i n f o

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[ Stats ]

Name: Ellever "Elle" Brandt
Age: In her forties, but stopped physically aging after 20.
Height: 5'6"
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Brown
Sexuality: Pan, Demisexual
Occupation: Operations Director for Zier Security
PB: Imogen Poots

[ Background ]

In the 1970s, a man working for the police as a patrol officer witnessed a neighborhood disturbance caused by a child who threw a car down a street. Ezra Zier, who had always believed in the supernatural but who had never found a lot of proof, quit the force that day and tracked down the child, a ‘missing person’ for several years who had survived a house fire as a baby — one that had claimed her parents. With his recent inheritance from a father who had invented a major product used in construction, Ezra bought a warehouse in Los Angeles — because supernatural happenings were less concentrated there than on the West Coast. He wanted his home base of operations to be in a secure location. Or relatively, at least.

He adopted the little girl using a few less than sterling connections he’d made in the force and set about putting together a small group of like-minded people. But his goal wasn't to study or provide a sanctuary. His goal was, mostly, monetary. He could use the supernatural as a weapon in private security, and with a solid financial base, they could also learn about what they found and keep it out of more corrupt hands. Over time, he found creatures that had managed to disguise themselves in the modern world — some who even appeared human, who he could hire and who wanted to be productive members of society. And some who he created habitats for in his base of operations, with little more intelligence than animals, who he wanted to keep safe (and to keep others safe in return). The little girl grew up surrounded by monsters and adoring them as her family.

In the present time, the little girl has grown up and Ezra has come to a startling revelation, thanks to a psychic staff member — she's the figure sometimes called the Antichrist, the harbinger of the end of the world. For many years he had her as one of his ground-level employees, but now he keeps her as Director of Operations: someone who looks after the base and researches new supernatural leads. None of the other employees know what she is; most of them have a theory and none of them are even close to the truth (the most prevalent theory is that she's a werewolf).

[ Personality ]

"Calm" is a good word for Ellever. She's often the quietest person in the room unless prompted, content to observe and then offer a piece of calculated advice. While she was prone to blowing up and getting angry as a child, she's more or less got a good lid on it now. She has a dry sense of humor; if she tries to make any other kind of joke, it often falls flat on its face. However, while she's quiet, Elle's expressions tend to do the talking for her. A lot of faces are made, brazenly, regardless of what outcome it will lead to. She's completely unafraid to speak her mind. Similarly, Elle has little capability for white lies (if she's speaking at all) and attempts are always awkward.

This might make some accuse her of not caring about others' feelings, but Elle does care. People and small talk are an awkward affair for her, though. She's much more comfortable around the monsters that she calls her friends and family, and has a soft spot for anyone who feels like an outcast (like she does).

For a shitload more on all that, go here for a character survey!

[ Appearance ]

Average height, wispy blonde hair at just below medium length and often frazzled. As someone who literally lives at her job, Ellever tried for a long time to stay to her dad's dress code. But eventually, over the years, the business casual has more or less fallen prey to just "casual." She wears nice shoes (usually boots), but the rest of her wardrobe is chaotic. Graphic tees, jean shorts (she does favor shorts in general), flannel button shirts with dark colors, the very occasional loud print blouse from when she gave a damn. What's consistent is that Elle is always wearing dangling earrings, and highlights of those include polka-dot octopuses, grinning cat faces, palm trees with an accompanying sun, and so on; the wilder the better. Her profession always shows its head in two ways: a belt holster that holds her pistol, and a large knife tucked into one of her boots.

[ Abilities ]

Elle has two states of being. "On" or "off," as Ezra likes to call them. When off, Elle is reasonably immune to most attacks — she cannot be stabbed, shot, sliced, impaled, bludgeoned (debilitated by it, anyway), or burned. According to a psychic who was once employed at the Facility, she will be immune to such things until such a time as she ends the world. Along those lines, Elle is oddly incredible at causing mayhem — panicking crowds, fighting with weapons (headshots galore), getting into places she shouldn't seemingly with just luck. However, the longer she indulges in this, the more likely she is to switch "on", which is something she wants to avoid. When on, Elle has increased strength (enough to dent metal), can influence the minds of others with suggestion, has an innate bond with so-called “monsters” and other supernatural creatures, and cause hallucinations; her eyes turn fully black when she uses her powers. In a several-mile radius around her, bad things tend to happen — horrific accidents, an increase in negative feelings, chaotic weather patterns. Anything that can go wrong, does, badly. Witnessing an employee of the Facility shoot another, and then themselves, helped convince Elle to only use her abilities when she absolutely has to.

