Post by Russet Bruin on Nov 28, 2020 18:01:19 GMT -5
[attr=class,cs-top unaffiliated]
[attr=class,cs-body unaffiliated]
"I'm a cowboy; on a steel horse, I ride,
And I'm wanted, dead or alive."
[attr=class,char-name]Russet Bruin
"I'm a cowboy; on a steel horse, I ride,
And I'm wanted, dead or alive."
[attr=class,cs-main]
Date of Birth: Nov. 15, 5 AV
Species: Human
Romantic Orientation: Who knows, really?
Aura Color: Reddish-Brown
Height: 170 cm / 5'6"
Weight: 50 kg / 114 lb
Color Naming Rule: Russet = reddish-brown, like the potato. Bruin = Dutch for Brown.
Semblance Name: Slip'n'Stick
Rank of Semblance: E
Primary/Secondary Category: Obstacle (+2)
Semblance Type: Physical Boost
One Sentence Summary of Semblance: Russet Bruin has the Physical Boost semblance of Slip'n'Stick which allows the wielder to increase or decrease friction against her body, to move more freely, or grip objects better.
Description of Semblance: Using Slip'n'Stick, Russet can alternate at will between loosening friction's effect on her body ("Slipping"), and strengthening it ("Sticking"). When Slipping, she is able to slide freely along most surfaces, including some attacks that are thrown at her, which glide right off. In this way, her Semblance is capable of acting as an Agility ability of equal rank. However, she is able to switch her Semblance to strengthen her friction, which allows her to instead Stick to surfaces at will, with friction holding her body in place, allowing her to cling to surfaces, which makes climbing easier, and even makes crawling on walls and coarsely textured ceilings possible for her. In this way, her Semblance is capable of acting as an Acrobatics ability of equal rank.
Drawbacks of Semblance: Aside from the obvious Aura drain of using her Semblance over time, she isn't exactly immune to the laws of physics (aside from the one she tells to fuck off, that is). If she is Slipping, she is helpless to the whims of gravity, unless she switches to Sticking, and while Sticking, her mobility is limited until she begins Slipping again, or reverts to normal movement. And while she has gotten good at switching between those three states on the fly, she can still be caught offguard. Likewise, while she is able to use her ability on herself, she can't affect other people, aside from their interactions with her, which are themselves made less effective because of dealing with other peoples' Auras- put simply, she has to work a lot harder to affect her personal friction with unwilling people involved, since her Aura generally has less than a second or two to adapt and mold itself to the oncoming Auras of others- this means that while she can deflect some attacks, she is not always successful, and some still manage to get through, despite her best efforts. Her Semblance also works very poorly when interacting with liquids- a wet floor, she can handle, and extremely viscous liquids, like freshly poured cement, she can deal with. But if her feet or hands are fully submerged in any ordinary liquid, she can't actually use her Semblance to cling to, or glide across, any surfaces. She also cannot Stick to surfaces made of little pieces, like gravel, sand, or woodchips, as her Semblance clings to the individual bits, and is therefore useless without something to grip onto.
Weapon Name: Tinderbox
Rank of Weapon(s): E
Category: Combatants (+1)
Description of Weapons(s): Tinderbox is a compact imitation of an FN P90 submachinegun that Russet built herself, from assorted firearm pieces in her old gang's workshop. Between the model's natural built-in reflex sight and high-velocity ammunition, and her own custom enhancements, including a form-fitted grip and a quick-loader mechanism that can also implement Dust-enhanced ammunition, it is a work of art, as much as it is a highly efficient weapon. It's also painted pink, because style is very important. She also carries a bowie knife, holstered in her hip sheath, for if things ever get dicey up close, or if she runs out of bullets.
With recent upgrades, and in light of recent events, she has added a watertight holster to her regular arsenal, and has further modified her gun, applying a rudimentary transforming mechanism that extends the barrel, and reveals a long-range scope, allowing her weapon to be used as a rifle for sniping and other longer-range engagements.
