Name:
Ceridwen "The Firehawk" Phrys
Age:
29
Race:
Human
Profession:
Mage
Personality:
As people come, Ceridwen is one of the more arrogant ones, especially due to her gift and talent with magic. It's given her the inclination to cut the planning phase out completely and to rush into things - granted it's worked for her so far. Can you blame her, though? They say with power comes responsibility, but Ceridwen says with power also comes a sense of immortality.
When it comes to other folks, Ceri is a conversationalist. She wouldn't go so far as to say that people are what make her tick - sometimes she does appreciate a moment of quiet and solitude. Whether or not her comrades are quite as extroverted as she doesn't particularly matter to her, she'll still try and start up a conversation regardless; a party with no solidarity are no better than bandits.
Now, when it comes to beliefs, be it personal or towards the mission Ceri has an iron will. She won't stray from the mission, whether it is the right thing to do or not. She signed up to complete a task - a contract which she will complete despite the costs. Personal beliefs mean nothing to her, that's not to say she doesn't have them. More that she keeps them to herself. No one has a right to know, and if they don't know, then they won't hold anything against her.
Backstory:
One, two, three... gunshots rang out, not far away. ...four, five, six this was his chance, she was out of ammo. The bandit leapt up from behind his cover, rifle in hand. The bounty hunter greeted him with the barrel of a pistol, and a smiling visage. The bandit was calling her bluff; he aimed his sights at her, she had no hope. A trigger clicked. No shot fired. Half a second later a plume of fire exited the barrel, engulfing him in flame. This bounty hunter wasn't just anyone; this was the Firehawk.
Born in Ilya to a loving mother and father, that's how Ceridwen always begins tellings of her childhood. Is it true? Well, sure it is her, parents loved her a whole bunch. It was each other they couldn't stand. Her father ended up leaving them early on, maybe five years after she was born, leaving her mother to cope with raising Ceridwen alone. Other than that interesting factoid she doesn't like talking about her childhood. It's not what defines her - well that, and it was incredibly standard and boring as far as they go. Maybe the most exciting moment of it all was her skill in using magic. But all that changed was a new need for study and control.
What? Do you want to know about her learning to cope with magic? That's new. No one ever intends to hear about studying. But alright, buckle up, and we'll get back to the interesting stuff as soon as possible.
So how did Ceridwen find out that she could use magic? Well, in the same way as every other damned mage of course! She did it by mistake. In her case, it might have involved freezing the tail of the neighbour's cat. And then everyone else found out when she burned down their shed. Of course, it was on purpose. Mr Jenkins had always looked at her like she was a waste of time.
So what followed was the usual. Lectures on burning down sheds (It had happened before, and no, you can't ask about it) followed by as previously mentioned - studying. Everyone's favourite activity and when it came to magic an absolute waste of everybody's time. You see, Ceridwen became something of a kinesthetic learner when she took up the arcane arts. Textbooks on process became an excellent source of practice with fire. That puddle the school bullies were stood in? Well, what better time to practice cryomancy? And of course, metal fencing became charged with a shockingly large amount of static electricity.
It might surprise you that even with such an adventurous way of discovering magic it took many a year for Ceridwen to become any good at it. It was the same year she left home on her own for the first time. Carrying nothing but the coat on her back, and a hat on her head. Two pieces of clothing which later became synonymous with The Firehawk. You see, travelling to meet a tutor in magic was the last ditch attempt at her completely control her ability. She was slowly becoming more potent but at the same time more reactive. She couldn't control it and what used to be mostly harmless bursts had become a somewhat dangerous affair.
So was it years of studying that helped her control her magic? No, it was the same thing that drove her to such great levels of control and power as The Firehawk. It was a fight. You see, as we'll cover later bandits in Yggdrasil were a problem and even worse than the bandits? The squirts that wanted to join them. Usually had to take some mark to prove their worth if they wanted to join an already established group and Ceri must have seemed like a damn easy target. To be fair to them, she almost was. Until she blew up.
