Obscene Symphony — Roleplayer Guild

Name:
 Dakota Zahn

(Future) Alias:
 (Help)

Age:
 20

Gender:
 Female

Appearance:
 Dakota is a short girl, standing at about 5'4" and weighs 120lbs with a lean, solid build. Her legs are unproportionately long, leaving her torso looking dwarfed in comparison. As such, she may stand level with someone of the same height, but sitting next to them, be shorter. Her arms are the most muscled part of her, but not built by any stretch; her wiry musculature is a by-product of her work, as are the numerous small scars and discoloured spots peppering her forearms. Her skin is average white (think German, not pink) and her eyes are coal-grey, bordering on mottled black. Her hair, in contrast, is brassy blonde, cropped buzz-short on the sides and longer on top, shuffled locks tipped in uneven copper red. In fact, nearly every colour on the girl could be equated to some metal or another. Her face is short and angular, often grinning or laughing, eyes alive.

While her wardrobe does change, it isn't by much; it mostly consists of mechanic's work clothing such as coveralls, etc. The only one article always present is an old navy green cap with a cream-coloured cog design on the front, given to her by her father. She also wears the same pair of altered steel-toed boots. Which have wires embedded in the soles, running a contact from the bottom of her foot inside the boot to metal pegs on the bottom of the sole. She also carries around several small metal objects in her typically large pockets, such as forks, springs, and broken machine bits such as bolts and cogs. This assortment constantly changes. More on this in Magic.

Personality:
 Dakota's presence is one noticed when it enters a room. She's bold, crass, and not any model of a 'lady'. She carries herself with the confidence of someone twice her size and follows through with it. She's exceptionally blunt, refusing to beat around the bush and saying exactly what she means, however rude or uncouth it needs to be to get the point across. She's got a dirty sense of humour and an occasional raunchy accent to match (think a New Yorker who's lost most of their accent) and isn't afraid to be a little hard and rough. 'Tough love' is a common concept for her. 

On the negative side, Dakota isn't vulnerable to most insults or taunts, simply laughing and rolling with the punches. In her own words, if you call yourself worse things than they call you, then they can't hurt you.  One thing that does burn her short fuse, however, is a superiority complex. She absolutely cannot stand people who think they're better than anyone else, or even openly belittle others. This is essentially the only peeve of hers that will undoubtedly send heads rolling. 

History:
   Until recently, Dakota has been an employee of IrisInc for as long as she can remember, in one of its 'smaller' factories (sweatshops) on a company-owned island far off the coast of the main continent. The workers worked on company property, lived on company property, their children went to school on company property. In fact, the workers might as well have been owned by IrisInc, so far was its reach into their lives. 

   It was here that for most of his life, Dakota's father worked as a technician, one of many maintaining the machinery that kept the factory pumping out clips and casings. Dakota's mother died in childbirth, but fortunately this didn't sour her relationship with her father. He took her as the last remnant of her mother, and cherished it. In fact, her father was just a good man, through and through. He loved his daughter dearly and wanted only the best for her, and did his best to provide it. However, money was always short, as their wages were pitiful and their rent far too high to be justified. So, at the spritely age of eight is when Dakota began working her own shifts for a cut pay and shorter hours, only working in daylight. She, among other young children, did anything and everything they were capable of, from cleaning to operating machines to doing simple repair jobs in spaces where adults could not fit. Dakota, having always been small, took the latter as her most common assignment, and immediately took an interest in mechanics. Her father was only delighted to teach her. 

   Dakota learned early that short hair was safe hair, finding out the hard way when it had to be cut out of a piston when she'd gotten too close. By the time she was ten, she was taking on more difficult jobs, working under her father. It was during this time that the smallest inkling of any magical ability began to show itself. She'd been replacing a broken fuse and electrocuted herself. However instead of being hurt or even killed by the jolt, she suffered no adverse effects and only became incredibly hyper, not sleeping for a few days. This incident didn't repeat itself at such a scale again, but smaller, far less harmful shocks were absorbed into her body and provided only short burst of energy. 

