John "Bear" Talbot - CG Male Human/Lycanthrope(Were-Giant) Expert 4
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Professional Certifications: A+, Network+, iNet+, CNA, CNE, MCSE, MCSD, CCNA, CCNP, CCDA, CCDP, CCIE - Routing and Switching, CCIE - Communications and Services, and Sequoyah Administrator - Platnum Level.

Born: June 4th 1964

John grew up in a poor family. His mother was half Cherokee, and half Choctaw. His father was descended in direct male line from minor European nobility. In a freak co-incidence, he is descended from the Talbot family whose misfortune is portrayed, albeit in a more modern setting and altered outcome, in the classic Lon Chaney Jr. movie "The Wolfman."

In 1990 John moved to Ardmore to be near his family. He had been a computer technician for several years, but had never completed college. After obtaining his M.C.S.E. certification he landed a good job as a system administrator for a local financial firm. Finally able to pursue his education, he spent several years finishing his degrees, while working at the administrator position.

For years he had been a closet survivalist. He spent most of his teenage years in the Boy Scouts, where he first learned to play D&D. In early 2001 he posted ads, looking for other D&D players, on a website and at the local gaming store. Several people responded and they started a group that has been playing weekly since that time. John is the DM more often than not. John joined the SCA, but didn't enjoy the combat related activities. The creative engineer in him, however, was drawn to the smithing crafts - creating arms and armor. He reached a point where he was considered worthy to teach these skills to others. He embarked upon a series of courses at OSU to further his knowledge in metallurgy, including the process of alloy creation.

While working on his first his post-doctorate paper ("New Networking systems using AI to optimize traffic and perform smart filtering") in late 2001, he met the founder of a small startup company from Tulsa. He accepted a position as a consultant in exchange for a basic wage and two percent of per unit profit. His position was initially as a sounding board during brainstorming sessions. Later he provided advice on networking issues and helped in the reverse engineering of the Microsoft API calls. While the Sequoyah is programmed entirely from scratch, the developers provided a module that offers 100% compatibility with all Windows API calls, even the undocumented ones they found in the process of reverse engineering. The OS has built in AI that monitors system integrity and performance. This AI also monitors data transmission and program activity for signs of viruses, trojans, or worms, as well as unauthorized attempts to access the system. It does this by simulating each new block of code it encounters to determine what the most likely outcome is. Since most home computers now ship in a dual CPU configuration and are at speeds of around 4 GHz, the decision was made to go ahead with the AI, but to assign it to run solely on the secondary CPU. The AI simulates each new block of code it encounters to determine what the most likely outcome is. This is how it can monitor against viruses and attempted intrusions. The company forms an agreement with Symantec for Sequoyah users to subscribe to their virus definition update service.

He has been experimenting periodically with molecular circuit design after reading the papers on the subject published by the researchers at Hewlett Packard. Of course this required him to take additional chemistry courses at OSU. He ventured beyond what is normally taught to engineering students, and even took a few molecular biochemistry courses out of curiosity. This is when he met Jorge Runeberg-Mendoza a leading Neurologist and Neurosurgeon. They co-authored a paper titled "Interfacing electronic systems to biological neural systems, outline of problems to be surmounted and progress to date."

After having problems with the engine in his favorite sports car, he again goes to OSU and takes a crash course in Automotive Mechanics. Out of this he got an idea for a new type of engine. The engine is modular in design and uses computer networks, new ideas he had in ignition and composite materials. He forms "Modular Power Plants, Inc." to produce his new engine. Prototypes were created in his personal machine shop and demonstrated at the 2004 NADA convention. Private demonstrations following that resulted in several contracts and capitalization for a manufacturing plant in the Ardmore area. Land is purchased and the construction of the factory begins. He insists that the new composite materials will need to be made at the factory so a foundry and materials fabrication facility is begun as well.

Has been slowly buying land northwest of Lone Grove, and now has over 200 acres. Up until summer 2004 he and his family were living in the house that came on the first property he purchased. He has been building additional centralized facilities and a new home. The new home is a beauty to the eye as well as a marvel of creative application of technology. Other services on the site include a machine shop with a small smelting unit, an electronics workshop that includes a "clean room" and microchip prototyping system. Greenhouses, hydroponics, orchards and gardens provided fresh food. Livestock include cattle, swine, sheep, chickens, turkeys (wild and domestic), geese, dogs and a mixed herd of Belgian and Paint horses. Power generation systems are in place for virtually every source - solar, geothermal, wind, and diesel. The barn where the swine are kept is automated to collect fecal matter for use in the production of methane to fuel additional generators. Several hybrid and unique systems are secured as fail-safes. Multiple large ponds provide fish and additional fresh water to supplement the wells and "city" water. A small airstrip and hanger allow him to indulge in an occasional flight with his restored WWII P-51D Mustang fighter, or Cessna twin prop. Has both high-powered satellite and fiber optic data lines on site. The new house provides access to the storm cellar and the concealed entrance to extensive underground storage and emergency living areas.

He has an extensive library of books on all subjects, factual, fictional and speculative. Also has a collection of several comic book series, including his favorite, The Incredible Hulk. Another collection is of Dungeons and Dragons items dating back to the original Chainmail booklets. Every book, module, setting, and supplement for every version is included. Also a wide range of third-party publications and RPG's like Paladium, Shadowrun, Cyberpunk 2020, Star Wars, Gamma World, and Alternity.

