app for deerington

[tetherer]

IN CHARACTER

Character Name: Teth. This is a name they recently settled on after not having one for a while, taken from their title, the Tetherer. Their birth name has been stricken from all records since they were a child.
Played-By/Art Claim: PB is Kiersey Clemons. Some art for icons was commissioned from Liz Coshow.

In-Game Tattoo Placement: Around their wrist, sort of like a bracelet. Otherwise minimalist blackwork.
Current Health/Status: Just fine!
Age: 33. They look young for their age. It's mostly the fact they're supremely short, really, there's no mystical reason for it even if they pretend there is as a joke.
Species: Human, believe it or not!

History: Long before anyone can remember, before recorded history starts, there was one world. The world was chaotic and dangerous, full of too many elements and too many creatures. The people were extremely diverse, but one trait linked them all: each and every one of them was born with a Nature. These Natures vary in strength and number. There are a few of which only one person may have at a time. There are more still, weaker ones that many share.

Three powerful possessors of singular Natures came together, known only now as the Separator, the Tetherer, and the Destroyer. They saw the world was too dangerous to continue to exist as one. The Separator separated the worlds into many, not into pieces but into new wholes; the Tetherer tied them together so they would not drift apart and remain linked; the Destroyer destroyed what worlds proved too dangerous to continue to exist. Even with the Destroyer, the worlds remained countless. These three powerful beings came together in one world and continued their work until their deaths.

Only one world has a record of this time. And that is the Nexus, where Natures are revered and followed religiously. Those with powerful Natures, the same as those of the three powerful beings, are even revered as gods. New Tetherers, Separators, and Destroyers are found among the countless worlds and instated whenever the old ones die.

The worlds vary wildly from one another, most completely unaware of the existence of Natures at all. One world may be completely peaceful and otherwise just like ours; another may be one out of high fantasy with monsters scattering the lands.

The Tetherer was lucky enough to be born on the Nexus and shed their name to obtain their title early on, as the Nexus has Nature-scanning technology due to its preoccupation with this truth of the world, to a religious extent. The Tetherer has been bred to become a god since an early age, being privately tutored in all a leader would need to know in order to assume their role.

While still being taught, they became close to a person that had been found from another world to be the new Destroyer, who essentially took them under his wing and contributed to their studies extensively. The Tetherer became extremely attached to the man, and they each shared their personal misgivings with the idea of becoming a god with one another.

The Tetherer sees their gender as part of their Nature of Tethering, two halves of a shared whole, and worries that the only reason it is accepted is due to the fact they embody their godlike Nature in that way. When they share this with the Destroyer, he lets on that he doesn't even want to be a god of Destruction. Who would? It's a scary thought, to have that kind of power, to be able to destroy worlds and erase lives on a mass scale.

The Tetherer had never thought about it that way. Being born on the Nexus, they accepted the Destruction of worlds as a necessary aspect of the universe, as something that must be done to keep order.

It is soon after sharing this insecurity with his role that the Destroyer, while attempting to control his powers of Destruction, gave into his Nature and tragically, violently passed away. As the Tetherer (and the rest of the Nexus) grieved his loss, a seed was planted in their heart. A seed of uncertainty in the three gods' role in the universe, and the necessity of a god of Destruction.

They would keep their misgivings quiet throughout their officially taking on their title as the Tetherer and beginning their solitary rule over the Nexus. While their position as one of the three gods gave them the final say on all goings-on in the Nexus, they were also tasked to assist with locating the other gods from all the worlds in the universe with the help of their connection to the Tethers between all the worlds.

Over time, they discovered the Separator, a woman named Vida Veisi who led a painful life on a version of Earth that was still stuck in the late 1700s, where she was the bottom of the hierarchy and was involved in a freak Separating accident. Vida took to worshipping the Tetherer like any other and accepted her place with enthusiasm, seeing the Tetherer as a god that saved her from a horrible existence on an awful world that she wanted to see Destroyed.

The Tetherer kept their misgivings about the idea to themself.

Together, the Tetherer and the Separator took their place as two parts of a trio, and the Separator loudly lamented the absence of their third party. Until a vast, accidental Destruction of a portion of a world alerted them to the existence of a new Destroyer.

