[CHAR] Final Fantasy: After the Ashes

Characters:

• Eurie
• Freyja Dämmerung
• Cassidy Eno-Royal
• Derrick Errance
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[VitaVitaAR]

• Name: Eurie
• Age: 13
• Gender: Female
• Appearance: "I can do it fine by myself." A slender, small, frail-looking girl in her early teens.
• Personality: An isolated girl whose personal skills are somewhat lacking. Eurie's mentality is one that strives for independence in spite of her physical failings. In spite of being socially awkward, she is also temperamental and guarded, and quick to criticize or grow impatient regardless of the situation. Rather than being shy, she is better described as being prickly. She is confident in her ability to protect herself, and yet grows frustrated when her poor health gets in the way of taking action. An easily-angered girl, to say the least. Despite her prickly personality, Eurie is not without soft points. In particular, she is very protective of other children, especially those younger than herself. She is also highly fond of sweets, and loves small animals. She does not deal with anything with more then four limbs very well, and is especially bad with anything with more then six. While she is not without her softer side, Eurie is especially harsh towards anyone who was ever tied to the Alvad military, and is wary of anyone from the former empire.
• Brief Backstory: Eurie is a wanderer, appearing at times in Embrian towns on the edge of the most war-torn locations between Embria and Alvad. She is extremely cagey about her past, though if prompted she may mention her entire village was forced to move by the Alvadian military. Beyond these details, she is highly unlikely to say anything else.
• Skills: Eurie has some basic survival skills, primarily in her ability to render food edible or prepare premade rations. This is not to say that she has any capacity to make food good, just that it will be edible. Probably.
• Abilities: In spite of her young age, Eurie is remarkably potent in the use of magic. Perhaps to a surprising degree, though she still seemingly lacks any sufficient knowledge of spells beyond Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder to be able to cast them freely. Still, her capacity to use magic before requiring rest is considerable, which is perhaps lucky given her physical frailty. In spite of her high magical power and excellent compatibility with lumium, she suffers from poor health. As a result, if too much strain is placed on her she is liable to suffer the consequences, passing out or becoming ill. Regardless, her potency as user of magic cannot be ignored and in a combat scenario it is ideal for her to be providing ranged offense. Her compatibility with spells that are not directly related to offense is very low.
  • Limit Break - Megaflare: A spell normally inaccessible to humanity, magic in the territory of a certain divine spirit. In spite of her seeming novice magical knowledge, Eurie channels an enormous amount of magical energy and releases a beam of white-hot flame, tearing through even solid steel in a single blast. An attack of last resort that places significant strain on Eurie's body, as even the use of ethers cannot recover the toll it takes on her already weak constitution and she is forced to rest in order to recover.
• Equipment: A lumium-infused staff, a typical basic piece of equipment for those who purely use magic as a means to attack. Though she's unlikely to ask unless prompted, she'd like something a little more impressive.

[Pyromania99]

Hider

Name: Freyja Dämmerung
Age: 25
Gender: Female
Appearance: Freyja is consistently described as a solemn beauty for the consistent serious look on her face and for her rather good looks. She has a fairly nicely shaped body as well as some lightly toned muscles that came as a result of her continued training routine that has since been reduced since the end of the war.
Personality: If one were to meet Freyja on the streets, they would have nothing to complain about her manners. Despite her strained face, she’s a rather kind woman that’s willing to help others, so long as it doesn’t take her too far off her task at hand. She hardly ever smiles but this is more of her attempting to hold her emotions back, a habit that she had worked to get over from her time in the Imperial military. Hardly ever, doesn’t mean never, however. There are quite a few times where she’ll give a small smile to a joke or gratitude from others.

Inside, however, she’s a broken person. The war strained her mental state and she never really fully recovered. At night, it wasn’t uncommon to hear sad noises coming from her room though this has since seemingly stopped. Guilt sits inside her from the war and it never left. Rather, sometimes she goes out to the streets and meets those who lost loved ones and internally she blames herself. But she doesn’t show it. Not much. Sometimes, she shows a small, pained face.

