info

[crypdick]

〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: The Outsider
CHARACTER AGE: 15 plus 4000. He looks fifteen; he’s been a god for 4000 years. I’m so sorry.
SERIES: Dishonored
CHRONOLOGY: The end of Dishonored 2, but before Dishonored: Death of the Outsider
CLASS: True Neutral leaning Chaotic Neutral God with a boredom complex
HOUSING: Put him anywhere, though I’d love Jeopardy so I can finally round out the set

BACKGROUND:
Wiki link!!

Dishonored is a series of games with multiple choices, different endings and routes. However there is a “canonical” timeline (ie, the one that eventually leads to Death of the Outsider) which is what I’m taking the Outsider from, albeit I’m taking him from the ending of Dishonored 2. The Outsider is implied to be aware of all possible outcomes anyway given his "I see forever" dealio, but for the record:

Corvo Attano, in pursuing revenge for the Empress’s death, saved everybody possible, took out his major targets non-lethally (but probably killed a few guards) and fought Daud but spared his life. The assassin Daud pursued Delilah and trapped her in the Void. When she was summoned from the Void and took over the Empire, it was Emily Kaldwin that escaped. The Outsider offered her his mark, which she accepted. She used it to eventually save the day, also taking out her targets non-lethally, and trapping Delilah again, this time in a painting of her own creation. The Outsider observed this all, with interest, speaking with Corvo, Daud and Emily as they achieved these things, surprised by their restraint.

PERSONALITY:

The Outsider is called that for a reason. He exists in the Void, alone except for the whales, the dreaming, the dead and the few he lets visit. Even when he was part of the world, when he was a human, it was brief and painful and he had no family. He's unattached, distant, separate. Either worshiped or reviled as a god, he's kin to no one.

But he can see forever, and watches the world go by, as thousands of possibilities coelesce into one reality. He's fascinated by the moments that change things the most, where one person can change the course of history. People's choices, free will - these are why the future isn't set in stone, and he looks out for those moments specifically.

He says as much to Corvo.

But he's amoral, an observer, interested in the choice itself rather than whether or not the outcome is causes more or less harm. In the games, if the player makes violent, chaotic choices he finds it entertaining, even enjoyable ("I don't know about you, Corvo, but I've had a lovely time."). If they choose mercy or find a third option, he finds it fascinating and intriguing.

Because he's incredibly cynical. Mercy, forgiveness, redemption - he doesn't expect these things. He assumes the worst of people, having often seen the worst of humanity over thousands of years, and consistently expresses surprise when faced by someone being better than that, especially with the people who wronged them.

And he purposefully chooses the wronged or the underdogs to give his Mark and thus supernatural abilities that can change their fate. He likes to watch what people who have no power or lost their place do with his gifts. Part of it might be because he likes a good revenge story like the rest of us, part of it might be because those who are hurt or desperate or overly ambitious are the ones to take the most action in the least boring way, and part of it might be because he still remembers what it was like to be alone and abused by those with power.

Don't take that tendency as altruism, however. Often his gifts to individuals cause madness or misery, death or destruction - for the people around them or themselves. He likes to watch, either way, and is more concerned with letting people make their own choices regardless of consequences.

He's fond of people in a similar way that many of us are fond of fictional characters - he likes them but also thrives on drama and doesn't care if they're suffering or happy, as long as they put on a good show. He'll refer to those he speaks to as friends, but he won't prevent them from killing one another - far from it, he gave the name Delilah to Daud, knowing that would lead to a confrontation.

He says he doesn't play favorites, but he does tend to prefer certain people and shows outright disdain towards others. And he doesn't like being messed with - he expresses dislike at Delilah's actions making her "a part of him" and he gave Emily not just his Mark but also another gift, the timepiece, through which he knew she would eventually face Delilah. It probably didn't help that she wanted a world without choice, something so counter to his philosophy.

Even then, that's the most he directly interfered. The Outsider likes to involve himself through subtle hints, dreams (like the ones he gave Piero), and by empowering people. He also really likes monologing. When there is someone he'll speak to, boy will he. But he never, ever tells anyone outright what to do. He'll imply, he'll ask leading questions, lots of questions, and he'll hint at possibilities, but he never commands. The closest is when he'll give people gifts, like his Mark or dreams, but he greatly prefers they make their own choices. That's what's more interesting.

