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Topics - Kaliot

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1
WiP Characters / Pyre Persephone Delanto
« on: July 25, 2022, 07:30:55 PM »
Character

Name: Pyre Persephone Delanto

Age: 18

Species and Gender: Female, Vampire Finch Faunus

Symbol:  TBD

Occupation: First-Year Beacon Student

Physical Characteristics: Standing at an even 5', Pyre's frame is fairly thin and petite. Her skin is quite pale and is ever-so-slightly sleek due to her steadfast use of sunblock and lotion. Her hair, jet black with a tinge of waviness, contains a hint of a feather-like texture and is parted to the side of her face and comes to an end just below her chin. Her eyes are a fiery orange-red.

Pyre also has a pair of wings peppered with black and grey. They extend a tad bit past her elbows when her arms are stretched out to her sides. They are capable of flapping about but are incapable of flight or gliding.

Attire:

Main Wear When not in her Beacon uniform or other situation-specific attire, Pyre most often wears one of two outfits. Her first outfit is primarily that of a gothic dress with a design that is more on the mellow and inconspicuous side as to blend into a crowd much easier. The dress also features an open back that is just enough for her wings. Her second outfit is that of a knee-length skirt and somewhat baggie hoodie with slits on the back specifically for her wings should she feel like having them out. There is no specific color associated with these outfits as that depends entirely on her mood and circumstances.

Combat/Mission Wear Pyre's combat attire is straight forward: black combat boots with purple accent, baggy black pants, and a slightly-baggy dark-purple hoodie. Her clothing is loose and made of fire-resistant materials in case of emergencies or other intense situations. The hoodie also is able to have her wings out, but for combat missions, Pyre prefers to keep them restrained under her clothing. For longer missions, she may also don a sturdy backpack filled with extra Dust for her weapon.

History: TBD

Personality: Anyone on the outside looking in may find that Pyre is a bit of a weirdo, and she'd probably agree with them. Pyre is of few words, but not due to a dislike of talking. Rather, she instinctively and primarily showcases her thoughts and emotions with actions, gestures, and expressions; a bona fide open-book one could say. To this end, Pyre learned sign language over the years and incorporates it into her mannerisms often, to the point where one may wonder if she is impaired in some way.

Pyre isn't necessarily a kind person per se, but she is friendly and she errs on the side of not doing anything outright malicious. With her thoughts and views translating near instantly to her actions and expression with little restraint, she can be described as blunt. If she is worried about how her reaction will affect someone, she does her best to nip it at the bud and rectify the situation.
 
Aura and Semblance: 

Pomp Purple (#86608E)

Instead of building up her muscles through exercise and training, Pyre inadvertently trained her aura to augment her base strength. Her combined strength does not exceed the base strength of her more capable peers.

To be named: Pyre's semblance ignites her aura in bright, purple flames engulfing both her and her weapon. The flames do normal fire damage. However, when doing aura damage, a fraction of the damage replenishes her own aura. This only applies to the damage done by the flames of her semblance and not any of her other attacks.

Combat Behavior:
 
Style As a solo fighter, Pyre's style can be flexible, her range limitation aside. She is capable of fighting head on with her mace, keeping her opponent zoned out with her flamethrower, a tricky hit-and-run style, or more likely a combination of the three. 

Teamplay As a team player, Pyre can use her styles stated above to either be a frontliner, assist the frontliner, or to raid/break into her opponents' positions. Pyre has a tendency to want to do her own thing, but she tries to make sure she balances her own desires with the need of the team. For instance, even if ordered to remain in a certain role, she may break away to assist a teammate in dire need. The more significant her role is in a specific fight or situation, the higher her threshold is to break away. This does not apply to simulated fights.

Strengths Pyre's dexterity is average to slightly above average Her balance is quite good and she is able to remain on her feet and stable through intense situations. Her combined strength is also good, but not outside the realm of the natural abilities of others.

Weaknesses Pyre has no long-range capabilities so she is unable to deal with such threats. Although she strengthened her aura, her durability is suspect. As a team player, she can struggle with maintaining roles that conflict with her emotions in a given situation.

WEAPON

Name: TBD

Primary Form: A two-handed flanged mace nearly the size of Pyre. At the base is a black, rubber grip and the shaft is textured for grip.

Secondary Form: At the top of the mace is an aperture that, when opened, allows the mace to act as a flamethrower. Dust can be stored in the shaft of the weapon, or it can be directly attached to her backpack to increase its capacity.

Dust Functions: The flamethrower function of Pyre's weapon uses a mix of fire Dust and propulsion Dust. The fire Dust can be replaced with other elements, but Pyre only uses fire unless specific plans are made that involve her switching it out for something else.

This function can also double to make the mace reminiscent of a witch's broom. This alternative function has a tendency to cause a bit of collateral damage, especially when near the ground, so it can only be used in certain situations. However, the Dust mixture can be replaced with pure propulsion Dust making it significantly more safe for general use.

History: TBD

2
Approved Characters / Mara Lev
« on: December 10, 2017, 08:53:55 PM »
CHARACTER

Name: Mara Lev

Age: 43

Species and Gender: Human, Female

Symbol:  -

Occupation: Leader of Mercenary/Hit Squad, Siren

Physical Characteristics:

Health - After getting out of her situation, Mara managed to improved her overall health to an adequate state. Though she doesn't have access to rich food anymore, she still manages to get by with a balanced diet.

Mara trains and exercises on most days of the week. Most of her training and exercise she does with her mentor and it usually focuses on technique, balance, and keeping a clear state of mind even when under duress. On her own time, Mara works on improving her balance and her endurance.

Body - Mara weighs 115lbs and stands in at 5'5". Her body is fairly tone and is maintained by her regular exercise. Her skin, while once fair when she lived in the harsh Vale, was now slightly tanned thanks to the constant agitation of Vacuan sun; it used to be that she instead was easily burned, but after a decade of living in Vacuo, her skin was now used to it. [ ]

Head and Face - Her hair is a chestnut brown with a red tint and it runs to her shoulder-blades. Her hair is naturally straight, but because of her environmental conditions, it tends to always be at least a little disheveled. Because of this, Mara tends to wear her hair in either a bun or a ponytail, the latter held together with a simple, black, elastic hair-tie. [ ]

Her eyes are in-between the color of her hair and the color of her aura, and it is best described as illuminated rosewood. The default setting of her eyes is observation with a sprinkle of judgement making her seem as if she is staring down whomever she is looking at. [ ]

The shape of her face overall is oval. Her cheeks are moderately round, and both her lips and her nose are thin. Signs of aging are just starting to appear on her face.

Attire:

Main Wear - Mara doesn't refresh her wardrobe often making her clothes are worn but still often enough that they're not ragged. Mara's main garb consists of a beige, hooded cloak with either a black or white head-scarf, doubling as a facemask, made from cotton-polyester cloth. Underneath her cloak, she wears a plain tank-top of varying colors--usually light-blue but never white--with black, tight mid-thigh shorts and either khaki leg-wrap sandals or desert boots that run up to a third of her shin. In additional, her hands are always covered in black hand-wrap--blood tends to stain white a tad too easily--in anticipation for any fight that may come her way. She also keeps a pair of recently-replaced, military-grade goggles, its grey straps hanging around her neck allowing the goggles to be concealed under her scarf. [ (/) ]

Formal Wear - Being a Vacuan mercenary/hitman, the chances of actually needing formal wear is unsurprisingly low; she'd sooner win the lottery than have to go to a formal event. In such an event, Mara keeps it simple: she wears a sleek black or wine-red dress with black gloves that run to her elbow and black heeled-boots that rum to her knees. She keeps her makeup light and her hair in a bun. She wears no jewelry but has on light make-up. [ (/) ]

Combat/Mission Wear - Not wanting to endanger herself, Mara strays away from you usual loose clothing, instead going for fitting/tight clothes to reduce her opponents' abilities to grab her. Following this goal, she keeps her hair up in a tight bun. She subs out her tank-top with a tight, dark-grey t-shirt, her shorts with fitting, khaki military-pants, and her scarf for a black, proper facemask. Mara holds onto her hand-wraps, adding atop them black Kevlar gloves, as well as her desert boots. She also retains her goggles, but for safety purposes, keeps them in a beige sack, the sack kept closed with string. If she needs to conceal her outfit, she will use her cloak to do so, but he will remove it upon arrival to the target's location. [ ]

History: Mara was born in Vale to loving parents. The family was not well-off financially, and although they encountered many hardships, they always managed to pull through, even by the skin of their teeth. Despite their situation, they were able to send Mara to a decent school--She was able to lead a fairly normal academic life and she graduated with respect.

Managing a work-school life, Mara continued on to college where she would meet her husband and eventually come out as a certified nutritionist. Shortly thereafter, she gave birth to a daughter.

