Finetales

Chronicles of Sarastrea

Edric and Carmen

---

Edric was beginning to notice that this Expo had a lot of lines. It had taken him twenty minutes of standing behind other people before he'd even been able to get his table at the diner. And now that he'd left the diner and stumbled across a Calandra Couture booth, he was waiting in line yet again.Granted, this was less structured. Less of a line and more of a crowd, really. People who wanted to take pictures and get autographs and ask for advice or questions about the company. All he wanted to do was catch up with an old teacher of his.

"Woah, is that, like, hobo chic?" Some wire-thing bearded guy that couldn't have been taller than 5' 2" asked him. Edric looked down and cringed. Rough travel clothes, with threadbare spots. He supposed it looked well-enough put together, though.

"Uh. Totally." He smiled. "Fashionable pragmatism."

"Nice." The guy nodded, seemingly impressed, and then he turned away.

You're a master of deception.

You know it.

Meanwhile, at the front of the line...

"Nonono, you can't have that color dress with these color shoes! Can't you see how much these clash?? Hold on, let me go get you a more suitable pair."

The skylark whose presence had caused the line Edric was stuck in now turned her back to it to look through her inventory for a moment before quickly finding a pair of shoes she deemed suitable. As she turned around she quickly scanned the line and thought she might have seen someone she knew. Unsure but fairly confident, she yelled out "ANYONE WITH A SURNAME OF D'KARST COME TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE PLEASE" while handing the pair of shoes to the woman waiting for her. As the woman's face brightened at the sight of the footwear, Carmen returned her attention fully to her. "See what you think of those, they should match your dress beautifully." The woman began taking off her existing shoes while Carmen turned again to the line in front of her, assuming that if Edric was actually in the line he would follow her order. He was her student, after all.

"On it!" Edric said, almost instinctively. He stepped out of the line and briskly made his way toward the front. There was some grumbling, and Edric ignored it. Soon enough, he was in front of the skylark. "I keep forgetting that you're famous." He looked around, at the crowd the sign, the camera flashes.

How?

Because-

-You're an idiot? You finally realized it? I wasn't gonna tell ya.

"God, it's been, what, five years?" Edric said, shaking his head in disbelief. "It feels like five days. Or, maybe ten years. I can't decide."

Carmen smiled as Edric allowed himself to walk to the front of the line.

"Maybe. I haven't been counting," she replied. "In any case, it has been quite a long time."

While talking to him she was simultaneously handing the woman from earlier her bag with her new pair of shoes in it, and motioning for the next person to come up. It was an autograph request - simple enough to multitask, so she did.

"And you? What have you been up to all this time? I would quite like to know what everyone from the dear Academy has been up to, now that I think about it."

Some cameras flashed on Carmen as they had been doing with some regularity, but at this point some were also flashing on Edric. "Looks like you're famous now too," she said with a smirk.

"Uh." He smiled, awkwardly, at the cameras. His father would probably break a vein. Edric hadn't called him in ages, but Jon'd see in the tabloids that he'd had time to rub elbows with Carmen Calandra.

That'll be a fun phone call.

I'm looking forward to it already.

"I've been doing a lot of travelling. Much of it alone. I was in Oasari, recently, but I was all over Okarlai, and Kora intermittently. I was planning on headed west but then I heard about the Expo, couldn't help myself." He thought for a moment. "I'd imagine that Aileen Deckard is here, as well, but I can't speak for any of the others. Have you kept in touch with anyone?"

"Can't say that I have," Carmen replied. "I've been very busy, and I somehow neglected to get people's contact information while I was in Athalia. It just didn't seem necessary I suppose."

She thought for a moment. "I'm not sure I remember Aileen, but I didn't get to interact with the students not in my classes or those who were there when I was a student. Anyway...have you been in contact with any of the others? I'd love to know how some of them are doing. Maybe some of them will turn up here?"

"No, I haven't. I took off in a hurry, I'm afraid. I only knew about Aileen because we traveled together for a time." Edric said. "I'd say that's possible, the Expo attracts all kinds." He looked back at the line, and the cameras, and gulped. "Listen, I know you're busy, so I won't take too much more of your time. But, uh, if you happen to see anyone from the Academy, tell them to meet, uh..." He looked around until his eyes settled on a bar and grill at the edge of the street. He pointed to it. "That place looks good, yeah. What's that, 'Malibu Bar n' Grill?' Yeah, that place."

