Cat's Creations

[LuckyBlackCat]

Name: Alyson Kael
Pronouns: She/Her
Race: Hylian
Class: Engineer, Pilot

Appearance: While Alyson isn't particularly tall at 5'5", she has a toned and athletic body because of her construction work. With her deep tan skin, and her wavy black hair that's always unkempt even when she ties it back in a loose bun, her love of the outdoors is obvious. Her arms and hands bear a few faded scars from crafting projects gone awry. Her wide, dark brown eyes often have an intrigued gleam as she explores her latest destination.

As far as clothing goes, she opts for practicality, with simple loose-fitting tunics and trousers, and sturdy boots. She nearly always has a pair of bulky goggles on her head, and a leather toolbelt at her waist, almost comically overloaded with pouches and various crafting implements. In order to defend herself against monsters in the air and on the sky islands, she carries a boomerang at her belt, designed to resemble a swift's wings.

Biography: Alyson has been on the move since early childhood. During the Calamity, various small settlements arose as people tried to rebuild what their ancestors had lost, only for those settlements to fall overnight. Born in one such makeshift village in central Hyrule, Alyson witnessed its destruction at the hands of monsters when she was six, and was forced to flee.

Her father, a stonemason, and her mother, a carpenter, sought work wherever they could, which usually meant helping with more rebuilding projects that ultimately proved futile. That incident wasn't the last time she woke in the night to the stench of smoke and the clashing of weapons. Eventually, the family's travels took them to one of the few places in Hyrule that was still thriving; Hateno Village in East Necluda. They opened a store selling furniture and sculptures, and Alyson learned the art of carpentry.

When the Calamity ended, so did the looming threat that the newfound peace would be shattered - or so it seemed. A few years later, the Upheaval happened, throwing the kingdom into uncertainty once again. Determined to help with reconstruction work, Alyson took on the perfect career opportunity - a job with Hudson's Construction. The requirements were a little odd, with the boss only accepting people whose names ended in "son", but at least that meant she fit the bill.

She found it wasn't just building projects that intrigued her - many of the employees also studied vehicles. Ancient Zonai devices, the likes of which modern society had never seen before. Some took to reverse engineering and expanding on these creations, imbuing them with their own magic. While Alyson had some magical affinity, she hadn't delved into it seriously before, but she took to honing wind magic in order to help with aerial vessels, and moved to Tarrey Town in Akkala to study the devices. Of course, she couldn't resist learning to fly those same vessels, transporting workers to building sites, and adventurers to sky islands. Even when not on official duty, she took to exploring the altered landscape herself.

Her goal is to help connect a divided realm, and enable people to adapt, reclaiming their ravaged land. However, there's another, more selfish reason for her lifestyle - moving around is all she knows. And the thrill of adventure distracts her from deep-seated issues she hides behind an ever-optimistic attitude. Painful memories that still sometimes haunt her dreams. The guilt of having survived when so many others didn't. Fear that, even with Ganondorf defeated and the gloom receding, the next disaster could happen at any moment. Instead of facing her demons, she flies from them, even as they catch up.

Notes:

• While on leave, she often travels to Hebra to develop her wind magic with the Rito. She has a tawny feathered cloak she bought there on her first visit, as protection against the cold weather.
• She flies a small sky vessel named the Loftwing, after the giant birds of ancient myth. The wings are etched with runes, imbuing them with wind magic.
• Despite Akkala being right next to Eldin, she's never visited Death Mountain before. After all, vehicles that are mostly wood don't mesh well with volcanic heat.
• She carries around a notebook and pen, which she uses to sketch designs for vehicles and devices.
• Tends to be over-curious and get in over her head.

[LuckyBlackCat]

Name: Claria Stellamaris
Pronouns: She/Her
Race: Zora
Class: Warrior, Depths explorer

Appearance: An imposing teal-scaled Zora, with a white face, chest and belly, who stands at a proud 7'6". As is typical of her race, she's leanly muscled, and has a long, flexible fish tail at the back of her head. On her forearms are large fins that she keeps folded when not in use. Her yellow eyes regard the world with a cold glare more often than not, flicking around as she looks out for threats, and her posture is almost always a defensive one. It's extremely rare that she lets her guard down.

