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31
WiP Characters / Graham Dylandy (Criticism only)
« on: June 18, 2017, 05:32:49 PM »
CHARACTER

Name: Graham Dylandy

Age: 17, 6th of Saaral

Species and Gender: Male Human

Symbol: A traditional Japanese katana with cracks and splinters coming off the blade

Occupation: First Year Beacon Student

Appearance: Graham Dylandy stands tall at 5'11, being taller than most people his age. He has a simple complexion, with pale, tanned whitish skin, grey irises and short, messy chestnut brown hair, several locks of which fall across his face. Graham has the facial shape of a slightly flattened oval, not enough to warrant it being a circle. He cuts a fine line between being built and being skinny, having enough of both to confuse people over arguing which description fits him better. Graham is left-handed instead of the usual right.

For everyday clothing, Graham chooses to show his status, opting for a sleeveless electric crimson tailcoat with bright silver linings, which travel the length of the topcoat in ornate patterns. The tailcoat reaches the top of his thighs. An armband with delicate patterns adorns his right forearm. Under the tailcoat, he wears a white and auburn tank top with black and gold trimmings. He also wears, compared to the rest of his outfit, plain white shorts with no special features to them, apart from pockets. His footwear of choice is, strangely enough, sandals. However, these are more tight-fitting than usual sandals, allowing Graham to run. His symbol is nowhere to be found anywhere on his clothing, the only visible place being a tiny stamp on his blade.

In combat, he adds on four extra components: a thin metal belt with a movable metal arm and clamp for his weapon; over his tailcoat, a small ammo belt that encircles Graham's right shoulder and armpit, holding dust canisters, and under all his layers of clothing, a complex leather harness, worn around his neck and chest, designed to reduce muscle injury from sudden jerking movements from his left shoulder reaching down to his left bicep. This is visible when fighting. The last is a mechanical combat mask that covers and protects his mouth and nose when in combat. It splits in half and loosely covers his ears when not in use. However, Graham finds the mask a bit too "edgy" and does not wear it in combat with other humans, unless there is a specific reason to (Desert environments and the like).


History: Born in a rich family in Vale, Graham Dylandy was the newest in a line of Hunters who could trace their ancestry all the way back to the Greyed War, where his ancestor fought without the usage of Dust, opting instead to carry a simple tachi into battle. It was the Dylandy family's decree that at least one descendant should carry on the mantle of being a Hunter, and as Graham was an only child, he was raised with the mindset of being a Hunter capable of impressing his father, who was also a Hunter before him, and passing on their age-old traditions to the next generation.

Every Hunter who had ever come from the Dylandy family had wielded the family heirloom, the same tachi that was used in the Greyed War by their ancestor, passed down with its techniques, kept in near pristine conditions. The techniques were, unlike others, not lost to time and stayed the same, apart from improvements added on by each Hunter. The tachi was the family's most precious possession and was what defined their style. Along with the blade, each generation passed down their gradually expanding knowledge of fighting, a form of martial art based on a iaijutsu/iaido hybrid. Graham was taught this style of combat by his father, who was brought up in the old styles and methods of the Hunters before him, which included his father's father (Graham's grandfather) and his grandfather. At the age of 7, Graham began his iaido training, practicing the movements of the tachi blade in an endless repetition, and at night, he would study to catch up on his education. Due to his implanted mindset, however, Graham showed little interest toward that direction.

It would be 3 years before his father deemed him ready to move on to actual sparring, practicing the first instance of
iaijutsu with a blunt steel blade, unlike the wooden practice blade Graham had used during his iaido training. However, 3 years of just practicing movements does dull the senses of combat, and to counteract this Graham's father brought him to an arms convention hosted by an Atlas company. There, Graham was treated to a spectacle of fighting with weapons beyond his comprehension, all bolstered with technology at another level that even two years of constant training couldn't hold a candle to. His young mind, exposed to high-tech mechanics for the first time (Apart from scrolls, his family didn't keep with the times) swarmed with ideas as to how the techniques he was learning could be aided with such technology.

Back at home, Graham spent a considerable amount of time researching different companies that offered mechanical upgrades, including prosthetics, Dust systems and launching chambers. He also brainstormed concepts that could possibly improve his combat capabilities further beyond his limits. One example was his cutting speed, where his line of thought went to Kinetic Dust. It would definitely improve the velocity of the cut, while another was to completely reforge the tachi with more modern concepts and designs. This ultimately did not proceed because Graham had zero experience with forging his own weapon. He also stayed clear from completely replacing his arm with a prosthetic, though it would be much more powerful. Being a cyborg didn't align with his interests, though he did purchase a mechanical combat mask that covered his mouth and nose when activated.

He went to his father/mentor with the information he'd gleaned and memorised, expecting to be given praise for his hard work and the green light to start modifications. What he didn't expect was harsh rebuking and what would almost result in physical punishment if not for his mother. It turned out his father didn't believe in the advantages of technology, believing that mixing it with their traditions would ruin the meaning, as well as trusting in their skills alone to carry them through any difficulty. "If it isn't broken don't fix it", basically. On the other side of the spectrum, Graham believed that combining technology with sword techniques could push the boundaries of how far he could improve, redefining his limits with no technical aid. This clearly went against the creed of the family, and his father forbid Graham from further pursuing the topic.

The young Graham was nothing if not determined at this point to prove his father wrong once and for all. He continued his training under his father with the pretense of seeing sense in what his father said, with his aim truly being to learn all he could from his father before taking his own path. At 15, with his father deeming him worthy of wielding the family tachi, he presented Graham with the precious sword, the elaborate patterns and simple yet effective blade being the chosen weapon for every Hunter under their roof. However, Graham threw that concept out the window, secretly approaching an Atlesian weapons modification store to request upgrades to the sword, providing ideas and concepts as to what he wanted done to the blade. The end result was Reformation, complete with a Dust ejection system and modernised design. Alongside the tachi, Graham requested a completely new weapon, Trinity, based off a tanto blade and completely mechanised. To prove his father wrong, Graham enrolled in Beacon Academy, relying on his training to tide him through, aiming one day to cross blades with his father and open his eyes to the wide world of opportunities that awaited.

Personality: Graham is your wealthy, old descendant of a traditional family with a twist. He is a vivid believer that technology is the next step to improving the art of combat, even going so far as to modify the old family heirloom, which is considered to be mutilating the sword, at least in his family traditions. Apart from his ideals, which he will fight to defend, he's your average rebellious teenager. Rich and yet not spoiled, he doesn't flaunt his wealth to others, only using money for essentials or enhancements to the tachi blade and sheath (basically, splurging on technology). Graham is practiced at controlling his emotions, capable of showing a good poker face. Otherwise, outside of classes, which he does not do well in (he can't really be bothered to learn stuff that doesn't relate to fighting), and fights, he's pretty easygoing, able to keep his own in a conversation-well, most of the time. In a combat situation, he's confident from the training he's been through, which could be his downfall--overconfidence. It must be noted that Graham does not fight for honor/glory, nor does he fight for the sake of fighting-he will avoid combat if unnecessary.

Graham has a few hobbies, including playing with practice butterfly knives, pen tapping, and magazine-reading, the latter only because he is constantly searching for ways to prove his father wrong, that technology does indeed push the boundaries of combat, and is the way forward if he wishes to improve. He has no skill with actually assembling technology, and relies on outside sources to supply him with the kit he needs. He highly enjoys rock and metal music, and might burst into song if he thinks no-one's looking. If faced with a problem, he has no qualms with spending money to solve it, aka "money isn't a problem". He can be determined if he wants to, even headstrong when challenged. If someone questions his ideals, like his father did, he takes it personally and will not back down until the other person concedes his point.

Aura and Semblance: Aura Color- Electric Crimson

Semblance: Taunt Targeting- Graham looks at a visible living object--human or Grimm--for 2 seconds. The target then gains a deep red glow around it's outline, only visible to Graham, while Graham also gains the same glow, only visible to the target. This takes 5% of his stamina each use. Graham gains a 1/3 damage boost to his attacks against the designated target; however, the same applies to him, as in he takes 1/3rd more damage from the target as well. The target can dispel this effect by moving out of Graham's view completely. This can be achieved simply by forcing Graham's eyes closed for a duration of time longer than a blink, or by pushing his head so he can not see his target. Or moving behind cover. Only one person can be targeted at a time, and the effects fade after 10-15 seconds. After the effects fade, forcedly or otherwise, Graham must "recharge" for 15 seconds before he can use his Semblance again.

Combat Behavior: Think of Graham as a left-handed high-tech samurai with no code of honor to uphold. Due to Graham being left-handed, any tactics his opponent may have when fighting are mentally thrown off balance. He is very flexible (his body, not his tactics) and can use this to his advantage. Graham can alter his fighting style slightly between one-handed and two-handed, one being the swifter and shorter swings and parries, while two being the heavier slashes and stabs. When using a one-handed grip, his right hand is almost always on the ridged grip of his sheath. He does not dual-wield his tachi and his tanto, only using one at a time. Graham is capable of pulling off butterfly knife tricks mid-fight to distract his opponents, though he does run the risk of dropping the blade.

He is proficient in close-quarters dueling, whether it be swords, axes or hammers, but struggles against brawlers or fighters who get inside his tachi's range, or stay far enough from him that the tachi blade cannot reach them, like spear/glaive users. Graham has no hand-to-hand training, so disarming him will render him basically helpless (he can barely throw a punch). He has based almost all his combat strategies and styles on single combat, and while he excels at it, he is easily overwhelmed if multiple enemies gang up on him. It is noted that he does not adapt quickly to unorthodox weaponry like chains, boomerangs, or weapons that aren't normally seen on the battlefield, nor are his movements fast.

During his training, Graham was taught iaijutsu-based techniques as well as iaido, focusing on being aware and quickly responding to attacks. The training resulted in him being able to carry out smooth, controlled movements as well as enhancing his reaction time, and he prominently displays this when fighting, returning his tachi to the sheath after every confrontation, or when he needs to reposition himself. Iaijutsu is also utilised with the tanto. One technique he has practiced often is a Kinetic Dust-enhanced sword strike, straight from the sheath. The increased momentum from the Dust charge allows Graham to carry out highly powerful swings, though this is limited in that he needs to return the tachi to the sheath, and that he only has a limited amount of dust charges (5).

WEAPONS

Name: Reformation

Primary Weapon: Reformation is a heavily modified tachi blade and sheath, as well as being renamed. Measuring 27 inches in length, the electric crimson-colored blade itself is relatively unmodified, retaining the traditional signature on the base of the blade, with an additional symbol, translating to Reformed, etched crudely by Graham, as well as being repainted to his liking. The curve of the blade has been slightly straightened, though unnoticeable by an untrained eye. The two-handed grip of the blade, once adorned with gold tassels, has had the width reduced slightly and the tassels removed, replaced by a modern katana grip. It has also been modified to be left-handed. A slot for Dust canisters on the base of the handle has been added to the tachi.

Dust Functions: Graham only uses two types of Dust for Reformation, Electric and Ice dust. He keeps 3 canisters of each type with him at hand.

Electric (Lightning) Dust charges the blade with a electric current. The next strike releases the energy into the target. Can paralyse a limb for a tiny duration of time. When this type of dust is inserted into the blade, there is audible crackling and blue sparks fly from the blade.
Ice (Freeze) Dust imbues the blade with a light blue color. The next strike causes any target it comes in contact with to freeze over. Can freeze an entire limb, though the ice is not thick.