Mara enjoyed her family life. She was much better off than she was as a child, and with her income she was even able to help support her parents when they needed it. Unfortunately, this life was cut short.

When Mara was 33, she was intercepted on her way home from work. They blindfolded and gagged her, and the next thing she knew, she was in some sort of cell, her hands tied behind her back. Around her, she could hear the agony of other women who had suffered the same fate as she had.

She wasn't in the cell for very long. Almost immediately after she had realized where she was, several men had entered the premises, whisking away women one by one, retaliating against anyone who resisted. When they got to her, she went without a fight. They took her up to the surface to what appeared to be the docks, placed her in a shipping container, and shut the door, engulfing her in darkness.

The 'ride', as one could call it, was miserable. It was only a day, but with the rocking of the barge, it felt like an eternity. At one point, it was clear that she was being craned, and the ride continued past the waves. When the doors opened up again, a sweltering heat smashed into her face. It took her eyes a bit to adjust, but when they did, Mara realized they had brought her to Vacuo.

Again they herded her, but this time it was back into a cell. With the slamming of the door, they tossed some exotic clothing into the cell and ordered her to put them on. She glared at them, demanding with her eyes for some privacy and they did so, preferring not to have to deal with anymore hassle.

When she was done, they brought her back outside to a stage with a small crowd gathered. Not having been the first to be let out, the crowd seemed to be placing prices on the girls with a surprisingly amount of civility. Mara watched until her turn was up. They led her by leash onto the stage and her own auction commenced. Of course it was no laughing matter back then, but when she looks on it now, she was modestly brag about how she managed to snag the highest price. "Those fuckers" she would add as a cherry on top.

For years, Mara was a pet being used by one owner until they tired of her only to be transferred to the hands of another. For years, she endured as best she could while she waited for a chance to make a clean, stealthy escape or for a rescue party to find her. In the meantime, she did a little training everyday out of the sights of those around her. She waited for a long time, but nothing ever happened.: no rescues, no openings. Upset, disappointed, bitter, and extremely frustrated, Mara gave up on the idea of rescue, instead only turning to only herself to get her out of this mess. She went on, trying to remain strong-willed, but she was slowly chipped away at day after day until one day she finally snapped. After an altercation with her master, Mara grabbed the nearest heavy object she could and smacked him atop the head with it before bolting out into the dead of night.

Almost immediately Mara began to regret her decision, certain that they would find her, and in doing so, provide her with some unimaginable fate. She wouldn't be able to show her face; she was essentially still a prisoner, except her cell went with her to whatever hole she managed find herself in night after night. She changed clothes soon after leaving, stealing some garments off an open-air rack, and proceeded to lay as low as she could, awaiting the day they would find her and take her away. She spent her days hidden away, sleeping in abandoned buildings or rarely-treaded rooms in occupied ones. During the night is when she became active, scavenging for food and clothing as well as continuing her training which she had been doing in secret before. A long while passed and they never found her, whether due to her prowess or their apathy she wasn't sure.

Eventually, she did find the courage to walk around in daylight, albeit with a covered body and face. Like the breaking of her will, every day she spent in the light rejuvenated her spirit. She looked into doing one-off jobs so she wouldn't have to forage or steal anymore, and she trained more seriously in combat by finding someone willing to teach her, preparing for the day that her confidence may have been misplaced. With time, she felt stronger and more empowered than she had ever felt before.

Still, there was still something missing. Mara thought about it constantly, and she eventually realized that she couldn't keep doing nothing. Sure, she was starting to make something of herself, but there were many others that still needed help. Filled with a resolve and a mission, she set out on her crusade. She started with her most recent captor, managing to simply free the woman that replaced her. She continued down the line of her masters, her methods getting more violent and extreme, culminating in the murder of her first, and it was almost…euphoric, and it was this feeling that would twist her into someone merciless.

By that time, a small band had formed around Mara from the victims who had decided to following are, either because they had nowhere else to go or they wanted to join in her crusade. The group continued on this path, continuing to hunt her former masters and branching out to the former masters of other party members.

With time, as their pool of targets began to slowly dwindle, the group's 'just' crusade began to falter as well and their ideals started to erode. What started as a group of seemingly righteous individuals turned into a band of vigilantes, and eventually after that, nothing more than a small mercenary group/hit squad with very little moral compass to speak of, and Mara was at the helm; many left during throughout the transition, citing that Mara wasn't who she once was. She dubbed the group 'Siren' as a reference to the fact that many in the group had been brought from overseas, and for the irony of having mythical sea creatures in the middle of a desert.

Personality: Mara was once a kind and merciful soul, a light that brightened even the darkest of days. She was once a loving mother and wife, but the sandstorm that was Vacuo gradually and eventually dimmed her light; now, she isn't even bright enough to see her hands in front of her face. Once just, looking to free those who were like her, she became tainted by the Vacuan culture where it wasn't the kind-hearted who survived, it was the strong, the cunning, and the merciless, and that is what she became.

Knowledge/Intelligence - Having spent a decade in Vacuo, Mara has become aware of the inner-working of Vacuo. Specifically, its 'street services' as she likes to call them. If you need something from under the table, she knows a guy.

Academically, Mara doesn't know too much outside her occupation and hobbies unless its common knowledge or within her realm of alternative interest. Whenever she is curious about something, she follows it as close to its roots as her current capabilities will comfortably take her.

By nature, Mara has always been tuned to details. She was never been caught off-guard by trick questions in exams, and she is quick to pick up on social anomalies as well as the behaviors of people.

Values/Beliefs - Even before being dragged to Vacuo, Mara has always had a soft karma philosophy: whether good or bad, people should get what they deserve. Of course, she knew that it wasn't an actuality. Sometimes good people were punished and bad people were rewarded. It wasn't until she freed herself from her masters that did she take the fate of others into her own hands.

The personality trait that Mara values the most is loyalty. Loyalty to a person, to a cause, or a belief (even despite the fact that her crusade itself became warped). Loyalty breeds trust, and trust is necessary for any organization to run smoothly and effectively. If a person or an entity cannot be loyal then her respect for them degrades quickly; Mara prefers not to deal with them unless she's giving them their dues for their past deeds.

As a leader, Mara tries to run a tight ship. She does understand that the group is fairly amateurish and things may not go as she hopes but she still, is quick to punish those who endanger the group regardless of actual intent. While she has a reputation as a strict leader, Mara is not opposed to having a good time when the situation calls for it, though her 'good time' mainly just consists of cards and drinking around a dimly-lit round-table, joking with her companions how some of the dumb or silly things they've done.

For the most part, Mara has retained her motherly traits. She is always trying to find ways to nurture those in the group who are younger than her, and she makes sure that those older than her are able to live comfortably. Mara is highly protective of the group. She makes sure to handle dealings with outsiders herself. In the event of something going wrong, Mara would prefer to go down than any of her companions.

Relationships/Sociability - Despite all that has happened to her, Mara is still a motherly figure to her younger companions. She wants to nurture them into strong, independent individuals but at the same time protect them from some of the darkness in the world. This protective nature is what drives her to handle most of the groups interactions with complete strangers, afraid that they have ulterior motives or intentions. When it comes to slightly more trusted contacts, Mara is willing to less her companions handle them.

While Mara is motherly towards her juniors, she holds much respect for those in the group who are older than her. She tries to make sure their lives are comfortable, and when she has to make any significant decision for the group, she always consults with them.

Mara is not exceptionally sociable. She isn't shy but also not boisterous. Often times she finds herself too deep in an observational trance to begin conversations with other people; the only time she does so is to inquire whether it be for straight information or curiosity's sake. Though she is not one to usually start them, she does enjoy engaging in conversations. If not with her comrades, then she enjoys chatting with strangers with interesting stories.

Hopes/Dreams - Mara isn't one to have any grandiose hopes or dreams. She does hope that those who do good get rewarded for their work and that those who cause malicious suffering (because at the end of the day, wherever there is competition there is suffering) suffer themselves.

She also hopes that her companions and past companions are able to live free and happy lives even if go against her previously mentioned views.

Mara would be lying if she said she didn't want to visit home and her family but she is acutely aware of how much she has changed since she was first swept away to Vacuo, and she also doesn't have the means to do so. Despite the fact that it's been ten years without a single trace of a search party and that they perhaps gave her up long ago as missing or dead, she still wishes to see them again one day.

Happiness - When it comes to happiness, Mara feels as if she is in purgatory. On one hand, it's difficult to be truly happy as an ex-slave mercenary in the heart of Vacuo. On the other hand, she's at least free and is able to move about as she wishes. Because it this, Mara is somewhere between the realms of neutral and content.

Hobbies/Preferences - Mara's leading hobby is training, not only because it keeps her and her companions safe but it is also her primary means of venting off any caged emotions rattling inside her. Beyond that, a nutritionist at heart, she also loves to cook. She finds the meticulous nature of cooking calming, and whenever she has an odd inventory, she enjoys trying to make the best dishes she can with whatever she has left available to her. For similar reasons, Mara also enjoys to sew, not only as a means of relaxation but also to save money since she just needs to buy cloth and thread.