Yes. Blew up. That is what I said. No, I don't mean from anger. Yes, I do mean she was the epicentre of a quite literal explosion. There were three bandits, and two of them were engulfed. What did the third do? Stand there for the most part while the easy target stood up from the flames, coat burning behind her. Looked like a flaming pair of wings to him. Before Ceridwen did the natural thing and rolled the fires out that was, that one kid's account is a story Ceri still remembers fondly to this day.
That explosion was the first step after that magic clicked for her. She needed intent behind it. Every time she tried before it was because she was told to. She didn't want to do it so the magic never really worked. The explosion? Oh, she didn't want an explosion, but it was close enough for a starting. She wanted those bandits to set alight. Just maybe a little too hard.
After the whole flaming girl incident, Ceri decided to follow through with studying for once, it took a few years, but she mastered the control part of the magic. It did what she wanted all the time now just not always as powerfully as she might hope. But everything in it's own time, that isn't even the interesting part of Ceridwens backstory.
No, as far as Ceridwen is concerned, her story begins later on in her life, when she took up bounty hunting.
As much as the nations of Yggdrasil liked to think bandits weren't a problem, you always had a few camps. And even if you didn't criminals were always trying to run from the law. That's where people like Ceridwen came in. Remember her childhood finding of magic? Over the years she became exquisite at using it. She was never one for the fancy pillars of magic that other mages used, though, she was always one to enhance her weapons with it. Flaming bullets were a staple of her arsenal as was using her magic to sling her bullets back into the cylinders of her pistols.
Of course, she didn't start out being the Firehawk. Back in the day, she was a nobody, taking on contracts to bring in people who'd run away from curfews and other menial crimes. Even then people fought back, and even then she came back home worse for wear, bleeding, bullet holes the whole shebang.
Over thew years though the Firehawk became a known name among bounty hunters and their marks alike. Known for swooping in, taking her mark and leaving nothing but flames behind. She wasn't the most legendary bounty hunter to have ever lived, but Ceridwen was happy with the name she'd made for herself. No one knew how mortal she was, how even still she'd return to her life burnt, beaten and bloody. Just like those early days. It was part of the reason why the Firehawk worked so rarely, and in extension why she only took on big targets.
Then she got wind of the New World, how for some reason they were sending out a new expedition there. They'd been doing it for years. They were looking for a new wave, and if Ceridwen told the truth, it piqued her interest. It was kind of like a bounty contract. Only really, really big. Perhaps this was the next step for her, a new frontier. A new adventure.
Skills and Abilities:
Fire Magic: Ceridwens most adept use of magic from years of practice which is typically applied to her guns. It can be used without them, so she isn't wholly useless without her pistols, but it's more of a style choice. Skill level wise? Heck Ceri would consider herself a true expert, but thats only because she hasn't found anyone better than her yet.
Gunslinging: Ceridwen was never good with a rifle, pistols, though? Those she could shoot with; she ain't half bad at it either, but she ain't the best around. Probably just as good as your average Joe, she can hit things, but never in the right places.
Cooking: Ceri can't cook for shit. Simple as, if someone ain't there to help her she won't be eating anything wholesome.
Tracking: Ceridwen is an above average tracker, she needed to be as a bounty hunter. Still, loads of people out there who're better than her.
Close Combat: Close with guns and magic? Ceri will do just fine. Close with knives and sword? Oh, she's certainly screwed.
Gun Manipulation - Ceri never knew what to call it, but she's a dab hand at using her magic to reload and automatically turn her guns should the need arise.
Equipment:
Twin Tri Barrelled Pepperboxes -Not high end enough to be turned using enchantments but still two decent bits of equipment.
Coat of the Firehawk - brown material, just as thick as the standard expeditionary coat, although well worn and in places very charred.
Hat of the Firehawk - Same brown material as the coat, also very burned.
Throwing knives x5
Hunting Knife - Never used, only bought because a melee weapon is mandatory.
