Name: Daedalus Ivory

Age: 21

Gender: Male

Race: Faunus (Elephant traits)

Nationality: Vacuo

Appearance: Daedalus stands at an impressive 6"8' with a very broad, muscular physiche. Years in the harsh Vacuo sun has given his skin a deep olive complexion, which despite his age has weathered to give a subtle hide-like texture. His eyes are a mixture of brown and gold, while his face is long and square-jawed. In terms of hair, Daedalus' head is covered in long brown locks while his face sports a short and well-kept beard. Other than his size, Daedalus' major Faunus features are the two large bone-white tusks that protrude from his face. His clothing style could only be described as 'rugged', usually favouring sturdy working or exploring clothes over more formal attire.

Personality: Daedalus prides himself on his compassion and determination - his family taught him the values of hard work and of humility, especially in the face of great hardship. As a result most people who meet him know him as a big softie, always friendly and jovial. Although possessing incredible aptitude for combat in the field, Daedalus only ever resorts to fighting when all other avenues have been exhausted. This occasionally gets him into trouble, as less charitable folks tend to take advantage of his kind-hearted nature.

Aspiration: Daedalus became a Hunter in order to help the innocent and the incapable, and keep the peace across Remnant. Deep down though, his desire to join Shade Academy stemmed from his experiences of racism as a Faunus, and a subconscious need to not only be accepted by society but to also prove that Faunuskind aren't 'The Bad Guys' through his actions.

Fears: Being a social pariah, hurting those closest to him, not being able to protect the innocent, broken promises, death... And mice

Ethics: Daedalus' approach to most things in life is usually 'Ask questions first, shoot later'. He believes that there is honour in kindness, especially when extended to one's foes. Violence should only ever be used as a last resort, and even then only enough to gain and maintain the upper hand - never more. His actions are shaped by what he believes will be the most help and provide the most joy and support to those around him.

History: Even though the Faunus Rights Wars ended long ago, the scars of conflict refuse to heal. This was was blatantly apparent throughout his childhood to Daedalus, whose family experienced racial trauma for much of their lives.

Having been shut out of much of the job market due to their Faunus heritage, the Ivory family worked as a team of builders and labourers - it was difficult and physically demanding work, but it was an honest living and it kept a roof over their heads and food on the table. His parents, Metion and Europa, maintained extensive ties to the local chapter of the White Fang for years and would often take Daedalus and his younger brother Perdix to meetings and rallies.

For much of his schooling at Oasis Academy in Vacuo, Daedalus had few friends outside a handful of other Faunus and was often the object of ridicule by his Human peers. Many days were spent alone, hiding away in secluded areas to avoid the constant taunting and abuse from Felix Princeton, the local bully, and wishing for the day that the White Fang's dreams for peace would become a reality.

When Perdix eventually started out at Oasis, he vowed to him that he would protect him at all costs - like the Hunters and Huntresses from the White Fang did for all Faunuskind. This quickly led to trouble, as Daedalus became increasingly involved in fights and scuffles in the Academy.

It was after class one day when Felix and his crew cornered Perdix and began to torment him. Daedalus was busy finishing a prototype weapon for a school project and didn't even realize what was happening until half an hour later when he found Perdix, cut and bruised, crying out front of the Academy.

Feeling upset that his older brother broke his promise to protect him, Perdix ran into a nearby canyon and hid in the adjoining caves. What Perdix and Daedalus didn't know was that the caves were a nesting ground for the creatures of Grimm, and that Perdix's sadness had awoken the usually dormant beasts.

When Daedalus finally found him, Perdix had been bitten several times by a Taijitu and was rapidly losing blood. With his gauntlets, he was able to hold off the Taijitu and protect his brother long enough for a passing Hunter to arrive and slay the beast - but sadly it was too late. Perdix succumbed to his injuries and the Ivory family was left broken.

Then the rumours began. Felix began to spread stories around the Academy that Daedalus had killed his brother. That he and his family were just animals with no conscience. That one less Faunus in Remnant was a step closer to a perfect society. Many of the humans at Oasis started to shun Daedalus more than usual - they whispered in the halls as he walked by and avoided getting too close lest they end up like Perdix.

The story of Perdix quickly became a point of contention for the regional White Fang and sparked a surge in retributive rhetoric led by the more violent factions in the organisation. The usually peaceful meetings became divisive, with calls from the more militaristic elements for Faunus to take up arms and form militias against Humankind.

Daedalus, in his grief-stricken state, took this violent ideology to heart and sought vengeance for his brother. He cornered Felix on his way to class and beat him savagely, only stopping when the teachers managed to restrain him. He was suspended from the Academy for several months.

For his parents, the suspension was not just terrifying sign of their son's impressionable nature but also of the dangerous path the White Fang had begun to tread. They immediately cut ties with the organisation and spent Daedalus' time away from Oasis teaching, reminding and instilling in him the morals at the old White Fang's core: Humility, respect, charity, peace, and most importantly of all, mercy.

Daedalus returned to Oasis a changed man. No longer was he violent and vindictive; rather peaceful and forgiving. He completed the last of his senior year and graduated from Oasis, securing a place at Vacuo's prestigious Shade Academy.

Being so far away from home, Shade was like a new start for Daedalus. The large mixture of both Human and Faunus students from across the kingdom meant that prejudice against Faunuskind was not anywhere near as fierce as it was back home, and the distance meant that he was able to leave many of his regrets and mistakes far, far behind him.

