Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-26397825-20161205132101/@comment-25396609-20170104045609

1) Basic Info

Name: Rachel Blackwood

CNR Explanation: Rachel is a Hebrew name, meaning ewe.

Species: Human

Age: 20

Gender: Female

Emblem: ivory white measuring scales

Handedness: right

Nicknames: Greyscale (by her team, a reference to her high contrast clothing choices)

Occupation: Huntress-in-training, team NCRT

2) Appearance:

Aura Colour: ivory

Height: 6’

Weight: 158 lbs

Eyes: black

Skin Colour: ivory white

Face Shape: inverted triangle

Hair: black mid-back low ponytai

Physical Traits: none

Outfit: 3/4 sleeve black and silver floral patterned cardigan worn open over a white button up shirt with gold buttons. White jeans, hems rolled and stitched above her ankles, fastened with a black and silver belt carrying assorted storage cases; black flats with white lace trim

Accessories: 3 small, plain silver ear cuff piercings on left ear, 3 gold in the same positions on the right

Gadgets: holographic smart watch scroll

3) Characteristics:

Background: In Atlas, those at the top of society are often badly detached from the world around them; not understanding the problems and lives of those below them. The Blackwood family is no exception;having risen to wealth by trading in art, antiques, and land; anything which can be bought for a pittance from someone who can’t make ends meet and sold for a fortune to the already rich.

Rachel’s father always told her that they deserved their fortune, that those foolish enough to be swindled were at fault for falling for it, and she believed it for most of her life; developing a philosophy of unequal opposites. She was rich, and therefore she was better than the poor. She was human, and better than the faunus. She was a civilian, and could not stand for the huntsman to be better than her; so she begged her father to hire tutors so she could learn to fight. The tutor hired was an elderly Atlesian man, a huntsman from a previous era; not long after the war. He had been wealthy all his life, and was a master of his craft; an archer of great skill even in old age who helped her to gain proficiency in the art, as well as helping her to design her weapon.

Ebon Filigree was assembled by hand, parts precision machined and engravings carefully inlaid with silver; the weapon embodied her belief in opposites, a bow, one of the world’s most primitive weapons, built using the most advanced technology available to her. Over time, Rachel’s beliefs continued to strengthen, her parents doing what they could to encourage her sense of superiority prior to her decision to travel to Vale and enroll at Beacon, in her mind the best of the four academies. It was at Beacon that she met Nanuq Gage, despite being her social opposite the two agreed on their own superiority to faunus and formed a friendship based in that shared dislike which carried them together in initiation to become one half of team NCRT; although Rachel was beyond displeased that she was not made leader, as the best trained and educated member of the team.

Rachel’s friendship with Nanuq lasted for the majority of their first year, eventually crumbling as his proclaimed hatred of faunus was revealed to be a ruse, a mask to hide his intense attraction to humanities cousins.

Rachel was faced with a crisis and a choice, she could continue her path and maintain a belief in her own superiority but lose the only real friend she had ever had, or she could let go of the driving philosophy behind every choice she had ever made. Rachel Blackwood chose the latter path, re-assessing her view on the concept of opposites she began to see a balance. Humans were no better than faunus, merely different; Huntsman were not superior, they protected while the civilians worked to maintain society.

It took time, and a lot of effort, but Rachel managed to earn the respect of her team as she moved beyond her history of elitism and bigotry and aiming to become a huntress so she could protect the world, rather than as a status symbol.

With their team dynamic stabilized and a developing trust in the once divided team, NCRT entered the Vytal Festival Tournament their second year at Beacon, making it to the final round before being disqualified; Rachel was disappointed but did not hold a grudge against Kekoa for being eliminated.

