Force and Fury

Harold's Academy for the Magically Inclined

<Snipped quote by Ebil Bunny>
Yep! Who says older students have to be responsible role models for younger ones? xD

@LuckyBlackCat

Amen to that.

Harold's Academy for the Magically Inclined

Emmelynne 'Melle' Starbuck

There is no student more chill and easygoing than this 7th year from the House of Seraphine; some professors think she's gotten lazy, but you can't really blame her when she's got a personal pocket dimension to occupy her time.

Emmelynne 'Melle' Starbuck

♫

◈ A p p e a r a n c e ◈
Melle's vaguely pretty, with long white hair, vivid blue eyes, and a sort of understated grace. Yet, it's undeniable that, as her twenty-third year approaches, she's lost a touch of her more figurative magic. This young woman has a bit of a rough look about her. You can put a very nice bow on a wet maltese and it's still a sad, sopping, scraggly little thing. On most days, that's her.

Beyond that, what more of substance is there to say? Emmelynne doesn't stand out. People have said that she looks friendly, that there's always a little twinkle of easygoing mischief in her eye and lips that seem naturally fitted for a knowing smirk. Her clothes, aside from being perhaps a size too big in anticipation of a final kick of growth that never arrived, are better than respectable. She has a few different colour palettes, though it's blue that tends to see an abundance of use, to the others' jealousy - if clothes could be jealous, that is. Fashion is... kind of cool, and she makes it work even on those days when only some foreign substance or another keeps her functional.

◈ "If you can't swim on your own, you've no business being in the water." ◈

◈ N a m e
Emmelynne 'Melle' Starbuck

◈ S p e l l c a s t e r N a m e
Haven

◈ A g e, H e i g h t, a n d W e i g h t
22 ◈ 5'3" ◈ 104 lbs.

◈ R a c e
Mystic

◈ G e n d e r
Female

◈ S e x u a l O r i e n t a t i o n
Hetero

◈ Y e a r
7th

◈ P e t
Gupoo, named 'Spare' or 'Sparey Airy'

◈ H o u s e
House of Seraphine

◈ I l l u m i n a i r e
Yes, back in year 3

◈ C l a s s e s

◈ Gifts

◈ Oceanics

◈ Waaga Riding

◈ Art

◈ Portal Studies

◈ Portal Exploration (extracurricular)

◈ A r e Y o u O n Y o u r H o u s e ' s W a a g a T e a m?
Yup. She's quite into it and surprisingly good, if not quite a star player. Something of a mentor by this point.

◈ "No matter how high you sit, you still sit on your own bottom." ◈

◈ P e r s o n a l i t y
Laid-back ◈ Contrarian ◈ Jaded ◈ Affable ◈ Soulful

Melle doesn't go out of her way to talk to people but, if you come to her, you bet she'll have something to say on just about anything. She's friendly, approachable, and generous, but not to a fault. Naivete is not the order of the day here. She's lived among the cliquey sorts and knows well the words and feelings that grow thick among their carefully manicured friend groups. She's old enough to recognize the adult version of those too. By and large, though, she's left that world behind, her contrarian stubbornness and flashes of a know-it-all tendency being the sole vestiges of a former self the twenty-two-year-old claims she's well rid of.

Instead, she's a half-shelf above an easygoing slacker. When it comes to the things that she cares about, Melle will still summon the spirit to go above and beyond. What she won't do, however, is help those unwilling or unable to help themselves. She figures that she's doing them a favour anyhow. If you can't swim on your own, you've no business being in the water. On a more selfish level, she's wary of ever spreading herself too thin again. She saves her energy for the big tests, the parties, and the adventures. As a seventh-year, she knows just about everything there is to know about campus and enjoys sharing its little secrets among her many stories. It kills her not to be able to tell people about the grotto, but it is what it is. She's not about to be the one to spoil a storied tradition.

◈ H i s t o r y
If Emmelynne Starbuck is what a fall from grace looks like, then maybe it isn't so bad after all. A former high-achiever who made a pointed decision to take a step back, she's more or less a kinda happy person, and that means something in a world teeming with brooding teens and emotional desperation, doesn't it?

Storytelling is a fun pursuit and, truth be told, well... she doesn't always tell it, to be honest. There's still some spark in the organic pursuit of embellishment. The yarns aren't intentional things and she's forthright when it matters. Thing is... her past isn't really all that special. She grew up, older of two girls, in the large fishing town of Selemayne, on a low-lying island. She would watch the seagulls, bleating and circling as they hung there in the wind and the salt and the sun. Her parents ran a small chandlery and she and her sister Nelle were often to be found hanging around and helping out. She was almost invariably the more involved of the two, and top of the board in her primary school examinations.

Three days after her eleventh birthday, Melle - as she was known to her family - was chosen to read her town's address when the Royal Family came to pay a visit. When an inopportune gust of wind blew it straight into the ocean, in front of the entire crowd, she delivered a largely-impromptu speech instead that was notably well-received. She'd stolen most of it from a book obscure enough that nobody figured it out until years later. That was the beginning. Soon, she was running the shop when her parents were busy, earning a wage. She was chosen to represent Selemayne in a regional student Olympics. If a few people griped that she was a show-off, her parents walked a little taller and Pennelopy spoke more glowingly about her. Emmelynne was addicted to success. He unique and impactful gift only deepened the dependency.