Name of Non-Combat Ability: Fixer-Upper (Gunsmithing)
Rank of Non-Combat Ability: D
Category: Social (+2)
Description of Non-Combat Ability: Working with the Kerch Kozaks (now Revolutionary League) has definitely allowed Russet's natural talent for tinkering to flourish- the guns she builds look a lot nicer, work a lot better, and she's proven herself very resourceful with the limited armaments of the militia group. It's not easy kitting everybody out with the best gear her workshop can handle, but she manages. She can currently build and repair most firearms up to her current rank in the skill, and even makes her own ammunition- mostly gunpowder-based, but she's working on implementing dust ammunition into her toolbox.
Name of Non-Combat Ability: Jacked Up (Carjacking)
Rank of Non-Combat Ability: E
Category: Social (+1)
Description of Non-Combat Ability: One of the first real useful criminal skills Russet picked up with her old crew. She's like fucking MacGyver when it comes to breaking into cars and hotwiring them- she'll use whatever she's got lying around. Unfortunately, she never really did pick up a whole lot of finesse with these skills- she can get away with taking junkier cars and bikes in less populated/trafficked areas, but she makes a hell of a lot of noise doing it.
Name of Noncombat Ability: Road Demon (Driving)
Rank of Noncombat Ability: D
Category: Obstacle (+2)
Description of Combat Ability: Which is where her driving skills come in handy. She's been driving since she was twelve, and she isn't bad at it- she can't quite drive trickier vehicles like semi trucks or helicopters yet, but she can get around quick and dirty in just about any car, pickup, or motorcycle. Especially the latter- her Harley is her pride and joy, and the only vehicle she's ever actually bought.
Name of Non-Combat Ability: Listen Close (Safecracking)
Rank of Non-Combat Ability: F
Category: Obstacle (+0)
Description of Non-Combat Ability: Anyone can handle a locked door, but it takes a real master to crack a safe. A lot of it is just patience, and fancier lockpicking, but Russet's got it down to something of a science- she can get in and out of a secure safe in about twenty minutes, and in much less, for the kinds of safes she used to break into, which were usually rusty, beaten up, and cheaply made. And as an added bonus, she can usually size up a lock or safe pretty quickly, for any useful info on it.
Name of Non-Combat Ability: Tag, You're It (Graffiti)
Rank of Non-Combat Ability: F
Category: Social (+0)
Description of Non-Combat Ability: It passed the time when she was bored as a kid, that's for sure- spray paint's cheap, and if you're lucky, and fast, you can snag a can from some other unlucky gutter punk to use for yourself for a while. Until someone else comes by to swipe yours. It's the circle of life. Russet's pretty handy with spray paint and some stencils- not the greatest, and definitely not as artistic as certain other street artists. She alternates between an elaborate "RUS" tag, and a much sillier, more fun, potato, always with a different goofy face. Childhood nicknames stick, you know?
Name of Combat Ability: Fast Feet (Speed)
Rank of Combat Ability: E
Category: Obstacle (+1)
Description of Combat Ability: Good for running. Which is a skill she picked up a long time ago. You gotta be quick on your feet growing up in the Ground District, yeah? Russet's pretty damn quick, moving at about the speed of a journeyman runner (28 km/hr).
Name of Combat Ability: Itchy Fingers (Marksmanship)
Rank of Combat Ability: E
Category: Combat (+1)
Description of Combat Ability: Her trigger finger, that is. And probably the rest of her fingers, considering she's usually fidgeting with them. But not when she's shooting. Russet's pretty handy with her piece, and she's damn good as a Marksman. Easily accurate up to the length of a telephone pole (10-12 meters), and absolutely deadly; it might be the only time she's ever intensely focused on any one thing, aside from her safecracking and carjacking.
Name of Combat Ability: Soft Steps (Stealth)
Rank of Combat Ability: E
Category: Obstacle (+1)
Description of Combat Ability: Sometimes it's smart to keep your head down and stay out of trouble. And sometimes, trouble finds you anyways, and you need to break away and lay low for a bit. Russet's pretty good at moving around unseen.
Primary Drive: Russet is primarily driven by her deep craving for a sense of belonging and a need for something to be a part of. Brought on in her childhood, as a street urchin, she was always desperate for attention, whether positive or negative, and joining up with the Coral Flowers was the first time in her life that she had found that sense of belonging. When she was kicked out just prior the group's ultimately fatal succession wars, she found that she couldn't handle being on her own very well, and ended up arrested. Joining the Kozaks happened almost immediately when she got back out, after hearing of them through the grapevine.