With no-one possessing preconceptions about who he was or what he'd done, he was able to make friends and quickly gained a reputation as the go-to man if you needed someone to help out or talk to. He excelled in practical examinations and graduated from Shade among the top students in his year.

But despite his newfound success, he never truly forgot or let go of what happened back at home. Deep down he continued to blame himself for the death of his brother, and it drove him harder than ever to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.

Semblance: Daedalus' semblance turns his aura and body as hard as stone, giving him an incredible boost to his strength and fortitude. The drawback of this is that he loses most of his agility and becomes slow, and maintaining this state for extended periods of time requires intense mental and physical exertion.

Combat Style: Daedalus' fighting style is largely defensive. With a firmly planted stance, he uses his gauntlets to deflect attacks and fatigue any would-be assailants, while looking for openings to strike his foes with devastatingly strong blows - the intention being either disarming or incapacitating the enemy. At range, he prefers the use of ammunition that would put to sleep or trap enemies rather than kill them.

Weapon: Fervent Sentinel - Massive gauntlets that cover Daedalus' entire lower arms, with contoured guards that allow him to deflect blows away from his body. The left forearm features a concealed buckler that can extend and retract at will, while the right forearm has a blaster with two ammo types: dust-infused crossbow bolts, or darts tipped with various serums (these darts could theoretically be lethal, but Daedalus only carries non-lethal rounds). It can chamber 8 rounds of either at a time, but requires time to reload or change ammunition types.

Non-Combat skills: Daedalus finds it easy to make friends and is great at thinking on his feet and coming up with practical solutions for practical problems. He often goes out of his way for others, even those he's never met. He also holds the current Shade student record for the most amount of peanuts eaten at once: One hundred and fourteen.

Deficiencies: Daedalus' size makes him slow, noisy, and an easy target for attackers; while his almost pathological need to see the good in others is easily exploitable by those with Machiavellian inclinations. While not unintelligent, Daedalus works very much in the realm of the practical so the complexity of things like academia, high society and battle tactics are usually lost on him. Oh, and the irrational fear of mice doesn't exactly help either.

Miscellaneous: Daedalus carries a worn family photo with him everywhere. It helps to keep him grounded and reminds him of who he's fighting for.

Name: Braonán Ailill Griese ("Brennan")

Age: 24

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Nationality: Atlesian

Appearance:

With none of his taller or broader former teammates around to dwarf him in comparison, Brennan’s proportions make him a somewhat intimidating public figure. A few inches above six feet and athletically broad, Brennan himself is very handsome, with a strong jaw, bright red-gold eyes, and a perpetual hysterical laugh never far from his lips. Ever professional, he tends to wear black pants or jeans with white dress shirt, sleeves rolled up. He will always either wear suspenders or a slim-fitting black vest. His coal-black hair is long, but not unruly – half the time it tends to be pomaded backwards lustrously, and half the time he lets it hang free over his eyes.

Surprisingly, given his brash demeanor and lavish wealth, he’s not one for much gaudy ornamentation. The only concession to jewelry he wears is a slender silver chain on his neck, from which hangs a single Claddagh ring barely visible through an unbuttoned collar.

Personality and Ethics: The Ubermensch, in his boundless and cruel wisdom, sees lesser man as naught but a plaything to be guided along by the hypnotic cadence of his voice and the crack of his hellish whip.

“Brennan, if you don’t tell them the truth, I will. And you don’t like my truth very much.”

Though a prodigious fighter in his own right, most of Brennan's talent comes from being a natural showman and psychological warrior. Loud-mouthed and utterly without fear, he has a forceful personality to command other forceful personalities. Brennan honed his commanding presence through years of asserting himself over other privileged Atlesian youth, delegating them tasks and expecting them to be performed with the utmost precision. Resistance to his orders is combated by irreverent disdain instead of loud tirades, but usually he will be the first to remind you that "he told you so" in the event that going against him didn't work out well.

On the other side of that coin is an always-running silver tongue, capable of joking and charming to the point where Brennan has even made hardened tsunderesnamis capable of rolling their eyes and smiling against their will. Through most of his school years, there is very little that he took seriously besides competition with his teammates and those he considered his rivals, which he often communicated through an endless stream of banter with anyone who would listen. Put simply, Brennan Griese is a hyper-competitive jock, a savvy tactician, and a keen business mogul rolled all into one, fiercely proud of his pedigree outside of battle and utterly dismissive of it inside it.

His period of captivity in Vacuo, however, has sharpened his edges somewhat, leaving him callous and even ruthless when on bounty or retrieval missions. Brennan cares little for the well-being of targets that prove themselves anything less than strictly honorable over the course of a mission, and his long-held sense of chivalry on the battlefield has grown shaky after his kidnapping challenged his rich kid's naivety. Though this sense of pragmatism is something to be sought after in a leader, it can be a marked change to those who only recognize the charismatic Atlesian hero from his psychotically-cheerful Vytal Festival days. His disdain towards charity can also be seen as a bit cruel by some people, though this grievance is only skin deep; in reality Brennan is an open-handed and generous person, though he takes care to cover his tracks with all charitable contributions and will often "blame" the donations on others.

Aspirations:
>Be the first man in space
>Cut award-winning documentary - “Four Years of Making BANK”
>Name a wing of Bastion Academy after himself
>Pave Vacuo in solar panels
>Kill 9,999 Grimm before Umeko
>Build Umeko a mobile suit

Fears:
>Kawaguchi’s recent stomach bump (!!!)
>Noel's awful puns
>Clowns
>World war
>World peace
>Losing Kawaguchi or Noel

History: Brennan’s father was only one generation removed from their fortune, but it was clear he had forgotten where it came from. Brennan’s grandfather had initially gone into business as a founding partner of the Schnee Dust Company, but foresaw a coming monopoly on the Dust market and the coming problems with the use of Faunus labor. Therefore, he sold every last share at top dollar and came out with enough money to float him through the rest of his life; a series of sensible investments in property and budding tech firms with interests in Aura and Dust only compounded the fortune, until it was clear no Griese would ever have to worry about money again.