Carmen smiled. "I'll be sure to do that. Hopefully someone else shows up that we both know, hmm? I'll probably pop over there myself when I have a break." She looked at the long line waiting for her. "...which doesn't look like it will be any time soon," she said with a chuckle. "Nice catching up with you though, Edric. Hopefully it won't be five years until the next time, yeah?"

"Here's hoping." Edric said, smiling lopsidedly. "I'll catch you around. Can't be too hard." He turned and started to walk away. "I'll just follow the cameras."

Chronicles of Sarastrea

~ Carmen Calandra ~

Being the center of attention can be exhilarating or exhausting. For Carmen, it was currently both. Her booth, with its large fancy "Calandra Couture" logo, was drawing all kinds of attention. Between criticizing customers' fashion choices and setting them up with something she deemed more suitable from her clothing line, taking selfies with fans and formal pictures with celebrities whenever a photographer asked her to, hastily signing autographs on brochures, and socializing with whoever was lucky enough to catch her in a moment she wasn't already talking to someone, Carmen had her plate very full. Still, the expo had gone smoothly so far and on her breaks Carmen enjoyed walking around and taking in Riesling and all the the attractions that currently inhabited it. The Expo was always a fun event for the skylark, and this was her second year as a featured vendor. With her signature sunhat on she was very easy to spot in the crowd, and that's how she liked it.

~ Mizuki ~

A woman with extraordinary silver hair that sprouted both from her head and from her nine huge fox tails filtered into the Expo along with a long line of people. It was midday and she was just arriving; she couldn't help that she enjoyed the night and stayed up for most of it. Besides, the night to come was what she was really looking forward to. The Expo was legendary for having an epic night scene, as people from all corners of Sarastrea mingled and partied into the early hours of the morning.

But for now, Mizuki would have to wait, and hope that she didn't get bombarded with people taking pictures of her and asking her obnoxious questions. She elected to sit in the shade at one of the restaurants in the expo and slowly eat her afternoon breakfast.

~ Vikki Miller ~

Vikki sat on the balcony of her hotel room looking down at the Expo through a pair of high-powered binoculars. People-watching was one of the more useful things she could do when off work, and she just so happened to have a few days to herself during the Expo. So, rather than get herself lost and compromised in the throngs of people enjoying the Expo, she bought a high-rise hotel suite overlooking everything. Plus, it made business sense - if someone started something, she would be able to see it happen and be able to identify a potential target.

---

Meanwhile down below, a slender, extremely tall woman arrived at the entrance to the Expo. She walked around for a bit and then disappeared into a building. Nobody thought anything of it (apart from her height), but a few people turned to each other and mentioned how something didn't feel right.

Chronicles of Sarastrea

GUYS I'M SO EXCITED

.

Chronicles of Sarastrea

Eris

Eris

Basics

Gender || Female
Species/Race || Unknown
Age || 2,743
Height || 6'5" (not a typo)
Weight || 167 lb.
Hair Color || Reddish Brown
Eye Color || Coral
Skin Color || pale unblemished tan
Figure || slim and well-proportioned, as per usual
Occupation || Goddess of Chaos and Discord

Powers

Strength in Numbers - Eris' defining feature is that her strength scales with the number of people she is around on an exponential curve. Eris feeds off the aura and emotional charge (especially aggression or fear) of nearby individuals to gain strength. This means that while she loses strength for small numbers of opponents (and especially in duels), she gets stronger when fighting a group of adversaries or fighting in a large crowd. Eris is thus in more danger fighting one opponent than 10 or 100. If Eris were to fight a large enough group of enemies, her power level would stretch to unfathomable levels thanks to the exponential nature of her power scale.

GoldenEye - With a flash of gold enveloping her eyes, Eris is able to see things eyes can't normally see. How far she can focus her vision is limited only by how much energy she uses, and she is able to detect any living thing within her cone of sight. Eris can also project her mind's eye and voice to a target in her sight, in a jarring mental arrest not unlike a long-distance Vulcan mind meld.

Tower of Power - Eris wields an advanced form of Apocalypse Manipulation (Apocakinesis) - the power to create and manipulate apocalyptic events. Natural disasters such as meteor showers and volcanic eruptions are all under her control, and she can extract the individual abilities necessary to initiate them (Lava Manipulation, Water Manipulation, etc.) to use more traditional combat abilities. However, only these non-apocalyptic attacks can be used at will; a large scale event cannot be triggered without charging up. The severity of the catastrophe scales with how long she charges it for, and if she charges uninterrupted for 24 hours, the resulting event can end civilization. This is almost certainly impossible though, because Eris charging an apocalyptic event emits a massive ray of blinding light straight up into the air that is easily visible. Even from the early stages it is noticable for miles, and towards the end it generates more light in a localized area than the sun.

