[hider=Amara]
[center][img]https://safebooru.org//samples/2823/sample_4d30ce79033c631f4bf757e5ed613273ac674fd9.jpg?2941017[/img]
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NROzG-IGNgs]"..."[/url]

[color=f9ad81][b]Full Name: [/b][/color]
Amara Cantu

[color=f9ad81][b]Nicknames/Aliases:[/b][/color]
None.

[color=f9ad81][b]Age: [/b][/color]
14

[color=f9ad81][b]Gender:[/b][/color]
Female

[color=f9ad81][b]Division:[/b][/color]
Smarts (Her difficulties with modern technology made Stealth a serious consideration, however.)

[color=f9ad81][b]Powers: [/b][/color]
[b]Alchemy:[/b]
The Mystical Art of transmuting and purifying materials. If Chemistry can be defined as 'the study of Chemicals and Elements', then Alchemy is 'the study of Substances and Matter'. The goal of Alchemy varies greatly depending on the practitioners goals, but usually falls under 'turning some cheap shit to gold' or 'Immortality'. Alchemy is also known for having created several 'Super Materials' - although, the Philosopher's Stone kinda craps on most of them.

As one of the few practitioners left, Amara is far from a master of the art. Still, even as an apprentice, she can perform quite a few transmutations. Transmutations can be performed both ways (Ex: Stone can be turned to mud, and back again).

[u][i]Iron to Mercury:[/i][/u] Much easier than turning Lead to Gold for some reason.
[u][i]Stone to Mud:[/i][/u] Originally regarded as limited in use, that quickly changed with the advent of cement and paved roads.
[u][i]Water to Wine:[/i][/u] Originally made to clean water into something drinkable, now it's a fun party trick. Contains many different variants, such as 'Water to Vodka' and 'Water to Beer', but Amara didn't really want to learn more of the same thing.
[u][i]Shape Mercury:[/i][/u] A 'Female Only' ability in Alchemy, as Mercury is the 'Female Element'. It allows the direction and control of Mercury. More experienced Alchemists can use it for combat and other applications, but at Amara's current skill level, it's way too slow for even unpowered opponents. She can only really use it to make distractions or make it hard to walk. Its Masculine counterpart is 'Shape Iron', which is kinda way better...
[i][u]Nigredo:[/u][/i] The first 'big' stage of Alchemy, and one of the four needed in order to create a 'Philosopher Stone'. In essence, it turns organic matter into a putrid black sludge. The ritual needed for this takes several minutes however, rendering it useless for combat. When an Apprentice learns this, they can truly say 'I'm an Alchemist' and not have others laugh at them.
[i][u]Quicksilver:[/u][/i] The only 'Super Material' that Amara is capable of creating. By combining the Nigredo sludge and Mercury, and Ablating them for several hours, the result is a metallic liquid that smells slightly like sulfur. When applied to a Base Metal (Iron, Copper, Etc.), the durability of the base is enhanced significantly, as well as sharpness for bladed weapons. Not as useful now that Firearms are so prevalent. It's also very conductive of electricity, so avoid wires.

[b]Homunculus:[/b]
Less a Power and more a 'Familiar'. The creation of a Homunculus is one clear sign of a Master Alchemist, although Men have a much easier time creating them. The process involved is kind of icky, so Amara tries to avoid reading about it...

Gifted to her by her Master, this creature resembles a deformed winged human, one arm significantly longer than the other, and the overall size of a small house cat. Since her Master didn't put too many resources into its construction, it is very dimwitted, has a clearly inhuman voice, and it takes forever to heal from injuries...

But it was a gift from her Master, and Amara treasures the creature greatly. Maybe if she ever gets good enough, she'll fix it.

[color=f9ad81][b]Description:[/b][/color] 
Amara stands at 5'4, although her poor posture makes her seem a few inches shorter. Her build cannot be called athletic, but she has some pretty impressive cardiovascular strength and has almost unnatural health and vitality - a result of the very difficult terrain of her home and the supernatural medications Alchemy is famous for. Of course, that'll probably change now that she doesn't live in a swamp or have access to her Master's medical supplies. Her skin is incredibly pale, and her voice rarely changes from its bored monotone.