As you can imagine, this had made Brennan’s father complacent, a trait not shared by his rowdy, implacable only son. A talented little scrapper (to his father’s chagrin) from an early age, Brennan seemed to have determined his path even before he quite knew what the Huntsman path was, and went away to Sanctum Academy in Mistral for combat training at the age of 12. When he returned to Atlas after four years, though, he took a couple drop years to begin taking a hands on role in some investments of his own. Finally, at the age of 19, he enrolled in Atlas Academy to seek out a career as a Huntsman and engage himself in higher study.

Pleasantly, he found himself on a team with three other members of the Atlesian business elite - Albert Morgan, the king of Atlesian banking, Noel du Acier, head of one of Atlas' top weapon forges, and Kek Tarik, whose railway empire was responsible for much of Remnant's transit. Though at first their squabbles over leadership and their natural competitive edges had led them to all eschew each other, once the question of leadership was truly decided and began to work as a unit, BANK (as they had been first colloquially, then officially known) became an inseparable juggernaut, often able to discern strategies and fight alongside or independent of each other with mere near-telekinetic glances. At the head of this specialized team was Brennan Griese himself - and Griese, through the course of his chaotic first year as an Atlesian student, led his team on a hellish blitzkrieg through the ranks of the Vytal Festival tournament that year in Vale. Along the way, he finally found himself a worthy rival in the form of “The Nip,” Umeko Kawaguchi, who Brennan ravenously cheered on in the hopes of crushing her himself before the eyes of the world. The two eventually met in the final match of the tournament, which finally ended in an unprecedented double knockout Brennan remembers little of. Apparently it was ratings gold, though. His mug was beaming at RSPN viewers all the way into his second year of Atlas after that.

But while TSUN had a comparatively tame education in Vacuo, Brennan’s life only became wilder and more fraught with danger as the next four years rolled on. Not only were the missions Atlas assigned more severe and dangerous for their trainees (many of whom had undergone training at the elite combat school Bastion Academy, which demanded seven years of excellence before graduation to Atlas as opposed to four), the four members of BANK each came from prestigious families that had made their own enemies throughout Remnant. It was a few weeks after the start of his junior year, while on a nighttime Fury Road reenactment through the wastes of Vacuo, that Brennan was ambushed and held ransom for months by a splinter group of ex-Faunus slaves and Dust miners.

Though kidnappings of board members and rich children were usually buoyed by begging and the promise of hefty ransoms, Brennan Griese proved a colossal disappointment to the desperate Faunus who had ambushed him. Though subjected to endless physical beatings and protracted ransom videos (usually cut short by improvised limericks and animal control puns) Brennan stuck to his Atlesian training and only gave up the most basic of information about himself - “Brennan Griese, 21, Team BANK, I was on TV” - when the camera was off him. Finally, the most charismatic student Atlas had churned out in three generations baited one of the Faunus into releasing his restraints in an attempt to resist his latest beating. Perhaps the terrorist assumed that months of starvation, dehydration, and lack of training had reduced the Atlesian mogul to a deflated windbag. Perhaps he assumed it would be an excuse to kill the hostage - who had not brought in, nor would he likely ever bring in, money from his aloof father - and free up space to try again with some Atlesian who was less of a black sheep amongst their family. Whatever the case, he released Brennan and challenged the young man to put his fists up.

Not smart of him.

A train managed by one of his teammates, Kek Tarik, found Brennan on a Vacuuan railroad track four days later. He was covered in blows, his famous Trustbuster gloves were tattered on his hands, and he was visibly malnourished, but the Atlesian hometown hero had only one complaint:

“Here I thought Tarik kept the fookin’ trains roonin’ on time. He and me are gonna hafta have some words.”

And then one more, upon his return at Atlas:

“Shut up, Noel.”

Though Brennan’s flippant demeanor showed no change, and though the kidnapping was largely covered up - to this day, Brennan has ensured with surprising ruthlessness that no word of the kidnapping ever reaches Vacuo or the student he holds dear there - those who were close to him before his kidnapping can easily recognize a change in the one-time plucky young playboy. To replace his destroyed gloves, he cajoled Umeko Kawaguchi into surrendering one of her precious five RX-78 prototypes and modified it, replacing weapons that were once meant for playful sparring with weapons specced for destructive power. Once returned to Atlas, he threw himself twice as hard into his training, and graduated with top honors alongside his team the following year. Brennan, unlike his teammates, had no pressing business interests to immediately return to, but eschewed the role of Atlesian Specialist anyway, mostly due to his family name and his inability to be objective after his kidnapping.

Though he strongly considered returning to Vacuo and ripping up every little cell of Faunus that couldn’t fit in a litter box working alongside Kawaguchi, he was nonetheless convinced by his old team that perhaps a change of scenery would be best. Thus, Brennan has returned to Vale, the place where he drew the eyes of the whole world five years previously, with his best friend and teammate Noel du Acier in tow.

