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Dunno what you think I did, but it wasn't me. |
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— Himself |
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Common trucker on paper, often smuggling supplies for his wererat colony. An adorkable man one might not expect when one hears the word "trucker" or "smuggler."
Personality
Brantley is in many ways unlike the typical wererat. Wererats tend to put on a facade of confidence, prone to bullying weaker people, and often make great boasts with little to no merit when they believe they are in no danger. Brantley is often quiet, genuinely personable, doesn't like to impose on others, tends to be submissive, and takes little overt pride in his genuine accomplishments. He doesn't lie to himself or others about his nature, knowing full well his kind are bullies and cowards. He doesn't judge his brethren, though, despite the fact he's often picked on for his differences. He tends to take a nonjudgmental approach to humans and other supernatural species, too, in defiance of his people's disdain for outsiders.
Background
The Wererat
Brantley was born to, what from the outside appeared to be, a typical big rural family. Internally, though, his family was not so normal. Like most modern wererats, his parents married only to keep up appearances to the outside world. They were definitely not faithful to each other and half their kids were sired by other males. Including Brantley. But this is the way of the wererat. Brantley was raised in both the culture of the humans of the area and in the culture of the colony, leading an overt life as a human and a covert life as a wererat. Like most wererats, Brantley was born as such. Wererats rarely pass on the condition though tooth or nail, preferring to give in to their base instincts and breed their kind.
The Defect
Even from an early age, Brantley was different from his peers. He lacked the false bravado and, in order to go with the flow, pretty much just did whatever was demanded of him. He did his chores without arguing with his parents, his schoolwork was always done and turned in on time, his brothers naturally walked all over him, and his sisters were often giggling with their friends as they made fun of Brantley's perceived weakness. Even his father would often degrade Brantley, making comments about how if he had sired him, Brantley wouldn't be such a weakling. And through all this, Brantley took it all in stride.
The Man
In middle and high school, Brantley tried to fit in, trying to join in the activity of other wererat boys his age. He tried sports, being a mediocre player who never earned praise from the coaches or fellow players, so he ended up giving sports up. Nothing else he tried mattered either, he was simply not competitive. Which is why, when he graduated high school, he pleaded with his father to let him be a supplier. Figuring the young man would fail, his father agreed to let him try anyway. Surprising everyone, including himself, Brantley was able to handle himself out in the human world alone. Though he had to stay local several years and had the colony nearby, he still proved himself. And as he grew up and went on longer hauls, he proved himself there, too. Though inside he knows he's walking a razor sharp edge of a line, fearing he might succumb to the seduction of the outsiders' life.
SIGNATURE ABILITY
Bravely Ran Away
There comes a time when all hope is lost. There's no getting out of this one. The only escape is blocked and the likelihood of fighting through the opposition is next to nil. Brantley is just too gosh darn optimistic to let such things keep him down though. There just HAS to be a way out. When Brantley is cornered in such a way, he can steel himself and attempt to flee, right through the opposition. He's able to dodge or fend off the attacks with astonishing luck, or maybe a series of unlikely events prevent opposing forces from even noticing him leave. For this power to continue working for him, he must continue fleeing. If his intentions to escape ever waver, the forces of luck and fate flee from him. Obviously, if he successfully escapes, this power ceases.
SKILLS
Auto Mechanics - Novice Level
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Brawling - Competent Level
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Breaking & Entering - Competent Level
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Driving - Competent Level
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Brantley has novice-level ability using various instruments, including the bull fiddle, bass guitar, resonating guitar, mandolin, and piano. Similarly, he has competent-level ability at singing and with the fiddle and guitar. He is an expert at playing the banjo.
Pick Pocket - Competent Level
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Shifter Lore - Competent Level
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Singing - Competent Level
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Smuggling - Competent Level
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Stealth - Competent Level
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ABILITIES
Power: Disease Immunity - Enhanced Level
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Brantley's kind are largely immune to natural diseases. Only the strongest natural diseases affect him, and the symptoms tend to be much milder than if he were human. Brantley can, however, carry diseases that don't affect him. Magical diseases affect him normally.
Power: Healing - Enhanced Level
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The resilience of the wererat leaves non-lethal wounds from personal weaponry of little concern to Brantley. He'll heal from minor wounds instantly, while severe wounds tend to heal in a couple days, maybe three or four for the worst cases.
Power: Indiscriminate Eater - Enhanced Level
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As a wererat, Brantly can consume, and gain nutrients from, almost any organic matter without detrimental effect. This includes things that would make a human sick, like organic poisons or improperly prepared food.
Power: Kin of Rats - Enhanced Level
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Brantley is able to call upon the aid of nearby (a handful of urban buildings or a farmhouse and its yard) mundane rats, who will know him as kin even in human form. He can't direct them but they can be of aid on their own accord. Mostly just by causing chaos. Through his senses, he instinctively knows about how many rats are around him at any given time.
Power: Natural Weapons - Enhanced Level
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In ratfolk form, Brantley has sharp incisors and claws. His claws are sharp enough to carve through stone and leave heavy gouges in steel. His bite's pressure can break bones and is quite able to tear through flesh easily. Given time, he can chew through steel. His tail is not prehensile, but it can be used much like a (less flexible) whip.
