Mythical warrior, time-manipulator, super-idealist, oceanic-telepath, and now for a… supernatural street vigilante!
ISHMERAI
Bio: Reuven Saunders grew up in a tightly knit Jewish Orthodox community in Brooklyn. His father held a job that called for frequent travel to Israel. Despite Reuven’s questioning, Mr. Saunders never went into specifics about his line of work. Reuven eventually gave up altogether, thinking it to be inconsequential anyway. Until the day Mr. Saunders brought his work home with him. It was just after Reuven’s 17th birthday when he noticed something was wrong. His father came home from his monthly business trip, but seemed distant. Colder. He began to act erratically. He was short tempered. Irritable. Reuven had slept over at a friend’s house the night before it happened. He returned in the morning to find the house eerily empty. He heard his father crying from the basement. Without thinking he headed downstairs to find his father covered in blood, standing in the middle of the mutilated remains of Reuven’s mother and three siblings. He had a gun in his hands. Reuven was frozen. Upon noticing him, his father turned and shoved the gun into Reuven’s hands. “Do it.” he begged. “Please. It won’t let me. I tried. Do it.” Reuven tried to stammer something but Mr. Saunders, grabbed the barrel of the gun and shoved it against his forehead. “I can’t keep control. DO IT!” As he yelled the last sentence, something in his face changed, his eyes went black and his expression turned grotesque, the voice seemingly not his own. Reuven’s trigger finger twitched in shock. His father was gone.
Reuven remembers his uncle coming down the steps moments afterward. Collapsing into his arms. Screaming until he passed out. Soon after he learned the truth. His father was an exorcist, apparently a family legacy. Traveling the world to perform cleanses and banish evil spirits and demons. On this last occasion he had been successful in exorcising a dybbuk from a young woman in Tel Aviv, but the demon had clung to the back of his mind, waiting and watching, until it could take control and exact its revenge, forcing Mr. Saunders to murder his own family. Reuven asked his uncle to train him. When his uncle had taught him all that he knew, Reuven travelled the globe, seeking out masters of other faiths, training his body, mind, and soul to their utmost potential.
He became the keeper of the night, ISHMERAI, combating the supernatural wherever it threatened the innocent. In his career he also used his skills to combat more earthly evils as well. Pinnacle invited him to join the group, feeling the need for a human presence to keep them grounded.
Abilities: Ishmerai is still a mortal human being, but has trained his body to peak conditioning. He is a master of krav maga as well as several other forms of unarmed combat. He can perform several forms of tactical and ritualistic magic, but his lack of natural magical talent precludes him from performing any especially powerful mystic feats.
His weaponry and attire has undergone ritual enhancement. Ishmerai’s clothes can absorb light, plunging his immediate locale into darkness, while his mask allows him to see in complete shadow with perfect clarity, as well as through illusions and enchantments. His hat gives him resistance to possession and telepathic intrusion. His boots allow him to defy physical law, walking on upright surfaces or upside down. He wears the Breastplate of Ariel, an ancient artifact that can project a forcefield around its wearer or manifest a massive lion composed of astral energy to combat spirits. He wields a pair of sanctified revolvers, with enchanted ammunition. The bullets are inscribed with various seals to various effects (ie: multiplication, homing onto a companion seal, concussive round, phasing through solid material for a set time period, incendiary, elemental shrapnel, etc.)