She entered Harold's Academy and... she sparkled. Maybe not with quite the same ease that she had back home, but she knew what to say, how to say it, and who to smile for. Her gift was fun, whimsical, and strong! It was hardly a surprise that everyone wanted free stuff. She was good academically, as well: always seated at the front of the class, notebook in hand though rarely all that full, and some meaningful question or cogent observation ever at her lips. She didn't just want illuminaire, she required it. She lived and breathed it: social engagement after ball after speaking engagement after recital. She had ten fingers and every one was in a different pie. She began picking herself up with caffeine. She was close. She could sense it! Then, in her third year, two things happened. First, her sister followed her into the school. Second, and more importantly, Melle Starbuck was selected. She accepted with poise and grace and, after four months, was so burnt out by the extra responsibility that she began smoking secretly, ashamedly, to quiet her careening mind and still her trembling fingers. She would scream at herself in the mirror some mornings or fall asleep some nights by crawling into her own hammerspace.

Melle is an open book about most things. That's just the way she is and, even when some incident causes her mood to go sour and she tries on the hat of 'brooding' or 'wounded', she doesn't last long. There is one thing that she won't discuss, however, and that's what happened with Pennelopy. It's a recent malady that's no longer so recent and risks becoming a permanent one. It's also a tragedy. The sisters were once close.

◈ R e p u t a t i o n
Once upon a time, to use a terribly trite turn of phrase, Melle was a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed freshman (freshwoman?) She tried in school. Gods, how she tried! Was there any particular reason or profound motivation? She certainly didn't grow up wealthy, but she was never destitute. She possessed a strong gift, if a touch idiosyncratic and difficult to use to its full potential. She wasn't some generational talent, though. Maybe she just did it because she was taught to work hard and because there's something addictive about being looked up to by others. She's still quite academically capable and, even when powered almost wholly by nicotine, caffeine, and desperation, is a slightly above average student. In truth, seven years is a long time and she made the decision, after a hellish third year as illuminaire, that there were more important things in life than impressing people. Some teachers are frustrated with her 'lack of drive' and failure to 'live up to her potential'. Some fellow students are, too. She's changed friend groups twice now. Most like her, though. She's harmless, accessible, and kind of fun.

◈ G o a l s
Melle's looking to take over the family shop, find a decent guy, make some friends, and settle down as someone of minor note in her town. She'd like to find a way to employ her gift and thinks that generating items for the store might be a goldmine if she can add some predictability to the process.

◈ R e l a t i o n s
Dyric Brancaster: Ex-boyfriend. High achiever. They had an on-again, off-again thing for a few years. He's graduated, though. He was kind of a jerk, but he was hot. What's a girl gonna do?

Pennelopy Starbuck: Ex-sister. Yup, the 'ex' isn't a typo. Nelle's been disowned due to... reasons. Status subject to review at some point when she can be assed to scoop together the requisite emotional bandwidth.

Rorric Spoleto: Ex... nah. They only see each other occasionally between classes (he's in Harold), but Rorric's her cousin of about the same age. They spent a lot of time together growing up. He's precious to her, genuinely.

Generic Parents: One day a mommy and a daddy really loved each other and... well, we don't need the birds and the bees talk, now. Do we? They raised a little girl and she's evolved into a grown-ass woman. Good job, generic parental figures!

◈ "Everyone lives in their own little world sometimes. Mine's just - hah, sorry. It's just too cheesy. I can't." ◈

◈ M y s t i c C l a s s i f i c a t i o n
Astra

◈ G i f t
Hammerspace

◈ M y s t i c C o d e
Melle has access to a pocket dimension and pulls articles from it based on her emotional state and situational need. While many of these appear to be generated on the spot by means unknown, she can place things from the 'real world' into it as well - including herself - and retrieve them as needed... in theory. The normal laws of materials science and thermodynamics don't quite seem to apply in her 'hammerspace' - so named because the first thing that she pulled out of it was a comically large mallet manifested from her need to kill a spider that had taken up residence above her bed. Most simply elucidated, it functions on a variety of toon physics.

◈ L i m i t a t i o n s a n d W e a k n e s s e s
At the end of the day, Melle's gift remains a tenebrous and idiosyncratic thing, nigh-impossible to draw consistent and predictable results from (OOC, it will be represented by somewhat whimsical dice rolls). Things shoved in there can't always be taken out when most needed. She also struggles to generate living things and, even when they're introduced from the real world, she needs to personally enter and exit while in physical contact with them.

Harold's Academy for the Magically Inclined

Keeping track of approvals in my first post.
Maybe delays if any are done when I am offline.

Changed House colours due to a suggestion.
Added Mage names and Powers.

@Ti

This is honestly awesome and so useful. I've been living by it, so many thanks on that front. It's that same extra care and evidence that makes you a great Co-GM in Hourglass Order.

Harold's Academy for the Magically Inclined

Hello, can anyone give me their input about these arts? I'm having a hard time determining whether these fit the high aesthetic anime or the character's digital art. I've got my concept down, just trying to see what image would work.

Art pics

My character's theme is a barbarian wizard that spawns extra limbs.

Thank you.

@Shovel

Honestly, they seem to fall under the header of 'high quality anime-style art' that the GM mentions. I think you should be good.