Weaknesses

One is the Loneliest Number - As explained above, Eris' Strength in Numbers ability is both incredibly powerful against many opponents and limiting against few. In duels, particularly, Eris operates far below her maximum power level due to the low amount of energy she has available to extract. For this reason, Eris avoids 1-on-1 conflicts as much as possible, which is problematic as she works alone. If she was fighting an extraordinarily strong single adversary she would have more power to work with, but it would still be far below even nominal power levels. SiN's exponential curve crosses 100% power at ten opponents.

Exposed Elemental - As all of Eris' offensive abilities are elemental and she has no spell/magic-based powers, Eris is weak to most types of non-elemental spells.

Eris Can't Read Roman Numerals - Eris can't read Roman numerals.

Personality

"Fear? What use do I have for fear? I have no one to be afraid of."

Unlike many villains who use their chaotic minds and extreme tempers to their advantage, Eris is serene in her ruthlessness. Her default state is unnervingly calm, and her silence can be far more intimidating than words. She knows that she is immortal, has nobody to answer to, and wields immense power that few can match, so she views opponents as playthings more than real threats. She knows that nobody knows her weakness and is virtually invincible when facing large enough numbers,

Background

In Greek mythology, Eris is the goddess of chaos, strife, and discord, who is also sometimes identified as being the same being as Enyo, a Greek goddess of war and destruction. In the Sarastrean universe she was banished from Mt. Olympus on Earth for (surprise) causing too much chaos. To Sarastrea she went, leaving the pantheon (including her children) behind. On arrival to Sarastrea she discovered that her banishment was a blessing in disguise; she had a whole world all to herself to play with and wreak havoc in. With no family and no higher gods to answer to, Eris has nothing to lose and nothing to do - a deadly combination.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Iona Murasaki

Name: Iona Murasaki

Age: 19

Gender: Female

Race: Faunus (Urocyon cinereoargenteus (gray fox))

Weapons:

Eminent Domain: Iona's pride and joy, this LMG emphasizes brute force per round over fire rate, firing large-caliber bullets that pack a devastating punch. Its advantage is its commanding firepower; its disadvantage is its restrictions on the Iona's mobility when in use, as well as the copious amounts of belt-fed ammo required to fire it.

Hornets: Two dual-wielded submachine guns that have a very high rate of fire, the Hornets are designed to be used firing in different directions to cover enemies closing in from all sides. When the enemies get close, the SMGs can transform into their alternate melee form: one-handed combat sickles. As sickles these weapons are excellent for melee combat, and still have a decent reach via the extended, mini-staff handle and large diameter head that give them the same reach as a longsword. Iona always uses the Hornets in either form in tandem, unholstering both simultaneously after slinging the Eminent Domain on her back.

Specialty: Iona excels at close to mid-range firefights, focusing on damage per second with her machine guns. She is useful for dispatching swathes of smaller Grimm as well as individual larger ones with sustained fire. Also a good source of suppressive/cover fire and a formidable melee combatant, Iona prefers to be in the thick of battle rather than assisting from the outskirts.

Semblance: Sleight - Iona's speed at performing very short tasks, such as reloading, aiming, and evasive maneuvers, is drastically increased to superhuman levels. To the observer, her reload speed would be nearly instant, allowing for minimal fire interruption. This does not also increase her stamina however, and performing sleight manuevers repeatedly will wear her out.

Personality: Iona is not a soft-spoken individual. She doesn't speak too much, but when she does her voice carries. This is partly because she has a naturally projecting voice and partly because she is a confident, competitive individual. Not enough to alienate her classmates, but enough for her to have a constant aura of having her eye on some prize that she needs to beat everyone else to get. She believes in herself, perhaps too much, which can cause problems when diving headfirst into dangerous situations. Fortunately she has learned to quell her Leeroy Jenkins tendencies...for the most part. Conversations with her are typically fast paced and devoid of small talk, as she would rather stick to her own thoughts than participate in idle banter. She has difficulty admitting fault, but is the hardest on herself when the fault is rightfully hers. In serious situations she demands perfection from herself more than anyone else, and whether or not that is because she believes she is the most capable of attaining it is anyone's guess. Her driven nature means she will beat herself up more readily than scold others, but if she knows she's carrying her weight...everyone else knows she knows as well.