Always one to value uninterrupted personal time, he has been using the heavy earthmoving equipment to build defensive perimeters around his property. He is determined that should things get worse due to the storm, the no one can get onto his land except via air or the front gate. He had already moved his parents into the house on the original property, and his sibling and their family into another house that had been too cute to tear down.

On February 19th he was returning to Ardmore from OKC, where he had managed to purchase a military HUM-VEE. This was for use in an experiment to see if military vehicles could be adapted to use his new B class modular components, and if so; show the prototype in the hope of getting a contract.

While driving south on I-35 he was stopped in the Arbuckle Mountains area by an NSA contingent. Before they could test him, they received a radio message and immediately headed south at top speed. Cursing the whims of government officials, he really started swearing when he found that a nail punctured his tire when he pulled off the road. While occupied with changing the tire, he heard a distant roar and felt a tremor, followed by a blinding flash of light from behind him. Startled, he turned and felt a wave of heat roll over him. Hurrying he finished changing the tire and headed home. Scared because of the suggestive sequence on events he was most distressed to discover that by the time he arrived home he looked like a victim of very bad sunburn.

On the 20th John was feeling quite ill. He and friends were at his home when a mixed NSA and CDC squad showed up to do testing as part of their house-to-house search for Positives. One of the D&D groups' members included a local sheriff who simply looked at the leader of the test squad and said, "You don't need to test here, these people are all clean." The NSA man looked kind of glassy eyed and replied, "Yes, these people are all clean" and proceeded to usher his squad out.

On the 21st his wife was concerned because John couldn't get out of bed by himself. She called for help and they took him to a local doctor's office. While there waiting to be seen, yet another contingent of NSA/CDC showed up to search for Positives. One of them started to drag John out of his chair. John simply couldn't contain his temper, feeling sick as death and being manhandled was just too much. He pushed the NSA man back and shouted, "Just leave me alone! Why can't you just leave us all alone?!" At which point the NSA agent shot him in the chest several times. John fell to the floor writhing in agony and overwhelming anger. Already susceptible to being a shape changer due to the family's past, his body began to alter, its mass increasing. Here he differed from his ancestor in that his subconscious affinity and the circumstances of his first shape change caused him to change, not into a wolf, but into a walking mountain of muscle and rage. He changed into something similar to the Hulk from his beloved comic books. Spreading his arms wide he rushed the agents and pushing them before him, crashed through the front wall of the doctor's office. Agents outside opened fire, killing their compatriots, and wounding John. His rage building further at the this new assault, he grabbed a nearby VW Beetle and slung it in a side handed throw at the agents, killing several and running the others off. At this point he collapsed from loss of blood and the vestiges of his earlier illness.

Quicksilver - NG Kender Bard
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Maria Gonzales, born to a mother of Chickasaw blood and father of Hispanic blood, was a true hyperkinetic child, unable to stop moving or talking for more than a couple minutes at a time. Anyone who knew her always was amused at how much the girl in the movie Real Genius reminded them of Maria. Smart, insatiably curious, always in motion, talking almost faster than a person could understand, that is Maria. In high school she was given the nickname of Speedy Gonzales.

When the change hit, she was transformed into a Kender, but the hyperkinetic aspect shows itself as her being under the effects of a permanent haste spell (as in 1 extra partial action per round), with a movement rate of five times normal for a small creature (100 ft instead of 20 ft). She chose to call herself Quicksilver after the marvel comic character, she HATED the nickname they gave her in high school.

She is fearless, rarely stops talking, and is curious to the point of being a hazard to those around her. She has a love of music and acting. Her singing voice is beautiful and she can play the guitar, flute and trumpet. She learned fencing as a suppliment to her acting hopes. She also learned the use of handguns and rifles since her father is a gunsmith and ex-Marine.

Ammodeus - CE Male Waster
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Prior to the change Norman Blake was a middle management type with a brokerage house in OKC. A single man in his early 40s with few, if any, friends, his normal routine was to either stay at home and get drunk while watching Highlander reruns, or cruising the strip clubs.

When the change occurred, his repressed anger and hatred boiled over and fed on the fear and confusion around him until he transformed into a waster.

Reveling in the destruction of the building he had worked in for five years and the deaths of those co-workers who had snubbed or ignored him, or made attempts to pal around with him out of nothing more than obvious pity and contempt.

Venturing forth into the city he encountered all manner people; most human, many not. He killed anyone who seemed a threat to him, including several other wasters. The first time he killed another waster, he felt he had gained in power, so from then on whenever he encountered another, he would shout "There can be only ONE!" and attack.

Finding himself nearing familier territory, he went from one to another strip club, killing anyone who opposed him. He kidnapped any dancers he found and them to his new home, the palacial home of a rich investment banker who was the head of the company at which Norman had worked. He was able to capture over fifty women, almost all of them beautiful. Norman informed them that he was their master and that he is known as Ammodeus (He had watched the movie about Mozart and loved the powerful, yet slightly sinister sound of the name, but had forgotten exactly how it was spelled.). He is very particular about the pronunciation of his name. It should sound like "Ammo - deus", almost as if he wants people to think of him as a god of ammunition or something.

The women are allowed free roam of the house and grounds, but any who try to escape are executed while the others to watch. Most of the women have resigned themselves to being at the mercy of Ammodeus' whims and desires. Ammodeus himself basks in the feeling of being the focus of so many women's world. Especially these women, who, prior to the change, never even looked at him without being paid to do so.

Col. Dan Flagg - LE Male Waster
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