Harold's Academy for the Magically Inclined

<Snipped quote by Force and Fury>

I love the idea of a person who can paint images to life, but this isn't that. lol

I do love the creativity, but this is almost identical to the bubble color wheel power you ran by me in DMs earlier. So the same thing applies to this gift. It'll get a few nerfs because I intentionally don't want a character that can just do sooo many different things. Even as a utility or supportive gift, balance is important.

From this powerset specifically, I'd probably only allow up to three. But essentially, in its current iteration, this is Forcefields, Teleporting, Containment Fields, Clairvoyance, Zero Friction thingy, and literally erasing things from existence. This is all a bit much for one character to have in a story where characters whose capabilities should be more limited or niche.

So yeah, all that to say, this character would need some nerfs before it could get approved. But I do love that your inspired creatively! :)

@Aeolian

I tried to nerf him a good bit from that iteration (slower and more involved use, shorter duration, reagents), but imagined this could end up being the case. At the end of the day, I know it's more a matter of too much versatility and variety. No worries. That's why I have Melle. Maybe I'll save his essential idea for something else down the line.

Harold's Academy for the Magically Inclined

Was feeling inspired, so have a PaintBoi. Not sure which of the two characters I like better. Any opinions (especially the GM's) would be appreciated!

Marellian Lorentz

♫

◈ A p p e a r a n c e ◈
Just look at this lad, wouldja? (Yes, he is a lad, thank you very much.) Isn't he magnificent? Now in his sophomore year, Maré just oozes that sort of precocious energy one would expect from a young man finding his feet in a brave new world. He's quite put-together, with a fashion sense that both subtly honours his agrarian roots and points to a bit more creative sophistication. Some have said that there's a bohemian quality to his palette as well, for what it's worth. He doesn't see it. It's probably just the paint stains.

Beyond this, he's what he appears to be: a smallish - but growing - newly pubescent kid with a somewhat cherubic face and shoulder-length blond hair often gathered up in a ponytail or artfully mussed. Olive green eyes and an expressive mouth complete the ensemble. He's skinny but starting to fill out. There's muscle there, though he doesn't particularly work at it. Years in the fields, helping his parents bring in a crop, have helped. They've also left him with a rather pronounced tan and a bit less sense of urgency while flying.

Alternate Views

---

◈ "Being creative isn't about being sophisticated. Art's from the soul." ◈

◈ N a m e
Marellian 'Maré' Lorentz

◈ S p e l l c a s t e r N a m e
Maestro

◈ A g e, H e i g h t, a n d W e i g h t
15 ◈ 5'6" ◈ 122 lbs.

◈ R a c e
Mystic

◈ G e n d e r
Male

◈ S e x u a l O r i e n t a t i o n
Bisexual

◈ Y e a r
Sophomore

◈ P e t
Maré's tree monkey, Coopers, is his best friend and partner in crime. The impish little shit is rarely far away from him and has learned a whole variety of words to this point and even - to some degree - to imitate his speech convincingly.

◈ H o u s e
House of Harold

◈ I l l u m i n a i r e
Of course he'd love it in theory. In practice? ...

◈ C l a s s e s
Maré would prefer more than six slots for classes. Due to a scheduling error on his part and the belief that the workload would be really heavy, he only took four last year and it was a breeze.

◈ Gifts

◈ Care of Lekëon Creatures

◈ Waaga Riding

◈ Cartography

◈ Art

◈ Theatre

◈ A r e Y o u O n Y o u r H o u s e ' s W a a g a T e a m?
SOON™

◈ "Those who paint in broad strokes just haven't found their muse yet. It'll come!" ◈

◈ P e r s o n a l i t y
Enthusiastic ◈ Creative ◈ Naive ◈ Puckish ◈ Provincial

Maré is the type to try anything once, and with boundless and enviable energy to boot. Then, he aggressively 'sorts', going all in on those that resonate with him and rather promptly losing interest in those that don't. He's regularly known to dispense homespun wisdom of dubious efficacy, and it's unclear to most how much he believes these proverbs himself. In any event, they find their way out there, maybe an attempt to keep something of his home alive. He may act like it, but this fifteen-year-old isn't completely oblivious to the fact that he's a bit of a novelty and sometime object of derision. If he's feeling particularly saucy, he might play his accent and dialect up with snooty types to the point of being nigh-impossible to understand.

He tends to encounter a good number of these as an artist: rich types and snobs who live to 'critique' art and impose an orthodoxy. He holds himself back around them, sometimes, and secretly hides penises beneath a few layers in his commissions for them. How wonderfully 'authentic' he is: a real honest-to-goodness country boy from Alba Grannea, some sort of idiot savant. In truth, it doesn't get to him that much. He usually just shrugs it off and plays the part if it'll make him some cash. They're not bad people either - just annoying, and that's not a crime. Besides, there's always some new idea striking him: a particularly vibrant contrast or evocative image that his mind instantly starts expanding upon and reimagining.

◈ H i s t o r y
Maré was raised in a very communal setting. He, his five siblings, and a baker's dozen cousins occupied a farming commune with their parents on the vast and remote sky island of Alba Grannea, with its rolling green hills, delicate forests, and lazy, winding rivers. It is, in many respects, a unique place within the world of Lëke. If you stand just right in the centre of it, you can't see the edge. An old land, largely untouched by time and external influence, Alba Grannea is known for its uniquely quaint and rustic architecture, fruit, vegetable, and dye farming, and its people's distinct dialect, rural accent, and agrarian way of life. It was these influences that acted as incubation and inspiration for his creative young mind.

