Shillelagh

Background

Donal Quinlan is the youngest child of Patrick and Maggie Quinlan. His siblings are Liam and Leah (twins, eldest) and Chloe. His father was a longshoreman, working at the port of Seattle. His mother inherited her family's bar, and she eventually renamed it "Quinlan's" when she married.

From a young age, Donal worked in some way, shape or form in the family business. When he was in middle school, he washed dishes, ran errands and the like. As he got older and took on more responsibility, he started working as a short-order cook and managing inventory. During this time, Patrick Quinlan was killed on the job. Being a longshoreman can be dangerous work, and accidents do happen. With his father gone and his mother alone, Donal felt it necessary to put his future plans on hold and threw himself even deeper into the family business. When he was old enough to work the front of the house, he started working the bar, and got to know many of the men who once counted his father as their friend. He heard the occasional rumble from some of them that there was more to the death of Patrick Quinlan than what the official record told.

Donal saw a bit of his dad in many of these men. Hard drinkers, brawlers...generally men that weren't afraid to speak their mind and stand up for what they believed in. Donal had never been afraid of getting in a scrape, and with this crowd as his mentors, he eventually took on the unofficial role of bouncer for Quinlan's. He did this not only for the support he received from the regulars, but as time went on, it became more of a necessity as a rougher crowd slowly seeped into the area and his family's establishment.

It was only a matter of time, with his new-found access to the business' books, that Donal noticed some regular, glaring discrepancies. Revenue was going missing, and he soon discovered that it was going to pay protection fees. This knowledge ate at Donal. He couldn't tolerate the fact that some lowlifes were shaking his mom down for protection fees, especially when that money was not buying them any protection at all (as the increasing numbers of people that Donal had to bounce could attest). It was definitely not the sort of situation his father would have tolerated. The next time the mob's collector came by, Donal grabbed the sawed-off pool cue from under the bar and beat the goon down. He threw him out on the street and warned him that the next time he or any of his people darkened Quinlan's doorstep, they'd get more of the same.

Donal should have known better, but he was still young and full of bravado and idealism. He had no real idea who he was threatening, until they came back later that night when he was cleaning up after closing. Four soldiers of the local chapter of the Bratva came to call, and while Donal fought for his life, they greatly outnumbered him. They beat him down and worked him over, leaving him for dead. As a final indignation, the thug Donal had beaten earlier in the day left a final reminder to the Quinlan family regarding non-payment: He tossed a Molotov cocktail in the front windows and put the place to the torch while Donal lay bleeding on the barroom floor.

Origin

Donal was miraculously rescued from the blaze and wound up in Harborview medical center. He had suffered third-degree burns over nearly 95% of his body, to say nothing of the savage beating he had received prior to that. The doctors were frankly amazed that he had survived at all, and were more astounded each day that he held on and did not succumb to his wounds. As much hope as they wanted to have, though, they all knew it was only a matter of time. Eventually, Donal's luck would run out, his sheer will would give in to the trauma. Donal floated in and out of consciousness under a thick haze of sedation. He heard snippets of doctors' prognoses and the tears shed by his mother. He heard medical staff wonder aloud to each other how he possibly could have survived. He also heard a stranger tell another man that it was a shame that his technologies were still in the experimental stages, and couldn't possibly be ready in time to save him.

This last part piqued Donal's interest some.

The two men were Dr. Cairns and Shennong Liu, and with some appeals to his conscience and scientific intrigue, Dr. Cairns convinced Shennong to violate Federal medical testing procedures and jump straight to human testing, if the subject agreed to the procedure and complied with certain conditions. First, Donal's family had been told by every doctor they'd met that he was a dead man. If he survived, questions would be asked. As such, Donal had to agree to sever all ties with his family and friends, and leave his old life behind. No one from his past could know about his recovery. Second, Donal would have to accept a new identity, a new face.

Donal barely had to think before he blinked twice to Shennong, indicating that he agreed. If he didn't, how could he make sure his family was safe? How could he make those mobsters pay for what they had done if he were dead? Whatever Shennong had in mind for him, Donal would be sure to find room for his own agenda.

With his non-verbal agreement secured, Dr. Cairns increased the level of Donal's sedation and prepared to fake his death.

Rebirth

Using a bleeding-edge medical technology called Crispr/CAS, Shennong Liu was able to boost Donal's healing factors and immune system by altering his bone marrow, allowing him to survive during the time in the recovery process where he would be most prone to infection. Samples were taken from what was left of his undamaged skin. These were altered to be hypergenerative, cultured in the lab and used to grow vast quantities of skin for full-body grafts.

The skin grafts could not completely cover the extreme tissue damage Donal had suffered. All over his body, his skin looked like new flesh stretched over burnt flesh. More care was taken for his hands and face, as these parts were harder to conceal, and hiding Donal's past was a necessity. He received major reconstructive surgery, and granted a wholly new identity.

