[hider=Raymond Salazar Vanburen][CENTER][h1]Raymond Salazar Vanburen[/h1][/CENTER] [i]"Be quiet, colonizer."[/i] [table][row][/row][row][cell] [center][img]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcQaclqGgGXV40S2bezqsWc3GgCWScrKItH0Zw&usqp=CAU[/img] [sup]_______________________________________________[/sup] [sub]Raymond Salazar Vanburen He/Him [b]|[/b] 33 [b]|[/b] Hispanic American [b]|[/b] 5’10” [b]|[/b] 170 lbs [sup]_______________________________________________[/sup] Enduring [sup]_______________________________________________[/sup] Skills & Talents[/sub] [i]"Smile for the camera!"[/i] [sup]___________________________________[/sup][/center][hider=] [sub] [b]Expert Filmmaker/Journalist/Photographer ⫻[/b] Having been good at films and investigation alike since his high school days, Ray has been a documentary film maker for the last ten years. It's how he makes money, though now that he is stuck in Araminta… well. [b]Magic Knowledge /// [/b] Having read through James' library quite a bit, Ray is knowledgeable about the world of magic, though he is not a true expert. [b]Comforter ⫻[/b] Are you sad? Give this guy a ring. He'll listen to your rants for the next four hours and not complain about it. [/sub][/hider] [/cell][cell][sub][b] Appearance[/b][/sub] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [i]"I'm Chili."[/i] [indent]Raymond is known as a thrifty man, wearing the same outfit almost everyday. He often complains that excessively bright colors make someone look like a clown, and to this end, prefers wearing a knee length trench coat, with a black or grey shirt inside, a complimentary checkered blue scarf, and leather gloves. On his hands is a cane, which he would sometimes tip with sharp rocks if threatened. His hair is a light brown, accented by a forming beard that he often forgets to shave. Tattoos and piercings are simply not his thing, preferring his skin to be unadulterated by artificial additions. At times, he would wear glasses, though he usually goes around with shades. [/indent] [/cell][/row][/table][sub][b] Psychology[/b][/sub] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [i]"Don't mind me. I'm watching."[/i] [INDENT][b]MAIN GOAL ⫻[/b] Ray seeks to fix the turning-to-stone problem, so that he could go back to his life of vlogging and travel. After that… well, guess he wants to keep it that way. [b]PHILOSOPHY ⫻[/b] Ray is something of an enigma, as he keeps up a nice exterior with that bright smile and optimistic attitude. However, beneath that wry smirk is a mind that is actively seeking the best ways to neutralize a foe, whether it is through using geokinesis to stop them from using magic, or making them keep shut with blackmail. He may appear as an eccentric man with a love for tea and a friendly face, but make no mistake; threatening him, or those around him will make him go all out. [b]SEXUALITY ⫻[/b] Asexual. What's with wanting to exchange fluids anyway?! [b]FEARS ⫻[/b] Ray has an irrational fear of little holes. Ironically enough, he is also heavily claustrophobic. Plus, he fears that the curse of the stone will never leave the Vanburens, which means… he can't travel. [b]REPUTATION ⫻[/b] Ray is generally well liked amongst the Vanburens, as he is faithful in being a regular in family reunions. While he isn't usually much of a talker, when he does speak, it would be obvious that Ray cares for everyone. Yes. Even Junior. [b]THOUGHTS ABOUT FATHER ⫻[/b] He had a more or less stable relationship with James, though Ray does not think of him as the perfect overlord like many people do; he sees James as irrevocably flawed, and someone that did so many mistakes that there was no point in trying to right them all. [b]FLAWS ⫻[/b] Ray often forgets about himself in his quest to make others feel better. It is like he is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, and won't let anyone help him with it. [/INDENT] [sub][b] Backstory[/b][/sub] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [i]"Same old story. Unfaithful dad. I studied hard. I have magic. Boom."[/i] [indent]Raymond was born in Araminta, the only child of James Vanburen and Felicita Salazar, an expatriate from Cuba. James and Felicita didn’t seem to last long after that (oh wow, who would have guessed?!), and the two broke their relationship rather amicably. Ray would see his father on weekends, coming along with his mother to the Vanburen estate just to see how many other children that the haremizer had progenitated over the decades. He was just a young child back then, though, and did not understand the circumstances they were all in. He thought of them as friends and playmates at the time, and of course, they were. What he did not learn at the time, however, was that they were all half siblings of his; the products of dozens of failed marriages and affairs. As he grew up, he would see that his father was an incredibly flawed man, and though he carried the Vanburen name, Ray didn’t tell anyone about it unless they asked, as he thought that it was extremely unfortunate to be someone from such a messed up family. Either way, he then took on journalism in college. In the end, he finished with decent marks; though Ray did not have flying honors, he was still quite good at both. He went around the world, filming documentaries and expanding his rock collection. He would awaken his abstraction during that fateful day, when an explosion of unknown origin occurred in the place where he was staying in. Ray had been filming there with a team when the quake struck, destroying the building they were in and burying him and some others under debris. There he was, trapped under rocks and metal, dealing with a diminishing air supply. He prayed and cried, as if there was one feeling that all humans shared, it was the fear of death before achieving something great. Hours passed, and he felt his air tightening as the oxygen in the little enclosed space he was in was running out. And then it happened. A tattoo of golden light appeared on his wrist, and the power of instinct awoke within him. With a simple gesture, Ray threw off all the debris that was keeping him and his friends trapped. They had passed out, but he had not. This was not a coincidence. Ray would keep his abilities a secret as he went back to Araminta, keeping a more or less regular job for his education. At least, until his siblings went back to the city, saying that they're turning to stone... [/indent] [sub][b] Abstraction[/b][/sub] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [i]"This rocks..."[/i] [indent][b]TYPE ⫻[/b] Awakened [b]ABSTRACTION ⫻[/b] Terrakinesis; an ability that he gained after getting trapped under debris after an explosion. The Awakened tattoo appears as a globe on his wrist. [b]ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻[/b] Ray has the ability to control and shape any earth derived materials around himself. Thus, metal, stone, earth, and mud are fair game. He is able to control them as long as he could see it, and could wield up to 500 kilograms of materiel at a single given time. Wielding his powers also requires hand gestures and lower body movements. In combat, he will always have shoes and gloves made from earthen materials, which allow him to rapidly slide on the ground, crawl on inert surfaces like a lizard, and make improvised cuffs with his gloves. (In other words, basically an Earthbender) [b]AURA SENSING ⫻[/b] Ray is capable of seeing the auras of people that are currently stepping on earth based materials within ten meters. [b]LIMITS ⫻[/b] Emotional-Fields interfere with the ability to a degree, and he has a hard time using his ability on the Extra-Normal. He can hit them with a rock just fine, but can't seem to bind them in stone regardless of how hard he tries. The ability has a range of around ten meters, and he has a weight limit of around 500kg. The act of lifting up stone and moving it is incredibly taxing, so he finds it draining when he uses his ability. [b]WEAKNESSES ⫻[/b] When Ray uses his abstraction, he finds himself weighed down and this really hurts him in confrontations against faster foes. The act of bending earth also causes nasty cracks to form on his skin, and they could get easily infected if they aren't treated. [/INDENT] [sup][b] Other[/b][/sup] [sub][sup]▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔[/sup][/sub] [i]"I am watching you."[/i] [indent]Anyyyything else?[/INDENT] [/hider]