Sheath: The once ornate sheath has had many more modifications compared to the tachi. The black curved leather casing with red metal streaks and the original shape remain with the width being thickened, but the first 1/3rd section of the sheath has been removed near the mouth, replaced with a rifle-esque receiver. This device is powered by Kinetic Dust cartridges, with a 5-cartridge clip on the bottom, the modified section looking like a rifle loading chamber. There is also a ridged hand grip and a trigger complete with trigger guard, to fire off the Dust charge. When the tachi is in the sheath and the trigger compressed, the dust charge triggers, blasting the tachi out of the sheath with considerable force. Near the end of the modified section is a indented section for a clamp, replacing the traditional ropes/hangers that allow the blade to be worn horizontally. The clamp is attached to a movable mechanical arm on a belt, allowing the sheath to be extended or retracted away from the waist. The tachi and the sheath hang on the clamp on Graham's right side of his waist, horizontally.

History: Once the old family heirloom, passed down to wielders in the Dylandy family that sought the mantle of a Hunter, Graham took the tachi and the sheath to a weapons modification store, where he requested for the blade to be customised to his preference, disregarding the blade's history in favor of his own ideals. The result was a mechanised version of the old blade, retaining the tachi's characteristics while simultaneously bolstering the power of the swings.

Name: Trinity

Primary Form: Trinity is a tanto blade that can fold up similar to a butterfly knife. When not in use/sheathed, the blade of the tanto telescopes so it fits the length of the handle. The handle then splits in two, like a butterfly knife, and folds around the blade, concealing it. The full length of the tanto automatically springs out when the two sections of the handle come together and exposes the compressed blade. Trinity is 12 inches long when unfolded, only 4 inches when folded, and Graham normally hides the blade in a pocket instead of displaying it, compared to his tachi.

History: Trinity was one of Graham's steps to proving that technology does improve combat, redesigning a traditional weapon with new styles and technology. It proved to be a useful surprise weapon.

32
Fully geared up and absolutely bored out of his mind, Tieren Augus lay on the floor of one of Beacon's multiple training arenas. The message had came through on his scroll that he, with three others, had been chosen to form Team Terracotta, or TRTA for short, with him as the leader. As with every team, they'd be put through initiation, but theirs would take the form of a 2v2 on the very arena he was waiting on. A teacher would be observing them, the message warned, and marking them based on their performance as well as their cooperation.

All fine and dandy, but why were they fighting each other instead of getting out and pounding some Grimm heads in? It didn't help that he was the only one here, and there was no sight of the teacher, even after several minutes of searching high and low. With nothing else to occupy his time, he thought he might start warming up anyway, and unslinging his oversized blade, he began the set of movements he'd been doing throughout his huntsman-in-training career.

33
WiP Characters / Mikafar Lupine
« on: May 09, 2017, 05:23:31 AM »
CHARACTER

Name: Mikafar "Mika" Lupine

Age: 17

Species and Gender: Male Wolf Faunus

Symbol: A white bishop on a red field

Occupation: 1st Year Beacon Student, formerly Atlas

Appearance: A 5'5 wolf faunus, Mika has short, slicked-back grey, thin hair with small, exposed yellow wolf ears poking out of his hair, the same size as Blake's cat ears, in addition to his pre-existing ears, and he makes no effort to hide them. His other faunus trait are his claws, which are an extension of his fingernails. Small, light green eyes, a little yet sharp nose, and flat mouth round off his face, which is angular and pale. He also has a red scarf around his neck, somewhat ragged and torn, a gift from his parents.

Mika wears white leather gloves with a grey palm, a white and blue tracksuit top and matching ragged cargo pants, with streaks of yellow on the chest, shoulder, front and sides of the trousers, and grey, flexible fabric at the elbows, knees, hips, shoulders and any connecting joints. Finishing his attire are white combat boots with red soles and two metal yellow "claws" extending out the front for both purchase and intimidation. They can be used to inflict some mediocre damage on an enemy. Another set of clothing he wears for colder climates include a thick, dark green trench coat and brown army trousers.

History: Mikafar Lupine was born into a family of 5, him being the oldest out of his two siblings. His father and mother, both being faunus, had a history of being heavily discriminated against and had jobs working in a dangerous mine that produced both Dust and metal. At a young age, Mika had experienced the suffering that was attributed to being a Faunus living in Atlas, occasionally getting ganged up and beaten for protecting his younger siblings. As a result, thanks to his wolf claws, which weren't fully grown, he managed to scratch one of his attackers during one of their bullying sessions, drawing blood. Mika returned home limping and stumbling two hours later, with bruises, gashes, cuts and scrapes all over his body, as well as having his wolf ears cut and bleeding, with tufts of his hair pulled out. (Mika didn't have his aura unlocked yet, he was about 6). Even after seeing this, his father could do nothing.

By pure luck, Mika had wandered past a lone traveller on his way back, who had followed him home and extended a helping hand to Mika. Though not a fighter himself, the traveller knew a trainer, also living in Atlas, who was indebted to the same traveller. He offered to coach Mika on the rudiments of basic combat, in order for him to exact revenge. Mika was hesitant at first, for even after that beating, he knew that if word got out, he would be in serious trouble. However, the sad expressions on his younger brother and sister's face turned his view around, and he accepted the offer. From there on, they entered the companionship of master and student, with Mika learning swordplay from the very basics upward. He showed decent aptitude with a sword, but his "master" noticed that he was using the sword to batter, not slice. Taking note of this intriguing fact, he then replaced Mika's practice sword with a heavier, blunt version. Mika took to it like a fish to water, smacking training dummies instead of slicing and dicing. From then on, his "master" helped Mika develop his own fighting style, consisting of using the sword like a club with a much longer reach.

In the end, Mika had gone off the path of a proper swordsman, fighting with the combined style of both a swordsman and a mace-user, using his mace like a sword, but with more power than accuracy. Seeing this, his "master" knew there wasn't much more he could teach Mika, since it was his own fighting style now. However, one day, the traveller passed by where they were training to drop off something he ordered for Mika personally. It was a pair of gloves, holding metallic nail guards for Mika's wolf claws, which by this time had fully grown out, as did his ears. With it came enough money for Mika to leave Atlas and join whichever academy he wished. Moved to tears by such generosity, Mika asked the traveller why he did so much for a person he'd never met before. To this day, he still remembers the words spoken: "Who knows? Might be, I was like you once. Now go, boy. Reach the place where you belong."

Heeding the traveller's advice, Mika took the money he needed to reach Beacon Academy, leaving the rest for his family, after getting consent from them. Reaching his destination, he took the Enrolment exam, intriguing the teachers with his unique fighting style, but being laughed at for his academics. Nevertheless, he passed though, and is now ready to do whatever it takes to reach the place where he belongs.

Personality: Mika is a quiet and calm person, with a easy personality toward fellow Faunus. However, he appears blunt and emotionless toward most humans, and the aforementioned personalty is replaced by a cold, harsh mood that lasts until he is left alone, preferably with other Faunus. When being taunted by people, he either simply walks away, or if further provoked, attempt to duel it out. Mika is extremely focused when he wants to achieve something. Because of personal experience, Mika will actively defend other faunus being discriminated, with violence if necessary.

Because of his difficult childhood and the way he was brought up, Mika has trouble interacting with most humans, and will go out of his way to avoid them, exceptions including when they come up and help him with something he is struggling with. He also favours violence as a way to solve problems, instead of talking it through. He is currently working to be more open with his emotions with the help of a psychologist. Outside of his emotions and personality, the one time he is at ease is when he is talking to his family, or to his "master", who he remains in contact with.

Aura and Semblance: Mika's nickel grey aura, when visible, gives off the impression of shrouding him in semi-opaque mist, or clouds, though this is purely a side-effect, no smoke effects or the like. As of yet, his aura has not developed any additional skills.

Mika's Semblance is Secondary Strike: when activated, Mika's aura starts trailing behind him when he moves. If Mika misses a strike on an opponent, the trailing aura will condense in that spot to make a "shadow image" of Mika, in the exact same location and pose at the start of the attack, even if he was in mid-air. These shadow images have no actual mass and anyone can pass through them. Mika can then order the shadow image, at any distance, to carry out the same attack, with the same speed and trajectory of the original attack, but only 25% of the original force. The image, after attacking, will then dissipate. If the strike is blocked, the clone will vanish instantly without having completing the action.

Mika can toggle this Semblance: he can choose if he wants to clone the missed strike, which takes 5% of his stamina. However, only two shadow images can be active at a time, and there is a 5-second timer between creating each image. These images are visible to anyone, and can be attacked. If hit by anything, even a rock, they dissipate, and Mika will have to go through the timer before he can create another.

Combat Behavior: Mika's battle style is unique among Huntsmen. He is arguably the only person who slashes his opponents with a mace instead of smashing, using his mace's sharp edges and long reach to cut his opponents like a sword and force them to constantly reposition due to the knockback the mace deals. Due to the mace's design, Mika is not as agile as a normal swordsman can be, but he retains all the skills of normal swordplay, like parrying, thrusting and the like. The long reach combined with the blunt force that unexpectedly comes with the mace often catches others off guard.

If not using his sword, Mika goes in even closer, covering the distance with his metal claws, which he uses to slash and claw at his enemies. This makes him a in-your-face fighter, capable of raining a flurry of attacks upon his foe at speed, but also leaves him wide open to attacks. Normally, Mika does not incorporate his sword into his claw-fighting style, preferring either one or the other at any time.

Mika mixes his semblance into his combat strategy when facing agile, swift opponents, which are prone to dodging his attacks, since he uses such an unwieldy weapon, and his secondary option is even worse. Mika likes to set up his shadow clones in positions where he can get off at least one strike, while his opponent is distracted with the shadow clone. Otherwise, he either lures or forces his opponent toward the clone's position, allowing him tactical control over the battlefield.

With every close-quarters fighter comes the same weaknesses: ranged fighters dominate over Mika, able to shut his shadow clones down easily, while keeping him suppressed. Mika has no options to quickly close distances with a ranged fighter, and often his only option is to duck for cover, or purposely miss a strike and create a clone as distraction.

WEAPONS

Name: Incarnation

Primary Form: A mace shaped like a longsword. The thickness of the mace is around 3 cm so it cannot truly cut, but hits with more force instead. Think of being hit by a sword, but instead of being slashed, you get bashed instead. However, it can still lacerate foes with the edge. It takes the shape of a elongated, heavily stretched hexagon, attached to a T-shaped hilt and handle. The handle is telescopic, and retracts completely when not in use, kept on Mika's back. The whole weapon is painted grey with noticeable scratches over the surface.


History: A altered, longer version of the training sword Mika used during his training. Forged with most of the original sword's steel.

Name: None given

Primary Form: Mika's leather gloves house a hidden mechanism. When he wears the gloves, he can insert his claws into the metallic claw attachments stored within, and when needed, withdraw his claws from the gloves, revealing the metal claws on each finger. These yellow metal claws cover two-thirds of his fingers, like a metal shell, and extend around 5-7 cm out, allowing for a viable melee option but still able to grip things properly. The same process is repeated when he wants to remove the claws.

History: Custom-designed for Mika specifically, this was part of the traveller's gift to Mika.

34
Beacon Academy / If You Build It... (Open)
« on: April 30, 2017, 03:52:17 PM »
Mechanics Workshop, Beacon Academy, 3:36 PM.