   By the time Dakota was thirteen was when her father decided enough was enough. He wanted to get off that island, out of the company’s grip and working a real job for real pay. He wanted his daughter to go to a real school and have the chance at higher education. So, with too little funds to actually make this dream a reality, he did what desperate men do: he stole. In fact, they both stole, little by little over time, selling valuable materials such as copper themselves. Slowly, over the course of three years, they built up enough money to maybe, just maybe scrape a new life together somewhere better. Neither had any preconceptions that what they were doing was wrong - of course they knew it was illegal, but their consciences were clear. Eventually, though, something had to give. Iris was able to put two and two together (the twos being their few missing resources and the Zahn’s suspicious behaviour) and their ‘operation’ was found out. Dakota’s father took all the blame and was hauled off to prison on charges that were jacked as high as the company could push them. Dakota, with no other parent or relative, was placed under the care of the company as her legal guardian.

   What became of her after that involved a formal disappearance, the learning of some musical instruments and five years she’d rather not talk about. 

   When she resurfaced at eighteen, her tolerance to electricity had artificially grown into something much more versatile, and in the three years since, she’s been channelling its capabilities into her two different jobs and her hobbies. More on this in Magic.

Current Equipment:
  - Optimized steel-toed boots 
 - Electrically-insulated gloves 
 - A metal fork
 - A fully-loaded toolbelt (if on/near time of work) 
 - A long-lasting rechargeable battery attached to a spool of thin wire
 - A small folding knife with a metal handle

Magic:
    Dakota’s magic, while it would never have naturally progressed past an ability to process electricity into a non-lethal form of usable energy, has been artificially altered into something more powerful. While the root concept remains, the execution and versatility of her power is vastly different.

   Her power can be accurately described as an imbalanced form of energy conversion. The imbalance comes from the fact that it’s most efficient in converting electricity to usable energy in the body and vice versa, but has little capability with other forms of energy, such as light or heat. 

   The best use of this power is to convert electricity to power her own body. For example, an electric shock will not only be harmless to her, but energize her in much the same way as a cup of coffee or an energy drink. In fact, a common habit of hers is to periodically stick a fork into an outlet and use the resulting shock to keep her awake. As such, she’s become rather prone of all-nighters, often in a row. In a situation such as extended physical activity or even combat, electric shocks will keep her stamina up, allowing her to continue far longer without tiring than even a more athletic person. 
   Dakota is also capable of creating an electrical current from her own body’s energy. This, of course, tires her out and begins the cycle all over again. The strongest shock she’s yet been able to make was enough to jump start a car, leaving her very tired.

   The downside of course is that extended or extreme use of this power has an effect on her mental state. If she periodically shocks herself to pull three all-nighters in a row, her mindset would be that of someone who, well, hasn’t slept in three days. Extended use of more powerful shocks to keep herself energized in straining activity will wear on her in a similar way, gradually making her less and less coherent and precise. There’s also the physical toll that it takes on her; she’s prone to over-exerting and straining her muscles to the point of injury because hey, she’s not tired. Lack of proper sleep also has the expected effect on the body, such as nausea, dizziness, and a seriously screwed up internal clock.

   Harmless yet notable side-effects of extreme or extended use include neon-blue, vein-like streaks spreading across her irises and arcs of electricity sparking from one point on her body to another or a conductive object nearby. 

   Because this power was almost entirely artificially altered, it’s extremely unpredictable outside of the patterns she’s yet observed. Sometimes she ‘surges’, unleashing powerful currents to anything nearby seemingly at random, and unforeseen negative effects such as loss of consciousness or burns aren’t unheard of. Surges and lacks of control in general are more common in times of emotional distress, such as extreme anger, excitement or fear. As of yet she’s still unsure of her own limits and her own level of control. She’d be lying if she claimed that she had complete control of herself and her power. 

Some Important Notes:
   As mentioned earlier, Dakota has altered her boots to have little metal discs inside which connect to wires running through the sole and connecting to metal studs on the bottom of the boot. These serve as grounding wires. She’s not sure if she really needs them, but she fears what might happen if she isn’t grounded.

   Because of the electricity near-constantly flowing through her body, although it causes no fatally harmful problems, she has mild cardiac arrhythmia (irregular beating of the heart). As of yet it hasn't caused any issues, but there's no telling how it may progress. 

   Dakota doesn’t like being fully submerged in water, ever. It messes with her current. Rain only makes her a bit nervous for that her grounding wires are up to.

Skills:
 - Mechanic
Dakota has been working as a mechanic almost her entire life. She knows her way around a wrench and can fix almost anything.
 - Brawler
While nowhere near formally trained, Dakota can hold her own in a fight. She’s small, quick, and resourceful, can definitely pack a punch and isn’t afraid to fight dirty. With a bit of electricity and enough spite, she’ll be just fine. 
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