Color: Eminence (purple)

Emblem: A mugshot-angle fox head flanked by diagonal sickles forming an X behind it.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Yo!

I'm a friend of @NarayanK. I've been hearing about Heroes of Beacon forever, and now that there's some open spots, I figured I'd check out what all the noise is about.

@Nevix

Hey guys I am ALSO a friend of both @NarayanK and @Nevix.

Basically NK was like "hey dp" and now I'm here. I'm currently on the discord but uh

HI

Chronicles of Sarastrea

Kali Rana

Younger:

True Form:

Kali Rana

(Mira Kaur)

Basics

Gender || female
Species/Race || unknown
Age || ~10,000
Height || 5'9"/1.75 m
Weight || 134 lbs./60.78 kg
Hair Color || black
Eye Color || hazel
Skin Color || fair/unblemished tan; wrinkled brown in true form
Figure || beautiful, but not overtly so
Occuption || being a near-deity and attempting to maintain order in the world (and particularly Lavanya).

Powers

Dualikinesis (Yin & Yang Manipulation) - Mira possesses the ability to control all types of duality in herself and others. With this ability she can temporarily alter one's morality, effectively heal others, and counter against attacks.

Chrono-Hyalokinesis (Hourglass Manipulation) - a combination of glass manipulation and time manipulation, Mira is able to weave a path through time via glassblowing.

Psammokinesis (Sand Manipulation) - Mira can manipulate sand.

Weaknesses

You Only Live Twice - When Mira is "killed" and her true form appears, she is susceptible to mortality and being killed for good.

Mage Ya Look - Mira has a balanced (offensive vs. defensive) ability set, but possesses no magical defense. Although she can cause a magic assailant to flip morality, there is no polar opposite to magic and thus she cannot manipulate duality to counter it. Her body has gained resilience against physical/elemental attacks, but nothing against magic (as she rarely encounters it).

Dependence Day: Desert Edition - Unlike many abilities which seem to be able to generate out of thin air, Mira's sand abilities require sand in the vicinity to be used. For this reason, she always carries around a handful of sand somewhere on her person, but were she separated from it in a non-desert or beach climate, she would be unable to use her psammokinetic abilities. Naturally, the opposite is also true - her sand potency in desert and beach climates is significantly boosted.

Strength in Numbers - Mira technically possesses four different ability sets, but although she is a very advanced user of all of them, none of them are capable of dealing OP damage on their own. She is thus much less effective in a 1x1 brawl than other forms of combat.

Personality

Mira is a philosopher, a teacher and a cleric (of sorts). Deeply rooted in a large collection of traditions, she is calm and reserved, sometimes to the point of intimidation. Her eyes offer a window into her long journey and every emotion she has felt along the way.

Background

Kali Rana is the name of a hallowed state of being from a collection of ancient Sarastrean religions that originated in the Sarolai. Spoken of in reverent tones, it was the ultimate goal of faith for many tribespeople throughout the Sarolai, and devoted monks spent their whole lives trying to achieve it. The Kali Rana was said to break free from the endless cycle of birth and rebirth to roam the universe for rest of time maintaining balance and peace. The belief among the commonfolk was that bad things didn't happen to people because the gods were angry at them; they happened because there was no Kali Rana. This was, of course, not accurate, but a more pressing problem was that as decades passed many began to believe that the concept of the Kali Rana was a hoax and nobody could ever achieve it.

Mira Kaur grew up in ancient times as a tribal girl in the unforgiving desert sands of the Sarolai, and soon devoted her life to the monastery. 96 long, diligent years after she was born (already a superhuman feat at that time), she successfully ascended to the mythical plane of existence that had been all but removed from the religious practice, becoming the Kali Rana. Immediately she began on a long journey to travel the world. If she was to maintain balance in Sarastrea, she needed to understand all of it as best she could - and now that she had been freed from the shackles of aging and death she had plenty of time to do so. For the next millenium she travelled all over the globe, assimilating herself into local cultures and learning all she could while discovering new things she was capable of. So profound was her effect on the cultures she spent time in that she quickly became legend the world over. By the end of the millenium she had already learned enough about the world and herself to have been fulfilling her duties as the Kali Rana for quite some time.

