[Kasey Westhope]

Kasey Rowan Westhope
FACE CLAIM: Mateus Verdelho

♦ THE BASICS ♦

AGE: 31
GENDER: Male
ORIENTATION: Bisexual
POSITION: Groundskeeper, Bellefonte Academy

♦ THE ABILITY ♦

POWER: Avian Mutation
Protruding from Kasey's back at the wings of a golden eagle. The wings themselves are close to sixteen feet across and accurately mimic the shading of a golden eagle; brown with white highlights on the underside and black tints. They are quite broad and streamline, built for power in order to actually elevate and keep his heavier human form in the air. While the golden eagle species is the second fastest flyer in the world, Kasey's size and shape is too large and cumbersome to reach speeds anywhere near as fast as their famed 322km/h. He can however hold a decent speed, averaging 65-80km/h at his fastest pace. The more altitude he gains, the easier it is to gain speed.

To combat the cumbersome nature of his wings, Kasey's mutation gives him the ability to retract the limbs into his back until they have completely disappeared. In place of the wings are two scars which run the entire length of his back in a V shape, the same location the appendages originally sprouted from. Both retracting and expanding his wings is painful for Kasey, as he is literally absorbing a piece of himself into himself. His skin tears (explaining the scars) and the wings either fold into his flesh, or unfold out of his back.

He can fly as an estimation for seventeen hours before dropping out of the sky with exhaustion, this is at the slower speeds of 35-45 km/h. He can increase this time by catching warmer air currents and riding them, however he often avoids this since he can't actually direct where he is going all of the time.

Apart from the actual appearance of his wings, the constitution and development of Kasey's body is also unique. Due to the strain of flight his body has developed and maintained extra muscle, predominately around his shoulders, back, neck and pectorals. Similarly through the constant use of his added appendages, he has retained this muscle even when his wings are retracted. Kasey's body and constitution have also taken on a more avian-like form. He has air sacs attached to his lungs, like that of a bird. These air sacks, as well as having lighter (and in some cases hollow) bones allow Kasey to move faster and altogether remain airborne when flying. The extra ability to take in more oxygen than the average human also allows him to hold his breath for longer, as well as increasing his stamina and respiratory functions.

LIMITATIONS:
- The length of time Kasey can fly and the speeds he can reach are entirely dependent on his own stamina and fitness level.

- It takes Kasey approximately one minute to retract or release his wings, both of which are painful for him.

- Kasey's eyesight and other senses have remained unchanged which can prove to be a difficult while in the air.

- Ascending or descending too quickly leaves Kasey susceptible to altitude sickness.Mild cases only have brief side-effects (nausea, headaches insomnia) but a severe case could cause death.

- The absolute maximum height Kasey can reach is 1,500 feet.

SIDE-EFFECTS:
- Due to his lighter, and sometimes hollow bones, it is very easy for Kasey to crack or break bones compared to regular humans.

- Due to the biological changes in his lungs, Kasey can quite easily suffer from Lung Hyperinflation, which can cause coughing, difficulty in breathing and frequent bouts of nausea unless treated.

- Kasey suffers from asthma.

- Due to the large amounts of energy he burns from flying, Kasey has been known to faint if he does not keep himself hydrated and fed to replace the calories he is rapidly burning.

- While his eyesight and senses have not changed, Kasey's dietary requirements have been affected by the mutation. His diet has shifted almost entirely to red meat, sometimes including small bones for their nutritional value.

♦ THE CHARACTER ♦

HEIGHT: 5'8"
HAIR COLOR: Brown
EYE COLOR: Brown

MISC: Full back tattoo of bird wings; tattoo sleeves on both arms. Moon sequence tattoo across the back of his neck.

PERSONALITY:
Kasey has always been a guarded sort, preferring to watch and listen before offering his opinion or letting people close. He has no particular dislike for people, but is just as happy to be alone than a large group of people. Perhaps it is the Golden Eagle in him, but he has always been solitary and anti-social. He has found love and companionship in the natural world, and believes it is all he needs to be fulfilled.

From a young age Kasey has been many things. Intelligent, hungry for knowledge, organized, and something of a perfectionist. He knows how he likes things, and will suffer for however long it takes to settle things just the way he wants them. He has always enjoyed learning, particularly from books and practical application. From his experiences he has learned that knowledge doesn't always equal power, and has been forced to admit that despite his intelligence, he is still capable of making very stupid mistakes.