The long wooden workbench creaked under the pile of metal, tools and blueprints Setsuna dropped on the uneven surface. It was just after his lessons finished for the day, and he was eager to get some progress done on his prototype design for a weapon. And where better to work than the mechanics workshop?

With the walls covered with every type of tool any hunter could need, ranging from the most simple file and sandpaper to blowtorches, saws and hammers, the northern wall formed part of the long rectangle room. The eastern side of the room was mostly occupied by a Dust-powered forge and hydraulic press, for when human strength wasn't enough. On the far end of the room, away from the door, lay stacks and piles of scrap metal, plastic, wood in any shape, size and color, remnants of projects hunters had either finished or gave up on. Under a window, cans of spray-paint lay in disarray, scattered all over the floor from the last lesson.

Setsuna loved this room. It was a treasure trove for him to dig through at his leisure, discovering old designs for various projects left behind for him to gain inspiration on. However, he wasn't here for that today. If the training sessions were any indication, even his teched-up gear wouldn't cut it out in the field where stuff would be much harder to deal with. Sitting down on the wooden bench, he spread his blueprint for his new weapon out and got measuring. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if other students came in to work on something or other.

35
AMA Section / Let's try this again...(AMCA)
« on: April 27, 2017, 12:48:10 PM »
So yeah, I kinda messed up my last one, so I'm going to try this again.

Usual things apply, ask my characters/me anything and I'll respond in kind.

36
WiP Characters / Mikafar Lupine (Moved)
« on: April 25, 2017, 02:24:22 PM »
CHARACTER

Name: Mikafar "Mika" Lupine

Age: 17

Species and Gender: Male Wolf Faunus

Symbol: A white bishop on a red field

Occupation: 1st Year Beacon Student, formerly Atlas

Appearance: A 5'5 wolf faunus, Mika has short, slicked-back grey, thin hair with small, exposed yellow wolf ears poking out of his hair, the same size as Blake's cat ears, in addition to his pre-existing ears, and he makes no effort to hide them. Small, light green eyes, a little yet sharp nose, and flat mouth round off his face, which is angular and pale. There are hidden scars on his head and the back of his body, and he has a unnaturally slim waist. He also has a red scarf around his neck, somewhat ragged and torn, a gift from his parents. He is normally seen bent slightly forward, due to his weapon's weight.

The most defining feature of his body is undoubtedly his metallic claw attachments, which are painted yellow, lengthened and sharpened to a lethal point for use in combat, which cover his natural claws. Over them, to prevent from scratching himself or anyone else unintentionally, he wears white and grey leather gloves, a white and blue tracksuit top and matching trousers, with streaks of yellow on the chest, shoulder, front and sides of the trousers, and grey, flexible fabric at the elbows, knees, hips, shoulders and any connecting joints. Finishing his attire are white combat boots with red soles and two metal yellow claws extending out the front for both purchase and intimidation. They can be used to inflict some mediocre damage on an enemy. Another set of clothing he wears for colder climates, like Atlas, include a thick, dark green trench coat and brown army trousers, a memoir from the time he spent in Atlas Academy.

In combat, he switches the tracksuit for a identical color scheme-based suit of light laminar armor for his body, which are designed to be angular and beast-like, as well as blue shoulder armor pieces while wearing half-greaves, like shin pads for his legs. These have slots on the side for propulsion dust, giving Mika a burst of speed when needed. He also ditches the gloves in combat. He wears this armor, knowing that with his fighting style, if aura fails him, the armor might save him yet.

History: Mikafar Lupine was born into a family of 5, him being the oldest out of his two siblings. His father and mother, both being faunus, had a history of being heavily discriminated against and had jobs working in a dangerous mine that produced both Dust and metal. At a young age, Mika had experienced the suffering that was attributed to being a Faunus living in Atlas, occasionally getting ganged up and beaten for protecting his younger siblings. As a result, thanks to his wolf claws, which weren't fully grown, he managed to scratch one of his attackers during one of their bullying sessions, drawing blood. Mika returned home limping and stumbling two hours later, with bruises, gashes, cuts and scrapes all over his body, as well as having his wolf ears cut and bleeding, with tufts of his hair pulled out. (Mika didn't have his aura unlocked yet, he was about 6) Due to his position working in the mines, Mika's father could not actively defend Mika from his assaulters, so he did the next best thing: teach Mika how to properly use his faunus traits.

When he wasn't labouring in the mines, Mika's father took any opportunity he had to coach Mika on how to fight without a weapon, since there was one weapon between the two that could not be disarmed by any means: their claws. Over the course of a year, Mika learned the ways to properly slash his foes without running the risk of breaking his own claws off, how to inflict the most damage and so on. The fruits of his labour came to bear when, one day, while once again protecting his siblings from beatings by the same gang of 5, Mika snapped and turned on his attackers, putting all the techniques his father taught him to good use, and eventually managed to make the gang retreat, though not without injuries to himself.

With the gang taught their lesson, Mika was no longer physically bullied, though people still whispered behind his back. He continued his studies (mostly failing), and his parents took note of that fact. In the mines, Dust was considered more important than other materials, and so Mika's parents were able to smuggle out bits and pieces of iron and metal they mined without being noticed. When Mika was of age (13), he was presented with the first version of what he now called Incarnation, a massive mace for Mika to carry into Atlas Academy's first year. This was discussed beforehand with Mika, and he had agreed to join the academy for a better future for his family. However, he fully expected to have to join with only his claws as weapons, and was moved to tears when he was presented with the mace. Even with no training, it wasn't hard to figure out what to do with such a tool.

Moving into Atlas Academy, Mika was met with an even bigger wall of hostility than what he had ever imagined, all because he was a faunus. The bullying returned tenfold, and he couldn't even go to most of the teachers, as they turned a blind eye to his plights. Nevertheless, he struggled on with his studies until he was assigned a team, who instantly expressed their disgust at being paired with "the faunus". Nothing that Mika could do but get on with their mission, which was to simply exterminate Grimm around the borders of Atlas Academy. The mission went on with little difficulty, although Mika wasn't receiving any help from the rest of his team, who were isolating him and pushing on as a 3-man group. After locating the main pack of Grimm they were supposed to hunt, during a prolonged battle with an Alpha Beowolf that was sicced on Mika by the remainder of the team, the Grimm got off a critical strike that knocked Mika's aura down to dire levels. Upon receiving the attack, Mika went berserk, unknowingly unlocking his semblance and shredding the Alpha Beowolf with his claws, before going on an absolute rampage and crushing the remainder of the pack. With the Grimm utterly defeated, Mika's rage turned toward his own team. Luckily, before he managed to accidentally hurt his team, Mika passed out from exhaustion.

He awoke in Atlas Academy's medical centre, tended by the one teacher that Mika managed to befriend while studying there. The teacher got him up to speed on what had been happening, and explained that he had most likely unlocked his semblance, but had received significant injuries due to his aura not being high enough to completely protect him from attacks. Looking at his hands, Mika saw that they were both heavily bandaged. The teacher explained that this was because his claws had suffered from prolonged use of slashing stuff that was too tough to actually do much to. Hearing this, Mika had the idea for his second weapon, the Lupus Nails, and after being discharged from the med centre, with the help of the sympathetic teacher, Mika created the set of metal claws for extreme melee use. While he was at it, Incarnation also received an upgrade, refining the shape and weight of the mace.

The news soon spread about what Mika achieved on his first mission, with students too scared to actually physically bully him (again) but redoubling his efforts on using words to chip away at his mental wall. Eventually, near the end of his fourth year (remember this is Atlas Academy), he'd had enough. Mika asked his parents for one last favour: to send him to Beacon Academy so he could actually achieve something with a team. His request was welcomed, and after getting a send-off gift (his red scarf), and upgrading Incarnation to it's present state (pile bunker), Mika set off for Vale, Beacon Academy and hopefully a better future.

Personality: Mika is a quiet and calm person, with a easy personality toward fellow Faunus. However, he appears blunt and emotionless toward most humans, and the aforementioned personalty is replaced by a cold, harsh mood that lasts until he is left alone, preferably with other Faunus. When being taunted by people, he either simply walks away, or if further provoked, attempt to duel it out. Mika is extremely focused when he wants to achieve something. Because of personal experience, Mika will actively defend other faunus being discriminated, with violence if necessary.

Because of his difficult childhood and the way he was brought up, Mika has trouble interacting with humans at all, and will go out of his way to avoid them. He also favours violence as a way to solve problems involving humans, instead of talking it through. He is currently working to be more open with his emotions with the help of a psychologist. Outside of his emotions and personality, the one time he is at ease is when he is talking to his family via a scroll that he sent them as a gift.

Mika spends most of his free time either practicing with both his mace and his claws in a training hall, or training his upper body strength and arms in a gym, since he doesn't have much else to do apart from study, which he dislikes, leading to a strong upper body. He shows little care about the condition of his weapons, leaving a multitude of scars and dents on both. When in school, Mika excels in combat lessons and actively participates in anything that may benefit him in a fight. However, the opposite is shown when it comes to non-combat related subjects.

When using his Semblance, rational emotion and thinking are thrown out of the window. In their stead, Mika only thinks to either kill (Grimm) or win (Human/Faunus), and will not stop until that goal is reached, no matter the injuries he might take, nor the way the victory is won. He does not communicate at all when his Semblance is active, making it hard to coordinate attacks.

Aura and Semblance: Mika's nickel grey aura, when visible, gives off the impression of shrouding him in semi-opaque mist, or clouds, though this is purely a side-effect, no smoke effects or the like. Said aura grants Mika a relatively significant strength boost from prolonged training compared to an untrained person's aura, and not much else.

Mika's semblance was named Savagery by onlookers, and people have described it as "an animal going wild". In fact, his Semblance can be considered a double-edged sword, since it opens him up to attacks and also has the chance of turning on his allies. When using Savagery, Mika's sight and hearing senses are heightened, granting him the ability to see further objects clearer and hear further sounds clearer, in addition to his already heightened sense of sight and hearing from his faunus traits. Apart from the heightened senses, Mika loses most, if not all, rational thinking, and attacks similarly to a starving wolf, savaging his foe with his claws, and less with his weapon, relentlessly. It does not grant him any movement speed boost. His movements become erratic, almost uncontrollable, despite the potential disadvantages it may cause. This extends to him ignoring, or muting, distractions like wounds and pain temporarily, but he still feels the full impact of every hit.

When under Savagery, Mika finds it hard to distinguish between friend and foe, apart from the enemy he was facing before Savagery was activated, and will attack anyone if they come close, including his team. The duration of Savagery depends on the amount of aura Mika has when he uses it. If at full Aura, Mika has the most control over his body, can distinguish between friend or foe, but has lower increased senses and the semblance lasts around 15 seconds. The less aura Mika has, the less control over his body and the higher his senses rise, until he is at >30% where his fighting style is considered more beast than human, and his eye color turns red as an indication that this is as far as it will go. At this point, Savagery lasts a full minute, he will attack just about anything in sight, and his senses are at the maximum level it can reach. No matter the duration it was active for, his semblance takes about three minutes to recharge.