For entertainment, her go-to activity is playing cards with her companions. Mara enjoys trying to predict how they will act in whatever scenarios they may find themselves in, and it also gives her an opportunity to boost her observation skills. Beyond just playing cards, Mara trains her card training  in an effort to become a card mechanic and illusionist. The manipulation of something as seemingly chaotic as a deck of cards fascinates her. She doesn't do anything tricky when playing with her companions, though they nevertheless get nervous when she is dealing. When playing with complete strangers, Mara would be willing to employ her tricks depending on the situation.

Mara doesn't have many major, insignificant likes or dislikes. One of her few is smoking. Mara despises smoking, enough that she's pretty much banned her companions from doing so. The smell is disgusting, the smoke slowly stains whatever is around, and it affects bystanders.

On the contrary, Mara loves spicy foods. She enjoys a challenge, and the exhilaration she gets from the pain only pushes her to finish her dish and slightly up the heat for the next one. Unfortunately, Mara can't eat spicy foods often since they tend to leave her...vulnerable the following day, and she can't be having that.

Faunus - When she still lived in Vale, Mara was cautious around Faunus strangers. She was able to work with them but she'd always be tuned to her environment in case anything suspicious happened. This weariness dissipated as she built relationships with individual Faunus.

It wasn't until Vacuo that, going along with the culture, she saw Faunus in the same way that she saw anyone else: liars, cheats, sleuths, brawlers, adventurers, etc. Her constant interactions erased the barrier in her mind separating Humans and Faunus allowing her to see everyone as one.

Mara holds a different perception on Faunus depending on what Kingdom she is in. In Vacuo, Mara sees Faunus as equals. In Vale and Mistral, she is wary of them, especially the latter due to the presence of the White Fang. In Atlas, she views them more as pitiable than suspicious.

Aura and Semblance:
Coquelicot Red (#FF3800)

Mara is able to tag objects, and in doing so, she is able to continuously 'see' them even if they leave her line of sight. The more objects she tags, the more vague the sense becomes. For example, at one object, she is able to see that one object with absolute clarity; she could actually count the hairs on a person's head of she wanted to. At five objects, she has a somewhat vague idea of what the tagged objects are doing. If they are all holding up some amount of fingers, all Mara would be able to tell you if is her tags are holding up more or less than half their fingers. Past five, the actions of tags come progressively blurred. At this stage, she still has an approximate direction and distance of her tags, but those senses soon fade into pure noise past ten tags.

Usage - As one may be able to tell from the get-go, Mara uses this to track her opponents in the heat of battle or for pursuit of targets. She makes a conscious effort to tag those that are about to leave her sight as well as untag those who she had previously tagged and were now entering her sight.

She can also use her semblance to keep track of her teammates. In the chaos of battle, she will lose track of them easily so she doesn't bother. When things are calm and she isn't constantly tagging and untagging targets, she is able to keep fairly good track of her them.

Cost - Tagging exhausts her mentally, but because her semblance's senses degrade with every added tag, the total cost is the same regardless of how many active tags she has. She can keep her semblance up for ten minutes before needed to rest her mind.

Aura Training - Blast, Detection

Through her training with her mentor, Mara by chance trained her aura in the way of creating aura blasts to augment her melee attacks.

Detection was acquired through similar means except with missions instead of training.

Combat Behavior:  With her main weapons being her knives and her various limbs, Mara is almost exclusively a melee fighter save for a pistol she carries around just in case.

When weaponless, her primary style involves reacting to her opponents in a swift and aggressive manner in order to shift control of situations to her (e.g. swiping a gun or forcing an attacker onto the ground and into a submissive position). This style typically does not involve striking, but if it is or becomes clear that invoking submission will be difficult to impossible, she will not hesitate to get her fists and shins involved.

Mara's combat style with knives is similar, but it does aim to kill rather than to simply incapacitate (as one would expect). Unless she smells blood or if she must attack, Mara prefers to fight reactively, using her opponent's attacks to create opening for hard strikes.

Against untrained or novice combatants, Mara has also dabbled in a style that involves repeatedly attacking a opponent with heavy low-kicks in order to hinder their movement and ultimately incapacitate them. She doesn't do so against stronger opponent because they generally are able to endure much more pain and such a style would drag the fight out longer than she would be uncomfortable with. On top of that, she has a tendency to leave small opening using that style that stronger opponents can more easily exploit.

She can handle up to five melee opponents at a time, the five opponents being completely inferior to her in skill. For greater numbers and against ranged fighters, help is required. When 1-on-1 with an equally skilled opponent, her choice to disengage or fight depends on the situation. If the fight is more or less meaningless, she will usually disengage. If the fight is significant, she will always take it.

Teamplay - The members of Siren are not particularly strong individually so they are forced to make up for their weaknesses with excellent teamwork. Because of her semblance. Mara often acts as a coordinator both in direct combat and on missions in general. She is the one to survey a situation and relay that information as well as orders to her companions.

Sometimes there will be times when Mara has to enter the fray herself making it difficult to keeps tabs on the tide of a battle. In those times, she is comfortable with letting someone from the backline run the show while Mara relays their positions back to her backup.

Strengths - Mara's most important strength is her excellent perception. Along with her semblance, she is able to have a very solid grasp on the state of a battlefield.

Weaknesses -Without the aid of her teammates, Mara is nearly the equivalent of a sitting duck. Her ranged capabilities are extremely limited, she is not a Dust user, and she lacks extra mobility.

MELEE WEAPON 1

Name: (None)

Primary Form: Two trench knives with the blades the same length as the handles. The blade retract into the handle allowing for them to be easily stored or used as brass knuckles.

Dust Functions: None.

History:  Snatched off the body of an unconscious guard during her first mission.

MELEE WEAPON 2

Name: (None)

Primary Form: A simple karambit.

Dust Functions: None.

History: Bought from a vendor.

RANGED WEAPON

Name: (None)

Primary Form: A simple, silver revolver, slightly worn. Mara carries this around at all times in a leather sheath around her thigh. Holds six rounds.

Dust Functions: None.

History: Bought from a vendor.

3
WiP Characters / Mara Lev
« on: December 02, 2017, 05:59:28 PM »
CHARACTER

Name: Mara Lev

Age: 43

Species and Gender: Human, Female

Symbol:  -

Occupation: Leader of Mercenary/Hit Squad, Siren

Physical Characteristics:

General Health - After getting out of her situation, Mara managed to improved her overall health to an adequate state. Though she doesn't have access to rich food anymore, she still manages to get by with a balanced diet.

Mara trains and exercises on most days of the week. Most of her training and exercise she does with her mentor and it usually focuses on technique, balance, and keeping a clear state of mind even when under duress. On her own time, Mara works on improving her balance and her endurance.

General Body - Mara weighs 115lbs and stands in at 5'5". Her body is fairly tone and is maintained by her regular exercise. Her skin, while once fair when she lived in the harsh Vale, was now slightly tanned thanks to the constant agitation of Vacuan sun; it used to be that she instead was easily burned, but after a decade of living in Vacuo, her skin was now used to it. [ ]

Head and Face - Her hair is a chestnut brown with a red tint and it runs to her shoulder-blades. Her hair is naturally straight, but because of her environmental conditions, it tends to always be at least a little disheveled. Because of this, Mara tends to wear her hair in either a bun or a ponytail, the latter held together with a simple, black, elastic hair-tie. [ ]

Her eyes are in-between the color of her hair and the color of her aura, and it is best described as illuminated rosewood. The default setting of her eyes is observation with a sprinkle of judgement making her seem as if she is staring down whomever she is looking at. [ ]

The shape of her face overall is oval. Her cheeks are moderately round, and both her lips and her nose are thin. Signs of aging are just starting to appear on her face.

