Kale Daly (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
engineermage) wrote2015-06-07 05:06 pm
engineermage) wrote2015-06-07 05:06 pm
Entry tags:
Ten Forward App
Your name or online alias: Kippur
Your email: kippur@mad.scientist.com
Another preferred means of contact: kippurbirdy @ AIM
Character's Full Name: Kale Ian Connor Daly (corporal in the Eire army)
Character's Journal Name:engineermage
What would you like your character's tag to be?: Kale Daly
Answer the following questions in 800+ words put together...
Is this character an OC or AU set in a canon world? If so, which canon?: OC/Semi- published
Which canon point?: Before Trever gets into a relationship with Ash and the DMC is still figuring themselves out.
If not, describe their world. This includes things like whether the world has magic or technology, what sort of culture your character comes from, the relative era in which it is set, etc.:
Kale comes from an earth where magic is everyday and known. Everyone has a tiny spark of magic. Gods walk the world and because of this and society has developed quite differently. Perhaps the biggest difference is the lack of Judaism and its descendents, Christianity and Islam. The religions never formed because why believe in a god that doesn’t physically exist when its obvious that there are gods that do. Something happened many years ago that caused a weakening of the gods power. Some say it was humanity’s realization that they didn’t need the gods for everything, like in the Industrial Revolution, or at least their priests. Others say that it’s part of the natural way of things. The gods are fading, its past their time.
The world has integrated magic into its everyday life. There is no difference between science and magic for them.Technology works because of magic. Doctors have the ability to help people through the study of medicine and in some cases the ability to heal people themselves. Ritual mages test the known bounds of magic while physicists test the known bounds of physics. Dragons write romance novels and gods run multinational businesses. There’s television, movies, computers and all the modern conveniences. There’s just little differences, things like necromancy being a course of study, Ireland - Eire - still being run by a king, the center of Germany being destroyed in a magical incident that destabilized ley lines and made it nearly impossible for magic to work properly there and Lord of the Rings is a historical fiction novel while Twilight is considered to be a very strange science fiction romance series.
Because of the physical nature of the gods, colonialism wasn’t as strong in this world as it is was in others. It’s hard for a person, several thousand miles away from their own homeland and gods, to confront people who have their gods standing right next to them and win.
Currently some of the gods protest this fading and are slowly trying to rebuild their base of power to return to the days of old when they were truly more like forces of nature.
Character's background (their past and present, including applicable events in other games you may have played them in):
Kale’s family and background is long and storied. One of myth and legends and secrets. It begins way back at the founding of Eire itself. He is, on his mother’s side, which is the most influential side of his raising, a descendant of the Morrigan herself. On his father’s side, on the other hand, he’s a descendant of Brigid. The Morrigan’s oldest child was a man named Caellum. Caellum ended up making a huge mistake.
A mistake that affects his descendants to this very day. He was tricked into helping someone (the actual person has been lost to time) murder the seven first born children of the first seven fey. The first fey to ever be murdered by iron. He led them into a grove of trees where they were hanged and stabbed with iron. The magic and agony that their deaths released cursed the grove. The seven fey’s spirits twisted it and haunted it. It became known as the Clutching Grove and it roams fairy searching for new victims to join in the first spirit’s misery and agony. Even the gods are wary of approaching it. In punishment Caellum was forced to become what became known as the King of the Clutching Grove, where he tried to keep it from wrecking complete havoc in both fairy and the mortal worlds. His descendants were cursed as follows: on the thirteenth child of the family turns thirteen the eldest child would be drawn into fairy and to the grove where they would become the new King/Queen of it.
The rest of the Caellum’s family, in a sort of penance, were made the guardians of the gateway into Fairy. Their home, what became known as Thorn Hall, is one of the places where the world is thin and if the barrier is ever broken, fairy would leak into the mortal realms eventually taking it over. They also became “heroes” in the Beowulf and Gilgamesh and Cul Cuhlen sense. They’d fight wars, hunt down monsters (human and nonhuman) and help people in need. The Morrigan gave them the gift of Hero’s Luck (see Trever’s powers for a definition of it) and cursed them with a particular shade of red hair and green eyes, as well as freckles. As long as they’re “raised” as a McCallum and follow their ideals they have what’s known as the McCallum red hair and green eyes. It completely defies genetics. Three of Trever’s cousins live in Dublin and whenever they come to the Hall to visit their hair turns noticeably brighter red and their eyes greener. Their non-McCallum parent could have black hair and brown eyes but if they’re raised at Thorn Hall or spend enough time there, their hair and eyes will change colors. They were given this curse so that the Monsters know who they are and have a chance to surrender or run away or at least know what they’re facing. It’s essentially a warning to all those that see them. People with magical senses can even sense the warning, even if they don’t know it’s connected to the hair and eyes. As some people put it, the McCallums are the monsters on top of the bed.
There always must be a McCallum living at Thorn Hall or else the barriers as mentioned, would break. Each generation has a McCallum and they know who they are. They are pretty much bound to the Hall not wanting to leave it. However, if the McCallum dies, the McCallum passes to the next available McCallum. Until it finds one, even if they’re distantly related.