Growing up, Marellian and his cousins would spend hours together wandering between cabins and hamlets, lounging in trees, shooting cans and bottles with slingshots or - later - old rifles, and catching frogs and crawfish in the streams. There would almost always be spare dyes and extracts that were not quite fit or fine enough to send to market lying around at home and he was always the eagerest within his great extended family brood to do experiment with them. Now, a couple of years down the line, Maré has fond memories of afternoons and evenings spent lounging in the crux of a tree as cicadas hummed and bullfrogs croaked, one leg dangling over the edge, notebook and coloured charcoals or paints in hand as he brought to life his own interpretations of what he saw.

Harvest seasons were always the busiest time, and there were three throughout the year. Then, the slow lazy skyships that would hum and rattle over the horizon once per week came more often for a little while. They'd bring goods and news and ferry people to and fro from more important places. Maré and his cousins would wait eagerly for them by the docks, taking bets on various things. One day, shortly after he had first started to develop his gift, experimenting with paints and coloured circles, something came for him: a letter from the academy requesting his attendance for the coming year. His cousins Doré, Salé, and Frané received similar summons.

How the great big bumpkin family came together to celebrate the four young people. How they fiddled and drank and danced the night away in the barn. Marellian was gifted the great paintbrush staff (it's not a broom!) that he still wields. He had his first good drink of whiskey and finished proceedings rosy-cheeked, lying on a bale of hay, staring up at the wooden joists and rafters of the ceiling.

The next day, he was bound for Harold's, something more than your usual hayseed, but full of wonder and anxiety alike. It's been an experience since then. Maré has doubled down on his artistic abilities and agrarian knowhow. The ornate, imposing, and monumental architecture that was once overwhelming has made an impression on his art style. His open, enthusiastic, and friendly-to-a-fault demeanour has earned him a good few friendships and a handful of snarky taunts at his expense. Sometimes, he feels like a fish out of water among the smart, worldly, and sophisticated young people he's surrounded by. Sometimes, he tries to hide the twang in his words and call it an animal instead of a 'varmint' or a 'window' instead of a 'winder'. He's changed his dressing style as well and most would consider him quite put-together. He spent almost all of his spare money on a tree monkey he named Coopers, and the little guy has proven a source of endless amusement and loyal, mischievous companionship. In short, he's adapted. Still, there are nights - occasionally - when he misses those great star-filled skies, the lightning bugs dancing about with their flickering lights, and the gentle chorus of crickets and bullfrogs in the stream behind his house. A bright future awaits him just over the horizon, but he's not always sure exactly where to look.

◈ R e p u t a t i o n
Most people either like Maré or they don't. That goes not only for fellow students, but for teachers as well. He's always drawing, painting, doodling, or sketching but, infuriatingly, seems to have a good response every time one thinks they've caught him drifting and asks a sudden question. Some carry their prejudices into their lessons and like to hang these about his neck. Others recognize him for a clever if somewhat odd student who puts in an effort and likes to problem solve and approach things creatively. When he's bored, however, it tends to be difficult to reel him back in.

Many of his fellow students of like age are quick to cheat off of him in tests in their weaker subjects or let him do the same in his. Marellian's doodles are commonly passed around on notes and comprise a sort of game in the more boring classes. He also knows almost all there is to know about a variety of worldly subjects that most others don't specialize in: paints, oils, fruits and vegetables, guns, and various sorts of varmints creatures. He loves a good jape or prank and has an eager accomplice in Coopers. Some love him for it. Some avoid him, but this isn't common. He's hardly the school's worst miscreant.

◈ G o a l s
At the ripe old age of fifteen, Marellian has scarce little idea of what he wants his life in the future to look like, aside from 'good'. He knows that he wants to keep making art, forever. The day that he stops, he's proclaimed boldly to more than one friend, they can just seal him up and toss him into the ocean. He's also currently enthusiastic about Waagas and the eponymous sport involving them. He'd love to win the championship!

◈ R e l a t i o n s
Ma, Pop, Gran, Grandpop, Joé, Becké, Suzé, Jonné, and Loué: these are his immediate family members. The four boys shared a bedroom for most of his childhood, and the two girls were frequent visitors.

Doré, Salé, Franné: these are Maré's cousins who also attend the academy. None are in Harold with him, but the four make a point of getting together at least once a week. Their loyalty to each other is absolute.

Coopers: his main man and partner in crime.

Anastasia Arslan: the pretty girl a couple of years older who he always seems to run into in the hallways and mumbles a few friendly words to. Sometimes, she smiles.

◈ "I dunno if a picture's worth a thousand words, but at least a few hundred, I reckon." ◈

◈ M y s t i c C l a s s i f i c a t i o n
Astra

◈ G i f t
Spectrum

◈ M y s t i c C o d e
Spectrum is a paint-based ability and works in the six five primary and secondary colours (but not green; it's dangerous). In order to be effective, the symbols that Maré creates cannot be more than about two yards in diameter. They have various effects depending on their shape and colour:

Blue circles protect anything within them from outside physical interference for up two minutes. They only let up to two solid or liquid objects in before rejecting all others.

Purple circles trap any solid or liquid within them from escaping for up to two minutes. However, they and their contents can be interfered with from the outside.

Red crosses are nigh-indelible and act as beacons that track the position of whatever they're painted on, allowing Maré to locate it if he's within about two hundred yards.