He can be dramatic, metaphorical, biting or deadpan sarcastic in conversation. Wordy and aloof one moment and conversational and sounding like he's confiding a secret the next. He can often be a dick - and more than one character who had spoken to him calls him "that black-eyed bastard." But he also has his rare moments of sympathy, and sometimes humour. And, considering his nature, a huge know-it-all.

In Mom, however he won't be as nigh-omniprescient and thus will actually not know things! He'll probably find this a welcome change, based on how tired he seems of it later on in Death of the Outsider. But it will still be be an adjustment for him - he'll probably obsessively read the Network to compensate somewhat.

Also he'll be forced to have conversations with people he didn't specifically choose, which will be very different for him. Talking to strangers for the first time in thousands of years, without the manners of someone who has had to deal with anything resembling social consequences. It's been a very long time since he's had to do that, and by all accounts he's usually incredibly choosey with who he speaks to - so he'll be more off-balance than he would normally be.

POWER:
For various reasons, I’m playing fast and loose with his powers and so these are inspired by his canon powers rather than what he can actually do. He’ll know they’ve been changed up.

Also, any powers pertaining to other player characters will be optional and only used with player permission! I'll have a permissions post, don't worry.

1. Black-Eyed God
I’m going for schrodinger's god here, since he’s only a god because of the Void, which doesn’t exist here, but he hasn’t fully regained his humanity either (see Final Notes). So this mostly effects how he thinks of himself, if other people have powers that can percieve this kind of thing, but the only real ability it gives him is his pitch black eyes which give him visions.

At any time and somewhat randomly, when he looks at people, creatures or animals he can see and hear glimpses of their pasts (in canon or in MoM), and in some cases with imports, their futures in their universes. He can also get glimpses what would have happened if things had gone differently in their past, or glimpses of alternate futures where they made different choices.

With the past, he can tell whether or not what he sees is what actually happened or if it was merely a possibility. But he can’t make that distinction with people’s futures in canon; as far as he knows they’re all equally possible.

These glimpses are all like short snapshots of time; the length of a Vine or at most a TikTok. He can miss out on important context. And he has to be looking at the person in question - either in person or through video, audio or text won’t work.

He cannot see anyone’s future in MoMverse with an exception: he can see their imminent port-out if the character is dropping or going on hiatus. (This is for the Drama™.)

What the Outsider sees of imports, if anything, is up to their players (and can be headcanon if there’s no canon for stuff) - they can write them into their tags whenever or if they want to, or opt out completely. ICly, he cannot control this - he can’t purposely cause or prevent them and there’s no limit to how many times he gets these snapshots.

2. Void Visitation
The Void doesn’t exist in MoM, but the Outsider brought a (metaphorical) fragment with him that manifests as a shared dreamspace that exists in his mind.

He can briefly bring people to this Void-dream (with player permission). They have to be someone he’s met (either in person or through video; audio or text won’t work), and they have to be asleep or unconscious. The dream will resemble the Void in his world, with frozen fragments of people, places, or things, either from his memory or the mind of the people visiting (link to an example).

It feels more real than a regular dream, but visitors or the Outsider cannot be harmed.

However, when he himself sleeps, he always ends up in the Void dreamspace even if he doesn’t want to. Additionally, when he’s the one asleep, it can be visited randomly and uncontrollably by other people dreaming or those who have similar powers (eg dreamwalking). He can also be forcibly summoned to this place if someone draws or carves his mark on bone or wood (this makes him and the person summoning him fall unconscious for a short time).

3. Mark of the Outsider
In canon, the Outsider can grant people magical powers by giving them his mark in the form of a tattoo (reference). However, unlike in canon, in MoM this will be a temporary tattoo - these powers will only last up to 24 hours. The player of the character given a mark can choose up to three (3) powers from the list. The Outsider can also give himself a mark, with the same limitations (though he can renew it every day, while he cannot do that with other characters). He can give someone his Mark in person or through a Void Visitation.

Available powers, inspired by the games but adjusted or expanded on for MoM:

Vitality & Agility:: A passive ability, this makes the user stronger, more agile, able to jump higher, work longer, harder to injure, unable to be poisoned and can heal faster when drinking water.