Kale’s mother met his father when she was asked by Malcom Daly, the King of Eire (whose family was helped put on the throne by a McCallum) to rescue the crown prince, Calvin. It was your classic knight rescuing the prince and later falling in love story. This became a problem because Talia was a McCallum and they were famous for breaking and making kings. Also because the heir to the throne couldn’t be a McCallum and king at the same time. So, she did marry - despite the protests - and took on her husband’s name thus making her children Dalys and not McCallums and so the eldest child would be taken out of the McCallum line and the potential of becoming the McCallum tied to Thorn Hall. However the other children were still potentially capable of becoming the McCallum because they are only potential heirs. (The final protest about the two of them getting married was that the Morrigan and Brigid don’t particularly care for each other and didn’t like the idea of two of their lines merging).
Kale and his twin Trever got their strange names (Kale - cabbage [but don’t call him cabbage boy if you know what’s good for you and] and Trever instead of Trevor) because the Morrigan and Brigid made a bet. Whoever got Talia to take their suggested name would be allowed to influence them. Their older brother - Nat - was automatically given to Brigid as he was heir to the throne (even if he was raised at Thorn Hall). The Morrigan waited until Talia was dead exhausted and not thinking quite right after giving birth to suggest the names. She thought they were brilliant and so the Morrigan won.
So, they were brought and raised at Thorn Hall amongst all the other McCallums - that would be, in age order: Dara, Sean (however he soon left to live in Dublin), Bran, Aoife, Finn, Maeve, Aidan, Siobhan, Grady, Una, Rory and Grace. Grace and Rory were only five years older than the twins and a few months younger than their older brother, Nat, so they were treated practically as siblings.
They had a fairly eventful young childhood.
When they were about nine months old Nat, Rory and Grace decided that they were obviously some sort of dark creature because no human could be so loud and annoying and were left out in the woods for the wolves or fairies to take after having permanent marker scales drawn on them. They were rescued and Nat, Rory and Grace were severely punished for it. When they were four they were sold to the circus for a dollar each and some candy. (Getting sold to the circus was a bit of a McCallum family tradition. Every McCallum sibling sold their younger ones to the circus.And then had to buy them back). Kale, having gotten a bit bored, didn’t mind going back but Trever didn’t want to leave enjoying being with the circus dogs. This was the first obvious instance of personality differences between the twins. As they got older, more things became apparent. Kale was more interested in taking things apart to see how they worked and Trever enjoyed being with the animals more. This became useful because Kale could open locks and things when Trever came up with some sort of mischievous idea.
When they were eight, two things happened that seriously affected the twins and they generally consider it to be the worst year they’ve ever had. He and Trever were taken to the Stones in the deep woods to see them under supervision. The adults knew that if the children were forbidden to go and see the Stones, they would go and see them to see what all the fuss was about. So, they were brought to the Stones to see them. Curious, Kale touched one of them. This overwhelmed his nascent psychometric abilities because the Stones were ancient and a great deal of powerful individuals had passed through and touched them over the long years. He collapsed into a coma, unable to deal with the sudden influx of personalities crowding into his mind.
Being only eight years old there was no way that he could fight off even the remnants of arch fey personalities or even others less powerful that passed through the stones. It took all he had to keep a sense of self, even if he couldn’t be awake in the world, hiding away from everything.
After three months a family friend, who was skilled in ancient and long forgotten magics, was brought in. (It took them that long to find him.) He was able to bring Kale out of the coma, banishing the personalities. At least mostly. There are times when he can still feel them just lingering like echoes of echoes at the back of his mind, some of them just waiting for the chance to try and take over. As Kale is much older and trained now the likelihood of that happening is very slim. It also gave Kale the beginnings of a crush on Rhys.
Soon after that it was Grace and Rory’s thirteenth birthday. A birthday that opened in tragedy. Their oldest uncle, Dara, had been caught by the Clutching Grove’s curse and drawn into fairy at the stroke of midnight. What was planned to be a great and fun day became overshadowed by the vanishing of Dara - that absolutely cool uncle/brother. A vanishing that, despite their pestering, their grandparents and mother didn’t seem to be interesting in fixing. But they knew about the curse and knew there was nothing they could do about it.
The rest of his childhood past relatively uneventfully… for a McCallum. He got into the usual shenanigans of stealing livestock when he turned thirteen, monster hunting, and doing prince things like going to official functions, terrorizing people at official functions and learning the concept of diplomacy doesn’t always mean you shoot them in the leg instead of the head.
When he finished secondary school, Kale and Trever haid their first major split in their lives going off to do different things. Kale went into the army and Trever went off to university to learn how to become a vet. Unlike his uncle, mother and aunt, Kale became a non-commissioned officer and worked mostly in the engineering corps. He seriously enjoyed his time in the army helping design new kinds of computer systems, weapons and aircraft and generally being on the cutting edge of technology. His technomancy helped him immensely in this department, letting him find and fix things that other people couldn’t.