Ever since then she has continued to roam not only Sarastrea but the universe around it, and is exceedingly rare to witness. She is however written about in cave paintings, ancient texts, and other various historical sources all around Sarastrea, and her name carries significant weight historically and in popular culture. Yet, in a repeat of history, many people denounce her existence as nothing more than a myth.

Further Information

Mira is able to time travel via a combination of all four of her abilities, the catalyst being sand. This ability, referred to as the Sands of Time, is able to cause irreparable damage to the universe and its timelines if used without caution (as is true of any form of time travel). It is primarily for this ability that a Dark Mira would be a massive threat to everyone else.

Mira possesses an ability called Amita Nirvana that has not been performed in at least 2,000 years. Claimed eyewitness accounts of its last use have been retold through generations, and the ability has become one of the most widespread legends of Sarolai culture. Many have concluded that Mira is a prophet or even a diety specifically because of this ability's legend, and that the ability can only be activated when Mira is killed.

Upon her ascension to the Kali Rana, Mira was gifted with a beautiful, youthful form that never ages. However, her true form is still accessible at will, and may also be connected with Amita Nirvana.

Mira carries but one tool, a glassblower's blowpipe. She handcrafted the long, skinny tube herself millenia ago, and it is the most exquisite tool imaginable.

As her pictures indicate, Mira is known for always wearing elaborate lehenga choli - the traditional marriage ensemble of Indian women.

While Mira is universally known as the Kali Rana from legends, she has also been referred to as "The Seamstress of Time" and (more simply) "Mirage".

Kali Rana is both a name and a title. Made up of a Hindi first name followed by a Hindi last name, it could conceivably function as a birth name. However, in Mira Kaur's case, it functions as both, and is usually said/written in legends as "the Kali Rana".

Mira's given name means "prosperous princess" in Hindi, while Kali Rana means "ruler who devours time".

Mira's entire existence is a mystery to many. Due to her existence in legends dating back thousands of years to the present day, people who know the legends have varied opinions on what she is. Some believe she is a prophet, sent down to this world and kept there to preserve the ancient Sarolai tribal religions and their dieties. Others, particularly those who know the legends of Amita Nirvana and other such ability-related legends, think she is actually a diety or semi-diety herself. The reality is somewhat of a combination of the two. Others think that she was normal woman and died after a normal human lifespan, with subsequent legends being fairy tales. Still others believe that her entire existence is a myth.

Chronicles of Sarastrea

Vikki Miller

Vikki Miller

Basics

Gender || female
Species/Race || human
Age || 27
Height || 6'0"/1.83 m
Weight || 147 lb./66.68 kg
Hair Color/Type || black; extremely long (~100cm) and voluptuous
Eye Color || green
Skin Color || fair/unblemished tan
Figure || killin'/incredible/would you like more adjectives?
Occupation || bounty hunter

Powers

In the midst of dozens of incredibly powerful ability-bestowed supernatural characters, Vikki has none. She is a normal human, with no ubergenes or anything like that. However, she is extremely well trained in a multitude of specialities and extraordinarily refined in each, to the degree that she can go toe to toe with any supers using nothing but her two Persian Long Luger pistols, two katanas and mastery of martial arts. Athalia's Batman, if you will, and almost as mysterious.

Things she is exceptionally trained in to the point of comprehensive mastery:

Marksmanship. Need a crack sniper? She's your shooter.

Martial Arts. She has black belts in multiple martial arts disciplines, including bladed (she uses twin katanas), fan (she uses twin steel bladed tessen, aka war fans), and hand-to-hand.

Driving. She is extraordinarily adept at driving automobiles with high speed and precision.

Weaknesses

She may be a top shot, a deadly hand-to-hand fighter, a master swordswoman and a driver worthy of stunts, getaways and top-tier racing, but as mentioned above, she has zero special abilities or defenses. A well-placed bullet will still kill her, and her body isn't immune or resistant to any supernatural abilities. With the exception of martial arts blocking/countering techniques, her combat set is entirely offensive.

In addition, unless she's specifically paid otherwise, she always works alone. This can be a problem when your adversaries throw a lot more than one foe at you. She also isn't aware of the possibility of losing or failing, which may be a good thing in some situations but definitely bad in others.

Personality

Vikki is a professional. She is extremely good at what she does, and she knows it - and everyone else knows that she knows it. Contrasting with her frequent business mindset, she always dresses very extravagantly, as seen in the picture. In addition, through the cold-hearted hitman exterior, she has the capacity to care, and go out of her way to make sure justice is upheld. But if cash is involved to the contrary, her morals disappear very quickly.

