Alya
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History
Alya was born in the city of Lantan, in the Forgotten Realms, located somewhere in the Fae Realm. She grew like most Rock Gnomes typically do, enjoying life, making friends, learning things, but also often tempted by the adventuring vein that so often leads her species out in long journeys. After meeting a genuine Human from Earth, she decided to leave her home and old life behind, and embark in a new adventure, moving to Earth. Making her home in the United States of America, where she lived for several decades. Roughly in 2010, she had made herself quite at home already, having a place of her own, plenty of companions that she could call friends, and even a certain wish to consider Earth as her new, proper place. For that to happen, she also felt like she had to help out. Idealistic and dreamy, she spoke to some of her friends, many of which had individual superpowers that weren't often alone sufficient for hero work. Yet, together, and aided by Alya's intellect, she devised a plan that eventually turned them into a very efficient group, named the "Rolling Plains".
The members of the group were Adolf "Schrodinger", Hinari "Tsukumogami", Charlotte "Magpie", Rachel "Postbox Girl", Richard "Shortcut", Elaine "TagMaster", Hughes "Book Reviewer", Penny "Penny" and Andrew "Collector. While most of their powers put individually might not have amounted to much, when used together, they were an incredibly capable team. They worked together for several years with success, even making it to the news at some point, though as all things do, everything must come to an end. Hughes was the first to go down, captured in an ambush where he was seeking clues towards finding the criminal acts of a gang in New York. Unable to fight on his own, the man was gunned down and his body was later discovered by the police. Having collected his phone, the perpetrators used it to find his remaining companions, and one by one, they wound up executed. With only Alya alive, she ended up under police protection for a while. Once the smoke lowered, she opted for revenge, and despite the odds managed to take down the gang that ended the lives of her team, finding during it that they had all left her their powers before dying. She also found a last package sent by Rachel, before her death. Bloodstained and carrying the girl's last words, the letter begged for Alya to live on, and be happy. Sadly, Alya found herself unable to fulfill that promise.
Blaming herself for what happened to her group, Alya vowed to herself to never again put others in danger like that. Working on her own from there own, Alya's last years have so far been spent carrying on the fight by herself, while drinking herself into a stupor when not doing that. Riddled by a powerful case of survivor's guilt, she feels as if she's barely a shadow of the happy, outgoing Gnome she has once been, and that the Human world is a far darker place than she thought it was. She only wished that at this point she could die without feeling even greater shame.
Personality
Once a bright, happy and cheerful girl, the ill events of the last years of Alya's life have reduced her to a brooding, solitary and quiet creature, afraid of attaching herself to others again for fear of bringing their demise like last time. Tormented by survival's guilt, Alya strongly believes that if she had never appeared in the lives of her former team members, they would never have died so miserably, and that they would perhaps still be happy, alive. The memories of the good times she had with them, of the friendship and comraderie shared with the team, serves as a form of torture, making her feel as if she never deserved those things when all she ultimately did was fail her team when they needed her the most. This all also caused her to acquire a drinking vice, which she believes to be the only thing keeping her from seeking her demise on her own. Instead she does it by her continued acts of defiance against villains and enemies, maybe secretly hoping that one of them will kill her instead, but also finding herself unable to simply lay down and die.
Powers
Alya's primary power comes in the form of an unique power called "Soul Broker". Unlike the name implies, it is not actually tied to one's soul, but rather the meaning behind its usage. Once activated, Soul Broker allows Alya to trade anything with anyone, so long as the receiver accepts it. It allows her to trade memories, skills, years of life, even powers, and the extent of what she can possibly trade is rather vast. A secondary, subpower called "Soul Will", allows her to inherit things from those who willingly leave it for her in their last moments of life. Those things will typically immediately be brought to Alya, in case of things such as skills and powers. In the case of objects and such, she simply becomes very acutely aware that she has received the belongings. The following list pertains to her current inherited powers:
Tsukumogami - Give life to objects, including a physical form. Basically give a false-spirit to an inanimate object, make it become a living thing for a limited time. Can turn a chair into an animated construct, for instance. Limited to objects that are ten feet tall, or shorter. The object must be at least a hundred days old. Requires Alya to touch the object for at least five seconds. Inherited from Hinari "Tsukumogami".
Schrodinger's Cat - Controls outcomes of actions, so long as the chance of them occurring isn't zero or beyond her ability to realistically react to the world around her. For instance, she can always dodge a bullet if there is a chance of it being dodged, but if it is fired at point-blank range, with zero possibility of her succeeding at evading it, the power will fail. Inherited from Adolf "Schrodinger".
Magpie - Can fit anything in her pockets, so long as each item can fit easily into a regular pocket in first place. There's always space for more. Likewise, she can pull any pocketable object out of her pockets if she has encountered said object before. Doesn't work if the object is being held by another person, or stored in a "locked" container. Inherited from Charlotte "Magpie".
Postbox Power - Allows the user the power of instantly teleporting anything that was correctly stampted and addressed and placed into her hands. Makes it work like an instant delivery system. The object can be of any size and weight, so long as it is properly packaged, stamped and addressed. Inherited from Rachel "Postbox Girl".
The Shortcut - Allows the user go anywhere in 20 minutes, no matter where it is. If it's a district away, or a planet away, they can go there, so long as they vaguely know where it is, or they have a GPS location or address. Can take others along for it. It occurs as just regular walking, for 20 mins, and suddenly they're in the intended place. Inherited from Richard "Shortcut".
Tag - Have the ability that when she touches anyone and say "Tag you're it!", the target becomes irrationally aware that he's tagged. The target will become paranoid and obsessive about the "tag". The longer the time they have it the worse it gets. The level of paranoia varies, ranging from leading the person into a hysterical state or outright making them tempted into suicide. Can be removed by the user saying "I take it back". It persists even if the user dies. Inherited from Elaine "TagMaster".
Reading Judgement - Allows the user to be able to tell how good a book or movie is just by reading the cover or summary. Works decently as an investigative tool, as it can be used to read clues and information and discern whether it is "good" or "shoddy" writing. Inherited from Hughes "Book Reviewer".
Exact Change - The ability to turn money into exact change. This means that she could rip a $20 bill into two $10 bills, or smaller bills into coins, and so on. Can also adjust to different currencies with that, even turn jewels into money, for instance. Traded for with a fellow Gnome from her homeland.
Penny for Your Thoughts - Allows the user to compel people to speak whatever is on their mind, loudly and without hesitation, so long as they take any coins belonging to her. They won't notice they've done it for a few seconds. Very difficult to resist unless one is aware that the power is being used. Obtained from Penny "Penny".
Injury Collector - She can take injuries and illnesses off people, curing them, and store them in her pockets (it looks like a little glass marble with a tiny picture of the wound or the symptoms of the disease in it). Later on, she can take those injuries back out and throw them like projectiles, inflicting them on whoever she hits. There's a limit to how many she can carry at once and it doesn't work for her own injuries. Often used for healing purposes. Inherited from Andrew "Collector".
