Storm Surge |
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Portrayed by Chace Crawford |
Statistics |
Full Name |
Rowan |
Age |
28 |
Height |
6'2" |
Build |
Slight and Lean |
Eyes |
Hazel |
Hair |
Muddy Brown |
Factions |
None |
Occupation |
Dimensional Refugee/Commando |
Alignment |
Hero |
Claim to Fame
Rowan isn’t famous among either his people or the surface world on Earth 626, though on Earth 81 he was a military legend. It’s hard to miss a soldier that can transform into a twenty ton lizard and rip apart warships with his bare hands.
Reputation
Rowan, or Storm Surge as he went by back home, has is at present a relative unknown among the denizens of Earth 626 though he does have this way of, ahem, making a splash.
Biography
Earth 81 isn’t hell… but it’s about as close as one gets without upsetting Etrigan. This is no less true under the waves than it is on the land. The support of the Atlanteans for various bands of Homo Magi against the psionic overlords that rule most of the surface has cost the world under the waves dearly as the war has not been confined to the land, nor have the psionic overlords been particularly discriminating in their targets, striking the dwellings of Atlanteans, Lemurians, Blue and Black alike.
It was into this world that Rowan was born with an extremely rare genetic quirk that left him utterly without the hydrokinetic ability common to his people. In better times this would have perhaps been simply unusual and occasionally inconvenient. With matters as they stood though, it was enough for him to be viewed in some ways as a cripple and a curiosity. And, by some, a rare treasure.
The very fact that Rowan lacked his people’s usual psionic powers was itself an opportunity. One of the biggest limiting factors in tech use for the blue was the fact that their brand of cybernetics tended to interfere with their natural psionic ability. This wasn’t a huge disadvantage when the best weapons that hostile land dwellers had to throw at them were submarines and charges dropped from surface ships and the occasional land dwelling metahuman. However, the air breather’s technology became more and more advanced – particularly in their ability to create cybernetic super soldiers that could maneuver and fight effectively in the depths – the inability of the Blue in particular to leverage their own technology became a great problem, one that they were unable to solve as their hydrokinetic heritage was so ingrained in their culture and being that even under extremis the Blue were loath to deprive their people of it for the sake of making warriors.
Rowan, however, had no such limitation. When he came of age he was extended an invitation to serve his people in a unique way, by taking part in an usual collaborative process between Atlanteans, Blues and the reclusive Black that would if successful forge him into a shield for his people and a sword against their enemies. With surfacer attacks intensifying and claiming more lives every day, it was no surprise to anyone who knew him that he accepted.
The project combined Blue technology, Black mastery of genetic tampering and Atlantean magic to alter Rowan’s genetic and metaphysical nature – connecting him very deeply to the memories of ancient titans of sea and sky, allowing him to take on aspects of their nature or, in extremis, assume their forms.
Then they sent young Rowan to war. In the course of ten long years the young Blue fought the enemies of his people on land, in the sea and in the skies. As he matured and learned to master the subtleties of the abilities he’d been given he found himself assigned to ever more desperate tasks. The long war continued to grind on, often going against his people. Victories were few and far between and even then the cost in blood was often high. The losses, regrettable but necessary in the cruel calculus of war, nonetheless weighed heavily on soldier that Rowan had become, making him withdrawn and taciturn when not actively on duty.
The end, or perhaps one could say the beginning, began like every other call for help before. Undersea cyborgs from a hostile surfacer faction had begun to set up unusual equipment in a nearby undersea canyon that was, if the Atlanteans were to be believed, rending the fabric of time and space itself. Why they were doing so did not mattered. It was unlikely to be anything good and had to be stopped. Sadly, the site itself was well guarded when Rowan and his strike team arrived. As the fighting raged the tear grew larger and larger. In desperation, the Blue assumed his most powerful form and attacked the machines maintaining the portal directly. He succeeded, but as the tear collapsed inward a powerful vortex drew Rowan into it… and in moments he had vanished entirely.
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Character Details
Back home Rowan was known for being taciturn and withdrawn. He still kind of is, not yet over the long strain of war and the shock of being suddenly ripped from his home and robbed of much of his memory. The confusion this breeds leads him to seeming more worn and tired than purposefully antisocial these days.
