Auntie Gravity
{$actor}
{$actor} as Mildred Thornton
GENERAL
Name: Mildred Thornton
Birthdate: {$birthdate}
Faction: n/a
Codename: Auntie Gravity
Position: Baker; bakery owner
Hometown: Hometown
FAMILY STATISTICS
Partner(s): Bill Thornton (deceased) Height: 4'7"
Father: Joachim Brukheimer (deceased) Weight: 99lbs
Mother: Rosabel Brukheimer (nee Cornwallis) (deceased) Hair Color: Gray and brown
Siblings: Reginald (d.), Bayard, Flossie, Ogden (d.) Eye Color: Blue
Children: None

Background

Born Mildred Ethel Brukheimer on the fifth of January, 1892 (and named after an elderly relative who'd died two days before), the second of five children (first of two girls). She turned out to have something of an adventurous streak but, as she was a girl, neither her parents nor society were willing to let her indulge it, and she was frequently drafted into looking after her younger siblings, rarely finding the opportunity to leave the house. Fortunately, she enjoyed cooking and especially baking (a passtime deemed acceptable) almost as much as the Jules Verne novels she occasionally managed to get her hands on (not so acceptable but easily hidden under a skirt).

Despite her tightly-controlled home life, she was given some limited freedom once she passed 21 - freedom which she was careful not to be caught abusing - and she took the opportunity to start dating in the hope that she might find a boy who would help her escape to a better life. The necessary circumspect approach led to a succession of unsuitable suitors, but in 1917 she met Bill Thornton and fell in love… just before the US joined WWI and he was shipped overseas. Mildred waited for his return, the attractions of other boys as nothing compared to the prospect of an unconstrained life, and unhesitatingly married him upon his return after the war. Unfortunately, Bill had been injured in battle and the hoped-for freedom was curtailed while he recovered.

They opened a small retail bakery where they could share the work. Time passed; Bill's wound lingered. An unplanned pregnancy resulted in both stillbirth and sterility, and Mildred found herself almost thankful despite her health concerns - her parents would no longer pressure her for grandchildren, and catering for the frequently-visiting nieces and nephews seemed to her to provide all the benefits of parenting without any of the work or worry.

But the freedom she'd always wished for remained elusive. Just as Bill finally seemed to be recovering, the Great Depression arrived, leading to a constant struggle to make ends meet. Shortly after that ended, the rationing of WWII took many of their most important ingredients, and then death took Bill - perhaps the stress had weakened his already-poor health. Still, Mildred carried on - what else could she do? Despite having one fewer mouth to feed, she had to resort to selling off possessions to get her through the lean times; rationing's end in 1946 came none too soon.

Perhaps, as a widow freed of responsibilities, Mildred could finally have remade her life without the strictures of before… but she was old and the world had changed so much from what she once knew, and it felt easier and safer to stay in her rut. So she remained, and baked, and was that sweet old woman with the corner shop that had the best cookies, and life was unexciting but tolerable.

And then, in 1963, a battle of superhumans smashed its way into her store and buried her in rubble… and it floated gently off her as she rose into the air, her newly manifested powers making the weight of years slide off like an old overcoat. She didn't understand how she gained these abilities, but as she explored them, her old dreams began to resurface. Is it too late to begin a new life at 71? She knew one way to find out.

IC Events

Traits

  • Gravitational manipulation: Mildred can change the direction and intensity of the gravity acting on a person or object, with a maximum limit of three tons, and scaling the intensity to anything between 0G to 1G. While she can use this ability on herself at will, she can only affect one other person or object (or a collection of objects in contact over a significant portion of their surface area, such as a knight and the armour they're wearing, but not that knight's weapon - these affected objects are all affected equally). She must be in direct physical contact with this object for half a second before the power takes effect, and it ends instantly if this contact is broken (though normal clothing doesn't interfere).
  • Gravitational barrier: Through a reflexive application of her power that she doesn't quite understand, Mildred can distort space in a layer directly above her skin to slow or dissipate incoming force (such as those from punches or lasers), though this will also propel her away from the attack at a speed proportional to this force reduction, while also producing a visible distortion in the air proportional to her remaining defensive reserve. While it can completely block an incoming attack if at full strength, this reserve depletes with use, growing less effective and letting a steadily increasing percentage of energy through. Regardless, a powerful enough attack can empty the entire reserve at once; any excess can strike Mildred unimpeded. If full, the reserve can defend against a total force equivalent to 10 tons (89,000N), though it is more swiftly drained by repeated blows in quick succession. When not in use, this reserve will gradually regenerate, going from fully spent to completely restored in roughly an hour. The use of this power is instinctive and will trigger as long as she's conscious and not deliberately supressing it.
  • Short- range gravitational sensing: Mildred can detect anything within 5mm (0.2 inches) of her skin as long as it could possibly be affected by her gravitational barrier. This sense provides minimal information and has little value beyond letting her use her barrier against unseen attacks.

Gallery

Sorry, we couldn't find any images attached to this page.

Logs


Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License