Welcome to Adventu, your final fantasy rp haven. adventu focuses on both canon and original characters from different worlds and timelines that have all been pulled to the world of zephon: a familiar final fantasy-styled land where all adventurers will fight, explore, and make new personal connections.
at adventu, we believe that colorful story and plots far outweigh the need for a battle system. rp should be about the writing, the fun, and the creativity. you will see that the only system on our site is the encouragement to create amazing adventures with other members. welcome to adventu... how will you arrive?
year 5, quarter 3
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Post by Oren McGinnis on May 17, 2024 18:05:59 GMT -6
Name: Oren McGinnis
Positive: Oren, in spite of his cynical demeanor, does have generally good morals and only accepts jobs for the "right" people in his current mercenary work. (e.g. he will absolutely refuse to do work for Sonora unless it's for a group trying to undermine their corporate overlords)
Positive: Many who have spotted Oren off the job have noted he seems to have a surprisingly strong sweet tooth. He will drink coffee that is almost sickeningly sweet to most people, consume sweet treats, so on and so forth. Most would find it oddly humanizing to witness from him considering his usual behavior. It is perhaps lucky he lives a pretty active lifestyle combined with enhanced physical prowess...
Mixed: Oren occasionally has lapses in memory about his old life and even current events in Zephon, though some could interpret that as him purposefully trying to forget and ignore certain things... This could also likely be related to his tenuous sanity discussed below. How someone reacts to any of this could vary, especially if they learn of the possible causes.
Negative: Despite his morals, there have been signs that Oren... Isn't completely sane. Only those who knew Oren in his home world might know the possible reasons for it, but Oren currently has gained a bit of infamy since his arrival in Zephon for a tendency to lose himself to... Very violent methods for accomplishing certain jobs. He can be reigned in by the right people getting through to him, but some wonder if he might ever fully break one day... It does cause some issues in getting certain kinds of work currently.
Negative: As an Ex-SOLDIER, Oren does have the iconic Mako eyes and physical abilities that would be recognized on certain others who arrived before him in Zephon who have proven troublesome to put it nicely... Whether someone is bothered by that or not is up to them, but it does add to any talks about him and worries about the types of people he might be associated with... Of course, he has stayed rather solitary since arriving in Zephon so the rumors are of dubious validity currently.
Before he ended up in Zephon, it had been around eight years since Oren signed away any semblance of ever having a normal life again when he joined SOLDIER. Oren always heard it pretty regularly how 'once a SOLDIER, always a SOLDIER'. It would be repeated to genuine defectors and current members alike. Even when he defected and started working as a mercenary, people could immediately tell that he was one... They looked at him a certain way. Many distrusted him even when he made it clear that he wasn't with Shinra anymore. It was even a company secret in Shinra that the process SOLDIERs undergo to be empowered by Mako apparently shortened their lives. By how much, they didn't even seem to know for certain... The only time he ever saw any remote evidence to that claim was what happened to Genesis and Angeal around four or five years ago (from his perspective). Oren still felt physically fine despite the initial rough start he had in Zephon. Mentally was another story entirely, though...[break][break]
The implications of being transported to another world in the moment he was supposed to die didn't sit right with Oren. It still didn't even months later. It wasn't even like he was reincarnated. He was fully preserved as he was and even 'cleaned up' for his arrival. All of the wounds he had the moment he died were gone. His clothes magically mended. All of his gear and materia were still with him and worked fine despite the new scenery. His enhanced body remained as is. Yet... It just raised several questions... Was everything he had done up to that moment in his life even... Valid? Oren already started questioning his purpose when he began to have his doubts about Shinra and eventually realized that there really was no honor to be had in SOLDIER... Yet when he finally started to find a new place for himself turning Shinra's own 'blessing' against them as a member of Avalanche... It all literally came crashing down. Now here he was with nothing again... And who is to say it won't happen again even if he tried to make friends with everyone and build up something new? Would he only truly die if he managed to live a full life? However long that was for a SOLDIER...? Oren wasn't sure he could even cope with the pain he'd feel. He already has barely kept himself together as is.[break][break]
