Sybal Heim Application ~ Artemis

(History and power clarification update ~ 9/4/2015)

Heyo, very excited to apply. Modified my Artemis for this since I really wanted to use him! Here is the bird child. I'll be referring to him as "Artemis" throughout for simplicity too.)

Asset Sheet with extra visuals can be found here!




~The song that fits him~

Name: Rayu Yeong-ryong (Rayu 영룡)

Nicknames: Artemis, Art

Nicknames given to him as they are easier to pronounce than his first name. Most will refer to him simply as "Artemis".

Age: 13

Physical Age: 13

Height: 150cm (~4'11 ft, 5 ft counting his hair.)

Hair: Medium brown.

A layered, messy, and choppy haircut with too many cowlicks to manage; The bed head is surprising considering he doesn't usually sleep in one.

Eyes: Medium gray.

True gray, not a shade of light blue.

Faction:  Insurgent.

While initially fairly neutral upon entering the city, even fascinated and excited with everything, the inability to leave hit him pretty hard. It was at this time that Ashika scouted him as a potential insurgent recruit. Artemis' motivations, own doubts of the city (which rumours about Basileus only helped fuel), and the ideology of the Insurgents swayed him greatly and coaxed him into supporting them. He became consumed by it, dedicating himself to trying to actively help and become a member. 

He tries to prove himself as much as he can by helping wherever they will let him, showing almost frightful eagerness in their cause.

Occupation: Ring Fighter.

He started off working in agriculture for a few days, helping as a chicken farmer. This was simple and familiar to him from back home, but he became curious about fighting rings after stumbling into them.

After trying some out he realized he enjoyed the fights more than farming, especially in working with his advantages and disadvantages for both human and sybal form in the ring. He quickly joined as a fighter in the rings that allowed betting, to make some money from it. With only that as his "job", the money he earns is inconsistent and dependent on how he does in fights.

He travels around to different district's rings to participate. After learning about the Met, he would like to try taking a more legitimate fighter position. He goes by the name "Artemis" in the rings.

He experiments greatly with his fighting style, but is showing preference with hand-to-hand combat emphasizing quickness and exploiting opponents weaknesses and mistakes.
As such, it can argue that (while human) he may play it a bit more defensively by allowing his opponent to attack first so that he can react to it.
Combat in his sybal form is usually quite different: he emphasizes close range attacks and attempts to overwhelm his opponents by force and use of his sybal power. He will likely try to get as close as he can to ensure that his hand makes contact.

Sybal Form: The Tri-Eye Ossifrage

A gangly tall bird resembling a bearded vulture, with one arm instead of wings. A three-eyed vulture skull with no lower jaw sits within a bundle of neck feathers. Elongated limbs are covered at the knees and palm with wrappings from his human form. His scarf and waist sash also carry over to this form. Smaller fur-like feathers cover his body, with the brown ones sometimes varying in shade with each sybal transformation. Occasionally they have more hints of white or pink to them, but they typically stay in the realm of a rustic orange brown.

A long wedge-shaped tail helps keep his balance in his usual hunched-over posture. Fully straight he stands at about 10 ft tall. Hunched over he's around 7 ft. He is able to walk upright on his feet, and also on three limbs; he often does a mixture of this as he climbs.

Three white glowing pupils peer out from the apparent blackness of the inside of the skull. Due to the position of the third middle socket, that pupil is usually pointed upwards if the skull is completely horizontal. This allows him to see above himself without looking up, as this middle pupil can move independently of the other two.

The skull is not attached to his body, giving the impression that it's merely sitting in the feather bundle. By anyone, the skull can be moved from it's position. It can only go about 5ft in radius from his body at maximum. It must be held/tugged/pushed to be moved, as the moment it is free from grip and obstruction it will snap back almost magnet-like to its usual position. As such, it cannot fall off, be thrown, rolled, or so forth. The only "practical" application this has is if he uses it to see from different positions or angles. Besides that, it is mostly the butt of many unsettling jokes (see asset sheet).

Sybal Power: Spirit Rings

On command and through touch, he is able to let off an explosion through white "floating" energy rings that travel down his arm to his hand. He is only able to do this through his left arm, and not other limbs or protrusions.

These explosions are accompanied by the shock-wave, sound, smoke, debris, and sometimes fire of a regular explosion as a byproduct. The shock-waves and sound in specific cannot harm anyone- they are unable to damage eardrums, internal organs, and so forth. However they will cause noise and some structural damage, and they may be able to frighten, topple over, or disorient the senses of sybals momentarily. One of his shock-waves alone cannot kill living things. While he is seemingly immune to his own shock-waves, Artemis has no control over the fire, smoke, or debris that he may cause. Those will affect him the same as others.

The ring must make the motion of traveling from his shoulder down his arm to his hand before an explosion can happen. This travel motion takes about 1-2 seconds, before the explosion happens afterwards. His hand must be in contact with something when the ring reaches his palm for an explosion to happen, though it does not have to be when he starts the motion of the ring travelling down his arm. If he lets go/something is wrenched from his grip/is not touching something and so forth, then the ring will simply disappear into nothing after burning his hand some. In general, he needs to be touching a physical object. He can not let off explosions by just "touching" something like air or gas-substances, but he can still use his ability by "touching" liquids.

