Deus Ex Machina: The Xenogears Tale ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PERSONA SHEET ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Player Information ------------------ Name or Alias: Arcana (Irwin Kwan) Age (optional): Sex: Male E-mail address: kkwan@globalserve.net ICQ/AIM/Yahoo! Pager/etc. (if applicable): 2144277/arcana_txm/arcana_txm Character Information --------------------- -Name: She doesn't know, nor does she really care, but Myaru gave her the name "Irina". -Age: Has the body of a mature teenager; roughly around 16-17 years old. She is suspected, in actuality, to be over 4000. -Sex: Female -Occupation(s): Solaris Gear Pilot Trainee. -Substitutes which Xenogears Character? (if applicable): Emeralda -Birthdate: Unknown; thought to be sometime during the Zeboim era. -Height: 5'4" -Weight: 104 lbs. -Eyes (colour and shape): Narrow, dark-hazel eyes that sparkle in the light like bright diamonds. Her eyelashes are thick and rich and appear almost black. The eyes are slightly upturned at the outside corners. The eyes are not wide, but they seem to be large enough to portray an air of sadness and grief. Her eyelids do not have a fold in them. However, when she is in a new, unfamilar place, they widen out and glow like a child's eyes when they see their new bike. -Build: Thin and narrow. She appears very lankey and looks like she is underfed. Her arms and her legs are very shapely and defined, but her ribcage is easily seen because she is frail. She has a petite chest and a narrow waist. On the average, she looks like she would crumple if she tried to carry a sack of flour. However, contrary to this frail appearance, she is actually quite strong and powerful. -Complexion: Tanned. She seems to temporarily acquire numerous scars and scrapes, usually on her knees, shins, and elbows, but these go away with time. Her skin in the summer is bronzed, and in the winter it is slightly lighter. Her skin, for the most part, is smooth, but her hands and arms tend to be dry and chafed. -Facial Features: Her eyes are narrow and small. Her lower facial features are rather close together (the nose, mouth, and chin). Her chin is narrow, and virtually flat. The cheekbones are high and she has dimples when she smiles. Her nose is rounded and rather flat. Her eyebrows are thin and bronze, like her hair. -Identifying Marks: None, unless you count her actions... her actions are usually so eccentric and odd that she stands out anywhere she goes. Her appearance, with tanned skin and bronze hair, combined with her child-like eagerness to learn new things, does not usually rub off easily on people. -Hair (colour and style): Thick, bronze hair that reaches past her waist. When she can, she tries to groom it but it is often left unbrushed and therefore looks tattered and frizzy. Yet, it seems to remain very soft. Her hair is slightly curly at the ends. If she can, she tries to get it cut short because it tends to get in her way a lot. -Voice: She does not speak the Ignasian tongue, rather, she speaks an old form of Zebonese. The language emphasizes the vowels with high notes, making her seem like she is speaking some sort of baby talk. Irina's voice goes from a various range of highs to lows: from squeals and chirps of laughter, to low grunts. -Dress/Attire: She wears what she can find, which is usually rags. She has a red scarf that covers her hair and her face, in addition to stained, dirty travelling leathers that are patched up in numerous places. She doesn't care for the appearance or decoration of her clothes... she wears whatever works. At the moment, she wears bucksin trousers, a leather tunic, and a cape. -Jewelry (if any): None, unless you count the silicone wafer that she picked up and plays with like a toy. -Weapons/Tools (if any): A small knife and a recently-acquired short bow. Occasionally, she acquires throwing spears, short bows, and rifles from other people to use as hunting weapons. With a hunting rifle, she is a decent shot, even though she has no formal training. She also has a large canvas backpack with a pack-frame used to carry whatever it is that she swipes. She also has a modern, hand-operated can opener. -Armour (if any): Nothing designed to protect against guns, blades, or magic. -Personality: Quiet and passive. She does not know her name and simply accepts the names that other people give her. The names have ranged from "Vanessa" (after a farmer's deceased daughter) to "Ruby" (for her bronze-reddish hair) to "Zeiaya". She is very docile and seems to be unable to fight, or even to comprehend fighting. She rarely speaks and accepts what is presented to her in life. Her gaze is shifty and, at first glance, it looks that she does not want to trust anyone. She likes things that make her happy and feel pleasure. Usually, this comes in