Attire:

Main Wear - Mara doesn't refresh her wardrobe often making her clothes are worn but still often enough that they're not ragged. Mara's main garb consists of a beige, hooded cloak with either a black or white head-scarf, doubling as a facemask, made from cotton-polyester cloth. Underneath her cloak, she wears a plain tank-top of varying colors--usually light-blue but never white--with black, tight mid-thigh shorts and either khaki leg-wrap sandals or desert boots that run up to a third of her shin. In additional, her hands are always covered in black hand-wrap--blood tends to stain white a tad too easily--in anticipation for any fight that may come her way. She also keeps a pair of recently-replaced, military-grade goggles, its grey straps hanging around her neck allowing the goggles to be concealed under her scarf. [ (/) ]

Formal Wear - Being a Vacuan mercenary/hitman, the chances of actually needing formal wear is unsurprisingly low; she'd sooner win the lottery than have to go to a formal event. In such an event, Mara keeps it simple: she wears a sleek black or wine-red dress with black gloves that run to her elbow and black heeled-boots that rum to her knees. She keeps her makeup light and her hair in a bun. She wears no jewelry but has on light make-up. [ (/) ]

Combat/Mission Wear - Not wanting to endanger herself, Mara strays away from you usual loose clothing, instead going for fitting/tight clothes to reduce her opponents' abilities to grab her. Following this goal, she keeps her hair up in a tight bun. She subs out her tank-top with a tight, dark-grey t-shirt, her shorts with fitting, khaki military-pants, and her scarf for a black, proper facemask. Mara holds onto her hand-wraps, adding atop them black Kevlar gloves, as well as her desert boots. She also retains her goggles, but for safety purposes, keeps them in a beige sack, the sack kept closed with string. If she needs to conceal her outfit, she will use her cloak to do so, but he will remove it upon arrival to the target's location. [ ]

History: Mara was born in Vale to loving parents. The family was not well-off financially, and although they encountered many hardships, they always managed to pull through, even by the skin of their teeth. Despite their situation, they were able to send Mara to a decent school--She was able to lead a fairly normal academic life and she graduated with respect.

Managing a work-school life, Mara continued on to college where she would meet her husband and eventually come out as a certified nutritionist. Shortly thereafter, she gave birth to a daughter.

Mara enjoyed her family life. She was much better off than she was as a child, and with her income she was even able to help support her parents when they needed it. Unfortunately, this life was cut short.

When Mara was 33, she was intercepted on her way home from work. They blindfolded and gagged her, and the next thing she knew, she was in some sort of cell, her hands tied behind her back. Around her, she could hear the agony of other women who had suffered the same fate as she had.

She wasn't in the cell for very long. Almost immediately after she had realized where she was, several men had entered the premises, whisking away women one by one, retaliating against anyone who resisted. When they got to her, she went without a fight. They took her up to the surface to what appeared to be the docks, placed her in a shipping container, and shut the door, engulfing her in darkness.

The 'ride', as one could call it, was miserable. It was only a day, but with the rocking of the barge, it felt like an eternity. At one point, it was clear that she was being craned, and the ride continued past the waves. When the doors opened up again, a sweltering heat smashed into her face. It took her eyes a bit to adjust, but when they did, Mara realized they had brought her to Vacuo.

Again they herded her, but this time it was back into a cell. With the slamming of the door, they tossed some exotic clothing into the cell and ordered her to put them on. She glared at them, demanding with her eyes for some privacy and they did so, preferring not to have to deal with anymore hassle.

When she was done, they brought her back outside to a stage with a small crowd gathered. Not having been the first to be let out, the crowd seemed to be placing prices on the girls with a surprisingly amount of civility. Mara watched until her turn was up. They led her by leash onto the stage and her own auction commenced. Of course it was no laughing matter back then, but when she looks on it now, she was modestly brag about how she managed to snag the highest price. "Those fuckers" she would add as a cherry on top.

For years, Mara was a pet being used by one owner until they tired of her only to be transferred to the hands of another. For years, she endured as best she could while she waited for a chance to make a clean, stealthy escape or for a rescue party to find her. In the meantime, she did a little training everyday out of the sights of those around her. She waited for a long time, but nothing ever happened.: no rescues, no openings. Upset, disappointed, bitter, and extremely frustrated, Mara gave up on the idea of rescue, instead only turning to only herself to get her out of this mess. She went on, trying to remain strong-willed, but she was slowly chipped away at day after day until one day she finally snapped. After an altercation with her master, Mara grabbed the nearest heavy object she could and smacked him atop the head with it before bolting out into the dead of night.

Almost immediately Mara began to regret her decision, certain that they would find her, and in doing so, provide her with some unimaginable fate. She wouldn't be able to show her face; she was essentially still a prisoner, except her cell went with her to whatever hole she managed find herself in night after night. She changed clothes soon after leaving, stealing some garments off an open-air rack, and proceeded to lay as low as she could, awaiting the day they would find her and take her away. She spent her days hidden away, sleeping in abandoned buildings or rarely-treaded rooms in occupied ones. During the night is when she became active, scavenging for food and clothing as well as continuing her training which she had been doing in secret before. A long while passed and they never found her, whether due to her prowess or their apathy she wasn't sure.

Eventually, she did find the courage to walk around in daylight, albeit with a covered body and face. Like the breaking of her will, every day she spent in the light rejuvenated her spirit. She looked into doing one-off jobs so she wouldn't have to forage or steal anymore, and she trained more seriously in combat by finding someone willing to teach her, preparing for the day that her confidence may have been misplaced. With time, she felt stronger and more empowered than she had ever felt before.

Still, there was still something missing. Mara thought about it constantly, and she eventually realized that she couldn't keep doing nothing. Sure, she was starting to make something of herself, but there were many others that still needed help. Filled with a resolve and a mission, she set out on her crusade. She started with her most recent captor, managing to simply free the woman that replaced her. She continued down the line of her masters, her methods getting more violent and extreme, culminating in the murder of her first, and it was almost…euphoric, and it was this feeling that would twist her into someone merciless.

By that time, a small band had formed around Mara from the victims who had decided to following are, either because they had nowhere else to go or they wanted to join in her crusade. The group continued on this path, continuing to hunt her former masters and branching out to the former masters of other party members.

With time, as their pool of targets began to slowly dwindle, the group's 'just' crusade began to falter as well and their ideals started to erode. What started as a group of seemingly righteous individuals turned into a band of vigilantes, and eventually after that, nothing more than a small mercenary group/hit squad with very little moral compass to speak of, and Mara was at the helm; many left during throughout the transition, citing that Mara wasn't who she once was. She dubbed the group 'Siren' as a reference to the fact that many in the group had been brought from overseas, and for the irony of having mythical sea creatures in the middle of a desert.

Personality: Mara was once a kind and merciful soul, a light that brightened even the darkest of days. She was once a loving mother and wife, but the sandstorm that was Vacuo gradually and eventually dimmed her light; now, she isn't even bright enough to see her hands in front of her face. Once just, looking to free those who were like her, she became tainted by the Vacuan culture where it wasn't the kind-hearted who survived, it was the strong, the cunning, and the merciless, and that is what she became. Despite being something like a mercenary nowadays, the money it brings in is just a nice bonus; she's just in it for herself.

By nature, Mara has always been tuned to details. Whenever she got curious, she would follow all interests to their roots, or at least until she could no longer comfortably understand the details anymore. She was never been caught off-guard by trick questions in exams, and she is quick to pick up on social anomalies as well as the behaviors of people. It's this trait of hers that makes her not much of an icebreaker as she's too busy takes notes on the people around her. That's not to say doesn't socialize--she enjoys a good conversation like everyone else.

For the most part, Mara has retained her motherly traits. She is always trying to find ways to nurture those in the group who are younger than her, and she makes sure that those older than her are able to live comfortably. Mara is highly protective of the group. She makes sure to handle dealings with outsiders herself. In the event of something going wrong, Mara would prefer to go down than any of her companions.

As a leader, Mara tries to run a tight ship. She does understand that the group is fairly amateurish and things may not go as she hopes but she still, is quick to punish those who endanger the group regardless of actual intent. While she has a reputation as a strict leader, Mara is not opposed to having a good time when the situation calls for it, though her 'good time' mainly just consists of cards and drinking around a dimly-lit round-table, joking with her companions how some of the dumb or silly things they've done.

Mara would be lying if she said she didn't want to visit home and her child but she is acutely aware of how much she has changed since she was first swept away to Vacuo. Besides, it's been 10 years with not a single trace of a search or rescue. Perhaps, she figures, they've given her up long ago as missing or dead. Despite not having seen her family for a decade, Mara still considers herself a married woman.

Hobbies/Preferences - Mara's leading hobby is training, not only because it keeps her and her companions safe but it is also her primary means of venting off any caged emotions rattling inside her. Beyond that, a nutritionist at heart, she also loves to cook. She finds the meticulous nature of cooking calming, and whenever she has an odd inventory, she enjoys trying to make the best dishes she can with whatever she has left available to her. For similar reasons, Mara also enjoys to sew, not only as a means of relaxation but also to save money since she just needs to buy cloth and thread.

For entertainment, her go-to activity is playing cards with her companions. Mara enjoys trying to predict how they will act in whatever scenarios they may find themselves in, and it also gives her an opportunity to boost her observation skills. Beyond just playing cards, Mara trains her card training  in an effort to become a card mechanic and illusionist. The manipulation of something as seemingly chaotic as a deck of cards fascinates her. She doesn't do anything tricky when playing with her companions, though they nevertheless get nervous when she is dealing. When playing with complete strangers, Mara would be willing to employ her tricks depending on the situation.

Mara doesn't have many major, insignificant likes or dislikes. One of her few is smoking. Mara despises smoking, enough that she's pretty much banned her companions from doing so. The smell is disgusting, the smoke slowly stains whatever is around, and it affects bystanders.

