Name: Seth Tynan McNeill: Seth "dazzle," another name for Set, the Egyptian god of chaos and storms; Tynan "dark"; McNeill "son of the cloud" -- so "son of the thunderstorm." He goes by the nickname Dusty.

Age/Birthdate/Zodiac: 26/7 November/Scorpio sun, Leo moon, Sagittarius rising

Dusty works as a part-time mechanic at Sunset City Ironworks, a custom/vintage motorcycle shop near the less-fashionable side of Downtown. He's also a full-time surf bum. Five years in the Marines was enough "school" for him -- he doesn't qualify for education benefits anyway, thanks to his less-than-honorable discharge.

Usual haunts:
▼ the beach -- either surfing, hanging out with surfers, girl-watching, hanging out with the hobos that occasionally camp out there, or feeding the feral cats
▼ any of a number of local pubs/bars all over town (as much to socialize as to drink)
▼ the local surf shop and the Pier District in general
▼ Sunset City Ironworks, usually in the garage/workshop area
▼ ...just about anywhere in town, really, except the mall
▼ Highway 1, anywhere between San Francisco's Ocean Beach and Pismo Beach (and all the clams we can eat XD) -- he avoids Big Sur, though...

Mundane: surfing, especially big-wave surfing (he considers Mavericks his home ground); people-watching; working out (still does his PT routine daily); motorcycle mechanic; and a bunch of skills acquired in the Marines, most notably MCMAP, the martial art taught in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. MCMAP is a hodgepodge of hand-to-hand techniques adapted from various martial arts schools, bayonet and sword-fighting skills, and warrior philosophy. He's a black belt 1st degree in "semper fu," and was actually qualified as an instructor. (He also knows how to do things like jump from planes, shoot a variety of firearms, and kill you in your sleep, but there's not much day-to-day call for those skills...)

Super: storm predicting, sensing static electricity, and a roundhouse punch from hell.

Likes:
▼ the ocean, especially the ocean around Sunset City (lots of awesome surfing spots!)
▼ motorcycles (rides a heavily-customized 1948 1000cc Indian Chief motorcycle with a DIY sidecar-thing for hauling his surfboards)
▼ winter (Pacific storm season makes for Happy Dusty ^_^)
▼ girls <3
▼ the open road
▼ hippie drum circles
▼ cats (he's befriended the local feral cat population as the Bearer Of Tuna)
▼ bacon
▼ interesting and intelligent conversation
▼ places with free internet computers so he can check surf conditions up and down the coast (alternatively, mooching computer time from his friends for same -- he doesn't even own a cellphone until September 2008, nevermind a computer)

Dislikes:
▼ boredom (a bored Dusty is a road trip waiting to happen)
▼ generic anything (malls and mall culture fall under this)
▼ seagulls
▼ meat (the bacon mentioned above is an honorary vegetable, as is tuna)
▼ localism (he'll surf wherever he wants to, and will break the legs of any local surf punk stupid enough to mess with him or his gear)
▼ nicknames like "Snow" or "Whitey" (or "Thor" for that matter)
▼ tv (he'll watch the odd movie if someone's playing a DVD, but that's about it)
▼ deliberately belligerent jerks
▼ coffee (he's a tea and chai guy, though he'll hang out at coffee shops)
▼ falling short of his own lofty expectations

Timeline:
▼ 1982: born in San Francisco to dad Brody and mum Rosemary
▼ 1993: gets on a surfboard for the first time at Ocean Beach
▼ 1998: moves with dad to Half Moon Bay to live with his hippie surfer uncle Doug when dad loses both job and wife; surfs Mavericks for the first time and survives
▼ 1999: Uncle Doug gives him a sword inherited from a random distant cousin; it gives him a faint tingly feeling which he dismisses as hippie woo-woo
▼ 2000: graduates high school, enlists in the Marine Corps on a dare
▼ 2001-2004: is part of the first group of recruits to go through MCMAP, decides he wants to be a DI; works his way up to black belt 1st degree and is recommended for instructor training
▼ 2004: gets "stop-loss"-ed and his enlistment is extended for two more years
▼ 2005: gets kicked out of the Marines early for "insubordination", returns to Half Moon Bay; buys motorcycle, builds a sidecar-thing to transport his surfboards, and strikes out on his own
▼ 2006: encounters a daemon-seedling while surfing the rocky coast near Sunset City and awakens [kelp seedling]
▼ 2006-2008: spends the next two years bumming up and down the coast and catching odd jobs while playing with his "thunder dude" abilities

--This Year (2008):
▼ early September: finally decides to land in Sunset City, gets a job at Sunset City Ironworks, camps on the beach until he finds a place to live -- which he does in short order, moving into the Fortress after answering an ad and getting a two-for-one daemonic seafood deal in the process

Appearance:
▼ Hair: Dusty's hair is a pure, almost luminous white. It's mostly straight, just brushing the tops of his shoulders, with heavy cowlicky bangs that keep wanting to fall in his face. Originally a sun-bleached dark brown, it turned completely white when he awakened.