Hider

Brief Backstory: Freyja was raised in the Alvadian Empire. Her family was a military one and she was quickly placed into the military at a young age starting as a foot soldier though she was quickly promoted, most likely due to her family, into a special unit called the Dark Knights. They were a group of warriors that specialized in dark magics and powerful weapons. The magic they used were used to steal the life force from enemies and sacrifice one’s own physical well-being to increase their own strength.

And that’s when she got thrown into the war. The Dark Knights were used as shock troops, typically clashing into lines that were already engaged from the sides or in ambushes and casualties were not uncommon. They were used fairly often, though… Soon, they were pulled off the front lines for reasons undefined. The entire unit was pulled back to a base and told they were to be guarding the base because there was a suspected surprise attack incoming in the next month.

During her time there, Freyja had multiple duties. Helping with supplies, delivering messages between commanders and the most concerning was guard duty for the lab. As the month carried on her duties turned more and more towards guard duty for this lab. This was more and more concerning. Until finally, one day she noticed something during her duty. She was stationed in the internal section of the lab and noticed something… Odd. A scientist was pushing a rather large cart around. It was black colored, rather deep and had a tarp fastened over it. The odd thing was that she was sure there was a human finger poking out from under the tarp. And it twitched.

A few days later, during her guard duty, she was handed an envelope by what she assumed was a leading scientist. “Deliver this to the commander.” She was trusted to deliver a confidential message and Freyja assumed this was because of her family. Regardless, she started to walk towards the Command Room. Her concerns were filling her to the point where she decided she needed to open it.

The details inside were… More than concerning. It incited a need to escape. “Our research on the Dark Knights is progressing less than we would like, but the results we do have are quite good. We’ve had to release a few more samples than we would like. In the near future, I would likely need more volunteers. We should talk today. ”

She gathered her weapon, a few supplies and some other things. And went to the gate. She told them that she was ordered to patrol around for Embrian scouts. They believed her and she ran. Not long after, the Empire was in hot pursuit of her. The chase led on for days with many close calls. She fought a few enemies where she could, when she needed, but she was far too outnumbered to do much more than run.

Then, when she was basically at the end of her ropes and cornered, she was saved. A small detachment of Embrian soldiers flanked a number of her pursuers, cutting down the Alvadian pursuers that resisted. The leader, Sevard Kellson,spared her to question why she was being chased. Despite not trusting them, she told everything. What happened at the base, why she was on the run… Who she is.

They took her in as a prisoner. Truthfully, being a prisoner with the Embrians was still a better experience than being experimented on by her own country. She understood that soldiers had a duty to their country, but was being experimented on by their country part of their duty? Sevard took the time to talk to her every day. Particularly how she felt about her country. And day by day, she was feeling more negative towards it. She, of course, loved the people. But… Those in charge? Those that ran those inhumane experiments that she didn’t even know the extent of beyond the blatant disregard of human life? No. Not at all.

“Let me fight for you.” She asked. “I have nothing else but to fight for my people. I can never return, but I can fight for the Embrian army.” Sevard was obviously skeptical at first but he could see the passion in her eyes. He agreed and she joined the Embrian army despite the reservation of many in the upper echelons of the Embrian army. Regardless, she proved her loyalty to Embria, or perhaps, Sevard himself. She found herself relegating herself to the position of Sevard’s personal bodyguard.

Eventually, the war came to an end. Freyja wanted to retire from fighting as did Sevard. As she had no place in Embria, she took a job as a maid for Sevard to give her one. The people that knew of her supposed origins were wary of her and she did her best not to face them. The two of them lived this peaceful life for four and a half years… And then, Sevard disappeared. She searched and searched but… There was no sign. She had no money herself and had to abandon the house they lived in and needed to find a job. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, she knew how to fight and decided to join a mercenary group, Wild Rose…

Skills: As a maid, Freyja has taken to being a master of household skills. Cleaning and cooking are the things she’s refined over the last five years. She also knows how to set up camp and hunt, though her aim has diminished since she was a soldier.
Abilities: As a Dark Knight, her combat abilities focus mostly on empowered weapon attacks, draining attacks and dark magic. Her weapon strikes can be weaker, but drain life force or magical energy from enemies, called Siphoning Strikes. Alternatively, she can make her strikes stronger by allowing the darkness to drain her own life force to empower her weapon, known as Souleater. And finally, she can use her magical energy to use minor magic attacks made from the Darkness. The weakest of which, and all she seems to be able to use now is Ruin.

