Name: Rust Mallory
Sex: Male
Age: 26
Phenotype: Faunus (Leopard)
Kingdom: Vacuo
Appearance:
Rust is a solidly built man, his appearance roughened by life in the harsh conditions of Vacuo. He stands just over six feet with a shock of dark red hair and an impressive musculature without being over the top. Although technically Caucasian, his skin is perpetually sun darkened. What tends to stand out the most about Rust's appearance, above all, are his bright green slit-pupiled eyes. For anyone who pays even the slightest bit of attention, they very clearly mark him as Faunus. While not as obvious as horns or rabbit ears or a tail, they're impossible to mistake when you do notice them.

Personality:
Rust Mallory likes to think of himself as a hardened, bad ass Huntsman from the wastes, and likes to act the part. He can be boisterous and cocky, but absolutely focused when it comes time to take on the Grimm. Despite the harshness of a life lived in the more dangerous areas of the kingdom, Rust maintains a decided optimistic outlook on life and the future. This also tends to bleed over into his initial opinions of people, even if it's an attitude that hasn't always been rewarded. His upbringing and parents' insistence that he and his sister be able to survive and provide for themselves has given him a fairly low opinion of people who prove that they can't take care of themselves, but rather than discard those people Rust feels that it's his job as a Huntsman to take care of them, regardless of his opinion of them as a person.

Biography:
Rust was born and raised in the harsh wastelands of Vacuo to a pair of nomadic travelers with no real connections to any permanent place. His mother and father gave little care to others outside of their little family group, considering anyone who couldn't survive and take care of themselves as not being worth the time and energy needed to help. Rust's older sister, Sepia, took their parents' teaching to heart as well, and has continued their survivalist, unattached lifestyle.

Rust, however, came to some different conclusions. Somewhere around his twelfth birthday, the boy became separated from his family and found himself lost. For several days he wandered the wastes, desperately trying to find his family while dodging the occasional Grimm. More than likely, he would have been dead had he not encountered the Huntress.

Her name was Onyx, and she had only recently graduated from Beacon Academy in Vale. She'd come to Vacuo to test herself and experience more of the world. For two weeks the two traveled together, eventually finding the trail of his family's vehicle / home and tracking them. Along the way Rust found himself exposed to an outlook that at times was completely removed from that of his family, one that espoused the need to protect the weak and defenseless, to help those who were not able to provide for themselves.

Rust did not forget the lessons he learned from Onyx even after being reunited with his family. His questioning of what had been standard family ways of dealing with outsiders ignited some amount of friction between the boy and the rest of his family, but never enough to cause real strife. Inspired by Onyx and his new outlook on the world, Rust enrolled in Shade Academy at his first chance, intent on becoming a Huntsman so that not only could he be the strongest survivor possible, but that he could put that strength to use to help those who truly needed it.

Despite being Faunus himself, Rust has a distinct dislike for the tactics and methods used by the White Fang. He may have supported their goals of equality in the past, but their current terrorist incarnation leaves him cold. He doesn't like bullies or cowards, which he sees them to be.

Aura Color: Crimson

Semblance: Impact Armor
Rust's Semblance has a two fold effect, both defensive in nature. Firstly, it allows him to absorb kinetic energy and channel that energy into rapid healing. The more of an impact there is the faster and more completely he heals. This typically makes him all but immune to blunt force damage as the second he takes the damage it is healed by the absorbed energy. This also gives him something of a resistance against piercing and cutting damage as the kinetic force from those attacks is also converted into healing, but typically there is less of a conversion and the healing is not enough to fully counteract the damage dealt, only lessen it. Damage from fire, electricity, and other energy forms tend to not be effected at all unless they're accompanied by a simultaneously concussive force, such as the shock wave from an explosion.

Secondly, excess energy not being used to heal is spread throughout Rust's physical form, creating a temporary barrier against physical harm. Unlike the healing aspect of Impact Armor, this barrier effect is effective against all types of physical attack. Rust's barrier tends to kick in after he takes the first hit, powering up from whatever excess energy is gained from that initial strike. Given its connection to his Aura, hits against the barrier itself only serve to increase its duration, although not its damage reducing capabilities. The barrier is not perfect and can be overwhelmed by very powerful attacks.

