[OOC] Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

[HereComesTheSnow]

Only if it's executed poorly.

[Abillioncats]

<Snipped quote by Crimson Raven>

Ooooh. Crap, do not want that... Skye isn't like that, right? Good god have I made her too edgy?!

@FlitterFaux

Nah, Skye doesn't strike me as all that edgy.

[FlitterFaux]

Well, I could try to mix up DW completely and explore the purity/impurity aspect of the character. But that could get very complicated. But... well I guess it is kind of a unique thing with Skye. Tentatively the first thing I think of is something along the lines of purification. It could weaken Grimm or even turn them in extreme cases, or just kill them as Grimm kind of thrive on darkness and evil... eh, what do you guys think?

[Abillioncats]

@FlitterFaux Hmmm, that sounds similar to enslaving a demon to do your bidding. That's a pretty cool idea.

[Crimson Raven]

@FlitterFaux

I think that has some interesting potential. A powerful semblance that only targets Grimm? That would go a long way to helping explain why Beacon would take in such a ragged and troubled girl to train.

Perhaps she could even temporarily take over and manipulate Grimm, able to make them fight for her. And then destroy them when she releases them.

Or she could be inheritly dangerous to them, her semblance could weaken Grimm that stay around her or cause them to become fearful and flee.

Lots of possibilities here.

Personally, I rather like the first one.

[FlitterFaux]

The 'enslavement' route would be my preferred way to go. The purity thing is deep into her origin story, a major issue the CS only touches on. Essentially this would work like ripping the very darkness/evil out of a Grimm (applicable to evil people as well except their aura greatly protects them from the ability) If a part of the darkness is taken the Grimm is weakened. If a significant amount of darkness is taken a Grimm may be unable to harm a Hunter at all, but could still defend or flee. If every bit is taken the once evil creature is now pure. it will obey Skye and even willingly act to the benefit of humans. However, a purified Grimm would begin to die, gradually. Grimm that were more powerful or excessively evil would even deteriorate quite rapidly. So Skye could not purify and build an army for humanity out of Grimm. Also the limitations on how many she could purify, how quickly, and for how long would make this only useful for skirmishes, and ideally against weaker Grimm.

More importantly this power scares the ever-living SHIT out of Skye. Besides background reasons think about it: where does that darkness drawn out during purification go? But now I'm kind of exited to take things in this direction.

I think that has some interesting potential. A powerful semblance that only targets Grimm? That would go a long way to helping explain why Beacon would take in such a ragged and troubled girl to train.
Perhaps she could even temporarily take over and manipulate Grimm, able to make them fight for her. And then destroy them when she releases them.

Or she could be inheritly dangerous to them, her semblance could weaken Grimm that stay around her or cause them to become fearful and flee.

Lots of possibilities here.

Personally, I rather like the first one.

@Crimson Raven

Too true.

[Silvan Haven]

Somehow I feel like that would be a bit more than just gradually kill the Grimm. Seems like it would be more immediate.

[HereComesTheSnow]

It's certainly an intriguing concept, though.

[Silvan Haven]

Won't argue with that.

[FlitterFaux]

Somehow I feel like that would be a bit more than just gradually kill the Grimm. Seems like it would be more immediate.

@Silvan Haven

I was thinking the same. But the purification could be be stopped just shy of the last 'drop' of darkness. That would achieve the desired effect. She would definitely prefer to just kill a Grimm, but I also think there would be those that insist she use the 'turning' ability as much as possible.

[HereComesTheSnow]

<Snipped quote by Silvan Haven>

I was thinking the same. But the purification could be be stopped just shy of the last 'drop' of darkness.

@FlitterFaux

I mean, you need some 'darkness' for it to still possess the capability to enact violence, right? You could swing it like that.

[FlitterFaux]

<Snipped quote by FlitterFaux>

I mean, you need some 'darkness' for it to still possess the capability to enact violence, right? You could swing it like that.

@HereComesTheSnow

Precisely.

[HereComesTheSnow]

also paging doctor @Write

please come meet our new teammate

[Crimson Raven]

@FlitterFaux

I'm glad you really liked my little idea. So now, go forth! Expand upon it and tell your Story.

[FlitterFaux]

@FlitterFaux

I'm glad you really liked my little idea. So now, go forth! Expand upon it and tell your Story.

@Crimson Raven

Yeah, after it came up I realized this tied in almost flawlessly with past events, giving everything much more synergy and gravity. I warn you though, things could get... edgy.

[Crimson Raven]

<Snipped quote by Crimson Raven>

Yeah, after it came up I realized this tied in almost flawlessly with past events, giving everything much more synergy and gravity. I warn you though, things could get... edgy.

@FlitterFaux

That's okay, I need a new razor anyway.

[HereComesTheSnow]

<Snipped quote by Crimson Raven>

Yeah, after it came up I realized this tied in almost flawlessly with past events, giving everything much more synergy and gravity. I warn you though, things could get... edgy.

@FlitterFaux

i can't wait

[FlitterFaux]

Just gonna post the modified CS here and not forget the hider this time...

Skye

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.

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.

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.

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 forcefully tear the essence of evil out of Grimm on contact. This can also be done to humans with evil in their hearts but is much more difficult and she can never fully purify a human. Divine Wind takes time to draw out darkness and a brief contact (1-3 sec) will only weaken most Grimm. Skye argues that she could just kill Grimm much faster than using this power but many disagree and insist she use this ability as much as possible.

With prolonged contact (6-11 sec) a Grimm may become very weak and even unable to attack, though it may still defend itself or flee.

If Skye can maintain contact on a single target for 11-18 seconds (unless the target is especially powerful) it will become 'purified'. What this means is Skye has removed all but the smallest amount of evil intent from a Grimm (and Grimm only) A true purification would instantly kill it. The purified Grimm will be compelled to assist Skye and her allies and will do so gladly. Generally this means fighting on the humans behalf but this is not the only assistance it can give. However, Grimm purified in this way slowly deteriorate until they eventually collapse, dead. A lesser Grimm will die slowly but a much stronger creature could die alarmingly fast.

Not even Skye knows where the darkness she takes goes and that terrifies her more than anything else. She would never even use Divine Wind if certain individuals at Beacon didnt insist the power be explored. For the benefit of humanity, of course. Personally Skye feels the risks are too great, but it has been implied that her enrollment at Beacon may depend on her taking those risks.

Notably purified beings become white, drained of all previous color. Skye refuses to talk about it but the connection seems obvious to those that know Skye's hair and fur are dyed.

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 fully 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 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. (is opal taken? 'cause if not... SHOTGUN!) 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 and elegant. 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. 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.) 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. 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... Very edgy.

The time it takes to purify I kind of arbitrarily put in, trying to keep in mind the many things that can happen in a fast paced fight. Too much? Too little?

[HereComesTheSnow]

I do agree it's arbitrary to set concrete numbers, but those times seem mostly reasonable. From the perspective of someone who's very familiar with fights, when seconds hit the double digits, that's a lot more time than most would think and a hell of a lot can happen in that time, so it certainly balances out.

[NaraK]

@FlitterFaux It's a powerful ability, but I think that time limit is stacked, and since it works most effectively on Grimm, it definitely doesn't seem like it'd break things. I think it's looking good!

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@Crimmy@Plank Sinatra

I drew a roadtrip between Tearlag, Jericho, and Apophis.

Roadtrip