Welcome to Gaia! ::

Vitae: *instantly has Zarr by the throat with his bronze left arm* Touch me again, Nathan, and you'll wish you never gave me this arm. *he blinks, and sets Zarr down again* ...Sorry, Zarr. *moves over a few seats, crosses his arms, and sighs in a cultured fashion.* In any event, I didn't mean that literally... Ah, it seems to be a trend. When Raincrow creates characters who end up being tortured, she usually forms them from inspirational DNA from - in the case of male characters, which it always is - two similar-looking anime or video game characters. *He produces from the inside of his jacket a pair of pictures and holds them out for Zarr to see* This is Vincent... And this is Katsu. They're not my real parents, of course...

Strider: Hooray for the b*****d children of random anime characters! *he, in turn, pulls from his pocket some crumpled pictures of Sanosuke and Koji.*

Vitae: We're not b*****d children... So you see, Zarr, I didn't really mean that comment the way you took it... *is suddenly glomped by an over-entheusiastic Strider*

Strider: We lovechildren have to stick together, eh, buddy? *(still doesn't know Vitae's name and doesn't care)*

Vitae: *shoves Strider away and whips out a crossbow, which he shoves firmly against Strider's chest.* Don't. Touch. Me. *he turns to the others who aren't exactly aware of what's happening* And that goes for anyone else who decides the creepy guy in black just randomly needs a hug... *he escourts Strider, at bowpoint, back to his seat*

*Vitae stands in the middle of the circle of chairs, gazing out over the many people who have all joined the support group over the past few hours. He gives Ashrim a little nod to aknowledge the compliment.* My, such a crowd... Well, it's to be expected, I suppose. *he whistles to call order to the bickering amongst characters* Now that we've enough people for this to be a real support group...I think we ought to start out with a few guidelines. Would everyone please just quietly stand up and space yourselves out so that every other seat is left empty. It helps for those of us who would rather not be caught in the heat of the moment and pounced upon. Also, do please mix yourselves up a bit, so you're sitting near someone you don't know... Seeing as how I don't know Strider very well, I'm fully content to sit by him. For now.

*he waits until everyone has achieved a semblance of seating arrangement, then continues* Now, I realize that there are quite a few more people here than expected, so don't count on everyone rembering exactly who you are. Especially since we're bound to have more people showing up shortly. To help out with this, we ought to go around the circle and introduce ourselves. Name, age, and gender if you will, and do note if you're something other than a human or an Elf, or another humanoid creature. You may also disclose a bit about yourself and your experiences, though you may want to save things for later discussion.

*Strider interrupts with a sudden introduction* The name is Strider Derebel. No relation to Aragorn, son of Arathorn. stare Twenty years old is the closest bet I can give you. I'm a guy. *chuckles at the idiocy of having to point that out.* To name a few instances, I've had my left leg slashed open twice and the wound reopened once, been stabbed in the shoulder, and blinded. I'm thankfully fully human.

Vitae: All...right. *coughs* I am called Vitae Silias. I am...*he's silent for awhile*...fourty-seven. *When met by the silent stares of disbelief, he caves* Twenty-three. That is, I am twenty-three years old...I've been alive for fourty-seven years. I am male. My left arm is made of bronze, and therefore not magnetic. Yes, I am all human. My life is not your business.

*Vitae nods and is taking down names, while Strider takes down genders since he's a bit impared at figuring out who's what to begin with*

Vitae: I see we're in the same boat, Ashrim. Neither of us belongs here.

*Vitae smirks; Jory and Vyka are amusing and no one has yet made a crack about his own age. That's a start. It's always reassuring knowing somebody tops you in age by two centuries.*

Strider: ...And you're both guys?