Just a short while after getting discharged from the army he and Trever were picked up by the family friend who pulled him out of his coma to help with an investigation. The Rus ambassador to Erie’s daughter had been killed and he wanted their help in the investigation. The other people in the group Rhys had brought together were a set of Triplets (Adrienne, Anna and Adrian Gunther) who were the children of a notorious god hating media mogul, Theodred Sammeth, the demi-god necromancer son of a god of the dead who the Gunther’s father absolutely despised and Lan Petrov, an empath and psychometric like Kale who was the cousin of the murder victim. They discovered that the murder was part of a series of ritual murders being done in the name of the latest heart throb Ashley Carrey - who turned out to be actually Ashkari, god of necromancy and the son of Theodred’s father long thought dead.
They realized that Something Else was definitely happening and since it was more interesting than their day jobs, and it fit into their Heroing Genes, Trever and Kale stayed on with Rhys and the others to figure out what that Something Else, jokingly giving themselves the name The Department of Magical Crimes or DMC. Which, somehow, Rhys managed to make an official troubleshooting team for around the world, complete with nifty badges.
Character's personality: For the most part, Kale comes off as a quiet man with the distracted air of someone who is thinking about something more interesting than what was actually happening. Usually, in his case, his tinkerings or listening to the machines around him. Or, though he’s reluctant to admit it, the remnants of personalities he’s picked up over the years. He lets his brothers, especially Trever, take the lead in most of their mischief but is a full and willing participant in all their antics. Trever is just better at coming up with the ideas than him.
Like most McCallums - and he is a McCallum despite being a Daly he has a very odd view of the world that tends to confuse people. Concepts like being afraid of something or not doing something because it’s dangerous are completely foreign concepts to him. What’s wrong with obstacle courses with live explosives. And why shouldn’t he stare down a god? Is there supposed to be something wrong with telling them to fuck off? You mean people don’t usually set traps out with lures to try and capture the tooth fairy to rob them blind? And what’s this thing about losing? For Kale, losing means not getting the job done. If he gets seriously injured or dies yet finishes the job then it’s a win in his column.
He always at least two weapons on him (ranged and melee) because you never know when you’re going to have to deal with something that requires a weapon. The idea that he might go somewhere that doesn’t require a weapon has also never really occurred to him. If someone actually manages to take a weapon off of him, he’s quite good at improvising. Anything can be used as a weapon in his view. He has a violent streak, but it’s not really one born of anger or of YAY VIOLENCE it’s just that he can be, when need be, really good at being violent. It’s sort of an on and off switch thing. After all, he’s been trained as a fighter since a very young age. He won’t randomly attack people, but he’s willing to defend himself.
He does have a serious love for designing weapons and weaponizing things that shouldn’t be weaponized. It’s almost a hobby. Wave some shiny new technology in front of his face and he will follow you anywhere. While in the army he worked with the weapons designer division.
At times it may seem like his personality is a bit fragmented and fluid. His mannerisms might change slightly, so might his accent. Not really noticeable unless you’re looking for it. That’s because of the fragments of people that he’s picked up. They’ve influenced him much like a child is influenced by his parents. He doesn’t talk about it. It’s rather personal for him though it does confuse the occasional telepath.
Another thing he keeps under wraps - though this one not very well - is a serious crush on Rhys. Part of it is rescue complex - Rhys did save his life and part of it is genuine attraction. It’s sort of ruined his love life in that he’s had flings but never really managed to go anywhere because he’s always pining for Rhys in the back of his mind. Fortunately Rhys knows about this and keeps an eye on it.
Kale sometimes feels a bit useless in that he’s the spare-spare- heir. It’s not something that’s a Thing in modern times, but the history is still there. Governmental people sometimes treat him as less important as the crown prince or Trever. It does let him get away with a few more things that normal, he’s not expected to be as proper or show up to certain important events that royal people are expected to.
Because of his psychometry he’s a bit shy about physical contact, at least skin to object contact. He’ll use his psychometry, sure. Sometimes in a completely idiotic manner, but regular surfaces, beds, things that. He gets edgy when someone asks him to take his gloves off or someone he doesn’t know really well asks him to use his powers. He’s more trusting of his family to use them. Sometimes he’d rather talk to the machines than people because they tend to be more sensible than people.
Perhaps it could be considered a bad habit but, Kale is a bit of a compulsive gambler. He loves starting betting pools and taking odds on things. He carries a book and pen on him at all times that he uses to keep track of the various betting pools he’s got going on. Anything from when his aunts and mother will come back from wherever they’ve been kidnapped and who kidnapped them to when Theo is going to ask Adrienne out on a date to regular sporting events and politics.