Shennong interviewed Donal in depth during his healing process, learning more about the young man whose identity he was preparing to wipe away. Donal told Shennong all the stories he could remember about his great-great grandfather Conall Quinlan, who had come to America from the old country. He had been a boxer back in the days before gloves, and a sort of fist-based problem solver for the Irish immigrants in his neighborhood in New York. He would bring street justice to those who would scam or persecute members of the Irish community, but eventually this path caught up with him and he fought back against enemies that were too big for him to handle. Fortunately for Conall, a great war was breaking out in Europe, and he was able to slip away and fight on a different front. After several years of war, he was able to return to the states and settle far away from New York. San Francisco became the new home for the Quinlan name, and from there, later generations would move north to Seattle, working the ports there. Shennong listened to these stories, and saw how Donal admired the man for what he had stood for and what he had done. Perhaps Donal saw more than one parallel between the consequences of his ancestor's actions and his own. With that in mind, and seeing how Donal was becoming more interested in his ancestry and past, Shennong helped form a new identity for Donal. He had to say goodbye to his living family, but there was no reason he couldn't embrace the spirit of generations past.

At Shennong's suggestion, Donal became Shillelagh, and soon, the inscrutable doctor promised, he would have the opportunity to mete out justice as Conall Quinlan had once before.

Side Effects

Before long, the healing process was complete. The edited bone marrow and red blood cells in Shillelagh's body continued to boost his healing rate. Nerve damage throughout Shillelagh's body and scar tissue resulted in limited pain sensation, which had the effect of reducing noticed trauma from injuries (Damage Reduction power). After a while, Shillelagh also noted greatly increased strength and reflexes, which Shennong Liu explained as a possible side effect of the Crispr/CAS procedure. From the beginning, Dr. Liu had explained the possibility that alterations may bleed over from targeted cell types to other tissues in Shillelagh's body, which might have unpredictable results. Fortunately for Shillelagh, these changes seemed mostly beneficial, and they were not fading away after a month or so as Dr. Liu had said they ideally would. With his new strength and quickness, Shillelagh found he could run and jump a bit faster and higher, and also that he had the vise-like grip required to pull off some stupendous climbing and parkour feats.

To help hone his fighting abilities, Shillelagh befriended the owner of a local boxing gym, Vic Stravinsky. This not only gives him someplace to begin his new life (Dr. Liu is friendly enough, but isn't exactly a "friend"), but also gives him a place to stay that is slightly more dignified than sleeping beneath an overpass or pitching a tarp on the fringes of Gradensgarten. He practices his parkour late at night, and has spotted a mysterious girl who can move just as well--if not better--than he. Through his association with Shennong Liu and Zymogenetics, Shillelagh has also made the acquaintance of James Milligan and Maria Reyes.

Known Capabilities

Shillelagh possesses incredible strength, and can lift over half a ton. He is also quite hardy, quick, and somewhat resistant to injury. The enhanced healing capability he was imbued with in the earliest stages of his recovery never seemed to fade as programmed at the cellular level, so Shillelagh can recover from serious injuries much more rapidly than most people. His strength greatly enhances his ability to climb any structure or surface he can get a good hand hold on.

From Shillelagh's previous life, he was a scrappy brawler, and this ability is made only more effective with his current circumstances. He likes to get in close and work his opponents over in hand-to-hand combat. Besides his fists, Shillelagh is skilled in using some weapons in his fighting style. He prefers to use things like clubs, brass knuckles and other improvised weapons rather than more outright deadly things like guns and knives. Carrying a pistol or blade always draws all sorts of attention, however people might tend to overlook something like a knobby stick. How can that possibly be dangerous...?

Dr. Liu has advised Shillelagh to keep close tabs on his physical condition; there is always the possibility that other bleed-over from the Crispr/CAS treatment might occur, and any other manifestations ought to be closely monitored and studied.

Personal Style

Socially, Shillelagh is quite rough around the edges. Growing up in the bar environment did not foster much social grace, and causes him to come off as rather brutish at most times. He also tries to play this part, now, as he has to try and fit into a new life by adopting a persona entirely different from what he is used to. As such, since his vocal chords were damaged in the fire and are still healing, his voice sounds nothing like it used to. He speaks with a soft brogue, and has actually modeled his new speech patterns after actor Liam Neeson.

Shillelagh almost always wears clothing that fully covers his arms and legs in order to conceal his scars, and is not often seen without a black wool bowler derby hat. He wears black steel-toe Danner work boots, and regularly wears heavy black Carhartt work pants and wool jacket, or patchwork motorcycle padding that serves as a form of low-grade street armor. Shillelagh has stereotypically red hair and green eyes, and stands 6'3" (closer to 6'6" with his boots and hat), and weighs around 260 pounds, thanks largely to his enhanced musculature.

Additionally, Shillelagh often carries some unobtrusive device that can be used as a ready weapon. Common examples include a set of brass knuckles in a coat pocket, a shillelagh (a gnarled stick of hardwood), a leaded umbrella that can be used like a bat, a crowbar, a blackjack or a cane.

Shillelagh's Little Black and Blue Book

Entry 1, January 13, 2015