Vertiline Application
Character name: Elizabeth Anne “Liz” Sherman
Series: Hellboy
Timeline: A short while after being revived by Roger in Almost Colossus.
Background: Born on April 16th, 1962 in Kansas City, Kansas, Liz was born to a loving but strictly Catholic family. Her pyrokinetic abilities first manifested when she was ten years old - the fires were small, barely any larger than the flame of a lit match - began to pop up near her, although she always made sure to extinguish them before they had a chance to grow larger. Liz did what she could to keep the fires a secret, but as the time passed, the fires became increasingly frequent. By February 1973, the fires had become a daily occurrence. Due to her religious upbringing, Liz was convinced that the fires were all her fault because of some unknown sin she had committed. She turned to prayer as a way to keep the fires under control, and for a time, it worked because of her fierce determination.
However, in July 1973, a boy from the neighbourhood made fun of her ponytail and her anger began to manifest as a massive fire that destroyed an entire city block and killed 32 people, including both of her parents and her younger brother. When firefighters arrived at the scene, they found Liz standing in the middle of smouldering ruins - completely unharmed. The B.P.R.D. (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense) was called to the scene and wished to take Liz into custody, although her family denied their request as they refused to believe that Liz had been the one to start the fire. Of course, her family members quickly realized they were wrong when the fires began to start up once more. Over the course of ten months, Liz was passed from relative to relative until she was finally taken in by the B.P.R.D. in May of 1974.
In the B.P.R.D. headquarters, Liz was contained in a fireproof room while impersonal scientists worked to study her abilities. As the weeks passed, Liz became more and more depressed due to the fact that she couldn’t have any real comfort or physical contact - the only people allowed in the room were doctors and scientists that had to wear cumbersome, fireproof suits. Her isolation finally ended when Hellboy paid her a visit, having been the first “human” contact in weeks and he gradually became her closest friend.
He helped her overcome her fears and adjust to living at the B.P.R.D. Over the next six years, Liz and Hellboy remained incredibly close, much like a brother and sister - and while he went out on missions frequently - he always came back to check up on her while she trained and worked to keep her powers under control. When Abe Sapien was brought to the B.P.R.D., he was in a situation similar to Liz’, as he was being studied and allowed no personal contact until Hellboy decided to intervene. Whenever Hellboy was away from headquarters, Liz would often turn to Abe for a companion and they soon became close friends, as well.
While she occasionally had nightmares about the fire that had killed her family, Liz gradually began to let go of her past, and though she did not have complete control over her abilities, the amount of accidental fires began to decrease in number as well. When she reached legal adulthood, Liz was offered a position as a field agent for the B.P.R.D. Liz struggled with her abilities during these missions, and often lost control of her powers in stressful scenarios; as a result, the B.P.R.D. began to assign her to quieter, less troublesome cases. Between 1980 and 1994, Liz quit working for the B.P.R.D. a total of 12 times, although she always ended up coming back.
In May 1994, Hellboy, Abe and Liz travelled to Cavendish Hall, located in upstate New York, to investigate the murder of B.P.R.D. director Trevor Bruttenholm. During the investigation, Liz was seized by Rasputin, who used her power and channelled it through the creature Sadu-Hem, hoping to free the Ogdru Jahad from their prison. This endeavour may have been successful if not for the fact that Abe harpooned Rasputin through the chest. Liz was shocked out of her trance-like state when Rasputin was killed, and lost control of her powers yet again. The resulting explosion destroyed both Cavendish Hall and Sadu-Hem. Devastated by her loss of control and having been manipulated by Rasputin, Liz quit for the thirteenth time in June, 1994 - however, this did not last long, and Liz came back in February.
In 1997, Liz joined the search for the body of the vampire Vladimir Giurescu, and during the investigation they found the lifeless body of a homunculus in a castle in Romania. Liz was drawn to the body, sensing a way to get rid of her fire and she placed her finger in the homunculus’ chest. The homunculus drained her of her abilities, which brought it to life - another agent shot Liz in the arm in an attempt to destroy the connection, but was killed by the homunculus when it ran off. However, the fire was a part of her life, and without it Liz slowly wasted away and eventually died in a Romanian hospital. She was only dead for a few minutes, though, when the homunculus returned and restored her life by giving back pyrokinetic skills.
Liz eventually returned to working, although her death had taken quite a toll on her.