Weapon:
Savage Arms (Paired, Melee, Ranged)
Typical of many Hunstman and Huntresses, Rust's preferred weapons are variable melee / ranged armaments with multiple configurations. Rust's Savage Arms combine heavy semi-automatic pistols with the solid thunk of paired warclubs. In pistol configuration the Savage Arms fire a standard Dust propelled heavy caliber round. What they lack in the high speed fire of many weapons they make up in powerful impact and impressive stopping power. As a warclub, the Savage Arms are solid, dependable, and straight forward. Rust eschewed some of the fancier modifications his peers often choose in favor of strengthening his weapons structurally. Made of heavy rust-red metal with an intimidating, blocky appearance in gun configuration, Warclub configuration shifts components to enclose the barrel and lengthen the weapon somewhat while the pistol grip shifts to be in alignment with the rest of the weapon. Rust's Savage Arms are typically carried in their warclub configuration, riding in a pair of sheaths slanted across his back.

Favors:
- A good fight
-A good meal
-The night sky
-Skilled comrades

Disfavors:
-Authority
-Pretentiousness
-People who can't look out for themselves
-Bullies

Affinities: Rust tends to be a pretty straight forward fighter. He likes to hold the attention of the enemy and deliver maximum damage, often relying on his Semblance to keep him up and moving. He uses his mouth to maximum effect as well, focusing his enemies on him while his allies outflank and stay more or less out of harm's way. Rust's Faunus heritage also provides him with excellent eyesight, particularly at night and for tracking movement.

Faults: Rust often lacks subtlety and tact when it comes to a fight. More than once his headstrong style has gotten him in trouble. Sometimes he tends to forget the limitations of his Semblance, putting himself in the way of more harm than he reasonably should.

Name: Thomas Adkins
Sex: Male
Age: 41
Phenotype: Human
Kingdom: Atlas
Appearance:

At present he is almost never seen in public without his gas mask on.

Personality: Thomas is almost never happy or sorrowful; rather he’s perpetually in a state of begrudging acceptance. He never learned proper etiquette and as a result is foul mouthed and has little patience for formalities. He’s always ready for action, which has the effect of leaving him on edge and uncomfortable in normal settings. His outlook is pessimistic and this is a fact he doesn’t mind sharing, especially when he sees someone who he feels is out of touch with reality. On rare occasions he will display his strange and dark sense of humor, but most of the time he is serious. Only a few things actually rile him up, and he will forgive a lot of offenses, but displays of cowardice or hesitation in battle are inexcusable in his mind. Thomas has no overarching goal or plan beyond surviving until the next day, and that survival instinct is what shapes his entire philosophy of life.

Biography: Thomas’s family lived far from civilization, the nearest settlement was a poor mining town , built on a dust deposit. The only opportunities were working in the mines or manning the fortifications that held off the Grimm. His parents worked long hours in the town, and left him to be raised by his elderly grandfather during his youth. Thomas’ grandfather was a veteran of the great war. He grew up around war and violence, and passed those stories on to Thomas. In school Thomas got into a lot of fights with kids from the town, and his academic performance was poor. After all, he saw no value in academic learning, whereas fighting had a sort of primal appeal to him.

Every year the dust mine grew emptier, and Grimm attacks at the perimeter grew stronger. After his grandfather passed away Thomas felt lost, but he found purpose again at the local Atlas military station. Although he was too young to join as a full soldier at this point, he could perform menial tasks and learn from the soldiers, who taught Thomas discipline and stoicism. When he turned old enough he applied to the academy, because he saw it as the next logical step in his path. The dedication and persistence he showed was enough to get him admitted to the Atlas academy.