Character's skills/abilities/powers: Kale is a techomage and psychometric. He’s capable of magically talking to any bit of technology, the more advanced it is the easier it is for him to talk to it and get it to do what he wants. So, while he could get a tumbler lock to unlock itself it’d be more difficult than letting himself into a computer system. The psychometry allows him to touch things like clothing or a knife or a wall and see what happened in the past with it. He can get a sense of who last held it and who and what they were like. This is dangerous for him because if the personality who last used the object is stronger than him in someway it can overwhelm him. At best he just picks up a few character traits of the person for a while at worse it can completely overwhelm him sending him into a coma or the other person taking over. Even after they’ve faded Kale still retains a bit of what the person knew. It’s allowed him to pick up languages easier and use things he normally wouldn’t know how to do. However, because of how risky it is, he rarely does it unless absolutely necessary. And because of it he almost always wears gloves spelled to protect him.
Because he is and was raised a McCallum, Kale also has what could be known as Hero’s Luck. It’s that Thing that lets a hero get away with things by the skin of their teeth. Just making it out of the collapsing building. Just managing to complete the spell in time. Just managing to get to the location of Doom to stop the Evil Dude. However it only works when he’s doing something to protect people.
Even without the technomacy he’s an exceptionally talented engineer. Capable of building and understanding complex machines as well as jury rigging or adapting existing ones for his needs. He’s also a licensed pilot having learned to fly during his brief stint in the Eire army. As he was raised a McCallum, he is comfortable and skilled using all weapons, from swords to staffs to guns to hand to hand to cat tossing (though she protests this) as well as having an extensive knowledge of monsters, fey and other things that aren’t considered to be human. He specializes in long ranged combat covering his twin from afar when Trever is in melee.. He’s also a skilled cheat (it’s only cheating if you get caught) and good at breaking and entering (because you never know when you need to get into somewhere locked) as well as just General Heroing.
Any special equipment your character is bringing along? This includes weaponry, magic items, etc.: Multipurpose goggles with various settings (infrared, night vision, magic reading etc…), tool kit with scanner (sort of like a tricorder, connects to the goggles) one pistol, two magazines (one with silvered bullets and the other iron) for said guns, two knives, special gloves to protect him from accidental psychometry, and a satchel with random electronic bits and pieces of half built tinkerings.
Why do you want to play this character in Ten Forward, and what do you plan to do with them? I'd like to play Kale in Ten Forward for several reasons: one because frankly Trever tends to work better with his brother and the last thing that I'd want is for Trever to fall into a complete spiral of despair and depression and thus not want to play any more. Two: I'd really like watching Kale interact with Starfleet technology and trying to deal with things when his technomancy doesn't give him an edge with technology. Also him trying to deal with a world with no magic. What he'd like to do istry and build a Still work in engineering and the security team that Tasha Yar is putting together. While Trev is the Science Fiction fan, Kale is the techno-nerd and this is just like :O for him.
What is your character's greatest flaw? It would be the McCallum Family Flaw of Overconfidence/Hubris. Kale often times has trouble with the concept that he could be in danger from something or that mouthing off to a god or god liking being is a bad idea. Telling him that would earn a blank stare of incomprehension. He gets easily distracted by shiny technology. Also at times he’s too passive, more willing to let someone else -usually Trever or another family member - take the lead in things.
Describe your character's family (whether family by blood or by choice). How does your character feel about them? What did your character learn from them?
Kale’s family is huge. At least on his mom’s side. His mother has twelve siblings, which leaves him with five aunts and seven uncles, with an aunt and uncle only five years older than him. He also has five younger cousins, the oldest being about ten and the youngest two. And then there is his twin Trever and older brother Nat.
He absolutely loves and is fiercely loyal to them. He learned almost everything he knows from them. All about Heroing and Fighting and just how to view the world. (Which is admittedly a bit skewed). He treats Grace and Rory more like siblings than aunt and uncle because they’re so close in age and because Nat is a few months older than Grace and Rory. It took him a while to realize that they weren’t his siblings. Not that it changed how he interacted with them.
In a way he has a second family of those remnants of those personalities that live in his head. Who Kale hates beyond measure. It makes him feel like he’s not his own person. But there’s no way to get rid of them.
What hobbies does your character have? Kale is a tinkerer, he likes making little devices like wind up toys or mini robots that can just walk and often times when bored will start fiddling around with the little bits and pieces he carries with him for just that reason. Or just sometimes things that go “ping” when someone walks by. He also likes designing weapons - something he picked up from his mother - and getting inside things from computers to engines to see how they work and if he can make them better. Because he couldn’t escape having to go to comic book shops with his brother he’s picked up a slight interest in them, usually the more graphic novel things as opposed to Trever’s Superheroes.
Your character wakes up in the middle of the night in panic from a nightmare. What was the nightmare? His hands have turned into oysters. He’s not exactly sure where that particular nightmare came from, but it’s a recurring one. He doesn’t even particularly like oysters either. He doesn’t really have fear nightmares of things because fear is a mostly foreign concept to him. Kale’s biggest worry is more that he’s not sure he will wake up himself or at all when he goes to sleep. These problems usually happen on days when he uses his psychometry and has a bad reaction - a strong personality tries to take over or he sees a nasty event. But, other than that he doesn’t have those sorts of things.