Her most notable feature is her bioluminescence. Rows of small spots running along the sides of her head-tail and along each of her arms give off a soft green glow, as do her fins, and the large circular light organs on the back of each hand. She can brighten or dim this glow at will, although she can't extinguish it completely unless she's drained from overusing her abilities, meaning stealth isn't her strong point.

Her second most notable feature is the angry red burn scarring that branches out in a fractal pattern from her left collarbone, across her upper torso, down her side, up her neck and jaw to her cheekbone. While she'd normally take pride in battle scars, she's self-conscious about these ones - the damage extends over and distorts the gills just above her clavicle, and it's clear they no longer work as well as they used to. She finds the irony of this just plain embarrassing for a deep sea Zora.

Having had one near-death experience with electricity, and not wanting to draw it to herself in a sudden storm or electric monster attack, she wears as little metal as possible. Her armor consists of a scale mail tunic carved from green-gold shell, lined with fabric to prevent chafing. A ridged collar fans out on either side of her neck, hiding the worst of the scarring, while allowing enough space for her to breathe water to the extent that she still can. She also wears scale mail bracers on her wrists and greaves on her shins, as well as an ornate helm on her forehead. At her hip is a sleek sword with a mother-of-pearl sheen to it, hewn from a tough sea creature carapace her former exploration team dredged up from the ocean floor.

Biography:
Some Zora are meant for the deep. Stemming from a lineage that once lived in the dark recesses of Lanayru Sea, and had made a strong resurgence in her blood, Claria felt its pull ever since childhood. Her body, luminous and built to withstand pressure, was perfectly adapted to it. Of course, it wasn't without its dangers, with monsters roaming land and sea alike, so she had to be prepared. As soon as she'd gone through her growth spurt, and learned self-defense skills, she dived right into her calling both figuratively and literally. Exploring the relics her ancestors had left behind, assisting treasure hunters and pearl divers, learning about the flora and fauna that thrived in the same environment she did.

However, it wasn't in the deep sea that she found herself faced with true danger, but on the surface, near the supposedly safe haven of Zora's Domain. She and some of her fellow exploration shoal were training by the Lanayru waterfalls when a gang of Lizalfos attempted to claim the territory as their own. The group fought back, and had almost succeeded in driving the entire gaggle away, when the shock arrow caught Claria off-guard.

Electricity, for a Zora, is a significant weakness. It was only thanks to timely healing magic, being rushed back to the domain for proper medical treatment, and sheer luck that Claria survived. She drifted in and out of consciousness, resurfaced, made a slow and gruelling recovery. Yet not even the advanced healing her people were known for could fully undo the damage - the scars all over her upper torso went beyond the superficial, and her gills were never the same again. Her days as a guiding light were over. She'd gone from being a fearless roamer of the dark waters to being unable to even sleep in the communal pools. Since her people spent much of their time underwater, she struggled to keep up with them. Between that and the way many of them started treating her like some broken, fragile waif, the rift between her and the others grew wider and wider.

Nonetheless, she put her all into developing her combat skills, in order to guard them and herself against further threats. It didn't improve how they viewed her, especially when the Upheaval happened and the sludge started pouring in, as she'd become extremely sensitive to contaminated water. Her mother, who'd taken to fretting over her on a constant basis and treating her like a child, dragged her into taking refuge in Central Hyrule's safe haven, Lookout Landing. Even though it provided a temporary shelter for anyone who needed it, and had enough surrounding watery spots for her comfort, Claria wasn't going to passively wait out the troubles as everyone expected. Against her mother's urging, she trained with the guards. And during her stay, something else caught her interest.

Something the Sheikah had taken to fervently studying. A newly discovered, unexplored layer of Hyrule. The exact kind of vast abyss she'd always been drawn to.

The Depths.

The chasms led to a world reminiscent of the ocean floor, albeit a twisted, nightmarish version, where perils on the surface couldn't compare to the Gloom-infested creatures that lurked in the shadows. Yet illuminating such a place, and taking on the role of bodyguard to those who researched it, was the exact kind of job she was suited to. And what better way was there to prove herself capable than by braving the Depths? Even long after the regional phenomena died down and she was able to return to Lanayru, she continued her forays into this strange underworld.

Some Zora are meant for the deep. And for Claria, that never changed.

