[color=black][b]OOC Steam/Forum Name:[/color][/b] Chris

[color=black][b]What is your timezone?:[/color][/b] Eastern Standard Time


[color=black][b]Main Character Name(s):[/color][/b] Jake Reyles


[color=black][b]Desired Vortigaunt Name:[/color][/b] Dh'xern


[color=black][b]Describe the history, psychology, and physiology of the Vortigaunt species:[/color][/b]


The history of the Vortigaunts is mostly unknown but we are told small amounts throughout the game. A long time ago, before Half-life cannon the Vortigaunts lived peacefully on their home plant. The name unknown to us. Long before Half-Life 1 even occurred the Combine Empire had invaded this Vortigaunt home world, successfully capturing more than half of the entire Vortigaunts species. The Vortigaunts that survived had fled to Xen. During the Black mesa incident the Vortigaunts had found a new way to escape the Combine, and under the control of Nihilanth, took the portals to Earth. Following the death of the Nihilanth the Vortigaunts had become " freed " from it's grasp and had learned to ally themselves later on with the Human Resistance. To aid the overthrow and destruction of the Combine on Earth.
The psychology of the Vortigaunts is very unique to their race and sometimes resembles that of a human on the more intellectual level. As seen in Half-Life 2, the Vortigaunts are very sophisticated and intelligent. Through the Half-Life series we usually have seen Vortigaunts in pairs and groups, they are very intelligent and work together. When dangered with a larger foe the Vortigaunts will often run away and form an ambush, or group with other Vortigaunts to take down the larger foe. The Vortigaunts also have a strong culture which consists of the " Vortessence ". They believe that the " Vortessence " is the all power of the world and that the entire universe is held together by " vortal cords ". Overall the vortigaunts show much traits of a humanoid and share almost the same mindset. They have religions, languages, and different ways of life.
Physiology of vortigaunts resemble that of a human just as the psychology, but in a weird different twist. The vortigaunt shares the same appearance of a human in a lot of aspects. Vortigaunts have two legs which do resemble humans in some form, but have an awkward inward bend at the knee and have a large hoof instead of a foot. Vortigaunts also have two long arms and instead arms and instead of hands have long protruding claws. The Vortigaunt has a hand protruding from it's chest, found in other Xenian species such as the Grunt and the Nihilanth. Other species related things are that Vortigaunts and other Xenian species have red eyes. The Vortigaunts have which appears to be one gigantic eye with several other opened slots. Vortigaunts have teeth, but only on the top of their mouth, they have no teeth on their bottom jaw and no teeth. Just as humans, Vortigaunts have skin, but it is more of a thick leathery hide which has probably adapted to help deal with dangerous creatures and things of the other sort.
Another thing the the vortigaunts obviously posses is the Flux and the Vortessence. These, they treat as mother nature and or a religion of sorts. Flux and the Vortessence. Vortigaunts posses their own form of communication which is seen in Half-Life 2 and refereed to as " flux shifting " . This method of communication is unique to vortigaunts as it requires frequencies of sound the Human's cannot hear. This is because Vortigaunts have " Vortal inputs " which may suggest that vortigaunts can use their minds to talk, inaudible sounds for humans to hear. Vortigaunts have also developed the ability to speak English, they have a lisp and or speech impediment on R's and S's but it is still English. The Vortigaunts do not speak using casual English terms though, they have developed such English diversity such as Shakespearean times.
The Vortigaunts believe in a life-force which they refer to as the Vortessence. The Vortessence cannot be handeled by humans do to our nature but can be harnessed by the Vortigaunt. Using the Vortessence the Vortigaunts can telepathically communicate like seen in Episode two. Vortigaunts worship the " vortessence " and assume that it is the fabric of the universe, made of vortol cords, of which the entire word is woven and connected. The Vortigaunts are able to use these extremely powerful force for their electric powers, telepathy, and their ability to leach the energy from animals. With the saying " The world is woven by the vortessence ", can explain why the vortigaunts can harness the power anywhere and anytime.



[color=black][b]What do you feel you can offer to the Vortigaunt group?:[/color][/b]


      I feel that I can offer the Vortigaunt group a new aspect of Role-Play and a " funner " side to it. I enjoy having my fair share of very serious roleplay and I do enjoy doing it frequently, but most of the time it gets boring after a period and is a real downer for a lot of people. I'd hope to bring in new aspects of roleplay, new ways to roleplay, and other ways to expand the role play of the average Vortigaunt just trying to fit in. I am not saying that I will be unserious or a troll/minge on the Vortigaunt but more of a open minded player who knows the limits and looks for an enjoyable experience for all players. I also am a person who enjoys helping newer players and with this, could bring further interest into the Vortigaunt group.