What was the point of him even bothering with other people? Of any of this now? There didn't even seem to be a real point to him being summoned to Zephon either... He just poofed in and was basically left to his own devices like some cruel joke. Yet, despite all of this, he didn't necessarily want to find out the 'easy way' if he was right about that. Dying wasn't fun once. He didn't want to die again... Damned survival instincts. Thus, he continued his mercenary and freelance work. Maybe he just wanted someone to prove him wrong about all of this... Yet he was afraid to try and track down anyone he knew or interact with other 'Outlanders' beyond professional formality... All of these thoughts decided they wanted to torment him anew today.[break][break]
Today...[break][break]
Today was just another day of looking for work. Business was slow too. Oren had been asking around as he often did and pitching his various 'skills', but nobody seemed to be in much need of help with anything... Oren grumbled to himself. He hated having off days because, as had started happening, he was already being plagued by his own thoughts... Maybe he'll take a break and get back to it... Perhaps it was time to look elsewhere for jobs? Provo usually always had people looking for help to a point where they had an entire, very creatively named avenue dedicated to it... And he dared not approach Sonora unless he was forced to. That sordid place reminded him too much of Midgar from what he heard about it...[break][break]
Well. These current thoughts are better than the usual that had been plaguing him during his search. For now, Oren gave up on the search for work and went to a local café he often frequented. If there was one thing he appreciated about this world, it was that coffee still existed in it... He had developed a bit of a habit that often annoyed Shinra back in the day. It kept him more alert and, more importantly, made him feel more focused. With a lot of cream and sugar added in, it was one of the few pleasures he still indulged in... Oren got a seat in the corner, got his usual order, and the hot mug was presented to him in a timely manner. Oren slumped back in his seat against the wall of the café and sighed. He heard a few whispers from other patrons who seemed to recognize him as 'that weird eyed merc'.[break][break]
Oren just stayed in his own little world for now even though being called that normally annoyed him...
Post by Oren McGinnis on May 7, 2024 20:55:24 GMT -6
( CURRENT ) Year 5, Quarter 3 Walking the Old, Lonely Road
It has been a few months since Ex-SOLDIER Oren McGinnis appeared in Zephon from the world of Gaia. His arrival followed the very moment he seemed fated to die in a final stand against Shinra while aiding another branch of Avalanche in saving the people of the Sector 7 slums from certain doom. Having something of a troubling epiphany regarding the seeming pointlessness of his life if he could just be teleported to another world without warning, Oren has lived a solitary existence in Zephon as a mercenary for hire... A terrifyingly effective one at that. While still holding firm to his past morals, he has currently not bothered to try and track down anyone he might've known nor dared try making any new friends or allies. Why bother if it'll just hurt him even more should he be proven right about "it"...? He also struggles still with some latent mental issues that have only continued to plague him despite the new scenery. From here, his new story in Zephon truly begins when he could no longer elude fate itself.
Following some recent troubles in finding new mercenary work, Oren decides to take a break at a local café he frequents in Torensten, a city-state in Zephon that currently serves as his "base of operations". He laments and ponders over his current situation when a new arrival to Zephon shakes up the monotony of his new life...
Oren manages to find a monster bounty after having some trouble finding new mercenary work in recent days. This bounty would pay rather handsomely upon its proven completion on top of that. After finding out the details, Oren travels to the Metaia Marshlands to hunt down a fiendish Malboro in order to secure the safety of its bizarrely popular trade route again. Along the way, a chance meeting with something of a celebrity in Zephon occurs when both desire to hunt down the same monster...
Business has been booming a bit more thankfully and Oren was personally presented with a new job to take on. While once again being tormented by thoughts of his past and his current situation as he walks through Torensten to make his preparations for this job, a ghost from Oren's past walks back into his new life in Zephon... And he is not at all the person Oren remembers him being...