These are watered-down states, as well. When Elle was a younger child, Ezra performed an exorcism and was able to extract what he believed was the bulk of her soul — what made her able to end the world. The essence, taking the form of a billowing black smoke cloud, is encased in the basement of the Facility, and Elle hopes it stays there for the rest of her life.

On a mundane level, Elle is a formidable organizer, trained in hand to hand combat and firearms. She runs the day-to-day operations of Zier Security.

[ Important Peeps ]

Ezra Zier Senior Director Elle's adoptive father and the founder of Zier Security. An agreeable man, always with a smile on his face, who likes creative answers. As a younger man Ezra was a patrol officer for a police department in New Jersey, like his father before him, and itchy to do something different with his life. He'd always been interested in urban legends and cryptozoology, before he even knew the name for the latter, and this interest received an enormous spark when he answered a late-night disturbance call for an affluent neighborhood. He found Elle as a toddler, having thrown a car in a moment of rage and fear, without her parents, and recognized her as a missing child whose parents had died in a house fire. Her insane strength made him hesitate on bringing her back to the station, and this decision was cemented by a sighting of the Jersey Devil, shortly down the road. He decided to set out and explore this new world he'd developed and then started his own security firm to capitilize on the information, hiring creatures with strange abilities who could pass as human. Though he also wanted to learn about them, Ezra couldn't deny that their protection was much more thorough than most. His firm would rocket to the top in a short amount of time, setting his base of operations in Los Angeles in order to be closest to his wealthiest clients.

Sanjay Bakshi Officer Sanjay has worked for Zier Security for ten years now — an exceptionally long time, for a mundane human. He began the job nervous and easily frightened, but this nervousness has mellowed out into pure world-weariness. Having seen his fill of both cryptids and humans, working both sides of the Zier Security coin, nothing much surprises him anymore. He has a wry sense of humor that gels very nicely with Elle's, and the two of them have become friends, rather than simply colleagues, in the last couple of years. He knows there's something Off about her, but doesn't care to know what it is. Sanjay ends his tough days going home to his apartment and smoking a bowl, usually alongside classical music, of which he is an enourmous fan.

Circe Woods Human Resources Circe is gentle and stately, and takes no shit from anyone. She was brought on nearly ten years after the founding of Zier Security, when it was gently pointed out that perhaps someone should look after the mental health of employees. Circe was a skeptic at first, a trained and distinguished therapist that Ezra pursued because of her lengthy past with abnormal psychology. But it was hard to dispute the evidence Ezra had collected, and Circe was sufficiently intrigued to see how far the rabbit hole went. She was simply Elle's therapist, at first, but over time Circe has grown into more of a maternal role in her life, especially after Elle's hiring into the company and her appointment as Operations Director.

The Fuzz Mascot During Elle's early years as an employee, she led a trip to West Virginia because of a tip from a reputable source she read online that claimed the Mothman had been sighted again. Due to her own abilities, Elle was able to find it and befriend it, at which time she discovered that the "mothman" seemed to be an enormous moth emerging from inside of a person (which presumably had been a larva inside them). They brought the body back to the Facility in time for the moth to 'hatch' in earnest. The moth is male, friendly, and has lived for years, unlike the lifespan of most moths. Elle named him Fuzz, on account of how fluffy he is, and Fuzz has grown to the size of a truck. This has led the group to the uncomfortable realization that a female is out in the woods somewhere, perhaps laying eggs inside of people, and that mystery is something Elle is determined to solve one day.

code by photosynthesis

[ The 'Verse ]

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