Orange crosses are nigh-indelible (only Maré can erase them, with considerable effort) but only three may be active at a time. Standing on one teleports you to another.

Yellow triangles are very easy to remove but will exert their effect until cleaned or washed away. They create a zero-friction zone within their bounds.

Green triangles are very easy to remove but will exert their effect until cleaned or washed away. They erase from existence anything that touches them for more than two seconds.

While there may be other uses for his gift, including potentially more complex ones, Marellian has yet to unlock these, if they do, indeed, exist. For now, what he has is enough. In fact, it is rather too much. As a rule, he never uses green squares. Nothing good comes of something destructive like that.

◈ L i m i t a t i o n s a n d W e a k n e s s e s
In theory, Maré's gift allows him exceptional versatility and power. However, it comes with a number of drawbacks:

Firstly, in order for it to work at all, he needs to actually physically paint whichever symbol he wants to use, where he wants to use it. This takes time, focus, occupies him physically, and may put him at risk in more dangerous situations.

Secondly, symbols need to be painted properly, and in the correct colour. A green circle is useless. A yellow not-quite-triangle has zero effect. Size matters as well. You can't really paint huge with a tiny brush or tiny with a huge brush.

Thirdly, Marellian needs to carry his own reagents. That entails a good deal of cost and encumberment, as well as instruments of his trade to maintain, moreso than most other magic users.

Finally, with the exception of the dreaded green triangles, which he refuses to employ, this paint-mage lacks any offensive punch if it comes down to a fight. He's good at utility, protection, and environmental manipulation but lacks that final, essential tool in his kit. When push comes down to shove, he's outgunned.

Harold's Academy for the Magically Inclined

@Force and Fury

Emmelynne

@Mirandae

Many thanks! Looks like AI hand disease struck again for lots of them. It's the posing with the cigarette, I think. 7 would be perfect were it not for the smoke being randomly behind her lol.

Harold's Academy for the Magically Inclined

<Snipped quote by Deja>
Yeah, knowing the review is soon, currently resisting the urge to keep re-reading mine for better word choices and typos that don't exist.

Anyone else doing basically the same thing?

@Emeth

Guilty as charged.

First thing we need to do when all the characters are finalized is separate the characters based on House and see which team would win in a fight

It'll be Seraphine btw, this is just to formalize their superiority ;)

@Ebil Bunny

It's Hammertime, baby!

So, I couldn't resist subscribing to Midjourney again. And, I put Tessa into it along with some fashion prompts. Words can't describe how ICONIC this lady is already.

***

Anyway, my point is that I'm open to running anyone's character through Midjourney if you want to!

@Mirandae

I will certainly not say 'no'.

<Snipped quote by Force and Fury>
God, I love that phrasing. Coffee-addicted witches with vaguely defined emotional states are also totally my vibe.

@Emeth

Many thanks. It may or may not describe multiple people I've known over the years.

Another gupoo friend for the list.

@Alfhedil

We are LEGION.

Harold's Academy for the Magically Inclined

Attempt numero dos. Meet Melle.

Emmelynne 'Melle' Starbuck

♫

◈ A p p e a r a n c e ◈
Melle's vaguely pretty, with long white hair, vivid blue eyes, and a sort of understated grace. Yet, it's undeniable that, as her twenty-third year approaches, she's lost a touch of her more figurative magic. This young woman has a bit of a rough look about her. You can put a very nice bow on a wet maltese and it's still a sad, sopping, scraggly little thing. On most days, that's her.

Beyond that, what more of substance is there to say? Emmelynne doesn't stand out. People have said that she looks friendly, that there's always a little twinkle of easygoing mischief in her eye and lips that seem naturally fitted for a knowing smirk. Her clothes, aside from being perhaps a size too big in anticipation of a final kick of growth that never arrived, are better than respectable. She has a few different colour palettes, though it's blue that tends to see an abundance of use, to the others' jealousy - if clothes could be jealous, that is. Fashion is... kind of cool, and she makes it work even on those days when only some foreign substance or another keeps her functional.

◈ "If you can't swim on your own, you've no business being in the water." ◈

◈ N a m e
Emmelynne 'Melle' Starbuck

◈ S p e l l c a s t e r N a m e
Haven

◈ A g e, H e i g h t, a n d W e i g h t
22 ◈ 5'3" ◈ 104 lbs.

◈ R a c e
Mystic

◈ G e n d e r
Female

◈ S e x u a l O r i e n t a t i o n
Hetero

◈ Y e a r
7th

◈ P e t
Gupoo, named 'Spare' or 'Sparey Airy'

◈ H o u s e
House of Seraphine

◈ I l l u m i n a i r e
Yes, back in year 3

◈ C l a s s e s

◈ Gifts

◈ Oceanics

◈ Waaga Riding

◈ Art

◈ Portal Studies

◈ Portal Exploration (extracurricular)

◈ A r e Y o u O n Y o u r H o u s e ' s W a a g a T e a m?
Yup. She's quite into it and surprisingly good, if not quite a star player. Something of a mentor by this point.

◈ "No matter how high you sit, you still sit on your own bottom." ◈

◈ P e r s o n a l i t y
Laid-back ◈ Contrarian ◈ Jaded ◈ Affable ◈ Soulful

Melle doesn't go out of her way to talk to people but, if you come to her, you bet she'll have something to say on just about anything. She's friendly, approachable, and generous, but not to a fault. Naivete is not the order of the day here. She's lived among the cliquey sorts and knows well the words and feelings that grow thick among their carefully manicured friend groups. She's old enough to recognize the adult version of those too. By and large, though, she's left that world behind, her contrarian stubbornness and flashes of a know-it-all tendency being the sole vestiges of a former self the twenty-two-year-old claims she's well rid of.