All in all, though, she is driven by community and loyalty as primary values, with her thrill-seeking, money-hungry, nature coming second.
In the short-term, she is generally always looking for new opportunities to make a fast buck, and she is very easily financially motivated, though she won't generally bite the hands that feed her, for any reasonable amount of money. In her eyes, a traitor is worse than anything else you could be, and deserves nothing but death, so her monetary aims will generally always lose out to her organization loyalty. Aside from money, she is motivated largely by the promise of adventure and cheap thrills, so if something seems like a fun idea, she will usually go for it, as long as it doesn't contradict her stronger values.
Long-term, she simply wants to be happy, reasonably wealthy, and in a position where she can be a part of some greater good. She doesn't fancy herself as any sort of leadership figure, but she believes she can make a damn good cog in the wheel, which is what she wants to do for the Kerch Kozaks. In a more introspective sense, she also knows that she has done a lot of bad things in life, and wants to atone for those deeds, even though she wouldn't consider them mistakes. Therefore, she strives to give something back to the Ground District community, as reparations for her years spent as a criminal.
In terms of a moral code, and a sense of idealism, she believes firmly in loyalty to those that do right by you, and in returning the favor. Karmic justice is a real force in her mind, and one that she isn't above doling out herself when she feels like it's the right thing to do. She has no delusions that she is a good person, even though she tries to do more good than harm. Likewise, she doesn't tend to try to justify a lot of her less-than-noble actions too much; she knows that a lot of what she does is wrong, she just acknowledges it and moves on, aiming to at least be authentic in her ethical shortcomings, at most, attempting to pay forward whatever she takes from others; if she steals a loaf of bread, then she will give two loaves to someone who needs them, next time she is able.
But above all else, when the chips are down, she will always concede to whatever authority figure she considers to be her superior.
Fears: Being alone, and rejection. And ultimately, discovering her own uselessness. In tandem with her need to belong to a group, her deepest fear is that some day, whatever group she is in may decide that they don't need her anymore, a fear that was only strengthened by Garrick kicking her out of the band. This fear is a driving force in her life, causing her to seek out approval and acceptance from anyone who will take her. Further, if she ever feels like someone she considers "above her" is displeased with her, she will panic, and do whatever it takes to regain their acceptance and approval. When isolated from any sort of group or community to belong to, her coping mechanisms tend towards recklessness and self-endangerment, as she will just double-down on her adrenaline junkie nature to avoid having to think about being alone.
On a less serious note, she is scared of spiders, and after one especially bad job gone wrong, she doesn't trust ovens or stove-tops anymore- everything she eats is either fast food, cooked for her by someone else, or made in the microwave. Also has a healthy fear of deep-fryers, but that's unrelated; she just thinks they're super unsafe and sketchy as hell.
Style of Self-Expression: Outwardly, Russet exudes confidence in abundance, her ego bloated to bursting, and a cocky grin on her face more often than not. Impulsive and excitable, with a quick temper that's usually more bark than bite. She's got some anger issues to work through, and while she's mellowed out considerably since her gang days, she can still come across as much more aggressive than she intends. She's self-assured of her set of particular skills, and she has no problem expressing that. Definitely extroverted as hell, and twitchy as a goddamn powder keg, always looking for something else to do. She also doesn't mince words a bit- if she has something to say, she'll blurt it out without hesitation, or any regard for the effect her words might have.
Internally, she is a lot more insecure, and a lot of her bluster proves to be attention-seeking attempts, and a genuine lack of impulse control. While she blurts out pretty much anything else, it takes a herculean effort to get her to open up about her fears and self-doubts. Emotional honesty is hard for her, and she's much more likely to just try and hide her real feelings under a veil of noisy bravado, or drown them out with distractions and materialism than to actually deal with the root causes of her many issues.