After some previous fiascos, it was time for Oren to get back to what he unfortunately did best... Killing things. Though, this time, he would be up against a completely unknown enemy... A strange behemoth of a robot appeared somewhere in the Provo area out of nowhere one day and many have lost their lives trying to defeat it in its path of destruction. Oren was thus recruited under the condition that it was a team effort with another powerful mercenary. It was a good excuse to go to Provo and hang around there for a little while too. However, the utter behemoth Oren would be met with as his partner for this mission might prove to have more common ground with him than he'd like to admit... Beyond being another Outlander and a particularly infamous one in his home world...
Oren's time in Provo had proven a little less fruitful than he'd like following his battle against the robotic monstrosity alongside a fellow Outlander mercenary. Not even a trip to the Pale Coast to find some extra work amongst the mercenaries that protected it paid off. Not really desiring to travel back to Provo or even Torensten just yet, Oren decided to wander up the northern portion of the Pale Coast into its colder, rockier portion to see the sights and think. Trapped with his cruel thoughts reminiscing about his sordid past and the morbid conclusions he came to about his existence in Zephon, Oren soon has a painful psychological attack. This attack being one of the many problems Oren believes (correctly) to be an unfortunate side-effect of the Mako bath he underwent in the process of being transformed into a SOLDIER. It soon passes, but as if his own mind was playing tricks on him, he bore witness to an angelic figure sitting before him on the rocky cliffside... One who had truly been long dead by the time Oren himself had perished in their home world... It seemed he wasn't the only ghostly Ex-SOLDIER being troubled by his life, old and new alike.
It seems life indeed had no intention of letting Oren remain on a lonely road for long... Reuniting with an old face and meeting some new faces have left him tormented by thoughts of better times, yet he continues to try and bury them beneath his mercenary activities. Following reports of a peculiar incident in the country of Aljana, Oren was presented with a mission to travel there and aid with some peacekeeping to ease the concerns of a populace now on edge. Of course, he has to travel there the hard way and, along the way, he... He... Ẃ̷̗ḧ̶͈́o̴̗̅ ̶̢̚d̷̠̕i̸̼̿d̶̙͝ ̶̼͋ḧ̴̗e̴̯̽ ̸̺͝r̶͇͒u̸̻̒n̵̤̾ ̷̞̋í̷̢n̷̜̓ẗ̷̺́o̷̢̎ ̸̹͗o̴̤̔u̷͚̿t̶̢́ ̴͚̃h̷̬̕ȇ̷͍r̷̡̈́é̵͇ ̴͉͘a̷͎͛g̶̤̔à̶̰i̸̞̕n̶̦̉?̸͖̌ Regardless. He had some unwanted company during his time in Aljana, which went pretty smoothly otherwise.
Post by Oren McGinnis on May 7, 2024 19:54:39 GMT -6
[nospaces]
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OREN[break] MCGINNIS
WHAT DO YOU WANT...?
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22 years old
pansexual
mercenary
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Oren McGinnis is a former SOLDIER 1st Class from the world known as Gaia who defected from Shinra over his growing concerns over what their actions were doing to the planet, the harsh disparity regarding the quality of life in Midgar, as well as believing (unknowingly as a fact) that the company was hiding something regarding Nibelheim and the fates of Zack Fair and Sephiroth. After briefly working as a mercenary under the alias of Alasdair, he stumbled upon and joined a branch of the eco-terrorist group Avalanche after turning against a contact who wanted him to make them "disappear". From there, he would take the fight back against Shinra both out of good intention and amusement. Alas, after he decided to travel to Sector 7 to aid another branch of Avalanche in attempting to stop a horrific plan from Shinra to drop the Sector's plate onto the slums, he ended up seemingly perishing after a failure to stop the plan and being unable to escape in time via a combination of factors. However, he ended up awakening in the world of Zephon. Somewhat mentally broken by the implications of what happened to him alongside his past issues finally catching up to him, Oren became plagued by the development of a cynical, borderline nihilistic mindset as he decided to resume work as a mercenary in the new land operating primarily out of Torensten, but traveling around to other lands in Zephon for jobs as needed. He's surviving, but deep down he's hoping to find some new purpose in life and also hoping to have someone prove him wrong about his newly developed cynicism.