Personality: To a stranger, Liz could easily be thought of as someone who is harsh, distant, and unstable. They would not be completely wrong, as Liz has a tendency to try and keep people she is unfamiliar with at arm’s length. However, this is mostly because of the trauma of killing her family and so many other people when she was younger, which is something that she struggles with every day. She is much more at ease with people she has known for a long time and is actually a very compassionate person; it’s just a matter of getting her comfortable enough to let you in. She’s a smoker, and finds that the habit is a half-decent way to calm herself down since her job is so stressful. Liz also has a strong dislike of fire, even though she is a pyrokinetic, although this can also be attributed to the incident in 1973. She frequently struggles with trying to keep her fire under control so she can avoid losing control and once again hurting people she cares for, although no single method has proven to be completely successful thus far. Due to this lack of control, Liz carries a great deal of self-loathing and mistrust in herself for not being able to completely guarantee the safety of the people around her.
Appearance: Liz is a Caucasian woman of average height and she has a relatively slim build, although she’s in excellent shape. Her hair is auburn, medium-length - just brushing past her shoulders by an inch or two - and straight. Her eyes are light brown, and her face is a bit long but also relatively round. Liz changes her ensemble from time to time, but she usually wears a black band with a large crucifix charm around her neck, a white blouse, a black jacket, and black pants.
Skills/Abilities: Liz is pyrokinetic. She can create and manipulate fire at will, although she hasn’t completely mastered it and sometimes she can lose control of her powers, and her body is also completely fireproof. Since Vertiline blocks magic, Liz will be unable to use any of these abilities -however, once returned the use of her fire will be very tiring, and it will be much easier for her to lose control over it.
Spoken/Written languages: English/Common
Items: Aside from the clothes she’s wearing, Liz will have a half-empty pack of cigarettes, and her B.P.R.D. communicator (although it won’t actually work in Vertiline).
Third person sample: A meat locker.
There’s an investigation in a meat locker in the back of some butcher’s place, and Liz is the first person they could think of to send in there. Then again, the thing had been eating workers there and needed to stay cold to survive, so sending in the pyrokinetic would make sense. It isn’t as if someone like Abe would be able to do much good in this situation, anyway.
Oh well. As long as Liz doesn’t end up smelling like an overdone steak by the end of this, she’ll be fine.
The Bureau had sent in about four rookies to help back her up, and right now the only one left is sticking close behind her with his pistol at the ready.
“You’re sure it’s vulnerable?”
The rookie sounds scared, not that she can really blame him. The other three members of their team had the rotten luck of becoming an extra meal for a particularly hungry demon.
“It should be.” She crouches down and swipes her finger along a small pool of reddish-blue sludge. ...Blood, and it definitely didn’t come from any animal. “That shot you fired earlier grazed it. It’s not a serious injury, but it should be enough to slow it dow-”
There’s a roar and the sound of someone being tackled to the ground.
“Shit!”
She whirls around, only to find that the monster has already begun to eat the poor bastard - the kid’s lucky, though. He won’t feel any of it...the tackle ended up snapping his neck. He was dead as soon as he hit the ground.
Liz’ body grows hot as her eyes glow bright orange and the flames begin to consume her body. The heat is there, but it’s never enough to burn. Well. It’s not enough to burn her, at least.
The demon looks up from its meal, eyes wide at the sight of fire and it begins to back away. Liz grins.
“...You don’t like fire, do you?”
There’s a final, panicked roar before the entire building is engulfed in a massive wave of flames.
Too bad it didn’t have a chance to finish its dinner.
First person sample: [This isn’t a good situation to be in.
It was bad enough that she died a little over two weeks ago, but she was on her way to a briefing with Kate and suddenly Liz is in some strange room. Being whisked away to some unknown place in the blink of an eye - it hasn’t happened to her before, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen.
Liz wanders around the room before finally deciding to pull out the communicator the Bureau gave her - it’s unlikely, but maybe she can still contact them from here. ]
This is Agent Sherman calling in. Not in the building, anymore...in some room, definitely isn’t related to the Bureau. I think it might be some kind of portal that brought me here, though I can try to find a way out.
[...’Tap tap tap’ goes the sound of Liz’ finger against the now-defunct device, still unaware of the functioning communicator sitting in the far corner of the room.]
Hello? Can anyone even hear me on this thing?
[Nothing. Perfect.
She pulls out a cigarette from the pack in her pants’ pocket, placing it in her mouth and lifting her finger to spark a light. Except there isn’t a spark... there isn’t any fire at all.