Most Important Thing: While loyalty is absolutely Russet's greatest value, and she views traitors as less than human, scum of the earth, there are times when her own loyalty has been tested. Her resolve is strong, and she has nearly always been able to put aside her personal temptations and desires for the sake of her chosen community, but there were times when she was younger when this wasn't always the case. Specifically, she has gone after those who have, in her eyes, disrespected her, or the group she belongs to, in any way, and if the disrespect was severe enough, then she went after them even in direct conflict with being told not to, resulting in harsh reprimanding by Garrick, and the last time she did so, resulting in her being expelled from the band, as her vendetta escalated the ongoing succession conflicts regarding their band's parent operation.
She has a hard time letting things go, and holds grudges indefinitely. A sufficiently deep insult would test her resolve to obey her superiors, and if given the right opportunity, she could easily lash out and go rogue in order to bring down whoever gave the insult, even while being fully conscious and aware of the consequences her actions might have, as her deep, strong, fears of abandonment and rejection are tested by her anger and need for perceived justice.
Russet hasn't had an easy life, that much is for damn sure.
Born to a struggling single mother in the Ground District, the game was rigged against her from the start. She was about six or seven when her mom kicked the bucket, killed in a mugging attempt by a couple of thugs. This left her on the streets, by herself, as soon as the little bit of money her mother had tucked under the mattress ran out.
Hungry, alone, and scared, it was easy to come across the wrong kind of people.
As a kid, especially a really young one, she was easy enough to rope into a gang. A little food here, some new shoes there, all in exchange for running messages around, or carrying a bag a few blocks away. Simple things, that kids were good at- nobody would suspect her, or really even notice her.
As years went by, though, she got bolder, and she got angrier, and she got much, much, more aggressive as she moved up the ranks within the little group she'd found for herself. They kept her fed, gave her a place to stay eventually, and as soon as she was old enough to try taking on more dangerous, and more lucrative, work, she did.
A natural tinkerer, it was only a matter of time before she picked up a couple of useful trades in the underground- lockpicking and cracking safes came easily to her, and she got pretty good at ducking in and out of houses with small valuables. Breaking into vehicles was a natural next step, and something else she excelled at, early on, followed shortly after by driving them. But her real use to the band was made clear when she started messing with some of the weapons they produced and sold on the streets- good as she was at getting into places, she was far more valuable for her knack for fixing the guns they ran, and later on, for building her own, and making her own ammunition, saving Garrick a good deal of up-front costs and maintenance.
She got on pretty well with the group for a time, though she was always hotheaded as hell, picking fights with anyone who looked at her wrong. Which, inevitably, proved to be her undoing, as she couldn't handle it when one of the rival gang leaders in the area started running his mouth about her own leader. She went after him, got her ass kicked, and barely made it out alive, thanks to a handful of her crew that were nearby at the time, but what was done, was done- she'd gotten Garrick and the rest of the Coral Flowers in some deep shit with a rival gang, right about when the criminal underworld of Mistral was tensing up for war, to start with.
She was given the boot, as a mercy, shortly after that.
From there, now twenty and angry as hell, she went on to try going solo, but quickly found that she wasn't cut out for the kind of logistical planning that went into pulling off a heist on her own- she was busted immediately, and by some good fortune, found herself locked up in an experimental prisoner rehabilitation center, outside of the main city, near the village of Rochdale. Which may not have been as good as it seemed- she was kept doped up with a prototype of a new version of the Emotional Damper drugs used in the Faunus Wars, just a few years back, and when she finally got out two years later, she was hit with horrible withdrawal symptoms, leaving her with some noticeable physical and mental tics that still haven't recovered all the way.
But she had made it out, in the end, and now, in the wake of the Coral Flowers disbanding, she was hungry for another group to call her own, and for some atonement for her crimes, in her younger days. She sat in on one of the first town hall meetings lead by the newly formed Kerch Kozaks, and soon after, volunteered to become one of their Iron Wolves, offering up her skills. She managed to prove herself well enough, and moved up the ranks from newly initiated grunt, to slightly-better grunt, which is where she is currently, working to mend her old ways and do better for her community.
 | [attr=class,title nomargin]Age 22 [attr=class,title]Gender Female [attr=class,title]Faction Kerch Kozaks [attr=class,title]Tier Freshman [attr=class,title]Face Claim Original* [attr=class,title]OOC Name Jay |
[attr=class,main-title-left unaffiliated]Character Traits
Date of Birth: Nov. 15, 5 AV
Species: Human
Romantic Orientation: Who knows, really?