S.U.R.G.E. |
Rowan has a secondary set of genetic coding that is activated by implanted Blue cybernetics, forcing the secondary genetics to override his primary ones and – in essence – shapeshift him. By selectively activating this code, Rowan can give himself draconic traits to enhance him or aid him in battle though there are some limitations (see Aether Linked, Dimensional Shock and Progressive Inhumanity). Presently the traits that he can give himself are increased strength (20 ton limit at present), enhanced speed, armored scales, draconic senses, claws, tail, wings, enhanced healing and energy manipulation abilities. (The last three subject to some limitations). |
Aether Attunement - Water |
By using his innate magical gift, Rowan can attune his body with the metaphysical nature of water. While water-attuned Rowan’s body realigns to become even better in water than his blue physiology normally allows. He becomes immune to extremes of cold, can move through water at speed (40 to 100 knots depending on his exact form and the trait’s he’s assumed), and gains the ability to very accurately sense and locate sound. Additionally his skin manifests a light bluish tint, becomes cool to the touch and his movements become very fluid and graceful and lithe (which has applications both in and out of a fight.). Any draconic traits he manifests while so attuned are slanted toward suitability under water. Scales and armor becomes fish-like, limbs are webbed or manifest fins, senses become honed for low light conditions and any energy he manipulates is sound based. |
Aether Attunement - Air |
By using his innate magical gift Rowan can attune his body with the metaphysical nature of air. While air-attuned he is immune to extremes of altitude and mundane electrocution, can jump further, run faster than normal humans, fall from great heights (skyscraper heights) without injury and is much, much more agile. His skin takes on a pale cast and he starts to smell faintly of ozone. Any draconic traits he manifests tend to be brightly colored and include feathers and raptor-like features and any energy he manipulates is electrical. |
Aether Charge |
Rowan can draw Aetheric energy into himself without aligning himself to an element. Doing so provides him with some measure protection against magical or psychic attack. It’s imperfect, but it does work. He can also channel some of this energy into items he holds in his hand, something he typically does with the weaponry and gear he brought with him, making it much more effective. |
Undersea Commando |
In his home reality, Rowan was an elite soldier and has the training to match. Even still remembers most of it after the mind-bending trans-dimensional passage. Markmanship training, hand to hand both armed and unarmed and of course survival, evasion and fitness were all part of his ‘on the job’ skills. Skills that, it must be remembered, he used for ten years before coming to Earth 626. |
Military Education |
A background in advanced cybernetic and computer technology, undersea search and navigation, and demolitions was a tactical necessity for people like Rowan on Earth 81. On the more peaceful Earth 626 there’s a lot of civilian application for things of that nature and his expertise might be sought after and well compensated in the right circles and circumstances. |
Blue Physiology |
Though technically now genetically distinct from regular Blues thanks to the genetic tampering he underwent, Rowan still physically behaves for the most part as an ordinary Blue, albeit one in peak physical condition. As such he can breathe both air and water indefinitely, does not suffer from extremes of depth and cold, has vastly superior lung capacity and – thanks to all that moving about in water under pressure – strength and muscular endurance moderately above the peak human norm. |
Advanced Arsenal |
Rowan had a full battle load of equipment when he vanished from his world. Sadly, most of it didn’t make the trans-dimensional transition in usable shape. The things of note that did are a belt capable of ‘growing’ him clothing appropriate to his situation (blending in was often necessary on surface missions), a flashlight sized cylinder that can grow into either sword or spear, and a bracer on his left arm that can project either an energy shield or a crossbow like construct that hurls charged shards of coral seemingly created ex-nilho. |
Aether Link |