Background

If Star Wars has taught us anything, it's that every good vs. evil struggle needs a good bounty hunter - one who really couldn't care less for "moral alignment" in the pursuit of the almighty dollar. As such, they are usually labeled "evil" and seem to follow that line of thinking, but aren't actually aligned at all. Vikki Miller fits this trope perfectly. A bounty hunter, mercenary, hitman, gun for hire, or whatever term you prefer, she could work for the Peace Corps one day and then do a job for the biggest crime lord in High Roll Island the next.

Apart from the fact that personal advancement and combative prowess is something that motivates Vikki, she actually had to become as good as she is to escape the slums she was born in - a cutthroat culture in a bad part of the Freelands that effectively was walled off from the rest of the world from within. If you attempted to leave, you would be found, brought back and publicly killed. Vikki detested the culture there and desperately wanted to get out, so she trained and trained until she was so skilled that she singlehandedly toppled the entire gang hierarchy, mostly by literally toppling everyone who tried to stop her. Once she escaped to Sunset City in Oasari, she attempted to leave her past behind and become cultured, but her hood past never really left her and she ended up spending a lot of her time street racing. This satisfied her for a while until she tried bounty hunting; from there, she never looked back.

Further Information

Vikki appears prominently in the Carlily fanfiction set eighteen years after the events of Athalia Academy, which is where her character originated. Initially intended to be one of a number of "disposable" villains, Driving Park became so enthralled with her that she was changed into a permanent character.

Theme

Clicky

Chronicles of Sarastrea

Mizuki

Mizuki

"Kelly Miyabi"

Basics

Gender || female
Species/Race || Kitsune
Age || 24
Height || 5'8"/1.73 m
Weight || 125 lb./56.70 kg
Hair Color/Type || silver; extremely long and voluptuous
Eye Color || yellow
Skin Color || fair pale tan
Figure || slim; curvaceous
Occupation ||

Powers

Fox-Fire Manipulation - As a kitsune, Mizuki utilizes fox-fire as her main offensive weapon, including in unconventional ways such as hypnosis and life-force draining.
Hair Manipulation - Mizuki can move her head hair and each of her tails as if it were another appendage, and use them for various purposes, including combat and comakinetic flight.
Lunar Empowerment - "Mizuki" means "beautiful moon", and Mizuki is the lunar fox-spirit. When it is night, especially a full moon, her power is augmented.
Trickster - Enhanced Thievery, Regenerative Healing Factor (slow).
Kitsune Physiology - Enhanced Hearing and Smell, Night Vision.

Weaknesses

Go Big or Go Home - Mizuki is an on and off switch. When in a fight, it's all or nothing, which causes her to be far more aggressive than what is necessary for maximum effectiveness and survivability. She will rain down her own attacks without so much as thinking about a possible counterattack. If she sees it, she will counter it, but she's likely to not see it at all. This also applies to collateral damage, which she both doesn't watch out for and views as an acceptable price to pay in battle, so it's generally a good idea to stay far away from her in a fight.
Type Chart - Mizuki and her fox-fire are very weak to water users, especially as fox-fire can contain electrical properties.
Anti-K9 - As a kitsune, Mizuki is weak to and afraid of dogs.

Personality

Mizuki is a fiery kitsune with a similarly fiery personality. Thanks to her "hood" upbringing, her social filter often goes unchecked. She is sarcastic, snarky and cynical and enjoys playing tricks on people. At the same time she is protective and outgoing with those she likes. She rarely spends a night in, instead preferring to go out and experience the night life. She feels as if she is at her best during this time (and with her being the lunar fox-spirit, this deduction is well placed) and is extraordinarily confident once the sun goes down. She is fairly well known among certain Xiento circles for her club antics and exotic beauty, and she absolutely hates it. She'd much rather just live a normal life under the radar, but everyone else would rather watch a reality TV show about her.

Background

Mizuki was born under the full moon in a small town in the Freelands. From a young age it became obvious that she was not a normal human girl. The apparent abscence of biological parents, the unusual things that she was capable of, and of course the tails that everyone around her lacked presented enough evidence that she was not the same. This, of course, was confirmed by the fact that she was ridiculed for it by her peers almost immediately. The less than civil nature of the culture surrounding her meant that she (along with everyone else) had to learn to fend for herself. As she grew up so did the intensity of the peer-to-peer cruelty, but she was learning the ways of both the world and herself at a rapid pace and she began using her fox-spirit abilities to deal with aggressors. It was when she was forced to kill an attacker in public view that she was told to leave town immediately if she wished to continue living. And so, at age 16, she left under the watchful eye of a full moon to head north and find a more civil place to continue her life.