Kasey can sometimes be blindsided and over-driven by his own desires. He can be selfish and sometimes greedy, often when it comes to his wings and his time alone. It is these things he cherishes above all else and he will guard them violently, sometimes to protect not only himself but others. Since returning from service he has developed an unexpected fear of the dark and needs to sleep with a nightlight. His paranoia and perfectionism has also increased to the point where he is almost always armed with a knife or some weapon beneath his uniform.

Kasey has a rather wry sense of humor. Most times he's accused of having no humor at all. He can be crass, though around the academy tries to keep his language in check. There's something old-fashioned to the way Kasey speaks sometimes, spouting 'sirs' and 'ma'ams' as if he were born to do it. The manners, despite his standoffish personality can likely be credited to his years of service and the rigorous rules drilled into him.

SECRET(S):
- Loves the taste of raw eggs
- Scared of the dark

♦ THE HISTORY ♦

Last Unit:75th Ranger Regiment, 3rd Battalion
Branch: US Army

Born in Alaska to Doug and Judy Westhope, Kasey was the first child of the family and destined to be loved. The house they lived in was small but homely, seated at the base of a snow-covered mountain. For the small family, carving a living wasn't necessarily easy, but it was well-loved and made worthwhile by the affection they held for each other and the few neighbors that lived nearby. In the small town they lived in, Judy was the only doctor and well respected for her skills and kindness. From a young age Kasey would do his part to help however he could, often accompanying Judy on jobs or helping his father with housework. By the time he was twelve, he was even proficient at hunting. He was the reliable firstborn, drinking in knowledge eagerly and keeping his younger siblings in line, of which there were two.

Anastasia and Hamilton, the twins, were born when Kasey was twelve and made their small cottage rather cramped, but it hardly seemed important. Then, two years later an answer to the problem they'd never minded presented itself; Judy was offered a professional job as a doctor in Australia. Kasey was loathe to leave his snowy home behind, especially to trade it in for a country he'd heard was practically violent desert. But the pay on offer was much better than what they currently earned, and a larger house was also on offer. In the end it wasn't Kasey's decision, and the family packed up and left Alaska when he was fourteen.

At the age of fifteen Kasey had settled into his new home, adapting to change in his own resourceful manner. Moving to Australia wasn't the only change presented to him in his teenage years. He began suffering from violent nightmares, typically dreaming of being attacked by shadowy birds. Most mornings when he awoke his bed was littered with long, brown feathers. About a week after the nightmares began the family took a roadtrip to the You Yangs, a series of granite ridges and mountains within Victoria. While hiking up the rocky faces, Kasey slipped and fell off the side, down a rather large chasm. As he fell, it was with great surprise and intense pain that he sprouted a large pair of feathered wings. His body acted automatically despite the pain and Kasey flew himself to safety before collapsing and fainting at the base of the rocks, his back torn open and bloody. His mother and father rushed him home, wary of taking him to a hospital. Judy treated him as best she could, and representatives from the Australian academy found him bedridden still a week later. He was taken immediately to the academy for further, specialized treatment and remained there as a student for the next few years.

After some research he conducted within the academy infirmary, Kasey discovered the wings on his back were those of the American Golden Eagle, a species native to his home in Alaska. He hypothesized that his mutation was influenced by his place of birth. Remarkably, he took to being a mutant with relative ease, accepting the supernatural with many questions but few doubts. Confined to a bed for two weeks to heal left him plenty of time to research about his new life and academy. Unfortunately, his hyper-rational mother did not take to the change so well. She'd had no previous knowledge of mutants, as neither she nor her husband had been one. It was merely assumed the gene resided somewhere deep within their ancestral line. Be that as it may, the doctor visited her son less and less over the growing months, until eventually they ceased altogether. Kasey continued to speak with his father when he could, but it was rare.

With Kasey's intellect and passion for learning, and considering he had very few distractions to bother him, he found the academy life to be quite pleasant. Within the first few months he had moved out of his family home and taken up boarding, finding the atmosphere less tense and the silence fruitful for his study. It also provided him the perfect setting to practice his flying, a mode of transportation that he quickly grew to love and cherish. The wings themselves reminded him of his Alaskan hometown and were his most cherished possessions.
The academic side of things proved to be remarkably easy, and he spent extra time working with his mutation thanks to his love of it. He occasionally suffered nightmares like the ones from 'before', but otherwise remained content. He graduated the highschool at the age of seventeen, having advanced a year ahead thanks to his hard work.