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( friendship )
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Oren as he currently is can prove to be difficult to befriend. Not necessarily due to any problems in dealing with people or behavioral problems around others, but rather because he just... Doesn't want to. Truthfully, it is because of a difficult past growing up, his experiences in SOLDIER, and then his seeming "death" ripping him away from everything he knew and a fear that it could very well happen again. Perhaps the right people can help break him out of this mindset and see things more positively as he once did in the past... For he does truly desire companionship again deep down.[break][break]
( Angeal Hewley ) - One of the original members of SOLDIER 1st Class who became something of a mentor to Oren during his days in SOLDIER before his tragic degeneration led to him forcing Zack Fair to kill him in combat. Now both have been revived and reunited within Zephon, which has brought a tiny bit of happiness back to a rather somber second existence thus far.[break][break]
( person ) - positive blurb about person.[break][break]
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( hateship )
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Oren doesn't necessarily seek out to make enemies, though he automatically will be distrustful of anyone who were loyal to Shinra back in his home world or certain others. People who are especially despicable and depraved can earn his ire pretty easily, though... And they won't like what happens if they get the dubious honor.[break][break]
( person ) - negative blurb about person.[break][break]
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( loveship )
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Romance wasn't something that Oren had much experience with. Perhaps there were others who caught his eye in his old life, men and women alike, but he never had a chance to do much about such feelings considering where his life ended up and past worries still haunting him. This is now compounded by a fear of being hurt even greater than with friends if his many fears regarding his bizarre "second chance" ever bear any fruit. Perhaps the right person can get through to him and bear witness to a surprisingly romantic soul hiding beneath his cold exterior...[break][break]
( person ) - blurb about feelings about person.[break][break]
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( neutral )
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Sometimes you just don't have particularly strong feelings about someone... Whether because they left little impression on him or Oren hasn't been given enough information to form a more concrete opinion about that person.[break][break]
Oren had five materia on his person when he was brought to Zephon and he is capable of utilizing them to cast five different kinds of magic with varying skill. They thankfully still work, though they are all Oren has now considering materia doesn't exist in Zephon.[break][break]
( fire ) - One of Oren's most used materia in the old world and an iconic sight whenever he's in action. Oren has long since mastered it and is thus capable of casting Fire, Fira, and Firaga with it.[break][break]
( ice ) - Oren's other most used materia in the old world and another useful supplement in his activities. Oren has also mastered this one and is thus capable of casting Blizzard, Blizzara, and Blizzaga with it.[break][break]
( healing ) - One of the other materia Oren had on his person when he "died" and was transported to Zephon. While not mastered, he is capable of casting Cure and Cura with it.[break][break]
( revive ) - Another materia Oren had on his person when he "died" and was transported to Zephon. He can bring an unconscious person back to consciousness using Raise/Life, though they will be in a weakened state and still need actual healing and/or treatment from there.[break][break]
( gravity ) - The final materia that Oren had with him and the one he has used the least, but can still get some use out of it in the right situation. It currently allows him to only cast Gravity/Demi, but he might be able to pull out the ability to use Gravira/Demi2 with enough use?[break][break]
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no more, obey - my debt repaid - our trust betrayed - all for nothing...
Post by Oren McGinnis on May 6, 2024 4:42:18 GMT -6
Oren Skye McGinnis
"If we're done here, I'll be on my way then..."