Combat Behavior: With his mace being the heavy weapon that it is, Mika's combat style is full-on aggressive. He is not scared to charge in headlong with his massive mace and smash his foe. Mika prefers to go in low, typically having his body crouched, or at least lowered, with his mace trailing behind when he engages, using his smaller stature to tilt the scales in his favor. When not using his Semblance, he tends to go for heavy, brutal, nigh unstoppable swings in single-hand mode, leaving him wide open but dealing big damage, and slightly quicker, longer-reach stabs and swipes in dual-hand mode, more reserved and less aggressive. However, no matter the mode his weapon is in, it remains the same that Mika is slow when attacking with his weapon, and any fast foe can outmaneuver him with ease. Additionally, if his foe holds even the simplest of ranged weapons (eg. a slingshot) and stays out of his weapon range, which is easy to do, Mika will struggle to do anything at all, apart from using his mace as a shield, which it is not really suited for.

When using Savagery, all of the above is completely nowhere to be seen. Mika relies less on his weapon and much more heavily on his claws when his Semblance is active, favouring a consistent, relentless assault to overwhelm his foes quickly over heavy strikes like before. His attack pattern is highly unpredictable and he is constantly on the move. He keeps his low posture of attack, even going on all fours if needed, putting his enemies for a loop. Any weapon usage in Savagery consists of even stronger, slower smashes. This however leaves him completely unable to counter or even dodge any attacks sent his way, leaving him easily overwhelmed.

The most important thing about Mika is his hesitance to fight humans, due to his Semblance not understanding when to stop, and hence the risk of actually killing his foe. Hence, Mika concentrates on just killing Grimm, where he can go full out without any hesitance, the only danger being that he hits his own team. He excels at fighting Grimm, since they do not have any ranged capabilities, bar the Nevermore's feather projectiles, and has spent almost all his combat training and education at Atlas practicing tactics against Grimm.

WEAPONS

Name: Incarnation

Primary Form: A massive, single-handed grey mace created with some of the lightest steel available, allowing Mika to wield the mace more effectively. The whole mace, handle and body, stands at around 4/5ths of Mika's body height, with the main body and handle mostly hollow within to further lighten the mace. Unlike standard maces, Incarnation does not have blunt sides, but rather is shaped like a + when looked at from the front, having edges and indents to crush enemies with. The tip is indented like a pit with a sharpened rod in the middle. Has no dust functions, the sole purpose being to crush anything in it's path via brute force. When not in use, the handle retracts completely leaving only the bottom guard, and the whole mace is stored horizontally across the back of Mika's waist with a clamp.


Additional Functions: The handle can extend to allow Mika to dual-hand wield the mace, allowing for easier balance, a longer reach, slightly faster movement, as well as a fighting style resembling more of a halberd than a mace. Extended, the whole mace is just a bit shorter than Mika. The spike at the tip can extend like a pile bunker via piston for armor-piercing capabilities, though this function is only used on Grimm.


History: Forged from metal stolen by his parents when working in the Dust mines, and later refined with higher-tech equipment within Atlas Academy, Incarnation was Mika's father's gift to him when he became a novice Huntsman. Mika later added the pile bunker spike before leaving Atlas, determined to actually put the technology in Atlas to good use.

Name: Lupus Nails

Primary Form: Mika's leather gloves house a hidden mechanism. When he wears the gloves, he can insert his claws into the metallic claw attachments stored within, and when needed, withdraw his claws from the gloves, revealing the metal claws on each finger. These yellow metal claws cover two-thirds of his fingers, like a metal shell, and extend around 5-7 cm out, allowing for a viable melee option but still able to grip things properly. Used mostly during Savagery. The same process is repeated when he wants to remove the claws.

History: After unlocking his semblance, Mika realised that further usage with unprotected claws could lead to further injuries, thus the development of the Lupus Nails for enhanced slashing and protection. Designed and made with the help of a rare sympathetic teacher in Atlas Academy.

37
Approved Characters / Lunae Terenas
« on: March 16, 2017, 08:04:23 AM »
CHARACTER

Name: Lunae "Luna" Terenas

Age: 18

Species and Gender: Female Human

Symbol: Three used cartridges falling to the floor, outlined by an orange explosion

Occupation: Second Year Beacon Academy student

Appearance: A 5'4, energetic and happy-go-lucky girl, Lunae has brown, almost blonde hair accented with gold which is kept in a ponytail, light blue eyes with flecks of grey, a friendly face and a wide smile. She wears a yellow crescent moon earring on her left ear, and has a pin shaped like a bullet which she uses to hold up her ponytail. She normally goes pretty hard on the makeup, altering her look but not enough to make her seem strange, sticking to the basics like eye shadower and powder.

Lunae shuns the school uniform for a more revealing orange corset under a brown and white tank top, usually covered by a leather jacket with shortened sleeves and trimmed waistline. She also wears a grey combat skirt, complete with brown combat boots. These boots have spikes that extend and retract at the press of a inner button, anchoring Lunae to the ground and reducing recoil from her weapon. An alternate outfit has her wearing a bright orange and black hoodie, resembling multiple nuclear explosions, and biker trousers(despite her not owning a motorbike) for more casual occasions. She normally grabs whatever footwear is close at hand, no matter if it goes well with the clothes she is wearing or not.

History: Lunae has had as peaceful a life as any could have wished for, living in a gun shop located in Vale, owned by her father and uncle. The shop had many customers, and thus Lunae was blessed with a well-off family and income. Her uncle also ran a small smuggling business that specialised in Atlas tech, and resold the stolen goods in their store. But, of course, she didn't know about that. The secondary business, while fairly well hidden, was not incredibly consistent, and normally only resulted in outdated models being obtained. Still, the software within sold well to rival companies who wanted to outclass the models produced by the Atlesian Military.

When she was young, she was immersed in stories of being a Hunter, thanks to a slow but stream of Hunters purchasing from their fairly reliable store and taking time to intrigue Lunae with tales of Grimm being slain by them, several of which may or may not have been over-exaggerated. This naturally piqued Lunae's childish interest, and she asked her father to bring her to see Hunters in action. Her father refused for the reason that it was too dangerous for a young girl, but promised that he would make it up for her. True to his word, her father got tickets to a fireworks show along the coast of a nearby village. The fireworks show was small, but to the childish eyes of Lunae, it was one of the most beautiful things in existence, especially with Remnant's shattered moon in the background. While other kids her age covered their ears and hid behind their parent's legs as normal kids do, Lunae basked in both the light from the fireworks and the explosive crackles and pops. She was later brought to the firework cannon and it was like she found a long-lost treasure, such was her excitement at seeing the thing that created such fun for her. The staff had to drag her away from the machine before she started climbing all over the cannon and pushing every button.

The next day, her father walked into the store to see Lunae struggling to lift a stock bazooka and about to pull the trigger, aimed right at the house next door. He dashed over to lift her away from the weapon of destruction, before looking up to see Lunae's uncle doubled over with laughter at the shock on her father's face. He'd set it up all along with a blank charge, just for a laugh, it turned out. Looking back at his excited daughter in his arms, her face filled with wonder, he felt obliged to take the rocket launcher out for a demonstration. She delighted in both the noise and the explosion that the rocket made. The neighbours were decisively less amused at being given a rude wake-up call. This only solidified Lunae's love for explosive weapons, much to her parents's astonishment. However, they still had control over her life, and demanded that if she was to use such weapons, she had to learn every dang safety rule to using such dangerous equipment. She instantly and happily agreed, if only to be able to wield such tools of pure awesomeness.

Her father agreed to start teaching Lunae the proper way to use explosives when she was at the right age, as well as the basics of being a Huntress, seeing as she was learning to use weapons. She had already been attending school, so academics wasn't much of a problem. The more obvious topic was the way she was going to use her chosen weapon, as she couldn't start unloading rockets wherever she liked. Besides, those rockets were expensive. The cost problem was solved in a unexpected way when Lunae was out practicing proper procedure with a stock RPG. Without realising, she had stopped reloading and was just unleashing rocket after rocket, before suddenly feeling faint and blacking out. When she awoke, she was in her bed, with her parents hovering protectively over her. They explained that she may have unlocked her semblance, as the rockets she was firing were glowing a bright orange. That, and the hardly recognisable remains of the training range.

With her Semblance unlocked, her parents were a bit more confident in Lunae's capabilities to handle herself well enough to leave her alone. On her 18th birthday, Lunae was gifted with a brand-new, custom RPG designed and built by her father, signifying their acceptance for her to join Beacon via the entrance exam, which she passed with moderate results in all departments.
Being a Beacon student definitely did not disappoint. For one, the benefits were impressive; a large, top-notch workshop easily surpassing her family shop’s small one allowing her to experiment with her weapons in ways that were not possible before, plenty of aspiring Hunters-in-training with the widest variety of weapons that no weapon store could match (including plenty that made sufficient noise to placate even Lunae) and both a indoor and outdoor shooting range for all her exploding needs. She made plenty of use of all the facilities, instantly getting stuck into her training (studies less so) and making new acquaintances as she went.

As a Beacon student it was commonplace to be assigned a team, and she was no different. Joining a newly founded team by the name of GALY (Galaxy) she quickly realised that being in a team wasn’t exactly as she had expected; she’d assumed that they would quickly and easily get along considering they’d be together for about 4 years. Instead, the team splintered within weeks, courtesy of a Faunus and an Atlesian exchange student. Most nights ended in arguments and people storming out of the dorm, and soon enough her Faunus teammate left the school for fairly obvious reasons. Even with new teammates the team never lasted, and it broke up before her first year concluded. Lunae spent the rest of her first year taking on solo missions to earn credit to make up for the lack of a team, opting to remain on her own instead of risking another break-up. She now enters her second year optimistic that her second attempt at finding a team will be more successful than her last.

Personality: Loud, confident, self-sure are some of the most common words used to describe Lunae. Those traits allow her to easily engage in conversation, even with strangers. However, this does not mean she befriends every person she meets; rather, she finds it hard to actually make proper friends at times. Her confidence is the main reason why she jumps headlong into most things, trusting her instincts and her weaponry to bail her out if something goes awry (which it does sometimes). This does put her in trouble when fighting Grimm, as her overconfidence puts her in tough spots at times. Her loud voice is another defining feature, and as she likes to say: "Being able to be heard anywhere at anytime is a essential thing." Energetic in most situations (apart from school), Lunae is athletic for her age, but at the same time, she isn't incredible at school subjects in general. She is not afraid to pull some...mature stops to get what she wants from others sometimes, but not for the fun of it - it is still quite embarrassing.

When people ask her "Why did you want to become a Huntress?", they are mostly confused by her answer of "Because I can see the pretty explosions!" She loves loud noises, and especially adores firework shows, being the source of her enjoyment. She has an obsession of sorts toward any weapon that makes a big bang or noise, and will go as far as to stare straight at a flash-bang with sunglasses on. This has come at a cost to her health, however - Lunae’s right ear has become hard of hearing from countless times firing her RPG.

Aura: Aura Color: Orange

As loud as Lunae’s personality and the roar of her RPG, Lunae’s Aura takes form in a brilliant glow around her body, shining strong in the darkest of nights. Her Aura pool is plentiful, but Lunae lacks the proper Aura training that allows Hunters to call upon other benefits provided by their Auras. However, she has the Aura shielding and regeneration down to a T.

Semblance: Salvo Core - Allows Lunae to manifest her aura as any form of projectile, compatible with any weapon, custom or otherwise, so long as Lunae has physical contact with either the weapon or its user. Any ammunition created via this method will be a perfect copy of the last round fired by the original gun, excluding any Dust the projectile may have been infused with. This includes the caliber, range, damage the round would have done, and also includes any Dust built into the bullet, but not imbued via any Foci or other Semblance effect. Any projectile created will look like a translucent orange variant of the original, clearly defining the difference between the original and the construct.

