CASE FILE:
THE SYNDICATE
RECORD #: 062822-005
Intro
Los Angeles. For decades, the local crime family has had a vice grip on the city. In recent years, their power had started to wane as local street gangs pushed on to long-standing crime syndicate territory and the city's newly elected mayor decreed to eradicate crime across the city.An upsurge of tension fills the streets of LA as the crime family try to hold on to a crumbling empire; as fresh-faced gangs make a grab for power; as the LAPD fights to regain back the city.
Very few are born with supernatural powers. These powers are rare and often skip generations, even on established family lines. Supernatural creatures also exist in this world (ranging from the fae, vampires, demons, folkloric creatures, etc).However, the general public is blind and ignorant of the existence of both.Those who do have special abilities often hide it. Known users often have targets on their backs and the best weapon is surprise.
Profiles
Severino D'Avanti
| NAME: | Severino "Sev" D'Avanti |
| AGE: | Early 20s |
| HEIGHT: | 6'3" |
| PRONOUNS: | He/Him |
| APPEARENCE: | Jet black hair, normally tamed and slicked back; naturally wavy. Dark eyes- slight tint of red. Scar across jawline to cheek on left side of face and two scars on right side of neck |
| TRAITS: | Serious, volatile, and cold |
| Brief |
|---|
| Severino is the announced and declared heir of the D'Avanti family crime empire since a young age. His father -and behind the curtains, his grandmother- currently commands the family but it is expected that Sev will take over in the future. |
| Secretly, Sev has absolutely no interest in this role or a life of crime. However, he is unable to escape his family's ever-growing pressure. |
| Abilities |
|---|
| Sev had inherited his family's trademark ability: the power to control, bend and move metal. In recent years, the inheritance of this power has been spotty at best; The only people alive with this power is Sev's grandmother and him. |
| Sev's grasp of his own abilities is directly linked to his emotional state. He can be easily gloated into destroying a parking structure and, in moments of intense depression, he might find that he can't use his powers at all. |
Sev's Relationships
| Name | Notes |
|---|---|
| Bastion | Childhood friend from church. It concerns him lengths Bas seems to go to protect or help him. Sev wants him to leave the underworld behind him, without him. |
| Toni | Used to date, before she knew about Sev's family life. He's cautious of her but can't deny there are lingering feelings. |
| Aiden | Close friends from high school. Not friends anymore. |
Antoinette Smith
| NAME: | Antoinette "Toni" Smith |
| AGE: | Early 20s |
| HEIGHT: | 5'6" |
| PRONOUNS: | She/Her |
| APPEARENCE: | Dark curly brown hair with highlights of blonde. Shockingly green eyes. Lots and lots of freckles |
| TRAITS: | Quick-witted, compassionate, persistent |
| Brief |
|---|
| Daughter of the late-DA, Toni is like water- flexible, able to fit into all cracks, adapt to all situations and think on her feet. She is cool, bold and daring with a high moral standard and a good sense of humor. She is one of the lead members of a special task force designed to take down organized crime. |
| Abilities |
|---|
| Water bending and manipulation. She can control water, stop it in its tracks, change it to steam or ice. She finds it useful for mundane things like keeping soup warm and making iced tea. Also finds it useful for making ice arrows and spears. |
| Toni keeps on her a toy gun- plastic but realistic. It's filled with water. |
Toni's Relationships
| Name | Notes |
|---|---|
| Bastion | Friends from high school. She knew Bas as a quiet, serious person, not the unhinged maniac he is now. She still tries to talk to him as a friend but he needs help. |
| Aiden | Friends from high school. She doesn't condone Aiden's vigilantism or his obsession with Sev. Though Ai seems more confident and capable than before, he doesn't seem any happier. It feels like the guy she knew in high school is gone. |
| Severino | Used to date. It's complicated. |
Bastion ███████
| NAME: | "Bastion" |
| AGE: | Early 20s |
| HEIGHT: | 5'6" |
| PRONOUNS: | He/him |
| APPEARENCE: | Brown hair; natural blond. Golden hazel eyes. Appears younger than he is. Physically very slim and frail |
| TRAITS: | Unpredictable, cunning, mischievous |
| Brief |
|---|
| Acting middleman between dirty deals or trash that needs to be taken out with no names taken. Bastion takes money but works more off of his likes and dislikes, his mood of the day, the direction the wind blows. Once swayed to your side tho, he'll be sure to get the job done. |
| Bastion knows his way around every back alley and ladder of LA. He isn't well-liked but Bas is well-connected which allows him an in for most establishments. |
| Bas' "insanity" is an act- the more unpredictable he is, the more options open up to him, the more he can push his powers. But after years of doing this, the line between the act and himself grows fuzzy. |
| Abilities |
|---|
| He's "lucky", can influence probabilities slightly in his favor. Seems to always walk through a gunfire unscathed and turn dangerous deals around. All things come at a cost tho...every time he uses his powers, it cuts away at his life span. The more 'luck' that is needed, the more time he has to give. Moving a few bullets around might only mean minutes but everything adds up. |