Simple finger touches are enough for him to use his ability, though the power will be diminished to some degree. The more surface area of contact his hand makes, the greater the power. Anything below his wrist is fair game in terms of it counting as "making contact", but from his wrist and up it will not count. If someone were to grab his arm to stop him, it would be advisable to do so in a way to make sure he cannot reach around and touch them back. To some degree, the explosions' power is also affected by his velocity and force. A punch would naturally produce a stronger explosion than a tap.

While powerful, his explosions will never reach the magnitude of being able to level a whole building in one go. It would take several successful hits for him to be able to do so, and even then the building would mostly collapse on itself because of the missing chunks in structural damage. In addition, it may take some time if he would want to do it safely - using his powers too fast in succession increases the burn recoil and drains his energy. He's not the best at waiting for his palm to cool down though.

Attempting to touch a ring while it is in transition down his arm will not have any affect. Although they cast a white glow, they would not be considered physical objects that can be touched. In a situation where the ring would touch against something or partially go through an object, it will simply clip through and have no effect on said object; His power would continue as usual. The visual of the ring and it's motions are more of a representation of him using his ability, and it will be shown each time he does so.

Docile or Feral: Feral.

As an emotionally driven person, this is amplified further in his sybal form. Almost like in overdrive, he will act out stronger in their response and to his core personality traits.

For example, if he is happy in response to someone he will hug/hold them and make it quite known. Likewise, aggression and fear is taken further as well. Think of this as there being less "in-between" with his emotions and actions - typically either mild or extreme.

When threatened, attacked, or provoked, he will fight back and pursue relentlessly. This proves useful in the fighting rings to make him a better opponent, but he will often take things too far. Like a "one-track mind" he will continue until he either transforms back to human, finishes the job, or is coaxed/distracted into doing something else that evokes a different emotion to occupy him.

Thankfully this distraction is not as difficult to do, as he's still quite naive. His loyalty could be used by another to ask for specific tasks - for good or for bad. Any moral compass he has here is barely functional, and he will comply with many requests if asked by a person he shows fondness towards.

Outside of the fighting rings, he's usually fairly quiet and calm towards other sybals. Curiosity usually drives him if he's left alone, and he often snoops or goes/breaks into random buildings just to look around. He would typically be described as a feathered inconvenience, mostly because he doesn't attack or steal anything while doing so - just looks around a bit then leaves.

Sometimes he can be seen entertaining other sybals if in conversation, though he usually prefers to watch sybals go about their own business quietly. He often gives off the impression of being only a circumstantial feral sybal to those that don't know him by day.

Personality: Loyal, naive, reckless, curious, impulsive.

While Artemis is loyal to a fault, fully investing himself in what he believes in, he still has enough sense to not announce this to the world. Publicly, the most he might show is some mild complaining. He generally does not comment on those matters, as he was taught it is safer to keep quiet. Because he is still grateful for having safer shelter and food, it can be difficult to believe he is as dedicated as he is, and not simply a Disciple himself.

His naive-ness can get the better of him, and he is often easily manipulated without realizing it. His young age doesn't help much here either. Things can be twisted for explanation or justification, and it is likely he will believe it.

Though his intentions are good, the way he goes about his actions may not reflect that clearly. He may do dangerous and reckless things simply for an end result, putting himself and others at risk in the process. Behind every action, no matter if good or bad, is his core "good intent" that drove him. He has been criticized on this, and it is a bit hard for him to grasp where he went wrong or how to prevent mistakes.

In tandem with this, he acts on impulse and gives little thought or planning to consequences if left to make his own decisions. Others can help slow him down and keep him in check, where he will then make an effort to listen to them.

He often wanders off by himself without warning, sometimes getting into trouble in the process. In general, he does enjoy exploring each district - especially getting to try all of their different foods which continue to awe him. He appears as a fairly happy, determined, and energetic child, but he can shut down quite quickly in response to yelling and being made to feel worthless or incompetent.

When it comes to friends or any sense of group, belonging, or "family", he becomes attached and protective quickly, latching on to almost anyone who shows an above average level of kindness and attention to him. He fears the lose of these, and will try to uphold his relationships as much as he can. Artemis can be quite talkative around them, often attempting to make (bad) jokes or witty comments.

History: Artemis was born in Korea in 1877, oddly enough being mixed in the time. He took his French dad's last name, with his mom being native Korean. His family was split apart fairly quickly though - his dad being an active Christian missionary and returning to the task not long after Artemis was born, leaving him and his mom behind while he was gone for months on end.

The two of them moved around often to avoid war conflicts and religious persecution, making it increasingly more difficult for his dad to meet back with them on occasion. Several years of this eventually prompted his dad to no longer having a presence, in a sense "dropping out" of the family without notice. Not long after this, and unknowing to the rest of his family, his father was killed in persecution.