▼ Face/skin: Honey-copper tanned in complexion, Dusty has a decidedly feral look to him; his features reflect some Native American blood somewhere not too far back in his ancestry. He's got a basically oval face with strong cheekbones, jawline and chin, a straight, slightly pointed nose, and a fullish mouth usually sporting either a faint sly smile or a wide wolfy grin. His eyes are hooded and slightly uptilted, hazel with dark brows and lashes; they squinch up nearly closed when he grins or laughs.

▼ Build: At 6' even, Dusty is slim in build, lean and ripped but not bodybuilder beefy. (Those guys in the Navy SEAL workout gadget commercials? Yeh, like that.) He carries himself in a relaxed, confident manner; proud of his physical condition and deeply comfortable in his own skin, he'll peel off as much of his clothing as you let him given the slightest excuse. The muscles aren't just for show, either -- he's strong and athletic with high endurance and lightning-quick reflexes.

▼ Clothes: Dusty's fashion sense can best be described as biker hobo/beachbum couture; his palette of choice seems to be primarily cool, subdued colors (read: so washed out it can be hard to tell what color they once were). He wears t-shirts and/or plaid flannel shirts in various states of wear (when he bothers with a shirt); ugly board shorts, cargo shorts, worn jeans, or camo BDUs (when he bothers with pants); a zip-front hoodie when it's chilly out; and either beat-up, mismatched Chuck Taylors or his old combat boots. He also wears a battered dark grey leather duster, adorned with various pins and buttons and fitted with a scabbard across the back on the inside for his sword, and black leather motorcycle chaps while out on a road trip. Surfing calls for a neoprene wetsuit.

▼ Etc: Dusty speaks in a bright, warm, low baritone that's slightly growly but not at all dangerous (unless he wants it to be XD). Good audio reference is James Hetfield. XD

Personality:
▼ Virtues: quick thinker, opportunistic and adaptable, tenacious, fearless, team player, takes his duties very seriously, can be intimidating as all hell
▼ Neutrals: happy-go-lucky, complete extrovert, what you see is what you get (and he'll gleefully show it all to you), incorrigible flirt, shameless mooch (will eat anything that looks even remotely edible)
▼ Vices: impulsive, prone to wanderlust, relentless in the extreme, amoral, ruthless, personal perfectionist, knows he's a complete badass

Dusty is one of those people who comes across as genuinely larger than life. A former Marine, he's fully aware he's a serious badass but doesn't flaunt it unless necessary; in truth, he's an easy-going, happy-go-lucky guy with a very live-and-let-live outlook on life and absolutely no fear. The True Love of his life is the ocean; he lives for surfing, especially big-wave surfing. He'll drop everything to chase the perfect wave, and always has a wetsuit and board packed and a full tank of gas in his motorcycle, ready to hit the road at a moment's notice. As good a surfer as he is, he's never considered going pro -- he's afraid it'd be too much like work and he'd stop loving it. He'd rather be a happy, if occasionally homeless, surf bum.

The word that best describes Dusty is shameless. He's a "coyote philosopher" who is completely lacking in morals, though he does have a strong set of personal ethics. He's a charming rogue who loves the ladies and will take advantage of any opportunity to chat up a pretty girl. He's also an unashamed mooch and master scrounge; his catchphrase could well be, "Are you going to eat that?" He likes doing things for his friends and loves to play Mr. Helpful -- if something needs doing, he'll give you a hand regardless of what it is, like make repairs to your car or be your workout buddy. Gregarious and sociable, Dusty has never met a stranger. He considers everyone a friend, from the hobos camping on the beach near the cliffs to the celebs "slumming it" around town during the film festival, even if the latter tend to look askance at him.