Notes:

• She's able to weaponise her luminescence. From the spots on her hands, she can fire damaging lasers. While her fins are not naturally sharp like those of some Zora, she can envelop them in scythe-like hardlight auras for both offense and defense (this includes the ones on her tail as well as her arms). However, using too much of her light at once will exhaust her, so she tries not to overdepend on it. If she depletes it entirely, it takes several hours to recover, although food and elixirs can speed up the process. Also, even though her eyes are adapted to handle her abilities, going all-out can still dazzle her - not something you want in the Depths.
• She's still extremely agile in the water, so long as she keeps her head above the surface. While she's submerged, significant exertion leaves her breathless, and even in the best of cases she can't comfortably stay under for more than around half an hour.
• Has a tendency to be prideful and defensive. If she gets injured, she'll act like it's just a scratch even if she's bleeding profusely.
• She really, really, REALLY isn't a morning person, and much prefers the night.
• While she obviously loves rain, she despises thunderstorms. Even though she knows it's unlikely she'll get struck, lightning terrifies her (which, being Claria, she goes out of her way to hide).

[LuckyBlackCat]

Name: Micah Basaltridge
Pronouns: He/Him
Race: Goron
Class: Aspiring Chef

Appearance: Big and hulking even by Goron standards. He stands at 9 foot tall, with wide shoulders, a round belly, and longer, stockier legs than those of most of his kind. His skin is the ruddy tone of red clay, his eyes are black and beady, and he wears his white-blond hair in a messy topknot. He has huge scruffy eyebrows, and an equally shaggy goatee. The dark red-brown rocky carapace on his back is thick and craggy, and some of the rocks extend to his shoulders; all of this gives him an intimidating air.

Which belies his oft-withdrawn posture, his soft and expressive gaze, his nervous smiles. This gentle giant has yet to gain confidence, and it shows, although he's trying.

He wears a light tan apron over his fundoshi. On the pocket of the apron is a stylised brown and orange print of a grilled rock roast. He carries his belongings around in this pocket as well as large hip pouches, as a backpack would get in the way of rolling.

Biography: Gorons are born from the earth, but still have a strong sense of family, considering those spawned nearby to be brothers and their primary caregivers to be fathers. In Micah's case, he was raised by a miner who doted on him, bringing back the tastiest, most nutritious minerals he could find after a hard day's work, and teaching him how to make delectable meals with them.

As Micah grew, so did his passion and skill for cooking. His dream was to open a restaurant, which he became all the more determined to do when Vah Rudania's defeat made Goron City less scorching and more accessible, and tourism increased. However, Cooke beat him to it with the Bedrock Bistro. Even Micah's father had to gently tell him that running a competing restaurant would be impractical at best, but reassured him that he could still use his culinary talent in other ways, such as by starting a catering service.

Micah started in his renewed direction, only for two other issues to become apparent. For one, although his grilled rock roasts were impeccable with just the right amount of crust and magmatic heat, his lava soups had perfect combinations of molten minerals, and his salt blends drew people from all over the city, he simply couldn't pull off non-rock meals. He once tried cooking mushrooms in lava, only for them to turn to ash. Another time, he baked a cake using salt instead of sugar. And he didn't realise that sauteed nuts weren't supposed to still have the shells on - nor were they supposed to be charcoal black.

The other issue was he had trouble developing the confidence and charisma he'd need as a businessman. And as it became increasingly clear how bad he was at cooking non-mineral meals, what little faith he had in himself took even more of a hit.

Refusing to give up, or to be the kind of person who didn't bother to accommodate the various people of Hyrule, Micah set out travelling across the kingdom, in order to learn the cuisine of its different cultures.

Notes:

• Having lived on Death Mountain his entire life, he's extremely clueless about the world outside of it.
• He has a soft spot for cute animals, but they tend to be afraid of him.
• Between the fact that he's never met a Zora before, has only met one Rito, and he's only started to meet Hylians, Gerudo and Sheikah in recent years, he worries about making cultural faux pas while travelling.
• As a Goron, he avoids being around deep bodies of water, because he can't swim. He can hold his breath for a significant amount of time, but would have trouble getting out.
• He's mostly pacifistic and dislikes conflict. If someone attacks, he'll put his big tough body between the attacker and any other targets, and attempt to talk them down. Only if that doesn't work will he reluctantly use his fists.