Aura and Semblance:
Coquelicot Red (#FF3800)

Mara is able to tag objects, and in doing so, she is able to continuously 'see' them even if they leave her line of sight. The more objects she tags, the more vague the sense becomes. For example, at one object, she is able to see that one object with absolute clarity; she could actually count the hairs on a person's head of she wanted to. At five objects, she has a somewhat vague idea of what the tagged objects are doing. If they are all holding up some amount of fingers, all Mara would be able to tell you if is her tags are holding up more or less than half their fingers. Past five, the actions of tags come progressively blurred. At this stage, she still has an approximate direction and distance of her tags, but those senses soon fade into pure noise past ten tags.

Tagging exhausts her brain, but because her semblance's senses degrade with every added tag, the total cost is the same regardless of how many active tags she has.

Combat Behavior:  With her main weapons being her knives and her various limbs, Mara is almost exclusively a melee fighter save for a pistol she carries around just in case.

When weaponless, her primary style involves reacting to her opponents in a swift and aggressive manner in order to shift control of situations to her (e.g. swiping a gun or forcing an attacker onto the ground and into a submissive position). This style typically does not involve striking, but if it is or becomes clear that invoking submission will be difficult to impossible, she will not hesitate to get her fists and shins involved.

Mara's combat style with knives is similar, but it does aim to kill rather than to simply incapacitate (as one would expect). Unless she smells blood or if she must attack, Mara prefers to fight reactively, using her opponent's attacks to create opening for hard strikes.

Against untrained or novice combatants, Mara has also dabbled in a style that involves repeatedly attacking a opponent with heavy low-kicks in order to hinder their movement and ultimately incapacitate them. She doesn't do so against stronger opponent because they generally are able to endure much more pain and such a style would drag the fight out longer than she would be uncomfortable with. On top of that, she has a tendency to leave small opening using that style that stronger opponents can more easily exploit.

She can handle up to five melee opponents at a time, the five opponents being completely inferior to her in skill. For greater numbers and against ranged fighters, help is required. When 1-on-1 with an equally skilled opponent, her choice to disengage or fight depends on the situation. If the fight is more or less meaningless, she will usually disengage. If the fight is significant, she will always take it.

MELEE WEAPON 1

Name: (None)

Primary Form: Two trench knives with the blades the same length as the handles. The blade retract into the handle allowing for them to be easily stored or used as brass knuckles.

Dust Functions: None.

History:  Snatched off the body of an unconscious guard during her first mission.

MELEE WEAPON 2

Name: (None)

Primary Form: A simple karambit.

Dust Functions: None.

History: Bought from a vendor.

RANGED WEAPON

Name: (None)

Primary Form: A simple, silver revolver, slightly worn. Mara carries this around at all times in a leather sheath around her thigh. Holds six rounds.

Dust Functions: None.

History: Bought from a vendor.

4
Teams / Team Resources
« on: October 18, 2017, 06:33:16 PM »
Team Name Combiner - Creates a list of all possible team name combinations - credit to Gus.

Comprehensive List of Color Names - A grand but non-exhaustive list of colors that may be useful in picking a team color.

5
The Vale Region / Frostbite [Closed]
« on: September 21, 2017, 10:49:35 PM »
Mahava Plains
Frouri
Town Center


General Vicinity: Townspeople
Immediate Vicinity: Savas Carnelian, Aurelia Caelius



It was the middle of winter and the wicked air clawed at their bare skin with every passing breeze. Still, it was still not as bad as the harshest of Atlesian winters. Fortunately. There were few clouds in the sky leaving room for the noon Sun and its warmth to lay claim. A fresh sheet of snow had blanketed the town during the past night, but it was short-lived in the paths of the townspeople, trampling all over it or brushing it off to the side of walkways; there were a few unmolested patches here and there, but still they owed their lives to temporarily merciful or ignorant children.

Aurelia sat in the outside dining area of what was essentially a cafe, typically used by those who just wanted to watch blacksmiths work or for those waiting for their items to be finished. Chatter and the sound of metal-striking-metal filled the air, and behind that, a background of rocks and pebble rubbing together as people walked down the gravel pathways. She took a sip of her expectedly-cold tea only having ordered it a few minutes ago.

"So, when do you plan on visiting Praetor Rubra?" she said as she was setting down her cup. "I'm sure she's dying to see you. But I wouldn't be surprised if she''s seen you already".

She was proud of that one.

6
Plot Discussion / Shadow of the Titan
« on: September 04, 2017, 06:05:30 PM »
Shadow of the Titan


»Prologue«
Team SALT (Saffron, Aurum, Avery, Topaz), Dorian Rothenberg
Team SALT--Saffron, Aurum, Avery, and Topaz--get caught in one of Aurum's schemes. Aurum, using his semblance, manages to sneak out to Alystra Plaza ahead of the rest of the team who immediately pursue him in an effort to stop his exploding-fish prank or just to watch. The prank ends with the fish detonating on only four individuals: Aurum, Topaz, Saffron, and passerby, an infamous Dorian Rothenberg. Dorian briefly cuts them with his sharp tongue before hurriedly leaving the scene. Saffron leaves to confront the headmaster, Amarant Lovis, before he is able to hear about the incident through third-parties. Topaz, Avery, and Aurum follow shortly after.

Team SALT (Saffron, Aurum, Avery, Topaz), Dorian Rothenberg, Amarant Lovis
[Ongoing]

Captain Cordell
[Ongoing]

Airi, Lyra, Sovereign
Taking a break from studying and training, Lyra and Airi go out into the city and manage to snag a spot at popular pastry shop Val Mera Pastries. Shortly after obtaining their food, student-turned-vigilante Sovereign causes a commotion nearby as he captures a gangster by encasing him in a block of ice. Having acquired wounds previously, Sovereign stops to rest on the curbs outside of Val Mera Pastries.
[Ongoing]

7
Everywhere Else / An Afternoon Downtown [Closed]
« on: August 28, 2017, 10:50:06 PM »
Atlas
Commercial District: Val Mera Pastries
Outside Dining Area


General Vicinity: Shop patrons, pedestrians
Immediate Vicinity: Airi Fogden Bicardi, Lyra Savoy



It was noon in Atlas, though the cloud cover wasn't going to let anyone pull sun-dial shenanigans. Nevertheless, the city was bustling with the usual lunchtime rush: Airi and Lyra were very fortunate to get a table at this pastry shop. Having come from the Academy, Airi still donned her uniform with the additional of her hat to cover her ears;
 she could tell that some people could recognize her regardless of it, but luckily nobody had said anything so far.

Airi's tea was straight, though she still stirred it briefly to keep her hands busy. She looked toward the sky. "I wonder what the others are doing right now". She shrugged, took a bite of a biscuit, and followed it up with a satisfying sip of tea. Placing the cup down, her hand made a simple movement to her scroll which had been sitting next to it and tapped away. She scooted the scroll over to Lyra. "Here are some of the missions I was looking into. What do you think?"

8
Teams / 1st-Year Shade Academy [4/4]
« on: August 27, 2017, 10:33:21 AM »
Beep boop forgot to put this one up.

Shade Academy, First-Year

9
Teams / 1st-Year Haven Academy [4/4]
« on: August 24, 2017, 07:52:56 PM »
Well aware they characters here are in low supply. Putting it up anyway.

Haven Academy, First-Year

10
WiP Characters / Dorian Rothenberg
« on: August 15, 2017, 12:45:12 PM »
CHARACTER

Name: Dorian Rothenberg

Age: 21

Species and Gender: Human, Male

Symbol: -

Occupation: Third-Year Atlas Student, Aerospace Engineer-in-Training

Appearance: Dorian stands at 5'7" and, through his training as both a Huntsman and an engineer, maintains a fit body. While not particularly large in stature, still has an imposing figure. His shoulders are nearly square, only being ever-so-slightly angled outward, and he maintains a perfect posture, painstakingly instilled into him through thorough and persistent discipline.
 
His hair is a dark pomegranate red, contrasting with his slightly-paler-than-average skin to make it appear darker than it actually is. His jawline is well-defined and his hair is slicked back and spiky as if Dorian were to be typecast in a movie or cartoon as the far-too-obvious villain of the story; he keeps it touched up on a weekly basis. Below his well-kept hair are his striking eyes: a light blue appearing as if his irises had been iced over for eons.
 
Attire:
 
Atlas Uniform - Being an Atlas student, he does of course don the academy uniform. His outfit is fairly standard, casually accenting it with a dark-grey long-coat with black trim and stitching; he does remove it for events like the Vytal tournament as to conform to his peers and show solidarity among the studentry.
 
(Semi-)Formal Wear - Dorian's second most commonly seen outfits, he is in this when he is either out for business or working. Dorian has no one particular outfit that he favors in this category, only making sure that he is wearing dress pants and a dress shirts. He will generally through in a tie but not always, and we will also occasionally sport a blazer.