Aura Color: Reddish-Brown
Height: 170 cm / 5'6"
Weight: 50 kg / 114 lb
Color Naming Rule: Russet = reddish-brown, like the potato. Bruin = Dutch for Brown.
[attr=class,main-title-right unaffiliated]Combat And Inventory
[attr=class,title]Semblance
Semblance Name: Slip'n'Stick
Rank of Semblance: E
Primary/Secondary Category: Obstacle (+2)
Semblance Type: Physical Boost
One Sentence Summary of Semblance: Russet Bruin has the Physical Boost semblance of Slip'n'Stick which allows the wielder to increase or decrease friction against her body, to move more freely, or grip objects better.
Description of Semblance: Using Slip'n'Stick, Russet can alternate at will between loosening friction's effect on her body ("Slipping"), and strengthening it ("Sticking"). When Slipping, she is able to slide freely along most surfaces, including some attacks that are thrown at her, which glide right off. In this way, her Semblance is capable of acting as an Agility ability of equal rank. However, she is able to switch her Semblance to strengthen her friction, which allows her to instead Stick to surfaces at will, with friction holding her body in place, allowing her to cling to surfaces, which makes climbing easier, and even makes crawling on walls and coarsely textured ceilings possible for her. In this way, her Semblance is capable of acting as an Acrobatics ability of equal rank.
Drawbacks of Semblance: Aside from the obvious Aura drain of using her Semblance over time, she isn't exactly immune to the laws of physics (aside from the one she tells to fuck off, that is). If she is Slipping, she is helpless to the whims of gravity, unless she switches to Sticking, and while Sticking, her mobility is limited until she begins Slipping again, or reverts to normal movement. And while she has gotten good at switching between those three states on the fly, she can still be caught offguard. Likewise, while she is able to use her ability on herself, she can't affect other people, aside from their interactions with her, which are themselves made less effective because of dealing with other peoples' Auras- put simply, she has to work a lot harder to affect her personal friction with unwilling people involved, since her Aura generally has less than a second or two to adapt and mold itself to the oncoming Auras of others- this means that while she can deflect some attacks, she is not always successful, and some still manage to get through, despite her best efforts. Her Semblance also works very poorly when interacting with liquids- a wet floor, she can handle, and extremely viscous liquids, like freshly poured cement, she can deal with. But if her feet or hands are fully submerged in any ordinary liquid, she can't actually use her Semblance to cling to, or glide across, any surfaces. She also cannot Stick to surfaces made of little pieces, like gravel, sand, or woodchips, as her Semblance clings to the individual bits, and is therefore useless without something to grip onto.
[attr=class,title]Weapon(s)
Weapon Name: Tinderbox
Rank of Weapon(s): E
Category: Combatants (+1)
Description of Weapons(s): Tinderbox is a compact imitation of an FN P90 submachinegun that Russet built herself, from assorted firearm pieces in her old gang's workshop. Between the model's natural built-in reflex sight and high-velocity ammunition, and her own custom enhancements, including a form-fitted grip and a quick-loader mechanism that can also implement Dust-enhanced ammunition, it is a work of art, as much as it is a highly efficient weapon. It's also painted pink, because style is very important. She also carries a bowie knife, holstered in her hip sheath, for if things ever get dicey up close, or if she runs out of bullets.
With recent upgrades, and in light of recent events, she has added a watertight holster to her regular arsenal, and has further modified her gun, applying a rudimentary transforming mechanism that extends the barrel, and reveals a long-range scope, allowing her weapon to be used as a rifle for sniping and other longer-range engagements.
[attr=class,title]Non-Combat Abilities
Name of Non-Combat Ability: Fixer-Upper (Gunsmithing)
Rank of Non-Combat Ability: D
Category: Social (+2)
Description of Non-Combat Ability: Working with the Kerch Kozaks (now Revolutionary League) has definitely allowed Russet's natural talent for tinkering to flourish- the guns she builds look a lot nicer, work a lot better, and she's proven herself very resourceful with the limited armaments of the militia group. It's not easy kitting everybody out with the best gear her workshop can handle, but she manages. She can currently build and repair most firearms up to her current rank in the skill, and even makes her own ammunition- mostly gunpowder-based, but she's working on implementing dust ammunition into her toolbox.
