Sailor Serpens [The Braindump edition!]

- Sailor Serpens!

Relationships are a WIP - if I've forgotten details/overstepped boundaries please let me know!  Also, if you'd get along with Serpens/Tory/Unpronounceable Snake Man please hit me up!)

<sub>So I lost the original of her character reference sheet so I am painstakingly recreating it from the cruddy scan I had made last year BY REDRAWING IT IN SAI! \o/ Woo!

I am also collecting all the information I get together on her, so I can work it in flawlessly in a profile. Which I have like... never really done. >_> (something about detailing my senshi makes me go "urk" and then I fall over dead and I'm not really alive right now, I'm dead and typing. True story)</sub>

Name: Tory Anne Caer
Age: 24
Birthday: January 21st
Blood Type: O-
Name Meaning: "Castle by the hills" <-- her parents were fascinated by Gaelic/Celtic names and just sorta dropped a name in the bucket. Not very culturally aware.
Nicknames: Tor, Tory (creative, yes?), Kee, Cassie (short for 'Cassiopeia')
Element: Earth
Sexual Orientation: Pansexual
Nationality: Dual-citizenship- Greek parents, born in the US while parents were on a visa. Don't ask *me* why they picked a Celtic name, k?
Hair: Rich nut-brown, unevenly short-cut with a layered look.
Eyes: Vibrant green
Height: 5'10"

Personality: One word to describe Tory would be 'fluid' while a second would be 'distant'. A third, if you were feelin' frisky, would be 'brash'. Tory doesn't suffer from the stereotypical 'oracle syndrome' and by that I mean she is not easily distracted nor does she blurt out random facts that she shouldn't know when randomly talking to strangers. Her air of confidence is largely based on the second-sight nature of her perceptions - she treats them as teasers instead of debilitating barrages of glimpses of 'what will be'. The distance she generally keeps is a protective measure - once she warms up to you she's affectionate and downright cuddly but until then she can be a wallflower or sleeping or antisocially sketching.

Hobbies: Reading tea leaves, boxing & fencing, giving Tarot readings, and hiking. She also enjoys writing and sketching, though neither of those are things she's particularly good at.

Dress Style: A fantasy-influenced cyber and solar punk cross style.  She likes scarves and asymmetrical jackets, cloth warmers and gloves, and vests.  When not in something closer to cyberpunk fashion, she opts for tunics, long coats, vests, and large collars/scarves/hoods.

Current Life: Tory wrapped up college in the United States after three terms studying abroad - London, Greece, and Spain. Her major, Architecture (design, creation, and preservation) with a second major in Anthropology, has left her with few realistic job opportunities but she trucks on, certain that she'll find a good job. At the moment she situates in Florida working on St Augustine's preservation and handles the crocs and alligators and serpents of the swamps with unnerving ease.

~*~*~*~*~
Senshi Information!



Name: Sailor Serpens
Henshin Item: A small cameo of her constellation worn around her neck as a choker brooch.
Henshin Phrase: "Scale and Stone, Serpens Make Up!"

Eyes: Yellow sclera, green slitted eyes
Hair: Light apple-green
Species Mix: Human/Python
Quirks: In senshi form, Serpens' hands are never revealed. If she grips an object it is always somehow covered by the drape of her sleeves. Her s's are somewhat hissed more heavily in senshi form.
Friends: Catori (Unisamas-Art) - former sparring buddy Long, Long ago.  Reconnecting friend!
Lan (SailorAlcyone) - Sparring buddy/fighting contact  Reconnecting friend!  Also, punchy-things friend. (best kind)
Benedict (Aeraellyth) - Maybe friend! (wheee~)
(More TBD - hit me up if you think they'd get along)

Accessories: A summonable floating sphere/orb she sometimes calls 'Apollo' though that might just be frustration getting the better of her. (Hint, it's really named Apollo)

Battle type: Currently Defensive
Innate Ability: Mild precognition (which will hopefully grow stronger o/ Go Serpens!)
Weapon: The aforementioned summonable floating sphere, Apollo. With Apollo out her precognitive abilities are stronger, though she must remain in a seated 'channel' stance in order to use Apollo.
Defensive Ability: Oracular Strike - In one of the few times Serpens will be mobile she darts forward, diving in front of a comrade (or someone in need of protection) just before an attack lands; the hood of her fuku grows and moves like a serpent's head, eating the attack. She cannot use the attack in any way and she just simply absorbs it - once the attack is 'eaten' she tends to curl her tail and move whoever she protected out of the way. Even if they're afraid of snakes.

How she met the Lady of Stars: The cameo had been passed down from a long-ago ancestor, something her grandmother gave her before her last study abroad trip where she returned 'home' to attend the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. While touring the historical digs she heard a voice call out to her. One quick scale of the 'do not cross' wall and a careful little trip rock climbing up a rock face and she crept into a cavern. The back of the cavern pulsed before in her vision the Lady swirled into being. The cameo pulsed and she pulled the necklace off, watching it grow larger in her hand before it filled her palm. Scraped knees were the least of her worries as she slunk back to the tour group.

~*~*~*~
The Past Life

“SERPENS!” A delicate man with a long robe, a sword, and slitted pupils... (from the Tale of the Constellation Senshi opening story)

   

Much more the warrior than his current incarnation, Serpens struck with the precision and skill of a serpent, flowing sword moving as fluidly as his robes. His hopes rest in his new protege, hoping that Tory sheds the defensive stance she has adopted as a senshi and fully embrace the passion and precision that he embodied. Though he shared the same precognitive abilities Tory possesses he used them to slip into his foe's guard and strike true.