[LuckyBlackCat]

Name: Carmine Levantera
Pronouns: He/Him
Race: Rito
Class: Bard

Appearance: At 5'9", Carmine is average height compared to a Hylian, but short by Rito standards. He's built more for agility than brute strength, with a lithe and slender physique. Most of his plumage is light brown, which makes the vermilion feathers on his face, neck and upper chest stand out in sharp contrast. His belly and the undersides of his wings are an off-white shade. Stylishly dishevelled plumes stick up on the top and back of his head, and he spends more time preening them than he lets on. Large beige-white eyebrow like feathers above green eyes add to his confident look. His beak is small, pointed and black, as are the claws that tip his dusky pink talons.

He usually wears a dark brown leather jerkin, with a low neck over which his red chest feathers protrude, and scarlet straps with bronze buckles. His red belt bears pouches for his belongings over black britches. On his back, he carries around a lute, with a wide neck that may look strange to a Hylian, being built for a Rito's wings. A zigzagging red triangle pattern is painted around the edges of the lute, like the design bordering many a Rito's clothes.

Biography: From childhood, the males of Rito Village are typically taught to become great warriors and hunters, to emulate the revered Champion of long ago, Revali. Such was Carmine's aspiration, although no matter how he tried, it became more and more painfully clear he wasn't cut out for physical combat in the same way many of his peers were. He lagged behind them in terms of physical strength, and his skills with a bow were mediocre at best. His speed was pretty good, but it wasn't enough to escape the bullies, particularly his three older brothers.

Determined to uphold Rito cultural ideals in some way, he turned to something that fit his strengths better; music. Because his father considered him a disappointment, he spent much of his time under the mentorship of his great uncle, learning to play the lute, and even channel basic magic through it. Taking pride in his musical ability, he took to training with his brothers once more, to show how he could bolster them in battle as well as himself. It backfired when they used it against him and continued to torment him.

If he couldn't gain the respect of his own family, he decided, he'd gain it travelling through Hyrule. What specifically gave him the idea was the return of a renowned Rito bard, Kass, back from his mission to seek out ancient songs and use them to assist the Hero of Hyrule. It piqued Carmine's curiosity - Kass had found all the ones dedicated to the ancient hero, but what other songs from eras long gone by were out there, waiting to be rediscovered?

Before he set off, his uncle warned him against excessive pride. "Don't seek recognition merely for yourself," he advised. "Seek it for the songs and the stories they tell." There was no way, however, that Carmine was going to pass up the opportunity to prove his brothers wrong, and gain the admiration Kass had. Away he flew in search of such.

Notes:

• Most of his songs give brief boosts to people's attributes, namely strength, endurance, or agility. To activate the effect, he must focus on the person he wishes to imbue with it while playing/singing one of three short tunes, respectively named Anthem of Might, Refrain of Resilience, and Toccata of Swiftness. They stack slightly with similar effects from elixirs and foods (eg. Refrain of Resilience with Tough Elixir), although will replace other effects. At his current level of training, he can only affect one person at a time. The boosts are strongest if he casts them by simultaneously playing and singing; they'll still work if he only does one or the other, but will be weaker and won't last as long.
• The other spell he can cast via song is Flock's Call. This summons up to three bird-shaped magic constructs, each one around the size of a large hawk, to fight enemies or fetch/transport items. While they last a few minutes, they'll vanish instantly if hit with a sufficiently powerful attack. He can only have a maximum of three summoned at a time, even if he plays the song twice in succession, although this number may increase as he hones his skills.
• He sometimes works with a fellow performing artist he met on Puffer Beach, namely Raemi, a Zoran dancer. Intrigued by rumours of hauntingly beautiful music coming from the Faron sea, he stumbled across one of her practice performances, and learned of the creatively-inclined Apsara tribe, the source of the melodies. They got along well right from the start, in no small part because they both valued creative pursuits on a cultural level, and his stories of the kingdom piqued her interest.
• He has keen eyesight during the day, but like many Rito, has poor night vision. He prefers to travel during daylight for this reason, and is usually up bright and early, to the annoyance of later risers.
• He's assisted with the musical mentoring of Kass and Amali's children on a few occasions, and is good with kids in general.