Graves

BIOGRAPHY

Mortimer Graves was the only child of his parents, and pretty much the only thing that came out of that union. Born of a teenage pregnancy, Morty’s father was quickly out of the picture. A network of extended family served as a buffer to otherwise bleak circumstances, and they supported his mother through his childhood and her education. Morty thus grew up with an extended family, his mother eventually becoming an anthropology professor. For his part, Morty was a bit of a black sheep. While everyone was very nice to him, there was still the underlying vibe that he was a bit of an upset in otherwise carefully laid out plans. While he was dutiful and studied and finished school for the sake of his family, it was clear Mortys heart was never really in it. [break][break]

It wasn’t enough that he was enrolled in college, pulling pretty decent grades- every little mark of success seemed to come with a litany of suggestions and demands. Morty could barely muster the energy to directly antagonize anyone, but he did grow pretty resentful at the way people wanted to decide his life for him.[break][break]

Things would change when he got older. Disaster struck his hometown in the form of a hurricane, bringing with it heavy flooding. Between the destruction and evacuations, many lives were lost. The city was not equipped to deal with the rising water level, with much of the infrastructure buckling under the flood. Most unsettlingly, the local cemeteries were washed through, with caskets rising from underground, floating down the streets of Broadmoor. Having ignored the order to evacuate, Morty had instead taken it upon himself to remain to help those in need. Driving an old bus he had ‘borrowed’ through the streets, he would ride down the flooding streets to help those still stranded.[break][break]

At one pint in the night, the weather and rising water became too much to handle, threatening to submerge his bus. Surrounded by floating caskets and an eerie display of ectoplasmic activity, Morty would inadvertently catch the attention of a skeletal boatman calling himself Charon. Revealing himself as a psychopomp, the spirit was more than upset with Morty for ‘stealing his fare’. Refusing to allow his passengers to die, Morty would display his recklessness, managing to drive and allow the civilians to escape from the top of the tour bus to higher ground. Unfortunately this resulted in Morty defying Charon, driving into and sinking Charon’s boat. Charon would engage the boy in single combat in frustration, and Morty swam and jumped from floating casket to debris as the boatman weaponized corpses against him.[break][break]

Initially intending to take Morty’s own life as compensation for those missing souls, Charon finally relented, both impressed and irritated by Morty’s actions. In a twist of fate, he ‘cursed’ Morty instead of killing him. If he wanted to interfere with the matters of life and death so much, Morty would become a junior Psychopomp, a Psycho Punk if you will. [break][break]

Now Morty operates as a vigilante hero, using his Psychopomp abilities to ‘save the dead’. Occasionally Charon will appear to him to provide valuable counsel and unwanted taunting, but he’s been doing ok with things so far.[break][break]

CHARACTER POWERS

✰ Undead Physiology [break]
Undead Physiology [break][break]

After being cursed with his powers, Morty is able to transform into an undead state of being, his “Psychopomp” form. Morty must damage himself willingly to a point of near death to trigger his transformation. Instead of dying, however, his abilities take over, transforming him. This is signaled by the mask of blood that forms over him. [break][break]

In this form, Morty gains a body that operates as an undead being. He becomes powered by his spirit, losing the traditional physical needs of a living body. Morty no longer needs to eat, breath or rest while in this form, though he can, and is usually unaffected by biological effects. He also becomes much stronger than the average person, able to exert strength without worry of breaking his muscles and moving and leaping just beyond a peak human athlete’s limits. [break][break]

While he becomes incredibly difficult to put down or kill in this state, Morty can still be stopped. Excessive physical trauma especially to the head, or changes to his body that make it unable to continue moving, are able to ‘kill’ him. Otherwise, he is capable of taking on grievous levels of damage that would kill a normal human being as little more than a nuisance. [break][break]

X - His physical sensations are dulled, particularly his sense of taste. His muted sense of pain also does not mean that damage isn’t occurring, meaning he can be caught off guard when his body gives out.[break][break]

X - Fire, supernatural light and sources of magic that are strictly antithetical to death or the undead are his weakness. These weaknesses are usually strictly physical. He can’t be warded off with chants, but he can be burned by properly blessed Holy Water, for example.[break][break]

X - When the sun rises, Morty is automatically transformed into his Living form if he is in his Psychopomp form. He is unable to access his form again until nightfall.[break][break]


Subpower Name: Regeneration [break][break]

Morty’s psychopomp form does not carry a passive healing factor, but he can focus his ectoplasm in order to ‘piece’ his body together in order for it to continue functioning. However, upon canceling out his transformation via defeat or canceling it, when Morty turns human, he is returned to a default state, losing his physical abilities in the process. [break][break]

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↣ Ectoplasm Manipulation [break]
Ectoplasm Manipulation [break][break]

Morty is able to tap into the powers of the hereafter, producing a form of energy many call Ectoplasm. This energy can manifest itself as light, flames, vapor or gelatinous mass, carrying the properties of the undead with it. While it has a corrosive effect similar to flames, the temperature it emits is freezing, drawing in heat and lowering the ambient temperature. [break][break]

Even as a human, Morty is able to tap into this power, making it his first line of defense. He often uses the ectoplasm in creative ways to circumvent the weakness of his Living form. He can emit bursts of ectoplasmic to attack others, being particularly effective against the incorporeal and spiritual, and coat himself and his weapons. Morty has minor telekinetic control of his ectoplasm, allowing him to determine its shape. [break][break]

X - In his human form, Morty has a finite supply of energy he can draw upon. Once tapped, he must wait in order to recharge. In order to do so, he must either transform into his Psychopomp, or rest in darkness of some sort.[break][break]

Subpower Name: Coffin Cruiser[break][break]
Soul Portal Creation [break][break]
Coffin Creation [break][break]
Morty is able to create portals between places using the spiritual energies in the environment. This allows him to transport other beings and items from one place to the next. It also explains how he is able to wield his weapons without carrying them. In order to perform this, he must use a coffin, gravestone or ‘proper effigy’ as a conduit. [break][break]

Morty can summon the structures to his side, allowing him to weaponize their creation as well. He can raise tombstones from the ground below, or drop crosses and coffins onto the enemy using his ectoplasmic magic.[break][break]

X - Morty cannot hold living beings in his coffins indefinitely. When he attempts to, the magic vanishes, thwarting the attempt through Charon’s intervention. He’s fine with Morty storing away inanimate objects, however. [break][break]

↣ Mediumship [break]
Mediumship [break][break]

To aid in his mission, and as a byproduct of his curse, Morty is now able to perceive, communicate and interact with spiritual beings and the afterlife. This also gifts him a supernatural detention, allowing him to sense disturbances. Morty uses this power to mediate between the living and the dead. [break][break]

While he is able to reach out to the spiritual realm, this also goes the other way. It’s not uncommon for Charon to call Morty via phone to provide unhelpful advice and jeering insults.[break][break]