Name of Non-Combat Ability: Jacked Up (Carjacking)
Rank of Non-Combat Ability: E
Category: Social (+1)
Description of Non-Combat Ability: One of the first real useful criminal skills Russet picked up with her old crew. She's like fucking MacGyver when it comes to breaking into cars and hotwiring them- she'll use whatever she's got lying around. Unfortunately, she never really did pick up a whole lot of finesse with these skills- she can get away with taking junkier cars and bikes in less populated/trafficked areas, but she makes a hell of a lot of noise doing it.
Name of Noncombat Ability: Road Demon (Driving)
Rank of Noncombat Ability: D
Category: Obstacle (+2)
Description of Combat Ability: Which is where her driving skills come in handy. She's been driving since she was twelve, and she isn't bad at it- she can't quite drive trickier vehicles like semi trucks or helicopters yet, but she can get around quick and dirty in just about any car, pickup, or motorcycle. Especially the latter- her Harley is her pride and joy, and the only vehicle she's ever actually bought.
Name of Non-Combat Ability: Listen Close (Safecracking)
Rank of Non-Combat Ability: F
Category: Obstacle (+0)
Description of Non-Combat Ability: Anyone can handle a locked door, but it takes a real master to crack a safe. A lot of it is just patience, and fancier lockpicking, but Russet's got it down to something of a science- she can get in and out of a secure safe in about twenty minutes, and in much less, for the kinds of safes she used to break into, which were usually rusty, beaten up, and cheaply made. And as an added bonus, she can usually size up a lock or safe pretty quickly, for any useful info on it.
Name of Non-Combat Ability: Tag, You're It (Graffiti)
Rank of Non-Combat Ability: F
Category: Social (+0)
Description of Non-Combat Ability: It passed the time when she was bored as a kid, that's for sure- spray paint's cheap, and if you're lucky, and fast, you can snag a can from some other unlucky gutter punk to use for yourself for a while. Until someone else comes by to swipe yours. It's the circle of life. Russet's pretty handy with spray paint and some stencils- not the greatest, and definitely not as artistic as certain other street artists. She alternates between an elaborate "RUS" tag, and a much sillier, more fun, potato, always with a different goofy face. Childhood nicknames stick, you know?
[attr=class,title]Combat Abilities
Name of Combat Ability: Fast Feet (Speed)
Rank of Combat Ability: E
Category: Obstacle (+1)
Description of Combat Ability: Good for running. Which is a skill she picked up a long time ago. You gotta be quick on your feet growing up in the Ground District, yeah? Russet's pretty damn quick, moving at about the speed of a journeyman runner (28 km/hr).
Name of Combat Ability: Itchy Fingers (Marksmanship)
Rank of Combat Ability: E
Category: Combat (+1)
Description of Combat Ability: Her trigger finger, that is. And probably the rest of her fingers, considering she's usually fidgeting with them. But not when she's shooting. Russet's pretty handy with her piece, and she's damn good as a Marksman. Easily accurate up to the length of a telephone pole (10-12 meters), and absolutely deadly; it might be the only time she's ever intensely focused on any one thing, aside from her safecracking and carjacking.
Name of Combat Ability: Soft Steps (Stealth)
Rank of Combat Ability: E
Category: Obstacle (+1)
Description of Combat Ability: Sometimes it's smart to keep your head down and stay out of trouble. And sometimes, trouble finds you anyways, and you need to break away and lay low for a bit. Russet's pretty good at moving around unseen.
[attr=class,main-title-left unaffiliated]Character Information
[attr=class,title]Vitals
Primary Drive: Russet is primarily driven by her deep craving for a sense of belonging and a need for something to be a part of. Brought on in her childhood, as a street urchin, she was always desperate for attention, whether positive or negative, and joining up with the Coral Flowers was the first time in her life that she had found that sense of belonging. When she was kicked out just prior the group's ultimately fatal succession wars, she found that she couldn't handle being on her own very well, and ended up arrested. Joining the Kozaks happened almost immediately when she got back out, after hearing of them through the grapevine.
