BrimStone

Rei "BrimStone" Stone is perhaps an atavism, with the blood of centuries-old dragonkin awakening in his veins. Or, maybe he is an incarnation of Xango, Orixa of flame and thunder. Alternatively, he might just be really fucking good at sorcery. He certainly doesn't recall making a deal with either devil or demon. Regardless, he can open doors on a place most people cannot conceptualize, a place stupid christians would call hellish, a plane of elemental fire whose rivers are molten and whose soot-black clouds bleed ashen rain. Even more impressive, he can walk through those doors, although if he is insufficiently prepared, not even he can survive for long.

Appearance:

Born of a wealthy, black New Yorker father and a black, Brazilian candomble priestess, Rei is tall and spritely, yet still strongly built. At some point after his discovery of Brim - and the cultural remains of its people - Stone experiences some interesting physical changes. Whether because of the reawakening of something in his genetic code, or because of some kind of second puberty, Stone's skin started to change color, and now has a bit of a coppery, metallic tone to it, which makes him very mildly reflective. It was at this point that his resistance to heat started to kick in. Stone's hair also started to grow in more coarsely with a reddish hue that as he has aged has become tinged with white. To appear more normal, Rei keeps his head shaved. Being more comfortable when warm, Stone is almost always seen wearing a long coat. When anticipating action (i.e., most of the time), he wears an all-clack outfit (pants, boots, long shirt, gloves, long coat with hood) that is specially designed to be flame retardant. He also often wears a scarf-like kerchief around his neck, which he pulls over his mouth for protection while teleporting, and a pair of goggles to protect his eyes. The goggles are also specially-designed, and can switch from normal, highly protected (from UV, etc.) sight, to night vision. Rei is also rarely seen without a 3ft. metal rod, carved with runes, that he carries with him. Stone often insinuates that his magical powers come from this artifact, though that is far from the truth. In actuality, it is something he designed himself and had etched with runes from Brim. The most practical purpose he gets out of it is heating it up and beating those who don't deserve a full blast of smoke and flame.

Archetype:

Roguish Spellcaster - Stone's teleportation ability means that he can get in and out of places with ease, which makes him be able to work as a good "grease man" in the right circumstances, and I want to give him some good sneakiness to boot. But, he can also fill the distance attack/AoE spellcaster roll, complete with a bit of the weenie clothie weakness. Lastly, he's also got the occult/arcane knowledge thing going on, and a debonair streak that marks him as a social mover and shaker.

Potential Powers:

- Teleportation: Becoming engulfed in billowing smoke, Stone can step into the plane of Brim, and exit back into our world at a place far distant from where he entered. In order to do so, he must travel some metaphorical distance in Brim, which can be treacherous. In Brim, even metaphor is often too hot to bear. The longer the distance, the more risk there is that Stone will emerge engulfed in flame, or not emerge at all.

- Flame-Based Attack Spells: Stone cannot bring others into Brim with him, but fiery death due to mere proximity to the plane is a very real possibility, so opening a door beneath someone's feet is usually just as effective. Pulling flames from Brim to throw at others is another neat trick that Stone has been working on.

- Resistance to Fire: Stone can handle impressive amounts of heat, especially with focused concentration. Normal, earthly fires are of little consequence compared to the fires of Brim, and give Stone little trouble. And, with sufficient mental preparation, Stone can gird himself so as to be able to wander Brim for extensive periods of time without harm.

- Summoning/Invocation: Brim has its denizens, and some of them will come to Stone's call, much to the chagrin of Stone's enemies. However, sometimes these beasts of smoke and flame will follow Stone onto Earth whether he wants them to or not. Luckily, Earth is usually too cold for their liking, so they depart before too long. Unluckily, "not too long" is plenty of time for their visit to result in disaster.

Themes:

(1) The Past, and the lost knowledge contained therein.

(2) Escapism - A struggle to stay in touch with everyday reality. Why get bogged down in earthly details when you can always (literally) escape into another, fascinating world?

(3) The dangers of pursuit of powerful knowledge - at every turn, Stone faces the possibility of getting burned (ha!) in his pursuit of his people's history and archive of knowledge.

(4) Persecution - Stone is the progeny of a doubly persecuted people. He traces his ancestry through the slave trade only to find out that he is perhaps the last remnant of a culture that barely escaped genocide on some faraway plane. Needless to say, he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder about unjust persecution and oppression.

Nemesis:

A FORCE from Brim, perhaps some representative of the force that destroyed the culture of Stone's ancestors and forced them to flee the plane. Stone has never directly seen this FORCE, but at times in Brim, it is pretty clear that something has it in for him. While certain places in and denizens of Brim seem friendly, others are overtly hostile and seek his death as if commanded to do so. So far, Stone doesn't have any direct evidence that this FORCE has sought him out on Earth, but he is afraid that it is only a matter of time.