Instead, she's a half-shelf above an easygoing slacker. When it comes to the things that she cares about, Melle will still summon the spirit to go above and beyond. What she won't do, however, is help those unwilling or unable to help themselves. She figures that she's doing them a favour anyhow. If you can't swim on your own, you've no business being in the water. On a more selfish level, she's wary of ever spreading herself too thin again. She saves her energy for the big tests, the parties, and the adventures. As a seventh-year, she knows just about everything there is to know about campus and enjoys sharing its little secrets among her many stories. It kills her not to be able to tell people about the grotto, but it is what it is. She's not about to be the one to spoil a storied tradition.

◈ H i s t o r y
If Emmelynne Starbuck is what a fall from grace looks like, then maybe it isn't so bad after all. A former high-achiever who made a pointed decision to take a step back, she's more or less a kinda happy person, and that means something in a world teeming with brooding teens and emotional desperation, doesn't it?

Storytelling is a fun pursuit and, truth be told, well... she doesn't always tell it, to be honest. There's still some spark in the organic pursuit of embellishment. The yarns aren't intentional things and she's forthright when it matters. Thing is... her past isn't really all that special. She grew up, older of two girls, in the large fishing town of Selemayne, on a low-lying island. She would watch the seagulls, bleating and circling as they hung there in the wind and the salt and the sun. Her parents ran a small chandlery and she and her sister Nelle were often to be found hanging around and helping out. She was almost invariably the more involved of the two, and top of the board in her primary school examinations.

Three days after her eleventh birthday, Melle - as she was known to her family - was chosen to read her town's address when the Royal Family came to pay a visit. When an inopportune gust of wind blew it straight into the ocean, in front of the entire crowd, she delivered a largely-impromptu speech instead that was notably well-received. She'd stolen most of it from a book obscure enough that nobody figured it out until years later. That was the beginning. Soon, she was running the shop when her parents were busy, earning a wage. She was chosen to represent Selemayne in a regional student Olympics. If a few people griped that she was a show-off, her parents walked a little taller and Pennelopy spoke more glowingly about her. Emmelynne was addicted to success. He unique and impactful gift only deepened the dependency.

She entered Harold's Academy and... she sparkled. Maybe not with quite the same ease that she had back home, but she knew what to say, how to say it, and who to smile for. Her gift was fun, whimsical, and strong! It was hardly a surprise that everyone wanted free stuff. She was good academically, as well: always seated at the front of the class, notebook in hand though rarely all that full, and some meaningful question or cogent observation ever at her lips. She didn't just want illuminaire, she required it. She lived and breathed it: social engagement after ball after speaking engagement after recital. She had ten fingers and every one was in a different pie. She began picking herself up with caffeine. She was close. She could sense it! Then, in her third year, two things happened. First, her sister followed her into the school. Second, and more importantly, Melle Starbuck was selected. She accepted with poise and grace and, after four months, was so burnt out by the extra responsibility that she began smoking secretly, ashamedly, to quiet her careening mind and still her trembling fingers. She would scream at herself in the mirror some mornings or fall asleep some nights by crawling into her own hammerspace.

Melle is an open book about most things. That's just the way she is and, even when some incident causes her mood to go sour and she tries on the hat of 'brooding' or 'wounded', she doesn't last long. There is one thing that she won't discuss, however, and that's what happened with Pennelopy. It's a recent malady that's no longer so recent and risks becoming a permanent one. It's also a tragedy. The sisters were once close.

◈ R e p u t a t i o n
Once upon a time, to use a terribly trite turn of phrase, Melle was a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed freshman (freshwoman?) She tried in school. Gods, how she tried! Was there any particular reason or profound motivation? She certainly didn't grow up wealthy, but she was never destitute. She possessed a strong gift, if a touch idiosyncratic and difficult to use to its full potential. She wasn't some generational talent, though. Maybe she just did it because she was taught to work hard and because there's something addictive about being looked up to by others. She's still quite academically capable and, even when powered almost wholly by nicotine, caffeine, and desperation, is a slightly above average student. In truth, seven years is a long time and she made the decision, after a hellish third year as illuminaire, that there were more important things in life than impressing people. Some teachers are frustrated with her 'lack of drive' and failure to 'live up to her potential'. Some fellow students are, too. She's changed friend groups twice now. Most like her, though. She's harmless, accessible, and kind of fun.

◈ G o a l s
Melle's looking to take over the family shop, find a decent guy, make some friends, and settle down as someone of minor note in her town. She'd like to find a way to employ her gift and thinks that generating items for the store might be a goldmine if she can add some predictability to the process.

◈ R e l a t i o n s
Dyric Brancaster: Ex-boyfriend. High achiever. They had an on-again, off-again thing for a few years. He's graduated, though. He was kind of a jerk, but he was hot. What's a girl gonna do?

Pennelopy Starbuck: Ex-sister. Yup, the 'ex' isn't a typo. Nelle's been disowned due to... reasons. Status subject to review at some point when she can be assed to scoop together the requisite emotional bandwidth.