the form of eating. She is used to a life of no responsibility or commitment, and avoids any long relationships because they make her feel uncomfortable. She also has a thirst for exploring new places and experiencing new things. She is extremely curious about her surroundings and likes to experience everything she can; local customs and proper manners are entirely alien to her; she does what she wants to do, with little care for how it affects others. Her mind seems to be very carefree and things from the past do not seem to bother her. Although she is often lost, she seems to find a way out doing whatever means she can. She appears to have no morals or beliefs, except for one: self- preservation. She will do anything as long as she is kept alive. Although she dislikes responsibility, she will work and do as she is told as long as she can feel the immediate rewards. She does not like doing tasks such as taking out the garbage a few days in advance or milking cows ahead of time. She does tasks out of neccessity, and works most efficiently if she can see what the effects of her actions are. As a result of this need, she tends to be a good cook, for cooking gives immediate (and often favourable) reactions from guests and her own stomach. She will also hunt if she can cook the animal and eat it later. She does not understand the concept of money, for earning money does not give any immediate results. Money, in itself, is useless to her. As a result of this course of thinking, she finds no worth in decorations such as flowers, elaborate clothing, or jewelry. She is very prudent and cares only for that which is useful. She is also a very short term thinker who never seems to wonder about the consequences of her actions even in as short of a span as a week. Her attitude of working as long as she is rewarded, her silence, and her simgle-minded instinct gives others the impression that she is more like an animal than a human, or, if human, that she is a lot younger in mind than she appears in body. She herself never thinks twice about how she lives or what she does; she doesn't second-guess herself, and rather does what she feels is best for her, and her self-preservation. -Background and History: Only the Bishop that found her, at the end of a tunnel underneath the Ethos Headquarters, knows the truth... and even then, it might not be the entire story. In the past, approximately three and a half years ago, she woke, in some sort of laboratory that she cannot recall anymore. Someone dressed in white flowing robes led her from a network of hallways into a building which had an alter and a very high, domed, painted ceiling. He eventually took her outside into the open air. She wanted to stay outside, but the person with the robes tried to detain her. She ran away from him, naked and untrained in the ways of the world, desperately wanting to explore the new areas and the new lands. She never returned. From there, she appeared in numerous places, as a wanderer. The first place she recalls was a small farming village that grew corn and wheat, and made bread. She was found, hungry and suffering from exposure, by a farmer tending his crops. He rescued her, adopted her and tried to care for her as best as he could. His wife and children were wary of her, but as she lived in their care, she proved herself quiet, but a dilligent worker. She listened to them, but never spoke a word in return; it was believed that she was mute. This girl was found to be a very effective cook, but was unable to find the patience clean the house or the stables. The farmer called her "Vanessa" after his only daughter, who died as an infant. It was here where she learned most of her basic instincts, such as the experience of being rewarded for doing hard work, self-preservation, and the concepts of hunting. She found that she loved eating, and quickly learned to use a can opener. With the farmer's sons, she would go hunting; they taught her how to shoot, and she found herself not to be too shabby at using a hunting rifle (bolt-action, in specific). She was satisfied enough with her life to not run away and explore. To help satisfy her curiousity, the farmer would take her to the port town when he would deliver grain to the harbour. Two years went by. One of the middle-class boys, a son of a merchant from the village took a liking for "Vanessa" and began to court her. "Vanessa" found that if she was nice to him, he often returned her with favours such as chocolate and clothes that kept her warm. As time went on, she came to him one night and they made love in the pastures behind the farmhouse. However, the village found out quickly about this, and chased "Vanessa" away, calling her a dirty whore and a fooey slut. The farmer tried to stop them, but found that the people were too relentless, so he