All in all, though, she is driven by community and loyalty as primary values, with her thrill-seeking, money-hungry, nature coming second.
In the short-term, she is generally always looking for new opportunities to make a fast buck, and she is very easily financially motivated, though she won't generally bite the hands that feed her, for any reasonable amount of money. In her eyes, a traitor is worse than anything else you could be, and deserves nothing but death, so her monetary aims will generally always lose out to her organization loyalty. Aside from money, she is motivated largely by the promise of adventure and cheap thrills, so if something seems like a fun idea, she will usually go for it, as long as it doesn't contradict her stronger values.
Long-term, she simply wants to be happy, reasonably wealthy, and in a position where she can be a part of some greater good. She doesn't fancy herself as any sort of leadership figure, but she believes she can make a damn good cog in the wheel, which is what she wants to do for the Kerch Kozaks. In a more introspective sense, she also knows that she has done a lot of bad things in life, and wants to atone for those deeds, even though she wouldn't consider them mistakes. Therefore, she strives to give something back to the Ground District community, as reparations for her years spent as a criminal.
In terms of a moral code, and a sense of idealism, she believes firmly in loyalty to those that do right by you, and in returning the favor. Karmic justice is a real force in her mind, and one that she isn't above doling out herself when she feels like it's the right thing to do. She has no delusions that she is a good person, even though she tries to do more good than harm. Likewise, she doesn't tend to try to justify a lot of her less-than-noble actions too much; she knows that a lot of what she does is wrong, she just acknowledges it and moves on, aiming to at least be authentic in her ethical shortcomings, at most, attempting to pay forward whatever she takes from others; if she steals a loaf of bread, then she will give two loaves to someone who needs them, next time she is able.
But above all else, when the chips are down, she will always concede to whatever authority figure she considers to be her superior.
Fears: Being alone, and rejection. And ultimately, discovering her own uselessness. In tandem with her need to belong to a group, her deepest fear is that some day, whatever group she is in may decide that they don't need her anymore, a fear that was only strengthened by Garrick kicking her out of the band. This fear is a driving force in her life, causing her to seek out approval and acceptance from anyone who will take her. Further, if she ever feels like someone she considers "above her" is displeased with her, she will panic, and do whatever it takes to regain their acceptance and approval. When isolated from any sort of group or community to belong to, her coping mechanisms tend towards recklessness and self-endangerment, as she will just double-down on her adrenaline junkie nature to avoid having to think about being alone.
On a less serious note, she is scared of spiders, and after one especially bad job gone wrong, she doesn't trust ovens or stove-tops anymore- everything she eats is either fast food, cooked for her by someone else, or made in the microwave. Also has a healthy fear of deep-fryers, but that's unrelated; she just thinks they're super unsafe and sketchy as hell.
Style of Self-Expression: Outwardly, Russet exudes confidence in abundance, her ego bloated to bursting, and a cocky grin on her face more often than not. Impulsive and excitable, with a quick temper that's usually more bark than bite. She's got some anger issues to work through, and while she's mellowed out considerably since her gang days, she can still come across as much more aggressive than she intends. She's self-assured of her set of particular skills, and she has no problem expressing that. Definitely extroverted as hell, and twitchy as a goddamn powder keg, always looking for something else to do. She also doesn't mince words a bit- if she has something to say, she'll blurt it out without hesitation, or any regard for the effect her words might have.
Internally, she is a lot more insecure, and a lot of her bluster proves to be attention-seeking attempts, and a genuine lack of impulse control. While she blurts out pretty much anything else, it takes a herculean effort to get her to open up about her fears and self-doubts. Emotional honesty is hard for her, and she's much more likely to just try and hide her real feelings under a veil of noisy bravado, or drown them out with distractions and materialism than to actually deal with the root causes of her many issues.
