From the website for the Anglican Church of Canada:

"A priest is one who has a personal faith and spiritual life that is adequate to lead others. He or she:

Displays a mature understanding of a call to ministry, service and study.
Demonstrates a commitment to loving service in the church rooted in a sustained and growing love of God in Christ.
Cultivates a disciplined life of prayer, rooted in the Anglican tradition of common prayer, which responds well to the demands of personal formation and the expectations of public ministry.
Shows evidence of personal and spiritual growth and healthy self-awareness.
Exercises appropriate care of self, accountability to others, and has an awareness of sources of support available when needed.
Shows a commitment to live his or her Christian faith within the Anglican Church of Canada.
Demonstrates a healthy and loyal but not uncritical relationship to her or his bishop, diocese, province and the national church.
Reflects with insight on her or his personal strengths and weaknesses, gifts and vulnerabilities.
Discerns God’s presence and activity in her or his own life and in the lives of others.
Bears witness to his or her own experience of God’s love and grace in acts of evangelism.
Demonstrates a capacity to deal maturely in personal relationships with family and friends.
Models stewardship as a spiritual discipline in response to God’s gifts
Has read and continues to read the whole Bible in a systematic way."

(character reference)

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Name: Marks, Eliza. "Marks", "Legs"
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Ethnicity/Nationality: Caucasian, dual citizenship (Canadian-American)
Rank: Going to be using US Marine Corps ranks for this, most characters will fall between Private and Sergeant
Role: (Rifleman, Fire team leader, etc.)

Physical Description:
A short description of your human appearance, not quite as important as we'll be in RI-1 shells most of the time. Also, include any unique decals or distinguishing features on your pilots particular RI-1 shell as well- kill tallies, custom art on the chest or back, former unit markings on the shoulder, nicknames written on, stuff like that. I encourage you to really make your RI-1 shell your own, though remember your character technically 'shares' this shell with up to 3-4 other pilots, who are on shift while you're not. That means your shell might have 3 or 4 unit markings on its arms, or perhaps you and your other co-pilots have decided on a really badass nickname or decal for your shell.

Psychological Analysis:
Fancy talk for 'Personality'. Give me a good paragraph or so describing your character's personality. Rule of thumb: the more detail, the better.

Service Record:
Marks was born into the military, raised on various military bases across the country. Ever since she was a child, she loved and admired the military community and what it stood for, so it was no surprise to her family when she enlisted on her eighteenth birthday. For her, basic training was more of a tempting challenge than an impossible task, and she made quick work of it. The military lifestyle suited her perfectly, and she came to rely on the strict schedules and discipline. Soon, it became as natural to her as breathing.
Until she got the wind knocked out of her.
Unlike her parents, Marks was always looking forward to her next deployment, often even volunteering.

Equipment: a list of equipment carried by your RI-1 shell, see the Equipment hider for notes on that.

The humid coasts of Risha were a far cry from the arid sands of Ashar, but its crowded streets and bustling people were at least reminiscent of the great oasis cities which pumped trade through the desert like the hearts of a great creature. True, the buildings were different and everyone seemed so oddly dressed, but a desert traveler could almost feel at home in the busy atmosphere.

Unless, of course, that traveler happened to be a naga.

Yes, for a naga, things were different. Even within Ashar’s borders coming across one was a chance encounter; finding one near the coast was unheard of. The vast, vast majority of people in Risha would only perhaps have heard stories of naga, grossly warped, describing them as mere monsters. If one were old enough and lucky, they may have come across a black market naga skin at an outrageous price, left over from the days of the skin trade (or perhaps more recently, from rampant poaching). A Risha native would almost definitely never have laid eyes on a naga in the flesh, so imagine their shock to see one slithering down their narrow streets.

Reactions were largely negative, though differing in severity. Some chose to stare, mouths agape, in blatant shock and confusion. Others gathered up their children and hurried from its path; still others chose to glare or shout. These differing reactions, however, were all answered the same way: a dignified Beast passing by unshaken, unblinking eyes trained forward and head held high.

As luck would have it, the naga made it almost all the way from the sands of Ashar to Risha’s arena unmolested; though stereotyped and largely hated, the typical naga was a large and imposing creature, and few dared raise a hand against one or get in its way. Here and there was a pleasant surprise: a Jackal caravan offering food, a gruff ship captain open to bribes, a kind guard to grant access to Risha where it might otherwise be denied. Such things were welcome luxury, but any of the few naga travelling through the realms knew not to expect them.