Semblance: Brennan has been able to effectively manipulate and control friction since his early days as a Vytal Festival prizefighter, and years of training at Atlas has only heightened his prodigal skill with his Semblance. Brennan Griese is capable of propelling himself forward along any solid surface without pause, as well as freeze anything in its tracks. This can make him downright terrifying when wearing Trustbuster II, as he can speed directly in a room and leave an entire squad rooted to the floor, while he himself zips around and clears them out with sheer volleys of firepower.

Combat Style: Brennan is at his best when he's allowed to be punishingly quick and strike punishingly hard. Between the sheer amount of firepower produced by Trustbuster II and how effectively he can use Veblen Good to rip an enemy apart, he is most effectively used whenever he's put on point man duty - or, in the event that a threat is more long-range, he will be of much more use hanging back and coordinating his fellow Huntsmen's movements and actions.

Weapons: Veblen Good - Brennan’s trademark monofilament whip has remained in his care ever since the day he designed it at Sanctum Academy. The weapon that brought him all the way into the final round of the Vytal Festival as a first-year remains largely unmodified, aside from some retrofits to make it compatible with his Trustbuster upgrade. Its monofilament design allows it to open up stinging cuts on any surface or person that isn’t protected by Aura or some form of force field, but remains just as capable of grabbing onto an object as it is of ripping one apart. Veblen Good is also capable of being energized with several varieties of Dust or being converted into a targe-like shape, which, when imbued with Dust, creates a powerful shield capable of tanking most physical or projectile attacks on its energized surface.

Remnant Expansion (Prototype) #78 Unit 5 Grimm-Use Non-Demanding Armament Machine ver. Trustbuster II - Trustbuster II is a spiritual sequel to its predecessor - a pair of Dust-woven gloves worn by Brennan for close combat - in the loosest sense of the term, in that the weapon is Dust-powered and dual-wielded. Other than that, Trustbuster II is a far cry from any sort of fashion statement like the first Trustbusters.

Heavily modified from the fifth and final prototype of the Remnant Expansion series of weaponry, Trustbuster II consists of two fully automatic shotguns, each capable of emptying 999 rounds from twenty-five shell cylinders in sixty seconds. Both weapons are also capable of discharging all twenty-five rounds at once in beam form for several seconds when powered by Dust, generating a massive concussive shock of whatever Dust type is currently used to power Trustbuster II.

The prototype's original accompanying shield repurposed as a slim energy-powered ammunition backpack, fitting snugly on Brennan's back and using Veblen Good as a wired-beam connection to both shotguns. The weapon is still capable of performing its intended function and guarding Brennan's back from enemy fire, though his Semblance leaves him agile enough to be able to turn around at the slightest hint of enemies at his rear; thus, the shield's ammunition and energy storage features account for most of its usage.

The Trustbuster II's main drawback is its sheer bulk, which often weighs Brennan's arms down and leaves him incapable of hand-to-hand fighting, a specialty and favored means of combat for the young Atlesian. For this reason the Trustbuster II does have a second transformation: two large weapon lockers, similar to those used by Beacon Academy students, which can be summoned from Brennan's Scroll and dropped to his location inside of sixty seconds. The door of the locker will split off and convert into the ammo backpack/shield, while the thrusters and spare parts convert themselves into the weapon's firearm apparatus and connectors for Veblen Good.

Non-Combat skills: “Noel, what’re my skills again, lass?”

"Your charming personality and dashing good looks! Sir!"

Brennan has a surprisingly deep skill set for someone who only had to start taking care of himself at the age of nineteen. Though not as good a cook as Noel, he can order a pizza or whip the tsundere up a plate of breakfast as well as any lad worth his salt, and he's even got himself an eye for decorating and design. This knack for Feng Shui has even spread to fashion; Brennan has modeled for two of the past three Atlesian Accessories fall/winter collections, a part-time gig that was borne purely out of gatecrashing Kawaguchi's photoshoot during winter break in their second year.

Apparently the photographer recognized their chemistry. And they even cleaned up most of his bruises in Photoshop.

Brennan has also run the public speaking circuit once or twice, and wouldn't mind going into politics if only he got to actually maul his opponents on the debate stage. A return to the private sector is similarly unlikely, so an entire wealth of business knowledge and salesman's acumen goes untapped inside the mad Atlesian's brain.

Deficiencies: There is only one Brennan Griese to save mankind at the moment. Junior year kidnapping has added a somewhat aggressive edge to what was once simply a charming, if coarse, hypercompetitive streak. Occasional nightmares. Currently being supported by supporting a person sized anchor named Noel du Acier, a woman with no psychology degree and no willingness to acknowledge the fact. In combat, almost entirely useless at long ranges - Trustbuster II is a weapon designed to obliterate at mid-range and Veblen Good is capable of shearing apart most Grimm and hammering on Aura at close range, but neither is particularly effective against, say, a sniper.

Miscellaneous: Griese rules, Kawaguchi drools. Brennan is still an intense sports guru and, secretly, will mentor Atlesian kids during the summers who want to make it into a combat school - even setting up a fund to spay their expenses abroad in case they don’t want to devote a decade of their lives to Bastion and Atlas. Hates being publicly acknowledged as charitable - that’s Noel’s gig. Really loves milk. Based on the life of American robber baron John D. Rockefeller.

Name: Nura Volkov
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Nationality: Vacuuan with Atlesian father.
Appearance:
With a height slightly taller than the norm, most of Nura’s physical features are a gift from her father. The light skin and blue eyes, point towards her Atlesian background more than her Vacuuan mother. If she was a betting woman, Nura might propose that this biological reason for why she hates the heat. However a bet like that would be highly illogical.