• Limit Break - Dark Ruination: The strongest ability of the Dark Knights only usable by some now. It was a devastating ability used by some of the most trained Dark Knights in the war, though most of the Dark Knights have been phased out in some way or another. When used, Freyja slashes an enemy with her weapon and it slices an opening full of dark energy. Quickly, the energy festers and then explodes out from the cut.

Equipment: Freyja has put together a new set of armor which is sleek and maneuverable. It gives decent protection from the environment and monster attacks.

Her weapon of choice is the very same Magitech Greatsword she used all throughout the war. It’s also a reminder to her of the lives she has taken.

[thecatinaction]

• Name: Cassidy Eno-Royal “Caseno Royal”
• Age: 36
• Gender: Male
• Appearance:
  
  Pick a card..

  
• Personality: Cassidy is the definition of charismatic, with a quick and sly tongue, he is able to talk his way out of any trouble, and into any bed. Cassidy’s smooth-talk allows him to say all the right things at the right time, to benefit his own needs. This makes Cassidy a force to be reckoned with in any battle of the minds, which is part of what makes Cassidy such a natural success at the card table. Hustling, antagonizing, and persuading his victims out of their Gil with little effort. Cassidy has also been known to use these natural abilities to woo the ladies from time to time. Though he never keeps them around for long, as Gil and gambling are his only loves.
• Brief Backstory: Cassidy Eno-Royal, “Caseno Royal” as he was known in the Alvadian underground gambling circuit. Cassidy is a sly, charming, smooth-talker, who’s as quick on his feet as he is quick with his tongue. Known as “Caseno Royal” in the gambling circuit of the old Alvadian Empire, not many who knew his name were ignorant enough to sit across from him at a card table. Making a name and a living for himself gambling, smooth-talking, and charming his way around underground Alvad, Caseno Royal lived his life the way he wanted. All of that would change with the end of the war, which caused the less than desirable crowd to find work elsewhere; hurting Caseno Royal’s take from the gambling circuit. With less work to be found on the card tables, Cassidy had to set out for work elsewhere as well. With Cassidy’s charisma, smooth-talking, and his experience with surviving in the ruthless underground gambling streets, the Mercenary group “Wild Rose” seemed like a good place to start..
• Skills: Cassidy has the gift of gab; a quick witted response is something to expect from the sly tongue of “Caseno Royal” if you challenge his charisma to a match of wits.
  Cassidy is what you would call a Card Shark; Someone who uses skill and/or deception to win at poker, and other card games. Call this a blessing and a curse, as Cassidy has found himself in more compromising situations than the amount of Gil he’s swindled from the ignorant. Thanks to those compromising situations, Cassidy learned through experience to be very proficient with a Bo Staff that he keeps for protection. What was once a self-defense tool, is not Cassidy’s weapon of choice in CQC; only outmatched by his luck of the draw at cards.
• Abilities: Spells cast by focusing Lumium through Cassidy’s deck of cards: Club - Aero, Spade - Thunder, Diamond - Blizzard, Heart - Fire.
• Equipment: A Deck of Lumium enhanced Playing Cards, Bo Staff.

