Yeah, all that pesky backstory nonsense gets revealed entirely IC or through contests or hashed out at four in the morning in skype chats as you watch threads somehow inexplicably weave into eachother
That cracked me up, great answer. Seriously, though, I like that as a change of pace. I usually have chars w all or parts of their story I don't want everyone to know day one. Skye's background isn't a preffered secret but IC she would be reluctant to get into details about recent events so... yeah, works for me. (So does less work atm...)
The best part is, I'm not even kidding. Between Ben and Luke alone, Krayzikk and I could compile an entire lorebook of the history of the characters and their hometowns that we've come up with behind the scenes.
Awesome this took all day and its still very rough (please, don't stare too deeply into the personality section...) So, now we can get on with the feedback and I can begin my heroic journey to fix all my mistakes.
Name: Skye (she claims to have no last name, that she lost it. She also referred to herself initially as "Byakko" but now denies this)
Age: 19 (she thinks, but admits losing track of time at one point)
Gender: Female (definitely female, but fully armored and masked and possessing an raspy, damaged voice... there can be some confusion)
Race: Faunus (Vulpes Vulpes) (red fox, with no explanation given for having no red in fur or hair)
Weapon: Dust saturated body resulting in massive increase of all physical abilities as long as her aura can fuel the Dust. (Normally athletic and strong without aura. Currently she is malnourished and without her aura to power her Dust and strengthen her body... weak as paper)
Black tattoos in a tribal pattern cover the majority of her body including her scalp. Ink was infused with a high concentration of almost all types of Dust. Tattoos provide raw energy of no one useful element as a result of the chaotic mix.
Collections of small crystals sewn under the skin. The initial process, like the tattoos, was quite painful as no anesthetic was available. Furthermore the tiny crystals were crude and sharp. While scar tissue usually keeps them in place powerful impacts can shift them causing painful internal cuts. The four primary types of Dust crystals were embedded in this way. (Variant 0: Further increases raw power of physical abilities)
Variant 1: Most or all of the embedded crystals are of one of the four major types (most likely fire or lightning.) This allows her to surround her body with the associated element.
Variant 2: The four major types of crystals are arranged in clusters throughout her body. This allows her to surround herself in the associated element but only one at a time.
(Which of the above variants do you think are plausible? The more feedback the better.)
Pervasive Dust infusion. Lacking refined technology and methods one of the few options to increase her power was to consume Dust. It was necessary for her situation and to this day much of her internal system is still infused with Dust residue. But this came at a damaging and painful cost. At first consuming raw powdered Dust her throat and stomach quickly became abraided and, in time, permanently damaged. To this day simply talking and eating is mildly painful and repeated strikes to her abdomen cause severe pain and bleeding. Also consuming spicy food or more Dust is very I'll advised. This infusion is similar to and adds to the effect of her tattoos but to a lesser extent.
Optionally she could choose to consume more powdered Dust or a less potent diluted Dust mixture. This would give her a significant but temporary increase to her power as well as the associated element of whatever type was consumed. However, having already accumulated damage from doing this many times in the past... continuing the practice will begin to slowly kill her. It is also severely painful, more so these days than in times past. Essentially she has abandoned the practice as it is counterproductive to survival. She would need a damn good reason to do this again. The last worthwhile reason to do so died several weeks ago.
Specialty: Skye has no formal training. She has basic experience using many types of weapons but has been unable to rely on any one kind thus far. Instead she has been forced to rely on her own body, modified with copious amounts of Dust, to survive as well as protect others. When faced with Grimm her approach is to take them head on in an attempt to kill them as fast as possible using her bare hands. She would prefer to elude Grimm entirely but she is as concerned with protecting others as she is her own survival.
Her style is crude, fast, and brutal, especially to the eye of a trained fighter. But with the insane power granted by the Dust in her body she is effective. On an average day as long as her aura lasts she can tear lesser Grimm apart and put her fist through tough hide and weak armor.
Aside from coming across as an insane berserker (unlike a true berserker she is in full control of her mind and emotions) Skye is a natural born protector. Despite a very strong will to survive she will put herself in danger to defend others. In the conflict of choosing self preservation or letting someone die when she can save them, the heart of the savior will always prevail. Her body is very durable on top of the normal protection granted from her aura. She can take an absurd amount of punishment and pain and has done just that for many years now, further increasing that threshold. Fortunately her armored coat helps mitigate some of that external abuse.
Semblance: Divine Wind Skye's Semblance can be used at will but it is best saved for when she is initially drained of aura or would otherwise be rendered unconscious, as Divine Wind will be automatically activated under those circumstances. Once activated Divine Wind will act as an unlimited reservoir of aura for a very short time. The higher the percentage of aura provided the less time Divine Wind can stay active. For example at 81-100% strength Divine Wind can only last about one minute. However, at a very low percentage, 20% or less, Divine Wind could last up to 15 minutes.