Besides the moves, Artemis and his mom tried to live quiet lives together. They worked farms and their own resources to survive, keeping more to themselves to avoid the discrimination. She tried to keep some consistency with his schooling but this was very difficult.

Eventually, when Artemis was about 11, he was captured as part of a human trafficking ring and separated from his mom. Whether this had anything to do with him being mixed, he still does not know. They kept him for a bit less than 2 years, forcing him into child labour...among other things. It was also during this time where he lost his right arm.

At 13 he finally managed to escape, immediately running into the woods of Sybal Heim as it appeared to him because of his longing of his mother and home - but more so anyplace safe and away from the trafficking ring. It took several days for him to begin to calm down after entering the city, his extreme fear showing itself in his sybal form and his behavior easily earning him a classification as a feral sybal. (The surge of emotions and his own experiences weigh heavily into why his sybal form looks and acts the way it does.)

Slowly he began to adjust to his newer life, one with better food and shelter than before. It took him some time to become accustomed to all of the different cultures present, but he eventually took greater curiosity in this and the dynamics of the city. There was definitely more to see and learn than what he'd ever seen back home. For familiarity's sake, he still prefers Heilig as his "home".

He took a job as a chicken farmer after being left to "fend for himself" in the city, feeling rather shaky in his confidence as to whether he would actually be able to do so or not. After a few days of this he quit and joined the underground fighting rings, progressing there with more success. He was quite tired of manual labour and believed that, if he wanted to succeed at something, he would need to place his full attention there - thus his reluctance to juggle another "job" at the same time.

He quickly discovered that he couldn't leave Sybal Heim one night in the forest, when he tried to do so with the intention of finding his mother and potentially bringing her here. While the string of explosions from his overreaction in realization didn't cause harm to anyone (just some trees), it was enough for Ashika to notice. It was proposed there that he should attend some Insurgent meetings.

Learning about the Insurgents and their mission resonated well with him and prompted him to support their cause as he believed they would be able to do something to "un-trap" them all and allow him to reunite with his mom. The "catch" of Sybal Heim left him doubting his initial impression of it as a sanctuary, and made him pay more attention to rumours and discussion.

Fueled by this, he dedicates most of his effort to supporting the cause (however they will let him) when he is not in the fighting rings on occasion.
Having only been in Sybal Heim for a few months (but still under a year), he is still very much trying to find his way and living in it.

(A fair amount of this is out of character knowledge for readers, as Artemis would only briefly talk about his history. He may give a shortened version to those he is closer with, but he often states that there is not much to say.)

Additional Info:

- He knows two languages: Korean and Sybalian. To some degree he can understand French but he didn't pick it up in terms of speaking fluently.
- He has a somewhat late birthday (August 23rd), hence why he would still be mentally 13 if the rp takes place in the earlier months of 1891.
- Artemis' voice is deeper than one would expect, though his child body and age makes him a bit hard to take seriously. In his sybal form however, most expect him to be older than he actually is.
- If it isn't already apparent, both his human and sybal form are missing their right arm at around the shoulder.
- He has personal doubts as to whether his age and disability will hold him back from succeeding as an Insurgent, though he has never voiced this to anyone.
- He wears the palm wrappings during the day as well to cover some faded burn marks, from use of his sybal power. The wrappings help him lessen recoil slightly as they are first to burn off before it really starts getting to his palm.
- Knowledge of his sybal power is not typically known outside of the fighting rings, as he uses this to a much lesser degree outside during the night. Outside of fights, his sybal power is only sometimes used for requested tasks (Did someone say demolition help?) or to get past what he would deem as pesky barriers.
- Because of the above and his breaking-and-entering, he has likely gotten into at least some trouble with the civilian law for his actions.
- He has never done time in Kardia or ever tried to curiously break into it, likely because he does not know much about the inner sections of the city.
- Upon entering the city he was rather ecstatic in being able to choose his own clothing and colours, going a bit wild with this. It took a few weeks for him to calm down and start on more reasonable choices.
- Freedom and choice is still something he is getting accustomed too...as well as consequences. He's learning that freedom does not literally mean "you can do anything you want".
- Money is another thing he is still learning how to manage, with difficulty, by himself.
- Sometimes he will put on flats to walk around in, but in general he prefers going bare foot.
- On occasion he might lie about his age and claim to be older, though it isn't always believable. There are giveaways in his behaviour and speech.
- He will also lie about his nationality if asked, preferring to just state something along the lines of "Korean" and not divulging that he's mixed just in case. Despite all the cultures present in Sybal Heim he still has worries there may be repercussions if he is found out. For safety's sake he would deny being mixed if his features were pointed out and questioned.
- Though he grew up with clashing religions in his life before Sybal Heim, Artemis hasn't shown much preference or devotion to any in particular. This is a combination of the fact that it's still lost on someone as young as he is, and that he's seen quite a number of things happen because of religion and against it - he doesn't want this to follow him into Sybal Heim as well.
- If he knew of the Irizima's existence, he would immediately set it as his goal and dream to become one.
... - Will add more as I remember them!


~

Sybal Heim © 
Artemis Rayu ©