Issue 1 Downtime

Teacher Application

Name: Nailah Weaver
Age: 31

Powers:
Nailah's most obvious mutation are the light-brown/cream coloured bird wings sprouting from her back. A stripe of short fur of similar colour runs down from between the wings down her back, ending in a lion's tail. Her lower legs and feet turned into those of a lion as well.
The wings enable her to fly, although not very fast or agile. (Basically this without the egyptian garb)

The less obvious effect of her mutation is an innate ability to understand and speak any language and have a knack for judging when someone speaks the truth as long as she can hear them talk since it's based on speech and not on reading body language.
The last part of her powers is of questionable usefulness. Every once in a while she falls into a trance and sees glimpses and hazy images of the future. Due to the fragmented and disjointed nature of the visions it doesn't give much of an exact picture or even a good guess as to how far into the future the events still lie.
A side-effect of the 'more powerful' manifestation of her precognition ability is what mostly appears to the outside world as heightened reflexes. She doesn't really react particularly fast though, she just sees the fraction of a second into the future and can start to react before something actually happens.

All of those are internalized rituals and manifestations of her magical capabilities that may or may not be granted by Sekhmet, her mutation, her heritage or a mixture of the above.


Personality:
Nailah is usually friendly and helpful, although that can sometimes come off as condescending, especially since she somewhat revels in the mysticism of her mutation and sometimes acts obscure and cryptic on purpose to amuse herself. easily annoyed lately and quick to anger due to suffering from PTSD because of her prolonged stay in the Evilverse. Depite this she still has a strong set of morals, even if some of her views may border on the radical sometimes.


Description:
See above for her physical mutation.
In addition to that she usually prefers flowing dresses to pants, her choice of clothes sometimes bordering on the unusual. Her hair is a light brown, slightly darker than her wings/fur black, almost falling down to her hips, her eyes a piercing yellow.


Background:
Born in the US to parents of Egyptian descend. When her mutation surfaced her parents turned to home-schooling her. Despite objections she finished college the regular way, earning degrees in Literature and various languages. After some differences with teaching in a 'normal' college environment she took the chance to apply for a teaching position at Xavier's.

Ahh, the next Defence Against the Dark Arts Linguistics professor.

Approval 1/2

Much more pleasing to the eye than the last one.

How do you plan to have the visions work in-game? I realize you've put a limiter on them, but it's no fun if they have no bearing at all on the game.

For instance, give an example of how you think a vision might go if you were involved in a plot where the Shi'ar have sent a commando team to earth to raid something the university has.

Depends on what it's supposed to do. One is just providing fluff and/or teasers with no real bearing. For 'mod-induced' ones that are supposed to work as a warning or (mis-interpreted) as a diversion I'd make them a bit more specific. Your example would propably be the later.

All that I see is the years somewhere out in space. (Assuming that particular group of Shi'ar has been looking for something for quite a while.)
The black blood drips from the highest rooftops. (Generic 'threat from above' doom and gloom)
They have seen the necessity of evil. (If I understand the Shi'ar right they're only dicks/aggressive when they have to, right?)
Get out, get out of my sanctum and drown your spirits in woe, (More doom and gloom)
For the Flightless Bird soars and yaws for another's eggs. (Should be obvious enough if you know what it's about. )


Anyway, that's a pretty obvious one that'd work to carry mod-approved information. (And yes, part of those are ripped from Delphi prophecies xD) For more *head-slap* "Of course!" scenarios where it makes sense AFTER the fact I'd remove the direct mention of space, for instance. Anyway, that's a quickly hammered out one as a general example. For actual ones I'd bug a mod to look over it and make sure it doesn't reveal too much/reveals enough.

PS: I realized it's probably not too clear in the description. She usually doesn't see actual "pictures" from the future but rather distorted metaphors for what's going to happen.

So she more or less has the same power as Irene Adler (Destiny) but a bit more fitful?

Irene in particular often saw several potential futures, and had to pick the one she wanted to foster.

Which might be an interesting angle, storywise.

I'd mostly keep it focused on 'one' possible future and general outlines. While I like the idea it get increasingly difficult to actually predict or even foster specific outcomes without heavy planning. That idea could come into play for thing with a huge impact, maybe.
Like the planned Days of Future Past thing, which is bound to produce alot of different, contradicting futures, especially while the thing plays out. I don't know how that whole thing is planned, but Nailah could provide a hazy link between what's happening in the future and what goes on in the present during that Issue, for example.

Well, what makes Irene Adler a useful framework is that her visions if I recall correctly got more abstract and metaphorical the further in the future they were.

So that makes adjudicating your character's power easier, and explains her "danger sense" ability because the most immediate actions would be the clearest to her.

That was the general idea, yeah. (Although uncontrolled and 'random' beyond the split-second preview)

If you do want a potential limitation beyond the metaphorical bit, her danger sense might also be strained the larger the number of potential factors it has to accommodate for, resulting in confusion and possibly pain. So for two or three opponents she might be pulling matrix shit, but in a mob or riot situation it would be difficult for her to winnow her visions down to a usable level.

Hehe, well, she won't quite be pulling Matrix shit anyway since she's not that flexible and Physics-defying.
In general though, yes, as long as it's single stuff (like an incoming car or punch) it's relatively simple. The more things are happening/are going to happen the more confused she gets, in the worst case getting headaches, losing overview of who does what when and passing out.

Well then, my disappointment in not seeing Matrix moves pulled off by a sphinx aside, seems like you've got a pretty good grip on how her powers work.

I agree. Approval 2/2