Thread:RayStrikeAbius/@comment-25110963-20160714215703/@comment-24534644-20160715153339

1) Basic Info:


 * Name:  Rousett Bonavent


 * CNR Explanation:  Rousett is a slight corruption of the name Rousset, a French name meaning ‘red-haired’. It can also be taken as a pun on the word roulette (and is pronounced in similar fashion), alluding to the colors most commonly associated with roulette wheels, red and black (which are also associated with playing cards).


 * Character Basis:  The ‘ Wheel of Fortune’ tarot card; ‘gambler’ archetype.


 * Species:  Human


 * Age: 27


 * Gender: Male


 * Emblem:  A wide double-layered circle. The outer circle is hollow, but has eight symbols reminiscent of playing card suites within it, located in the cardinal and intercardinal directions. The shapes located in the cardinal directions are solid-colored, while the ones in the intercardinal directions are outlined. The inner circle is colored, and features two thick black lines in an x-shape, with rounded bulges at the tip of each point.


 * Handedness: Ambidextrous


 * Physical Traits:  Thin scar over left side of his jawbone; visible against a medium stubble beard. On his chest, just beneath his collarbone, is a tattoo of a stylized lion, but with a human’s face (a sphinx). Not that anyone can usually see it.


 * Misc Traits:  Wears two gold earring studs, and one on his right nostril. Also very eloquent, and has a preference for “fancier” underclothes. His version of slang is using casino terminology in regular conversations, though he does so as more of a joke.


 * Nicknames:  Rous; “Roller”; “Sharps”


 * Occupation:  Mercenary; professional gambler

2) Appearance


 * Aura Colour: Burgundy


 * Aura Effects:  Leaves a faint motion trail when active


 * Height: 6’7” (2 meters)


 * Weight: 176 lbs (79.8 kg)


 * Eyes: Yellow


 * Skin Color:  Light-Normal


 * Face:  Square shape; defined cheek and jawbones; medium-refined nose.


 * Hair:  Brown, with a shade of maroon, and worn in a short caesar cut style. He also has a medium stubble beard the same color as his hair.


 * Physique: Lean-athletic


 * Outfit:  Wears a shimmering gold waistcoat with dark green buttons, beneath which is a standard white button-up collar shirt with long sleeves and cuffed wrists, along with white gloves. He also dons a red tie around the collar, with his emblem (colored in black) appearing on the upper portion of it while the lower portion is hidden beneath the waistcoat, as well as a matching colored long jacket with an open front and loose sleeves. Beneath the waistcoat is a black belt with his weapon holster, along with black dress pants and shoes. FInally, he dons a black fedora with a green band around its base.

3) Characteristics

 Rousett, or Rous as some call him, was born into a lap of luxury… so to speak. He was raised by his father, who happened to be the owner and manager of a casino in the city of Vacuo. A very successful casino, mind, though it had it’s own share of shady rumors surrounding it. Edric unfortunately never knew his mother. She’d apparently left shortly after being born for reasons he’d never been privy to, though he did piece together from word of mouth that she’d been a Huntress. You might think that a single father in charge of a casino operation wouldn’t have much time to look after a child… and you wouldn’t exactly be wrong. Still, contrary to what you’d expect, the man did his best be a good parent, and took good care of his son.
 * Background:

 As such, Rous attended school like a normal child, and did the things a normal child did. He did come from a very prosperous setting, however, and was always “that rich casino kid” to many of his peers, and even some of his teachers. Of course, his father tried to keep that little aspect of his life from influencing him as much as possible, going so far to establish strict rules prohibiting gambling and even being inside of the casino, but there’s only so much you can do when it came to curious - and rebellious - kids. Rous wanted to see what all the fuss was about, so he took his first tentative steps into the gambling scene at a tender young age.

 It was all innocent enough at first, really. Playing games with other kids around the neighborhood and at school, based on what he knew from the time he did get to spend around the actual game boards. But it didn’t take long for him, and those he played with, to realize that he had a gift when it came to the games. A gift that came in no small part from how much he began to enjoy them. It wasn’t so much the winning or losing that mattered to him, it was that thrill that came from testing his own luck and skill against probability and chance. It just so happened that he was very good at it regardless. And the thrill factor, he found, only increased when actual wagers were involved. Something that ultimately got him caught when some other kids complained about losing their money. His father expressly forbade him from the act as a result. Though this succeeded in making Rous all but completely stop the wagering, his love for the games didn’t diminish one bit.