This really isn’t a good situation to be in.]
Series: Hellboy
Timeline: A short while after being revived by Roger in Almost Colossus.
Background: Born on April 16th, 1962 in Kansas City, Kansas, Liz was born to a loving but strictly Catholic family. Her pyrokinetic abilities first manifested when she was ten years old - the fires were small, barely any larger than the flame of a lit match - began to pop up near her, although she always made sure to extinguish them before they had a chance to grow larger. Liz did what she could to keep the fires a secret, but as the time passed, the fires became increasingly frequent. By February 1973, the fires had become a daily occurrence. Due to her religious upbringing, Liz was convinced that the fires were all her fault because of some unknown sin she had committed. She turned to prayer as a way to keep the fires under control, and for a time, it worked because of her fierce determination.
However, in July 1973, a boy from the neighbourhood made fun of her ponytail and her anger began to manifest as a massive fire that destroyed an entire city block and killed 32 people, including both of her parents and her younger brother. When firefighters arrived at the scene, they found Liz standing in the middle of smouldering ruins - completely unharmed. The B.P.R.D. (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense) was called to the scene and wished to take Liz into custody, although her family denied their request as they refused to believe that Liz had been the one to start the fire. Of course, her family members quickly realized they were wrong when the fires began to start up once more. Over the course of ten months, Liz was passed from relative to relative until she was finally taken in by the B.P.R.D. in May of 1974.
In the B.P.R.D. headquarters, Liz was contained in a fireproof room while impersonal scientists worked to study her abilities. As the weeks passed, Liz became more and more depressed due to the fact that she couldn’t have any real comfort or physical contact - the only people allowed in the room were doctors and scientists that had to wear cumbersome, fireproof suits. Her isolation finally ended when Hellboy paid her a visit, having been the first “human” contact in weeks and he gradually became her closest friend.
He helped her overcome her fears and adjust to living at the B.P.R.D. Over the next six years, Liz and Hellboy remained incredibly close, much like a brother and sister - and while he went out on missions frequently - he always came back to check up on her while she trained and worked to keep her powers under control. When Abe Sapien was brought to the B.P.R.D., he was in a situation similar to Liz’, as he was being studied and allowed no personal contact until Hellboy decided to intervene. Whenever Hellboy was away from headquarters, Liz would often turn to Abe for a companion and they soon became close friends, as well.
While she occasionally had nightmares about the fire that had killed her family, Liz gradually began to let go of her past, and though she did not have complete control over her abilities, the amount of accidental fires began to decrease in number as well. When she reached legal adulthood, Liz was offered a position as a field agent for the B.P.R.D. Liz struggled with her abilities during these missions, and often lost control of her powers in stressful scenarios; as a result, the B.P.R.D. began to assign her to quieter, less troublesome cases. Between 1980 and 1994, Liz quit working for the B.P.R.D. a total of 12 times, although she always ended up coming back.
In May 1994, Hellboy, Abe and Liz travelled to Cavendish Hall, located in upstate New York, to investigate the murder of B.P.R.D. director Trevor Bruttenholm. During the investigation, Liz was seized by Rasputin, who used her power and channelled it through the creature Sadu-Hem, hoping to free the Ogdru Jahad from their prison. This endeavour may have been successful if not for the fact that Abe harpooned Rasputin through the chest. Liz was shocked out of her trance-like state when Rasputin was killed, and lost control of her powers yet again. The resulting explosion destroyed both Cavendish Hall and Sadu-Hem. Devastated by her loss of control and having been manipulated by Rasputin, Liz quit for the thirteenth time in June, 1994 - however, this did not last long, and Liz came back in February.
In 1997, Liz joined the search for the body of the vampire Vladimir Giurescu, and during the investigation they found the lifeless body of a homunculus in a castle in Romania. Liz was drawn to the body, sensing a way to get rid of her fire and she placed her finger in the homunculus’ chest. The homunculus drained her of her abilities, which brought it to life - another agent shot Liz in the arm in an attempt to destroy the connection, but was killed by the homunculus when it ran off. However, the fire was a part of her life, and without it Liz slowly wasted away and eventually died in a Romanian hospital. She was only dead for a few minutes, though, when the homunculus returned and restored her life by giving back pyrokinetic skills.
Liz eventually returned to working, although her death had taken quite a toll on her.