Ammunition that is created is automatically loaded into the weapon, removing any need to reload. This allows for a rapid discharge of any weapon, but the accuracy is still limited by the recoil produced. Notably, rapid firing of a weapon could cause it to overheat wherein normally it wouldn’t. Any ammunition created by Lunae’s Semblance will remain indefinitely while Lunae still has contact with the weapon/user, but unless fired, the ammunition will dissipate if contact is broken.

However, using her Semblance comes at a figurative price. Each bullet/grenade/rocket made takes a toll on her ‘stamina’, depending on how large the construct is. If her stamina ever hits 0, Lunae must wait 24 hours before her stamina will begin recharging again.

Lunae's Semblance can be further upgraded/improved via a one-use Foci, infused with powdered Ice Dust. This said Foci is the aforementioned "cartridge" pin that holds up her ponytail. When used, she loosens the pin, letting down her hair and gaining a more wild, unkempt appearance. Her Aura gains a slight light-blue tinge, and all ammo created gains a freezing effect, like being imbued with Ice Dust. This has no impact on the recoil. In her RPG's case, any rockets created/fired create ice shards that scatter on contact, like a frag grenade. The Foci's effects last around half a minute, regardless on the number of constructs created.

Combat Behavior: A modified RPG and a assault rifle with a grenade launcher attachment means that whatever Lunae chooses to do, it'll be very, very loud, and very, very powerful. Using the destructive firepower of her weapon, she can provide cover fire and shell out positions, forcing her enemies out into the open, where she can shoot them with her assault rifle. She is by all means the heavy artillery of the team, most effective at medium-to-long range.

Most things on the battlefield can be solved with a few well-aimed rockets and a lot of explosions, but when the enemy is either too agile for Lunae to nail or simply strong enough to shrug off the hit, there’s generally not much she can do, apart from look to whoever she’s allied with. If no one’s around, she’ll choose either to run for it or pull her combat knife as a rudimentary countermeasure, depending on how strong or weak the enemy is. One interesting point is that Lunae is much more deadly when she has the height advantage - hence she tends to search for a vantage point before engaging.

Simply put, Lunae counts on the sheer power of her weapons to repel or fight off enemies, while simultaneously either keeping enemies in one spot via cover fire, or driving enemies out of hiding locations via RPG bombardment.

WEAPONS

Name: Barbatos

Primary Form: A customised, built-from-scratch RPG made specifically for Lunae’s use; the specifications are adjusted to her preferences, including the recoil of each rocket and the grip of the trigger handle. When not in direct usage but in combat, the RPG is slung behind Lunae's right shoulder, and when needed, unfolds over her shoulder, exposing the zoom-in sight which moves in front of Lunae's right eye. A handle and tripod grip unfolds from the base of the firing mechanism in this mode.

Secondary Form: The grip and trigger disconnect from the whole launch tube, thus rendering the RPG unusable. Doing so reveals a modified pistol that fires standard pistol bullets. Holds up to 10 rounds per magazine. Cannot be fired while attached to the launcher, lest she risk shooting her own rockets.

Storage Form: The launcher disconnects from the firing mechanism and trigger. The tube is then stored horizontally across the back of Lunae's waist, while the pistol is holstered at Lunae's right hip.

picture: ShowHide


History: Designed and built from scratch by her father, this RPG was Lunae's birthday gift and her most treasured "boom boom" weapon. A far cry from the weapons on offer in the store, this one was a step above the quality offered owing to the craftsmanship of Lunae’s father.

Name: Flauros

Primary Fire: An assault rifle with a obligatory, removable grenade launcher attachment under the rifle's barrel for extra explosions. Has a iron sight on the top rail, replaceable with most standard scopes or red-dot sights on rails. Holds 30 assault rifle rounds in a single mag with 2 firing modes: 3-round burst or semi-auto.

Secondary Fire: A single-shot grenade launcher attachment, its primary purpose being to engage enemies that cannot be reached by direct fire. Fires separately from the main gun, and can be loaded with either a timed grenade or one that explodes on impact.

History: A basic, easy-to-use weapon taken from the family gun store, Lunae chose this for both it's versatility and the grenade attachment, designed for use in medium range.

Name: Gusion

Primary Form: A simple, 6-inch combat knife, black with a white edge. Sheathed at Lunae's waist in a nondescript, leather knife sheath.

History: A temporary melee weapon for when Lunae is desperate, this knife was picked by Lunae just to defend herself. She was hesitant to carry anything that didn't even make a sound, but a practice round with a sparring instructor changed her mind after she got steamrolled at close range.

38
WiP Characters / Lunae Terenas
« on: March 08, 2017, 05:33:26 PM »
CHARACTER

Name: Lunae "Luna" Terenas

Age: 18

Species and Gender: Human Female

Symbol: Three used cartridges falling to the floor, outlined by an orange explosion

Occupation: Second Year Beacon Academy student

Appearance: A 5'4, energetic and happy-go-lucky girl, Lunae has brown, almost blonde hair accented with gold which is kept in a ponytail, light blue eyes with flecks of grey, a friendly face and a wide smile. She wears a yellow crescent moon earring on her left ear, and has a pin shaped like a bullet which she uses to hold up her ponytail. She normally goes pretty hard on the makeup, altering her look but not enough to make her seem strange, sticking to the basics like eye shadower and powder. Usage of her weapons have left her with surprisingly strong arms.

Lunae shuns the school uniform for a more revealing orange corset under a brown and white tank top, usually covered by a leather jacket with shortened sleeves and trimmed waistline. She also wears a short grey combat skirt, complete with brown combat boots. These boots have spikes that extend and retract at the press of a inner button, anchoring Lune to the ground and reducing recoil from her weapon. An alternate outfit has her wearing a bright orange and black hoodie, resembling multiple nuclear explosions, and biker trousers(despite her not owning a motorbike) for more casual occasions. She normally grabs whatever footwear is close at hand, no matter if it goes well with the clothes she is wearing or not.

No matter the choice of clothes, Lunae rarely goes out of Beacon without something that makes her stand out from everyone else in a crowd: her exo-skeletal arm support. This is strapped to her back and is a shining metallic grey, with brown piston components and silver metal plates interlocking in a complex Atlas-based design.

History: Lunae has had as peaceful a life as any could have wished for, living in a gun shop located in Vale, owned by her father and uncle. The shop had many customers, and thus Lunae was blessed with a well-off family and income. Her uncle also ran a small smuggling business that specialised in Atlas tech, and resold the stolen goods in their store. But, of course, Lunae didn't know about that.

When she was young, she was immersed in stories of being a Huntress, thanks to the stream of Hunters purchasing from their store and taking time to intrigue Lunae with tales of Grimm being slain by them, several of which may or may not have been over-exaggerated. This piqued Lunae's interest, and she asked her father to bring her to see Hunters in action. Her father refused for the reason that it was too dangerous for a young girl, but promised that he would make it up for her. True to his word, her father got tickets to a fireworks show along the coast of a nearby village. The fireworks show was small, but to the childish eyes of Lunae, it was one of the most beautiful things in existence, especially with Remnant's shattered moon in the background. While other kids her age covered their ears and hid behind their parent's legs as normal kids do, Lunae basked in both the light from the fireworks and the explosive crackles and pops. She was later brought to the firework cannon and it was like she found a long-lost treasure, such was her excitement at seeing the thing that created such fun for her. The staff had to drag her away from the machine before she started climbing all over the machinery.

The next day, her father walked into the store to see Lunae struggling to lift a 8-kg bazooka and about to pull the trigger, aimed right at the house next door. He dashed over to lift her away from the weapon of destruction, before looking up to see Lunae's uncle doubled over with laughter at the shock on her father's face. He'd set it up all along with a blank charge, just for a laugh, it turned out. Looking back at Lunae in his arms, her face filled with wonder, he felt obliged to take the rocket launcher out for a demonstration. She delighted in both the noise and the explosion that the rocket made. The neighbors were less amused. This only solidified Lunae's love for explosive weapons, much to her parents's astonishment. However, they still had control over her life, and demanded that if she was to use such weapons, she had to learn every dang safety rule to using such dangerous equipment. She instantly and happily agreed, if only to be able to wield such tools of pure awesomeness.

Her father agreed to start teaching Lunae the proper way to use explosives when she was at the right age, as well as the basics of being a Huntress, seeing as she was learning to use weapons. She had already been attending school, so academics wasn't much of a problem. The more obvious topic was the way she was going to use her chosen weapon, as she couldn't start unloading rockets wherever she liked. Besides, those rockets were expensive. The cost problem was solved in a unexpected way when Lunae was out practicing proper procedure with a stock RPG. Without realising, she had stopped reloading and was just unleashing rocket after rocket, before suddenly feeling faint and blacking out. When she awoke, she was in her bed, with her parents hovering protectively over her. They explained that she may have unlocked her semblance, as the rockets she was firing were glowing a bright orange. That, and the hardly recognisable remains of the training range.

A few days after the incident (she was 15 now), her uncle came in the store with something they had never seen before: a battered, broken, half-complete exo-skeletal frame with only the arms attached. Her uncle had got the frame as payment for a previous trade. Along with the frame came two Vulcan miniguns, which Lunae paid no attention to at first. It only took her father 3 seconds to make her fall in love with the gun (He picked up a minigun, aimed at a target board and shredded it in that time), and begged her father to let her use it. All he said was "We'll see", and nothing more was said of the topic. Lunae thought her father had forgotten all about it, until her 18th birthday when she was presented with both the now unrecognisable exo-skeletal arm frame and the twin upgraded miniguns by her uncle, and a new, custom-designed RPG specially designed for Lunae by her father, signalling their approval for her to join Beacon.

Personality: Loud, confident, self-sure are some of the most common words used to describe Lunae. Those traits allow her to easily engage in conversation, even with strangers. However, this does not mean she befriends every person she meets; rather, she finds it hard to actually make proper friends at times. Her confidence is the main reason why she jumps headlong into most things, trusting her instincts and her weaponry to bail her out if something goes awry (which it does sometimes). This does put her in trouble when fighting Grimm, as her overconfidence puts her in tough spots at times. Her loud voice is another defining feature, and as she likes to say: "Being able to be heard anywhere at anytime is a essential thing." Energetic in most situations (apart from school), Lunae is athletic for her age, but at the same time, she isn't incredible at school subjects in general. She is not afraid to pull some...mature stops to get what she wants from others sometimes, but does not do it for the fun of it.

When people ask her "Why did you want to become a Huntress?", they are mostly astonished by her answer of "Because I can see the pretty explosions!" She loves loud noises, and especially adores firework shows, being the source of her enjoyment. She has an obsession of sorts toward any weapon that makes a big bang, and will go as far as to stare straight at a flash-bang with sunglasses on.

Aura and Semblance: Lunae has a orange aura, and she has a large aura pool to draw from when using her Semblance. However, she is not good at using her aura for anything else than regeneration, but her stamina regenerates faster than others.