She typically dresses in concealing and professional attire, and has a particular fondness for Lab Coats and heavy aprons. When working near noxious chemicals, she uses a well-worn Gas Mask.

[color=f9ad81][b]Personality:[/b][/color]
Amara follows rules and procedures with mechanical grace. She finds great comfort in specific plans and orders and enjoys the structure it brings to her currently changing lifestyle. She even refuses to jaywalk

Amara cannot recognize many social cues and emotions that people take for granted. This is caused by both her ASD, as well as her Hermit-like upbringing away from other people. She doesn't understand threats, lying, manipulation, and other actions that are common for villains. She will take anything said to her at face value, and believes that promises are absolute. She'll probably start avoiding the Suavity Division because of the confusion it brings.

Amara has no care for experiencing life outside of her small sphere of familiarity. She doesn't wish to learn about religion or study anything outside of her interest, she has no desire to form friendships and meet new people, and she even thinks going to school is a waste of her time and energy. All she wants to do is spend all day and night cooped up with her books and glassware, studying about an archaic science that killed most of its own users through Mercury Poisoning. It's easy to trick her because of this, especially in things she has no experience in.

When it comes to Academia, Amara is a perfect pupil. She never procrastinates, constantly takes notes on lessons and things around her, and will triple-check her work to make sure she understands a concept. However, this isn't because she loves learning - really, the only class she enjoys is Chemistry. She is just a perfectionist and focused on efficiency because if she is perfect at something, she won't need to do it again.

If provoked, Amara is not averse to violence - as a matter of fact, when pressured and stressed, she will usually resort to attacking the person who is inciting her, especially in a primal manner with nails and teeth. It wouldn't be correct to call Amara a Sociopath though - she does feel empathy (at least, after someone lets her know how they feel), and her conscience is perfectly fine. But she only feels bad about hurting people that she knows - she couldn't care less about someone she never met or knew personally, and feels more emotional weight when a character in a movie dies than the death of a bystander. 

Amara has only liked one person in her life - her adoptive father and Master. While it is incredibly difficult to earn and maintain her trust, winning Amara's loyalty will make her do nearly anything for someone. 

[color=f9ad81][b]Crush: [/b][/color]
None.

[color=f9ad81][b]Skills:[/b] [/color]
[b]Chemistry:[/b]
Considering Alchemy is a precursor to Chemistry, it makes sense that understanding both compliments each other. Amara's knowledge of Chemistry is comparable to a Bachelor's Degree, which is very impressive considering her age.

[b]Perceptive:[/b]
Amara picks up on many things that others do not. Or maybe she just pays more attention to things that other people just ignore.

[color=f9ad81][b]Weaknesses:[/b] [/color]
[b]Circles:[/b]
Amara's biggest weakness, and the weakness of all Alchemists, is that Transmutations require Circles. More specifically, it needs some kind of boundary that surrounds the substance being transmuted.

Without a Circle, all but the smallest of Transmutations are impossible. And even then, the only reason really small stuff is possible is because most skilled Alchemists learn to use their Fingerprints as Circles. As a result, the easiest way to disable Amara is just to control the environment, and avoid giving Amara enough time to create a circle.

This isn't those fancy circles with tons of lines inside - Amara is way too much of a beginner for that. Hell, it doesn't even need to be a circle - they're just called Transmutation Circles because it's an easy name to remember. As Alchemists grow more skilled, a 'Circle' can be more vague. At her current skill, Amara needs to create a clear shape with chalk or some other writing instrument, but her Master could use shadows and ripples in water as a circle.

[b]Time:[/b]
Another big weakness of Alchemy is that it takes a long time. Even the fastest transmutations take several seconds, and that's not including the time needed to set up a circle. Longer actions, like making esoteric materials, can take hours or even days of constant work.

An enemy rushing her or attacking at range can easily beat her, even if they're unpowered.

