CHARACTERName: Calen Shrike
Age: 18, Born 19th of Hitahita 63AC
Species and Gender: Human Male
Symbol: Three interlocked cracked circles, art by Gus
Occupation: First year student.
Appearance: Tall but gaunt, 6’/1.8m 110lb/50kg, Calen’s body once gorged on opulence now carries the scars of years alone in the wilds of Remnant. Despite those years in the sun, Calen’s pale skin remains almost ghostly, this combined with his emaciated body gives him a skeletal appearance. Calen’s knives keep his short black hair neat and his face cleanly shaven even on expeditions. Calen's only natural source of colour are his deep green eyes which almost glow given their monochrome setting.
Mirroring his physical appearance, Calen prefers mostly black and white formal clothing (usually a two-piece suit) with small splashes of primary colours in buttons, ties or small ribbons on his lapel. Calen practically uses the long sleeves, high collars and gloves to hide his scars and skeletal form leaving only his sunken cheeks and hungry eyes visible. When expecting a fight, Calen will maintain his formal attire but also wear thin layers of armoured material under his clothes, unable to absorb kinetic force they provide decent defence against claws or blades. Calen is also quite a fan of jewellery, wearing a simple gold earring in his right ear and a silver bracelet of charms on his left wrist. Vocally Calen has a surprisingly soothing voice, one ill-suited for his barbed tongue and moves with almost courtly grace both in and out of combat.
art by Jason A. Santiago, commisioned by Ordelis
History TLDR: A good childhood amongst one for five large hunter families protecting Nevah an isolated town in south Amina was cut short by realising they don’t hunt Grimm they hunt Faunus. A failed attempt to recuse some of his family’s captives had him branded a traitor and tortured for a month. Escaped when hunters and white fang forces, hearing from the escapees, moved into arrest/kill his family. Wandered the wilds and towns of Amina for over a year trying to get as far away as possible then stowing away on a ship to Sanus. Continuing his trek Calen was set upon by a Nevermore and would have perished if he wasn’t saved by a hunter. Memories brought about by seeing the hunter fight caused Calen to face his past rather than run from it. As such he has decided to try to balance the scales his family had upset by becoming a hunter.
History: The youngest of a litter of nine by seven years Calen had a very happy childhood. An unexpected by happy addition to the Shrike family which was one of five families sworn to guard Nevah, a large town in south Anima. Most of the family would often be off hunting or patrolling at any one time but they always made an attempt to get the young Calen involved. He was helping prepare meals by five, gathering medical herbs by six and cleaning weapons and armour by eight. An outsider may have thought the Shrike family treated their youngest like a servant but Calen loved every second of it, being even a small part this unstoppable hunting force meant the world to him. Given gifts by those they protected the Shrike family had enough money to ensure their every desire was met from books to the latest games the Shrike family lived in opulence almost unheard of outside the kingdoms. Home-schooled by whoever was sitting out of the families endless hunting trips that day in fighting, academics and surviving in the wilds, Calen threw himself into anything which would have made him an asset to his family. By nine he was the main cook of the household and by twelve even his father was asking for his opinion on medical matters. All throughout this Calen was training to be a hunter, practicing with dummies as soon as he could hold a stick and graduating to half play half real fights with his siblings and the other families when he was starting to unlock his aura and semblance at twelve. Much to his mother’s despair even these half real fights with trained huntsmen left deep scars and even broken bones on her darling boy but still Calen loved every second of it, every fight he was getting that much closer to being like them. On his fifteenth birthday, he even won his first fight and he was so happy that it took him weeks to realise one of his brothers had likely thrown the fight.
Also around his fifteenth birthday, Calen started to get left alone for extended periods of time. In the beginning, he thought nothing of it and simply used it as more time to train on his own but as the gaps became longer and longer he started to worry. Wandering around the woods outside of town Calen faintly heard muted screaming coming from further off in the wilds. Calen quickly dashed over, thinking one of his family was in peril but found trap door camouflaged with the undergrowth which leads down into a cavern. Making his way down the darkened passageway Calen started to hear the screaming more clearly and could pick out different voices, men, women and children younger than he were trapped down here. Onward he pressed, his aura guiding him around the stalagmites into a large sanctum. Cages of Faunus littered the sides of the room with one strapped to a table in the middle of the room, it was his screams which he heard before. Living outside CCT tower range and kept from the poorer areas of Nevah Calen cautiously approached the bound figure, having never seen a Faunus up close before he was equal parts scared and enthralled. The creature begged to be released and in a daze Calen complied, unshackling the Faunus and resting it on his shoulder as they made their way out. They had almost made it to the door before his family returned. Seeing his captors, the Faunus grabbed Calen as a shield and out of pure instinct Calen kicked out knocking the Faunus a stalagmite and in its weakened state expired from a broken neck.