In addition to the auxiliary aura gained Skye will also be immune to being rendered unconscious by any means, including mortal wounds. (Devastating amounts of damage or straight up instant death obviously screw this ability, as well as her everything)
At the end of this time limit she returns to an exhausted state with a depleted aura. If used prior to naturally depleting her aura she will always come out of Divine Wind with 20% aura or less, even if she was at full strength upon activating it. Also, if she has used Divine Wind prior to being exhausted or incapacitated the automatic activation of Divine Wind will still occur. However the strength of this second activation will not exceed 15% and will only last 10 minutes at most.
Variant 1: Skye may choose to activate and transfer Divine Wind to an ally. The ally will gain the full benefit of whatever strength of Divine Wind they receive but at only half the normal duration. Additionally doing this completely drains Skye's aura and the automatic activation of Divine Wind on herself will be at absolute minimum strength (1% and for no more than 5 minutes.)
So, Divine Wind. Too strong? Too weak? Too boring? Way too much going on? Chopsticks?
Personality: Skye used to be a very positive, energetic, passionate, and fun loving individual. Whatever happened over the last few years has stripped much of who she was away. She has only recently arrived at Beacon, starved, ragged and almost literally dead on her feet. Upon initially meeting her one would assume Skye to be a depressed, strange, and clueless individual. They would not be wrong. Fresh loss and being cut off from society has left Skye a complete mess. By rights she should not be psychologically clear for training but she was insistent, very, very insistent.
Though she is clearly having trouble readjusting to civilized life she has a strong drive to readapt and makes a litte more progress each day. Her lack of knowledge of even some of the most basic things tends to set her back a lot. Still, some of her old personality traits are still there. Skye wants to reconnect with society and very badly wants to become a Huntress. When asked why exactly she is so set on this path despite having very little to work with she responds simply: "For the ones that didn't make it. For the ones I couldn't protect." Needless to say this statement has a certain gravity to it that makes it clear she will do anything to achieve her goals.
Despite extensive practical experience evading and fighting Grimm she has no formal training. This is a source of great frustration for herself, her peers, and her teachers. Essentially her combat abilities are top notch but her head is practically empty, making her very difficult to place. Her approach to battle at first makes her seem like a mindless, bloodfrenzied berserker. In fact Skye is actually in control of herself if pumped full of adrenaline. She is of course afraid of Grimm and desperate to survive any encounter with one but she keeps these feelings under control, as well. And moreso than just surviving Skye is far more concerned with protecting others. She will go well out of her way for another and not just in combat.
Mistakenly confused for a killing machine Skye is curiously anything but. She literally cannot harm a person with pure intentions, not without great effort and burning away a solid chunk of her aura. Generally strikes against such people stop short or veer off target at the last moment. She refuses to explain why this is and she generally avoids explaining that she can never, under any circumstances kill a person with a pure heart; even if she is manipulated into such a position and thinks the person is evil. Alternatively if a person has impure intentions or is fully malicious and conceiling the fact, Skye can still hurt or even kill them in extreme cases. Grimm are always fair game. Another interesting fact is if a persons intensions shift strongly Skye's ability to harm them also adjusts accordingly. This bizarre complication/disability generally causes quite a bit of difficulty and frustration in daily life. Particularly, if someone wants a friendly duel and harbors no I'll intent she can hardly touch them during the fight. Instead she can usually only defend making her look a complete dunce when combat is her greatest strength.
Seemingly related to the above issues Skye does not ever directly harm good people emotionally, either. Instead she is compelled to help or defend such people should the need arise. On the other side of things Skye can act or speak however she pleases to a cruel or otherwise malicious person. She may even be compelled to actively go after such people. Because of all this Skye seems like a really great person dedicated to fairness and fighting the good fight, as if she hardly has a speck of impurity within her. Some perceptive individuals have to wonder, however. Every human heart harbors some darkness, and some of Skye's aforementioned behavior seems downright unnatural.
Color: Quartz. Or, really, just white. Seriously, not too many variations on that color without slipping into a shade of light grey or something... maybe... pale white. Yeah. Brilliant. Oh, brilliant white, even better!
Emblem: Skye points at her kitsune mask. No, I'm not joking. The mask is a variant of the classic Japanese mask but the shape is much more fox-like. The mask is predominantly white with bright red around and under the eyes. Simple, elegant and this mask has a lot of sentimental value to Skye.
Appearance: Skye stands at 5'10" and when healthy weighs about 145 lbs. Currently starved she is only 115 pounds or so. Her hair is white though it used to be naturally black many years ago, and she has requested it be dyed black with violet highlights in an attempt to seem less abnormal. Her hair is past her shoulders and slightly wavy, with large ears also dyed to match her tail. She normally keeps her hair tied in a high ponytail as it tends to get in her face. Her Irises are an unusual white with the barest hint of silver. She attempted to hide this with colored contacts but could not stand the feel and generally relies on her mask to hide this strange feature. True to the odd white theme of her body her skin is albino white but her contrasting black, tribal style tatoos help draw attention away from this (so do the many scars said tatoos can only conceal to a certain extent.) That or she simply claims to be an actual albino. Of course none of this comes up as long as she keeps her coat, mask, gloves, and boots on. Also concealed by her coat is a fluffy white furred tail, but like her hair she has had this dyed black and violet.