History: Dorian was born into the Rothenberg family whose legacy dates back to the Greyed War. His mother, Rosaline, was a Senior Engineer of Rothenberg Industries and his father, Otto, an Atlesian Specialist and Chief Warrant Officer of Transportation in the Atlesian military. While his family was only connected to Rothenberg Industries through Dorian's granduncle, Marx, that, along with his own parents' connections and positions, made them quite well off.
 
Growing up, Dorian's playfulness and creativity were nurtured by his mother, first starting with building blocks and eventually ending up with an engine block of a bullhead. All the while, his father was responsible for keeping Dorian well-disciplined and strong. Going into his early school days, Dorian was considered by his peers to be a bit of a jerk. He was always boisterous about his accomplishments and he was quick to point out mistakes in the works of others. Even if he was right, they still got annoyed by him. What they also couldn't dispute was Dorian's ingenuity. Whenever he had the chance in school, he was either building or drawing up blueprints for his next project--nothing particularly extravagant, of course.

As he became older, his builds became more complex, and when he finally reached Atlas, he was able to design his own equipment with ease. He was not infallible though. The professional designers and engineers found mistakes in his blueprints, but he welcomed their input. With their help, not only did he craft the weapons he desired, but he also learned much in the process of weapon design.

His first couple of years at Atlas Academy were probably some of the toughest he had ever experienced: Dorian, having no prior training, knew nothing about combat. Until that point, basically all of his strain had been mental. Dorian was constantly beat by those he once thought as inferior to him, and he was sure they were relishing every moment of his suffering. He felt helpless and humiliated, but he channeled those feelings and set his sights to the top of the ladder. Dorian cut back on his engineering, shifting his focus to physical training instead. Whenever he wasn't training, he was watching others fight, taking notes on the mistakes his peers were making in battle and jotting down how to take advantage of such mistakes in his opponents as well as what he should do to avoid them as well. At the end of his fourth year at Atlas (Signal graduate equivalent), Dorian managed to climb considerably. He wasn't at the top, but his goal was certainly within reach.

To his surprise, Dorian ended up as he leader of his team. By then, his reputation preceded him and his teammates weren't too fond of the situation. The early days of the team were extremely turbulent. Dorian, with his hubris and ego, was always trying to control situations. His teammates on the other hand despised being micromanaged, and eventually any degree of control over the team broke apart. His teammates distanced themselves from Dorian, and in combat, they would run with their own battle plans. Sometimes their ideas panned out and sometimes they didn't, but they figured it was still better than being a puppet of Dorian's.

Dorian isolated himself once again. For some time, he was angry, frustrated that nobody would listen to him. He spent so much time studying others as well as Grimm. The weight of all his studies and experience went into every decision he made. With his team constantly getting rank low and their combat performances were always poor. Slowly his old sentiment started to fade. He was tired being trash, and so he decided to fold away his ego and appease his team.

When the students returned the following year, Dorian was much more bearable. He was more willingly to listen to his teammates and cooperate, and as a result, the team flourished. They weren't among the top teams, but at least they were performing significantly better than before.

Personality: While not nearly as playful as he was as a child, he is still plenty curious and creative. Whenever he wasn't acting as an Atlesian student, he was researching and developing blueprints for all sorts of things from simple gadgets to vehicles, and while not revolutionary, it was always of his own design. He is highly knowledgeable, and whenever there an answer to be found, he is stubborn and persistent in its pursuit.
 
Dorian is very proud, but while debatable, does keep in check to some degree. He is vengeful: whenever someone slights him, he is not afraid to fire back, though always keeping it masked under a veil of civility. Others tend to keep their distance because of this trait. While Dorian may not show it, this distancing of others from himself has only made it just a bit worse.
 
In regards to Faunus, he finds them to be an inferior people, but not necessarily physically. Faunus have a clear though variable advantage over humans, and he feels that it is shameful that they have allowed themselves to be in the position they are. Dorian would say that he is willing to respect any Faunus that proves their worth, but would also say that none yet to do so.

Aura and Semblance:
Pomegranate Seed Red (#842641)

Dorian's semblance is extremely simple: he is able to create spikes of varying number and length directly off his body up to 30'. The spikes are an extension of his aura, and upon damage, will affect his shielding. Because of this, he is quick to retract them immediately after use.

Combat Behavior:  Dorian stands at the front-line as a tank, shielding his teammates behind him. Using his shield and semblance, he effectively makes himself a 60' wall with spikes going to either side and him at the center.

Dorian generally won't go on the attack unless he needs to draw the attention of larger, more dangerous Grimm, the likes of which he is able to take.

He is sturdy and resilient at the cost of his mobility. Dorian is relatively slow when fully suited and if he fails to stop a Grimm from breaching his wall, there isn't much he can do about it.

EQUIPMENT: SHIELD

Name: -

Primary Form: Dorian's primary means of defense, he wields a 2x4 foot steel scutum. On the face of the shield is a spiked X, the X doubling as a claw that can be fired from the shield to drag targets toward him; its effective range is about 10 feet. In the center of an X is a larger spike, a grappling hook, which has an effective range of 50 feet and is much faster. Built into the shield's grip/handle is the device that fires both these projectiles.

Damaging of the claw's cable would make the shield useless at work and less effective at best. In the event of this, the cable can be detached and it cannot be reattached until returning home or visiting a workshop. Damage of the grappling hook's cable is not as significant but follows the same repair rules as the claw.

Dust Functions: None

History: The shield was originally designed as just an ordinary shield. Over time as he trained both his raw and his aura's strength buff, Dorian decided to give it a bit more utility.

EQUIPMENT: WEAPON 1

Name: -

Primary Form: Dorian's primary means of offense, he wields a 2.5 foot steel spatha whose sheath is built directly into the back of Dorian's shield. The sword is completely ordinary.

Dust Functions: None

History: A weapon to be used among the front-lines in the heat of battle.

EQUIPMENT: WEAPON 2

Name: -

Primary Form: Dorian's second weapon is a normal AR15 which fires both normal and Fire Dust rounds at 30 per magazine. He keeps four magazines fairly bare on his upper-left chest to grant them protection through his shield as well as for easier, one-handed reloading. Dorian wears a robotic bracer on his right forearm which attaches to the weapon hands-free to form an arm grip giving him additional stability.

Dust Functions:

Fire Dust rounds (150x): Small explosion on impact.

History: Lacking any ranged capabilities, Dorian decided to pick up a standard weapon.

EQUIPMENT: GEAR 1

Name: -

Primary Form: A robotic bracer that allows for the attachment of a variety of things to Dorian's right forearm though it is mainly used for his AR15 and other firearms.

Dust Functions: None.

History: Handling one-handed recoil was a bit tricky so Dorian designed the bracer to assist him in that regard.

EQUIPMENT: GEAR 2

Name: -

Primary Form: Metal greaves that run up his shin. In the soles are pores for Dust.

Dust Functions:

Gravity Dust - Aids Dorian in rooting himself in one position.
Repulsion Dust - When about to take a powerful blow, Dorian will mix in Repulsion Dust to convert some of the impact into movement. By mixing both, he slides smoothly across the ground.

History: Another piece of gear directly designed by Dorian, this time to assist him in holding the front-line.

11
RPG Discussion / World Timeline Mockup
« on: June 02, 2017, 03:33:53 PM »



( - 9 B.C.)

Unspecified B.C.
Kingdom of Mantle established
Kingdom of Mistral established
Kingdom of Vacuo established
Kingdom of Vale established

Unspecified B.C.
Alsius established


(10 B.C. - 1 B.C.)

10 B.C.
Mantle, Vale go to war; Mistral enters war as Mantalen ally

Unspecified B.C.
Vacuo joins war as Valish ally

1 B.C.
Vacuo-Theater Campaign ends in Mantalen, Mistrali defeat
Mantle, Mistral, Vacuo, and Vale sign peace ending the Greyed War in favor of Vacuo, Vale; Faunus gain territory of Menagerie; Kingdoms establish biennial Vytal Tournaments


(0 A.C. - 43 A.C.)