His family was overjoyed. The first time in a decade the entire family returned home to celebrate their youngest first kill. Its accidental nature didn’t matter to the Shrike family nor did it reduce Calen’s growing horror seeing for the first time the reality of his family. They weren’t protectors but monsters, preying on these so-called ‘Faunus’ and others they considered less than themselves from the shadows. Despite his family’s assurances of the inhuman nature of their captives Calen silently rebelled and began trying to free the Faunus his family had captured. Calen had only gotten a handful out before his family realised what he was doing. They were furious, they brutally killed the rest of their captives in front of Calen to show the futility of his actions and then had Calen replace them on the table at the mercy of his family’s sadistic impulses. They saw him no longer as their baby boy but in their twisted minds something worse than a Faunus, a traitor. In less than a week Calen’s mind began to fray under the attentions of those he would have given his life for and after a month Calen was so broken he barely responded to his families torture. His body was kept just alive enough to survive on a day to day basis and soon his body was a maze of scars. Fortunately for Calen, some of the freed Faunus managed to alert authorities in Mistral, the remaining four families as well as a furious White Fang detachment. Caught in the middle of a three-way conflict Calen managed to break free and escape into the wilds. He never found out the outcome of that battle but Calen has never heard from his family or even his hometown since.
Calen spent almost two years slowly making his way through Anima. He fled from village to village moving on whenever he heard Mistral hunters or White Fang was in the area. Usually travelling with caravans of traders Calen still had several close calls with Grimm or bandits and innumerous sleepless nights alone in the wilds. Turning his knowledge of the local flora and fauna into a living by selling pelts, food and medical components allowed Calen to survive the trek, if barely and stowaway on a ship to Sanus. Landing in the south-east of the continent Calen continued his journey enjoying the change of scenery until he was blindsided by a Nevermore, completely outclassed Calen could only run. Quickly chased down he would have died if he wasn’t saved by a hunter. Her grace in combat, humility in victory and refusal of any payment reminded Calen of the better part of those he had spent two years trying to forget. Thanking the hunter one last time Calen departed for Vale and Beacon, no more running from his past he decided. He had a debt to repay to the world.
Making it to Vale without much further difficulty Calen continued making a living off the land while he prepared for the enrollment exam. Luckily Calen’s memory helped him quickly catch up on the academic side. As for the combat sides Calen blitzed the sparing rounds, the majority of his training was for fighting people and as such had an edge over his competition. Live combat was harder but by tapping into his experiences wandering Remnant, a little heart and a lot of luck he managed to pass.
Although Calen doesn't know, it was reported on while he was travelling the woods, his family did definitely lose the battle with most being captured and one horrifyingly by the White Fang. The crimes of the Shrike family where big news a couple of years ago and although it is unlikely people would immediately connect their identical last names it would definitely be a reason to mistrust Calen once other supporting aspects came to light. (OOC think of it kinda like you meant someone with the last name Bundy, you might not immediately assume he is directly related to Ted Bundy but you might be hesitant to go on a midnight hike with him.)
Personality: Calen has managed to mentally suppress his trauma and therefore evidence of his dark past only seeps through in his already defined character traits. Before he was prideful because of his training and supportive family but now it has solidified to an unshakable self-belief sliding straight passed arrogance into a superiority complex to rival Zeus. Where he once was jovial he is now sardonic with most of his 'humour' being insults, self-deprecating or otherwise. Where he once found fulfilment in working as part of a whole Calen still volunteers for the most dangerous assignments but now out of ego and a subconscious death wish. Never is this clearer than in combat, even when fighting Grimm Calen will constantly let his opponent recover. Likewise, Calen has long been making enough money to feed himself properly but refuses to do so, eating only enough to keep his hunger pains from dulling to illogically prove self-mastery and further evidence of his complete disregard for his physical wellbeing. Despite it's willingly afflicted nature Calen's withered form reduces his stamina from his lack of fat, lowered immune system and lower body temperature. Another reason for Calen's self-abuse is to make himself hurt for failing to save the other Faunus and as twisted as it sounds betraying his family. Calen doesn't suffer from nightmares, panic attacks or any other direct psychological scarring from his experiences which has resulted in Calen feeling the need to create them himself to prove to himself he isn't like his family but in truth that is a lie. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
He rarely holds grudges against others, with the exception of personal attacks, as he tells himself he finds little value in the opinion of others although the exception proves how wrong this belief is. Calen’s relationship with Faunus is rather complex, he empathised with those he freed and still stands by that decision yet blames them for the destruction they would have obviously brought down on to his family. As such Calen doesn’t really consider himself racist, although he definitely is, rather he believes that each Faunus he meets has to prove themself to him, prove they aren’t like the murdering pack of savages that attacked his family. Calen rarely makes his dislain known, being aware of the social damage such beliefs could cause but that only makes Faunus gaining Calen’s respect even harder as they rarely know they are being tested and such tests can rarely be won in the first place.
Calen still cooks and enjoys it greatly, never eating anything he hasn't prepared himself, but usually cooks for others like his team mates or the less fortunate at one of Vales many soup kitchens. It began as an exploration of the Faunus communities but now Calen enjoys the few hours of peace between training and studying. The other of Calen’s great loves outside of fighting is dance, ballroom dancing in particular, and he constantly disparages Vale for its poor dance scene. Despite this however Calen has managed to secure himself a professional position in one of Vale’s few theaters and regularly performs to crowds.