[b]Obsessive:[/b]
When Amara gets hooked on something, she can sometimes take it to an extreme. She became Obsessed with Alchemy and Chemistry at a very young age, and ignored anything that wasn't essential to this aspect of her life - her math skills are limited to ratios and basic multiplication, her knowledge of geography is incredibly poor, and she had no meaningful relationships.

This can easily be taken advantage of by enemies. Offer her access to a difficult to find Chemical or Element, or god forbid a genuine book on Alchemy, and she'll do pretty much anything - even going as far as to cooperate with heroes and betray allies.

Interacting with things that she has little experience with but are connected to her special interests could result in her developing a new obsession.

[b]Luddite:[/b]
Alchemy peaked in the Renaissance. And considering she was taken in and taught by her elderly Master in the Everglades of Florida, with little human contact outside of the occasional supply run, she has a very loose grasp on most technologies that were developed after the 1800s. 

Some things connected to her obsessions, like Microscopes and Centrifuges, she has taken quite the liking to. She also thinks Movies are 'neat'. Outside of that, she can only operate the simplest of machines, after being instructed how.

[color=f9ad81][b]Brief History:[/b][/color]
Amara was born to a single mother, her father not even knowing he had a daughter. Her infancy was unremarkable, as was her mother, and their relationship wasn't exactly the best it could have been for a toddler. Still, they weren't struggling financially, and Amara was seemingly destined for a mundane life.

When she was 3 years old, Amara was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Her mother, after seeing several pediatricians who came to the same conclusion, completely rejected Amara and her condition. They stayed together for another year until Amara attacked another child for taking one of the test tubes from her Chemistry set. Her mother finally accepted that her child was different. Later that night she went to a bar and never came home, falling asleep behind the wheel and crashing into a semi-truck.

Amara spent another two years in an Orphanage before her new parent was finished with the adoption process. The man was named Julian Cantu. However, he did not adopt Amara because he wanted a Daughter - he adopted her because he wanted an Apprentice. Having spent the majority of his life searching for the 'Fountain of Youth' in the new world, Julian finally accepted failure and settled in the Everglades of Florida, the first place he began looking. Passing on his life's work before he died was his new priority.

Amara began to study and learn the art of Alchemy as soon as she was adopted, and took to it quite well. It soon became one of her special interests, and she quickly developed under her Master's Tutelage. They bonded over time, and outside of the occasional interaction when getting supplies from nearby towns, they were the only companionship for each other.

Their relationship eventually became more familial than that of a Master and Apprentice. Amara eventually developed a fondness, and arguably even a love for her new father figure, one which she never felt for her mother or any of the staff at the Orphanage. Her training continued for nearly a decade, and at 14 she is at the same level most Alchemists only reach in their late 20s and early 30s (although, she did start studying far earlier than most).

Now that she has completed the Nigredo ritual, her tutelage is complete - normally this would be where the Master sends off the apprentice into the greater world, with little more than a wave and having the apprentice promise to bury them someplace nice when they die. Julian's bond with Amara, however, was more than he expected - he used some of his connections from decades ago (along with a few pounds of gold) to get her into a prestigious academy. He also sent her off with Alchemical books and glassware, and even a Basic Homunculus. It was Julian's hope that Amara could learn independence and how to properly live in the world at this academy.

And also how to commit horrible atrocities. Julian sent Amara to Lanius School of Villainy and Mischief, academia for criminals and horrific monsters. 

This is Amara's first year at the Academy, and she really does not like the change. She usually has to increase the temperature in her room to uncomfortable levels to get to sleep, and she has been close to an anxiety attack several times. Hopefully, she'll become more acclimated with time.

[color=f9ad81][b]Other:[/b][/color]
Amara speaks several languages, including Latin, English, Italian, and Ancient Greek. She is most proficient with Latin, however, followed by English and Italian.

When stressed or her routine is disturbed too much, she will recite elements from the Periodic Table.[/center]
[/hider]

[hider=Relationships]
None, at the moment.
[/hider]