The two spirited away June Summers, a young woman with the Nature of Destruction who is investigating an outbreak of otherworldly monsters on her normally peaceful version of Earth and, through a series of hijinks, ended up traveling between worlds and Destroying the capital of a war-obsessed country. June, not wanting to accept her Nature, ran from them into the Nexus.

The Tetherer, in a moment of weakness due to the rejection and the stirring of old memories of the former Destroyer, shared their misgivings about the gods' role with the Separator. Horrified by a perceived betrayal, the Separator lashed out at them and they both Went To Bed Angry.

Hilariously, at the same time, June was found and manipulated by a skeevy doctor, who originated from the Separator's world and held a longstanding grudge against her, into taking on the mantle of god of Destruction under false pretenses to begin the doctor's plans of ruining the Separator's life. June returned to the gods, who were surprised by her change of heart and took her in as promised, with newfound tension in the air due to the fight.

This was their canon point before they were brought to the Riverview Quarantine.

CRAU History & Impact: The first thing they were told upon arriving at Riverview was that they were brought there due to their feeling that they didn't belong. The portal they protected brought people to the Quarantine to acclimate them to a new life and a new home. A second chance.

The Tetherer saw this as a good thing.

The moment they understood that they could not return, not right away, they vowed not to. They fell into an escapist fantasy, that they could shed their title as a god and have a life as a person unburdened by their Nature. It helped that their Nature had lessened in strength for some reason when they were transported.

After talking to some of their fellows in the Quarantine, they started to theorize there were universes untouched by the truth of Natures, outside of their former purview. Perhaps their Nature's lessened strength was due to a disconnect from the Natural universe.

In their devotion to being "totally normal", they opted for a minimum wage job and were assigned to be a barista in a simple coffee shop. They had never even boiled water before and knew basically nothing about coffee. But they were committed to learning.

They were delighted to find that there were plenty around willing to help them acclimate to the realities of daily life for people that aren't waited on hand and foot. They were lucky enough to make fast friends, including with those who had already gained positions of import in the community and the governing body of the Quarantine.

The Tetherer started to wonder if they could continue having a new life if they were still always referred to only by title. They had no other name to use, so they looked to their new friends for help. Peter Quill suggested some Earth movies to watch and look for names in, and Finn gifted them a book of names to draw from. They tried a few on, until eventually feeling too silly taking a completely new name.

They started to introduce themself as Teth, for starters. It ended up being the only name they truly stuck with.

But everything perfect about the Quarantine was a little too good to be true.

There was forewarning, of a sort. People started to disappear around the Quarantine, suddenly vanishing without a word. Mostly children at first. Then, many disappeared at once.

Teth was one of them.

A group of fledgling cultists was the culprit. Teth was not tuned in to a lot of the history of the Quarantine to really understand what they spoke about, while Teth was in captivity, overhearing their conversations. Something about needing host bodies to bring back the First People. They never understood who the First People were meant to be, other than powerful and wise and so incredibly necessary to these individuals that they would destroy lives to bring them back.

They mostly cared about the fact that they were trapped and hurting, and so were many with them. Kids and adults, human and nonhuman. They were kept underneath the city, in the very underground structure of the Quarantine, and many of the cultists became cruel very quickly once they felt powerful. None agreed how important it was for the host bodies to be healthy or even alive. Necessities were scarce.

They were there in those conditions for almost a month. The cultists had magic-derived technology to nullify any of the captives' special abilities, including Teth's Nature.

Eventually, someone managed to get a message out with their location. Teth, shaken and scared, just tried to pray. They prayed to the Separator, who they began to miss terribly, who they believed could save them if only she were here. Others with them helped them find strength and hope for rescue.

Rescue came, and in the process, Teth was determined to make sure no one was left behind. The tunnels beneath the city were chaotic with fighting, and they weren't a fighter, but they could transport people. They worked with people who could defend themselves and others to ensure their Tethers could help people reach safety.

After everyone escaped and the cultists were killed or arrested, Teth was changed by the experience. Traumatized is a more specific word for it. They had known power all their life, and suddenly they learned what it was to be truly powerless.

They tried to return to their idealized if somewhat difficult life. They started to slowly... experiment a bit, with a few aspects of the city that did still give them a form of culture shock. They began to learn more about their own comfort levels in new environments, despite formerly priding themself on being open-minded to all new experiences.