Writing Sample #1: Kale and Trever together
Writing Sample #2 (optional): Kale by himself
Your email: kippur@mad.scientist.com
Another preferred means of contact: kippurbirdy @ AIM
Character's Full Name: Kale Ian Connor Daly (corporal in the Eire army)
Character's Journal Name:
engineermageWhat would you like your character's tag to be?: Kale Daly
Answer the following questions in 800+ words put together...
Is this character an OC or AU set in a canon world? If so, which canon?: OC/Semi- published
Which canon point?: Before Trever gets into a relationship with Ash and the DMC is still figuring themselves out.
If not, describe their world. This includes things like whether the world has magic or technology, what sort of culture your character comes from, the relative era in which it is set, etc.:
Kale comes from an earth where magic is everyday and known. Everyone has a tiny spark of magic. Gods walk the world and because of this and society has developed quite differently. Perhaps the biggest difference is the lack of Judaism and its descendents, Christianity and Islam. The religions never formed because why believe in a god that doesn’t physically exist when its obvious that there are gods that do. Something happened many years ago that caused a weakening of the gods power. Some say it was humanity’s realization that they didn’t need the gods for everything, like in the Industrial Revolution, or at least their priests. Others say that it’s part of the natural way of things. The gods are fading, its past their time.
The world has integrated magic into its everyday life. There is no difference between science and magic for them.Technology works because of magic. Doctors have the ability to help people through the study of medicine and in some cases the ability to heal people themselves. Ritual mages test the known bounds of magic while physicists test the known bounds of physics. Dragons write romance novels and gods run multinational businesses. There’s television, movies, computers and all the modern conveniences. There’s just little differences, things like necromancy being a course of study, Ireland - Eire - still being run by a king, the center of Germany being destroyed in a magical incident that destabilized ley lines and made it nearly impossible for magic to work properly there and Lord of the Rings is a historical fiction novel while Twilight is considered to be a very strange science fiction romance series.
Because of the physical nature of the gods, colonialism wasn’t as strong in this world as it is was in others. It’s hard for a person, several thousand miles away from their own homeland and gods, to confront people who have their gods standing right next to them and win.
Currently some of the gods protest this fading and are slowly trying to rebuild their base of power to return to the days of old when they were truly more like forces of nature.
Character's background (their past and present, including applicable events in other games you may have played them in):
Kale’s family and background is long and storied. One of myth and legends and secrets. It begins way back at the founding of Eire itself. He is, on his mother’s side, which is the most influential side of his raising, a descendant of the Morrigan herself. On his father’s side, on the other hand, he’s a descendant of Brigid. The Morrigan’s oldest child was a man named Caellum. Caellum ended up making a huge mistake.
A mistake that affects his descendants to this very day. He was tricked into helping someone (the actual person has been lost to time) murder the seven first born children of the first seven fey. The first fey to ever be murdered by iron. He led them into a grove of trees where they were hanged and stabbed with iron. The magic and agony that their deaths released cursed the grove. The seven fey’s spirits twisted it and haunted it. It became known as the Clutching Grove and it roams fairy searching for new victims to join in the first spirit’s misery and agony. Even the gods are wary of approaching it. In punishment Caellum was forced to become what became known as the King of the Clutching Grove, where he tried to keep it from wrecking complete havoc in both fairy and the mortal worlds. His descendants were cursed as follows: on the thirteenth child of the family turns thirteen the eldest child would be drawn into fairy and to the grove where they would become the new King/Queen of it.
The rest of the Caellum’s family, in a sort of penance, were made the guardians of the gateway into Fairy. Their home, what became known as Thorn Hall, is one of the places where the world is thin and if the barrier is ever broken, fairy would leak into the mortal realms eventually taking it over. They also became “heroes” in the Beowulf and Gilgamesh and Cul Cuhlen sense. They’d fight wars, hunt down monsters (human and nonhuman) and help people in need. The Morrigan gave them the gift of Hero’s Luck (see Trever’s powers for a definition of it) and cursed them with a particular shade of red hair and green eyes, as well as freckles. As long as they’re “raised” as a McCallum and follow their ideals they have what’s known as the McCallum red hair and green eyes. It completely defies genetics. Three of Trever’s cousins live in Dublin and whenever they come to the Hall to visit their hair turns noticeably brighter red and their eyes greener. Their non-McCallum parent could have black hair and brown eyes but if they’re raised at Thorn Hall or spend enough time there, their hair and eyes will change colors. They were given this curse so that the Monsters know who they are and have a chance to surrender or run away or at least know what they’re facing. It’s essentially a warning to all those that see them. People with magical senses can even sense the warning, even if they don’t know it’s connected to the hair and eyes. As some people put it, the McCallums are the monsters on top of the bed.
There always must be a McCallum living at Thorn Hall or else the barriers as mentioned, would break. Each generation has a McCallum and they know who they are. They are pretty much bound to the Hall not wanting to leave it. However, if the McCallum dies, the McCallum passes to the next available McCallum. Until it finds one, even if they’re distantly related.