Atlas Academy taught Thomas discipline and stoicism. He struggled in some of the more academic classes, but always earned high marks during combat assessments. Even though he focused on his studies and had little social life, this was probably the happiest time in Thomas’ life. After graduating he did the only thing that made sense to him, and enlisted in the Atlas military. His commanding officers honored his quest to defend his homeland and stationed him at outpost that guarded the dust mine.

The situation in his hometown started bad and never got any better. Every Grimm attack led to more casualties, more suffering, and more Grimm. The frontlines were a perpetual meat grinder, where soldiers were just another resource to stem the tide. Thomas survived endless assaults and counterassaults, which hardened him even further. The commanders weren’t concerned about casualties, even artillery barrages that annihilated their own soldiers were acceptable as long as it kept the Grimm at bay.

Thomas could mark the passage of time by how long it had been since his unit had been resupplied and by how many of his comrades had died. After a while the generals made a decision that the town was no longer worth protecting (possibly related to the depletion of the dust mine), and pulled out any assets deemed valuable.

The order to retreat never reached Thomas, and in the end only he was left. All of the others who had fought alongside him had long since disappeared or been killed in battle, leaving him alone in the ruins. He scavenged around and survived for years, completely isolated from the rest of humanity. His life was without purpose or direction, just driven off an impulse to survive. His isolation was broken when he encountered a group of salvagers risking their lives to explore the ruins. In exchange for his help navigating the area, they offered him passage back to civilization. He accepted, because it finally occurred to him that there was a world outside of this warzone.

His years and experiences on the battlefield still haunted Thomas in civilian life. He lacked any skills other than fighting and had no support network. All the years of war have left him uneasy with peace and the comforts of everyday life, and given him little in the way of moral guidance. Knowing that his present outlook on life fit better in the rough and tumble land of Vacuo, it lacks the rigidity of Atlas and has ample opportunities for one with his skills. At present, he lives a reclusive life and takes jobs from anyone who needs someone who can fight, without any goal beyond simply surviving until the next morning.

Aura Color: Reddish Brown
Semblance:
Insensibility

When he's on the cusp of losing consciousness and has exhausted his ability to endure, he can force himself to get up and keep fighting. He doesn’t heal or recover from his accumulated injuries at all, it merely dulls his pain allows him to endure beyond his normal limits of durability. The strain on his body means that it takes him several hours to recover, he cannot do it again until he has had this time to recover.

Weapon:
War Requiem



It’s a large bore shotgun, large enough that it can also fire off smaller grenade rounds. They aren’t as powerful as full grenades, but it adds versatility.
There is a knife that serves as a bayonet attachment, which looks like this. When detached grip also functions as brass knuckles.


Favors: Finding new uses for old items
Simple furnishings
Dark humor
Poetry

Disfavors: Upper class people
Wastefulness
Disrespect for soldiers
Showing off
Small talk
Affinities: He’s very durable even without his semblance and is physically strong. He never hesitates in battle, and fights at an intense pace that wears people down. His wild brawling style makes his attacks unpredictable because of their unpolished nature. Thomas is especially fond of headlong charges with shotgun fire transitioned into brutal grappling at close range
Faults:
Thomas has very poor agility, and doesn’t even bother trying to dodge. His fighting technique is sloppy and inaccurate, and he is less effective at long range. Overall, he tends to rely on brute force rather than smart planning.

Theme Song: The Armed Man

Name:
Slater Skywise

Sex:
Male

Age:
22

Phenotype:
Faunus (Skunk)

Kingdom:
Vacuo

Appearance:
Slater has heavily-tanned skin with an odd set of freckles under each of his orange-tinted eyes. His tousled hair is gray - not the gray earned by age, but the gray of stone, and he has a bit of stubble lining his jaw and chin that matches his hair. A bit on the lanky but tall side, he usually appears a bit shorter than he actually is due to a relaxed posture. His lean appearance belies how whip-tight his muscles are. His most unusual feature is the large and floofy black-and-white skunk tail that is his heritage as a Faunus.