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

• Name: Derrick Errance
• Age: 21
• Gender: Male
• Appearance: "Nope, not here."
• Personality: Preferring to take a more methodical approach to problems, Derrick tends to sit back and observe before acting whenever possible. He is rather reserved when it comes to dealing with people and tends to be rather blunt, which can occasionally come off as standoffish or rude to those not used to dealing with him. With that said, he cares quite a lot about those close to him, often prioritizing their health and well-being over his own (and occasionally even those of others).
  Interpersonal relationships aside, though, Derrick is intensely curious about the wider world, and has a non-insignificant number of documents and books scrounged up from traveling around in his room. This has given him a surprising amount of knowledge that one might not expect for someone with his upbringing, and maybe even less so someone of his profession. With that said, his own curiosity may rarely override his tendency towards analysis, which... May or may not be a good thing.
• Brief Backstory: Derrick was born to a young Embrian woman in the midst of the war; he never knew who his father was, but the bitter look on his mother's face whenever he had asked gave the young child more than enough reason to stop asking eventually. The town where he would have grown up—Kalan—had been razed to the ground by the invading Alvadians, which left a young Derrick next to no time to be a child. He spent much of his childhood away from the ruins that were slowly being rebuilt; few of the survivors (if any) wanted to have anything to do with him, and though the village had since begun to be rebuilt, Derrick had been left with little else besides his mother and the clothes on his back.
  
  As the war finally drew to a close, Derrick found that the gap between himself and the rest of the townsfolk had only widened. More than a few seemed to dislike him—for what, though, he could only wonder. His mother seemed to receive only pity where he found scorn, but the fact that she continued to give him her affection despite all of this only further question his place here. If it was any solace, though, the young boy found a few books to keep to himself, hidden away from judging eyes in the safety of his home
  
  Things changed, however, when a wanderer passed through the region. Most of the other townsfolk seemed to pay him no heed, but the young Derrick could not help but be intrigued by the odd-looking case he kept with him. When he collapsed on the side of the road, it was Derrick who acted out to help, if only out of sheer curiosity; though his mother disapproved of the wanderer's presence, she could not well refuse the earnest (if not somewhat self-serving) desire of her son to help.
  
  Said wanderer, as Derrick would soon learn, was a man by the name of Arden. He introduced himself (however hesitantly) as a researcher from Alvad to the young boy. He explained that he had escaped from his home country once his heart could not in good faith help the war any longer, and that he had taken his equipment with him to assure that he could prevent it from continuing further in what little way he could. Though Derrick's mother seemed less than pleased with that sort of information, the young boy, curious about what that equipment was and about the only other person who treated him with something other than disdain, begged for him to stay—at least, for a while. He wanted to learn, and if nobody else would teach him, then a stranger and a refugee could at least help bridge that gap.
  
  Eventually, if only through sheer perseverance, Derrick succeeded. Arden had initially been less than receptive to the idea (he would have liked to have sought asylum with what he had and left as soon as he could have), but a few days of rest was probably for the best, given that he had collapsed on the road. Those days soon began to extend, though, as he learned of Derrick's aptitude for knowledge.
  
  Days turned to weeks, weeks into months; before long, Arden had become more than just a stranger to Derrick; he was a teacher, someone to look up to who he had never had before. But those days soon came to an end; news of a group of hunters seeking him eventually met Arden's ears, and the researcher knew that what time he had left was fleeting. To the young man who had insisted on keeping him around, though, the researcher gave unto him one thing before leaving: the Air Grid, the tool that Derrick had been so curious about until now. There was no guarantee that his work would make it out, and given that it was him they were after, losing the Grid for all the goodwill he had been shown was not much of a loss.
  
  Arden leaving meant that Derrick was once again left with just his mother, who would continue to work herself to the bone trying to make ends meet. Meeting the researcher had changed Derrick, though, and the young man found himself working to try and understand what it was that had been left in his hands. He succeeded eventually, if only through sheer force of will; understanding everything.
  
  Having been long since aware of his status as a pariah, Derrick chose to leave Kalan and pursue work elsewhere once he came of age. A single letter to his mother was all he had left behind as he travelled to the border, and the young man eventually found himself employed as a mercenary at Wild Rose. Even if he didn't have any direct combat experience, the group accepted him so long as he was willing to put in the effort—something he was more than willing to do.
• Skills: Rather than being specialized for combat like many of his peers, Derrick has placed more of his effort into making sure that everything remains running smoothly. In other words, things like gear maintenance and medical work are a part of his usual activities. As a result of using the Air Grid, Derrick is also uncannily apt at multitasking, leaving him able to flick between multiple jobs at once without losing track of himself in the process.
• Abilities: Derrick's spells mostly focus around supporting and reinforcing his allies, mitigating the damage they take and keeping them alive enough to continue fighting. The method for doing so—the Air Grid—allows him to use Cure and Protect where it might prove dangerous for most other medics, though it may take up his concentration in the process. He can also cast Ruin with the Grid, but as it is not optimized for offensive spells, doing so may put unnecessary strain upon its equipment.
  The number of Conduits from the Grid that he uses to cast spells also affects their output; while a Cure may be cast with one, for example, two would be optimal; similarly, while he could cast it with two Conduits, three would be optimal for a Protect.
  