Beneath her clothing lies the toned, lean muscles of a natural borne combatant. It is the physique one will often see on a runner for, unlike many of her peers, Nura is rarely reliant on gifts of her aura or weapons. She has put a large amount of time into training her physical body. This trained body is complemented by long flowing blonde hair that appears to fall around face in an almost haphazard manner. Generally she keeps the hair tied up in a neat ponytail, letting it fall straight down only on rare occasions.

Occasions she will no doubt complain about.

However Nura’s most striking feature is no doubt the perpetual scowl that lines her face. In contrast to the spectrum of apathy to amiability that adorns the rest of her team, Nura always looks perpetually displeased with the events occurring around her. In terms of her clothing, Nura favours the simplistic approach, wearing the black outfit provided by Al-Zalzalah, and only rarely adding in simple additions like a brown jacket. Practicality, simplicity and ease of movement are the determining qualities for whatever clothes Nura wears. Putting time and effort into her clothing is obviously not something that logically deserves her attention.

Oh and that skull hair clip? She’s just wearing it because her sister told her to. It’s not like she likes it or anything.



Personality and Ethics:

Guarded is perhaps the best word to describe Nura. It is by far her defining trait, a tendency to never let anyone get close. For this reason she typically comes off as extremely aloof, even when compared to the tundras on her team. As a result she tends to work alone, silently accomplishing whatever task has been put in front of her. That’s not to say she’s averse to working with the rest of her team, on the contrary she knows quite well how capable her teammates are. However despite all this, Nura still tends to only engage in team based exercises when she finds it to be the most logical approach. Of course this does create a flipsite where any illogical actions are quick to acquire her ire.

And Nura’s wrath will cause even the hardiest of warriors to shake in their boots.

Thus it’s a good thing that Nura abides so closely to logic, for while she may snap out at people, it’s rather difficult to acquire the full force of her anger. Instead it tends to come out in small bursts and biting remarks at people that commit logical fallacies or are just idiots in general. Being a moron after all is just asking to endanger one’s comrades.

Not that she necessarily cares about everyone else’s well being. She’s just annoyed that you could be so selfish is all.

Ahem.

Regardless of Nura’s tendency towards harsh comments at others for their mistakes, she’s probably harshest towards herself. A competitive streak and drive to excel tends to make Nura push herself to great extremes. Thus whenever she does fail or even falter in the smallest mistake, she tends to mentally berate herself for quite a while. That said she also tends to channel this frustration at her own failings in productive exercises of training. Suffice to say, that’s not necessarily the smartest exercise for her mental well being.

This tendency for self beration even applies to her social failings, but only because she doesn’t want to create misunderstandings that could aversely affect the performance of others.

Underneath this cold and harsh exterior, Nura likely does care deeply for others. A fact her annoying, nagging older sister delights in pointing out and a fact Nura vehemently rejects. Indeed, despite her exterior, compliments and praise can often make Nura flustered.

Or end with a gun pointed in your face.

It’s 50-50 with her.

Point is, Nura doesn’t like praise. She much prefers to silently take care of the job with minimal interference from outside parties. Not to mention she has a very difficult time showing concern or worry for anyone. She’s often a lone wolf precisely because she finds dealing with people and their illogical emotions to drive her up a wall and commit logical fallacies herself. People are a confusing, illogical bunch prone to spreading their fallacies to others after all.

Not that she’ll ever admit anything like that. After all, what does she care what morons do, as long as no one else is hurt by their selfishness.

Idiots.

Aspiration:

• Beating her sister
• Finding a way to be left alone
• Excelling
• Leaving Brennan in a ditch

Fears:

• Losing to her sister (Note: She’s never won)
• Being illogical (Note: Happens more often than she cares to admit)
• Umeko being tortured by her boy toy (Note: Too late)

History:
As the daughter of an Atlesian emigrant and a Vacuuan native, Nura was always bound to have a unique life. Her father was an Atlesian citizen involved with a less than noble brotherhood. But family is family, and her father deeply cared for his family, regardless of all the misgivings they caused. Her mother on the other hand was a Vacuuan huntress sent to weaken said family. To say they were a match made in heaven would be to utter a great fallacy. Still, somehow life had a way of happening.

In term of the details of the events that transpired, Nura is unaware, her father keeps mumbling something about how she’ll know when she’s older. This is of course made more frustrating by the fact that her older sister does know but refuses to tell her. A rather illogical stream of reasoning, but Nura is forced to put it up with.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that Nura’s father eventually moved to Vacuo and married Nura’s mother. They have remained in Vacuo since, and that was where Nura and her sister were born. Nura’s early childhood passed rather uneventfully, a simple life of chores, schooling and a hatred for the heat. The last one was particularly unfortunate for someone living in the desert, it appeared she took a bit too much from her East Atlesian father.

Every now and then though, her mother or father relented and taught Nura and her sister how to fight. While neither parent wished for their children to enter such a life of violence, the huntress blood flowing through their veins drew the two eager youths to their mother’s work. Thus her parents reasoned that if the two children were going to throw themselves headfirst anyway, it would be wise to provide them with the proper training to succeed.

For Nura becoming a huntress was the logical route from the beginning. Thanks to her unique background, she possessed a multitude of resources in the form of her parents that few others had. As far as Nura was concerned pursuing any other potential career was simply a waste of the abundance she had been granted. Coincidently, Nura’s sister had also decided to become a huntress and often set standards Nura sought to excel.

She definitely wasn’t competing with her or anything.

