Author Topic: Saffron de Cortez  (Read 4682 times)

Kingnoname1

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Saffron de Cortez
« on: April 24, 2017, 08:39:16 AM »
CHARACTER

Name: Saffron de Cortez

Age: 20

Species and Gender: Female Echidna Faunus

Symbol: A yellow Ichthys(Christian fish symbol) diagonally placed with the head facing the top right crossed by a white halberd, again diagonally placed, with its head in the top left corner on a black background.

Occupation: 3rd year Atlas academy student

Appearance: Standing just under 1.8m/6’ Saffron is a tall, well-built young woman weighing 75kg/165lb. Possessing a tanned skin from years under the hot desert sun of Menagerie and Vacuo, Saffron flaunts her muscular physique in casual life with colourful saris or kimonos. They are modified with fire dust acrylics to protect against Atlas’s arctic climate. Her school uniform remains unmodified however as Saffron likes the militaristic precision. Her combat outfit is a fusion of these two mentalities of beauty and practicality with an imposing set of full plate armour, well made with detailed filigree and a tabard portraying the various myths of Remnant.

Saffron has a soft and expressive face with deep blue almost violet eyes framed by a thick red mane of hair reaching half way down her back. Outside school her hair is normally worn down but otherwise Saffron folds it up into a tight bun. Spines lie camouflaged within Saffron’s hair, unperturbed they look like strange yellow streaks. When she becomes agitated they extend forming an almost avian crest, this means that she can’t wear her hair up in combat. Saffron also wears a fair amount of makeup, brown mauve lipstick, mascara and a little bronzer, often touching it up out of habit during quite moments or to give herself time to think.

Saffron’s second Faunus trait is a small number of electro-sensors within her nose. Even if she did live underwater these would provide little advantage due to her few receptors but still Saffron can notice small changes in density if she is familiar with the object. Saffron holds herself in standard military flat back posture even in casual settings and speaks in a soft but clear tone with mishmash of pronunciations accenting different words from where she learnt them in her travels.

History: Saffron was born from a star crossed love story between a Faunus explorer and an Atlas Specialist serving as the protective detail for the Atlesian consulate in Menagerie. The relationship didn’t even last long enough for Saffron to be born as both realised they couldn’t change the other. This lead to a wild but mostly happy childhood with Saffron bouncing between her father, Vasco da Cortes, and his endless exploration of Remnant and her mother’s, Elizabeth Artemyeva, home in Atlas as Elizabeth herself was often on missions. Both parents remarried but Saffron was never made to feel unwanted even though she put considerable strain on both her parent’s professions.

Her father was a hands-on teacher, travelling around world quizzing his only child on geography and history in the locations it happened before moving on to Grimm studies, fighting and politics. Vasco, like many Faunus was proud of his heritage and Saffron inherited that pride after travelling to several hidden Faunus villages scattered about Remnant as well as learning about their victories in the Faunus revolution.

Her time with her mother was much more text book revolving around classes in early learning centres and school. Saffron liked the freedom her father provided but there was something in the military precision of Atlas which quickly enchanted her. That isn’t to say Atlas was equally enchanted with her and Saffron quickly learnt how much anti-Faunus resentment still existed. Taunts and verbal abuse became a daily occurrence and Saffron took it very poorly. Her mother was away too much to be much stability and even if she was Saffron would not want bring up what she perceived as her own failures. These experiences weren’t enough to darken Saffron’s outlook but it did keep her idealism in check.

When what started as pranks and taunts turned harsher Saffron snapped. She fought back keeping her body low and tight like her father taught her and delivered a serious uppercut to the girl who was standing over her. The blow hit home, a lucky strike hitting square on her jaw landing Saffron’s attacker on her ass and sending her friends into a rage. It took over an hour for Saffron to limp home after that because she was bleeding heavily, particularly on her head where most of her quills had been torn out. Per chance her mother who had hoped to surprise her by coming home early found the house empty and Saffron staggering in after dark. Needless to say, Elizabeth was distraught but Saffron still wouldn’t reveal the names of those who attacked her. Refusing to become like her abusers Saffron didn’t use her experiences as an excuse to cut off an entire race but it still taught her the danger of standing up for oneself as well as it’s necessity.

Spending more time with her father after that incident he started pushing Saffron’s limits meaning more dangerous expeditions. Although Saffron did occasionally return to Atlas she only got out of the house when she snuck out and her mother brought in Atlas instructors who owed her favours to try to show her a better side of humanity as well as furthering her education. Both were talking about her future and Atlas’s lower level combat academy was accepting students, although Saffron wasn’t a genius she was determined and had learnt under some of the best teachers her parents could find so they were confident she could get in. But it wasn’t to be, her mental scars remained but she used the excuses of her father having infected her with wanderlust and there was always something new to explore.