Personality: To a stranger, Liz could easily be thought of as someone who is harsh, distant, and unstable. They would not be completely wrong, as Liz has a tendency to try and keep people she is unfamiliar with at arm’s length. However, this is mostly because of the trauma of killing her family and so many other people when she was younger, which is something that she struggles with every day. She is much more at ease with people she has known for a long time and is actually a very compassionate person; it’s just a matter of getting her comfortable enough to let you in. She’s a smoker, and finds that the habit is a half-decent way to calm herself down since her job is so stressful. Liz also has a strong dislike of fire, even though she is a pyrokinetic, although this can also be attributed to the incident in 1973. She frequently struggles with trying to keep her fire under control so she can avoid losing control and once again hurting people she cares for, although no single method has proven to be completely successful thus far. Due to this lack of control, Liz carries a great deal of self-loathing and mistrust in herself for not being able to completely guarantee the safety of the people around her.
Appearance: Liz is a Caucasian woman of average height and she has a relatively slim build, although she’s in excellent shape. Her hair is auburn, medium-length - just brushing past her shoulders by an inch or two - and straight. Her eyes are light brown, and her face is a bit long but also relatively round. Liz changes her ensemble from time to time, but she usually wears a black band with a large crucifix charm around her neck, a white blouse, a black jacket, and black pants.
Skills/Abilities: Liz is pyrokinetic. She can create and manipulate fire at will, although she hasn’t completely mastered it and sometimes she can lose control of her powers, and her body is also completely fireproof. Since Vertiline blocks magic, Liz will be unable to use any of these abilities -however, once returned the use of her fire will be very tiring, and it will be much easier for her to lose control over it.
Spoken/Written languages: English/Common
Items: Aside from the clothes she’s wearing, Liz will have a half-empty pack of cigarettes, and her B.P.R.D. communicator (although it won’t actually work in Vertiline).
Third person sample: A meat locker.
There’s an investigation in a meat locker in the back of some butcher’s place, and Liz is the first person they could think of to send in there. Then again, the thing had been eating workers there and needed to stay cold to survive, so sending in the pyrokinetic would make sense. It isn’t as if someone like Abe would be able to do much good in this situation, anyway.
Oh well. As long as Liz doesn’t end up smelling like an overdone steak by the end of this, she’ll be fine.
The Bureau had sent in about four rookies to help back her up, and right now the only one left is sticking close behind her with his pistol at the ready.
“You’re sure it’s vulnerable?”
The rookie sounds scared, not that she can really blame him. The other three members of their team had the rotten luck of becoming an extra meal for a particularly hungry demon.
“It should be.” She crouches down and swipes her finger along a small pool of reddish-blue sludge. ...Blood, and it definitely didn’t come from any animal. “That shot you fired earlier grazed it. It’s not a serious injury, but it should be enough to slow it dow-”
There’s a roar and the sound of someone being tackled to the ground.
“Shit!”
She whirls around, only to find that the monster has already begun to eat the poor bastard - the kid’s lucky, though. He won’t feel any of it...the tackle ended up snapping his neck. He was dead as soon as he hit the ground.
Liz’ body grows hot as her eyes glow bright orange and the flames begin to consume her body. The heat is there, but it’s never enough to burn. Well. It’s not enough to burn her, at least.
The demon looks up from its meal, eyes wide at the sight of fire and it begins to back away. Liz grins.
“...You don’t like fire, do you?”
There’s a final, panicked roar before the entire building is engulfed in a massive wave of flames.
Too bad it didn’t have a chance to finish its dinner.
First person sample: [This isn’t a good situation to be in.
It was bad enough that she died a little over two weeks ago, but she was on her way to a briefing with Kate and suddenly Liz is in some strange room. Being whisked away to some unknown place in the blink of an eye - it hasn’t happened to her before, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen.
Liz wanders around the room before finally deciding to pull out the communicator the Bureau gave her - it’s unlikely, but maybe she can still contact them from here. ]
This is Agent Sherman calling in. Not in the building, anymore...in some room, definitely isn’t related to the Bureau. I think it might be some kind of portal that brought me here, though I can try to find a way out.
[...’Tap tap tap’ goes the sound of Liz’ finger against the now-defunct device, still unaware of the functioning communicator sitting in the far corner of the room.]
Hello? Can anyone even hear me on this thing?
[Nothing. Perfect.
She pulls out a cigarette from the pack in her pants’ pocket, placing it in her mouth and lifting her finger to spark a light. Except there isn’t a spark... there isn’t any fire at all.
This really isn’t a good situation to be in.]