Kale’s mother met his father when she was asked by Malcom Daly, the King of Eire (whose family was helped put on the throne by a McCallum) to rescue the crown prince, Calvin. It was your classic knight rescuing the prince and later falling in love story. This became a problem because Talia was a McCallum and they were famous for breaking and making kings. Also because the heir to the throne couldn’t be a McCallum and king at the same time. So, she did marry - despite the protests - and took on her husband’s name thus making her children Dalys and not McCallums and so the eldest child would be taken out of the McCallum line and the potential of becoming the McCallum tied to Thorn Hall. However the other children were still potentially capable of becoming the McCallum because they are only potential heirs. (The final protest about the two of them getting married was that the Morrigan and Brigid don’t particularly care for each other and didn’t like the idea of two of their lines merging).
Kale and his twin Trever got their strange names (Kale - cabbage [but don’t call him cabbage boy if you know what’s good for you and] and Trever instead of Trevor) because the Morrigan and Brigid made a bet. Whoever got Talia to take their suggested name would be allowed to influence them. Their older brother - Nat - was automatically given to Brigid as he was heir to the throne (even if he was raised at Thorn Hall). The Morrigan waited until Talia was dead exhausted and not thinking quite right after giving birth to suggest the names. She thought they were brilliant and so the Morrigan won.
So, they were brought and raised at Thorn Hall amongst all the other McCallums - that would be, in age order: Dara, Sean (however he soon left to live in Dublin), Bran, Aoife, Finn, Maeve, Aidan, Siobhan, Grady, Una, Rory and Grace. Grace and Rory were only five years older than the twins and a few months younger than their older brother, Nat, so they were treated practically as siblings.
They had a fairly eventful young childhood.
When they were about nine months old Nat, Rory and Grace decided that they were obviously some sort of dark creature because no human could be so loud and annoying and were left out in the woods for the wolves or fairies to take after having permanent marker scales drawn on them. They were rescued and Nat, Rory and Grace were severely punished for it. When they were four they were sold to the circus for a dollar each and some candy. (Getting sold to the circus was a bit of a McCallum family tradition. Every McCallum sibling sold their younger ones to the circus.And then had to buy them back). Kale, having gotten a bit bored, didn’t mind going back but Trever didn’t want to leave enjoying being with the circus dogs. This was the first obvious instance of personality differences between the twins. As they got older, more things became apparent. Kale was more interested in taking things apart to see how they worked and Trever enjoyed being with the animals more. This became useful because Kale could open locks and things when Trever came up with some sort of mischievous idea.
When they were eight, two things happened that seriously affected the twins and they generally consider it to be the worst year they’ve ever had. He and Trever were taken to the Stones in the deep woods to see them under supervision. The adults knew that if the children were forbidden to go and see the Stones, they would go and see them to see what all the fuss was about. So, they were brought to the Stones to see them. Curious, Kale touched one of them. This overwhelmed his nascent psychometric abilities because the Stones were ancient and a great deal of powerful individuals had passed through and touched them over the long years. He collapsed into a coma, unable to deal with the sudden influx of personalities crowding into his mind.
Being only eight years old there was no way that he could fight off even the remnants of arch fey personalities or even others less powerful that passed through the stones. It took all he had to keep a sense of self, even if he couldn’t be awake in the world, hiding away from everything.
After three months a family friend, who was skilled in ancient and long forgotten magics, was brought in. (It took them that long to find him.) He was able to bring Kale out of the coma, banishing the personalities. At least mostly. There are times when he can still feel them just lingering like echoes of echoes at the back of his mind, some of them just waiting for the chance to try and take over. As Kale is much older and trained now the likelihood of that happening is very slim. It also gave Kale the beginnings of a crush on Rhys.
Soon after that it was Grace and Rory’s thirteenth birthday. A birthday that opened in tragedy. Their oldest uncle, Dara, had been caught by the Clutching Grove’s curse and drawn into fairy at the stroke of midnight. What was planned to be a great and fun day became overshadowed by the vanishing of Dara - that absolutely cool uncle/brother. A vanishing that, despite their pestering, their grandparents and mother didn’t seem to be interesting in fixing. But they knew about the curse and knew there was nothing they could do about it.
The rest of his childhood past relatively uneventfully… for a McCallum. He got into the usual shenanigans of stealing livestock when he turned thirteen, monster hunting, and doing prince things like going to official functions, terrorizing people at official functions and learning the concept of diplomacy doesn’t always mean you shoot them in the leg instead of the head.
When he finished secondary school, Kale and Trever haid their first major split in their lives going off to do different things. Kale went into the army and Trever went off to university to learn how to become a vet. Unlike his uncle, mother and aunt, Kale became a non-commissioned officer and worked mostly in the engineering corps. He seriously enjoyed his time in the army helping design new kinds of computer systems, weapons and aircraft and generally being on the cutting edge of technology. His technomancy helped him immensely in this department, letting him find and fix things that other people couldn’t.