Rowan’s very nature has been realigned to be in tune with a source of magic that has been known by many names over the ages. The Light. The Song. The Dream. The Atlanteans who taught him of it called it the Aether and his link to it is the source of much of his power. Without access to it, he is unable to attune himself elementally, which means he’s generally weaker and unable to gain attributes such as wings (which requires and air or fire attunement), energy manipulation abilities or enhanced healing (which requires a water or earth attunement). |
Dimensional Shock |
The passage through the collapsing gate to Earth 626 was rough and robbed him of a lot of vitality and, more importantly, memory. He is unable to manifest more than a few traits at a time and – at the moment – flatly unable to make a full draconic transformation. Aside from that, his memory in general is full of holes. He’s still discovering odd gaps in what he can and cannot remember and even worse, memories are prone to being triggered by external stimuli often at inopportune times. |
Stranger in a Strange Land |
This is not the world that Rowan came from. On the one hand, that’s good. Society hasn’t crumbled and there isn’t eternal war from horizon to horizon. On the other hand, many things that were survival skills for Rowan on Earith 81 are creepy, criminal or outright wrong on Earth 626. The presence of mutants is a constant shock and psychics who aren’t Blue make him downright paranoid. On top of that there’s always the potential for awkwardness or danger when he runs into alternate versions of people he knows or knows of. |
Progressive Inhumanity |
Every draconic trait Rowan manifests makes him a little bit more inhuman looking. Sometimes the manner in which this is displayed is predictable as with scales or claws or wings or a tail, but even manifesting traits like increased strength marks him in a noticeable if sometimes subtle way. Eyes turn reptilian, he grows fangs, or draconic horns or small spines or other things of that nature. The more traits he takes on, the more obviously other he becomes. |
Atavistic Tendencies |
Taking on draconic traits slowly pushes him into a draconic, predatory, territorial frame of mind. Attuning himself to an element predisposes him to think along elemental lines. Combine the two things and you get a man who cannot always be trusted to think in ways that are normal even for the world he came from. Combine *that* with his fractured memories and psyche and you have a very dangerous mix indeed. |
Locked Abilities |
On Earth 81 Rowan could attune himself to five elements, not just two. The passage through the Way-Gate disrupted his connections with Wood, Earth and Metal and additionally robbed him of his memories of ever having that connection to begin with. He may rediscover the possibility of linking with other elements in time, but it’s unlikely he’ll learn how to do it again without a skilled mage to teach him, or a sufficiently stressful experience as a catalyst. |
Magically Obvious |
Though no mage, Rowan has a natural ability to draw and align magical energies in big ways. This marks him to creatures with magical senses as ‘magically active’ and has the potential to make him intensely… interesting to a variety of unsavory, unscrupulous and downright dangerous beings. |
Relationships
Image |
Name |
Relation |
Information |
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Character Name |
Friend |
Insert a description of the relationship here. |
Notes
<This section is optional. You can delete it.>
Character Gallery
Logs
Debriefing Blues
March 26, 2015: Ulani reports to Jerosh on Rowan and Aspen Matthews (emits by Rowan)
(log: 20150326-debriefingblues | tags: rowan trailblazer | posted: 26 Mar 2015 20:19)
Where the Dragon Suns
March 23 2015: Rowan meets with Aspen, Ulani and Mera show up
(log: 20150323-where-the-dragon-suns | tags: aquawoman fathom rowan trailblazer | posted: 05 Apr 2015 11:56)
Follow The Fish
March 18, 2015: Ulani goes looking for "Where The Dragon Suns Itself" and meets more than she anticipated
(log: 20150318-followthefish | tags: aquawoman rowan traiblazer | posted: 21 Mar 2015 10:47)
About That Blue
March 18, 2015: Ulani debriefs her superiors …. (emits by Rowan)
(log: 20150318-aboutthatblue | tags: rowan trailblazer | posted: 19 Mar 2015 12:23)
(Sort of) Friendly Skies
March 17 2015: A group of (mostly) flyers run into one another over Metropolis
(log: 20150317-sort-of-friendly-skies | tags: corvinus misfit oracle rain rowan supergirl | posted: 18 Mar 2015 12:11)
Signalling The Blue
March 14, 2015: Rowan uses the buoys that Babs created to signal the Blue and meets someone new.
(log: 20150314-signallingtheblue | tags: rowan trailblazer | posted: 15 Mar 2015 10:37)
State of Mind Checkup
March 12, 2015: Babs catches up with Rowan to check on his state of mind.