| He keeps this 'trade-off' a secret to all but his most trusted. |
Bastion's Relationships
| Name | Notes |
|---|---|
| Severino | Childhood friend from church. No one knows Bastion better and vice versa. He joking asks Sev to run away with him knowing he won't. So he'll stay until otherwise |
| Toni | Was friends in high school. He has a soft spot for Toni but it always feels like she could read him like a book. |
| Aiden | Was friends in high school. He knows Ai has it out for Sev so he tries to play neutral |
| Alex | A kid who Bas helped out. He could be useful tho so he will keep him around for a while. |
Aiden Lynn
| NAME: | Aiden Lynn |
| AGE: | Early 20s |
| HEIGHT: | 5'10" |
| PRONOUNS: | He/him |
| APPEARENCE: | Aiden has a disarming smile and long black hair. He has a dimple on his right cheek. There is a confidence and ease that seemed to follow him wherever he goes. A white streak breaks the darkness of his hair, a 'birthmark', a distinctive feature he is frequently called out on. |
| TRAITS: | Composed, intelligent, ambitious |
| Brief |
|---|
| Seemingly laidback, intelligent with an easy smile, Aiden is the forefront leader of a newfounded "gang". He views himself and his group more as vigilantes. The LAPD disagrees. |
| In high school, he was a scholarship student, destined to be ignored by his trust fund baby peers - and Sev...for some reason everyone was afraid of him. Their "otherness" united them- they were easy friends. Best friends, even. That was a while ago. When he discovered the murder of his older sister was in the hands of the D'Avanti family, a switch flipped within him. |
| Aiden helps in his family restaurant in his spare time. He has three siblings, all younger. |
Aiden's Relationships
| Name | Notes |
|---|---|
| Severino | High school friends. But now, he would attack him on sight if he could. |
| Toni | Friends in high school. They are kindred spirits but Toni doesn't go far enough. |
| Bastion | Friends in high school. Bas is resourceful but unrecognizable from his teenage self. But then again, the same could be said about himself. |
Alex Vega
| NAME: | Alex Vega |
| AGE: | 19 |
| HEIGHT: | 5'9" |
| PRONOUNS: | He/him |
| APPEARENCE: | Bleached blond hair, cropped short with dark undershave. Crimson eyes, looks to be brown from afar. Tanned and lightly freckled. Always has headphones on him unless he is swimming |
| TRAITS: | Nervous, cautious, shy |
| Brief |
|---|
| A wolf-like demon of some sort, sharing the body of a college student. Alex had this knowledge since he was a child and it makes him a bit jumpy, to say the least. It wasn't only till recently that he learned to tame the creature- with some help of course. He reluctantly works with Bastion (one of the few people who is aware of his affliction) on and off in order to make ends meet and pay for college. |
| He is on his college's swim team and barely manages to get by with a sports scholarship. Alex is an excellent swimmer...a skilled that he rapidly developed after finding out as a child that the wolf demon in him might have a fear of water. |
| Abilities |
|---|
| Able to turn into a wolf-like demon. He hates using it. Alex can jump through shadows as a wolf but Alex himself has limited control. When in this form, the driving wheel is in the hands of the demon, Urbane, and Alex is merely the passenger. |
| The demon is kept under wraps, literally bonded down by a "limiter"- a bracelet made of string, one on each wrist and oddly enough, his headphones. |
| He and the demon can communicate with each other- The demon often pops up in his head with unuseful advice like "just eat them all" or "tear their heads off". |
Alex's Relationships
| Name | Notes |
|---|---|
| Urbane | The demon in him. It's like being stuck day in and out with your high school bully. |
| Bastion | The person who helped him acquire his limiters. He is stuck in an indentured servant role because of this. The demon is fond of Bas for some reason. |
| Intan | The man who supplied the limiters. Frankly, Intan scares the hell out of him. |
| A███e | What's her name again? He felt like she knows her from some where |
SAMANTHA CHRISTIANSEN
| NAME: | Samantha "Semi" Christiansen |
| AGE: | Late 20s/ early 30s |
| HEIGHT: | 5'9" |
| PRONOUNS: | She/Her |
| APPEARENCE: | Fashions a sharply cut bob, which neatly circles her neck like a brunette collar. Her eyes are a stunning amber hazel, unwavering and confident. She has a small upturned button nose, an innocent feature that does not suit her. Her weapons of choice are her two semi-automatic pistol, where she gets her namesake from. If it is true, that men hide daggers in their smile, then Semi's smile hides swords. |
| TRAITS: | Confident, versatile, efficient |
| Brief |
|---|
| Semi was introduced to a life of crime in her first college party. In hindsight, she should have seen it coming after all most college parties don't sell AK-47 with Cosmopolitans. When she aimed down the barrel of her gun and gain her first headshot at when she was 18, she realized she was better at murder than she was at pre-law. |
| She tells her mother that she's a clerk in a successful law firm which happily explained away the Ducati, the luxury shoes, the penthouse flat. |
