Soooooo... I really liked the premise of this and decided to wing it on the CS. My character definitely leans more towards steam punk, but I tried my best to keep the tech reasonable. I also realize you wanted to keep a sense of mystery with the totems, but: a. I'm a detail nerd and b. I've applied a totem to a machine, which I feel should be very specific in how it works. I'm happy to change anything here and hope I can join you guys in this RP! ### Name: Adele Brunsque ### Description: Adele is both fair haired and fair skinned, resulting in an overall pale complexion and blond hair. She stands at 6’1’’ (proudly two inches taller than her older brother) and has a fairly muscular build. Even so, she has the curves and dress of a lady, wearing the latest trends for students of her former academy. What do these consist of? Nothing but the edgiest knee-length dresses, leather corsets studded with gilded buttons, layers of white and brown skirts, belts (and more belts), heavy buckled boots, long leather overcoats, and charcoal-tinged goggles. Aside from her messy buns, ponytails, and braids (and always pressed clothes), Adele doesn’t seem to put much more care into her appearance. She has the gait of a laborer and carries herself with a practical sort of grace, mindful of the crowds or objects around her to reduce collisions. She does have the habit of getting her hands into several sorts of grease from the machines she works with, giving her working gloves and coat permanent black stains. This makes her more than a little self-conscious about her forever-dirty nails, which she tries to hide by clipping as short as possible. Her face also suffers from the occasional oil splash or charcoal smudge. Being 25 years of age, her facial features still retain the glow of youth, keeping her chin, cheeks, and lips supple. Her green eyes also maintain a curious sort of exuberance. ### Backstory: _**NOTE: I didn’t see much of a variety of cities, countries, and areas, so I simply made up names to maintain a sense of realness. These can be changed or taken out at your discretion**_ Adele was born in the bustling city of Bossart. Her mother was a former baker, her father an engineer working with professors at Bossart Academy, and both she and her brother seemed to have followed in her father’s footsteps. Her aptitude for understanding totem designs and the basic machinery her father produced ultimately led her to be accepted into the prestigious Bossart Academy, where she majored in totemic engineering. With totemic engineering being a relatively new practice, she had the privilege of studying the beginning of many totem machines. After attaining a basic degree in engineering, she joined the esteemed Professor Godat’s sound lab. There, she studied the effect of sound frequency on previously constructed totemic machinery and submitted an academic paper based on the lab’s first prototype machine dubbed the “Sound Cannon I.” This won her the title of Master Engineer. Unfortunately, Sound Cannon I did not gain the acclaim she and Professor Godat had hoped for. The machine was deemed too complex for commercial use and the sound lab’s funding was cut in favor of spending resources on more “forthcoming” projects from the academy. After no small amount of string pulling and name dropping, Adele was allowed to take Sound Cannon I when she left the academy, hoping to find funding to continue her research. When she was unable to curry funding for her project, Adele turned to basic mechanic work to support herself. When her “creative differences” led to a string of lost jobs, she ultimately turned to mercenary work. That was quite the dicey decision (and one her parents were far from approving of), but it became a practice she loved. It tested the limits of her sound cannon and allowed her the money she needed to continue improving it while also exploring its uses. She’s only been a member of the White Guards for a few months. ### Goals/Fears - Adele is afraid of permanent injury (or really injury at all). Truth be told, she likes to stay behind the frontlines and use her machinery to frighten foes away rather than kill them. - Adele is afraid of losing her sense of style. Sure, it sounds petty, but since leaving her home, she has an irrational fear of losing her identity, especially since she has always lived so close to her family. This makes her insistent on keeping up with the latest trends of Bossart, as it provides an emotional, rather than rational comfort for her. - Adele’s goal is naturally to improve her sound cannon’s design until she can get it officially recognized by the prestigious engineers of Bossart. Though she does this mostly out of pride and past disappointment, she honestly believes it can be put to practical use in the military and even everyday life. ### Mastery _Engineer:_ Adele is a wiz at the latest totemic machinery. This gives her a great understanding of how general totems work, how to repair basic machines, as well as basic equipment upkeep. She makes it her job to maintain the armor and weaponry her fellow White Guards use, as well as putting in an effort to create totemic machinery to aid specific tasks. Given her extensive use of sound cannon I, she also has relatively good aim. ### Equipment: - _Backpack:_ A relatively small backpack that carries the things a woman needs. What does this include? Snacks, an assortment of small spare parts for the sound cannon I, toiletries, hair pins, spot remover, a water canteen, and a spare petticoat or two. More notably, it also carries a fountain pen and the notebook containing all the schematics, adjustments, and various notes she has on the sound cannon I. - _Tool Belt:_ Various tools for tweaking machinery are kept in pouches on the belt she wears. Wrenches, screwdrivers, a pocketknife, and other reasonably sized tools