More than her heavy armored coat Skye almost always wears a white and red stylized fox mask. Though she admits it is very hard to see with the mask it is precious to her; she rarely takes it off though may slide it upwards to see better. Beneath the steel and silver colored long coat Skye wears... surprisingly little. She claims this is not a matter of showing off (not like she's a pretty sight with ribs showing right now) but rather if she has taken the coat off it is because she needed to drop the excess bulk and weight. She reasons at that point one should be as unencumbered as possible. As such she favors shorts and a plain sport top, the former light grey and the latter dark red. Her gloves and boots are black leather with steel buckles. Very edgy.
Her original coat was a brown leather number with metal plates, chain, etc. haphazardly attached. Currently she is using a simple grey trenchcoat while a proper armored coat is being made for her. This new armor will be a base of charcoal grey leather, a layer of chainmail, then scalemail, and finally some plates added. It will be quite a heavy piece but at full strength it would feel as light as cotton to her, albeit far more bulky and restricting. With the boots and the tatts and this coat and that mask... crazy edgy.
The first mistake: forgot to put the CS in a hider. Smooth...
Waaait. Faunus can have both ears and a tail? I thought it was one or the other. Shoot. A set of ears to go with the tail would feel much more balanced. Done.
If you don't mind, I'll take a stab at some feedback.
Variant 2 sounds the most likely, maybe with practice she could achieve Variant 1.
I wonder if the dust would be finite though...from what I understand, it can be consumed like any sourse of energy. Just a stray thought.
I like the idea of Divide Wind, but the thing about Aura, is its basically a MP bar, HP regeneration, and Energy Shield all in one. But when its used up. Its gone. They cannot activate their aura in any capacity. Thus, something that would use it all...well, its nearly suicide. Its also very finite, unlimited aura would make them basically invincible. Not a bad thing, though, a short window is perfectly fine. I'm concered with how her Aura is more powerful the less she has of it. It doesn't really make sense. Logically, the more Aura she used the stronger the ability would be. Canon-wise, I would compare it to Yang's Aura (which would make sense, as they are both the berserker/brawler type) but hers worked by converting the kinetic force she takes into added strength. I don't think she should be able to transfer her Aura to someone else, but thats more up to you.
In summary, the idea is solid, but it may need some tweaking to work.
Lovin the feedback :3 And yeah, I knew Divine Wind was going to need lots of adjustment. As is painfully obvious at this point my understanding of the finer points of aura, semblance and how they work is limited. Admittedly I was also pretty tired by the time I got to semblance so I may have just been throwing a lot of random ideas in as they occurred to me... So it's a hot mess and the help means a lot to me. The core concept inspiring the hell that is Divine Wind in as follows: Skye had very little save all that Dust and evading Grimm was not always an option. Time and again she was pushed to her limits and beyond. Having always been a very determined person it seemed fitting to aim for a semblance that played off the idea of a last resort second wind. Something that represented an indomitable will to fight and survive, especially when things were at their worst. I am open to any suggestions on making this semblance.... less terrible. I also was under the impression that semblance and aura were not entirely dependent on one another? But I just don't know. And if it is the case I think my brain was imagining: 'semblance is its own power/thing? Maybe it could create a brief, temporary artificial/reserve aura? Could be neat....' <.< or it could be an embarrassing mess, Flitter.
I tossed in the variation that she could gift Divine Wind to others on the off chance the whole thing was underpowered, so taking that option right out is just fine. Being underpowered is not its problem.... And I kinda like the idea of the Dust in her body slowly being consumed over time. It would force her to refresh all those tattoos and sew more crystals into her flesh. Then again I am kinda sadistic concerning my chars so maybe I'm just happy to have another excuse to further wreck Skye's life....
Further suggestions welcome :3 I will be either be making some serious adjustments or recreating Divine Wind into a prettier, more cohesive picture. Ah, sounds like there are not too many other issues with the sheet?
Now then... ~goes to look up Oswald and gives thumbs up to Crimmy~
To answer your question, we don't have a lot of information on the connection between Aura and Semblance. It may even play by different rules for different people. Some characters have semblance that can be "active" giving a temporary effect (ex: Ruby, Speed) some can be activated giving a more permanent effect, (ex:'Yang, Strength) And yet others have a passive effect that can be activated for a temporary effect. (Ex: Nora, Electricity absorption into strength) and finally, whe have been introduced to Semblances that stay active always. Ie, a passive permanent effect. (Ex: Qrow, Bad luck)
So yeah. Lots of variance on the interaction between semblance and aura. One thing that is universally agreed on is that without aura, their semblance won't/can't be activated.
Edit: Out of all of them, Qrow's strikes me as strange, because if Semblance fed off Aura like a battery or MP bar, then his would constantly be draining. Although its possible that his body passively restores it faster then it drains, but its still odd.
Ah, so no aura, no semblance. Makes sense now that I'm awake and chatting with peeps that know what they're talking about. I swear, I'm like that bumbling constable in the murder mystery game...
Honestly, I should probably change how Divine Wind is activated if not recreate it entirely. But first, coffee.
1x Laugh
