just another part in the war machine (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
encharrneered) wrote2013-10-31 08:38 pm
encharrneered) wrote2013-10-31 08:38 pm
Entry tags:
exsilium application
» CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character NAME: Rinth Ghostshot
Character PULL-POINT: A few days after setting back out again from the Black Citadel.
Character AGE: 22
Character ABILITIES: All the natural abilities of a Charr, which would be being stronger than a human, faster than a human, retractable claws, fangs, that sort of stuff. She is also an Engineer, which is both her trade as well as her class. That means she’s extremely capable with building and fixing all sorts of things, forging things, as well as using and creating bombs, guns, various kinds of turrets, flamethrowers, even a knowledge of alchemy (which won’t apply to in-game, as the key ingredients really wouldn’t be around on Earth) and first aid.
For more on the Engineer class, here is a wiki link.
Character WORLD:
Rinth is a Guild Wars 2 OC, so technically she does have a canon.
Rinth is from the fantasy world of Tyria (from the MMO game Guild Wars 2). It is 250 years after the original Guild Wars and quite a bit has changed since then, most importantly the rise of other races (the genius Asuras, the heroic Norn, the young peace-seeking Sylvari, and the culturally war-like Charr, who before had been considered major antagonists), the decline of mankind, and the world-shattering reemergence of the five Elder Dragons, who have caused many disasters since their awakening and are corrupting the world at large. It is a magical fantasy world that has run straight into a steampunk world, as the Asura and Charr both have brought engineering and machinery into the mix of what had previously been a strictly swords and magic world.
Focusing on the Charr now, as Rinth is Charr, there are a few things that merit mention in particular to how they relate to this world. The following quote sums them up the best:
"The charr race was forged in the merciless crucible of war. It is all they know. War defines them, and their quest for dominion drives them ever onward. The weakling and the fool have no place among the charr. Victory is all that matters, and it must be achieved by any means and at any cost." — In-game description
When mankind first arrived in Ascalon, a large part of the continent the game takes place on in Tyria, they drove the Charr out. The beginning of the first Guild Wars game marked the return of the Charr to Ascalon, as they used dangerous magic from newly found “gods” to destroy the Wall that man had built to keep the Charr out of their old homeland. Originally, the Charr did not believe in gods, only themselves, but the Flame Legion, their shaman caste, convinced them they needed gods to defeat the humans, who had brought powerful gods of their owns to Ascalon with them. While this did give them the ability to crush their enemies, it nearly destroyed Charr culture as it used to be.
Fast forward to present day Tyria, the Flame Legion has been cast out as traitors by the other three legions, Blood, Iron, and Ash. They’ve reclaimed their original culture, the one where the females are again considered equal (the Flame Legion had basically turned them into a slave caste before) and where there are no gods (they hate the idea of gods now, all gods, any gods), and they have also reclaimed much of the land they’ve lost. They have also fostered a great mistrust towards magic in general.
The Black Citadel is their new (still under construction) capital, at least for now. That area of Ascalon is considered the Iron Legion homelands and it is Iron Legion law that rules the Citadel, though the other legions do have some input. It is also the home of modern engineering in Tyria, as the Engineer game class is noted to have been pioneered by the Charr, of which the Iron Legion would be the biggest contributors, being the primary builders and innovators of all the legions.
That said, they’re still fighting battles on all fronts to keep this land and have recently signed a cease fire with the humans of Ebonhawke, the last remaining human settlement on what they consider their land, claiming focusing on the Elder Dragons is more important. This has been met with much anger, as they have been trying to destroy Ebonhawke for many years now.
Further details on the Charr can be found here, but I think I’ve covered the most important points that will tie into Rinth’s personal history.
Character HISTORY:
Like nearly all Charr, Rinth was sent to a fahrar soon after birth to live and grow up in. A fahrar is the equivalent of a boarding school in the Charr culture, only once the cub is sent there, the parents have little to do with them ever again. There she and the other cubs in her fahrar grew up educated and trained in war. Together they would form a warband, as all cubs in the fahrar are destined to do. Growing up together was meant to bind them as close as family and, like a family, they chose a name to share: Ghost. Ghost because they hoped to grow up to aid in the seemingly neverending fight against Ascalon’s particularly nasty ghost problem. Rinth, having discovered a like and knack for marksmanship, chose ‘shot’ as the second part of her Warband name, thus becoming Rinth Ghostshot. The others chose names similar, but unique to themselves: Ghostripper, Ghostsnare, Ghostblade, Ghostburn, and so on.
Being raised to become a warband is meant to form a bond of trust and loyalty within the group and, with hope, towards the High Legion that the band is part of. Like so many others, this is how it was in the Ghost Warband for a long time. They lived together, fought together, were given assignments that rarely broke them apart for long, if at all! This was the world Rinth knew and, in her own way, cherished. She knew her bandmates would always have her back, that she’d never have to suffer the many hardships of life alone. In the end, that turned out to be a rather naive take on things as they were. It would inevitably be something out of left field that would tear that ideal apart, something a young warband wouldn’t consider a threat. That thing would be politics and, as with everything else in Charr culture, those would also turn to violence.