Just a short while after getting discharged from the army he and Trever were picked up by the family friend who pulled him out of his coma to help with an investigation. The Rus ambassador to Erie’s daughter had been killed and he wanted their help in the investigation. The other people in the group Rhys had brought together were a set of Triplets (Adrienne, Anna and Adrian Gunther) who were the children of a notorious god hating media mogul, Theodred Sammeth, the demi-god necromancer son of a god of the dead who the Gunther’s father absolutely despised and Lan Petrov, an empath and psychometric like Kale who was the cousin of the murder victim. They discovered that the murder was part of a series of ritual murders being done in the name of the latest heart throb Ashley Carrey - who turned out to be actually Ashkari, god of necromancy and the son of Theodred’s father long thought dead.
They realized that Something Else was definitely happening and since it was more interesting than their day jobs, and it fit into their Heroing Genes, Trever and Kale stayed on with Rhys and the others to figure out what that Something Else, jokingly giving themselves the name The Department of Magical Crimes or DMC. Which, somehow, Rhys managed to make an official troubleshooting team for around the world, complete with nifty badges.
Character's personality: For the most part, Kale comes off as a quiet man with the distracted air of someone who is thinking about something more interesting than what was actually happening. Usually, in his case, his tinkerings or listening to the machines around him. Or, though he’s reluctant to admit it, the remnants of personalities he’s picked up over the years. He lets his brothers, especially Trever, take the lead in most of their mischief but is a full and willing participant in all their antics. Trever is just better at coming up with the ideas than him.
Like most McCallums - and he is a McCallum despite being a Daly he has a very odd view of the world that tends to confuse people. Concepts like being afraid of something or not doing something because it’s dangerous are completely foreign concepts to him. What’s wrong with obstacle courses with live explosives. And why shouldn’t he stare down a god? Is there supposed to be something wrong with telling them to fuck off? You mean people don’t usually set traps out with lures to try and capture the tooth fairy to rob them blind? And what’s this thing about losing? For Kale, losing means not getting the job done. If he gets seriously injured or dies yet finishes the job then it’s a win in his column.
He always at least two weapons on him (ranged and melee) because you never know when you’re going to have to deal with something that requires a weapon. The idea that he might go somewhere that doesn’t require a weapon has also never really occurred to him. If someone actually manages to take a weapon off of him, he’s quite good at improvising. Anything can be used as a weapon in his view. He has a violent streak, but it’s not really one born of anger or of YAY VIOLENCE it’s just that he can be, when need be, really good at being violent. It’s sort of an on and off switch thing. After all, he’s been trained as a fighter since a very young age. He won’t randomly attack people, but he’s willing to defend himself.
He does have a serious love for designing weapons and weaponizing things that shouldn’t be weaponized. It’s almost a hobby. Wave some shiny new technology in front of his face and he will follow you anywhere. While in the army he worked with the weapons designer division.
At times it may seem like his personality is a bit fragmented and fluid. His mannerisms might change slightly, so might his accent. Not really noticeable unless you’re looking for it. That’s because of the fragments of people that he’s picked up. They’ve influenced him much like a child is influenced by his parents. He doesn’t talk about it. It’s rather personal for him though it does confuse the occasional telepath.
Another thing he keeps under wraps - though this one not very well - is a serious crush on Rhys. Part of it is rescue complex - Rhys did save his life and part of it is genuine attraction. It’s sort of ruined his love life in that he’s had flings but never really managed to go anywhere because he’s always pining for Rhys in the back of his mind. Fortunately Rhys knows about this and keeps an eye on it.
Kale sometimes feels a bit useless in that he’s the spare-spare- heir. It’s not something that’s a Thing in modern times, but the history is still there. Governmental people sometimes treat him as less important as the crown prince or Trever. It does let him get away with a few more things that normal, he’s not expected to be as proper or show up to certain important events that royal people are expected to.
Because of his psychometry he’s a bit shy about physical contact, at least skin to object contact. He’ll use his psychometry, sure. Sometimes in a completely idiotic manner, but regular surfaces, beds, things that. He gets edgy when someone asks him to take his gloves off or someone he doesn’t know really well asks him to use his powers. He’s more trusting of his family to use them. Sometimes he’d rather talk to the machines than people because they tend to be more sensible than people.
Perhaps it could be considered a bad habit but, Kale is a bit of a compulsive gambler. He loves starting betting pools and taking odds on things. He carries a book and pen on him at all times that he uses to keep track of the various betting pools he’s got going on. Anything from when his aunts and mother will come back from wherever they’ve been kidnapped and who kidnapped them to when Theo is going to ask Adrienne out on a date to regular sporting events and politics.