[color=black][b]What Vortigaunt players have you roleplayed with, if any?:[/color][/b]

I wont bother putting a copy-paste of my older application of others that I have roleplayed with but moreso a new updated list of the Vortigaunts that I frequently Roleplay with, interact with, or have in recent weeks. I have a very enjoyable roleplay experience every time that I roleplay with vortigaunts which is why I am re-applying for another.

The first time I re-roleplayed with a Vortigaunt was on my first trial with Slergh. I was walking around on Kehalm just passiving with Refugees on server 3 when all of a sudden Slergh appeared at the camp. At first Slergh and I were awkward, figuring out our characters, learning to speak properly, and learning how to interact with others. We had a difficult time at first but we vastly expanded over a course of minutes and I was beginning to have a very enjoyable roleplay experience. Slergh and I discovered a " sound box ", a radio made by Dark Knight, which created almost two and a half hours of roleplay as we discovered the weird contraption and investigated it. Unfortunately I took a long LOA from TnB and hadn't any time to roleplay with Slergh's Vort anymore.


My second time roleplaying with a Vortigaunt was with Dark Knight's character, Ozaxi. My roleplay started off slowly on my Resistance character Jake Reyles, Ozaxi and him having a long past between eachother. As things went on, Ozaxi accepted Jake as a friend and allowed him the opportunity to aid her. I willingly accepted as I know Dark Knight is a great roleplayer and I really felt like getting back into the RP scene after my LOA. I started off with helping Ozaxi strip the corpse of an Antlion, she taught Jake some recipes and how to cook certain things on an antlion. Needless to say, Ozaxi And Jake : Feast De La Resistance is now available in stores. After a good two hours of roleplay between us Ozaxi, Driver, and myself pulled the camp together and served a feast for all. A large passive event where everyone could be calm and enjoy themselves.

Unfortunately my recent Vortigaunt RP list is small and I hope to expand it, whether it between Vortigaunts or on my Resistance character.


[color=black][b]Describe your Vortigaunt's personality and/or backstory:[/color][/b]