I. BASICS
FULL NAME:: Oren Skye McGinnis NICKNAMES:: Alasdair (A pseudonym he briefly used before he joined Avalanche while he was avoiding Shinra) GENDER:: Male AGE:: 22 ORIENTATION:: Pansexual GAME OF ORIGIN:: Final Fantasy VII ALIGNMENT:: Heroic EQUIPMENT:: Lunaris (A fancy black longsword slotted with his Materia), Fire Materia (Mastered), Ice Materia (Mastered), Healing Materia, Revive Materia, Gravity Materia
HEIGHT:: 6'0" HAIR/EYES/SKIN:: Orange/Light Blue (with a faint green glow)/Pale DISTINGUISHING MARKS:: A couple of freckles on his face, tends to have tired bags under his eyes, and his normally blue eyes let off a slight green glow due to his Mako enhancement.
II. PERSONA
Oren on the surface is a reasonably polite individual, though one who has a tendency to keep most people at an arm's length from him and can prove to be rather flippant. There was a time when he felt he had purpose in his life, though seemingly dying and then mysteriously ending up in a completely alien world has left him lost and uncertain of what to do or where to go. The former goals of Avalanche are not exactly applicable in a world where Shinra doesn't exist and anyone he may have known either aren't around anymore or he has yet to run into others who ended up in Zephon like he did. Thus, he just finds ways to kill time and hope he eventually finds that new 'something'. He isn't the best in social situations nowadays, but he can handle himself okay enough and is capable of some surprising insight and even humor and glimpses of a former cheerful self.
His current loner tendencies can stem from a fear of him once again (seemingly) losing everyone he knew and grew close to if he somehow ends up teleported to yet another alien world as anyone who may have known him in the past would recall him being more cheerful and positive. While that was true, his former cheer also hid a bit of a cynical side due to his alienation from Shinra, thus he can be hesitant to even trust people in positions of power. Despite all of that, he does clearly have a good heart and wants to do what he thinks is the right thing even if it requires... More forceful action.
However, there is a side of Oren that tends to come out under certain circumstances. When Oren was subjected to the Mako enhancements that all members of SOLDIER undergo, he seemingly came out of the process fine, but there was a... Side-effect. When he first went out onto the field, Oren ended up losing himself to a bloodthirsty frenzy on his enemies when the battle proved more stressful than expected. The mako exposure, combined with some lingering rage and resentment that he concealed well regarding his upbringing, ended up warping an aspect of Oren's personality into one who enjoys the thrill of battle a little TOO much and he can prove utterly ruthless when pushed enough. He becomes a lot colder and difficult to control like this, but can potentially be reigned in if the right person gets through to him. He can be a very good combatnat for various purposes if hired for them, but one may have be wary if they want their target alive. Oren is very troubled by this side of him, yet at times also embraces it with potentially worrying effects on his sanity. Where he will end up now that he has a "fresh start" remains to be seen...
III. BACKGROUND
In his former life, Oren was a SOLDIER 1st Class who grew disillusioned with the actions of Shinra and ended up defecting, hiding from Shinra as a hired mercenary under a pseudonym before he ended up joining with Avalanche due to sympathizing with their goals... And as a means to spite Shinra as it was incredibly amusing to do so. Now stuck in Zephon with little to his name, he decided to make good on his enhanced combat prowess and took on working as a mercenary again as a means to try and earn a living. It is a more solitary existence currently, but at least he's not dead... Yet. It has helped him establish a few potentially nifty connections too.
As an Ex-SOLDIER, Oren's physical capabilities are greatly enhanced as a result of careful exposure to raw Mako and he has retained these abilities despite the change of scenery. Despite his build only being modestly fit, he is capable of certain physical feats that are utterly baffling to normal people. Such is the gift of being SOLDIER. He is also an incredibly skilled swordsman and magic user, though losing access to Materia outside of the ones already embedded into his sword has limited his abilities on that front... Though perhaps he could learn a new way to wield magic? Even when in a clear mind, Oren's combat style can merely be described as "brutal". He is fast, skilled, relentless, and has zero hesitation in going for lethal injuries provided he isn't supposed to keep whoever he's fighting alive... Though if he loses himself to his bloodlust and "excitement", that can prove to be a futile request unless he's stopped. His physical strength seems to go up even more when he is in this mindset, likely as a result of him no longer doing even the bare minimum of holding back.