*Sage prods in two of her favorite abusable characters, Garret and Bass. Both are male, both are otaku-senshi, both of them have crappy social lives, and combined they have the self-esteem of a dead rabbit*

Bass: *sulks* I'm completely useless, a waste of life. My mentor's dead, the Empire I swore to protect invaded and conquered, my father abandoned me and my mother betrayed me, but worst of all...I'M OUT OF HAIR GEL! *sobs as teal hair starts to afro*

Garret: *waves meekly* Uh, hi? Please tell me this is being catered? Soda, candy, pizza, anything?

*Adrion rises in the circle, hands gripping the air beside his hips. He bites his tongue fiercely and urges himself to speak*

"My name's Adrion Kain and I'm twenty-one. My mom was the sister of the late harpy queen Arcana, and my father was just a human. Mother up and died when I dreamed of it at five years old, and my brother was bitten because of me at eleven. I live with my aging father, never sleeping and always living in fear that I may kill another or that I could kill myself." *he looks behind himself* As a harpy-hybrid, I do have wings, but I can hide them. So unless you want to see a bloody mess of my back, I'm not going to show you. Today.

*Adrion takes his seat, nudging Kamaro in the arm. He stands, muttering some inappropriate things under his breath*

"Yeah. I'm Kamaro Kain. Vampire. I was 'round twenty-four when I got turned. Master Riley n' his other pets pull me into a cult, an' I still haven't passed my initiation test yet." *He looks back to Adrion* "I was gonna kill my father to do so, but I just couldn't. They beat me, whipped me, slashed me... hell, anything you could ever imagine. It's a cult-thing; nothin' I won't argue with."

*He sits down, crimson eyes calming to a stormy blue. He looks to Asher and gestures him to stand*

"Erm... hi. My name's Asher Daniels. I'm sixteen and pretty sure that I'm human. Well... I guess you could say that I grew up like any other normal kid. But when Andrew-- er, my father began fighting with mother all the time, things just went downhill. My sister didn't know about this, and my mother was never home after that. Father turned to me for his punching bag. He beat me, taunted me, raped me, touched me, and burned me deep inside." *Asher rolls up his black sweater sleeves, revealing countless scars slashed across his wrist* "I've tried so hard to die; I drank, I smoked, I even stabbed myself. Nothing worked. I don't know when my suffering will end... I do have a really good friend who's helping me right now, but not even he can get rid of the past..."

*Asher looks to everyone, going silent. He nods his head and, with a small 'thank you', he sits back down*

-boots his characters into the room-

Eli: -gets up, walks over, and stis calmly, almost emotionlessly, into a chair- Ah, the abuse I've lived through. I was forced to kill my only family, because they had decided they would kill me, and collect the insurance for their own gain. I had to kill them in self defence. Then I had to run from the police. I lived on the streets for five years starting at age eight. After that, I met someone whom I fell in love with. Of course, do to the circumstances, I had to end her life as well. After which I was used by the government to kill all those who stood in their way. A killer for all those corrupt bastards. Eventually, I met someone, and I started to feel again. However, it turned out that this someone was a relation to my first love, and loathed me for doing that to her sister. Then, he commited suicide, for he could never love his sisters murderer, and I ended up breaking, emotionally, and physically. Since I was now basically worthless, the government decided that I was of no use, and tried to kill me. But I didn't die. I've been living on the streets in agony, killing for pleasure. I'm now a mercenary for hire. Killing for whoever pays the highest.

Karek: At the age of seven I saw my family get murdered right in front of me by what were seemingly wear-wolves. After which I was tossed from foster-home to foster-home. Around 13 I discovered that I, myself was a were-wolf, and that those who had killed my parents were now after me. Since then I've been shot, stabbed, clawed, blinded, and mangled. I'm still fighting to keep them away, fighting to survive. -pants-

Ruana: I've been beaten, slapped, mauled, stabbed, raped, shot, and skewered, but I'm still alive. I have a few scars, but that doesn't matter. As long as I'm okay, i'm still happy. 3nodding

Vitae: *extends his left arm slightly so that Kasume can see the bronze metal, faintly etched with runic symbols. He says nothing.*