 A large turning point in his life came, however, when his father expressed a desire to enroll Rous at a combat school, claiming that he wanted Rous to know how to defend himself. Maybe that really was the reason. Maybe he wanted Rous to grow up away from his lifestyle, and become a Huntsman instead. Or maybe he wanted to employ his son as security or a bodyguard. Whatever the reason, Rous was never certain, since he never got around to asking. Originally Rous didn’t want to, but without any other real aspirations in life, he went along with it. And he performed rather well, all things considered. To the point where, at the age of 17, he decided to take it one step further and enroll at Shade academy as a Huntsman. A decision he himself was never quite sure of. Though he likes to tell himself it was for the usual reasons, upholding human integrity, defending the weak, yadda yadda, the truth was that he simply didn’t see where else to go with his life. He liked to simply go with the flow, and the flow seemed to be pointing him toward the life of a Hunter, so he went with it. He ultimately got accepted into Shade, though how much of his heart was really in it was anyone’s guess. Again, he never did lose his love of gambling, something that the people around him were quick to recognize him for.

 The second major change in his life came during the middle of his 4th year at the academy, when his father died one day due to heart failure. That was what the coroner had said, anyways. His father had always seemed completely healthy whenever Rous saw him, so he wasn’t sure what to think aside from that maybe he hadn’t been paying enough attention to his dad’s health. In the end, Rous found himself dealing with depression for the first time in his life. So much so that he ended up losing all interest in continuing to pursue his Huntsman career, and dropped out of Shade, leaving his friends and teammates behind. His father had left him a great inheritance, though he’d left the casino itself out of it, likely having thought that a Huntsman would have no need for one. With no one to tell him not to, Rous dealt with the depression by indulging himself in his favorite pastime once more. And for once, his great skill at the game seemed to fail him. Because before the week was out, he’d lost nearly all of his inheritance to the very same casino his father had owned. Some of the patrons and employees empathized with him, and the new owner - his father’s former game manager - even offered him a job. He almost took it too. But in the end he decided he wanted to distance himself from the memories of his father, as well as his home. He chose to go his own path and, and so went abroad (in his own overly poetic words, letting the “winds of destiny” guide his course).

 Though he never became a proper Huntsman, his experience and training has nonetheless served him well and opened up quite a few doors for him in mercenary work, and his skills have only improved over the years. Some of the jobs he takes are for less-than-reputable folks, but really, so long as the payout is good, it doesn’t matter to him. Something else; when all was said and done, he never did lose his love of gambling, and came to pin his previous losses on fortune simply not being in his favor at the time. These days, in addition to odd jobs for paying clients, he also likes to consider himself a professional gambler… though he seems to enjoy leaving things up the chance far too much for him to make much out of it.


 * Personality:  Rousett is a man of simple tastes, almost childish in a sense; fun and luck is the name of the game with him. And speaking of games, he quite enjoys turning almost everything he does into a game or challenge of some sort. This is because he revels in the thrill of a contest, especially when chance is involved. This in turn causes him to come off as gaudy and arrogant, as he regularly gives others opportunities to best him, sometimes without even realizing it. Furthermore, he never takes it too seriously when he loses, since he owes such happenstance to mere chance. This has resulted in a somewhat nihilistic, “live-in-the-moment” attitude in him, seeing as how he realizes that luck is a fickle thing, and can turn against him at any moment, possibly resulting in his own death if he’s not careful. But make no mistake, the man is no fool. He is extremely cunning, perceptive, and slick, which is how he’s manage to survive so long with such a luck-revering mindset. He’s very good at the games he plays with others, both literal games and mind games, and knows how to make his own luck, capable of directing games and even regular events so that the end result can be in his favor. This is supported by his use of magniloquent language and the air of class and sophistication he gives off. And yet, despite his apparent ability to control the flow of events around him, he prefers to leave things up to fate more often than not, rarely intervening with external affairs or generally doing any more than what is expected of him, though he’s not completely averse to doing so if he finds it necessary. After all, he’s not the most virtuous man by far, but there are some things he’d still rather not stand by and let happen.