Name: Adrian Belgard
Age: 489 (born 1528)
Brief Biography: (Saving finer details for thread)
- Born in 1528 in London
- Turned in 1551, during the last known Sweating Sickness epidemic
- Sire unknown
- Rampant for decades and indiscriminate for almost two centuries, Adrian embodied the stigma of "monster" during is time as a young vampire
- Turned 3 offspring during this time, two of whom he abandoned before they ever woke up and one on whom he abused his power of control
- Realized the error of his ways somehow (TBD) and now avoids creating new vampires and acts as a mentor to fledglings without guidance
- Lives in a large estate with one attendant and any young vampires he is currently teaching

Personality Blurb:
- Chivalrous
- Constantly trying to atone for what he's done (being shitty to his offspring, killing hundreds of people, etc.)
- Does so by opening his home and offering guidance to new vampires (either of his creation or not)
- Also donates to various human organizations (hospitals, schools, museums, theatres, etc.)

Other:
- Has trouble with newfangled technology
- Has a long distance chess match going by post with one of his older offspring

Vampire Information (Tentative) (***** = subject to change)

Neutral Traits:
- Unusual/uncommon eye colour (attracts humans) (ex. gold, very pale, pink, purple, various types of heterochromia, normal eye colours very bright or saturated etc.)
- Some cases of change in hair colour, though uncommon (hair turns white)*********
- Lengthened and sharpened canine teeth, slightly sharpened adjacent incisors
- Stronger, whiter teeth (like, a little unnervingly white if you look at them too long)
- Harder, stronger fingernails (can act as claws capable of doing considerable harm if worn long or filed to a point)
- Uniform skin tone & clear skin (halted production of skin oils prevents acne and lack of normal bloodflow and dispersion of pigmentation prevents uneven tone)
- Decreased need for sleep (either a hibernation system or a comatose sleep during the day, yet to decide)*****
- Heightened sense of empathy (changes from a social skill to an actual sense, helps vampire gauge emotions in human prey and act accordingly)

Strengths:
- Heightened senses (all except touch, which is unchanged)
- Can determine blood type, health condition, general diet content and prescription/non-prescription drugs in blood through taste (takes some experience)
- Cat-like night vision
- Hearing sufficient to hear the breathing and heartbeats of all humans in an accessible radius (with practice, rudimentary echolocation is possible)
- Can smell blood and nearby humans (for example, they could smell someone bleeding down the street, or be able to tell by the scent if a human had been in their home)
- Dramatically faster reaction time
- Enhanced ability to process information (won't be overwhelmed by increased sensory input, can problem solve quicker - doesn't kick in until a little while after turning)
- Increased muscle function (AKA strong and fast)
- Transforming? ************

Weaknesses:
- Intolerance to sunlight (causes severe burns (direct), causes confusion and saps energy(ambient))
- When hungry (thirsty?) sanity and self control slips away until fed again (AKA vampires cannot choose to starve themselves, as their higher faculties will eventually leave them and they will go mad for blood)
- Appearance grows more monstrous as hunger grows (begins several days to weeks after last feeding, depending on size of last meal; teeth and nails elongate and sharpen, eyes redden, hair greys, features sharpen and become less human, face will age (depending on age of vampire))
- Hibernation? (vampires can go several days without sleep (though past a certain point the effects of hunger will start to set in, even if they are well fed), then enter a near-comatose state of hibernation lasting between a day and three days, from which they cannot be woken - very vulnerable during this time)
- Repelled by religious symbols (depending on size and number, this ranges from discomfort to a flight response)
- Repelled by garlic (it just smells absolutely ghastly)

Method of Turning:
Any human who is bitten by a vampire and not killed within roughly four hours will begin the transformation.

Transformation Process:
The first phase of transformation mimics the symptoms of the historic Sweating Sickness: (in order)
- Severe migraine, concentrated around the eyes and temples
- Weakness and confusion
- Rigors (seizures)
- Excessive hot and cold sweating
- Delirium
Within 18-20 hours, the victim will die and remain dead for three to five days while their body makes its transformations. At the end of this process, the newly turned vampire will wake up in a state of overstimulated confusion and extreme, desperate thirst (including the slip in sanity mentioned in weaknesses). Unattended, these fledglings will normally go into a state of savage bloodlust and attack the first human they encounter (and likely several more beyond them).
Some sires choose to support their offspring through this transformation process. One method which often helps with the "first thirst," as it is called, is to administer whole blood intravenously throughout the five-day transformation period (although CPR or other methods of beating the heart is necessary in order to distribute the blood throughout the body). Fledglings still wake up savagely thirsty, but not to the extremes of those who are left unattended.

The Fledgling Stage:
During a new vampire's early life, they will have to adjust to their new senses and abilities, and learn to cope with their new weaknesses. Without aid from a sire or other experienced vampire, many fledglings do not survive this stage, due to such things as being caught in the sunlight or alerting local vampires to their presence via a savage killing spree.
Supposedly to aid in this endeavor, the fledgling's sire has a measure of control over the new vampire until they can sufficiently control themselves. This control allows the sire to calm the fledgling or force them to stop whatever it is that they are doing. This seems to have developed as a way to prevent the new vampire from putting itself and the sire in danger by rampaging for blood, and is also what this skill is normally used for. The fledgling is also incapable pf willingly harming their sire until they grow out of this stage.