Most Important Thing: While loyalty is absolutely Russet's greatest value, and she views traitors as less than human, scum of the earth, there are times when her own loyalty has been tested. Her resolve is strong, and she has nearly always been able to put aside her personal temptations and desires for the sake of her chosen community, but there were times when she was younger when this wasn't always the case. Specifically, she has gone after those who have, in her eyes, disrespected her, or the group she belongs to, in any way, and if the disrespect was severe enough, then she went after them even in direct conflict with being told not to, resulting in harsh reprimanding by Garrick, and the last time she did so, resulting in her being expelled from the band, as her vendetta escalated the ongoing succession conflicts regarding their band's parent operation.
She has a hard time letting things go, and holds grudges indefinitely. A sufficiently deep insult would test her resolve to obey her superiors, and if given the right opportunity, she could easily lash out and go rogue in order to bring down whoever gave the insult, even while being fully conscious and aware of the consequences her actions might have, as her deep, strong, fears of abandonment and rejection are tested by her anger and need for perceived justice.
[attr=class,title]History Freeform
Russet hasn't had an easy life, that much is for damn sure.
Born to a struggling single mother in the Ground District, the game was rigged against her from the start. She was about six or seven when her mom kicked the bucket, killed in a mugging attempt by a couple of thugs. This left her on the streets, by herself, as soon as the little bit of money her mother had tucked under the mattress ran out.
Hungry, alone, and scared, it was easy to come across the wrong kind of people.
As a kid, especially a really young one, she was easy enough to rope into a gang. A little food here, some new shoes there, all in exchange for running messages around, or carrying a bag a few blocks away. Simple things, that kids were good at- nobody would suspect her, or really even notice her.
As years went by, though, she got bolder, and she got angrier, and she got much, much, more aggressive as she moved up the ranks within the little group she'd found for herself. They kept her fed, gave her a place to stay eventually, and as soon as she was old enough to try taking on more dangerous, and more lucrative, work, she did.
A natural tinkerer, it was only a matter of time before she picked up a couple of useful trades in the underground- lockpicking and cracking safes came easily to her, and she got pretty good at ducking in and out of houses with small valuables. Breaking into vehicles was a natural next step, and something else she excelled at, early on, followed shortly after by driving them. But her real use to the band was made clear when she started messing with some of the weapons they produced and sold on the streets- good as she was at getting into places, she was far more valuable for her knack for fixing the guns they ran, and later on, for building her own, and making her own ammunition, saving Garrick a good deal of up-front costs and maintenance.
She got on pretty well with the group for a time, though she was always hotheaded as hell, picking fights with anyone who looked at her wrong. Which, inevitably, proved to be her undoing, as she couldn't handle it when one of the rival gang leaders in the area started running his mouth about her own leader. She went after him, got her ass kicked, and barely made it out alive, thanks to a handful of her crew that were nearby at the time, but what was done, was done- she'd gotten Garrick and the rest of the Coral Flowers in some deep shit with a rival gang, right about when the criminal underworld of Mistral was tensing up for war, to start with.
She was given the boot, as a mercy, shortly after that.
From there, now twenty and angry as hell, she went on to try going solo, but quickly found that she wasn't cut out for the kind of logistical planning that went into pulling off a heist on her own- she was busted immediately, and by some good fortune, found herself locked up in an experimental prisoner rehabilitation center, outside of the main city, near the village of Rochdale. Which may not have been as good as it seemed- she was kept doped up with a prototype of a new version of the Emotional Damper drugs used in the Faunus Wars, just a few years back, and when she finally got out two years later, she was hit with horrible withdrawal symptoms, leaving her with some noticeable physical and mental tics that still haven't recovered all the way.
But she had made it out, in the end, and now, in the wake of the Coral Flowers disbanding, she was hungry for another group to call her own, and for some atonement for her crimes, in her younger days. She sat in on one of the first town hall meetings lead by the newly formed Kerch Kozaks, and soon after, volunteered to become one of their Iron Wolves, offering up her skills. She managed to prove herself well enough, and moved up the ranks from newly initiated grunt, to slightly-better grunt, which is where she is currently, working to mend her old ways and do better for her community.
[attr=class,cs-bottom unaffiliated]
*Profile Art by MikeDrawArt and Kretsker. App Image taken from SAO: Fatal Bullet Create-a-Character