Name: A very hard-to-pronounce syllibant hissing.  He prefers his Constellation name rather than listen to someone accidentally call him something horribly embarassing.
Constellation: Serpens
Nickname(s): ?? Lynx - Serpy | Saggitarius - Serpentes/Snaca/Schnake
Homeworld: Thess'akehkt
Species: Roughly a leviathan.

Defining Characteristics
Eyes: Slit pupils, venom green with yellow sclera

Hair: Deep green, kept long

Markings: Starting at his ears and reaching towards his eyes, Serpens has a patch of deep green scales that end just at the corners of his eyes.  Around his wrists and ankjles are a thing band of scales, and a line of scales goes from his neck, across his shoulders, and partially down his arms.  A larger and more pronounced line of scales follows his spine.  The scales are deep green and down his spine they spot with blue.

Sexuality: Pansexual, tending to polyamorous

Habits: Entranced by music, dancing, scents, and sunlight.  Often sunbathing, when not fighting or training.  Sluggish in the mornings but active at night, though usually aggressive if startled.  Enjoys swimming, drinking tea, and passing the time in whatever methods he cares to relax using. He will often move throughout any place to follow sunbeams when he decides to bathe in the sun, known to end up in Kallimachos' quarters curled up under beams of warm light.  He is highly tactile, draping himself happily on people he has particularly adopted as nestmates, with little thought for personal space.  

General mood: Often seen as relaxed, Serpens' mood fluxuates between laid-back and deadly, with few times spent in-between.  He does take his role as a Constellation seriously and will often meditate in an attempt to learn more about the enemy and their movements to better protect and defend what he came to think of as his 'nest'.

Traits: He is highly protective of his new 'nest' and his new 'nestmates' and will threaten and warn those who hurt ones he particularly cares for.  


Before the Call...

Serpens, like many of his nest, was a warrior.  Born and trained from a young age to fight for his nest, Serpens' prophetic skills were discovered at a young age (equivalent of about six years old, in human terms) after his first shedding.  The discovery was heralded as a great event and Serpens was sent to a neighboring nest to learn from their oracle.  His time with the Sessmekh nest was difficult for the young nestling; his colorations marked him as an outsider just as much as his oracular skills did.  His mentor, Korem, was a pillar of support while he studied, offering encouragement and solace when the jeers and taunts grew more than the young one could handle.  He dedicated himself to study, working hard to be deemed 'ready' to return to his home.  
By the time of his third shedding Serpens was deemed 'ready' at long last and was sent from Sessmekh to his home nest.  Tracking his blood proved difficult for the young serpent but he moved from cavern to cavern system until he struck close.

Disease had ravaged his home and warring with a rival nest had nearly destroyed what few who remained.  Serpens mourned his fallen nestmates deeply, finding his family almost completely wiped out.  There was a terrible year where he trained relentlessly as one of the few defenders of the nest still strong enough to fight - and he led what few there were to rally and protect their broken home.  When plague swept through again Serpens watched as the last of his blood succumbed to the fleshrot, burying their bodies in graves he dug with his clawed hands.  The sounds of grief he could make were few and he fell into despair, picking away at scales.  It was then that his mentor came, having followed his grief and the graves, Korem taking his hands and letting the shaken Serpens weep.  

It took time to recover, time where the man trained like a lich come to life and barely aware.  But he began to heal with the Sessmekh nest adopting him as a protector and oracle of their own since his own nest was gone.  He trained and fought to protect them, slowly setting aside his grief; in time he began to court a young male of the nest, beginning the intricate dance.  But a voice called out for him, a voice that commanded acceptance and obedience from across the stars - his sword was in his hand when he answered the Lady's Call, leaving his nest and world far behind and finding himself embroiled in a new war.  It was unclear if he and his

Powers and Abilities-
Transformation: Serpens is capable of shapeshifting into a serpent; although not a large as a world swallower, his form measures upwards of twenty feet.  With a triangular head, Serpens professes that his bite is venomous, though how lethal he has not yet had to determine.  Against his own kind it's less effective.  While in this form, he has a 'crest' of dark blue scales starting behind his eyes that shift from a line to a jagged diamond pattern towards his tail.

Weapon: A long sword he calls 'Fang', the blade is topped with orbs, crusted with gems, and wrapped with tattered cloth.  The blade is capped with black steel and gems at the point, with small fang-like protrusions.  The sword is difficult to lift for most but Serpens wields it as easily as if it were a rapier.  When pressed, he has also demonstrated skills with a pike, though that is nowhere near his preferred weapon.

Oracle's Grip When using this attack Serpens darts forward, moving as swiftly as a striking serpent through the enemy's defenses.  Binding their arms or legs, Serpens generally manages to anticipate a movement and foul it, striking his foe.  This strike can be with Fang or his claws or sometimes biting them himself and injects a toxin into his target.

Oracle's Grace Stabbing Fang into the ground Serpens abandons his weapon, shifting to serpent form.  This ability allows him to 'swallow' attacks aimed at his allies while gripping them in his coils to move them away.  (much like the current Serpens)

Relationships:
Kallimachos (WanderingKotka) - Crasher of rooms, comfortable buddy, romantically inclined (viewed as a nestmate/lover)
Lupus (SailorAlcyone) - Nestbrother/Man of the Den.  There's Male Bonding there.
Lynx (Unisamas-Art) - Sunbathing and napping buddy (another nestmate)
Auriga (Sakura-Chirari) - Past lover (brief fling)
More TBD (hit me up if you think there'd be something!)

After the War (working on it, working on it!)