Dh'xern's story starts on Earth, on a large island, in a large city. Dh'xern was a slave to the Combine of City Eight. By day Dh'xern lived life as an enslaved creature, he was treated as if he was not living, if he had not emotion, no feeling, a rat. A holocaust of his people and he was right in the middle of it. Life wasn't so rough for Dh'xern, he used to live in the furthest outskirts of the Outlands, residing in a small camp with his own kin and humans aswell. Dh'xern adapted to the humans as easily as they adapted to himself, they all faced the same goal, the downfall of the Combine. While the downfall at the time was not likely Dh'xern knew that the time would soon come so he did his best to stay alive.
           One peaceful afternoon in the far reaches of the usually quaint and quiet Outlands there came the ear-shattering pattering of helicopter blades. The Combine had never come this deep before, they had no reason to. Despite their efforts the encampement was spotted by the AirWatch and soon after there were the Enslavors, in full force. Some ran, others stayed, Dh'xern and his kinsmen stayed back, there was mp chance for them to run, no where to hide. The combine quickly rained upon the camp and left nothing in their destructive path, Dh'xern was one of the first to fall alongside his kin and humans. Dh'xern did not die that day but he had rather wished that he did, but fate had it's reasons for Dh'xern. He awoke inside of a blue room, strapped to a chair with metal rings around his ankles and wrists.
            As hard as Dh'xern attempted to " break those cuffs " he could not. They rendered him powerless, as meager as an ant to an adolescent boy with a magnifying glass. His power was being drained out of his body, he could no longer alter the Vortessence. Three masked men entered the room where Dh'xern now lay, they laughed to themselves and made slanderous comments, " <:: Oh look here, another test subject. " one of the masked men taunted Dh'xern, looking straight into his eyes with the heinous blue glow of the mask. " <:: Fire up the poker, we've got to mark him. " another would reply, a hissing sound followed by the embalming of a flame ensuing shortly after. Dh'xern closed his eyes as he listened to the sounds around him, the metallic scraping of tools, the burning of the flame, the heating of metal tools, shuffling feet, and the robotic voices of the masked men, the enslavors. Suddenly, Dh'xern was filled with an excruciating pain, a red-hot steel poker being pushed into his chest, just above his middle arm. Dh'xern attempted to yell but was flustered as he could not, the pain was too great for him, he searched and found nothing, no relief. Two other pokers of the same intensity followed the first, caustically burning the numbers 119 onto his chest. That was all he was to them, test subject number 119.
            The physical exertion of day-times and the nightly pain-staking tortures of nights was too much for Dh'xern, he felt as if he was going to give up. The masked men injected him daily with new drugs, they extracted his blood, and gave him daily scars from their coarse treatment. Dh'xern had forgotten what day it was, what month, what year, he hardly even took track of the time anymore. He had no hope and no salvation. The masked men were killing of his kinsmen and he was to be exterminated too. Out on his daily sweeping of the plaza in district nineteen Dh'xern noticed a man sitting at the benches pretending to read a paper, he was obviously watching the vortigaunt and looking at the surroundings of the plaza. For once in his horrible life Dh'xern felt hope. The next day Dh'xern returned eagerly to the plaza but to his blunder the man was not there. Perhaps he had imagined the man, a signet of hope, a dream. Dh'xern moped for the rest of the day in his normal depressive state, his shackles becoming heavier everyday and his body becoming thinner.
              Dh'xern knew it was his last night on the planet he called Earth, he overheard the masked men talking after one of his experimentation sessions, " <:: The Vortigaunt is not reacting to the chemicals. " , one of the men said, the other in a large coat and an authoritative posture replied merely, " <:: Dispose of it tomorrow after one more test. ", sickening.  The next day Dh'xern returned to his plaza, broom in hand, armed guard following right behind. Dh'xern pretended to sweep the concrete floors of the ever fast plaza, citizens seemingly staring at him like the " rat " he was. He no longer felt hope, he no longer had friends, he hardly felt alive anymore, he had given up on the Resistance and given up on life. Dh'xern dropped his broom at the feet of his guard, if it was his last day, he was going to end it here. The guard looked down to the broom for a second and put away his pistol, taking out his stunstick and laughing. Dh'xern swiped at the guard with his talons but was easily swayed as the guard stepped to the side and smashed him in the face with a quick and decisive blow. Dh'xern fell to the ground easily after this hit, dazed, nearly unconscious, he didn't even hear the gunfire coming from the plaza. Suddenly he was picked back up onto his feet and was quickly carried off to the slum districts.
              The men carried Dh'xern to a hidden pipeline and guided him through it to a large group of humans, armed men and woman bearing Kevlar vests and red armbands. "Welcome back! " one of the more cheery men yelled as the escorters brought Dh'xern to the group, " Set him down on the couch " the sweet and tender voice of a woman said, lightly grasping onto his weak posterior. It had been so long since he had heard the voice of a real human, or the touch of a gentle man. The contact from the humans felt so real and satisfying to him. " We can't stay here long ", a voice coming from the back, " Start heading back in groups. ", Dh'xern was picked up by the same escorts that saved his life as well as several other humans, they lead him down a series of pipes, rail ways, abandoned buildings, and even a small creek. After many hours of walking they arrived in a dimly lit and cold building hidden in an underground complex, many people and kinsmen waited anxiously for the return of the groups and their retrievals. Dh'xern felt weak in the knees at the sight of all the people and kin of his own, his eyes became flustered and he felt limp, he closed his eyes only to blink for a second... but he fell numb, exhaustion had gotten to him and he had fallen into an unconscious state again.
                The overbearing burden of the shackles upon his wrists and ankles had dissipated as he awoke from his deep slumber. It could not have been a dream, that man he saw was really his salvation, he slid his talon across his palm and cut it, allowing himself to bleed. Dh'xern smiled at the sight of the blood seeping from the wound, this was real, he was saved. Dh'xern arose from his cot and stood a free Vortigaunt for once in a very, very, long time. The sweet taste of freedom greatly over-took his senses of dehydration, starvation, and overall pain in his body. A few steps later Dh'xern found himself inside of the kitchen of the station, a fridge hummed quietly and various peoples voices echoes off of the concrete walls. Dh'xern knew he was free, fate took another tole on his life and had brought him back again. He knew his part, he knew what he had to do, he was restored to prior glory.

[color=black][b]Write out, in any fashion you desire, a situation where your Vortigaunt interacts with a citizen or refugee:[/color][/b]