Name: Aaron Bachmeier (yep, him again) AKA when you know more about your supporting character than your main character
Age: 139 (born 1878)
Bio Highlights:
- Born 1878 in Munich, Germany
- Eventually decided to become a pastor
- Became pastor of a small church in a rural town
- Lured into a home by a report of a dying man needing last rights and attacked by a vampire (FIGURE OUT HOW TO FIT THIS IN WITH THE "VAMPIRES REPELLED BY RELIGIOUS STUFF" THING)****
- "Corpse" discarded in woods
- Has the fun experience of waking up in the forest covered in blood and snow and also mad with thirst
- Kills and feeds on a group of hunters before regaining some semblance of self control and being horrified at what he's done
- Goes all Don't Escape and tries to barricade himself somewhere he can't hurt anyone when his inhibitions leave him
- Adrian, who is traveling in a nearby city, hears stories of mysterious deaths and whatnot in the town and goes to investigate (suspects one of his first offspring perhaps?)
- Finds Aaron and talks him off the ledge (do older vampires have control over all young vampires or just those they themselves sired?)
- Adrian brings Aaron into his home and teaches him how to control himself, maybe helps him with some moral dilemmas?
- Aaron learns medicine along the way somewhere so he's a doctor now (he can't be a pastor anymore because vampire, but he still wants to help people and always had a fascination with medicine)
- Aaron has decided to stay with Adrian and help new vampires (he specializes in helping them through their inevitable moral dilemmas and personal crises, and also tends to them as they undergo their transformations. This plays into the compassionate nature which drove him to become a priest, as well as his wish to repay Adrian even though no repayment is due)

Personality Points:
- Very compassionate
- Religious, though it's complicated
-

Name: Mitchell Hernewood
Age: 335 (Born 1682)
Appearance:
Personality:
History:

Aurelia didn’t hear much of the conversation after she gave her obligatory reply. A painful knot was forming in her throat, and her vision grew watery as she looked absently around the hall, drawn to the simplest amendments, things she’d seen hundreds (if not thousands) of times. She was suddenly very aware of how many eagles graced the walls; she found herself looking at the House banners differently, focusing on spots her eyes usually slipped over. Even the ancient masonry seemed new.

This hall was but one small piece of her home. She’d always found it boring, a place where entitled peasants shouted their endless complaints and monotonous business was carried out. Her home, the castle, felt so familiar. She felt as if she knew every inch of it. But, she wondered, had she even seen it all? Every room? Every corridor? She doubted if she’d even seen every servant.

When she left, all she’d have of this place would be memories. Were they even complete to begin with?

Her stomach turned, and tears threatened to fall. She had to stare at the bright windows to dry them.

All she’d ever heard of Sommerfirth were horror stories. How the land was charred as if by some massive fire, never to recover; how monsters of indescribable horror marauded through the country. She’d been told stories by her impish brother Erwin about how the people of Sommerfirth were horrid, warmongering brutes, who threw malformed babies from cliffs and ate the hearts of their fallen enemies.

So heating something -> adding energy
Cooling something -> removing energy
So then we have our elements
Let’s start with water

Water has a high specific heat capacity
Meaning it takes a lot of energy to heat up and retains heat pretty decently
(Part of why I made water an element of symbolic consistency)
So a water gem can heat/cool water to a certain extent
They can freeze it, and they can make it warmer
However, it would be a lot less effort to freeze room temperature water than it would be to boil it
Because you’re taking away comparatively less energy than you’d be adding to boil it, and you also have to ADD energy
So if you want to boil more than like, a teacup of water, you’ll have a hard time

On to air!
Air has a much lower specific heat capacity and is far less dense
It’s easier to move, it’s easier to heat and cool
However it can’t take on solid properties
Because freezing air is WAY beyond anyone’s capability, lol
You can move air around, heat and cool it more easily than water

Questions for air
So you can't make it solid as that would take a ton of power
But if you pair it with earths metal squishing capabilities can you add to that force?
Take something deadly and add a push to it?

Also am I right in thinking that the heating and cooling would be like Arizona wind and then like....Alaska wind?

Yeah basically
Although the amount you change temperature from the original temp matters in regards to how much energy it takes
if you have hot air to start with it will be harder to cool
also, please clarify your first question

I mean, I think one could, like with a launched arrow projectile type thing - maybe shape the air around it to alter the course of its flight?
If that's what you're asking

So earth can allow for taking solid metal and changing it from flat to dented
If you add air to it at the right speed can you take a slight dent and make it worse?