That "more civil place" was a small town on the northern coast of Kora. It seemed quiet enough, and the populace integrated Mizuki into their society without much of an issue. However, there was a large problem that took a few years to surface: the town was (and is) an active High Roll Mafia area, due to its proximity to the port leading to High Roll Island, and after several run-ins and close calls with the mafia the fox-spirit decided it was in her best interests to leave for fear of a repeat of her experience in the Freelands. Being on the mafia's black list had far worse implications for Mizuki's life than getting kicked out of a podunk town in Okarlai, and so she packed her things and set off north once more.

When she first laid eyes on the seaside cliffs of southern Eqia, Mizuki had a feeling that Oasari would be the right place for her, without any felons or mafia to worry about. After a short period of time in Athalia Academy honing her combat abilities while getting educated a bit more formally than she had in the past, she found her way to Oasari's capital city of Xiento, and armed with her luxurious tails, her quick wit, and boundless amounts of snark and cynicism, the kitsune began to settle down, finally arriving at a sense of peace and security. She remains based in Xiento to this day, spending most of her time running away from people with cameras.

Further Information

Mizuki was first introduced in the second episode of the non-canon Noxonshaw, long before she was introduced in-character. It was written by NarayanK and Driving Park as part of a many-hour collaborative episode marathon, which included the first two episodes of the Noxonshaw (Carmen then Mizuki) followed by the first episode of Carmen's show, Athalian Idol. The pair stayed up extraordinarily late completing the trio of episodes, concluding at approximately 7 a.m. EST.

The name Mizuki means "beautiful moon" in Japanese.

When posting for Mizuki, Mizuki's creator, Driving Park, often accidentally began typing the name Miyoshi, which is the name of a character he plays in a non-Athalia roleplay.

The original inspiration for the character came from a multitude of sources. The idea to link the character to the moon came from HylianRose when Driving Park first considered making a second character. A long time passed between that conversation and when development of a second character (that became Mizuki) actually begun, but Driving Park remembered the lunar suggestion and incorporated it into Mizuki's design. The idea to make Mizuki morally ambiguous came from three reasons: the fact that it was the creator's apparent knack, the fact that the creator couldn't decide between making a nogitsune or zenko kitsune, and the fact that the two pictures the creator found (and really wanted to use) each portrayed a different morality.

The name "Kelly" was chosen long before Miyabi or even Mizuki, and was entirely chosen so that a certain Eurobeat song by the same name could be used as the character's theme. However, during character development it was realized that the character didn't at all match the extremely uplifting mood of the song, and the theme idea was scrapped but the name kept.

Chronicles of Sarastrea

Carmen Calandra

Carmen Calandra

Basics

Gender || Female
Species/Race || Skylark
Age || 25
Height || 5'10"/1.78m
Weight || 120 lb./54.43 kg
Hair Color/Type || copper/strawberry blonde (like this or this); extremely long and voluptuous
Eye Color || blue
Skin Color || fair/unblemished tan
Figure || slim and well-proportioned
Occupation || Fashion model, socialite, and TV personality

Powers

Carmen's Trumpet - Carmen possesses a supernatural brass instrument that resembles a grandiose herald trumpet. 3 feet long and with a 7.5" bell flare (the bell flare in the pictures is about 5"), it stands half as tall as its user. It is through this instrument that her music and sound production abilities are released to the world, and it can be used as both an expressive instrument and a lethal sonic weapon. It can project any sound or combination of sounds Carmen can possibly think of - any timbre or combination of timbres, any amount of polyphony and counterpoint, and any dynamic from inaudible to shake-the-building's-foundation loud. It is the ultimate sonic expression tool.

Telekinesis - Until recently Carmen's telekinetic acumen was very limited, but through training post-Athalia she has honed it into a viable addition to her combat arsenal.

Weaknesses

Dependence Day - The most obvious weakness in Carmen's arsenal is the fact that in human form Carmen's Trumpet functions exactly as Thor's Hammer does - although she can summon the instrument to her being at any point through the limited telekinetic abilities she possesses, she is completely and totally powerless when the instrument is not in her hands and in fact on her lips.