are carried on it. - _Sound Cannon I:_ (will be explained in the totem section) ### Personality: Adele thinks quite highly of herself. This gives her both confidence and arrogance, giving her very little patience for those who speak slowly or stumble over explaining any particular topic. She has tunnel vision when it comes to totemic machinery, meaning that while she is quite brilliant with everything relevant to her study, she doesn’t really know how to converse about anything unrelated to totemic machinery or her general studies at the academy. Combined with her impatience and general disinterest in those not engineers, she can be difficult to deal with. That being said, she does have a great deal of respect for authority figures. She follows orders without giving backlash and thinks highly of those who can execute commands effectively. While this makes her a great team member, it tends to make her great only when a leader is present within the team to provide guidance. Those who dress well according to Bossart standards also tend to get a little more respect from her. Generally speaking, Adele is fairly neutral in her standards and quite selfishly minded. Whatever benefits her and her job (as well as studies) is great, and anything that detracts from that she finds annoying. This makes her reliable with anything totem related and pretty darn lazy with anything else (unless it’s shopping—that she takes very seriously). ### Totem: Sound Cannon I _Basic Appearance:_ At first glance, the sound cannon I looks more like a [hurdy gurdy ](http://macumbista.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/hurdy-gurdy-girl_jules-richomme.jpg)than it does a cannon. Strangely enough, it’s made out of metal rather than wood, but still operates with a hand crank. There are a series of “keys” used to make pitches as well as an additional set of buttons that control a series of filters hidden inside the machine itself. The narrow end of it has a metal pipe about six inches in diameter—that’s where all the magic comes out. _Basic Theory (aka how the cannon works):_ The core of the cannon contains three different elemental totems--fire, light, and electricity. These are suspended within the cannon with the use of a metal "claw" and resemble white crystals. When exposed to certain frequencies of sound, these totems can be activated at will and their effects manipulated as their energy passes through a series of adjustable filters/shutters within the cannon's muzzle. _Basic Spells/Songs:_ _Fire I:_ The cannon spews out fireballs roughly the size of tennis balls. Each one is hot enough to cause secondary burns upon contact and will ignite anything flammable. The maximum distance the cannon can achieve with these fireballs is about 30 feet. Prolonged firing beyond 20 continuous shots tends to burn the filters out, rendering the cannon inert. _Fire II:_ The cannon spews out a length of flame roughly four feet long. This tongue of flame is hot enough to cause severe burns on whatever touches it. Unfortunately, prolonged use beyond thirty seconds causes damage to the filters and quickly renders the cannon inert. _Fire III:_ The cannon forms a beam of condensed flame about 2’’ in diameter. Though small, it has the power to burn and cut through metal and can reach a maximum distance of ten feet. Prolonged use beyond thirty seconds causes damage to the filters and renders the cannon inert. _Light I:_ The cannon forms bright bursts of light, each one six inches in diameter. This can be used to signal across great distances, and can be used for about four continuous hours before the filters burn out. _Light II:_ The cannon creates a continuous beam of bright light. Depending on the brightness, the filters may last from one to three continuous hours. _Light III:_ The cannon can release a supercharged beam of light. It lasts only for three seconds, but can cause temporary blindness if gazed at with unprotected eyes. Using this twice will burn out the filters. _Lightning I:_ The cannon releases a series of bolts, each one strong enough to cause the same effects as a tazor upon contact. It can only release three successive blasts three times before burning the filters out. Additionally, the grounding effect of electricity gives it a short effective range, around 3-7 feet. _Lightning II:_ The cannon releases one big charge of electricity, forming lightning on a miniature scale in front of the cannon. It has a continuous blast of five seconds and is strong enough to cause death to a target subjected to the full duration and power. Once again, using it longer than five seconds will burn out the filter. Additionally, the grounding effect of electricity gives it a short effective range, around 3-7 feet. _Lightning III:_ A bolt of lightning shoots from the cannon, strong enough to cause massive damage as well as a small crack of thunder. It has a range of 30ft and will burn out the filters of the cannon instantly, as well as causing significant recoil. **Virtues:** The sound cannon I is capable of great power, either in prolonged shots or impressive beams. It can deal with enemies both close and far away quite effectively and has the potential to have even more elements and features added to it as Adele’s skills improve. **Vices:** The sound cannon I is a difficult weapon to handle. It requires extreme finesse in its operation, which means it also requires concentration. Additionally, it is a very high maintenance weapon, requiring filter repair after almost every battle. This makes carrying around spare filters a must, but spare filters require time and precise placement to replace, making them impossible to repair in the midst of combat. There’s also the fact that the cannon itself is a heavy and cumbersome piece of equipment. While Adele is accustomed to its weight, it still slows her down.