Zedalith
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INFO
Whether you've died screaming and alone, or blissfully drifted off into nothingness, you have died with regrets and have been given a second chance. Colloquially, you are referred to as an Agent: a dead mortal that has been brought back from death by the Seraphim. The Seraphim are a collection of otherworldly beings that appear as differing species of owls to mortals— their true forms would inspire fear in even the most indifferent. Your task is to hunt down the enemies of the Seraphim that exist in the mortal realm, referred to as aberrations. Each victory adds a few more grains of sand to the top of your hourglass.
Simply said, every win gives you more time on this plane of existence. An hourglass is given to each agent as a nifty way to track how much time is left on their clock. The catch? You have to cut off all ties with your old life, if you happen to come across someone you would’ve recognized, you’d simply appear as another face in the crowd. If you managed to convince them of your prior identity, the punishment would be steep. That is to say, you’d receive a deduction in the time you have left. An even greater crime would be the assault or murder of a human in the mortal realm, you are here to protect, and hurting someone is entirely antidotal to the mission given by the Seraphim.
Maintaining the Veil is part of your mission in ensuring the protection of humanity. Agents must operate without clueing humans in regarding what lies beyond. A quick tap on your hourglass will pause time for mortals, allowing Agents to operate in secrecy with relatively little effort.
When not hunting aberrations, agents are as plain as any other mortal. They sleep, eat, and can get injured. But as long as they have sand left in their hourglass, they cannot die. They will simply wake up again unharmed and at the Regenesis Hotel by the next morning. To enter the hotel, one must simply step through any door and wish for it. It serves as a hub for agents to sleep, eat, and enjoy some mild luxuries free of charge.
Aberrations come in many forms, some monstrous, some humanoid, though they have a few things in common. Aberrations are echoes of humanity, born following tragic or emotional events. Most are relatively harmless and can be dispatched effortlessly by your average Agent. Agents are gifted with supernatural abilities to aid them in combating these aberrations, supporting their allies, or dragging these evils out of their hiding spots. There is a great variety in gifts that agents might receive and it's not uncommon that their gift relates to how they died, or something they wanted in life.
While aberrations cannot be perceived by normal mortals, they can still do a great deal of harm. More powerful aberrations can influence the emotional state of those around them, and influence them to act unusually. Stronger still, are those that can possess a human, or even establish full control over an entire population. The most powerful of aberrations can damage the environment or even directly cause death.
Injuries on the job are not uncommon. In the interest of ensuring their ability to serve, the seraphim keep their agents’ bodies in top shape. One might think of this as a sort of snapshot that their bodies are returned to every morning. That is, at approximately 7:00 AM PST, any injuries received in the last 24H will be recovered. Depending on the severity of their injuries, some time might be deducted from their hourglass. As a result of this homeostasis, agents do not age. The seraphim only chooses those who are willing and ready to serve them, you will find no children among their servants’ ranks.
Three seraphim are known to regularly interact with and serve missions to the agents of the Regenesis Hotel: Strixiel, Nyctiel, and Glauciel. They can telepathically communicate with the agents while outside of the hotel and are known to only appear directly while inside its constraints. While their knowledge is great, they are not omnipotent as it pertains to the aberrations. In particular, their knowledge of the mortal world is obscured in areas where there are many of these aberrations or strikingly powerful ones.
While Agents are free to hunt on their own in their downtime, most of their more challenging foes will come from assignments directly given by the Seraphim.
Strixiel appears as a small elf owl, small in stature—he is no bigger than a sparrow. He has a round head with large, black eyes that are almost too big for his face. While Strixiel might come off as stern, there is an air of eccentricity that makes you question the authenticity of every word. Despite his size, he tends to flutter about with a confident, regal air. He is known to be easygoing and almost a matriarchal figure among the agents.
Nyctiel is a spectacled owl, with feathers that are colored a rich chocolate brown, below its gaze lies a shock white plumage. Much to the frustration of her agents, Nyctiel is seldom straightforward. She does not often give all of the details when it comes to any directives she might assign. She enjoys testing and challenging her agents, in a constant effort to push them to become better.
Glauciel is a crested owl, with a plumage that is a mottled brown and black. Two twin feathers protrude from the crown of its head, which much to his dismay, are often confused for horns. Glauciel tends to be more stoic as compared to his cohorts. You will rarely find anything but an unshakable indifference when peering into those large, amber eyes. Glauciel tends to be both the most punishing and the least rewarding. While stern, there is the benefit that Glauciel tends to be much more predictable to work with as compared to the other seraphim.
BORROWED TIME
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I enjoy what you've put together with the dynamic between Oskar, Richard, and his father. I am also just a sucker for anything even vaguely resembling a crime syndicate, haha. Oskar and his friendship with Richard was well-thought-out! The bit at the end was very unexpected and left a lot of room for fun plotlines in the future, which I always appreciate. Makes you feel bad for Oskar and makes me want to know what happened between the missed years with his father. The entire circumstance as to how Oskar and Richard’s friendship began (with the abandonment by his father) is sketchy and makes me question if Richard somehow orchestrated the situation to begin with. I do think his gift is a pretty unique take on shadow manipulation as well. I don't see anything that needs to be added or changed at the moment, very well done.
my condolences to whoever that winds up being 