IV. HISTORY
"The price of freedom is steep..."
Oren McGinnis. A name that likely shouldn't have gone down in the history books, but found itself forced in there by sheer determination. Born as the only son of Jean and Lenore McGinnis, Oren grew up in the Sector 5 slums of Midgar and his upbringing was not an easy nor happy one. The couple's life was already a tough one and Oren's unexpected birth intensified their struggles as they now had a child to raise. Constantly stressed from his job in construction for Midgar, the looming threat of monster attacks, and other factors relating to their poverty, Jean often drowned his woes in alcohol. When sufficiently drunk, his true anger and bitterness came to the surface and he often took it out on his wife and son. Lenore, in turn, also took out much of her frustration on Oren when not doing the bare minimum to raise him as she believed life was more bearable before he was born.
The young Oren was a miserable child who often struggled with wondering why he was even born if his parents hated him so much. Even when he tried to make himself useful as he got older, nothing seemed to diminish the seeming disdain his parents had for his mere existence. He often would run away to the market and would hide in the abandoned Church. During these times, he would end up befriending other children in the slums and, gradually, he would actually learn what it was like to be even a little happy. If nothing else, it helped him bear with his parents better growing up... As Oren approached his adolescence, he would start hearing of SOLDIER, supersoldiers who were effectively superheroes who could seemingly do anything and lived a good life! Or at least a better life than the one Oren knew... He especially was enthralled with Sephiroth, who was only a few years older than him, yet seemed genuinely invincible from what he heard.
Oren "borrowed" a sword that his dad kept aside in the event of a monster attack and started practicing with it. He... He was going to join SOLDIER. He would become a hero. He would show his damned parents that his existence WASN'T a waste of time. Oren proved a natural with the blade and would start to occasionally venture out to pick fights with monsters that prowled around the outskirts of the slums... And win. He became something of a marvel to others in the slums over the next two years he spent practicing and fighting monsters. When Oren was only 14, he decided to finally try his hand at becoming a SOLDIER operative. Others in the slums pitched in to help him make the trip to the main Shinra building deeper in the city. With the funds acquired, Oren left his old life behind for something grander... He made one last visit to the old Church and was confused to see that... Flowers were starting to grow in the exposed soil near the middle of the Church. Oren never told his parents about his plans and left without saying goodbye to them. Being away from them was like a great weight being lifted off of his shoulders... Though his anger and resentment at them would prove to have its consequences down the line.
Oren made an impressive showing despite his humble upbringing and he ended up being accepted into SOLDIER, starting out as a member of 3rd Class and receiving a uniform and a new sword to replace the old one he never returned to his dad. He would then undergo the Mako enhancements all members of SOLDIER receive and his already decent physical prowess skyrocketed to levels he never thought possible. While he knew well not to compare himself to Sephiroth, he finally got a taste of what it was like to be like him... However, he began to be plagued with nightmares after his exposure to Mako. Nightmares of his parents and other strange visions that heavily disturbed his sleep. Oren was unsure if the Mako actually was to blame or not and would wave away any concerns over his growing problems with sleep. Indeed, his performance on the battlefield and in training with the Virtual Reality System further increased Oren's renown and it only took around a year and some impressive showings in the waning days of the Wutai War before Oren was promoted to 2nd Class and received a new red uniform. Oren's improved quality of life greatly improved his overall demeanor and many fellow SOLDIER 3rd and 2nd Class found him something of an inspiration... In spite of the many troubling reports of his brutality on the battlefield. The nightmares that had plagued Oren began to affect him on the battlefield, causing him to sometimes fly into a bloodthirsty rage and vent it out on any who dared stand in his way... While it was possible to calm him down, many did find his behavior concerning, though nobody in Shinra seemed to care as long as he brought in results. If anything, he was a curious study subject as he never seemed to show such behavior before joining SOLDIER.