Like adding air pressure behind a hammer essentially
I'm asking more like can you combine your two element capabilities

i'm gonna say no to that particular scenario
however combining is a thing that can totally happen
my reasoning is that it would take massive wind force to move a hammer. like, beyond hurricane force
and that's beyond even drakken capability
however
if you were to like, shoot an arrow or throw something you could alter the air currents around it to help it reach its mark
although remember that everyone has a sphere of influence, so to speak
if you're making a 3km snipe shot, your air ain't gonna help past like, 20 metres

thanks for bringing that up though because weight matters
think of it this way: if it can be blown around on a strong windy day, you can blow it around with air magic

another thing you could do is like, buffet your opponent around a little
say he has a big shield, maybe blow it away from where you're aiming
if he's on a cliff, blow him off of it
if he has weak footing anyway, or is off balance

Which brings me to more air only question
Could it be fast enough and or concentrated enough
To rip clothes

i'm gonna say no to ripping because strong wind won't tear cloth
it'll wear it down over time (let me get to thaaat)

nobody is making hurricanes, i'm afraid
but like, if you REALLY wanted to blow a limb off that tree, you could probably do it if you tried hard enough

however you could totally blow their clothes AROUND
so like, maybe blow his cloak around him and get him tangled up

if you have any more specific things you're wondering if you can do, just PM me and i'll work it out

What I'm getting is air is like a support element

not necessarily

Air is arguably one of the most versatile

depends how you use it
oh yeah totally
that's why it's attached to liberty

ON TO EARTH
so earth is a little tricky
and i think i'm gonna make an executive decision here
and say that earth encompasses plants for gems only
reasoning being that the gems are more connected to Vivari, earth goddess and mother of all, who is basically mother nature
i may also say that because of this, gems have more affinity for plants and less for "earth bending" and drakken the opposite
i feel it's thematically appropriate and fits with the lore, yell at me if you disagree

this earth concept is now new to me so @Ellion @WeepingLiberty make sure you look this over so i don't fuck up ya plans
anyway
these are your earth benders
now, earth stuff is actually easier to heat and cool than water believe it or not
that being said, no you can't make lava
that's such an absurdly high temperature that i can't justify it
team up with fire or something if you want lava, and be prepared to work
you can move earth around (throw rocks, make the footing uneven, etc)
you can shape it to some degree, taking into account the malleability of the particular type of earth
example, metal will be easier to bend than marble
because marble doesn't bend, it breaks

Does it include metal or not, someone mentioned that above?

Awesome I can have elaborate swords >:D

yeah i imagine the most successful drakken blacksmiths being earth/fire dudes

i'm gonna say you can heat up metal to the point of being uncomfortably hot, and cool it to the point that it becomes somewhat brittle
i don't think you can shatter your opponent's sword, but you could totally put some chips into it

now earth is kind of hard because while we've had earth people in the past, we never really got to a point where anyone used it
so i have less of a reference

one thing is that an earth gem will definitely draw comfort and solidarity from the earth
aka "being grounded"
they have a little earth bending but not as much as the drakken
but like, if you want to move some dirt or sand around, i won't stop you
as for plants, i see them kinda coaxing them to grow and feeling connected to them
i'm less certain about this stuff though
like, i don't know about shooting vines from your fingers but i don't want to underpower the earth girls either

alright home stretch
fire
okay!
fire is pretty much the same for gems and drakken, aside from maybe some cultural norms/feelings toward it
you can create fire, you can extinguish fire
you can heat things up, but you can't cool them down
so like, we had fire drakken heating up dresses on gems in one iteration
that would be all about control
aka heating something but not burning it would be a thing you'd need to get the hang of
for this reason also, i know that other people can heat things too but i'm gonna say that nobody except fire people are allowed to heat to flash point
seeing as the flash point for most things is super high without a spark
fire people can do that though
i'm gonna say a hard no on like, cold, "burning bush" fire that doesn't burn things because it doesn't make sense
however with practice you can create fire of relatively hot or cold temp if you want
basically fire bending

That would take a lot and depend on the color of the flame

ye, takes practice
but since fire is already so hot i'll allow people to make hot flames depending on their skill level
if you have anything you're not sure about PM me

now here's where we make the distinguishing between fire and lightning

fire and lightning are actually two very different chemical processes, which is why fire people can't have lightning
fire happens when electrons have enough energy added to them to jump up a few orbits into an excited state
then they release their extra energy and jump back down, releasing a photon of light
thus, fire

lightning and electricity is basically electron transfer between charged particles
imagine those newtons cradles where the balls bounce off each other
it's that, but electrons
very different process
in case anyone thought that putting lightning off the table was unfair

as well, in order to control your element, you need a degree of understanding of it
fire, earth, water and air are understood at a basic level in this point in technology
but the process that creates lightning is not
hence why it can't be created nature's way
even if air and water people got together to try and make a mini thundercloud, they have no way of knowing that warm air and friction creates lightning so they couldn't do it