escaped the town with her, gave her money and food, and left her in the hands of a friend outside of the town's boundaries, with the intent to visit her often, and hopefully, to clear her name. "Vanessa" did not feel right with these people, though, and within a few days, she ran away, leaving behind the money (which was heavy anyway), but suspiciously stealing a backpack, all the jars and canned food in the pantry, and a can opener. She wandered around by herself, living on preserves and canned food until a wagon trader picked her up. For a few days, she enjoyed the pleasure of a wagon ride until they reached the port town. The trader dropped her off, unsure of what he should do with her, and disappeared. She wandered around town alone and not knowing what to do or where to go. She was running out of canned food, but, in this industrialized city, she did not know where she could harvest grain, acquire a rifle, or pick fruit. She was caught stealing a handful of grain from one of the warehouses that housed shipping goods, and was promptly jailed for her crimes. However, the magistrate, getting an impression of innocence from the young girl, commited her to work on one of the ships rather than putting her in jail, with the belief that working would teach her more about the value of other's property. She was assigned to work on a cargo ship, but she was found to be a very inefficient worker unless awarded with food or drink after her shift. Since she was lacking a name (for she never spoke, and carried no identification), the Captain of the cargo vessel called her "Ruby" because of her reddish hair. "Ruby" proved to be very inexpensive labour, as she worked just as hard as the others in exchange for nothing but occasional breaks, where she would take in meat, fruit and alcoholic beverages. When the ship sailed across the ocean, it docked momentarily with the Thames, and the short stop exposed "Ruby" to her first glimpse of technology. She was found exploring the electrical and mechanical devices with the wonder of a child, and had to be wrenched away from it when it was time to leave again. From then on, she sulked and pouted and refused to work for the Captain. The only way she would do work was if she was going to be fed, but even this motive did not make her into the efficient and eager worker she once was. The Captain eagerly dropped "Ruby" off after his voyage across the sea, giving her money and bidding her farewell. The place where she now was was a place of sandy beaches, long coastlines, but the climate was slightly cooler than where she used to be, in the south. She kept herself alive by hunting and fishing, occasionally running into rangers and fisherman, but eventually, she came across desolate desert, and, sense of adventure overcoming her common sense, she walked in. She was rendered unconscious by the heat in a day. When she awoke, she was on a small cot; apparently, she was rescued by a dark-skinned man with black hair and a thin beard. When asked her name, she could not respond, and instead gargled some incomprehensible language. Her rescuer named her "Zeiaya" ("Zie-ay- ah") according to the syllables that she recited, even if they were random gibberish. The place where she was now as a bright, sunny, lively place with loud noises and lots of people. She heard the exchange of people's chatters often and was utterly fascinated by the different happenings in the large city. As with the others, the rescuer found that "Zeiaya" worked best when she was given food and shelter in return for her work. Water was an extreme gift to her and she enjoyed it a lot, as water seemed to be rare in the city. In addition, she also seemed very motivated when given simple mechanical toys that were used to entertain children, such as trucks and toy gears. One day, when he was taking "Zeiaya" around town, she escaped his reach and sneaked into one of the Ethos Gear Repair centre. "Zeiaya", looking around casually, escaped notice of all of the repairmen and sneaked into a farm gear that was just newly repaired. She walked into the cockpit and began pressing buttons randomly. Her actions caused the gear to move enough to damage the part of the hanger's loading ramp (and its own right arm). Her rescuer, unable to pay for the damages, turned "Zeiaya" to the Ethos repairmen. The repairmen recognized her description as the girl who was lost three years ago and attempted to detain her and turn her back to the Bishop, but she broke into a fit of rage and whirled around madly, seriously injuring three of the men and dealing minor injuries to five more. The stories from the workers was that her hair turned into spikes and her arms into blades as she fought them, but no one believed them, not even the Bishop. In her fear, she ran away from the men and sneaked aboard one of the