| Assassin, snipper, hitwoman and gun for hire, Semi is renowned for her marksmanship and competence and that competence demands a high price. |
Semi's Relationships
| Name | Notes |
|---|---|
| Severino | A frequent client. The kid's lost. He could use with some guidance. |
| Bastion | Another frequent client. Most sane people would turn Bas down on sight because of his rep but Semi and Bas seem to work well together. There is a method to Bas' madness, sometimes Semi feels like only she can see it |
| Intan | Semi knows him through Bas but is smart enough to avoid him. There is something wrong with that man. |
| A███e | Intan's assistant. She talked to her many times but about what, who knows. Can't seem to remember her name. |
Intan
| NAME: | Intan |
| AGE: | Looks 30s |
| HEIGHT: | 6'3" |
| PRONOUNS: | He/him |
| APPEARENCE: | The most noticeable feature is Intan's long pale hair. Before, his hair was a vibrant gold but the color had faded away with time. Still, it shines an cold glow, the reminisces of Intan's old charms still shows through. |
| **** | He sees the world through mismatched eyes, one is a washed out blue, like the color of the sky on gloomy days and the other is a dull brown, the color of old brass. He hides them with dusty silver antique frames. |
| **** | Intan wears no expression most of the time. But if one is every graced with Intan's smile, there would be no doubt in his or her mind that he is not human. |
| TRAITS: | Stoic, perfectionist, apathetic |
| Brief |
|---|
| Owner of a small antique shop on 3rd and Broadway. He looks human but there is something distinctly off about him. Intan is usually stoic to the conflicts happening outside his shop door. His alliances are fickle and he is usually last resort when help is needed. |
| Intan is a fallen angel, showing no alliances to heaven or hell. Instead he chooses to watch in the background of humanity as time ticks by. |
| Abilities |
|---|
| He can manipulate light into solid, fragile, constructs. Most often, he uses those constructs as a weapon. |
| In addition, he can exchange and convert a person's soul or intese emotion (positive or negative) to physical or ethereal things. He uses this power to grant "wishes". Most of the items in his shop is created from centuries of similar exchange. |
ALOUETTE KEATON
| NAME: | Alouette "Allie" Keaton |
| AGE: | Teenager |
| HEIGHT: | 5'2" |
| PRONOUNS: | She/her |
| APPEARENCE: | She wears a white button up shirt with a navy pleated skirt, very semi-formal, neatly ironed. She has about 5 of the same shirt, skirt, blazer. Intan chose them for her. Allie is never seen without her star bag |
| **** | She pulls her brown ashy hair into quick pigtails with yellow hair ties. Tiny star beads hang from the ends. |
| **** | Allie has a roundish face with a high forehead and a rather pointy chin. It looks rather like a heart. She is self-conscious about her nose, which is quite like a button but she thinks it like a pig's snot. |
| TRAITS: | Optimistic, curious, outgoing |
| Brief |
|---|
| Allie made a deal with Intan- he would save her sister's life in exchange for her existence. |
| Because of this, no one remembers her, not her name, or her words, or her actions- not without Intan's permission. |
| Allie never existed but at least her sister, Robin, is still alive. |
| Allie works in Intan's shop, the only thing she can do right now. It's not that bad. If given the choice, she would make the same decision. |
| Abilities |
|---|
| Most people forget Allie the moment she walks away from them. However, this seems to predominantly affect normal humans, less so ones with powers and supernatural creatures. The degree of forgetfulness depends on the willpower of the person. |
| It also affects animals oddly, they seem to have better sense than people. |
Allie's Relationships
| Name | Notes |
|---|---|
| Semi | Allie looks up to her. She wishes she had an ounce of Semi's confidence and skill. She talked to Semi so many times but she always forgets by the next time. But she had always gave Allie good advice when she needed to hear it |
| Bastion | Besides Intan, Bas is the only other person who remembers her name. He even seem to remember some of the odd conversations they had and that she liked stars. Allie can't confirm it...but it feels like Bas and her might be the same in a way. Cursed. |
| Intan | Her boss. He's cold and strict but not mean to her. Just...dispassionate, like he would toss her aside if she didn't meet standards. At the same time, Intan pays her when she requests it, allows her to live in the store, keeps a fridge of food for her (she's pretty sure Intan doesn't eat). She doesn't know what to think of him. |
Intan's Shop
Intan's quarters, an antique shop full of items created from the wishes and desires of humans.The space is deceptively large, with rooms that feel like they break reality. In the heart of it all is a sunroom, the view outside the window reflecting a place long ago.
Golden Phoenix
Aiden's family restaurant, Aiden still helps out there from time to time but his younger siblings had mostly replaced him in that role.In high school, Toni, Sev, and Bas would all meet there as Aiden swept the floors or took orders.
Bastion's Warehouse
Bastion's hideaway, an old warehouse in downtown LA- a seedy part of the town that most people won't venture in. Full of junk that he collected that might be useful, one can call the place "organized chaos".