Despite his laid-back, friendly surf-bum demeanor, it'd be wise to remember that Dusty is a trained warrior. He is not an inherently violent man, but sometimes his behavior will remind you just how dangerous he is, especially when he's pissed. His temper is of the slow-burn-then-explode variety, though nothing makes him blow up faster than someone harassing his friends -- he will go from Mellow Dude to Mop The Floor With The Troublemaker faster than you can blink. He is not afraid of physical confrontation, and as big and strong as he is, he can inflict some pretty major damage when he's of a mind to. Dusty suffers from rampaging perfectionism, though of a purely personal nature. He gets frustrated and angry with himself when he can't do something perfectly the first time, or when he doesn't live up to his own ridiculously high standards, and will keep pushing himself sometimes well past the point of reason. And when the frustration gets to be too much, he'll often just take off on a road trip out of the blue; the road is his safety valve, and keeps him from doing anything stupid when he's upset, or bored for that matter.

While he can function as a solo operative, Dusty works best in a group. He might clash with the leader(s) on occasion -- largely over tactics -- but he's steadfastly loyal to his teammates. Dusty's an expert at flying by the seat of his pants, quickly analyzing a situation and adapting his actions to changing circumstances. He takes his Hunter duties very seriously, even before he knows that's what he is; he will take full and ruthless advantage of his teammates, drawing on their energy for his Thunder attacks or to throw down a ward (once he figures out how to do this) without hesitation.

Elemental Control: Weather: Thunder
Dusty has to take a creative angle to using his element, since thunderstorms are rare on the Pacific coast. Thunder is essentially a sonic boom created by lightning -- thunder cannot happen without lightning, and lightning always creates thunder. It's a combination of air (the compression of which causes the sound) and energy. It's not the lightning itself he manipulates -- it's the sound and pressure of the superheated air rapidly expanding around it. Natural lightning is, of course, the best source of thunder, but he can utilize any form of arcing electricity, from the spark of a static shock to the plasma bolts from a Tesla coil. Even the static electricity sparks created when petting a cat make a tiny sonic boom, and that can be enough for him to whip up a little marble-sized thunderball. Anyone with an element of Lightning, Plasma *koffDeonkoff*, Electricity (especially Static Electricity), Storms, etc. can serve as fuel for his attack.

Abilities:
▼ Thunderclap: Dusty can gather the energy from a "lightning" source and, clapping his hands together in front of him, manipulate it into an extremely loud thunderclap and a visible shockwave extending out from him in all directions. The shockwave affects people and objects within a radius up to 30ft, and can knock anyone in close proximity flat (friend or foe, so it'd be a good idea for his teammates to brace or shield themselves somehow). There's the potential for actual property damage, such as flattening newspaper boxes or breaking windows or even causing structural damage to buildings if he can make a powerful enough thunderclap, or a series of claps in close succession. The thunder can also cause concussion and/or temporary hearing loss -- at around 120db, it's LOUD. It even rumbles off into the distance, too, for added effect.

Thunderball: He can also concentrate the thunder into balls and throw them at a daemon (or whoever). The balls of compressed thunder look like shimmering air in Dusty's hands, about a foot in diameter -- the shimmer is actually the visible shockwave. They hit their target with a loud BOOM and a force akin to being hit by a speeding bus. He can make itty bitty ones, too, which hit like a paintball x5. Ow.

Etc.: Because thunder is so closely tied to lightning, Dusty can tell when local conditions are right for storms and predict when and where they will form by sensing the static electricity buildup in the air. He can't summon storms -- he only knows where they'll be and makes a point of being close enough to intercept the energy. Physically, his element manifests itself in the form of increased punching power (though not anywhere near Knight-level); he can throw a blow so hard it will make a sound and knock his target through sheetrock

.

▼ Daemon Tracking: Dusty's daemon radar isn't the best (read: he's completely daemon-headblind). This is a HUGE source of annoyance for him. He'll try (in vain, of course) to improve this skill. Try not to make too much fun of him.

▼ Finding Hunters: his Hunter radar, on the other hand, is pretty darn good. Because he is constantly on the hunt for his element, he's become very good at detecting when an element is being used and the general vicinity it's being used in, within about a mile radius. If he's in close proximity to you, he can tell you're a Hunter just by testing for his element and finding yours. He typically can smell/taste another Hunter's element, literally sniffing them out.

▼ Laying Wards and Seals: In time. ^_^

Type of Hunter: Mage

Relic: Summoner-attuned Sabre, apparently a family heirloom. It looks more like a cutlass, with a heavy, slightly curved blade about two feet long and a handguard curving back up over the grip to the pommel, and is made entirely of steel. Dusty uses it like a lightning rod, either holding it up in the air or plunging it tip-first into the ground, to "call" lightning, which in turn creates thunder which he can then manipulate. The sword's also useful for slicing and dicing daemons, as he keeps it very sharp.

Band: Fortress. <3