAR program due to some form of 'ping' on Armacham's genetic database.
Sheckley - though none overtly, Sheckley is actually a latent Vortal seer - he's among the few people who can see Lane when he's trying to be invisible, though he's never thought twice about what he sees, because it's always been like that ever since he was a kid. His hiring at PHEAR was quite purposeful, and his dossier, should anyone ever have found it in the rubble of the main Armacham offices, had quite a bit of detail about his teleasthetic properties.
Skills or Profession: Griggs was trained as a medic and triage specialist, during a short stint with the military before being snatched up by Armacham's private forces. Sheckley was put into the PHEAR program very shortly after graduating community college with a BA in Forensics, so he has a strong understanding of procedure and clue-based investigation. Post-Events, both of them have been well suited to living with the Pantheon, and tend toward protection and scout duties, though for Griggs he's often called upon for on-site medical help.
Sheckley is more of the on-site security and detail manager, responsible for maintaining equipment, setting up a perimeter, and maintaining order in the field. He knows quite a bit about the weaponry they use, communication devices, networks, and both local and alien computers. It's entirely possible that he might be able to figure out how to use Lane's personal storage equipment, given enough time to sit and look at it.
Personality:
Griggs: Though he has a great sense of humor, and a reasonably realistic overall outlook, he occasionally lapses into fits of paranoid jumpiness. His concerns are hardly unfounded - after all, he has seen his share of Alma's work, along with Aristide's, Nihilanth's, and finally the Combine's. He will joke and recite comedy skits, and usually has some form of anecdote to relate to whatever is happening around them. But he will serious-up if things start getting grim, and he does in fact almost always expect things to get grim.
Sheckley: starry eyed is right. But he's quite smart, and has always got some weird idea drifting through his mind, so much so that by volume, his conspiracy theories are often as not correct just because he's thought out so many of them. Always fond of the Vortigaunts, he's been a follower of their ways for years, even if he isn't quite 'getting it' whenever he tries to speak their language. If he would ever take on the Icarus processing, he might very well be able to Flux Shift with them properly. As it is, he often uses half-Vort phrases - usually to the rumbling chuckles of any nearby Vorts, because he's absolutely brutalizing their words. In this dimension, he is the one who relates to Gordon, "Be... Adequate!"
Dragon (Griggs)
Name: Zakath
Gender: Male
Size/Shoulder/Length: Medium, Pernese Blue (longer than tall) 11' shoulder / 60' long / 80' ws
Colors: Cloudy mottled pale blue with darker denim blue markings on nose, wingsails, crest, and hind feet; Wingsails have both more white and dark blue patterning than medium-pale on body. Eyes change with mood, tend toward orange.
Features: Atypical Pernese, Lost Clutch; four legs, two wings, bipedal with significantly shorter forelimbs than hind, extremely long from nose to tail; 3 clawed forefeet, 3 with a heel claw on hind - note shouldn't actually have forelimbs at all; thick hide requiring upkeep and will shed regularly; wide wings with 4-fingered internal struts covered by sails, no visible claws on wings; proto-Ryslen tall crest with sharp ridges on neck only; short swept back jaw tines; featureless tail; eyes faceted and shift with mood; name of offspring will end in TH provided the right mate
Powers: Winged Flight, speedy in the air as well as on the ground, Polinth's strong wings are a bit swept back and he uses this to his advantage in quick fights; he is not tremendously durable in the air, and tires easily, so he goes only when needed - gets in, gets out. Because he has smaller forelimbs than hind, he's easier to climb up on than some Pernese, and uses this to his advantage when on rescue missions with his bond.
Assisted Firebreath, though his brother can breathe flames without firestone or coal, Zakath cannot, and still requires the use of chewing some form of stone or substance that clings to his caustic 'breath' gland's output. He can still breathe a sharply hot line of fire, and tends to do so with a bit of flair: because he is so fast in the air, he may have to dodge his own fire, so he has practiced a kind of double-spit, where the bulk of his fire will ignite only after a moment hanging in the air, giving him time to both pass by it, and spread the possible ignition area with his wake. It's actually quite spectacular!
Telepathic Speech - Zakath is good with broadly communicating with dragons and Vortal entities alike, and seems to be able to focus his mind better than most; as such he's an excellent partner for his medic bond, as they can home in on people with injuries much easier with a quick mental glance. He is good at picking out people from a crowd, and doesn't hesitate as Polinth does, to just blurt out whatever he is thinking even if it embarasses his bond.
Teleportation, as with most Pernese types, Zakath can travel between spaces, and he uses this to aid in search and rescue operations. He knows better than to teleport when they're actually carrying an injured human or Vort, because their form of travel tends to do more harm than good if the person is unprepared for it. He tends to try longer distances when alone, but since he's not a long-distance flier, he doesn't get too far out of normal range to get home without exhaustion.
