Amber - Pyromancer - 21
Like many Seers and mutants, Amber’s most prominent feature are her illuminated eyes, which emit a faded glow even in the afternoon sunlight. They are amber in color, from which she was named, with a lighter lemon color towards the center and a darker, deeper hue towards the outer ring of her irises. Voluminous lashes encircle her sultry eyes, with ashy brown strands of hair falling down the sides of her face and lightly brush the surface of her shoulders. While her complexion is rather fair, it bears a warm tint and frequently flushes in rosy hues.
With pleasant facial features and a lean, athletic frame of average height, Amber is considered to be attractive, at least for those who can see past the few faded burn scars on her arms and another that marks the side of her neck. She does well to employ her beauty in her missions when possible and finds success more often than not. As for her garments, they are rather simple and light, often cloth dresses or a loose tunic and pants of some sort. As a mage with fire specialties, wearing a larger quantity of fabric would get in the way of her movements and other times, it would simply go to waste as it occasionally caught on fire.
While Amber appears jovial and expressive to most at first glance, those who get to know her a bit better will also become familiar with her mischievous and devious nature. She’s a bit of a prankster, often infflicting small inconveniences on people simply to get a laugh out of it. In this way, Amber is a bit unpredictable and hard to control. Otherwise, she’s generally polite and courteous towards others and tends to form friendships quickly.
Amber’s purpose in life had always been to enjoy it and have fun, displaying passion and a curiosity to try new things as a result. It’s one of the things about her that people like - her penchant for seeking amusement. However, the distasteful events of her upbringing have birthed a cold and callous attitude within her that hides in the shadows of her brighter exterior. Amber has little sympathy for others and cares not for their well-being unless they have some use to her. She easily discards the friends she makes if it benefits or pleases her.
Amber doesn’t remember much from her childhood, despite its disturbing nature. What unfortunately remains of the recollections of her birth family are unpleasant at best. Whoever fathered her either died or left before Amber could form memories, and the other parent she was left with scorned Amber’s existence. Born with glowing eyes that marked her status as a lowly mutant, Amber was branded as the shame of the family and her mother often neglected her needs and punished her harshly at every opportunity that appeared before her. It’s hardly a surprise to say that the child was not given a name, at least not one Amber could remember among the many derogatory terms she was referred to as instead. Her mother’s vicious behaviour led her many siblings to do the same with Amber, and her role in the family became that of a punching bag of sorts. She was another expensive mouth to feed, and a monstrous abomination to boot.
Eventually, her mother simply straight out abandoned Amber when she was six years old, and how the witch managed to actually keep Amber for six long years was a miraculous wonder in itself. After being discovered for her attempts to steal some chicken from her siblings’ plates, Amber’s mother set her simple plan in motion. The mutant girl was ushered out of the house as punishment and was told to wander the streets until she learned her lesson, but her mother never let her back in. It wasn’t before long Amber came to terms with her situation and left the front porch of their humble home in tears, where she had been fruitlessly hoping for her family to open the door.
A woman named Vera eventually found the child near the slums, laying down on the side of the road several days later in bad shape. She was a mage who had defected from the Crystalline Pledge to become a mercenary with the Yellow Vests (her interests lie more with personal gain than the Pledge’s noble causes), and like Amber, Vera was a Seer herself. Perhaps the usually cynical woman saw herself in the glowing eyes of starving girl and took pity on her, which may have inspired the decision to take her in.
Amber spent the next little while growing accustomed to life on the move, following Vera around on her various missions without a permanent home nor bed to lie on. While Vera never showed typical motherly compassion for the child, she gave Amber a name which made her proud of the shining eyes she had been despised for her whole life. Vera became a mentor towards her, rather than a parent figure. Realizing Amber’s potential for magic as a Seer, Vera immediately began raising her with intentions of making her a mage. It was important that the first training she gave Amber was all related to strengthening her will and building upon her discipline and concentration. Amber’s already been caught staring at Vera’s crystal for extended amounts of time, deeply enamored by its soft hum, which only foretold the difficulty Amber would have in resisting her own crystal if not trained.
With time, Amber improved. She continued to struggle with keeping the crystal’s mesmerizing influence on her at bay, but showed talent in her manipulation of fire. She was obsessed with mastering her art; having been confined and degraded in the house she was born into, the fire gave her pride and power. She used her abilities more often than needed, sometimes forming a ball of fire in her hands and throwing it around for fun, or heating metals around an area and watching people yelp while touching them.
At the age of 17, Amber began working as a mercenary on her own after she learned all she could from Vera. Though she continued her affiliation with the Yellow Vests, Amber also took on jobs outside of the organization, usually small simple tasks from citizens and occasionally more dubious affairs from individuals and small groups from lawless areas.
Non-magicalJudgement: Amber has talent in judging character and assessing situations, making decisions based on her observations.
MagicSeer's Sight
Streams of Flame: Channeling energy from the crystal, Amber can blast a flamethrower-like wave or stream of fire from her hands and/or feet with a range of about 1-2 meters. The stream of fire lasts as long as she holds it but quickly eats up the crystal’s power, so is more often used in a series of quick spurts.
Fire projectiles: This spell forms projectiles made of fire that follow and float around Amber until directed or flung towards an opponent. Their shapes can be manipulated, for example, a ball or dart of fire.
Rocket: By releasing an explosive flame from her legs, Amber propels herself forward like a jet using the fire’s kinetic force. Directing the fire behind her will allow Amber to glide across the ground for a limited amount of time at high speeds, and she can also launch herself into the air, a movement similar to an enhanced jump, by pushing the flames from under her feet.
Heat: Amber can emit and repel heat from her body that builds over time. This spell can keep her warm in winter climates and cooler in summer climates, and if enough time is spent increasing the heat, she can burn or melt things she comes in contact with. While it is not as efficient in setting things on fire like her her other abilities since it takes time, it requires the least energy. Her ability to repel heat makes her slightly more heat resistant than the normal person, but this only extends as far as being able to come in contact with fire for a small moment before burning as well.
Flame Whip: Amber creates a long snake-like chain of fire that can be moved around and manipulated, much like a whip. This spell is the one that is most often used, since it has less of a strain on her shard. Once fire is formed into the elongated form, she need only keep her concentration to manipulate it.
Amber owns a small pocket knife for utility purposes that is normally strapped to her thigh; otherwise she doesn’t use weapons.
Amber carries a medium sized pouch which normally hangs from her shoulder, or is tied to the side of her hip. It contains a decent amount of currency, a few snacks, ointment for burns and a small canteen of water. She also has a pack of matches in there, just in case her crystal requires recharging.