                Frigid air blew throughout the dark and musky streets of the city, the weather was beginning to get frighteningly cold with each passing day, the sun's heat dissipating with the new weather. Even below the city in the atrocious sewers Dh'xern could hear the increasingly loud winds blasting past the man-holes and sewer pipes. Most of the refugees were huddled around a barrel and huddled close, they all spoke together, the fire warming their cold bodies. Dh'xern examined them closely, the weather brought people together, the warmth of the fire created one great thing that could connect everyone, for once there was civil peace. Dh'xern sat alone on a dingy old couch, every time he moved the springs underneath him would create an eerie squeak and frighten him, so he mostly sat still. With nothing to do, with nothing to say, and most of all no-one else for him, Dh'xern sat awkwardly and alone, staring at the churning brown waters of the sewer drains.
              Dh'xern didn't even notice the man yelling at him from the barrel, " Vort! Vort!" he yelled repeatedly, Dh'xern looked over at him questionably but remained quiet. The man left the group from the fire and slowly walked over to Dh'xern, a smile on his face and a metal can in his hand, " I got this for you. " he boasted, handing Dh'xern the can. Dh'xern grabbed onto the heated can and wrapped his long claws around int awkwardly, looking up at the man, " Thank you, Huuuuman. ". The man sat down beside Dh'xern and took off his face wrap, exposing his long unshaven beard, crooked nose, and large eyes to the Vortigaunt, one of the weirdest looking humans to date. " What's yer' name there buddy? ", the man loudly asked him, the gaunt and yellow teeth in his mouth flapping around with each word, " Mmm..... I am Dh'xern. ", Dh'xern replied in a calm and quaint voice.  Dh'xern shifted on the uncomfortable, dingy coach again, releasing a loud eerie squeak from the springs below him. " Y'all call me Jason, nice to meet cha', Dkerm. " exclaimed Jason with a smile, " Jasssson, your kin is.....  requessting your presence. " Dh'xern said, rubbing his long claw across his opposite arm and peering in at the meat inside the can.
               After what seemed like an eternity the man replied back to Dh'xern, " Nah, you look like yah need umin' tah talk to. ", Dh'xern shook his head at the man and remained intent on the meat, picking a piece out and inspecting it, " I am gracccced with your company, Jassson. ", Dh'xern places the meat in his mouth and chewed it, looking at Jason while doing so. A silence fell over the two while Dh'xern ate quietly to himself, Jason seemingly watched but he didn't move much, Dh'xern didn't really care at the time. " Where yah from? " Jason asked, Dh'xern grumbled at the question but reluctantly answered anyways, " Xen. ". Puzzled, the man asked another question, " Where's that? ", Dh'xern answered quickly, already knowing the question was about to arise, " Borderline planet in your universsssseeee. ", Dh'xern plopped several pieces of meat into his mouth afterwords, chewing them with a smile. "Oh, uh, that's neat, I guess. " Jason again replied, rubbing his hands over each other for heat, " Mmm.. yesssss, " neat " . " Dh'xern said with a full mouth, the meat in the can being luxurious compared to the Combine paste in which he had been feeding on for the past months.
               The miraculous dinner in the can was now gone and he handed back the container to Jason, " Mmm.... Thank you, Jassson. " Dh'xern said with an anxious voice, searching the man with his eyes for anymore food. Jason stood back up off of the couch and began to feel around his kevlar vest, " Yeah, no problem.... euh... " he studdered as he tried to finish his sentance, obviously searching for something. Jason perks up as he pulled out another can of delectable meat, he offers it to Dh'xern, " Merry Christmas, buddy. ". Dh'xern looks queerly at Jason and repeats his words, pondering it, " Chrisssssstmassss.? ". Jason stiffles a quiet laugh to himself and retakes his seat on the couch, resting the can of meat on Dh'xern's lap. Jason ponders off for a moment, looking up at the ceiling before speaking, " Christmas... it's a... human holiday, you see..... there's the story of the big fat guy, he wears a red suit with a red hat and he travels around the world on one day. Delivering toys to all the good boys and girls and coal to those that have been bad. " Dh'xern nods his head solemly at Jason making an " interested " " Mmm.... " sound. Jason looks back at Dh'xern and begins to make motions with his hands, " Apparently he lives in the North Pole which is like, the top of our wold, extremely cold and stuff, that's where his factory is and that's where he makes all the toys and lives all year. " Dh'xern interupts Jason as he talksa bout Santa, " Ehm... Thisssssss man.... He is free from ..... the grassssp of theeeee, Combine? He issss sssafe? " Jason loudly bursts out laughing and leans back against the couch, holding a hand over his stomach as he does so, " Ahhh, Friend, no... Santa Claus is just a myth.... They still celebrate the holiday, haha... It brings people together, you know? " Jason whipes a tear from his face, still chuckling quietly. Dh'xern exhales loudly, feeling slightly ashamed, " Yessss... The Jasssson tellsss of a great myth.... Mhm.... " Dh'xern pauses and clears his throat, " I have enjoyed your presence... but now I must go. " Dh'xern nods a Jason as he get up with can of meat in hand and exits the sewer station.


[color=black][b]Write out, in any fashion you desire, a situation where your Vortigaunt interacts with the Civil Protection:[/color][/b]


No.


[color=black][b]Extra comments:[/color][/b]



                       I am sorry that I was unable to finish my Civil Protection interaction part of the application, I didn't nkow if I wanted to retry being a Vortigaunt again. After having a long talk with David and watching how fun and extensive vortigaunt role paly could be I decided to begin writing an application. I started writing this application two days ago and I've been very busy with applications for other things, JAVELIN, COTA, and Civil Protection on another server. So, I am sorry that I couldn't get much down for this section of the Vortigaunt app, but if I am accepted and you want it to get done, then I will.