  • Limit Break — Aegis of Heaven: Derrick overclocks the Air Grid, pushing it beyond its usual capabilities to create a massive barrier in front of him. This barrier is able to protect him as well as anyone behind him, and is able to deflect or absorb an absurd amount of damage before faltering. This ability is not without drawbacks, though; the barrier is incredibly taxing upon the Grid, and the heat damage that they sustain can outright put Conduits out of commission if not damaging the mechanisms within.
• Equipment:
  
  • Air Grid: A prototype tool 'relieved' from Alvad in the years prior to their collapse. The Grid itself consists of five 'Conduits', prism-like structures with a refined Lumo core at their center. Each Conduit is able to fly about according to it's user's commands independent of any physical command, and unlike most other magitech objects, does not need to be refueled with Lumium to function. Conduits can also be used to cast spells—a function that would have in theory made Alvadian combatants all the more problematic should the project have reached fruition.
    
    With that said, the Grid itself is not without faults; in exchange for not requiring Lumium to function, each Conduit requires a near-constant stream of mana when in use, and that amount only increases when used to cast spells (hence the term 'Conduit'). Despite the high barrier of entry to being able to use the Air Grid, its versatility and maneuverability allows Derrick and any of his allies a lot more breathing room in the heat of battle.
    
    The Air Grid can, in theory, be upgraded, and the Conduits increased in efficiency and power; that would, however, require finding someone who could create the components necessary to do so. Derrick himself understands the fundamentals of how the Grid works and has learned to use it effectively (enough) in the decade or so to be able to maintain and repair it, but the possibility of him screwing something up in the process has given him enough pause to at least find someone who has more 'professional' experience before attempting anything.

[Little Bird]

Name: Cadenza Ovatra D’Concerto [“Donna Toro”]
Age: 25
Gender: Female

Appearance: 'Sup?

Personality: If there was a poster child for “hot-headedness” Cadenza would be a strong contender for the title. With a mind that runs at miles a minute, Cadenza comes across brash and impulsive, jumping into the fray with little to no evident forethought or planning. Though most of the time her “fight first, talk later” ideology seems to work itself out to the best results, it has a propensity to create backlashes amid more delicate situations. In the heat of conflict and combat, she follows quick-thinking, improvisational style, and generally has the wits and psychological fortitude to engage multiple opponents up close.

She can be short-fused, easily rallied to action as one seeking conflict might be. If one can restrain her physically, talking her down becomes a manageable task. But, if she is allowed gain momentum, the prospect of pulling her back into a docile becomes significantly more unlikely. Once engaged into a the midst of an altercation, Cadenza is unlikely to back away unless she either emerges victorious or is rendered incapacitated… or worse.

Though her physical appearance may be less than impressive to the naked eye, her raw vitality and fiery disposition tend to make up any lost ground, and then some. She abounds with an excess of pride and self-confidence, which, when she’s on the up and up, provides her a formidable advantage. Yet, as with many good things, too much can be problematic. Her confidence has a glass-canon element, being handily shattered in the moments during which real adversity and defeat hits. As such, it often takes Cadenza a longer period to psychologically recover when an endeavor doesn’t pan out in her favor.

Brief Backstory: Cadenza grew up close to the hostilities between Embria and the Alvadian Empire, specifically at the Embria-Alvad border, where the coalition of resistance fighters from Imperial lands and the standing armies of Embria centered the command for its counter-offensives. Her father, Solo D’Concerta, was among the ranks of the resistance, and reasonably respected among the Embrians and resistance fighters that knew him; such was his reputation that the Embrian military honorarily bestowed upon him the rank of Sergeant.