Lunae's Semblance, Salvo Core, allows her to manifest her aura as projectiles. More specifically, any weapon she is touching, she can provide infinite ammo for, as long as she has the stamina for it. The ammo she manifests out of aura will retain all of the original ammo's characteristics (caliber, size, etc) but will not copy any dust effects. This includes any special, custom-made ammo with whatever special effects it originally had. The same goes for any explosive weaponry, like RPGs and grenade launchers. Basically, this means Lunae can pick up any gun and use it regardless of ammo. Oh, and she doesn't have to reload either, as the bullets/rockets manifest in the magazine/launch tube. However, she cannot rapid-fire her RPG due to the recoil. The ammo created by said Semblance eventually dissipates in 10 seconds after being fired. Any bullet or rocket created by Lunae's Semblance glows orange, making them easily recognisable. If any gun with manifested bullets leaves contact with Lunae, the bullets dissipate.
more details: ShowHide
 Lunae has used her semblance most with her selected weapons, and thus requires less effort to manifest ammunition for them. However, if using her semblance on other weapons, she has to use more stamina to create the same amount of ammo for, per say, a magazine for a pistol. The stamina used varies on the amount of ammo, the size (caliber) of the bullet and any special features included. The base stamina numbers are as follows (for reference):
For her own weapons:
Full reload of 300 rounds for one minigun: 18% of stamina
Rocket for RPG: 8%
10-round magazine for pistol: 2%

Other weapons that aren't hers:
10-round mag for pistol: 4%
15-30 round mag for machine-gun: 8%
6-round mag for sniper-rifle: 8%
1 grenade/1 rocket for grenade/rocket launcher: 12%


Lunae's Semblance can be further upgraded/improved via a one-use Foci, infused with powdered Ice Dust. This said Foci is the aforementioned "cartridge" pin that holds up her ponytail. When used, she loosens the pin, letting down her hair and gaining a more wild, unkempt appearance. Her Aura gains a slight light-blue tinge, and all ammo created gains a small freezing effect. This also cools her miniguns, meaning that for the duration that the Foci is active, her miniguns do not overheat, allowing for continuous fire. This does not change the recoil, however. In her RPG's case, any rockets created/fired create ice shards that spread on contact, like a frag grenade. The Foci's effects last around 10 seconds.

Combat Behavior: Dual miniguns and a modified RPG mean that whatever Lunae chooses to do, it'll be very, very loud, and very, very powerful. Using the destructive firepower of her weapons, she can provide heavy cover fire and shell out positions, forcing her enemies out into the open, where they get mowed down by her miniguns. Due to her semblance, Lunae can keep the firepower going for up to 20 seconds before her miniguns get too hot, in which case she either uses her second minigun, or switches to her RPG for more explosions. She is by all means the heavy artillery of the team.

All that being said, she has very exposed weaknesses. Due to the 20mm rounds being too heavy to carry in bulk, Lunae only carries 150 rounds for each gun. When that runs out, she has to rely on her Semblance, and if her stamina runs out as well, she is left helpless. The same applies to her RPG, as she doesn't carry a single rocket with her. As well as that, her choice of heavy weaponry leaves her largely immobile, and her utter lack of melee capabilities means if she gets jumped, she is a sitting duck.

Simply put, Lunae counts on the sheer power of her weapons to repel or fight off enemies, while simultaneously either keeping enemies in one spot via cover fire, or driving enemies out of hiding locations via RPG bombardment.

WEAPONS

Name: None given

Primary Form: 2 modified, minaturised M61 Vulcan miniguns with only four barrels instead of six and decreased fire rate/recoil, mounted on a exo-skeletal arm frame that extends from Lune's backpack. The gun itself is around 120 cm, 2/3rds the original length. Each gun has a maximum of 300 high-velocity 20mm rounds per belt. It takes up to 3 seconds to spin-up to full RPM. Fires 4000 rounds per minute, or 66 per second at maximum capacity, but in the interest of conserving ammo and stamina, Lunae normally uses 1/4th of the RPM, totalling 16 bullets per second. Prone to overheating if fired for more than 20 seconds at a time. Lunae only carries 150 rounds for each minigun, and rounds are ejected off to the side after being expended.

Exo-Skeletal Form: The exo-skeletal frame, mounted parallel to her arms, is designed for ease of movement without constricting natural arm movement, so Lunae can move her arms just as easily as she could without the frame, except slower. Each arm supports one minigun on the sides of the arms, reducing the recoil from said gun. The miniguns themselves can be detached. The ammo belts lead from the gun to two chests behind the frame, located around the back of Lunae's ribcage, which themselves can be detached like ballast. A side effect of the arm supports is that Lunae gains massive punching power, but this is very rarely used by her intentionally.

Storage Form: The barrels on each minigun retract into the main firing mechanism, and the arms fold up behind Lunae, above the ammo chests, with the barrels pointing downward. In this mode they are not much more than dead-weight, and is only used for ease of mobility.

History: Originally Atlas tech, then rebuilt and modified by her uncle, and created to sate Lunae's hunger for loud and powerful weapons, these dual vulcan miniguns are part of a dual set of weapons designed for use with the exo-skeletal arm support.

Name: None given

Primary Form: Customised rocket-propelled grenade launcher with a sight which swivels to fit the user. Has about the same range as a sniper rifle, and a projectile speed of around 120 mps. That's basically it. Lunae doesn't even carry ammo for it due to her Semblance. However, the rockets it fires do just about the same, if not more, than one of Magnhild's grenades.
Fire, hit, go kaboom. When not in direct usage but in combat, the RPG is slung behind Lunae's right shoulder, and when needed, unfolds over her shoulder, exposing the sight which moves in front of Lunae's right eye. A handle and tripod grip unfolds from the base of the firing mechanism in this mode. Otherwise, it is held like a normal RPG.

Secondary Form: The grip and trigger disconnect from the whole launch tube, revealing a modified pistol that fires .50 caliber bullets. Holds up to 10 rounds per magazine, but Lunae only carries the one always inside the pistol.

Storage Form: The discharge tube disconnects from the firing mechanism and trigger. The tube is then stored horizontally across the back of Lunae's waist, while the firing mechanism is holstered at Lunae's side.

History: Designed and built by her father, and created to quench Lunae's thirst for explosive weapons, the RPG is the second part of a dual set of weapons designed for use with the exo-skeletal arm support.

39
Approved Characters / Kei Tsz Fung
« on: March 01, 2017, 03:25:47 PM »

CHARACTER

Name: Kei Tsz Fung

Age: 20

Species and Gender: Human Male

Occupation: 4th Year Beacon Student, formerly Haven

Appearance: Kei is a slim, 6' male, with straight black hair, dark grey eyes and yellow skin. He is slightly athletically built and with no obvious muscle at first glance. His face is normally seen as serious, often foreboding, and he wears a pair of glasses. Several things that stands out about Kei is his distinctive lack of strength in his left arm, the obvious bulge along the back of his spine, as well as a permanent scar on his left hand, which he covers with a fingerless glove most of the time. He also wears a jade lucky charm, part of the Yin-Yang pattern, around his neck.

With a fit yet slender frame, Kei's combat attire focuses little on armour and mainly on mobility, as he cannot shoulder any heavy weight due to his frail spinal implant. He wears an altered, sleeveless cheongsam with red dragon patterns on a black background, designed for ease of movement, over which he drapes a grey tunic, implanted with light, thin armour plates for extra protection. He also wears twin pieces of magenta-colour thin, flexible Kevlar sleeves which start from his wrists and end above his elbows, used for blocking sword swings. On his back he has a metallic spine implant with a slot for his weapon sheath, a result of an injury he suffered when he was on a mission. Similarly, he wears loose silk trousers and combat boots. Within one of the boot's soles is a hidden picture of his family.

Inside his clothing he has an assortment of items he keeps hidden, which are not limited to but normally include a standard switchblade, 5 dust vials to recharge his weapon (1 of each Dust type), small First-Aid kit and a one-use flare gun. Over the years Kei has learned to keep said things close by when there is no team to support him. He also has a slingbag which carries extra Dust, food, water and sometimes a book when he is feeling more relaxed.

History: Kei was brought up by a family outside the borders of Mistral, within one of the various villages dotted around the border, which treasured it's ancestry and traditions. He was thus taught to respect his elders and follow in their footsteps, and subsequently learned an ancient language and it's culture. This "style" of his was beat into Kei at such a young age that it has become second nature and he still follows the old cultural traditions even at Beacon. Alongside this, Kei was taught the way to write calligraphy, which he later learned was basically his semblance.

Following his father's wishes, as obedience was one of the main pillars of their culture, Kei was trained at a relatively young age at the art of war, albeit taking a more modern way than the old styles of combat. Kei's family had little respect for firearms, and Kei was instead taught the usage of a rapier instead of the traditional spear or sword, practicing sparring with his father. However, even Kei's parents recognised the limits that home-training could go, and enrolled Kei at Sanctum Academy.

At Sanctum, Kei was regarded as the "odd one out", with his traditional-style clothing and ways making him stick out like a sore thumb. However, this also garnered him much attention, and he was frequently surrounded by people, most of which he befriended, for he had a likeable nature that endeared him to most. It was at Sanctum that Kei forged Huàbî, or Paintbrush, a simple rapier with no special functions. Because of his training with his parents, Kei actually got pretty good with the weapon, and was one of the best in the class because of it. He also had pretty decent grades and by all accounts a budding Huntsman.

Graduating Sanctum and following into Haven Academy, Kei was assigned to Team BLAK, a first year team, and sent on a search-and-destroy mission for their initiation. The team was excited and possibly a bit too rushed. The Grimm they were send to kill was an just-matured Beringel, which should have been just the right challenge for the team, yet not enough to endanger the students.

However, as with these stories, accidents always happen. Due to one of his teammate's mistakes, someone from Atlas who had transferred into Haven, Kei was knocked into a critical swipe from the Beringel, which raked Kei's spinal cord, destroying several nerves and damaging several sections of bone along the middle of his back. Thankfully, he instantly blacked out due to the shock and pain. Despite this, the mission was completed successfully, but Kei was paralysed from the neck down, and had a severely injured left arm upon returning to Haven, much to his parents's dismay. Fortunately, the person who had caused Kei to get injured called in a few favours and, after extensive surgery, managed to get Kei a mechanical spine powered by Dust implanted into his body, which managed to restore Kei's movement to a good degree. However, his left arm couldn't be fully healed, and to this day is still much weaker than his right. Moreover, Paintbrush was given a mechanical upgrade as compensation. However, due to this incident, Kei suffered small mental trauma and became more distrustful toward his team, with drastic changes from pre-incident and post-incident. Because of this, the team did not have the chemistry that it had pre-incident, and thus in his fourth year, partly because of his mental trauma, Kei and his parents chose to transfer him to Beacon Academy.

Personality: Quiet, silent, tranquil, Kei isn't anti-social, he simply is the kind of person to let discussions flow past him like wind. He is patient and accesses any situation at hand before taking any sort of action, being a natural decision-maker. When in the midst of a conflict, he stays back and listens, rarely giving his own opinion unless asked. However, he is incredibly secretive of his failed mission, referring to it as "the incident", and will clam up if asked. Due to his spine implant being the difference between life and death, he will protect it at all costs, even putting it before his own team. As a result, he has been viewed as selfish, but those who do don't know the importance of the implant.

Between pre-incident and post-incident, Kei has gone through a vast change. Pre-incident, Kei was a likeable, if slightly strange, person, open and trusting. Post-incident, Kei still has mental trauma from the accident, and has a distrust of teams, trusting only himself and as a result being more quiet and preferring to be alone on missions. Now, he is trying to recover and move on from the incident, and has consulted a therapist about it. He recognises the importance of teamwork but cannot bring himself to fully trust anyone but himself again. At least, not in combat.