(log: 20150313-stateofmindcheckup | tags: oracle rowan | posted: 14 Mar 2015 11:16)
Above The Clouds
March 7, 2015: Rowan takes Kara and Babs soaring above the clouds
(log: 20150307-abovetheclouds | tags: oracle rowan supergirl | posted: 13 Mar 2015 11:47)
The Tides of Blood: Atlantis Invades
March 6, 2015: The Atlanteans Invade! Can our heroes turn back the tide?
(log: 20150306-atlantisinvades | tags: aquaman aquawoman columbia lunair namor rowan spearhead supergirl zatanna | posted: 08 Mar 2015 03:56)
Echoes of Other Oceans
March 03 2015: Rowan drops by to visit Aspen and DMD. Namor does the same, at the same time.
(log: 20150303-echoes-of-other-oceans | tags: fathom namor rowan | posted: 04 Mar 2015 11:50)
Helping Jim Unwind
March 2, 2015: Pepper decides Jim needs some 'down time' and invites some friends to help
(log: 20150302-helpingjimunwind | tags: corvinus nyc oracle pepper_potts rowan | posted: 03 Mar 2015 11:19)
Have You Considered
February 23, 2015: Rowan drops in to tell Babs about Arthurs' missing body and the conversation goes in an interesting direction
(log: 20150223-haveyouconsidered | tags: gotham oracle rowan | posted: 03 Mar 2015 12:03)
The Tides of Blood: Where's The King
February 22, 2015: Mera lets Rowan and Simon Williams know the Kings body is missing.
(log: 20150222-wherestheking | tags: aquawoman rowan wonder_man | posted: 13 Mar 2015 20:48)
Diplomatic Waves
February 19 2015: The Ambassador of the Blue delivers Mera some bad news.
(log: 20150219-diplomatic-waves | tags: aquawoman rowan | posted: 22 Feb 2015 02:10)
Searching The Blue
February 16, 2015: Babs catches up with Rowan… for various reasons.
(log: 20150216-searchingtheblue | tags: gotham oracle rowan | posted: 19 Feb 2015 06:03)
Deep Blue Sea: Learning to Swim
February 09 2015: Rowan makes good on his promise to teach Aspen about being Blue. Thiiiiiis could take a while.
(log: 20150209-deep-blue-sea:learning-to-swim | tags: fathom rowan | posted: 10 Feb 2015 11:08)
Seafood and Movies
February 08, 2015: Babs and Rowan have dinner and watch movies
(log: 20150208-seafoodandmovies | tags: nyc oracle rowan | posted: 13 Feb 2015 11:21)
Aquatic Barrage Release! Curiosity
February 02, 2015: Namor and Rowan investigate the site of an explosion and some wreckage. A science Explorer is likewise doing the same.
(log: 20150202-aquatic-barrage-release-curiosity | tags: atlanteans fathom namor rowan waterfolk | posted: 03 Feb 2015 03:20)
After The Rooftop
February 2, 2015: Rowan drops in to visit Babs after his sojourn on the Titans HQ building.
(log: 20150202-aftertherooftop | tags: gotham oracle rowan | posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:46)
A Dragon On Titan HQ
February 2, 2015: Rowan perches on the Titans HQ building and has a conversation with Keith and Gar…. and Babs
(log: 20150202-adragonontitanhq | tags: changeling nyc oracle rowan vorpal | posted: 04 Feb 2015 03:32)
NYE Fireworks
December 31, 2014: Rowan and Babs watch the fireworks over the water.
(log: 20141231-nyefireworks | tags: oracle rowan | posted: 01 Jan 2015 22:35)
It Came From Planet X
<December 30, 2014>: When one of Reed Richard's inventions is tested in public by the government, something goes wrong.
(log: 20141230-it-came-from-planet-x | tags: eventide ff4 martian-manhunter meggan miss-america mister_fantastic rowan seikatsu | posted: 02 Jan 2015 00:36)
Fishy, Fae Tea
December 29, 2014: Babs heads out for a cup of tea with Rowan and things go from there
(log: 20141229-fishytea | tags: aquawoman oracle rowan vorpal wonder_man | posted: 30 Dec 2014 02:35)
A Day at the Beach
December 27, 2014: Some Atlanteans, Frenchmen, a Dragon, and an award winning novelist spend the day at the beach.