Whispers: with this power, one can hear a few whispering thoughts of rats, whales, dogs, or flies if they’re nearby. This is more eavesdropping than communication, it’s not two-way. Which animals they can hear whispers of depends on the personality of the user - they might be able to hear all but mostly likely only one type of animal.

Possession: For up to three minutes, user can possess the nearby body of a rat, fly, dog or deceased human corpse. In Dishonored this usually causes the death of the animal; in MoM we’ll just say the animal is disoriented and will become unfriendly to the user.

Dark Vision for a few seconds, the user is able to see the silhouettes of nearby people and animals regardless of obstacle (ie through walls), and which way they’re looking. They may also be able to see certain objects or things as glowing, depending on what they value (a thief’s might focus on valuable and grabble stuff, a detective might see fingerprints and hairs, and so on).

Blink: Short-distance teleportation, up to about 10 m/33 feet away, but there can’t be any solid/immovable obstacles blocking their path, including their destination, unless that obstacle could be reasonably avoided. Skipping a low fence or railing is fine, a solid ten foot wall is not. Has a personality-dependant aesthetic side effect (appearing/disappearing in wisps of smoke, flower petals, a burst of feathers, etc).

Far Reach: user is able to throw out a line of magical energy that can extend up to 10m/33 feet, which they can use to grasp things. They can grab objects and people and pull them towards themselves, or grab walls / solid objects / ledges and pull themselves rapidly towards them. It’s basically a magical grappling hook.

Shadow Walk: turns the user into a shadowy version of themselves for a few minutes - basically they inhabit their own shadow and use that to run around. In this form they can go under the gaps in doors, mouse holes, vents, etc. Note it’s not invisibility: other people can see this shadow-form and it looks less flat than a normal shadow.

Bend Time: The user’s perception through time slows down for one second, but to them that 1 second feels like 8, allowing them able to think and move rapidly compared to everything else. This can be stacked with only one other power at a time, and cannot be again for a few minutes.

Doppleganger: User can create an illusory double of themselves within eyesight that will act and look exactly like them, but it only lasts a few minutes and it cannot speak or do more than simple actions.

Artistic Reflection: If the user has created any kind of self-portrait (a painting, statue, crayon stick figure, selfie, etc) they can see, hear and speak through their representation, which may move slightly while speaking but cannot directly harm anyone. The self-portrait can have been made before the user got the Mark for it to work.

Devouring Swarm: Creates an swarm of vicious rats that can attack people or things. (In Dishonored these plague rats devour people almost instantly; in MoM they’re just really nasty normal rats). These will disappear after a while.

Failsafe: This power can’t be actively used, and can only happen once per day. If the user is hit with a killing blow or poisoned, they automatically turn into a swarm of rats or flies that will immediately try to escape to a place of safety before their true form transforms back.


〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE:

[ The communicator has been set up to lean against something, allowing the video to show the Outsider without him having to hold it. It’s an alley, somewhere, and the graffiti stretches up against the wall.

The young man on screen, possibly in his teens by appearance but not by manner, has dark hair, and dark clothes, and eerie black eyes - no irises, no whites, just solid black eyes. He paces, gesturing with his hands as he speaks. ]

You’ve all been marked. [ He shows off not his own mark, but the imPort tattoo. ] You’ve been given power. Power that you always had, power that you never had, or power that is a mockery of what you should have.

Your lives have forcibly changed course, a universal distance that acts as a dam to the lives you once led. [ He spreads his hands wide. ] Now you’ve flowed into a new ocean of possibilities. Take care not to drown in it.

So many of you, and so few. Who among you have used your gifts to give shape to your new lives? To right wrongs and take action on behalf of the weak? Perhaps you seek to use them to create a world you want, regardless of who gets hurt? To steal, kill, and destroy? To take revenge, or lash out at a cruel world? Or to make sure you never feel powerless again? [ He says all of this as if they were all equally valid options. ]

And yet -- [ His expression changes, subttly, going from curious neutral to just a hint of disdain as he crosses his arms behind his back. ] -- it seems that most of you barely use them at all, preferring to post on this network about animals and travel plans.

I wonder, which of you are actually interesting enough to warrant any of this?