0 A.C.
Calendar resets to 0 A.C., Age of Color
Alsius Academy reopens; Alsius re-opens as Atlas Academy
Haven Academy established
Shade Academy established
Beacon Academy established
Government of Vale changes from Kingdom to Republic

Unspecified A.C.
Kingdom of Mantle changes to Kingdom of Atlas; Capital city moves from Mantle to Atlas; Government changes from Kingdom to Republic
Government of Mistral changes from Kingdom to Republic
Government of Vacuo changes from Kingdom to Republic

Unspecified A.C.
Atlas establishes the Cross Continental Transmit System

24 A.C.
Plains: Settlers establish the town of Mitera northeast of Mt. Glenn

29 A.C.
Plains: Satellite settlements, including Phoumi and Frouri, established; The Confederation of the Eastern Domain established

40 A.C.
Kingdoms of Atlas, Mistral, Vacuo, and Vale start deporting Faunus to Menagerie
Plains: Faunus begin trickling into Mitera
Faunus revolt against the Kingdoms of Atlas, Mistral, Vacuo, and Vale starting the Faunus Rights Revolution/Faunus War

42 A.C.
Plains: Vale declares war on the Confederation

43 A.C.
Battle of Fort Castle results in vital Faunus victory
Kingdoms of Atlas, Mistral, Vacuo, and Vale yield to Faunus demands ending the Faunus Rights Revolution/Faunus War
Plains: Vale signs peace with the Confederation
White Fang organization established


(44 A.C. - Present)

Unspecified A.C.
Vale establishes territory of Mt. Glenn

Unspecified A.C.
Perimeter of Mt. Glenn falls forcing residents to evacuate to the settlement's subterranean tunnels
Mt. Glenn falls; Vale seals tunnel to Mt. Glenn

55 A.C.
Rose: Obsidian Rose established

Unspecified A.C.
Plains: Vale establishes railway between the city of Vale, Mitera

67 A.C.
Shard: Shard Incorporated established

70 A.C.
Mistrali wall breached allowing Grimm to enter the kingdom

71 A.C.
'King' becomes White Fang leader

72 A.C.
White Fang gains control of mountains and mines outside of Mistral

(72-80) A.C.
'Blacksmith' joins White Fang
'Soothsayer' joins White Fang
'Artist' joins White Fang
'Cornix' joins White Fang
'Rampage' joins White Fang
White Fang conducts Operation: Skyjack

74 A.C.
Shard: Valish branch established

80 A.C. (Present Day)
Vale hosts 40th Vytal Tournament

12
WiP Characters / Karihite Hotoke
« on: April 14, 2017, 10:38:52 PM »
CHARACTER

Name: Karihite Hotoke
   Nickname: Kari

Age: 37

Species and Gender: Arctic-Fox Faunus, Female

Symbol: -

Occupation: 'Hobby' Swordsman, Flower Shop Owner

Physical Characteristics:

General Body - Karihite stands at 5'8" and weighs in at 142lbs. Her frame lies between small and medium, and she is both moderately lean and moderately toned. Karihite's skin is a crisp tan like that of a cookie. Her measurements are average. At her tailbone is a fluffy, white fox tail that measures to 1.5' in length.

Hair and Face - Karihite's hair is like of water--pale-blue and wavy. Her hair parts above her right eye, sweeps left across her forehead, and extends down to her lower back (and to her lower thighs when straightened); Karihite uses a plain, black hairclip to keep her hair out of her eyes. Both her eyes are dual-colored with the inner-portions of her irises being a brilliant, bright orange and the outer-portions a midnight-blue with a slight ting of white as if covered by a thin layer of smoke. Atop her head sits a pair of white fox ears.

Karihite's face is oval-shaped and her cheeks are high though not prominently so. Her expression is often that of cold judgement and slight indifference which do well to give off an aura of nobility and mercilessness.

General Attire - Karihite’s casual attire also serves to exemplify those three traits. She dons an all-black outfit consisting of a slightly-puffed cotton skirt that extends to just below her knees with intricate, white stitching along all its edges, opaque hold-ups with lacing along the top edge, a laced blouse with sleeves that extend to her wrists and a slight frilliness along the torso and around her collarbone, leather combat boots covering most of her shin and designed with a touch of fashion, and an elegantly-laced vintage neck-choker. When she is carrying around Kau, she also wears a black, mid-sleeved cotton jacket, its tail hanging to her upper thigh. Underneath this jacket is a sheathed Kau, its sling running from her left shoulder to the right of her waist; the hilt is purposely obscured by the jacket's hood and appears on the side of Karihite's head to her left.

Combat Uniform - Karihite's uniform is a hooded long-jacket that extends to the mid-thigh, black slightly-baggy jeans, black combat-boots that cover a third of the shin, tight-fitting, and black combat-gloves. Her hair is compressed into a tightly-wound bun, her breasts are wrapped in bandages and covered with a tight-fitting undershirt to make her chest appear level, and her tail is pressed somewhat uncomfortably against her back.

History: - Karihite was born to a successful mother and a stay-at-home father. Her mother was strict, hoping to instill in Karihite the values that had brought her her own success. Karihite did her best to live up to her mother's expectations, hoping that she would grow up to be like her. Unfortunately, this dream was cut short.

Her mother passed away when she was 8 leaving behind an no-income household. They quickly moved into a small home, an apartment, so that her father wouldn't have to overwork himself to keep them afloat. Karihite helped in whatever ways she could.

When she became of age, she enrolled in Signal Academy hoping to kind some purpose in life and alleviate some pressure off of her father. Thanks to the values that been broken into her, Karihite did fairly well as a conventional swordsman. Nevertheless, she felt that this kind of life didn't suit her so she returned to live with her father.

She began to take up odd jobs, slowly saving up until she was able to open up a small flower shop in Vale's commercial called Irresistible Arrangements where she resides to this day. She continues to sharpen her sword skills everyday as well.

Personality: When Karihite was young, her mother put a heavy amount of emphasis on refinement: the refinement of oneself and refinement of one's actions. Despite her early-life hardships, that lesson has always been one that Karihite kept in mind, and it has manifested itself into the grace of her actions, the elegance of her words, and the sureness of her thoughts, all this coming together to form masterfully-crafted and finely-tuned entity.

On a social level, Karihite is somewhat reclusive, generally preferring to keep to herself but willing to mingle with others. She still has her expectations of refinements but she shifts the focus from her peers to herself; this is easily witnessed through her speech as it can be hit or miss depending on the person, some calling it beautiful and some believing it to be pretentious. She isn’t willing adapt herself to the personality of others, and as a result, gets along well with very few people, most of her relationships being in a neutral or slightly-negative status. Beneath her thick, polished exterior resides a clumsy and timid girl as if everything she has learned went out the window. This aspect of her is not easily revealed.

Aura and Semblance:
Shadow Blue (#778BA5)
 
Kitou Atarangi - Karihite is able to summon nearby shadow clones with varying levels of autonomy from being able to act exactly like her (but still performing a single command/function like attack or talk) to basically being a puppet, though the latter digs into her concentration so she ends up trading aura for concentration by giving her clones some level of autonomy. For every 5% of aura she puts into her clones, they inherit 25% of her skill for a max of 100% and 5 minutes of lifetime. All of her shadow clones are able to be dispelled with a solid strike, though ones containing more aura are more durable to lighter strikes, and when destroyed, Karihite gains back 25% of a clone's remaining aura and 75% when dismissed.

Combat Behavior: When in true combat, Karihite zips around the battlefield with the aid of her semblance. If she can help it, she never shows off her semblance unnecessarily preferring to rely on her skill to win fights. Unless one of her opponents is being a nuisance, she has no target prioritization. Typically, she will try to end battles as quickly as possible to reduce the chance of mistakes occurring. She is able to keep a sharp eye on her allies and will let them do their thing or assist them if needed.

WEAPON

Name: Kau (Void)

Primary Form: Kau is a 32’ short-sword, unique in that its blade absorbs basically all light it comes in contact with making it appear pure black, or to be more accurate, as complete darkness. Its hilt and rayskin-gripped handle are made of stainless-steel and titanium, respectively, and coated with a material that absorbs light. The 26’ blade and the pommel—in the shape of a crescent moon with its opening pointing directly downward—are made from high-carbon steel infused with the highly energy-absorbent material. The material absorbs basically all light, most heat, and a small-yet-decent fraction of all other forms of energy: this gives the blade its dark nature and cold aura. The energy absorbed is transferred and held in the sword's handle which is itself a battery. The handle has a button used to release the stored energy either through the sword or the pommel. When energy is expelled it shines white with high-intensity for a brief moment making it appear as if it let out camera flash.

Kau rests in a poplar scabbard coated with the same material as the sword’s hilt and handle. The scabbard is slung across her back, the strap going from her left shoulder to the right of her waist with the hilt residing left of her head.

As an added safety measure, the battery slowly releases energy to prevent the uncontrolled buildup of energy.

Dust Functions: None.

History: Kau was made with the aid of high-level weapons engineers and several years of personal research and savings.