 * Likes:  Gambling; games; excitement; cards; fancy clothes; red wine


 * Dislikes:  When others don’t wish to play games; uneventful jobs; not having any gambling money; anything involving innocent civilians

4) Trivia

 --Radcliffe Bonavent (Father) (Deceased): Not that it matters much anymore; the man’s dead and gone, and has been for several years now. But Rousett always got along well with his dad… hell, he used to call the man “Rad Dad”. The man was almost always busy, but he did his best regardless, which is a lot better than a lot of other kids can say about their own parents. Radcliffe was extremely proud of his son when he’d decided to become a Huntsman… sometimes Rous wonders if he should have gone back and finished his training at some point. But a large part of his is hesitant on that front. Either way, it doesn’t seem to be in the cards for him anymore.
 * Notable Relationships:

<p style="font-weight:normal;"> --Shade Academy (friends and teammates): Obviously when Rousett left, it was to the protests and chagrin of his old friends from Shade, his teammates especially. In all the years since, he’s never checked in on them to see how they’re doing. For all he knows, they all died on some mission or another. He still thinks about them though… sometimes.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">-- His last name, <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:13.3333px;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">Bonavent, is derived from the name ‘Bonaventura’, which means “good fortune” in Italian (though it can also refer to a similar Latin-American name, ‘Bonaventure’, which means “good luck”). It is mainly intended to refer to the “fortune” part in <span style="font-weight:400;font-size:13.3333px;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">Wheel of Fortune, obviously, but it also has a slight connection to the christian church, as the namesake comes from Saint Bonaventura, who was 13th-century Franciscan monk considered a Doctor of the Church. The connection comes from the fact that the Wheel of Fortune itself (depending on which version of the card you’re looking at) are the Hebrew letters IHVH (Yod Heh Vau Heh), the “unpronounceable name of God”. It’s a very small and loose connection, but it’s there.
 * Notes:

<p style="font-weight:normal;"> -- His character primarily alludes to the “luck”, “chance”, and “destiny” aspects of the Wheel of Fortune, but he also refers to a few other aspects. Namely “turning points” (on account of how many his life has had) and mixed levels of “movement” (due to how often he experiences change and lets himself get swept up in new developments when they happen, but at the same time doesn’t get often get himself involved unless he thinks fate decrees it).

<p style="font-weight:normal;"> -- His entire name is European in origin. His behavior corresponds appropriately, as does his design, though some elements of it are drawn from old western gamblers as well.

<p style="font-weight:normal;"> -- In case it wasn’t abundantly obvious by now, his whole character alludes heavily to the ‘Gambler’ archetype. <p style="font-weight:normal;">

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Hunter Extension

<p style="font-weight:normal;">I) Weapons

<p style="font-weight:normal;">A) Weapon 1:


 * Name:  <span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">Wild Flush


 * Wielder: Rousett Bonavent


 * Maker: Rousett Bonavent


 * Type:  Dust Set Holdout Gauntlet (MSHG)


 * Weapon Derivation:  Primarily the card-holdout device, which is a cheating mechanism often used in poker and other card games… and sometimes by magicians for magic tricks. Of course, it’s also inspired by pretty much every badass gambler using card weapons ever.


 * Design:  The “weapon” itself actually just a large mechanism used for holding the “ammo”, the latter of which is what you might consider to be the real weapon in the equation. It takes the shape of a chard-holdout device crossed with a gauntlet, and is large enough to carry up to two decks-worth of ammo at one time on the underside of the arm. An additional mechanism is located around the thumb (beneath the glove) which controls the “reload” sequence. As a whole, the weapon is white in color, allowing it to blend in with the shirt underneath. Most never actually see it though, since it’s concealed within the loose sleeve of his long coat. For all intents and purposes, it looks as though he materializes the cards out of thin air.


 * Holstered/Sheathed Form:  The weapon is mainly static, seeing as it’s essentially a concealed gauntlet device. When inactive, the mechanism used for pushing out cards is located at the center base of the gauntlet, over the decks.


 * Active Form:  Nothing much changes when the weapon is activated, but the pushing piece for the cards does start moving, and is controlled by the thumb mechanism to quickly replace used cards.


 * Features:  The gauntlet is also a watch. Yes, it has a tiny little analog clock on the top part of it. It’s better than carrying around a pocket watch or something.


 * Ammunition:  As has been mentioned a few times by now, the ammo (and pretty much the real weapon here) is cards. Specially made ones, to be specific, lined with Dust and featuring aluminum-steel micro razor edges. Basically, they’re super sharp, can bend just like regular cards, and can do elemental stuff. It’s worth noting that the cards still feature the numbers, symbols, and figures associated with playing cards, but the backs of them are unique: they are black, with his emblem featured in red on each one.