When Oren was 17, he unexpectedly received the news that he was to be promoted to SOLDIER 1st Class. At this point in time, the only other noteworthy names left were Zack Fair and, of course, Sephiroth himself. With his promotion, Oren commissioned a new sword to be made for him and started donning a new outfit now that he was no longer constrained to the average Shinra weaponry and required SOLDIER uniform. The new sword, which he dubbed Lunaris, would become his main weapon from that point onward and was capable of channeling the magic of Materia embedded in the sword directly through its curiously black colored blade. Now being apart of 1st Class, Oren became privy to much that was hidden from members of 2nd and 3rd Class... Such as the ongoing problem with the defectors Genesis and Angeal. Despite this, the problem was often left in the hands of Zack and Sephiroth and the work Oren did on the field was often a footnote compared to them... Much to his chagrin. While it wasn't primarily his problem, Oren occasionally got to aid in various missions against Genesis and those who joined him... Willingly or otherwise. Oren would gradually begin to ponder if what he was doing was actually right, seeds that had initially been planted in the little he saw back in Wutai. When it was exposed that SOLDIER's director was also a traitor, this only further confused Oren. Later that year, Sephiroth and Zack would depart for a mission in Nibelheim... And neither returned. Sephiroth was claimed to be dead in action and the whereabouts of Zack and some Shinra infantrymen who accompanied the two were never officially disclosed. The worst, logically, was assumed. Oren found the whole thing incredibly suspicious and even went to check on Nibelheim, making up a fair excuse to explain his absence. When he arrived, all Oren found was a town where nothing seemed amiss. Oren nonetheless couldn't shake that he found the entire thing suspicious before he went back to Midgar.
Four years passed and Oren continued to have his doubts in Shinra, especially as the SOLDIER program gradually seemed to fall apart around him. During this time, Oren had been secretly investigating Shinra and discovered the true extent of damage that their reactors were inflicting on the planet as well as growing fed up with the disparity between the slums and the wealthier parts of Midgar... What he found was the nail in the coffin for Oren's doubts... He gathered his belongings and savings and departed from SOLDIER's base in the Shinra building on a supposed mission... Only to never return. Oren was declared dead in action as many others were, but he had a feeling he wasn't in the clear... He went back to the slums, adorned a basic "disguise", and began to use the alias Alasdair. He took on occasional mercenary jobs to build up a reputation, though took great care to ensure nobody would notice his Mako eyes. Eventually, he stumbled upon a sect of the terrorist organization Avalanche when working a job for someone who wanted them to "disappear"... And, much to their surprise, Oren revealed his true identity and requested to join the organization. Considering he had the distinct Mako eyes of the members of SOLDIER, the fallen Oren McGinnis was actually alive all along. Now finding himself sympathetic to Avalanche as well as personally having a bone to pick with Shinra over the horrors he saw over the years, Oren was hesitantly accepted into the organization, using his knowledge of Shinra and SOLDIER against his former employer. While it was hard to readjust to living in the slums, Oren made do now that he felt he had a new purpose in his life. During this time working with Avalanche, he heard that another supposed former 1st Class SOLDIER was hired as a mercenary by a more "extreme" sect of Avalanche.
Some time later, the sect of Avalanche that Oren joined found the news that Shinra discovered that Sector 7 was the home of that extreme sect of Avalanche and that they were going to separate the plate from its pillar, which would destroy the entire undercity. Oren decided to travel there personally to aid the other sect as well as get a good fight in. During this time, he could've sworn he saw a blonde guy he didn't recognize wearing a SOLDIER uniform. Despite their efforts and even getting the extra help Oren brought, the other sect of Avalanche was unsuccessful in stopping the plate from being separated... Oren, having been worn down fighting off Shinra forces and helping residents evacuate, was unable to escape himself as the plate collapsed onto the undercity. Amongst over 50,000 casualties, that was the day Oren McGinnis truly perished...