13
Approved Characters / Yu Mei
« on: April 02, 2017, 08:39:19 PM »

CHARACTER

Name: Yu Mei
Sometimes referred to as Yumi or Yume

Age: 18, Born 27 Huā

Species and Gender: Human Male

Symbol: -

Occupation: Third-Year Haven Student, Artist

Physical Characteristics: Yu stands at 5 feet, 6.5 inches and weighs in at 140lbs, his frame being a little smaller than average. His skin is a slightly darker shade of almond and his eyes are a deep-jade. Yu's face is round and completely clean-shaven, genetics being a large factor in that, making his face appear somewhat feminine. His long, straight hair extends smoothly to below his shoulder-blades and, while appearing black, is revealed to be a dark-violet when put to light. He either lets his hair run or has it put into a bun. When he leaves it to run, he lets it run untamed or in a ponytail, and when he doesn't feel like dealing with it, in a bun directly positioned on the back of his head (closer to the top when wearing a beanie) . Even from a somewhat short distance, it is not uncommon for Yu to be mistaken for a girl. [ ]

Yu's typical outfits consists of a button-up shirt and jeans of all varieties and styles complimented with black or tan sneakers. When the weather isn't scorching, Yu also likes to put on a dark-blue parka. [ / ] [ ]

His voice is a bit higher-pitched than normal but still noticeably masculine.

History: Yu grew up in the suburbs of Vale, his mother a beautician and his father a Huntsman and aquarist. During his early grade-school years, he was often picked on for his girlish looks. This led to him forming friendships with many girls but few boys, and from this, he picked up interests typically considered feminine, becoming closer to his mother in the process to the (humorous) disappointment of his father. As he grew up, so did those around him, and that gave him the room to expand himself, but by that point, Yu had reached the middle-school cool stage, and all the activities he picked up were rebellious in nature. A lot of his skills went into pen-spinning and drawing (mainly graffiti at this point in time) with a little bit going into making amateur comics, and he took these skills with him all the way to Signal.

Yu entered Sanctum with the phrase "The pen is mightier than the sword" as he hoped he would be able to make it work somehow. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't great at fighting and even less so with a pen of all things. Though he didn't give up on it, he was supplied with a bow in the meantime and trained with it along with hand-to-hand combat to make sure he wasn't defenseless when engaged upon.

During one of his summer breaks, Yu decided to experiment with Dust-infused ink. At first, nothing came out of it except some cool-looking drawings, but it wasn't until he started trying to recreate glyphs that he discovered the extent of its usefulness: Yu wasn't able to make glyphs directly with his aura, but he was able to with his pen, and effectively so. With the help of his instructors, he unraveled and refined his semblance.

His remaining tenure at Sanctum was uneventful.

Personality: Yu's early period of having his friend circle consist mostly of girls set the foundation for the further development of his personality as seeds of femininity were planted and began to blossom throughout his childhood. He grew to love flowers, small or baby animals, stuffed animals, and children. Yu loves gardening and can often be found in Beacon's garden in his free time. He also finds sewing and knitting to be relaxing and cooking to be enjoyable and fulfilling.

It was later in life that Yu began to take on boyish characteristics: innocent teasing and pranking, turf tagging, and a certain chillness that is better described as relaxed than laid-back. He has earned the nickname "Yu Sonuvabitch" or "Yu sob" among his close friends because of his eagerness to constantly mess with them. He is often the one leading his friends on silly or crazy expeditions to do silly or crazy things, taking the fall if they end up getting into trouble due to their voyages. When plans start to go awry, he is quick to take a step back in order to get a grasp of the bigger picture before things crumble altogether.

It is not uncommon for certain characteristics of each side of him seep into the hobbies of the other. For instance, he enjoys drawing flowers, plushies, and nature with an urban flair

He is a kind and caring individual who loves to nurture things and watch them grow, eventually blossoming into something wonderful. He is an emotionally sensitive person, but he chooses to hide it, or at least tune it down, in favor of running a smoother, less complicated life. His negative emotions are slow to build up unless the stimuli is sharp and impactful, and if surfaced, are quick to disperse. On the other hand, his positive emotions are quick to surface and can overwhelm him if he is unable to keep them in check.

Yu is straight and is open to relationships. For better or worse, he is often described as prince-like; he is intimate, though not overly so.

Aura and Semblance:
Pink Plum (#AE6576)

Yu's semblance is a variant of glyph-usage and is able to do exactly the same things, the point of difference being that he must manually weave them with his pen and can create "glyph tokens" which ready to be used anywhere and by anyone (half-life: ten days, effectively duds after twenty days; for simplicity's sake, let's say they are full power for the first ten days and half power for the following ten days) by drawing glyphs on circular tokens with Dust-infused ink. A token's strength is related to the complexity of the glyph, not the size of the glyph drawn, the simplest being as impactful as a heavy-weight's punch and the most complex (that's practical) being as impactful as artillery. He is working to establish a level above that, but for now he considers it unfeasible to complexity and instability.

On the field, he draws the glyphs directly in the air which is troublesome because the enemy can see and easily disrupt him; this typically limits him to the simpler, weaker range of glyphs.

His prepared glyph tokens are artillery-class projectiles (base: propulsion Dust) with all four elemental Dusts, repulsion Dust being added for each for an explosive effect if desired.

The aura-usage for his semblance is minuscule, but his semblance is capped by a variety of other factors, the major two being his Dust supply and time to create the glyphs. To alleviate the latte, Yu uses precise pen-spinning to speed up the process when out on the field though he is currently only capable of doing the simplest of glyphs in such a manner.

Combat Behavior: Yu's skillset lends himself to staying in the back-line so that is where he resides. Typically, he would want to rain hell on the enemies with both his tokens and manually, but because most Grimm fight in melee range, it is difficult to find space to use them without putting his teammates at risk. If that's the case and if he can't find isolated enemies, he will use his bow or less powerful glyphs to pick them of.

While he is mainly ranged, he is not completely defenseless in melee combat. Yu is proficient in hand-to-hand combat, but is edged out over those of a similar skill level who have much more experience than him (which should be most people). He also has a hard time dealing with those who have longer reach than him.

PRIMARY WEAPON

Name: Jiang

Primary Form: A 5', high-grade, aluminum folding-bow with a composite-fiber string. The bow is split into thirds: the middle section and the two arms, each half the length of the middle section, which can fold in for easy transportation. Fires normal and Dust-tipped arrows, both full light-weight metal.

Quiver holds 30 normal arrows and 15 Dust arrows of various types.

Secondary Form: When the arms are folded in, they can connect to the middle section and the middle section can split in half to form nun-chucks. This form is uncommonly used for fear of damaging the string and body of the bow.

Dust Functions: Dust-tipped arrows of various types.

History: The bow created for Yu at Signal when everyone thought he was crazy for trying to fight with a pen. While it does have a melee form, he prefers to use his fists over it.

PRIMARY WEAPON

Name: Yishu

Primary Form: A steel pen. At the blunt end is the cap in which ink cartridges are inserted. The cap is taken off with a quick few twists and if held onto the body by a wire. A button lower on the pen opens up the flow channel allowing the ink to be utilized.

Dust Functions: Carries cartridges for all pure Dust types. Fire is typically the default used for combat.

History: The bow created for Yu at Signal when everyone thought he was crazy for trying to fight with a pen. While it does have a melee form, he prefers to use his fists over it.

RECREATIONAL WEAPON

Name: Ziran

Primary Form: A 4' yew bow with a steel string. Fires normal and dust-tipped arrows; wooden. Used casually.

Dust Functions: Dust-tipped arrows of various types.

History: As his passion for archery grew, Yu decided to make a traditional bow from hand. He considers it to be one of his treasures.

14
Beacon Academy / Surprise Examination [Closed]
« on: February 10, 2017, 09:21:12 PM »
Beacon Garden
Noon



Attire: Blue scrubs, Beacon uniform jacket
Weapons: Compacted rapiers (inside jacket pocket)
General Vicinity: Nobody



Sophea gently lifted the leaves of a leafy plant, turning some of them over to inspect their undersides. She let out a low hum, nodded, then moved on to the next. She had been incredibly busy since she first began working here, and now that she had some free time, she wanted to see the state of the garden.

She moved onto the next plot: a group of vibrant-blue flowers, this species particularly known for being difficult to care for. The quality of these would surely determine the quality of the gardener. Why hadn't she examined these first? As her eyes lay upon them, she asked herself the same question. She knelt down and gently examined the petals and stem. She also poked at the soil beneath one flower and found that it was still fairly moist.

"Not bad...," Sophea said softly under her breath as she continued to look for anything that might change her mind.

15
Everywhere Else / A Pinch of SALT [Closed]
« on: February 07, 2017, 10:05:46 PM »
Atlas
Atlas Academy
Dormitory: Room of Team SALT



Avery LeBlanc
Attire: Atlas school uniform
Weapons: Philou[compressed] (hip), Viriti (hip)
General Vicinity: Nobody
Immediate Vicinity: Aurum, Topaz



"Where did you get all this stuff, anyway?" Avery knelt to the floor and sifted through a heap of knick-knacks that Aurum had managed to procure. Somehow. Glancing over the various items, he reached out, grabbed a rubber bass. and squeezed it. It let out a high-pitched screech that lasted ten seconds too long. Not saying a word, it replaced it and began to sift through the pile again.

"What sort of contraption do you plan on making today?"

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