Ethos excavation vehicles as a stowaway. She was transported to various gear excavation sites; every time she came across one, she would jump vehicles to avoid detection (swiping as much unguarded food as possible in between). Usually, she would work at night, when the others were sleeping and only one man was left to guard the entire area, or during the day's lunch break, where a tanned girl walking around in dirty clothes toward the food tent did not seem out of place. Once, she swiped a small computer component from one of the Ethos sites: a small memory card the size of her palm. It was a green silicone wafer with two large, black chips built into it and numerous pins with sliding white pieces that could be pushed over the pins, or pulled off. She found this inside a metal crate. In total, she went through four excavation sites and five Ethos transports. When she realised that they were all the same and that there was nothing else to do, she departed somewhere in the north, close to a thick, grassy area surrounded by mountains and forest. As she trekked, consuming the dried foods that she brought along with her, she came across another span of desert, except that this desert was much smaller than the last one she went through. Once, she even saw a big sand cruiser appear in this little stretch of desert, then disappear from sight. The concept of a diving cruiser awed her, and she was tempted to wait for it, but the mountains lulled her instead. The mountains were filled with numerous passes that were dangerous to those who were faint of heart, but generally, it was a smooth-going path. Occasionally, it got cold, but she pulled through it stoically. Once in a while, she met up with travellers whom she hiked with for a while. The pass took five days to traverse. On the other side, the first thing that came to her eyes was the tall, gigantic steeple that pierced the clouds. Below, there was a large valley and a lake. A town was built around the lake, which surrounded the gigantic steeple like a moat. As she came closer, she saw that the building's rooftops were all made of bronze, and that, surrounding the area, there was lush greenery, including orchirds, farmland, and forests. There was something about the area that made her feel happy inside, and she eagerly hiked toward this city of beautiful bronze rooftops, thick, green grass, and tall trees. She stumbled inside the Cathedral and met up with a nun known as Sister Marsa, and befriended another one named Sister Amy. One day, she was outside wen she was noticed by Myaru, and Myaru deceived the sisters and brought her to Solaris. Once in Solaris, she was being shown around Solaris by Mordon, but wandered off and nearly killed herself when she climbed into a gear during a Solaris Training Session and piloted it. However, her exceptional recovery confirmed Myaru's suspicions: Irina was certainly a nanomachine colony. -Birthplace: Unknown; but now believed to be born in Zeboim. -Mother: Unknown. Suspicions lie with Elly Kasim. -Father: Unknown; thought to be "genetically born" from Kim Kasim. -Siblings: Unknown. -Mate: No permanent mate. -Children: None. -Other relations: Those who adopted her, such as Sister Amy and Sister Marsha. -Secondary Skills: She is a good shot with a hunting rifle. She is also resourceful, courageous, and brave. She doesn't seem to know any fear. -Abilities/Disabilities: She seems to be able to turn her hair and hands into blades, according to the Ethos workers. However, no one else has confirmed this. She also seems to be able to go for many days without food, and without complaining. She is very sure-footed and steady, in addition to athletic. However, she has absolutely no concept about what morals are, or how society is built, and therefore tends to get into a lot of trouble with other people. She also seems unable to speak the native language, either, though she appears to understand perfectly. -Hobbies: Playing with her silicone wafer (especially the jumpers). She also enjoys cooking and hunting, as long as she gets to eat afterward. She will also eat if offered; she will never refuse a gift of food. Besides that, she explores areas unknown to her and tries to find as many ways as she can to experience various thrills and pleasures. If she's not doing anything like the above, then she sleeps. -Current residence: The Solaris Capital, Etrenank, upper eschelons -Current Life Conflicts: Nothing seems to bother her. She deals with nothing in the past, and instead takes life as it hits her. -Other notes: A good nickname for her might be "The Littlest Hobo". -Gear name: She has no gear right now, though Mordon and Myaru have told her that they would build her one. -Gear description: -Class: -Primary function: -Weapon(s): -Abilities/Disabilities: -How your character acquired the gear: