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C r u s A c o s t a
“What can I say? I'm charming and irresponsib- I mean irresistible.”
Name
Crus Acosta
Age
Eighteen
Gender
Male
Home Sea
South Sea
Aether Sign
Sun (Wind)
Aether Abilities
Crus' Aether abilities are extremely minor. The most he can do at the moment is create a breeze. At it's strongest Crus can use it to give himself a tailwind and move faster while using less stamina, or to give himself a push through the water while swimming. Most of the time he uses it instead to cool himself down, cheat at tops, or passive aggressively knock things over. His control is poor when his emotions are high.
Personality
On the surface, Crus is a bit of a people pleaser. A young man with a warm personality. He is friendly and playful, and never shy around strangers. He acts much the same whether around old friends or new acquaintances, and he doesn't discriminate. He enjoys chatting, and to that end he can be a bit pushy. He likes prying, and especially likes getting his way. Crus isn't one to give in easily, and that extends to much more than just personal relationships. He has a stubborn streak a mile wide that helps him to chase his wants and goals even when the going gets tough, but he's patient enough to play the long game too.
Crus can be irresponsible. If he doesn't want to do something, he tries to find a way out of it. This doesn't particularly mean that Crus is lazy - he's done his fair share of hard work during his life, but the weight of responsibilities, of people relying on you, makes him uncomfortable. For that reason he doesn't make many promises to people either. A promise with Crus is a rare thing indeed.
Though stubborn and bullheaded in most things, when it comes to interpersonal conflict Crus will deflect, get defensive, and offer platitudes before anything else. If he can avoid a scrap he will, but his small amount of pride won't let him back down if things get physical. Of course, most conflict of that nature can be avoided by either telling the other person what they want to hear, or by cutting into them with sharp words. Just have to know who you're fighting with. Maybe under different circumstances, Crus could have been quite the manipulator. Might still turn out that way, but at the moment he prefers getting what he wants by taking care of it himself. By the way, Crus is also a pretty talented liar, but he's honest more often than not. That probably makes it all the harder to tell when he is lying.
History
On the island of Ororuel in the South Sea, the Acosta family served as governors for the last few generations. It's household housed the former chief Asabien, his son and current chief Barachel and wife, and of course Crus: only son and future chief. There is a certain charm and excitement knowing you're destined to lead people, to take over the family mantle... but as Crus grew up, the feeling wore off quickly.
Though the tradition was to continue with Crus, he consistently fell short of his family's expectations. He had no motivation to take over the position, no interest at all in politics, and did not show any inkling of the skills needed to act as chief. He was a hard worker, so long as it was work he was interested in doing, and carrying a community on his back was not. Instead, his heart was set on adventure. Since early childhood he was the type to feed into his curiosity, leading faux adventuring teams made of the community's kids to discover all their island had to offer. First hand experiences with flora and fauna dealt life lessons in the form of scars, but Crus always went back for more. He was a hands on learner. Traditional classes were never for him, and he shirked many meetings with tutors in favor of outings into nature - whether it be into caves, climbing hills, or diving underwater. If he could touch it, he wanted to know about it; the how, why and when. Philosophy, law, diplomacy... those weren't physical things, and so didn't interest him in the slightest. History was about the only thing he wasn't able to touch that he felt worth learning about. His antics were tolerated as a child, but as the years passed it created a tension and dissonance between himself and the island's older population, including his father and grandfather.
Elders of the island grew worried of the family's future, and considered another one taking over. Anxious, and frankly irritated at the prospective young chief, they openly talked about their concerns and scorn. With each other, with their families, and of course to the chief himself who would hear every complaint and bring it back to his own family.
By the time Crus was a teenager, the friction surrounding him was well established. That time in a person's life is already chaotic and confusing enough, but Crus spent it torn between not wanting to disappoint his family or his community, and wanting to stay true to himself. He'd known for a long time that he didn't want to take on the mantle of chief, and though no amount of pushing, smothering, or convincing would change his mind he let people believe that it might. The time Crus spent in the village was filled with lies, platitudes, and avoidance. At home it was arguing, simmering anger, and strained smiles in between moments of familial love. There was a lot of sneaking off to forget about his duties for a while, a habit he'd never shaken from childhood, but whenever they could his father and grandfather would keep Crus on a short leash. More lessons, more scars.
Whenever he get away, Crus spent most of his time outside of the village. For one, his peers and the younger members of the community still adored him (at least the ones that hadn't taken their elders' mumbling to heart). Playing, helping, or just chatting and relaxing were his favorite pasttimes, besides exploring. Having long since scoured every nook and cranny of Ororuel, more often than not Crus took to the ocean. He pretended to be a Diver and brought back shells, coral, and all kinds of trinkets from the sea bed to give to the little ones - especially his new little sister, whom he could never be upset with. There had been a particularly difficult period of time when it came to light that his parents had been trying for another son. Though it ultimately failed of course, the tactic actually worked for a while, but eventually the frustration caught up with him and Crus disappeared for a few weeks. It was during that time he'd taken a boat out and let the sea's current take him wherever it willed. He slept under the stars, rocked by ocean waves, and eventually drifted to an patch of sea wholly unfamiliar to him. Under the water he ended up coming upon something interesting: the ruined remains of some ancient vessel, half buried in the sea bed and completely covered over with barnacles. What was it? Where did it come from? How had no one found it before? Surely if they had, he would have already known about it. Inside the wreck beside little animals making it a home and trinkets destroyed by time, was an ornate bident. Though crusted with mollusks it had not rusted. Crus' eyes shined at the sight of it, and of course he took it back with him to the surface.
When he came back up to his boat he found an ambush of people from his village waiting to take him back. He supposed he'd been gone a little too long this time. Once returned home he found that his family eased up on him a bit, afraid to lose him for good. The relationship with his family had improved, but it felt like a false sense of security. He placated them more often than not, pretending to come around to the idea of being chief just to keep the peace. Over the next few years Crus merely tolerated living on the island that seemed so small now, preparing for the inevitable but looking for a way out.
And then, when news reached their little island that a Diver crew would be stopping by on their way to some newly discovered ruins, Crus fought to hide his excitement. He kept it cool, acted disinterested, but in reality this was his chance. Real Divers, the kind that explored all the world's oceans and went on all kinds of adventures, coming to his home?
What else could he really have been expected to do, besides stow away aboard the Sharkfin?
Gear
Crus has carried that bident he found for years, clinging to the little sense of adventure it brought him. In addition he also carries a simple rebreather, a small knife, and a woven bag - all things he uses while exploring. Besides that he carries some primitive beigoma, doubling both as his favorite game and as a little keepsake of Ororuel.