During her third year at Beacon, Rachel spent much time redesigning her weapon; her new appreciation for balance between opposites (plus help from her new found friends) leading to significant improvements to her original recurve bow. Rachel abandoned the cylinder used on Ebon Filigree in favor of phial slots nested in the arms, using pulleys to increase the power, and designing arrows to replace the hard light projections used by the previous model. The new, more powerful weapon was dubbed Ivory Cloisonné and has served her well in the two years since.

Nanuq, Rachel, Lan, and Kekoa tdid not participate in the Vytal Festival their final year; meaning team NCRT was in Vale when the Battle of Beacon began, there they allied with Rost Smith and Lila Ashworth -veteran huntsman belonging to the former team RSLG- in protecting civilians during the evacuation efforts. With Beacon gone, the team has remained in Vale, helping to repair the damage and fight back against the endless swarm of grimm.

Personality:

One thing about Rachel Blackwood that has never changed is her fascination with the concept of opposites; day to night, white to black, good to evil, or up to down, and this fascination has had a strong effect on her outlook on life. When she was younger, she believed that being at the top of society and being wealthy made her better than her opposites; those who occupied the bottom rungs of society.

Opposite was not equal in her mind, and one extreme was always superior. Humans were better than faunus, the rich were better than the poor, and she was better than anyone that couldn’t buy their way to the top. This self righteous attitude has softened over time, first when she befriended someone who was her opposite in society; born in a tribe outside the kingdom of Atlas rather than in the upper echelons of the kingdom; and again when she nearly lost that friendship because of her skewed view of the world.

While still not the most pleasant person in the world, Rachel Blackwood has become much more reasonable, despite maintaining most of her snobbish attitude by the logic that selfish and selfless are two more essential opposites in the world. She can be generous to her friends, and while she is not particularly fond of Faunus tolerates them and no longer actively discriminates like she once did.

Rachel’s goal of becoming a huntress, once desired as a status symbol, has been reaffirmed as part of the balance between opposites that she new holds close to her heart. Misc Traits: speaks in a valley girl accent “I totally can’t even keep typing this way without, like, physically cringing” (I’m not even kidding, typing that made my brain hurt.)

Likes: fine dining, art, cleanliness, designer clothes, opposites

Dislikes: dirt, filth, cheap food, anything that isn’t name-brand

4) Trivia

Notable Relationships:

Nanuq Gage: Rachel’s best friend since arriving at Beacon; while they initially bonded over a mutual dislike of faunus, Nanuq’s hidden love of them tore the friendship apart when it came to light, leading to Rachel’s own view of them changing in an attempt to repair her only true friendship at Beacon Academy; as well as developing friendships with the rest of her team.

Zhu Chunlan: The team’s only Faunus member. Things are still often tense between the two of them due to a bit of lingering resentment on Lan’s part and occasional backtracking into discriminatory behaviour from Rachel, but they can for the most part function as a team.

Kekoa Tambor: A human born to a borderline tribalistic family in Menagerie, Rachel’s initial impression of him was incredibly negative, viewing him as a scum of the earth faunus lover before her change of heart. Things were rocky between them initially between Rachel’s discrimination and Kekoa’s avid support of the faunus but time has mended old wounds and they are now good friends.

Skills: archery, cooking, sewing, acrobatics

Allusion: didn’t have one in mind

Notes: My attempt at giving a spoiled rich racist a redemption arc. Probably not my best work, but I tried.

Hunter Extension

A) Weapon

Name: Ivory Cloisonné

Classification: Heavy Augmented Compound Bow

Short Description: A compound bow designed for use with a range of specialized arrows, and equipped with a short-range dust dispensing system for close combat.

B) Semblance

Name: Mirror Step

Short Description: The user reflexively teleports when struck, mirroring her position relative to her attacker.

Activation Cue: breaking glass

Reflection of Personality: Fixation on opposites

C) Combat Info

Preferred Range: mid-long

Landing Strategy: gravity dust burst to slow her fall

Fighting Style: head on from a moderate distance, firing off arrows to provide ranged offensive support for her teammates or engaging in short range with point-blank explosions