Aura and Semblance: Aura Color--Magenta
Kei is capable of using his Aura for a wide variety of things, the strongest of which is a strength boost to his limbs. However, he cannot use his Aura for detection. He has an average Aura pool for a 4th year. 

Semblance: Calligraphy Control. When using his Semblance, Kei's aura glows brighter and focuses around his hand and lance. By channeling his Aura through a lance, he can draw Chinese characters in the air (like glyphs) which temporarily grant him specific boosts. The lances acts like a paintbrush, "painting" the words in thin air. Kei channels his Aura through the lance to create the "ink." One advantage of the characters is that no-one understands what character Kei is drawing, and thus they do not know which one Kei has chosen until he makes a move.

Kei can draw five characters, all of which come out as magenta-colored:
(Speed): Increases Kei's movement and subsequently attack speed. Does not increase reaction speed. Slower than Ruby's semblance.

(React): Increases Kei's reaction speed. Slightly slower than a Speed Glyph. Does not increase movement speed.

(Defend): Powers up Kei's Aura to better deflect attacks. Example: Non-defended sword hit does 10% aura. Defended sword hit does 8%. (Basically, attacks only do 2/3 damage)

(Attack): Powers up Kei's strikes by 1/3rd of the original damage. Does not increase speed of attacks, nor does it affect any damage done by dust effects.

(Destroy): Drives Kei into a rage, allowing him to temporarily ignore distractions including pain and increases his natural strength, but not his base rapier damage. Basically, gives him a massive shot of adrenaline. And drugs.

The more complicated the glyph, the longer it takes to activate (Kei still has to write the word). Each character's buffs last 30 seconds, and a cast of any buff takes 5% of his stamina. It takes Kei 4 seconds to activate Attack, Speed and Defend, 6 to activate Destroy, and 8 to activate React, and he is vulnerable during that time, as he has to "paint" the word. Moreover, he cannot use more than one buff at a time, and he cannot cast this on allies. After a buff has expired, he cannot recast a buff within 30 seconds.
(He can write other Chinese characters, but they serve no purpose apart from looking pretty. Very pretty, like calligraphy.)

Combat Behavior: In combat, Kei likes to start things off by casting one of his five buffs and gain an edge over his opponent. He is a expert at using everything to his advantage, be it terrain, weapons or fighting style. As such, he is very versatile and capable of adapting on the fly, able to change tactics at a moment's notice, aided by his semblance. Paired up with his variety of lances, Kei is very hard to take blindsided. He is nimble with his rapier-lance, using the dust within to great effect to either engage in direct combat, fake out his foes or even altering the terrain. One of his favourite ways of engaging is to lodge one of his Dust lances within his enemies, eject said lance, then swap to another, allowing the Dust to do it's work.

Of course, he has his weaknesses. He finds it hard to safely engage a gunslinger without proper support (which he doesn't have since he doesn't trust teammates) and he has a limited amount of lances he can use, while his weak left hand means he can only use his right, and thus has limited options compared to a dual-wielder. Due to his implant being unnatural, Kei has less stamina than others, and will tire if in a prolonged fight. This also reduces his flexibility. His Semblance also takes time to set-up, and he is open to attack at that time. Another problem is that Paintbrush's lances cannot be used to block hits, or they snap relatively easily.

Overall, Kei is a powerful duelist, with less of a hit-and-run style which you would see from a lance-user and more of a rapier-based style, quick, strong, tanky or nimble depending on the type of situation, and can easily fit most roles on a team. Most of his fights, he aims to end before running out of stamina, and normally fights every battle with at least 90% of his might. Unfortunately, he still retains some mental trauma, actually having some noticeable shaking whenever fighting with a teammate by his side, and thus normally fighting on his own instead of cooperating with his team, leading to Kei being out-strategised and outnumbered at times.
overall: ShowHide

+Well-rounded fighter
+Adaptable and flexible, unpredictable and hard to read
+Different combat styles depending on Semblance and weapon

-No range capability
-Weak left hand means single-wield weapon allows less options
-Semblance leaves him wide open
-Cannot block/parry with lance
-Limited Dust Lances reduces long-term combat effectiveness
-Spinal implant means he cannot fight for long and will tire early if pressured


WEAPON

Name: 畫筆/Huàbî (Translates to "Paintbrush")

Primary Form: Paintbrush is a 50 inch-long rapier/lance hybrid. It takes the shape of a normal lance, with a cone-guard to protect the hand, and a modified handle which originally came from a rapier. The lance is made of tempered steel with a hollow core, to lighten the lance and to store dust. Running along the side of the lance are miniature vents for the dust to come out of. The lance itself is capable of either detaching, or forcibly ejecting for a ranged attack of sorts. When ejecting, the lance is normally shot out with enough force to bury 1/6th of it's length in a tree, standing 2 meters away from said tree. Paintbrush is capable of swapping its lance section for several varieties. These separate lances are stored in a rotating sheath, similar to Raven Branwen's own weapon, at Kei's back, horizontally placed and slots into a section on Kei's metallic spine. The rotating sheath holds up to 12 lance variants, each designed similarly with the same hollow core.

Simplified: Rapier/Lance with multiple lances. Can be ejected and swapped.

Storage Form: Paintbrush's storage form includes detaching the steel lance, returning it to the sheath, and hooking the hilt on his belt. When needed, Kei can simply connect Paintbrush's hilt to the sheath, select his preferred lance, and unsheath his new variant of lance from the sheath sideways. Whole process takes 5 seconds from sheathing to swapped lance.

Tertiary Forms/Dust Variants: Paintbrush's lance variants are divided into 3 categories: Dust Lances, Steel Lances, and Ink Lances.
The sheath on Kei's back holds the following:
2 Steel Lance (The original, hollow-core tempered steel lance)
10 Dust Lances (2 Fire Dust , 2 Electric Dust, 2 Kinetic Dust, 2 Ice Dust, 2 Combination). The dust (powdered form) is stored within the hollow core.
More Details: ShowHide

Fire Dust lances allow the lance to ignite for extra burn damage. Kei also uses the eject function to drive the lance into the enemy and internally burn them.

Ice Dust lances create a jagged, sharp layer of ice around the lance, for extra laceration damage. This also makes the lance more cumbersome. Kei uses the eject function to use this as a range option, however it is not reliable at all.

Electric Dust lances electrify the lance and electrocute enemies touched by it. Kei can eject this lance and electrocute enemies from within.

Kinetic Dust lances do not give the lance any special powers. However, when ejected, the dust gives the lance much more force, allowing the lance to fly much further than usual. This can also be used point-blank to skewer enemies.

Combination Dust lances are very volatile, as they are a mixture of every dust, and thus Kei does not use this for direct melee combat. However, when ejected, Kei can remotely detonate the dust within for a elemental explosion.

All the listed lances above (apart from Combination) have a active duration of up to 3 minutes. They become used up after that duration and become regular Steel Lances.

History: Forged while Kei was still studying in Sanctum Academy, Paintbrush has gone through a massive modification from pre-incident to post-incident. Along with the spine implant, as compensation, Kei's Paintbrush was also given a massive rework, from a simple rapier into the rapier/lance hybrid that Kei now uses.

40
Teams / 1st Year Beacon Team
« on: February 28, 2017, 02:44:26 PM »
Yeah, no. The Hat Draw is pretty much obsolete at this point in time.

Saying that, I'm putting up Tina Allan for a 1st year Beacon team. Description in my sig, and I'm going to be slightly more strict as to who should be in a team. Further details can be discussed later, but I want to make one point clear. I do not want Tina to be a leader.

41
WiP Characters / Kei Tsz Fung (Moved to Character Creation)
« on: February 28, 2017, 01:28:02 PM »
CHARACTER

Name: Kei Tsz Fung

Age: 20

Species and Gender: Male Human

Symbol: The Chinese character (Translates to Kei), magenta strokes on a chocolate-color background.

Occupation: 4th Year Beacon Student

Appearance: Kei is a slim, 5'11 Asian male, with typical Asian characteristics: straight black hair, dark grey eyes and yellow skin. He is slightly athletically built and with no obvious muscle at first glance. His face is straight and serious, often foreboding, and he often wears glasses. Several things that stands out about Kei is his distinctive lack of strength in his left arm, the obvious bulge along the back of his spine, as well as a permanent scar on his left hand, which he covers with a fingerless glove most of the time. He also wears a jade lucky charm, part of the Yin-Yang pattern, around his neck.

With a fit yet slender frame, Kei's combat attire focuses little on armour and mainly on mobility, as he cannot shoulder any heavy weight. He wears an altered, sleeveless cheongsam with red dragon patterns on a black background, designed for ease of movement, over which he drapes a grey Chinese tunic, implanted with light, thin armour plates for extra protection. He also wears twin pieces of magenta-colour thin, flexible Kevlar sleeves which start from his wrists and end above his elbows. On his back he has a metallic spine implant with a slot for his weapon sheath, a result of an injury he suffered when he was on a mission. Similarly, he wears loose, Chinese silk trousers and combat boots. Within one of the boot's soles is a hidden picture of his family.

Inside his clothing he has an assortment of items he keeps hidden, which are not limited to but normally include a standard switchblade, 5 dust vials to recharge his weapon (1 of each Dust type), small First-Aid kit, a tool kit to make repairs to the spinal implant, and a one-use flare gun. Over the years Kei has learned to keep said things close by when there is no team to support him. He also has a slingbag which carries extra Dust, food and water.

History: Kei was brought up by a family which treasured it's Asian ancestry and traditions. He was thus taught to respect his elders and follow in their footsteps, and subsequently learned both the Chinese language and culture. Kei still has a good enough grasp of the Chinese language to speak it somewhat fluently. This "style" of his was beat into Kei at such a young age that it has become second nature and he still follows the old cultural traditions even at Beacon. Alongside this, Kei was taught the way to write calligraphy, which he later learned was basically his semblance.

Following his father's wishes, as obedience was one of the main pillars of Chinese culture, Kei was trained at a relatively young age at the art of war, albeit taking a more modern way than the old ways of combat. The Chinese had little respect for firearms, even though they invented gunpowder, and Kei was instead taught the usage of a rapier instead of the traditional spear or sword, practicing sparring with his father. However, even Kei's parents recognised the limits that home-training could go, and enrolled Kei at Signal Academy.

At Signal, Kei was regarded as the "odd one out", with his traditional Chinese clothing and ways making him stick out like a sore thumb. However, this also garnered him much attention, and he was frequently surrounded by people, most of which he befriended, for he had a likeable nature that endeared him to most. It was at Signal that Kei forged Huàbî, or Paintbrush, a simple rapier with no special functions. Because of his training with his parents, Kei actually got pretty good with the weapon, and was one of the best in the class because of it. He also had pretty decent grades, all things considered as English wasn't his first language.

Graduating Signal and following into Beacon Academy, Kei was assigned to Team BLAK, a first year team, and sent on a search-and-destroy mission for their initiation. The team was excited and possibly a bit too rushed. The Grimm they were send to kill was an just-matured Beringel, which should have been just the right challenge for the team, yet not enough to endanger the students.