Nonfunctional Harmony - Although Carmen can shift to a luminous bird form (hence skylark) that negates all need for the trumpet or really anything and is impervious from physical attacks, she cannot use sounds offensively while in this form and can only produce music, thus relegating this form to a defensive and primarily non-combat role.

Lopsided - While Carmen can use her abilities in a defensive fashion, she is essentially all offense, and thus doesn't have anything in the way of protection against enemy attacks. Her combat style relies entirely on her never getting hit.

Oblivion - Carmen's mind can be too confident and oblivious of danger and potential problems. While typically this has not caused trouble for her as she can deal with most problems, it provides an opportunity for disaster.

Personality

With a chiseled, imposing face that can be downright menacing, Carmen is not an angel. She's not a demon either, but she is far from perfect. Carmen is a diva with an ego the size of Sarastrea; she thinks herself above all others and is very outgoing to everyone, if only to flaunt herself to them. That's not to say she isn't nice to talk to; quite the contrary, she is often an entertaining companion and conversation partner, if only for her larger-than-life approach to pretty much everything. She usually prefers to let her striking looks and the music she creates do the talking rather than speaking her own praises. She is inwardly judgmental, constantly observing and judging others but never saying a word of what she thinks. Her actual thoughts on a subject are often a mystery. She is nigh impossible to attract, having ludicrously high standards and not being experienced with romance in the first place.

Background

The mythological Siren is a beautiful yet dangerous woman creature who entices sea-going vessels to crash on the shore with enchanting song. The real (in the context of Sarastrea) Siren is an altogether more complicated matter. Born from the stars when a supernova generates a particular set of frequencies that possess such ferocious energy and consonance with one another that they cause the creation of a sentient life form, the Siren is an entity whose origin remains rarely known and even more rarely understood. Very few Sirens have ever existed, and they all have absolute control of all sound in the universe at all times. The last Siren before Carmen was dead 100 years before Carmen existed. Carmen is a subtype of Siren called a Skylark, which manifests itself in two forms: a human form, where she needs a form of sound production (the trumpet) to use her abilities, and a majestic light-shrouded bird form where she can produce and manipulate sound without need for the trumpet (which dissolves when she changes to this form). This form strongly resembles a massive bird, which is why she has been dubbed a Skylark. While Sirens - and thus Skylarks - do not "age", their inception involves frequencies which eventually dissipate so they eventually whither away to nothing, but only after several millenia. They cannot be classified as supernatural because they come from the natural universe, but they possess entirely "supernatural" abilities and can often learn other abilities besides sound manipulation. Conceived from an unusually powerful supernova on the other side of the galaxy, Carmen eventually arrived in Sarastrea and spent twenty years roaming it and learning its ways. She eventually arrived at Athalia Academy, where she honed her abilities, underwent trials and tribulations, and most importantly began her meteoric rise to fashion stardom. She currently enjoys life in Oasari as a trending socialite, fashion model, and TV personality.

Further Information

A little known fact is that Carmen has an extremely beautiful singing voice - a true soprano sound matching her true soprano ego. It is not linked to her abilities and for all of her self interest she refuses to sing for anyone or even allow them to know that she can, although she practices regularly. It is her best kept secret and to unlock it is to unlock the key to the rest of her mind.

Carmen owns quite possibly the largest fashion collection in all of Sarastrea.

Carmen was originally conceived as essentially a continuation of Driving Park's Kalmaysia character, Sasha Iranti. Her name was originally supposed to be Shira (meaning "singing" in Hebrew), until HylianRose pointed out that in one of the earlier roleplays there had literally been a siren character named Shira. As a result, the name Carmen Calandra was a last minute edit on an otherwise completed character sheet. She was intended to have her trumpet and ability set from the beginning (although additional abilities and tweaks were added during Season Two), but it was only when Driving Park completely embraced her diva personality that she came into her own as a character.

Carmen has appeared as a guest on more non-canon entertainment program episodes than any other character, appearing in some capacity in three Ganonshaw episodes and the first Noxonshaw episode. She is also the only character thus far to have appeared in all three shows (including her own), and the only canon character to have hosted her own show.

The surf shop cashier that Carmen bought her beach outfit (including gigantic sun hat) from in the beginning of Season Two was originally intended to be Driving Park's second character - a very laid back surfer dude with water manipulation. However, that idea never came to fruition and later in the season Mizuki "Kelly Miyabi" was introduced as his second character.

Carmen is specifically listed as a weakness in Derek Keelan's Guild character sheet.

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