Character's skills/abilities/powers: Kale is a techomage and psychometric. He’s capable of magically talking to any bit of technology, the more advanced it is the easier it is for him to talk to it and get it to do what he wants. So, while he could get a tumbler lock to unlock itself it’d be more difficult than letting himself into a computer system. The psychometry allows him to touch things like clothing or a knife or a wall and see what happened in the past with it. He can get a sense of who last held it and who and what they were like. This is dangerous for him because if the personality who last used the object is stronger than him in someway it can overwhelm him. At best he just picks up a few character traits of the person for a while at worse it can completely overwhelm him sending him into a coma or the other person taking over. Even after they’ve faded Kale still retains a bit of what the person knew. It’s allowed him to pick up languages easier and use things he normally wouldn’t know how to do. However, because of how risky it is, he rarely does it unless absolutely necessary. And because of it he almost always wears gloves spelled to protect him.
Because he is and was raised a McCallum, Kale also has what could be known as Hero’s Luck. It’s that Thing that lets a hero get away with things by the skin of their teeth. Just making it out of the collapsing building. Just managing to complete the spell in time. Just managing to get to the location of Doom to stop the Evil Dude. However it only works when he’s doing something to protect people.
Even without the technomacy he’s an exceptionally talented engineer. Capable of building and understanding complex machines as well as jury rigging or adapting existing ones for his needs. He’s also a licensed pilot having learned to fly during his brief stint in the Eire army. As he was raised a McCallum, he is comfortable and skilled using all weapons, from swords to staffs to guns to hand to hand to cat tossing (though she protests this) as well as having an extensive knowledge of monsters, fey and other things that aren’t considered to be human. He specializes in long ranged combat covering his twin from afar when Trever is in melee.. He’s also a skilled cheat (it’s only cheating if you get caught) and good at breaking and entering (because you never know when you need to get into somewhere locked) as well as just General Heroing.
Any special equipment your character is bringing along? This includes weaponry, magic items, etc.: Multipurpose goggles with various settings (infrared, night vision, magic reading etc…), tool kit with scanner (sort of like a tricorder, connects to the goggles) one pistol, two magazines (one with silvered bullets and the other iron) for said guns, two knives, special gloves to protect him from accidental psychometry, and a satchel with random electronic bits and pieces of half built tinkerings.
Why do you want to play this character in Ten Forward, and what do you plan to do with them? I'd like to play Kale in Ten Forward for several reasons: one because frankly Trever tends to work better with his brother and the last thing that I'd want is for Trever to fall into a complete spiral of despair and depression and thus not want to play any more. Two: I'd really like watching Kale interact with Starfleet technology and trying to deal with things when his technomancy doesn't give him an edge with technology. Also him trying to deal with a world with no magic. What he'd like to do is
What is your character's greatest flaw? It would be the McCallum Family Flaw of Overconfidence/Hubris. Kale often times has trouble with the concept that he could be in danger from something or that mouthing off to a god or god liking being is a bad idea. Telling him that would earn a blank stare of incomprehension. He gets easily distracted by shiny technology. Also at times he’s too passive, more willing to let someone else -usually Trever or another family member - take the lead in things.
Describe your character's family (whether family by blood or by choice). How does your character feel about them? What did your character learn from them?
Kale’s family is huge. At least on his mom’s side. His mother has twelve siblings, which leaves him with five aunts and seven uncles, with an aunt and uncle only five years older than him. He also has five younger cousins, the oldest being about ten and the youngest two. And then there is his twin Trever and older brother Nat.
He absolutely loves and is fiercely loyal to them. He learned almost everything he knows from them. All about Heroing and Fighting and just how to view the world. (Which is admittedly a bit skewed). He treats Grace and Rory more like siblings than aunt and uncle because they’re so close in age and because Nat is a few months older than Grace and Rory. It took him a while to realize that they weren’t his siblings. Not that it changed how he interacted with them.
In a way he has a second family of those remnants of those personalities that live in his head. Who Kale hates beyond measure. It makes him feel like he’s not his own person. But there’s no way to get rid of them.
What hobbies does your character have? Kale is a tinkerer, he likes making little devices like wind up toys or mini robots that can just walk and often times when bored will start fiddling around with the little bits and pieces he carries with him for just that reason. Or just sometimes things that go “ping” when someone walks by. He also likes designing weapons - something he picked up from his mother - and getting inside things from computers to engines to see how they work and if he can make them better. Because he couldn’t escape having to go to comic book shops with his brother he’s picked up a slight interest in them, usually the more graphic novel things as opposed to Trever’s Superheroes.
Your character wakes up in the middle of the night in panic from a nightmare. What was the nightmare? His hands have turned into oysters. He’s not exactly sure where that particular nightmare came from, but it’s a recurring one. He doesn’t even particularly like oysters either. He doesn’t really have fear nightmares of things because fear is a mostly foreign concept to him. Kale’s biggest worry is more that he’s not sure he will wake up himself or at all when he goes to sleep. These problems usually happen on days when he uses his psychometry and has a bad reaction - a strong personality tries to take over or he sees a nasty event. But, other than that he doesn’t have those sorts of things.
Writing Sample #1: Kale and Trever together
Writing Sample #2 (optional): Kale by himself