Parentage: Old World Pernese, White Trymmeth and Blue Jeremoth, the Lost Clutch. Note that the parent dragons lacked forelimbs when they were originally bonded, and as such no one fully expected their offspring to have forelegs. They do now. Zakath's full siblings include Polinth (with Sheckley) and Alendreth (with Boy10), as well as Dzuruth
Origin: Healing Den Lost Clutch, to full blooded Seascape dragons
Other Info: Even fresh out of the shell, Zakath was an observant, detail-oriented dragon. He inspected the potential Candidates before selecting his own... who later vanished, and left Zakath with but one alternative... And he wasn't interested in suiciding between. The Healing Den welcomed him as long as it took - and finally with the presence of the Rookery, he had his new chance. Pairing up with a medic was luck for both dragon and rider: with Zakath's eye for detail and Griggs' need for seeing such details, they can effectively filter through and do triage much more easily than most. He feels that this is his place and it is a good one, by his human's side. He knows perfectly well that their new world is filled with dangers, but that's why he exists in the first place. Zakath is bound and determined to help make it better for everyone.
Dragon (Sheckley)
Name: Polinth
Gender: Male
Size/Shoulder/Length: Large, Wings = bronzeish 15' shoulder / 70' long / 135' ws!
Colors: Dappled rust brown with more reddish tints on neck, hind feet, and tail; brightly white-beige mottled wingsails and crest; eyes change, usually green
Features: Pernese Lost Clutch, four legs two wings, largely bipedal with smaller forelimbs than typical (they should not have any!), 3 clawed paws on forefeet, 3 with heel claw on hind; thick hide needing oiling and will shed regularly; massive 3-fingered leather wings, no visible fingering (under skin), faintly clawed forefinger only; proto-Ryslen tall crest of tines and short ridges only to shoulders, short jaw tines (uncolored); tail lacks any features; eyes color shift with mood; name of offspring will end in TH according to Pernese tradition if paired with the correct mate
Powers: Winged Flight, Polinth is an incredibly good flier for long-term and long-distance soaring. He can remain aloft for hours on end, hardly flapping - but when he does flap it's with authority, as his wings are much more like a Bronze's in size, and he knows it. He does require a bit of space to lift off from a standing start, but he absolutely can do that, no diving off ledges is needed; while he's strong and has tremendous endurance, he is a little less adept at agility tasks and would rather just circle and soar overhead, than engage in active close quarters fighting.
Formerly-Assisted Firebreath, Polinth, like numerous other Pernese-origin dragons left to the Healing Den for a long period of time, developed the ability to breathe flames without first chewing coal or firestone. His flame producing glands in his second stomach create a caustic acid that bursts into flames with the right atmosphere, that is to say 'in air'. He is notably warm, if he swallows any air... His flame is quite hot, but rather short ranged, so he prefers to dive bomb and do strafing runs with it, as it takes a moment to recharge, and after about 5 hits, he must rest the glands to recharge them fully.
Telepathic Communication, as with most Pernese dragons, Polinth is able to telepathically connect to all dragons, and to his bond intimately. He has a stunningly strong range with this power, and can single out individual dragons without fail, humans or others less so but still pretty well. He is not known to burst into other people's minds, but grumbles audibly if he has something to contribute, letting people know he's got something to say.
Teleportation, like most Pernese, Polinth's ability to move between has been strengthened by his time on the Healing Den. For him, it's more a matter of how quickly he can move in succession, rather than distance. He can and has timed-it, but prefers not to, and is unsure of what the results might be if he attempted it between these weird worlds he's on now. He trusts Sheckley completely, and will go wherever he is needed as long as there's a clear image of it in the man's mind.
Parentage: Old World Pernese, White Trymmeth and Blue Jeremoth, the Lost Clutch. Note that the parent dragons lacked forelimbs when they were originally bonded, and as such no one fully expected their offspring to have forelegs. They do now. Polinth's full siblings include Zakath (with Griggs) and Alendreth (with Boy10), as well as Dzuruth
Origin: Healing Den Lost Clutch, to full blooded Seascape dragons
Other Info: His original bond had been a world-traveller, and as such Polinth was hoping to see much more of their world. However, as with numerous dragons of the era, he was 'lost again' - but with the rest of this clutch, Polinth maintained his dignity when his bond vanished. Because he knew he could return at any time, the Healing Den became his home... along with others, a growing number of them over time. He and his brother Zakath make a great team, just like their new bonds. Polinth isn't 'dumb' but he does fall into the trap of asking Sheckley about those weird conspiracy theories quite frequently, and often gets lost within the first few minutes of those explanations...