He is usually dressed in a brown leather duster (with a special button-and-strap arrangement at the rear for his tail to poke freely out), with a faded-gold vest, tan button-up shirt, and a bright red bandanna which he wears tied around his neck. His sturdy boots and trousers match his duster in color, and his brown leather fingerless gloves are quite well-used. Depending on the weather, he may wear a wide-brimmed hat (which is designed to fold up for easy carrying) and a poncho with a zig-zag pattern of tan and brown. It isn't unusual for him to have a piece of grass, wheat, or a toothpick caught between his lips. Whatever the occasion, he always wears an iron key on a leather thong necklace with the letters HOPE printed onto it, though he usually keeps this underneath whatever clothing he's wearing at the time. He also carries a harmonica.

Personality:
Slater is levelheaded and cool - solid as a rock, perhaps even moreso under the pressure of battle. His relaxed and easygoing nature can appear lazy at times, but he's observant and fast on the draw in more than one way, and he won't hesitate to leap into danger should the need arise. He has long since learned to laugh off jokes about his smell due to his skunk tail, though he is still extra careful to wash thoroughly and takes his time in the shower. He is perhaps most self-conscious when he's forced to dress up for formal occasions, since he prefers to slouch a little and relax without worrying about wrinkling his clothes.

Being raised as a country boy in Vacuo, he was spared the majority of prejudice that many Faunus encounter, though he learned well enough about it during his visits to other kingdoms during the Vytal Festival Tournaments while training at Shade Academy. While he dislikes the brutality of the White Fang, he does agree that humans can't kick around Faunus without expecting them to bite back - fair is fair, after all. He tries to keep his cards close to his chest on this opinion.

Biography:
Slater was raised on a farmstead as part of a large family in the dust bowl of Vacuo. Life was simple and hard; every day was a struggle to keep enough food growing for the family, but there was a lot of love and laughter in those days. Slater's parents encouraged him and his siblings to get a basic education at school, where he did reasonably well despite being teased about his smell due to his skunk tail. He loved hearing stories about the Huntsmen and Huntresses that patrolled the dusty wastes and performed acts of daring heroism, though such an adventurous life seemed so far away that it seemed more like fairy tales than reality.

This all changed one day when an aging uncle came to stay at the farm. His parents had never mentioned Uncle Nickel Starr, who as it turned out wasn't just an experienced Huntsman, but also had been sheriff of a distant frontier town in Vale. Slater came to find that his parents were extremely proud of Nickel's accomplishments, but had been strictly forbidden to talk about his exploits because he didn't want his relatives thinking more of him than he felt they should. But Slater was quietly persistent, a shadow of his uncle, and soon enough the old codger taught the young man the ways of the gunslinger, the respect of the weapon, and that there was a bigger world out there in need of vigilant defenders.

It was no surprise when, a week before Slater's seventeenth birthday, he let his parents know he would be going to Shade Academy to train to be a Huntsman. He did not ask for permission; he was going one way or the other. But he did hope for, and receive, the blessing of his parents. When he left, he was seen off by Nickel, who surprised the lad by handing over Rampart Spur, Nickel's tonfa/revolvers. Nickel had retired from his life as a Huntsman, and knew that Slater's humble background deprived him of a weapon of his own, so with all the country practicality in his soul, he figured Slater could use them more than himself - and had certainly trained with them long enough to know how to use them. Slater and his uncle departed from each other warmly.

Slater continued his training at Shade Academy, refining the skills taught to him by his uncle. Much like the rest of his life, the four years at Shade were a steady plod towards progress, unremarkable in most instances, except during the Vytal Festival Tournament in his last year. His team, STAR, managed to get to the semifinals, where he and his best friend Terry Cotter went up against a pair of Beacon students from Team HOPE. The fight was a standoff, with Terry providing long-range support as Slater held off both students up close, until a malfunction inside the arena platform caused the ground to buckle, and a rockslide occurred in the mountainous segment of the battlefield.

