Real Name: Taranu Novak Odain Alias: Taranu Played By: BetsyT Homeworld: Cygnia (original setting) Physical Description: Taranu has short silver hair and green eyes. He is obviously a young adult, though it’s difficult to tell his actual age. He has a very athletic build, fit without being too massive. Taranu wears a simple half-vest that leaves his midriff exposed, a leather belt with various loops and pouches, leather trousers, high boots, and thick cloth gloves. Taranu is also wearing a forged metal collar and matching wrist manacles. A long metal chain is threaded through loops on each manacle and collar, extending four feet past each wrist and ending in sections of weighted links that sport heavy, sharp spines. Usually, the spiked ends are tucked safely in special holsters in Taranu’s belt. The chain is long enough for Taranu to move freely, although any move he makes will be accompanied by loud clanking. The chain itself is independent of the collar and manacles, and could conceivably be removed from them if the loops holding it were broken. The collar and manacles themselves cannot be removed without being broken; they are about as difficult to break as regular iron. Powers: Taranu has highly honed sight and hearing, finely tuned reflexes, and extraordinary balance and coordination. These are abilities he developed over years of training; he cannot perform superhuman feats. Weaknesses: Taranu spent most of his life training in isolation. He has little idea of how things in the "outside world" work, or of how people interact. It’s difficult for him to perceive details in the environment if they don’t relate to him or to his survival. Taranu is physically attached to his weapon. Although he is well trained in extracting himself from tangled chains and falling without wounding himself on his weapon’s spikes, mistakes can happen. Besides these flaws, he has all the weaknesses of being human. Skills: Taranu is an excellent gymnast. He is particularly skilled at escaping from bonds or tight places. He is skilled at picking mechanical locks, although he does not have the proper equipment to do so. Taranu is quite adept at hiding and moving quickly , and he could be stealthy if he could ever remove his chain. He was once a pickpocket, but he hasn’t cut purses in a long time and has let those skills degenerate. The bulk of Taranu’s experience has been with his spiked chain (see Equipment). With it, he is capable of making controlled, damaging strikes, and disarming and tripping his opponents. Taranu’s fighting style is fairly defensive in nature. He will usually try to wear his enemy down with feints and trips, trying to lure them into making a mistake before he strikes. He doesn’t have much experience with other types of weapons, although with another chain-like or entangling weapon he would probably fight fairly well. Equipment: Taranu’s only weapon and his longest held possession is his spiked chain. He has been learning how to use it for about ten years, and has worn it for the past four. He wields it by gripping the lengths of chain near his manacles and swinging or spinning the ends at his target. Taranu feels very attached to the chain; he feels no particular need to have it removed, and would not want it taken away for good. The collar and manacles to which the chain is attached must be resized and refitted once every year; in a few months, they will start growing uncomfortable for Taranu to wear. If he does not replace or remove them by that point, he may develop skin infections and other painful afflictions. Taranu’s only other possession is a small, tattered book of devotions. Personality: Taranu is usually unhappy and insecure. He has been under the direction of his trainers and the compound Elders for most of his life, and never really expected to have to strike out on his own. To combat his feelings of inferiority, he has developed a front of intimidation and aloofness—but never really perfected it. He doesn’t always realize when he’s let his façade slip, and may let his emotions show without really intending to. He is religious, but not firm in his convictions, and has never been called on to defend his faith. Taranu is fairly proud of his fighting abilities, and is far from cowardly, but he does not battle lightly and will not unduly risk his life. Much of Taranu’s training was designed to deaden his empathy and turn him into a model guardian for his compound. It did not fully succeed—his preservation instinct is too high for him to risk his life, his faith too shaky for him to stand his ground long. He has had a sense of fear and contempt for the "outside world" drilled into him, but, paradoxically, he also gained a perverse sense of curiosity about what might be beyond the compound walls. Luckily, Taranu realizes that he must overcome some of his distrust of others, at least if he wants to survive. He is most likely to reach out to people who seem powerful, but non-threatening, and will be wary of those who profess loyalty to some god. Connections: On his homeworld, Taranu was a low-ranking initiate of a cult dedicated to a god of fear. He was not quite important enough to warrant an extensive search—a fact that will not keep him from worrying.