Upon graduation from combat school, Nura’s parents gave her gifts in the form of her new weapons. Weapons Nura put to good use at Shade Academy, just ask any of her teammates or unfortunate sparring partners. That said, while she’ll never admit it, she did find a decent group of people in team Tsunami.

Well at the very least they were competent.

Alongside her Tsunami teammates, Teàrlag Cirsium, Silver Never, and Umeko Kawaguchi, Nura found herself at the Vytal festival. Despite the contradictory and often explosive personalities of her team, they were able to proceed to the finals of the tournament. Unfortunately Nura wasn’t able to watch Umeko defeat Brennan at the festival due to being in the hospital as a result of the doubles round. Still, despite the official record, Nura has enough faith in her teammate to be absolutely certain she triumphed over the idiot from Atlas.

Afterwards Nura’s education continued as normal, often traveling with her teammates to the other school’s for exchange programs and other unique Hunter opportunities. Still, nothing else was quite as invigorating as the festival, even as the team had the opportunity to face stronger and fiercer Grimm. So it was that upon graduation, Nura was left with a few options of where she should pursue her new career. Vacuo was off the table due to her sister’s nagging presence, while Atlas was filled with far too many of her father’s former “associates.” With Mistral being far too humid for the young girl, Vale was left as the only real option.

Unfortunately for her, both Umeko and her boy toy (and his tagalong stray) felt Vale was the perfect place to begin their careers.

Thus Nura was stuck as both a chaperone and a Huntress.

Semblance:

Limit Over - Nura’s semblance allows her to excite dust and dust infused items through physical contact. Simply put a few seconds after intentional contact the dust will destabilize and enter state of overexcitation before fizzling out. In a sense Nura is accelerating the natural clock of the dust causing it to exhaust all of its available energy in a single brief moment. For instance, using her semblance on fire dust will cause it to rapidly combust out of control in a brief inferno. Ice dust on the other hand will completely freeze over, while earth dust will explode in shards of rock. When dealing with something like dust infused weapons, while the weapon itself is not destroyed, it will be rather difficult to control for the five seconds or so the dust is over excited and then left deprived of any special abilities derived from the dust.

Combat Style:

Nura can diligently serve a role as any team’s close quarters specialist. She is very much an up close, “in your face” kind of fighter. Whether with her knives or just simply her fists, Nura likes to deliver quick and powerful blows, something made even easier thanks to Al-Zalzalah. Her semblance and weaponry also makes her quite adept at disrupting the enemy. Simply put at close range Nura employs a style that can quickly become overwhelming for any single enemy. While this effect is lessened with multiple targets, Nura’s speed and agility means that she can still keep them busy as she allows others to finish them off. If no one else is around, she can probably still take out a large group of opponents, it’ll just take a little more time. Longer ranges do limit Nura mostly to using her pistols for suppressing fire or finding more creative ways of attacking. However one way she’s found to supplement this deficiency is by carrying vials of dust she can ignite with her semblance.

Weapons:

Al-Zalzalah - Nura’s primary weapon is rather unique. Rather than the typical armament of Hunter guns and swords, Nura’s weapon takes the form of the very clothing she wears. Normal existing as loose fitting pants, her black tank top and her gloves, with a simple voice command it enter its battle mode as a black body suit that covers everything but her head. Her gloves however remain fingerless to allow for greater dexterity and proper use of her semblance. The clothing is dust infused and boosts her speed by a slight but noticeable amount. She won’t be darting around with superspeed by any means, but she’ll definitely be able to keep up or outspeed just about anyone without such superpowers. Dust infusion is achieved based on whatever dust element the clothes last came in contact with. Obviously Nura can trigger this herself, but the suit is also capable of absorbing dust attacks launched at it. However while it is able to absorb the elements, the physical attacks will still hurt her. For instance while she might absorb the fire of a fire dust infused bullet, she will still experience the pain and effects of being hit by a bullet.

However the true power of Al-Zalzalah comes in its ability to emit seismic waves infused with the properties of whatever dust has been infused into the suit. These waves are triggered by physical contact and will emit from the point of contact. For instance launching a punch at an opponent can trigger waves of flame to emit from the contact point, or stomping on the ground to send a shockwave of ice. Nura can control whether or not these waves are emitted. Obviously these waves cause quite a bit of vibration on the target, capable of easily shattering things like ice and glass. Stronger strikes are even capable of shattering stones. The strength of the waves is proportional to the strength of contact.

Glazdrakona and Rozhdeniye - Nura’s secondary weapons are nowhere near as elaborate as her primary. Instead they are a pair of simple dust powered pistols, hailing from her father’s days in the East Atlesian Bratva. Design wise they look akin to the MP-443 Grach Yarygin Pistol, with a black color scheme and a Bratva symbol etched into the hilt. In addition these pistols are capable of transforming into simple combat knives. Other than that there isn’t much special about these pistols.

Non-Combat skills:

• Surprisingly, Nura is a decent chef.
• Unsurprisingly, Nura is an excellent runner and climber.
• She’s a monster.

Deficiencies:
Let’s just say she isn’t much of a people person. In fact, Nura is remarkable for her odd misunderstandings of the world. Things others may find to be obvious facts might strike Nura as an odd and peculiar tidbit. Abiding so closely to logic, and being so focused on her training, has left Nura a little naive to the workings of the real world. Society is the one thing that Nura truly fails to understand at times.

Miscellaneous:

• Nura carries multiple vials of dust with her for combat purposes.
• Training has left her ambidextrous.
• She’ll never admit it, but her sister is by far the better fighter.
• Rumours exist that she has soft side around her family, said rumours have never been corroborated.