During the time before the Ebonhawke Ceasefire Agreement, the Ghost Warband had asked for assignment to the Steeleye Span. The Span is the only safe way to cross the disastrous scar dragged across the land by the Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik, aptly named the Dragonbrand. Anything left within it has crystallized. Pretty, but deadly, as anything living within it did the same, only those things never quite died. The Branded, crystalline husks of what was once living creatures and people, tirelessly attack the Span, making it a difficult post to maintain. Repairs are needed often, which is where Iron Legion warbands such as Rinth’s came in. The work was hard and seemingly endless, but the reward at the end of that tunnel would be that she and her bandmates could pick wherever they wanted to be assigned next.
As much as they had wanted to fight the ghosts of Ascalon in their cubhood, their goal had since changed to going to the frontline in the fight against Ebonhawke, the last stronghold of man in their homeland. Once the last of the living humans were finally vanquished, then Ghost could turn their ambition to the cursed phantoms. It was going to be glorious, taking part in their own legion’s greatest triumph.
But it was not to be.
As they scrambled to hold the line against Branded after Branded, the news trickled in from the other fronts. Somehow the humans had convinced the High Legions to sign a cease-fire, all agreeing they needed to focus on the Elder Dragons and their minions, for the good of Tyria. To the Iron Legion and many others, though, this was not taken too kindly. They had been fighting against Ebonhawke for so long, too long, that to suddenly stop seemed like madness. A number on both sides defected. The group formed from the Charr were named Renegades and they sought to disrupt the official signing.
It was on this point that the Ghost Warband broke apart. Their Legionnaire, the leader of the band, Ghostsnare, took up a mission to scout out along the Dragonbrand. Taking the whole band with him, it was only an excuse to discuss it quietly. Discontent, he said he was leaving to join the continued fight against Ebonhawke. Rinth, unhappy about the ceasefire as well, was not convinced. She hated the idea, of course, but to defect? To leave the Iron Legion behind? Treason! They’d all be branded as traitors, hunted down, shamed, and killed! She’d rather befriend a human than sully her honor!
Unfortunately, she was the only one who cleaved so strongly to those ideals, that loyalty and honor among their kind would see them through everything. Seeing this, she challenged Ghostsnare for his position, demanding he fight and prove his ability to lead. Of course, he accepted, but Rinth had never prepared herself to fight against a necromancer like Ghostsnare. Not only could he easily counter all her tricks, he had many of his own up his sleeves, ones no physical shield could defend against.
In the end, he drove her off a cliff and straight down into the Dragonbrand. There, her warband left her, deciding if she hadn’t already died from the fall, she soon would be.
It was a mistake, obviously, as two days later she managed to drag her way back to the Span to get aid. It was a chilly reception once she told her story, however. How could they trust her when her entire warband had defected like that? Could she just be a spy left behind? Even though they had parted ways in such a violent way, their honorless actions left a mark upon their remaining bandmate. Their sins were Rinth’s, until she could prove otherwise.
She would inevitably find herself shipped back to Black Citadel, only long enough to make a report. Her arrival there was no more welcomed, either scorned or pitied or outright mistrusted by her own legion. It could not stand. The choices that remained were obvious: become gladium, a Charr who was forevermore without a warband and a pariah of their society, or prove she had no further ties with her old warband. Becoming gladium was no option at all, the thought of being outcast forever, looked down upon and hated; she would never survive such a life. She refused to consider it, the horror of it, the disgust.
So, as a Norn might say, she would wash blood with blood, for water could never clean away these stains. Rinth would regain her honor and her place in her legion by killing her traitorous bandmates. Kill them or die trying.
That decided, she once again set out from the Citadel, but this time with no orders, this time alone, and this time far more grim than ever before.
Character PERSONALITY:
Revenge.
Revenge in the hands of the Charr is not, as claimed, served cold. It’s served loudly, angrily, and with incredible violence, preferably in a pit with onlookers cheering you on to kill your betrayer. Those who win such a fight are considered in the right, exonerated of their crime and any shame that may have been attached. It is justice, in its own way, to them. It’s only an added shame that Rinth will not have the chance to face her own traitors in the ring, instead hunting them down one by one...