It's just that they were also trying very hard not to think about what had happened underground, so they thrust themself directly into things they probably maybe definitely shouldn't have. Like wild sex parties they immediately regretted going to.

Life in the Quarantine!!!!!!!

Thankfully, there was usually someone around to rescue them. They had friends notice a few comments they would make about the experience, including ones who had been there as well. They tried opening up a few times but always retreated by directing the conversation elsewhere. Often to how the other person felt about it, rather than their own feelings.

It was while they were still struggling with a lot of the new challenges that emerged after that traumatic experience that they woke up somewhere new yet again.

Personality: The Tetherer, as a god, has an image they've learned to project. One of calm acceptance of the state of the universe and their place in it. They would try to emote outwardly as little as possible, positioned themself as a voice of reason, an outside perspective on everything that could make any life-changing decision if it were necessary. They would stay collected when pressure built up; when others panicked they would be the grounding presence.

After leaving their role, they still struggle a little with allowing themself to feel things. While they were captured, they began to look inward because they had little choice. It was the first time they felt fear and could not push it down, file it away, and move on. They do still try to deflect from their own sensitivity about their fallibility. Their humanity. Their individuality.

It's a contradiction because they are also devoted to finding those things within themself. They just don't have the experience yet to understand that those are the things they are looking for. Those feelings are how they will be "normal".

It makes them a touch impulsive at times. It isn't something they used to do, but now they are extremely susceptible to suggestion, more than they ever were when they were the one calling the shots and looked upon for guidance. They'll throw themself into a new environment under the guise of "trying something new," perhaps not realizing that not everything is important to experience. Some things are dangerous or simply outside of their comfort zone. When they realize they're not sure, now, instead of calmly dealing with the problem, they freeze up. They find the first distraction and take it.

This behavior has yet to truly harm them, but it's highly liable to eventually.

Part of their devotion to other people, though, does make them a very compassionate person. The instant someone seems unsure or upset, they do all they can to help, whether they're capable or not. They used to be more capable, but now? They're realizing exactly how much they didn't really understand, even as they once thought they understood all that they needed to. Their empathy used to help them remove bias, but now it's making them confront the fact they do have biases.

In fact, it was those biases that led them to the Quarantine in the first place. After the late Destroyer, Amadi, passed away due to his own Nature, not long after sharing his misgivings about it in the first place... they started to take a moral stance without realizing. They started to believe that no human can decide who lives or dies on such a mass scale as the gods were expected to. They were just too afraid to do anything about it before they were plucked from the situation entirely.

They had all the power in all the universe, in a way, yet they could see no way to change the minds and traditions of one single world.

Behind their carefully composed demeanor, they are quite sensitive and insecure about their place in things. They may not express it quickly when it happens, but being questioned about anything after a lifetime of pure acceptance and guidance and, well, worship? They may claim they were uncomfortable with how they were regarded, and that may be true. But they are also uncomfortable when someone is willing to point out that they're wrong about almost anything. Now that they're not surrounded by their followers, it happens much more often, and they take it more personally than they should.

Even if it's someone expressing the same moral outrage at their position that they felt. They don't know how to handle that at all. Have never really encountered it before, not on the level they do now, not in worlds untouched by Natural law backing up millennia of religious teaching. It's one thing to have faith, it's another to know something is true, and it's something entirely different and terrifying to know something is true and then suddenly learn it's really not.

They were excited at the thought of worlds without Natures, yes. But they may not have realized what that really meant for them.

It may be obvious by now, but their upbringing has made them quite sheltered, a fact that becomes drastically clear to everyone, including themself, once they're removed from that environment. They admit their misunderstandings with earnestness, despite their insecurities. They seek help for small things, like learning new skills or trying new routines. They greatly value the kindness they've been shown through their months in the Quarantine, and they'll readily tell anyone so.

They just aren't sure yet how to tackle the big things.

Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping: They are able to link worlds together and travel between them without the aid of Tethering-powered technology of the Nexus (that previous Tetherers helped perfect, in fact). This ability was removed in the Quarantine, and that suppression of their power follows them similarly to Deerington, yet another world untouched by Natural law.