(log: 20141227-a-day-at-the-beach | tags: aquaman aquawoman green_lantern grendel rowan stacy-palumbo-npc | posted: 27 Dec 2014 11:17)
Poker Tournament
December 26, 2014: A poker tournament hosted by game with Constantine doesn't go as planned
(log: 20141226-pokertournament | tags: constantine domino ms_marvel rain rowan | posted: 31 Dec 2014 01:18)
Spreading The Joke
December 24, 2014: Tim calls in Nightwing to discuss what happened with The Joker
(log: 20141224-spreadingthejoke | tags: gotham misfit nightwing oracle robin rowan | posted: 26 Dec 2014 23:06)
Flash Mob? (Light Language Warning)
December 23, 2014: A disparate group of folks seek to water their sorrows in a New York bar. It gets… worse.
(log: 20141223-flash-mob | tags: columbia flash hawkeye_ii nyc rowan seikatsu | posted: 24 Dec 2014 07:21)
Blanket Forts and Towers
23 December, 2014: Rowan drops by after Babs encounter with The Joker
(log: 20141223-blanketfortsandtowers | tags: gotham oracle rowan | posted: 27 Dec 2014 08:45)
Barn Raising
December 23 2014: A strange psychic beacon calls several heroes together
(log: 20141223-barn-raising | tags: human_torch luke_cage midnighter rowan | posted: 13 Jan 2015 10:59)
Costume Design
December 19, 2014: Oracle calls Misfit and Batwing in to discuss things, Batgirl arrives and then so does a Dragon.
(log: 20141219-costumedesign | tags: batgirl batwing gotham misfit oracle rowan | posted: 19 Dec 2014 11:27)
12 Days of Christmas
December 18, 2014: Rowan takes Babs christmas shopping in New York
(log: 20141218-12daysofxmas | tags: oracle rowan | posted: 31 Dec 2014 02:54)
Waterside Brunch
December 17, 2014: Brunch for Rowan and Oracle
(log: 20141217-watersidebrunch | tags: oracle rowan | posted: 31 Dec 2014 00:34)
ePocalypse Now
December 11, 2014: ePocalypse shows up in Gotham
(log: 20141211-epocalypsenow | tags: gotham misfit oracle rowan | posted: 17 Dec 2014 10:00)
Gunpowder Tea and Atlantean Art
December 10 2014: Babs and Rowan discuss Atlantean art and culture
(log: 20141210-gunpowder-tea-and-atlantean-art | tags: oracle rowan | posted: 11 Dec 2014 02:58)
The Floating Arm
December 09, 2014: Deadpool pays a visit to Roxxon Oil in Gotham and is foiled by Oracles team on the ground…
(log: 20141209-thefloatingarm | tags: deadpool gotham lady_blackhawk misfit oracle rowan | posted: 10 Dec 2014 09:55)
Gone Dark
December 08 2014: Rowan checks in on his friend Babs
(log: 20141208-gone-dark | tags: oracle rowan | posted: 11 Dec 2014 00:47)
Men with No Name
December 04 2014: Oracle witnesses a fight between Rowan and the Nameless
(log: 20141204-men-with-no-name | tags: oracle rowan | posted: 11 Dec 2014 00:34)
Memories that Never Were
November 28 2014: Rowan and Mera speak of memories of other places
(log: 20141128-memories-that-never-were | tags: aquawoman rowan | posted: 30 Nov 2014 12:07)
Private Airspace
November 27 2014: A chance encounter high in the sky leads to a philisophical conversation
(log: 20141127-private-airspace | tags: rowan storm | posted: 29 Nov 2014 12:42)
Clocktower Conversation
November 27 2014: Rowan visits Babs for tea. The two talk about nothing of importance
(log: 20141127-clocktower-conversation | tags: oracle rowan | posted: 30 Nov 2014 12:12)
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