Rorric Spoleto: Ex... nah. They only see each other occasionally between classes (he's in Harold), but Rorric's her cousin of about the same age. They spent a lot of time together growing up. He's precious to her, genuinely.

Generic Parents: One day a mommy and a daddy really loved each other and... well, we don't need the birds and the bees talk, now. Do we? They raised a little girl and she's evolved into a grown-ass woman. Good job, generic parental figures!

◈ "Everyone lives in their own little world sometimes. Mine's just - hah, sorry. It's just too cheesy. I can't." ◈

◈ M y s t i c C l a s s i f i c a t i o n
Astra

◈ G i f t
Hammerspace

◈ M y s t i c C o d e
Melle has access to a pocket dimension and pulls articles from it based on her emotional state and situational need. While many of these appear to be generated on the spot by means unknown, she can place things from the 'real world' into it as well - including herself - and retrieve them as needed... in theory. The normal laws of materials science and thermodynamics don't quite seem to apply in her 'hammerspace' - so named because the first thing that she pulled out of it was a comically large mallet manifested from her need to kill a spider that had taken up residence above her bed. Most simply elucidated, it functions on a variety of toon physics.

◈ L i m i t a t i o n s a n d W e a k n e s s e s
At the end of the day, Melle's gift remains a tenebrous and idiosyncratic thing, nigh-impossible to draw consistent and predictable results from (OOC, it will be represented by somewhat whimsical dice rolls). Things shoved in there can't always be taken out when most needed. She also struggles to generate living things and, even when they're introduced from the real world, she needs to personally enter and exit while in physical contact with them.

Harold's Academy for the Magically Inclined

You know that moment when you think you read all the other Character Sheets, miss one, and realize that it has almost the same power as your character when you're 95% finished making him? That's me right now. FML. Posting him anyways because This was six hours of my life lol and, even if it's wasted, it was still spent. Enjoy. :P

Florian Yorick-Winthrope

◈ A p p e a r a n c e ◈
Florian is a young man who simply doesn't much care to 'clean up' unless given a reason. Comfortable parachute pants, sturdy boots, and an oilstained apron are his standard getup when not in uniform. His dark, shoulder-length hair frames a long face that trends more 'noble' and 'aquiline' than attractive by most metrics, and generally falls just on the respectable side of oily. His eyes, when not focused on some involved task, sparkle a bright hazel, with a hint of impishness and, in his repertoire lies a grin to match them. The painful truth, however, for any teen who's ever wanted to stand out, is that Florian's an utterly unremarkable young man, lean and marginally below average height, with a somewhat academic bearing. By and large, he tends to disappear effortlessly into crowds, whether he wants to or not.

Beneath the clothing, he sports a series of the usual small nicks, scars, and burn marks one might expect from an avid experimenter. In truth, he's a bit of a fraud on that front, but they complete the ensemble. He's possessed of a surprising wiry strength and is rather nimble when need be. Proper footwear plays a role as well. He does not neglect it. Otherwise, there genuinely isn't much to report. There need not always be poetry in some people's appearances.

◈ "Well then, that was an... interesting one." ◈

◈ N a m e
Florian Yorick-Winthrope

◈ S p e l l c a s t e r N a m e
Volta

◈ A g e, H e i g h t, a n d W e i g h t
21, 5'7", 128 lbs

◈ R a c e
Mystic, definitely

◈ G e n d e r
Male

◈ S e x u a l O r i e n t a t i o n
Nominally Hetero

◈ Y e a r
5th

◈ P e t
Owlette: Claxton

◈ H o u s e
House of Seraphine

◈ I l l u m i n a i r e
No

◈ C l a s s e s

◈ Gifts

◈ Physics

◈ Skyship Piloting

◈ Artificing & Magi-tech Advancements

◈ Portal Exploration

◈ Waaga Riding

◈ A r e Y o u O n Y o u r H o u s e ' s W a a g a T e a m?
Yes. Mostly warms the bench and used situationally.

◈ "Don't forget that today was yesterday's 'tomorrow'." ◈

◈ P e r s o n a l i t y
Curious ◈ Stubborn ◈ Profound ◈ Mischievous ◈ Utilitarian

Florian, at the age of 21, is more or less finished with finding himself. He's settled on a life course and is now in the process of steering himself there. If asked to either lead, follow, or get out of the way, he tends to favour the third and will almost always avoid the second. He's learned that voicing his opinions often gets him into trouble, so he tends to avoid doing so except with closer friends. Once he gets going, though, he can ramble. It kind of puts a ding in his whole 'diligent academic' persona, but he considers himself smart and his words worthwhile, so... you be the judge.

Perhaps ironically, or in an example of youthful obliviousness, he finds most people too wrapped up in themselves for his liking and so tends to avoid anything more than perfunctory interactions with them. There are even times when he uses his abilities to... hasten interactions, taking care to stifle the smug smirks or much-put-upon sighs that sometimes try to blossom. This, at least, is true inside of his head, where resides a much cooler, more competent, and more mature individual than in reality. The front crumbles quickly and he's actually rather good at making friends, though these relationships tend to be mostly experience-based. Florian is, for lack of a better descriptor, a fundamentally 'good' guy. He can be a bit of an academic snob and bloviator at times, but more or less comes across as emotionally healthy and well-adjusted.