Power: Physique - Enhanced Level
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Wererats are tougher, stronger, and much more agile than an average human. Brantley is able to smash through most common structures that lack armor or built of reinforced materials. He can break through solid walls of sturdy wood or brick with moderate effort. Brantley can resist substantial amounts of damage, especially blunt force trauma, and emerge either unscathed or with only minor injuries. He also possesses far superior agility, able to catch arrows in midair with little effort and even dodge projectiles like bullets. This enables Brantley to leap much higher and farther than an average human, as well as giving him the ability to bounce off walls and tumble like a skilled gymnast, and even take little damage from falls from substantial heights.
Power: Senses - Enhanced Level
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Brantley's senses are enhanced beyond a normal human's. He can hear heartbeats to detect if there is potential danger around him. He can hear conversations, even quieted ones, a few rooms off. His night vision is excellent and his ability to sniff out food, even stale food stored in containers, has few parallels. If he needed to, he could stalk someone with his nose, following their scent across all sorts of terrain.
ADVANTAGES
Brantley holds a Class A Commecial Drivers Licence issued in the state of Georgia and is in good standing. This permits him to drive a variety of vehicles, including the eighteen wheelers he uses for his job.
Brantley was raised in the South Piedmont Colony in the Atlanta Warren. When he's in the colony's territory, he can typically tap into the resources of his colony, which includes food and other supplies, systemic resources (due to wererats infesting the lower echelons of local governments), and a place to stay for a while.
Brantley has a fiddle, accoustic guitar, and banjo of decent quality. And they're not even stolen. They're both well-used and well-cared for and are kept secure in the back of his cab. Heaven help the fool who'd steal any or all of them.
As a supply driver for the colony's distribution network (i.e., his father's trucking company), Brantley is provided with a rig with which to haul the colony's legit goods and resources smuggled into the county to other colonies, or even other species, for trade. Due to the nature of the operation, Brantley rarely uses the same rig twice in a row, as the company is paranoid and is constantly upgrading and cleaning the rigs.
Despite possibly being one of the most prolific of the shifters, the often-secretive nature of the wererat and the relative "celebrity" status of werewolves tending to make them the assumed "default" shifter in the minds of many, accurate lore concerning wererats can be difficult to come by reliably. Wererats like Brantley are prone to deception, a xenophobic nature, and an inherent cowardice. They tend to easily blend in with their human neighbors, rarely conflict with more powerful (or perceived to be more powerful) supernatural creatures, and have rarely left an overt mark on the supernatural world. Even otherwise extensive lore repositories may have less dependable information concerning them, and many may only know of them through legend and rumor. Wererats or ratfolk are extremely rare in human mythology as well. This can serve as a disadvantage, but it can also be of use to them at times as well.
WEAKNESSES
Wererats are not known for their bravery. Yes, they can be quite confident and boastful about their power when they actually have it, but if they're bluffing, they have a tendency to flee from any hint of a challenge. Brantley is not an exception.
Wererats like Brantley tend to have have impulses that make them want to take things. There's no real reason for this beyond the wererat's natural instinct to collect food and anything that might be useful later. Brantley struggles with this need to take anything that isn't nailed down, though he has been able to keep himself under control most if the time when he's being observed. This need to take things becomes less bearable during the full moon.
Due to his role in the colony, Brantley often spends large amounts of time away from the colony and often far outside the colony's influence. This means he rarely gets access to colony resources. Being a very social species, this can also have adverse effects on Brantley if he can't find ways of coping. He's often in danger of being led astray from his reposibility to his people, which is both exacerbated and fortified by his personality. On the one hand, he's ofted treated like crap for being outwardly timid while on the other, his desire to prove himself helps keep him on course. There's a bit of a tug'o'war going on there. (Note that he's not an omega, he's a part of a plague (pack) of suppliers that have the unfortunate position of rarely seeing each other due to their duties, meeting up only when time and proximity permits. This often means there little distinction between his status and omega, but technically he's not. They are typically sent to the same general area of the country and if the same place needs more than one supplier, they will be chosen from the same plague.)
Like most shifters, wererats are closely tied to the phases of the moon. This affects them in various ways, such that they are at their strongest when the moon is full and their weakest during a lunar eclipse. The phase of the moon also strongly affects the wererat's emotions, such that they can become almost overwhelming near the full moon. Wererats often find a strong urge to shift during the full moon, as well as on the nights just before and after a full moon. Brantley has largely learned to deal with the emotional tides, though during the full moon his paranoia still increases.
During a full lunar eclipse, wererats like Brantley are generally powerless and essentially reduced to the status of ordinary human. Once the moon becomes visible again, his wererat nature is restored. During a partial eclipse he is somewhat weaker than normal, but he does retain his powers at a high-end Basic level.
As a wererat, Brantley must consume three times as much food than he would have to if he were human.
Mountain ash, when activated, creates a barrier against most supernatural creatures. Wererats cannot generally penetrate such a barrier, nor can they create one. Brantley is no different.
Wererats have a strong tendency toward paranoia. Brantley is no different. It's hard for him to trust anyone, and any little perception of betrayal will be used as proof in his head that a person shouldn't be trusted. Brantley has learned to push his paranoia to the side and mostly suppress it, but when stressed or during the full moon, it becomes much harder to ignore.