They could still create smaller Tethers between points in space, essentially warping themself and others or objects to different locations that don't necessarily need to be between entirely different worlds. This can include objects or even entire areas of any size if they try hard enough, but in the Quarantine they found themself limited by size. The Tethers appear as floating portals that swirl in a fixed location, having the appearance of a very minute-scale galaxy. Anything that touches them will instantly be transported between two linked Tethers, even if it is unintentional, including people. They can dismiss them at will.

In other words, they have to keep a close eye on what Tethers they leave lying around, for safety reasons. Thankfully, outside of the Natural universe, they don't also have millennia of former Tetherers' work to also keep track of at the same time.

They can also essentially fuse two objects, people, or even worlds together, creating new wholes or just making a weird amalgamation. This was limited to objects in the Quarantine, because it would be a tall order to undo without the presence of a Separator.

Because teleporting away monsters or other attackers can be more of an issue in a horror setting, I'd like to add some warping to their Tethers based on that. For example, some Tethers that are meant to simply transport things can sometimes, instead, use the fusion effect.

Example: A monster is attacking Teth and they try to use a Tether to transport it away from them. Instead, the monster is mutated by the addition of something from the intended location, such as a nearby tree, stored weapon, or other object, or even another nearby monster. This thing combines with the monster to mutate and transform it, possibly also making it angrier and more dangerous. It also isn't transported by the Tether in this case.

Potentially, this could also happen to regular Sleepers or Teth themself, which I would plot beforehand of course. They will likely stop using Tethers unless it's a really desperate situation once they notice this phenomenon, especially since the intention is for it to backfire and just make things worse about half the time.

Inventory: This is going to be some random-ass stuff because they had basically nothing when coming into Riverview, so this is just really stuff they got from... other characters gifting it to them...

- A book of baby names, from Finn. He did apologize for implying they were a baby.

- DVD copies of Footloose, Alien, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. On suggestion from Peter Quill. Do they need these? No. But they're, like, sentimental now?? If I can only bring one in one slot I'll settle for just Footloose. Mostly because I know someone who plays Ripley from Alien even if it's not in this game but like, what if.

- A watercolor painting, created for them by Lucretia.

- A book about gods from Faerun, gifted from Taako as a resource for the gods he is familiar with.

- Their Clothes, namely one outfit: a simple black romper with a white ascot and flat leather sandals. It is very much made for summer weather, but they also were gifted a bright red comfy sweater by Elizabeth Weir. Which they wore in the heat regardless. They know what they're doing. (They don't.)

- A large leatherbound journal filled with notes over their first few months in the Quarantine, gifted by Dorian Pavus. Only the first few pages are marked, mainly with things they were excited about in their new home. After the kidnapping ordeal, they've neglected it.

Writing Samples: TDM Toplevel and Threads / Thread from Riverview with Lucretia (This is from an Event toplevel so if you need more threads, just hit up the parent comment there.)

OUT OF CHARACTER

Player Name: Javid
Player Age: 28
Player Contact: erlking / javid#6941

Other Characters In Game: Klaus Hargreeves
In-Game Tag If Accepted: the tetherer: javid
Permissions for Character: Here
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: I tend to dislike it for crack purposes, but I like the psychological take in the game's themes, so yes!

What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: I would feel so dumb copypasting from my last app so I will try to be more specific to Teth. I love things that basically challenge characters' (and viewers') perceptions of reality and society, whether that's to make some sort of statement or to just invite others to think deeper about the world around us. More than that, I also love psychological themes that challenge the perception of the self—the core of Teth's original setting is based around themes of nature vs. nurture taken to a literal sense, and how much a person can actually change about the circumstances they were born into or presumed identity before birth, even. The thought is to wonder how much of an individual can be decided by that individual vs. how much is decided by their environment and other people around them. This is also... easy fodder for horror settings, honestly! Loss of self control is terrifying! I'd love to explore that concept deeper and in a more unsettling way than it is presented in their original setting, which isn't be quite the same as a horror genre take on it.
Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: My only 100% always can't deal with it thing is images of dead or badly harmed cats. And, to a lesser extent, I can't take images/video with heavy focus on vomit, but anything that involves a "discretion shot" or isn't super disgustingly detailed is fine. Other things can be triggering for me as well but I'm more practiced at engaging with them safely.
Additional Information: n/a