Name: Sterling Lucien
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Race: Faunus
Nationality: Vale
Appearance: Average in height, Sterling stands at 5’5 with light skin, a product of both genetics and her habits of wearing hoods and clothing which basically covers everything except for her face. Her hair is a shade of dark silver, with black roots. It barely reaches her shoulders, usually kept relatively short, sometimes tied back. Her eyes are a light blue, though her left eye has a slight shade of amber around the edge of the iris. Her faunus trait is the lynx ears on the top of her head. She is somewhat considered cute in a way, though she doesn’t find that a defining characteristic.

“Keep my hair short for the hood, it’s easier."

She’s of a smaller build which helps in her maneuvering, considering she’s not a brawler or one to get close, this doesn’t matter. Her clothing and armor follow up when it comes to the lighter theme, despite somewhat generic. She wears a dark blue sweatshirt with light padding, outlined in black and silver. It’s all designed to keep her capable of full movement and give some protection. She wears jeans with similar padding by the shins and knees, and combat boots slipped under the cuff.

“It’s a bit light, and I know some people don’t even use armor, but my aura is mediocre at best.”

Equipment wise, she’s got a small bag she also carries with her, usually containing some simple supplies. A small medkit for various emergencies, especially if someone’s aura ends up depleted out in the field. Canned food and water. On the right side of her belt, she has a pouch for individual dust rounds, usually for utility. Her various magazines are kept on her lower back and the left side of her belt.

“Utility is important. You usually only need two, three days to get from the Grimm hunts to the nearest town or city.”

Decorative wise, she doesn’t wear too much. She has a watch inside her left sleeve, fingerless gloves with a bit of padding by the palm, a bit more rigid by the knuckles. She has a silver Sun pendant she keeps under her jacket.

“I’ve had it ever since I had my first sparring match with my dad.”

Personality:
First on the outside, Sterling is a bit shy and more reserved, although she comes off as cold a lot of the time. She’s more of a follower than a leader, kinda off to the side and avoiding too much confrontation. She’s not all too good with people, usually being a bit too professional when it comes to others, and not meshing all too well when it comes to social interactions. Though she tries to understand them a lot, sometimes she misunderstands intent. She does step in occasionally when it comes to discussions on faunus rights, or if she needs to for combat, planning, etc. But she usually stays quiet when it comes to people she doesn’t know.

“It’s easier to keep things simple.”

When you first meet her, she’s probably giving you a colder attitude of quiet, defensiveness, or over-professional intent. That’s somewhat normal, that’s her way of trying to figure out what type of person she’s meeting. She tends to warm up after some time although keeps her professional attitude under most circumstances, usually needing to be told to lighten up, and she sometimes does.

“Newer people can be sometimes confusing. I find it’s easier this way then actively asking questions. Prove yourself.”

The more professional side to her attitude is mostly due to her views on Humans vs. Faunus, where the Faunus are somewhat in a moral obligation to prove themselves to be equal or superior to humans in order to gain their equality. Somewhat contradictory, maybe, but that’s what she thinks will get everyone to believe that faunus are elegant, sophisticated, etc. All good characteristics to prove their equality.

“I don’t believe that Faunus are better than humans, though we have to act like it to prove ourselves.”

There’s another part of her drive, it’s protecting the peace. She strives for keeping that up, as it’s part of her job, and it seems the Grimm and many random people seem to dislike that for whatever reason. The Grimm are constantly trying to ruin humanity, and it’s part of her job to fight that. There also seem to be criminals actively breaking the peace, and Sterling absolutely hates them. She can get pretty dark when it comes to those people, adding onto the cold aspect of her personality.

“What’s more to say? People who try to ruin people’s lives shouldn’t receive that much mercy.”

Then there’s the internal side of her, warmer and nicer than her colder side. She does like to find some friends, however she has issues trusting some people, sometimes humans. Somewhat due to her past experiences with several people. She does work to make good impressions, and make some sort of mental image of someone who conducts herself in an outstanding manner, and yet is loyal to her friends. When you get her to open up, she starts to relax a bit, and starts to actually show that she’s a nice person.

“Not that I’m mean in general, it’s mostly that it’s hard to trust people.”

Aspiration:
“I dream of a world where hate isn’t the loudest voice for Faunus rights. I want help the people I watch over. I want to fight the people who actively go against peace.”

Her dreams of equality are more than a driving factor for her, which is relatively common for most common. Being able to protect those she works with or those who can’t protect themselves? That’s another thing. She always wants to go out of her way and protect people who can’t. Sometimes night patrols keep her Lightning Gaze watching over the walls or rooftops in order to keep the Grimm away. As for the last part, she absolutely hates those who try and ruin the peace and is willing to fight for it.

On a side note, she wants to try and get some wicked shots for shooting as a sport.

Fears:
Betrayal -
“There’s a lot of reasons I have not to trust people. If I get stabbed in the back…”

Grimm Invasions -
“It worries me too often that innocent people might get hurt because we can’t protect them.”

Enemy Snipers -
“While not all too bone chilling, it’s sometimes a terrifying sight to see someone else with my skillset. Having them find me is scarier.”

Ethics:
“I’m somewhat cynical when it comes to most people, I know. But there’s a reason. A lot of people don’t seem to be trustworthy, and there are just some things that we just can’t change about people. Yes, I’m a bit cold but there are a lot worse. Granted, people can earn trust, they can earn their spot in history, though still. Traitors, liars, murderers, all those bad people? I might be cruel for saying this but no mercy. Honestly. It’s not right to forgive people who actively go off to hurt others.”