However, accidents happen. Due to one of his teammate's mistakes, someone from Atlas who had transferred into Beacon, Kei was knocked into a critical swipe from the Beringel, which raked Kei's spinal cord, literally hollowing out the marrow and critically injured him. Despite this, the mission was completed successfully, but Kei was paralysed from the neck down, and had a severely injured left arm upon returning to Beacon, much to his parents's dismay. Fortunately, the person who had caused Kei to get injured called in a few favours and, after extensive surgery, managed to get Kei a mechanical spine powered by Dust implanted into his body, which managed to restore Kei's movement to a good degree. However, his left arm couldn't be fully healed, and to this day is still much weaker than his right. Moreover, Paintbrush was given a mechanical upgrade as compensation. However, due to this incident, Kei suffered small mental trauma and refused to trust his team. As such, the team disbanded. Kei has since progressed through Beacon as a lone Huntsman, with drastic changes from pre-incident and post-incident. He still keeps in contact with his old teammates and parents, but rarely speaks first.

Personality: Quiet, silent, tranquil, Kei isn't anti-social, he simply is the kind of person to let discussions flow past him like wind. With Chinese as his first language and English as his second, when he does speak, he occasionally slots in a Chinese word when he doesn't know the English word for it, or when he simply wants to swear at someone. (Basically, I get to use Chinese characters when RPing as Kei) He is patient and accesses any situation at hand before taking any sort of action, being a natural decision-maker. When in the midst of a conflict, he stays back and listens, rarely giving his own opinion unless asked. However, he is incredibly secretive of his failed mission, and will clam up if asked. Due to his spine implant being the difference between life and death, he will protect it at all costs, even putting it before his own team. As a result, he has been viewed as selfish, but those who do don't know the importance of the implant.

Between pre-incident and post-incident, Kei has gone through a vast change. Pre-incident, Kei was a likeable, if slightly strange, person, open and trusting. Post-incident, Kei still has mental trauma from the accident, and has a distrust of teams, trusting only himself and as a result being more quiet and preferring to be alone on missions.

Aura and Semblance: Kei's Aura glows magenta, and he is capable of using his Aura for a wide variety of things, the strongest of which is a strength boost. However, he cannot use his Aura for detection at all. He has an average Aura pool for a 4th year. 

Kei's Semblance is Calligraphy Control. When using his Semblance, Kei's aura glows brighter and focuses around his hand and lance. Using a specific lance, the Ink Lance, by channeling his Aura through the Ink Lance, he can draw Chinese characters in the air (like glyphs) in the way the Chinese would write a character, except Kei is swishing a lance around, which temporarily grant him specific boosts. The Ink Lance simply acts like a paintbrush, "painting" the words in thin air. Kei channels his Aura through the lance to create the "ink." Since the Ink Lance is infused with a Foci to make Kei's Semblance work, he does have to swap to the Ink Lance and preferably back again, which takes precious time.

Kei can draw five characters, all of which come out as magenta-colored:
(Speed): Increases Kei's movement and attack speed. Does not increase reaction speed. Slower than Ruby's semblance.

(React): Increases Kei's reaction speed. Slightly slower than a Speed Glyph. Does not increase movement speed.

(Defend): Powers up Kei's Aura to better deflect attacks. Example: Non-defended sword hit does 10% aura. Defended sword hit does 8%. (Basically, attacks only do 2/3 damage)

(Attack): Powers up Kei's strikes by 1/3rd of the original damage. Does not increase speed of attacks, nor does it affect any damage done by dust effects.

(Destroy): Drives Kei into a rage, allowing him to temporarily ignore distractions including pain and increases his natural strength, but not his base rapier damage. Basically, gives him a massive shot of adrenaline. And drugs.

The more complicated the Chinese character, the longer it takes to activate (Kei still has to write the word). Each character's buffs last around 10 seconds, and a cast of any buff takes 5% of his stamina. It takes Kei 4 seconds to activate Attack, Speed and Defend, 6 to activate Destroy, and 8 to activate React, and he is vulnerable during that time, as he has to "paint" the word. Moreover, he cannot use more than one buff at a time, and he cannot cast this on allies. After a buff has expired, he cannot recast a buff within 30 seconds.
(He can write other Chinese characters, but they serve no purpose apart from looking pretty. Very pretty, like calligraphy.)

Combat Behavior: In combat, Kei likes to start things off by casting one of his five buffs and gain an edge over his opponent. He is a expert at using everything to his advantage, be it terrain, weapons or fighting style. As such, he is very versatile and capable of adapting on the fly, able to change tactics at a moment's notice, aided by his semblance. Paired up with his variety of lances, Kei is very hard to take blindsided. He is very nimble with his rapier-lance, using the dust within to great effect to either engage in direct combat, or even altering the terrain. One of his favourite ways of engaging is to lodge one of his Dust lances within his enemies, eject said lance, then swap to another, allowing the Dust to do it's work. Of course, he has his weaknesses. He finds it hard to safely engage a gunslinger without proper support, and he has a limited amount of lances he can use. His Semblance also takes time to set-up, and he is open to attack at that time. However, overall Kei is a powerful duelist, with less of a hit-and-run style which you would see from a lance-user and more of a rapier-based style, quick, strong, tanky or nimble depending on the type of situation, and can easily fit most roles on a team. Unfortunately, he still retains some mental trauma, and thus this versatility is locked away for now.

Overall:
+Well-rounded fighter
+Adaptable and flexble
+Different combat styles depending on Semblance and weapon
-Almost no range capability
-Weak left hand means single-wield weapon allows less options
-Semblance leaves him wide open
-Limited Dust Lances reduces long-term combat effectiveness
-If you damage his spine implant, he WILL die. (Potential loophole here...)

WEAPON

Name: 畫筆/Huàbî (Translates to "Paintbrush")

Primary Form: Paintbrush is a 50 inch-long rapier/lance hybrid. It takes the shape of a normal lance, with a cone-guard to protect the hand, and a modified handle which originally came from a rapier. The lance is made of tempered steel with a hollow core, to lighten the lance and to store dust. Running along the side of the lance are miniature vents for the dust to come out of. The lance itself is capable of either detaching, or forcibly ejecting for a ranged attack of sorts. When ejecting, the lance is normally shot out with enough force to bury 1/6th of it's length in a tree, standing 2 meters away from said tree. Paintbrush is capable of swapping its lance section for several varieties. These separate lances are stored in a rotating sheath, similar to Raven Branwen's own weapon, at Kei's back, horizontally placed and slots into a section on Kei's metallic spine. The rotating sheath holds up to 12 lance variants, each designed similarly with the same hollow core.

Simplified: Rapier/Lance with multiple lances. Can be ejected and swapped.

Storage Form: Paintbrush's storage form simply consists of Kei detaching the steel lance, returning it to the sheath, and hooking the hilt on his belt. When needed, Kei can simply connect Paintbrush's hilt to the sheath, select his preferred lance, and unsheath his new variant of lance from the sheath sideways. Whole process takes 5 seconds from sheathing to swapped lance.

Tertiary Forms/Dust Variants: Paintbrush's lance variants are divided into 3 categories: Dust Lances, Steel Lances, and Ink Lances. The sheath on Kei's back holds the following:
1 Steel Lance (The original, hollow-core tempered steel lance)
1 Ink Lance (The requirement for Kei's Semblance). Infused with a tuned foci for Kei to channel his Semblance.
10 Dust Lances (2 Fire Dust , 2 Electric Dust, 2 Kinetic Dust, 2 Ice Dust, 2 Combination). The dust (powdered form) is stored within the hollow core.
More Details: ShowHide

Fire Dust lances allow the lance to ignite for extra burn damage. Kei also uses the eject function to drive the lance into the enemy and internally burn them.

Ice Dust lances create a jagged, sharp layer of ice around the lance, for extra laceration damage. This also makes the lance more cumbersome. Kei uses the eject function to use this as a range option, however it is not reliable at all.

Electric Dust lances electrify the lance and electrocute enemies touched by it. Kei can eject this lance and electrocute enemies from within.

Kinetic Dust lances do not give the lance any special powers. However, when ejected, the dust gives the lance much more force, allowing the lance to fly much further than usual. This can also be used point-blank to skewer enemies.

Combination Dust lances are very volatile, as they are a mixture of every dust, and thus Kei does not use this for combat. However, when ejected, Kei can remotely detonate the dust within for a elemental explosion.

All the listed lances above (apart from Combination) have a active duration of up to 3 minutes. They become used up after that duration and become regular Steel Lances.

History: Forged in the time he spent in Signal Academy, Paintbrush has gone through a massive modification from pre-incident to post-incident. Along with the spine implant, as compensation, Kei's Paintbrush was also given a massive rework, from a simple rapier into the rapier/lance hybrid that Kei now uses. (Fun fact: Kei actually writes with the thing like a pen)

42
Beacon Academy / Initiation? What's that? [CLOSED]
« on: February 28, 2017, 01:59:38 AM »
"Thank you for the ride, and welcome to Beacon Academy."

Now, most people would have one of two emotions upon laying eyes on Beacon Academy's campus and the surrounds. Awe in the fact that they could study in such a esteemed place, or fear at not being capable enough, or whatever reason. Tieren only had one word running through his mind, as he stepped off the transport Bullhead and took his first pace on the white stones. One simple, universal word. F*ck.

Compared to Vacuo's Shade Academy, Beacon seemed like an insurmountable maze to the Vacuan, foreboding and imposing. It didn't help that the two had vastly different climates, and Tieren had come unprepared. In fact, he really hadn't prepared anything apart from the bare essentials, among which included multiple bottles of lemon tea and his treasured GN Blade, for once not attached to his arm.

"Oh, what the hell?" A shocked Tieren mumbled. "I came for Beacon Academy, not a goddamn castle!" Looking around, he attempted to find someone who knew what he/she was doing, not like himself, giving off the perfect impression of a newbie.

43
Plot Zone / Initiation? What's that? (Closed)
« on: February 27, 2017, 01:00:27 PM »
What it looks like: Tieren Augus is a new first year in Beacon. He needs to learn where everything is, and fast, or he'll be hopelessly stuck within the maze that is Beacon Academy. Along the way, he'll (hopefully) meet a few new people along the way who (hopefully) won't be deterred by his brash way of speaking.

The real thing: This thread is a way to introduce my character Tieren into Beacon, having come from Vacuo and not Vale. I am looking for 1-2 people who have been on the site for a while, and will know their way around Beacon. The plan is just for the people involved to walk around Beacon, and maybe end up having a bit of a fight to conclude. Take this thread casually, it's not important plot-wise.

CHARACTERS
1: Kirkka Scarlet
2: Michael Vaktar

44
AMA Section / Ask me or my characters. We're the same person, I guess...
« on: February 22, 2017, 07:09:17 AM »
Since I got nothing to do before my turn comes round to post, I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea for others to learn a bit about my characters and me. So, I'll answer almost anything apart from personal stuff, and I know I've only been here for a short while, but this will help further my character's backstory and attitudes. So not only are you satisfying your own curiosity, you're also helping me! Win-win!
Wait, can I-
Shh, not your turn Tina.

45
Beacon Academy / A Casual Time-Wasting Spar [CLOSED]
« on: February 18, 2017, 10:01:37 AM »
Tina walked out of the arcade and sighed. She had just spent the last of her tokens trying to beat one of those shoot-em-up games that you never seem to win. Despite both her experience and time spent, infuriatingly, she couldn't seem to get past that single level, and now she was left with nothing to do. Not even a single Lien for her to play around with. She was hoping to come out excited and ready to work, but the polar opposite had happened and she was left dispirited, annoyed, and most of all, bored.

"Sigh...There's that combat test tomorrow, and I'm nowhere near ready for it...Wish I had a team to spar with, but..." she trailed off, wondering if she could find a partner or two that she could practice against. Leaning back against a wall, she searched through her scroll to see if she recognised anyone.


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