[hider=Honihaka]
[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/irDaPQv.png[/img][/center]

[b]Appearance:[/b] Identifying as "Two-Spirit," Honihaka is outwardly extremely androgynous. Soft features, with feminine proportions, but  a tall and strongly-built body make it impossible to readily identify them as male or female. Their thick, brown hair is worn in long braids, and their clothes are usually sensible rough-weaves and leathers in earthen colors, though they do own some more vibrant garments from the Old World. Haka has a fondness for such trinkets as baubles and feathers, and also hangs a variety of shamanic fetishes from their clothes and hair. Their dusky skin is often painted with chalk and various other natural pigments. Haka's bright, blue eyes are the only indication of their Ilyan heritage, and alienates them from other natives of the New World.

[b]Name:[/b] Honihaka Prendergast ("Haka" for short)

[b]Age:[/b] 22

[b]Race:[/b] Human/Beastkin

[b]Profession:[/b] Shaman
 
[b]Personality:[/b] Haka strikes most as being austere and emotionally detached, indifferent to the horrors plaguing the New World. This is quite far from the truth, as Haka feels the pain of the land deeply, as well as their own personal grief, but they have built up a thick shell around themselves to shield their emotions and control their magic. Depending on whether Haka's human or beast spirit is more in control, they may be submissive and helpful, or ruthless and savage. In this way Haka can be somewhat mercurial, as having lived as an outcast for most of their life, their reaction to further mistreatment is difficult to predict.
 
[b]Backstory:[/b] Honihaka was born the child of a young woman of a Mohe tribe, a native of the New World, and an Ilyan colonist. Their parents met as their father traded pelts with the tribe, and the two formed a strong attraction to each other and eloped. They lived together happily in a remote cabin in the forest, their father working as a trapper for a living, and trading his catches for goods at the nearby settlement. While their existence was remote from both of their parents' ancestral homes, Honihaka was brought up on both the legends of the Mohe, and the history of Old Ilya, making them very much a child of two worlds. Given their isolation, Haka was allowed to express themself as they saw fit: neither boy nor girl, but both at once.

Sickness took Haka's father's life when they were only eight, and the grief of his loss awakened a power inside of them. It was this time that Haka first took on their beast shape, revealing their Two-Spirit nature. Their mother had suspected as much, given their strange identity, but this confirmed it beyond all doubt. Haka and their mother tearfully left their remote and happy home, returning to the Mohe so that Haka could learn the ways of the Shaman and control their power.

They were accepted back into the tribe with great trepidation, as Haka was seen as a half-breed outsider, and their mother a runaway and iconoclast. Despite the prejudices they faced, Haka learned dutifully under the master Shaman of the Mohe, practicing both the secretive arts of nature magic, and the power inherent to the Two-Spirit. However, as their affinity for magic grew, the spirit of the beast inside of them grew stronger. Their personality would often fluctuate, depending on which spirit grew more dominant.

When the tide of monsters descended on the New World, the Mohe were one of the first tribes to be attacked. While their tribe barely survived the first few years, they were pushed to the very edge of their ancestral territory, bordering the Old Worlders' colonies, and they had taken many losses. Haka's mother had been among them, slain by a vicious beast, and the grief of losing their last remaining parent completed Haka's transformation as Two-Spirit, allowing their twin souls to meld and become more powerful together. Haka seeks to avenge their mother and their clan by halting the onslaught of monsters, and has joined an Expedition as guide and mystic.
 
[b]Skills and Abilities:[/b] A native of the New World, Haka is one with the land and can survive in the wild with ease. Whether hunting a wild animal for a meal or sleeping under the stars, nature is Haka's home and provider. As they were raised this way among others that lived much the same, they are more self-sufficient than Old World rangers, and are not predispositioned to aiding the survival of their fellows. That said, Haka is strong and healthy in body, clever and resourceful, and has great knowledge of the wilderness and their peoples' customs and legends. They have decent skill as an archer and horserider, and can hold their own in bare-handed wrestling.

More notable is Haka's status as Shaman. Their dominion of the powers of nature is great, able to divine secrets from the land and bend natural forces to their will. Haka has a particular affinity for communing with spirits, which inhabit every aspect of the natural world. As Two-Spirit, Haka is both human and beast at once, and can assume both their man-shape and the form of a great wolf. In beast-shape Haka's connection to the world is stronger, but they have less direct command over it. By allowing their spirits to meld, they can take the shape of the man-wolf, a powerful and aggressive creature, and the power of their magic is boosted immensely.
 
[b]Equipment:[/b] Haka carries numerous basic survival implements passed down among their people, such as a bone knife and waterskin. They carry a willow bow with stone-tipped arrows, a variety of herbs and poultices, and numerous shamanic charms and fetishes. Haka's primary focus is their shaman's staff, carved from a lightning-struck tree and adorned with sacred bones and symbols.[/hider]