His sense of humour is a bit paradoxical, consisting mostly of gags and pranks for which he will go to exceptional lengths, counterbalanced by incongruously high-brow puns, satire, and what he thinks are clever and witty observations. He has his moments, and then he has his moments, all told. It's all coloured by a distinct averageness, or at least appears to be...

◈ H i s t o r y
Florian doesn't have much of a personal history, and less every day. With each rewind and redux, he loses a little bit more of his past. This was not such a big deal when it was distant: people and places that, aside from family, were not particularly relevant anymore. The devil is nipping at his heels now, though. Meaningful moments with his family, discovering his gift, his first time on a waaga: those will find themselves on the chopping block soon. He tries to leap forward now, or hasten things when he can, to regain some time. Life is a balance and, nowhere has that been made clearer to Florian than in his imperilled memoryscape.

Beyond this lurking crisis, there isn't very much about his early past that others would find interesting. He hasn't had epic adventures. He doesn't come from a great noble family, a ground-down minority, or an exotic outlier culture. Born on the island of Delaruyne, second son and fourth child out of five, he grew up happy enough, his older sister Lamarque having been the only other person in his family to manifest an aeonheart. That is a memory, incidentally, that he's lost. He navigates the conversation with caution, his young age at the time acting as a shield for his lack of in-depth recall. Why does his power exact such an odd price? Is it normal? Is there some key to it?

The inception of his gift, unsurprisingly, was a confusing and near-traumatic one. Burgeoning new powers invited themselves to redact seconds, minutes, hours and, in extreme cases, even days of his life, forcing him to repeat these and causing the youth to question his sanity before the mystery was solved. In some of the longer instances, he suffered from splitting headaches, lethargy, and nausea. As temporal manipulation is viewed as a potentially very potent ability, Florian found himself the subject of significant interest within the magical-scientific community. Most importantly, he was brought to the attention of the eminent magitech engineer Laurent Zemellin, shortly before departing for the academy. It was here that he gained the temporal gloves and chestpiece that he often wears, these acting to help channel his time manipulation so that stray thoughts do not trigger it. In the intervening years, he has become quite skilled at maintaining the device and even others, turning into something of a low-level tinkerer.

◈ R e p u t a t i o n
Florian is a good student, above average in all subjects and even a standout in some, but never quite a prodigy. He has friends, but isn't one of the 'populars'. He's a member of a handful of student clubs as well, and a regular on his House's waaga team, though not a starter. What he sadly lacks in is main-character energy. The poor lad was simply not born with very much of it. He tries to combat this by being 'mischievous' and 'witty', and some consider him one of the school's better pranksters. He's careful not to do anything too daring, and quick to reset matters if he does, but he's a paper tiger at the end of the day, and comes across as more of a sidekick. When it comes time to graduate, Florian's signature will inevitably appear in a number of yearbooks. He'll attend his share of parties. One imagines that some people will remember him fondly. Will he remember them, though?

◈ G o a l s
Florian, more than anything else, wants to be a skyship pilot like his mother, but on a more remote, relaxed, and flexible route. Just the idea of having something of his own to maintain, to move about on, and to meet people with. It sounds goofy but, on some level, that would probably make him happiest. At the end of the day, he knows that he's smart, but maybe not quite smart enough to ever teach as a professor. besides, there's some element of carrying on a family legacy involved.

◈ R e l a t i o n s
In terms of in-school relations, this remains very much open to revisitation. There are plenty of opportunities, and Florian will just have to see how things play out.

Lamarque Yorick-Winthrope: older sister, an astra who can extract the physical manifestations of people's feelings towards others from their chests (and hers) and use these.

Casca Winthrope: father, an architect and psychiccer who can manifest heightened perception and spatial intelligence. Gets much of his sense of humour from here.

Zandra Yorick: mother, a skyship pilot and somatic who could heighten all of her senses and reflexes to superhuman levels. Pilot on the Delaruyne - Academy express and three-time Blue Riband winner.

◈ "You can't run from your past or, at least, you shouldn't." ◈

◈ M y s t i c C l a s s i f i c a t i o n
Astra?

◈ G i f t
Hands of Fate

◈ M y s t i c C o d e
With a focused thought, sometimes paired with a motion, Florian is able to displace himself forward or backward in time by up to a few days, though this does not come without serious repercussions. His gloves and chest piece help him to actually project his powers when he intends to instead of randomly resetting himself.

◈ L i m i t a t i o n s a n d W e a k n e s s e s
Hands of Fate has precisely two obvious weaknesses, though Florian keeps one carefully hidden. This is the fact that every reversal of himself within the timestream results in the loss of memories equal in duration to the among of time rewound. This is permanent and continuous, starting from his birth and working its way up to the present. He's currently reached about age twelve in this memory loss and fears losing his sense of self. He can, however, 'bank' time by stepping forward within it, to some extent.

The second major limitation is what he refers to as 'time pressure'. While the exact mechanism is unknown, it is felt as a pressure building up in his prefrontal cortex, chest, and stomach. In some metaphysical sense, Florian is 'anchored' to his current spot in the timestream. The further that he travels from where he started, the more intense that the time pressure gets, escalating from very mild discomfort when dealing in seconds to blackout-level agony when dealing in days. Alleviating the symptoms involves either immediate travel back to his starting point or gradually 'waiting it out', where he waits for himself to catch back up with his original position in instances of backwards travel or for his original position to catch back up with him. He has learned that his relationship with time is somewhat elastic. He suspects, however, that the more serious instances of time pressure may hide permanent consequences.