... Or so he thought. Oren felt an excruciating amount of pain throughout all of his body and saw only darkness, but then... The darkness gave way to light and his pain slowly vanished as if it were never there. Had he actually been saved...? However, when Oren awakened, he found himself laying on a field outside of an unrecognizable city... Alone. Oren was confused. Wherever he was at, it wasn't Midgar or ANY part of the world he knew... Wandering into the city, he discovered he was now somewhere called Toresten on the continent of Zephon. It was unlike anywhere he had ever seen and, strangest of all, he wasn't the only person who seemed to have "arrived" in this land under similar circumstances... How did he get here? Why was he brought here? Were there others he might recognize? Was it possible he could end up transported somewhere else AGAIN? Oren began to be eaten away by these questions as he also feared that he was now truly alone... Anyone he knew and possibly even loved were either gone or he'd possibly never be able to track them down if they were somewhere else in this land... Zephon. Oren was almost overcome with despair at the realization, but he decided to try and push it away for the time being. He at least needed to try first... With little to work with besides his name and skills, Oren decided to try his hand at mercenary work again to establish a new name for himself and some modicum of stability in this strange land... Thanks to his "unusual" power, the name Oren McGinnis would begin to spread rather quickly through the lands as he traveled about working various jobs for whatever pay he could get... So long as he found the contacts of acceptable moral character. Despite this mostly good name, there were also rumors of his more... Violent tendencies as well as others musing over why he seemed insistent on working alone and staying professional and distant with anyone he interacted with even in more social situations.
Thus, this is where Oren's new life currently is... But will his old life ever intersect with it? Only time will tell.
V. AUTHOR
PLAYER ALIAS:: Doug or DougluXe OTHER CHARACTERS:: N/A ROLE-PLAYING EXPERIENCE:: Around 12 years overall? HOW YOU FOUND US:: Kermit the Frog came to me in a dream. (It was Josh) NOTES FOR CONSIDERATION:: Me? Gongaga. ROLE-PLAY SAMPLE::
"Ugh..."
Oren felt a warm light over his body and... Grass? He felt exhausted so even the ground was an oddly comfortable place to lay down upon. Yet... He wasn't in pain anymore. Just a moment ago, all he saw was darkness and felt the worst pain he had ever endured in his life and now it was as if he never was. Soon enough, he slowly opened his eyes... Bright blue eyes with a distinct green glow looked up at the clear sky above him. Even though his body wanted to just lay there and bask in the warmth of the sun, he managed to force himself into a seating position. He held his head and groaned as he looked around. He still had his clothes and Lunaris on hand... But that didn't answer the main question. "Where...?" Where was he? Wherever he was, it certainly wasn't Midgar or... Anywhere he knew of?
Off in the distance, he could make out what seemed to be a large city. Flying vehicles made their way around its airspace, though they weren't like anything he was familiar with. Nothing about this was recognizable. Oren clicked his tongue. He tried to remember where he had been, but all he remembered was... The Plate falling and then darkness. Yes. Sector 7... He rushed off to help when they got the intel of what Shinra planned to do there. He must've been too late to escape it. Not even Sephiroth could've survived something like that... Was he dead then? He couldn't be... He would have become one with the Lifestream if that were the case and not... This. None of this made any sense to him. The more he thought about it, the more confusing it got.
Oren gritted his teeth and lightly hit his fist against the ground. He further forced himself onto his feet and looked off at the city in the distance. He wiped off some dust and dirt from his coat and readjusted Lunaris onto his back. Wherever he was at, that city likely will have the answers he needs. Maybe not all of them, but he'd at least get the important ones out of the way. Any intel on where he ended up, any 'opportunities' to work with, and... Maybe if there were others like him. He couldn't have been the only one to end up here like this... Right? Though, that did still leave a lingering issue. If this has happened once, who is to say it might not happen again? Does he even HAVE to die for it to occur? Would he end up all alone again without warning? The mere thought unnerved him, but... He'll need to dwell on it later. "Tch. This certainly wasn't the freedom I desired..." What a steep price to pay to be free of Shinra... If he even was actually free from them now. Well, that weird city awaits. One foot forward and then the next... Oren slowly trudged forward towards the city to see what this strange fate had in store for him.