The four intervening years massively changed Saffron perspective as the constant Grimm fights and now battles with bandits or the White Fang quickly caused her realise how much there was still wrong with the world. Her father and his loose band of merry men were doing more than most but even they were barely holding villages let alone expanding into the wilderness. Only Kingdoms where doing that and none had done so more successfully than Atlas. Despite the pain it had caused her Saffron wanted to be part of this expansion of civilisation, fighting alongside her mother as guardians of the new world. This strange mix of militarism and idealism resulted in a more than a few teasing remarks from Saffron’s father and his more freeform friends but they understood her reasoning and sent her back with their blessings.

Now old enough to join Atlas academy proper Saffron charged forward getting in because of her high scores and a recommendation from an Atlas Specialist, her mother, and settled in. Enjoying the military culture as much as she thought she would Saffron still had to deal with the same anti-Faunus culture that she did when she was a child. Constantly asked to spar and brutally insulted when she refused Saffron often fought three or even four times more a week than the average Atlas student. She lost the majority of them due to exhaustion and her opponents working together to work out the flaws of her fighting style to show how a Faunus didn’t belong in Atlas but she was slowly getting better.

Near the tail end of the first year, with the help of her mother, Saffron managed to adapt her fighting style into a more confusing form by fusing several styles she had learnt on her travels together allowing her adapt to most situations and also making her almost impossible to plan against. This, combined with a lucky streak of victories at the beginning of the second year gave Saffron some breathing room to reach out and connect with her fellow students. Now in her third year Saffron is treated almost like another student minus the theft of weapons/armour/school supplies/homework/dust, verbal abuse, denial of dust, getting asked by security why she is on a campus for hunters in training and being on the wrong side of every teacher in the school.

Personality: Saffron dreams of being the perfect soldier but she isn’t there yet. Good-natured because of, rather than despite, everything Saffron has been through she works well in a team but remains serious enough to subconsciously follow military courtesy and has the confidence to act on her instincts even as the dust starts flying. This confidence does overwhelm Saffron at times particularly when her team mates are in trouble or people manage to get through her substantially think skin. Saffron wouldn’t call this arrogance instead saying she simply has a clearly defined sense of right and wrong. Most often this skin is broken with comments about her mother but Saffron can usually control herself until they get to an arena or at least somewhere there are no teachers nearby.

A passionate love for music colours most of her free time. Saffron learnt the guitar from her father and the piano from her mother and quickly developed an impressive talent for both instruments. Her wall at Atlas is covered in different instruments which she has picked up in her travels which she can all play to varying degrees and still receives more from her parents as gifts. She cares them all greatly but freely parts with them if others show interest. The only exception is an old twelve string guitar, a relic from long ago before the Faunus won their freedom, given to Saffron by her father. Despite this talent all of Atlas’s bands were strangely full whenever Saffron applied, even the ones which had to close because too few participated. Any other spare time Saffron has outside of school is dedicated to dedicated to advanced courses where she is learning to be a pilot and working alongside activists for Faunus equality.

Not particularly smart Saffron has a very strict study ethic which allows her to keep up with her studies even if it takes longer than most students. Very adaptive Saffron has a lot of experience being in odd situations and is capable of rapidly cycling through solutions to choose the best tool to solve her current problems. Other than that Saffron is an open book, enjoying talking about her past and learning about other peoples. Even taking most taunts thrown her way in her stride as Saffron quickly learnt that success is the best type of revenge although she makes sure to get some quips in for good measure.

Treating others as she wishes to be treated, as an individual, Saffron gives everyone a fair chance and is the first to offer help. Despite her positive outlook Saffron is very slow to forgive once her trust has been violated. She has a sense of humour, there being few practical jokes which her father hasn’t played on her, but will give clear warnings if something is starting to get to her. These are given with deceptive confidence because of her quite voice meaning many miss these warnings or ignore them entirely.

Aura and Semblance: Saffron’s aura is a soft brown is highly trained, particularly her danger sense which combined with her Faunus senses stretches far further than most. Other than that, Saffron’s aura is quite average, her skill only just making up for her limited aura pool.