Cadenza lived with her father within a militant community, which the residents of simply referred to as “The Compound.” In her time there, Cadenza absorbed much of the combatant lifestyle. Whether through her father, other residents, or the occasional drifter, she developed a knack and a passion for fighting that just about only someone raised by fighters could have. As a youth, she would play war games with other children on The Compound; as a teenager, she would tag along with her father to observe military training exercises.

The war came to an end just as Cadenza began arranging to join her father in the war efforts, getting so far as to equip herself with weapons and armaments. Disappointed in the missed opportunity, she argued with her father, until, after a course of nearly a month, she relented to his directive to return home and assist the rebuilding effort.

During the following five years, Cadenza spent much of the daylight hours playing the role of homemaker, repairing both the house she and her father had once lived in and those in the surrounding community. By night, however, she found a stand-in for her itch for fighting in the form of an underground combat ring, within which she competed in (often excessively violent) matches against both young adults with similar backgrounds to herself and younger ex-militants looking to feed their conditioned proclivity for bloodshed. In a fashion not unlike her father, she garnered the respect of the ring, being dubbed by her innermost circle as “Donna Toro.”

Solo was rarely home, having dedicated his post-war life to mercenary work with the goal of ensuring stability as the newly formed Republic of Alvad established itself. His visits home were brief, and Cadenza often saw him only once or twice: as he arrived, and just before he departed. He knew nothing of Cadenza’s double life.

However, nearly five years into the post-war era, Cadenza received troubling news: her father had been mortally wounded by Imperial sympathizers while in the line of his mercenary duties. Distraught and angered, Cadenza caught the first transport she could to her father’s station. Her itinerary was short, simple, and sweet: paying her last respects, taking up her father’s mantle, and exercises hard justice on those responsible for putting her father on his deathbed.

Skills: Cadenza is a survivalist to the extent that she has conditioned herself to perform optimally for extend periods of time off between sustenance; she go longer than the average person between eating or drinking water. Her true forte, however, is in her aptitude for combat, particularly at close range. She’s dexterous, strong, and resilient, particularly when faced with physical assaults; intensive magical onslaughts prove to be a significant adversity, as do ranged assaults if she cannot quickly close the gap.

Abilities: Cadenza has tapped into her inner vitality to bolster a baseline of enhanced physical performance. Her developed magical prowess revolves around spells that further draw upon her fighting spirit. “Haste” improves aspects of her speed of mobility; “Gain” increases her attack strength. She is further able to impart her spirit and will unto those around her through “Cheer.”

Limit: Battle Cry – Vicious Strike; an instantaneous, and short-lived outflux of strength and speed propels Cadenza with ludicrous speed towards an unfortunate adversary. The resulting blow is enough to cause fatal damage to weaker foes, typically defeating them in a single hit; when used against near-human sized enemies, the impact may also be enough to ripple and cause minor residual damage to others nearby with no discrimination between friend and foe. Pushing her body this far results in need for either a period of recovery, or an urgent application of healing magic from an ally (whichever comes first).

Equipment: Impact Bracers – Designed and manufactured in the years following the war, Impact Bracers are a line of hand weapons for those that like to let their fists do the talking. Inspired by Gunblades that rose into popularity during wartime, Impact Bracers implement the same concept into the form of an adorned armament. The design is that of a pair of armored gauntlets that cover from the hands in their entirety to halfway along the forearms. Engineered within the palms of the gauntlets are mechanisms activated by way of clenching of the fists that that release a light to moderate kinetic vibration that resonates through the surfaces struck by the gauntlets, amplifying concussive force.

Cadenza’s present armaments consists of a pair of Standard Impact Bracers, which function as described. A more advanced model has recently hit the market though: the Type-M, which include Magitech conduits that channel energy from pre-loaded Lumo Crystals through Impact Bracers, enabling the added effect of spell-like effect to be implemented. Cadenza presently longs to bring in enough of an income to invest in a pair of Type-M Impact Bracers.