Slater made the snap decision to activate his shield Semblance to protect himself and the two Beacon students, but he could not protect Terry at the same time due to his positioning on the field. This choice led to Terry being severely injured, and he never forgave Slater for what he called a "betrayal of his trust." The strife in his team was such that Slater was forced to forfeit the rematch, and STAR broke up immediately upon graduation. The only bright spot in this dismal incident was when the Beacon students he had saved visited Slater with the rest of their team and gifted him with a simple iron key with their team name - HOPE - as thanks for his bravery. He wears this key at all times now, as a reminder of the difficult decision he had made and of other choices he would have to make in the future.

Emblem:
A five-pointed golden orange star inside a circle attached to each of the points, like a sheriff's badge.

Aura Color:
Golden orange

Semblance:
Shield

Slater can project an energized barrier in the shape of a giant heater shield. It shines in the same golden orange color as his Aura. He can use this shield to block or deflect all kinds of attacks. As demonstrated during the Vytal Festival Tournament, he is able to ward off even the force of landslides while using the shield to protect others. The shield is opaque from the front but translucent through his viewpoint, so he can see his opponents and reposition the shield as he needs to. He can use the shield to push enemies around or even reposition himself or other objects as needed - but the shield has a maximum range of one meter, and so he usually has to move himself to take advantage of this feature.

This shield is simply a refocusing of his Aura's power from its usual all-encompassing protective field into a focused shield that is much stronger, but can only be aimed in one direction at a time. While potentially able to block even the strongest attacks, it also leaves him extremely vulnerable from any direction the shield does not face - a single hit on an unprotected side might drop his entire Aura immediately while his shield is deployed.

Weapon:
Rampart Spur
A matched pair of gunmetal-colored tonfas with pistol grip handles and a rounded finger guard. The tonfas can rotate at the base of the grip to allow the wielder to strike with the long half of the main shaft. With a quick flick of the wrist, each tonfa's long end can flip up the front of the finger guard and become the barrel and receiver for a sturdy revolver.

Each revolver holds six Magnum-style Dust bullets each, with the capability of taking different elemental loads. It is typically loaded with heavy Stone-elemental Dust rounds, which have a bigger physical impact due to the increased density and hardness of the rounds; these can knock opponents off-balance even if their Aura otherwise protects them from being harmed. When in tonfa form, the bullets can be used to infuse the guards with an elemental casing to add extra defense - usually an extra shell of brittle but hard stone.

The tonfas are extremely durable, and as befitting an old but well-maintained weapon, the length of the weapons are nicked with the memories of a thousand blocked claws, teeth and blades. When not in use, Rampart Spur stores easily in a compact cylinder form in two wide horizontal loops on his belt at the small of his back where he can whip them out quickly with a flare of his duster's tails.

Favors:
Board and card games, beautiful natural vistas and sunsets/sunrises, a rousing good time, small animals

Disfavors:
Skunk smell jokes, rabblerousers without due cause, wearing formal clothes, anyone who thinks they're too good for anyone else

Affinities:
Slater is a strong defensive fighter, using his tonfas to deflect or block attacks while striking back with their blunt edges and tips. He maintains a solid stance, allowing him to focus on blocks and counterstrikes when in melee combat. He is adept at blocking with one weapon while attacking with the other - and his skills are fine-tuned enough to allow him to block an attack from one opponent while striking or shooting at another.

He will allow his weapons to flow from tonfa to revolver form as the situation dictates, though he will usually switch both to revolvers when he is outside melee range so that he can focus a barrage of attacks and use more mobility. While his revolvers can take potentially any Dust bullet, he tends to lean on stone elemental Dust bullets for their heavy-hitting and knockback qualities. He is adept at reloading his weapons swiftly with the extra full moon clips he carries on his belt under his duster.

Faults:
Slater's strength is also his weakness; to make the most of his defenses, he needs to have contact with a solid surface (usually the ground), so an opponent who can manage to throw him up into the air or knock him off his feet will find an opening to strike.

He also has a bad habit of paying too much attention to the welfare of his teammates, so that should a teammate get into trouble, he might lose his own defenses while he moves to protect his compatriot. A crafty and observant opponent could take advantage of this.