Saffron’s semblance is Momentum Transfer which allows her to absorb the momentum from attacks she endures and using it to empower her own attacks. Having less of an effect of bladed weapons and none on energy based attacks it is far more useful against Grimm than other people. The cost to Saffron’s fatigue of absorbing momentum is equal to the damage the attack would normally do. It can never transfer more than ¾ of the attack and can only transfer what is absorbed which is modified again by the type of attack. There is no additional cost in transferring the momentum to Saffron’s personal attacks however late in her second year she started to develop the second level of the ability and was now able to transfer to an object far away from her. She can use this to boost her or her allies ranged attacks or otherwise control objects. Saffron can’t affect anything with an aura with this ability other than herself. Transferring at range is only half as effective and costs that much extra as fatigue. Saffron can hold only momentum for a few seconds before it is wasted. The first level of Saffron’s semblance is common knowledge around the academy although she has managed to keep the second level a secret outside her team for now.

Combat Behaviour: Surprisingly fast with her hands considering her armour Saffron can lay down a flurry of vicious hatchet strikes in a blink of an eye driving back even the most foolhardy attacker. She isn’t so fast on her feat however and therefore often needs help actually getting to grips with her enemy. Taking moves from all over Remnant Saffron fits into a dozen different schools and none of them makes her an unpredictable and adaptable foe but she lacks the expertise others have when they have dedicated themselves to a single style. This means that unless she finds a way to take advantage of said adaptability Saffron will often lose out in a straight up brawl.

Saffron’s quad barrelled shotguns provide her range accompaniment and are capable of unleashing a steady stream of fire or a spectacular barrage if fired all at once. They are still fairly short ranged weapons as such Saffron will often use one or two rounds as a speed boost to get herself into position before bring the hurt with her axes. If she is unable to close the gap Saffron has one last trick to distract her enemy long enough to advance up the field. Her shotguns are still active when her hatchets are in their boomerang form allowing for an unpredictable, if hard to aim, volley. This is controlled by a console carried on Saffron’s left wrist which also contains a communication device and basic survival equipment(GPS, compass, maps, summary or local fauna/flora, ect).

The area effect of her shotguns and speed of her hatchets makes Saffron well suited for hoard combat as she is quickly able to move on from foe to foe like an unstoppable force of nature. She struggles more with 1v1 fights as with enough care much of the danger Saffron poses can be disarmed by keeping distance and keeping an eye on her weapons. In a team, however is where Saffron really shines acting as a strong, hard to shift anchor while the rest of the team who can actually move take advantage of the flanks or simply corral them into the meat grinder.

Her semblance helps Saffron make up for her average aura on both offensive and defensive levels but takes time to set up and has to be utilised quickly or is lost. Saffron’s ability to transfer momentum to objects away from her adds another layer of unpredictability to her fighting style but uses a large amount of resources. Usually this is used more to help control her boomerangs and to line up her remote shots.

WEAPON

Name: Black Blizzard

Primary Form: Set of four black hatchets with a 30cm/1’ long handle and four shotgun barrels embedded in the top of each weapon. The trigger is just above the handle covered by a guard. The shotgun is reloaded similarly to a double barrel shotgun but instead the handle breaks off revealing the loading port.

Secondary Form: The axe head retracts and the haft bends turning the weapon into a boomerang. The shotguns are still active but can only be fired remotely with the use of radio waves from Saffron’s console on her left wrist.

Dust Functions: Black Blizzard can utilise any type of dust rounds but Saffron prefers air or ice dust because they boost her own mobility and reduce her enemies.

History: A month long conversation with her parents resulted in the detailed plans which would become Black Blizzard. Unlike either parent's weapons it represented one of the first major expressions of true independence Saffron showed and they couldn’t be happier.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2018, 08:40:55 AM by Kingnoname1 »
No criticism is too harsh so hit me with your best shot.

Calen Shrike - ASTC - First Year Beacon.

Saffron de Cortez - SALT - Third Year Atlas.

Amarant Lovis - (formerly of)ACCE - Headmaster of Atlas Academy

Ramalia - RASB - First Year Shade

jjb2158

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Re: Saffron de Cortez
« Reply #1 on: May 08, 2017, 07:25:29 PM »
After much debate, particularly about how a quad barreled shotgun can also function as a boomerang, we're going to just say okay with it.

Group approved (JJB, FunkyMonkey, and Janus).
First Year Beacon Student: Rackley Winchester - The Hawkeye Sniper currently Teamless

Second Year Beacon Student: Jett Davenport - The Playful Shadow Knight of Team MLDC (Melodic)

Third Year Beacon Student: Suntalia Lyn Ryker - The Voice of Thunder currently Teamless

Fourth Year Beacon Student: Savas Carnelian - The Quiet Berserker Leader of Team SARK (Stark)

Beacon Professor: Oberon Falcov - The Man With A Plan / Team Strategy Teacher of Beacon