Uniquely suited to school life Calen is both extremely determined and possessing of an almost photographic memory making him a very capable academic student. He isn’t however very good at solving abstract problems, reacting to the unexpected or other forms of lateral thinking. Sociable enough Calen will invite strangers for meals and make idle conversation with anyone but becomes very deflective when the conversation turns to himself and completely shuts down inquiries into his past. Questions are deflected by forced, often repeated, jokes. Fitting quite well into the role of a social bully Calen is careful not to always been seen like that, you can't surprise someone if they are always expecting something, resulting in a strange and often sudden seesawing of hostilities.
Aura and Semblance: Calen’s forest green colour aura is very strong for his age. He, however, isn’t very good of it’s more finesse applications like creating shockwaves, focused blocking but his danger sense remains potent. Instead, Calen uses his aura to make up for his distinct lack of muscles and to endure attacks.
Calen’s semblance is Velocity Manipulation meaning he is able to instantly change his speed for a short period of time. He isn’t running faster and is effectively being held or pushed in any direction he wishes, this does mean he needs to be careful not to trip on debris when ‘rushing’ along the ground. Calen also grows disorientated if he ‘rushes’ multiple times in quick succession making him have to spend a few moments to reorientation himself. Calen prefers to dash short distances for efficiency and to hide the extent of his semblance although he is capable of travelling not unreasonable distances instantly or relying on multiple smaller bursts to double his running speed for hours. 5% of his reserves is usually enough to dodge single attacks or empower his own attacks moving fast enough to evade arrows. He can rush longer but any large expenditure, >30%, in a single ‘rush’ is likely to knock Calen out as G-Forces batter his weak frame. On the flip side, Calen can spend 5% of his reserves to cancel all current momentum on himself allowing him to freeze in place to dodge attacks or survive falls. After training extensively Calen managed to unlock further control and power behind his semblance and now summons green aura wings which are purely cosmetic and mimic whatever action his semblance takes, either splaying if reducing speed or beating to increase it.
Combat Behaviour: A dance-like fighting style Calen relies heavily on feints and speed to gain the upper hand. The rhythmic movements are predictable if carefully studied and the ‘dance’ can be interrupted robbing Calen of much of his momentum. This slow start fighting style combines a fluid defence with a steadily intensifying attack designed to prove undeniably the Shrikes superiority. Created to deal with humanoid enemies Calen struggles with dealing with most forms of Grimm, his experiences wandering Remnant has taught Calen how to deal with basic Usras and Beowulfs but more exotic breeds or alphas/majors can cause him a lot of grief.
Calen refuses to use dust in combat, saying he won’t rely on something he can’t personally ensure the craftsmanship and as such relies on his throwing knives if he is unable to close gaps with his semblance.
Resource management is a core element of Calen’s fighting style as he relies heavily on his aura and semblance for offence and defence. This means that every heavy blow Calen deals out is one heavy blow he can’t take and vice-versa. Despite this Calen is very difficult to keep down, his pride and will providing huge engine rooms to keep him moving when his body is falling apart. But in this state, Calen can do little more than keep getting up as on its own his weak body is little threat at the best of times. Altogether this means Calen can grind through weaker or humanoid enemies comparatively easily but struggles against more powerful Grimm.
WEAPON 1Name: None
Primary Form: A beautiful mix of reds, oranges, yellows and gold highlights form a one-and-a-half sword with a single curved edge and sharp point for thrusting. Like Calen himself, it is long, light and hard to break although significantly more colourful. 1.5m/5’ blade, 15cm/6’’ handle with his symbol on its cross guard. Mostly used for rapid strikes and close quarter defence.
Secondary Form: The handle extends a full 2m/6’8’’ into a glaive. More of an acrobatic weapon providing more leverage for powerful swings and the length of the weapon improves it as a defensive tool. Calen will often use the glaive form to vault of the ground before ‘rushing’ an opponent to clear himself of any ground debris.
Dust Functions: None
History: Forged by Calen with the help of his mother and elder brothers. The metal used was weapons of hunters his family had slain but found impressive fighters which makes the composite metal almost impossible to break but too rigid to have any of the impressive transformations other weapons have.
WEAPON 2Name: Shrike Talons
Primary Form: A set of ten blades, one for each of Calen’s siblings and parents with their names inscribed on the blades. They make up his only range weapon but Calen is hesitant to use them and will almost compulsively search for them after any fight. Extremely high-quality 30cm/1’ blades sharpened to a razor point and maintained meticulously. Wide for throwing knives and they have seen close quarters use when Calen doesn’t have the space to use his combat dance.
Dust Functions: Each throwing knife has a small chamber which can store dust triggered by the blade striking any surface causing anything from bursts of flame to localised gravity wells depending on the dust used. Calen doesn’t make use of it.
History: A set of throwing knives given to Calen by his family after his first kill. He keeps them around to never forget what his family was to him before they were revealed as monsters. The blades themselves are hidden in a harness on his back which he is rarely without.
Topic: Calen Shrike (Read 12265 times)