While originally Rinth’s driving motivation was for her and her warband to finally get placed at the front lines of the Ebonhawke siege, to become great heroes some way or another in the eyes of their kind, that all changed
It doesn’t help much that Charr society puts the pressure on to be part of something bigger. Another piece in the machine, in the case of the Iron Legion. Left alive by a traitorous band is more than enough to raise suspicions, marking her as a gladium (a bandless Charr, the lowliest rung of Charr society) that cannot be trusted and, therefore, leaving her no options of joining any other band. The fear of ostracization drives her obsession with revenge just as much as the betrayal, perhaps even more. There is no real joy in killing your own warband. They are meant to be a Charr’s trusted brothers and sisters, after all. However, she is young. The idea that a gladium can survive alone isn’t one she’s run into yet, so it hasn’t even been considered.
That said and done, Rinth is not just some endless vengeance machine, although some of her personality isn’t all that more appealing. Even before, she had a temper, easily becoming snappy and barely containing her anger, though contain it she did. Ill-tempered as she is, one of the good traits the legions hammer into their people is discipline. All Charr are a part of the war machine and all must know how to take orders and accept commands they may not be fond of. To do otherwise opens the door to getting your tail handed to you and, after the first, second, and third time of having that experience, Rinth learned. So, angry, yes, also violent, but never, ever out of control. That’s just poor survival instinct right there! When confronted by such situations, where not rampaging is clearly the better choice, she opts to come at it in a completely business-like manner. She’ll treat it as work, work that must be done whether she likes it or not.
There are some less rage-filled parts of her life, though. She is happiest when building, repairing, working with her hands, which is exactly why she took to the training to become an engineer. Making something and seeing it work just as planned is the greatest joy, though she prefers smaller objects to the grand machines many of the Iron Legion work upon; gunsmithing, forging her own parts for all her weapons, tinkering with the inner mechanisms of new and improved grenades or other such devices. It doesn’t end there, of course, as her job crosses well into her hobbies, where she tinkers with things like old music boxes, watches, or wind-up toys.
In addition, like most of her kind, she finds joy in fighting, too. That’s just how they’re raised and she sees no problem with it.
And past all the anger and violence, she does have a decent sense of humor. It helps to soften some of her temper, take the edge off of the bite, in that she can tell most jokes apart from someone being serious. That’s saved quite a few hides (especially of the few non-charr she’s had to deal with). Being able to get a laugh out of her is one of the fastest ways to start getting her guard down, even if, these days, she doesn’t feel much like laughing at anything.
In the end, Rinth’s essentially a young and very scared soldier, stuck in a society that’s set to punish her if she doesn’t prove her loyalty. Even if that’s something she keeps buried under a whole lot of rage (and some of it honestly justified), it’s still there, the lingering terror of what if, what if she fails?
» EXSILIUM INFORMATION
Chosen WEAPON: Rinth would refuse a weapon for two reasons: first, she is her own weapon and, secondly, the idea of a human messing with either herself or any of her devices sickens her. This will be open to change as time goes on, but for now she declines.
Character INVENTORY: As an engineer, she relies heavily on all sorts of tools and devices and, as a Charr, certainly has the strength to carry quite a few of them on her. However, I will be excluding several items as she can remake them on her own time anyway (she doesn’t need her flamethrower right away and I can’t see how to explain carrying a bunch of turrets around in her pockets as they’re sort of big).
Her kit includes the following:
- a set of medium leather armor over her lighter set of in-town clothing (Charr don’t exactly wear much when in civvies, so haha), field rations, a first aid kit
- a pair of flintlock pistols (built to Charr-size)
- a rifle (built to Charr-size)
- a harpoon gun (built to Charr-size it’s kind of terrifying)
- up to 5 of each of these: shrapnel grenade, regular plain old explosive grenade, glue bomb (non-lethal), concussion grenade, smoke bomb, freeze grenade (non-lethal), flash grenade (non-lethal)
- lots of extra ammo
- extra gunpowder and other parts for making more bombs, though not a whole lot
- basic tool kit (never leave home without it, kids)
- her panscopic monocle (basically used for zooming in on things she is fixing and such)
- pouch of gold, silver, and copper coins
- several insignias with the Iron Legion symbol on them in the same pouch as the coins
» SAMPLES
First PERSON:
You’ve gotta be kidding me.
[ The voice rumbling over the network is rough, growly in tone, even if it is a bit on the lighter end of that spectrum. It doesn't sound too happy, either. In any case, it hadn’t taken her too long to figure the tablet out, but after previewing video from several other such posts, she’s gone with voice only.
She doesn’t need every single mouse in this damn cage of a base commenting on how she looks like a cat! Then everything would just turn into a yelling match with a lot of angry hanging up! ]
How do they expect me to use this properly when it’s too small? I don’t have scrawny little pointers like all you meat. At the very least they ought to fork over their blueprint so I can customize it, since they obviously ain’t interested in being helpful.
I’d only improve on it, I bet. Hrmph. Security issue my tail...
Third PERSON: Thread from the test drive.
It’s not third person, but it is action. Kind of assuming those threads are okay when linked, but let me know if you want a rewrite and I’ll come up with something else.
» ADDITIONAL NOTES:
This is what she looks like.