History: Sterling grew up in Vale to a simple family, both parents being Huntsmen. Her mother taught her morals for the most part, all about Faunus equality and the like. Her mother is where she learned about conducting herself with dignity, in order to stray away from the stereotypes of Faunus being somehow lower than Humans. Her father taught her to defend herself if her mother's teachings weren't enough. The two of them associated themselves with The White Fang, although with recent events have branched away, seeing the group beginning a different moral transition.

Her youth was pretty full of generic fun, being a lot more cheerful than she appears now. Signal to Beacon, she kept up her role as a sniper for support. Faunus innate night vision along with her semblance kept that one up, and she was quickly able to adapt to using her own custom sniper rifle. As per her father's recommendation, the second version the two created included the shift to a closer range weapon.

Her younger years dealt with a bit of harassment for her heritage, with some people turning their backs on her after dealing with it for quite a bit of time, not wanting to get dragged into it. It was only the first bit of her issues, though she did put up with it and still kept up that friendly attitude she used to have.That seemed to alleviate after a bit, when she started at Signal, which was a simpler experience.

Skip towards Beacon, her experience was mostly generic. Her team never excelled at the tournaments, but they still got well into it. However, Team FWKS (Fawkes) disbanded a bit before their time was over. Sterling was actually the only one able to finish Beacon relatively properly. Flare bailed from Beacon after an emergency in his hometown, never coming back. That left Wisteria and Key both in Beacon with Sterling. The last interactions between Sterling and her two teammates is a story that she never likes to tell, although explains some of her attitude.

The remaining two caused the team to split. The both of them actually ended up abandoning Sterling off in the middle of one of their missions out in the field. Key was just a racist who only put up with Sterling due to Flare, though after he left, things went south. Key stopped dealing with Sterling with words and got physical with it, catching her off guard. Wisteria was just easily manipulated and believed that Sterling had actually bailed on the both of them.

Somewhat obviously, Key got heavily reprimanded and ejected from Beacon, and Wisteria quit that week, thinking that she left Sterling for dead. Sterling actually made it back to a nearby town where she could get reception for her scroll, calling in that she was alive, thought a few days later. Sterling never actually was able to talk to the two of them afterwards, only working off of the paranoia and hints dropped by Key, which drove her trust issues to start up.

After that week, Sterling developed quite some issues with trust and dealing with people, slowly becoming a lone-wolf type who avoided other people. The two people she trusted the most just left her out in the middle of nowhere, and those days were pretty hellish. She's slowly been trying to fix that up, though she has issues opening up for that sole reason that her team broke down after some time. Sterling felt as if her own efforts to protect her teammates were dropped for some unknown reasons, and felt that the people she protected absolutely didn't care.

In the current day, Sterling takes up some work in defense or hunting Grimm. She finished her training (albeit improperly), and has made the distinction in terms of other people's morals. She still has that attitude of protecting those who can't protect themselves, but her own loyalties are relatively questionable. She still keeps up many of the morals she was taught, although her trust issues and cynical beliefs have strayed away from what she used to be. She seems to linger on the past a lot, however, in a poor attempt to look to the future.

Semblance: Lightning Gaze - “It’s not foresight. It’s prediction.”
Her vision is highly enhanced, seeing distance wise, particularly with her left eye. The primary ability causes her left eye to glow amber, where she has predictive sight on the movement of her targets. It requires a bit of mental calculations, though it’s not much that she can’t handle.

Combat Style: Being a sniper, Sterling usually takes the route of staying back and taking shots at the more powerful targets from trees, rooftops, or simply the backlines. That’s not to say that she doesn’t do too well in melee, although since her only physical attacks are punches, or hitting her opponents with her gun, it’s not too effective. She’s not all too quick with the fist, though her semblance does help in close quarters. Primarily, she chooses to distance herself and fire her lighter dust bolts, being able to transition quickly. That being said, her aura isn't too strong and she prefers to not get hit.

Weapon: Argent Lux - A black and navy blue weapon case with silver accents in standby form, with a strap to be slung over her shoulder, Argent Lux shifts to a sniper rifle with a somewhat longer than expected barrel. This form has a scope on the top with a beam of light design on the side. This form fires three different forms of ammo, the first being high power dust ‘bolts’ with various properties, usually explosive on impact. Each shot requires Sterling to pull back the bolt on the gun and let the chamber and dust magazine to air cool for a second or two. (It’s actually more reminiscent of a battery pack to an extent) Time increases the more she fires the full power bolts. 18 shots per magazine. Second is a lighter bolt, not nearly as powerful but can be used in rapid succession, and can also be used in secondary form, can be fired a lot faster, either single shot or with a 3 round burst. The former is for longer range, the latter for shorter range. 36 shots per magazine. The final is an actual solid/explosive cartridge for taking down larger Grimm, some modified for various dust applications. 12 rounds per magazine. The weapon shifts to a bullpup rifle with the firing mechanism and the magazine shift behind the grip and into the stock, and the barrel length cutting in half and folding into itself. Sterling uses this for close combat, accompanied by her lower power dust cartridge.

Non-Combat skills: She’s good with cooking, chess, strategy. She's also really good at climbing and free running, to almost an assassin's creed level

Deficiencies: Sterling isn’t all too good with understanding people socially, although she tries to deconstruct morals and other things. She’s a bit uptight when it comes to her own appearances and other people, but that’s somewhat to be expected. She tends to shut people out sometimes.

Miscellaneous: <<WIP>>