Kasey went immediately into the Australian University, studying double degree of a Bachelor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery. His love of medicine and healing hadn't diminished, even considering his estranged mother. He enjoyed helping people, and found the medical sciences to be an interesting field to stretch into. The course itself went for another four years. Now in his twenties, Kasey had mellowed out slightly and found it easier to step away from his studies and spend time with those around him. He began hiring himself out as a tutor to make some extra money. He met many remarkable friends in this way.
By the time Kasey graduated he was twenty-one and had recognized within himself, a dilemma. While he'd enjoyed learning, he found the idea of going into a hospital or clinic undesirable. The work experience he'd created had reminded him too much of his mother, and the routine nature of the days quickly bored his active mind. That, and it was apparent rather quickly that he didn't have a wonderful bedside manner. A little lost on what he would do and in need of some soul searching, Kasey traveled back to Alaska.

He enlisted in the US Army after a few months. It wasn't a path he'd ever really considered for himself, but after giving himself time to think on the idea, it became his passion. He could learn, he could protect and he would be in situations he would be forced to adapt to; at least to his thinking. He enlisted that same year. If he hadn't been in top physical condition due to his wings and the airborne trips he took with them, he would have certainly wiped out of BCT. It was an experience unlike anything Kasey had ever experienced, and he loved it. The hardest part was keeping his wings hidden under his skin. He hadn't expected to miss them so much.

Time passed and he pushed through the rest of his training, BCT and AIT included. He was scheduled to be deployed to Iraq in 2007 as part of Bush's troop surge. Before leaving he commissioned a tattoo, a full back piece of his wings. Since he couldn't have them out during his service, he wanted as much of a reminder as he could get. He left for Iraq and served for two years before entering into selection to qualify as US Army Ranger Medic. After completing his training he was assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment, 3rd Battalion at the age of twenty-three.

He spent the following six years deployed in both Afghanistan and Iraq with his Battalion, acting as their medic. As time passed he grew more reckless, missing his wings and freedom. He valued the lives and the trust of his comrades more than anything else, but he'd wanted to save lives, and while he was doing that, there were thousands of people that he couldn't help. It was disheartening and it took his toll. He became more reclusive, not so much that he was shirking his duties, but he took to enjoying time on his own like the old days. He took risks, releasing his wings and taking to the air when he found a private area or quiet space. He always removed his uniform and covered his face before doing this, just in case he was sighted. That was something the army, something the world, didn't need.

Unfortunately the resurfacing of his flying proved to be his undoing. While most of his avian biology had remained dormant thanks to the lack of flying he was doing, reawakening his wings also brought them back. His large lungs and additional airsacks, combined with flying, increased physical activity and the arid landscape he was serving in brought on a terrible bout of asthma. He hid it at first, barring the consequences, and received a bullet just below his left kneecap and a dead comrade, who had been trying to shield him. Crushed by guilt, he was medically discharged for his asthma and sent home.

Unable to stomach the serenity of his home in Alaska, and without a job, Kasey began traveling. Eventually, perhaps by fate, he found his way to Montana. He knew of Bellefonte academy of course, but had never imagined he'd find himself there. He certainly had no wish to be a teacher, but he gripped the idea of the familiar academy tightly, viewing it as a sort of sanctuary for himself. He couldn't think of anywhere else to go, not until he'd fixed his head; if he ever could. Hell, he wasn't even sure where his head was. He was supposedly a smart man, who had made a stupid, selfish mistake.

He took a job as a groundskeeper, a quiet, unassuming profession where he would hopefully be left in peace. He didn't want a job that would use his brain, didn't want to go anywhere near medicine or open wounds. Gardening; it seemed serene and quiet, and maybe what he needed. As soon as he was settled into Bellefonte he started layering himself with tattoos. There was a part of him that wanted a red cross on his chest; there was a larger part that made him throw up at the idea. He got both arms done, and a line of moons across the back of his neck, then started immediately planning the next ones. He needed to change himself, his face, his reflection. Maybe it would make him feel better, or change himself on the inside, was what he hoped. He was age thirty when he finally settled into his antisocial routine as an over glorified gardener.

♦ THE PLAYER ♦

USERNAME: Trick
AGE GROUP: Twenties
EXPERIENCE: Arguably too long
WHERE DID YOU FIND US? Can't seem to leave

[★ MEL]

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BY EDWARD OF GS