 * Dust Capacity:  This is the most fun part. The cards are all lined with various types of Dust, which can be activated normally by running Aura through them (turning them into pseudo-elemental projectiles), or detonated if struck with enough force (say, by a pinpoint Dust gunshot). Different cards use different types of Dust, depending on the card’s suite - diamonds use Ice, spades use Lightning, clovers use Air, hearts use Fire, the two jokers use Water, and the one house card is a blank in all senses - and different concentrations of Dust depending on the card’s rank - 2-5 is low amounts, 6-9 is medium, while 10, the face cards, and the Ace are high. All cards are shuffled into each deck prior to the deck being loaded. You might be wondering how he knows what card he’s about to “draw” is they’re all shuffled. He doesn’t, not until it’s in his hand. That’s part of the fun.


 * Usage:  One might scoff at the usage of playing cards as a serious weapon, but Rousett makes it work. For starters, he is extremely dextrous, and extremely accurate. He can throw the cards with great precision, turning them into long-range cutting/elemental/explosive projectiles. They don’t travel as quickly as bullets, it’s true. But his cards can be used in a variety of ways, unlike regular bullets, carry far more “shots” than a regular gun, and as a bonus, are more stylish. Of course, he’s not dumb, so he uses them in tandem with his other weapon (which is an actual gun), and his Semblance (to give it an elemental boost). There’s also the fact that his cards have a bit of a random factor to them, seeing as he shuffles the decks in his weapon and doesn’t know what card he’s going to get until it’s in his hand. Though this is admittedly a personal choice for the sake of having more fun with things, he turns it into a tactical advantage, with cards of a certain dust type and/or concentration being used for different purposes, each effective for different things. How he fights is essentially governed by what cards he gets, but he knows how to make the best out of whatever Fate deals him.


 * Notes:  The name comes from the casino term “Wild Royal Flush”, which is used to refer to a Royal Flush that makes use of a wild card. There’s the obvious poker/cards connection, as well as the fact that “wild card” pretty much sums up the entire fighting weapon style.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">B) Weapon 2:


 * Name:  <span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">Croupier


 * Wielder: Rousett Bonavent


 * Maker: Rousett Bonavent


 * Type:  Single-Action Extended Revolver (SAER)


 * Weapon Derivation:  A lot of old-timey gamblers are depicted as carrying sidearms, for good reason. Here, a revolver was chosen in particular as a play on Russian Roulette.


 * Design:  It’s a pretty standard revolver all things considered, with two distinguishing factors aside from it's black, red, and and silver colour scheme. The first is its size, with a longer-than-normal barrel and a larger frame. The second is that it has a rather large carousel in said frame, with extended cylinders, which accounts for the larger frame size. The weapon is based on a single action revolver, meaning that the hammer must be manually cocked between shots. This is never a real problem though, as the gun is never used on its own, but rather in tandem with his other weapon. Plus, each shot has some recoil, so shooting it quickly is rather difficult regardless. When reloading, rather than having to individually replace each bullet, he keeps filled cartridge sets inside of his jacket, allowing him to quickly refill all eight cylinders at once.


 * Holstered/Sheathed Form:  As it’s a static weapon design, it has no real sheathed “mode”. Instead it has a simple holster on the belt at his waist.


 * Active Form:  It’s a gun. He shoots it, then he cocks the hammer again and can shoot again. Not much more to it than that.


 * Ammunition:  The weapon uses high-caliber, low-Dust-concentration ammunition. This gives each shot fired more impact and force, but little actual damaging properties, creating more knockback than anything else.


 * Dust Capacity: None


 * Usage:  Unlike the previous weapon, which is intended to have far more variation and style employed, Croupier is a comparatively simple weapon. And while the shots fired from the gun obviously travel faster and hit harder than one of his cards, he rarely actually fires the weapon directly at opponents (that is to say, he rarely uses his gun the way a gun is normally used). This is because it exists primarily to support and compliment the usage of Wild Flush, Rousett’s primary weapon, and his Semblance. Instead, he usually uses shots from the gun to do one of two things; either detonate his own thrown cards by shooting them (he’s generally very accurate with his shots), or to manually stop his own Semblance (more on that later), or possibly both at once if the situation calls for it. Still, he’s crafty, and will use the gun for other purposes if it suits the situation. For example, he may fake out an opponent into thinking he’s about to detonate a thrown card only to shoot them, or something near them, instead.


 * Notes:  “Croupier” is another casino term. It’s the French word for “Dealer”, and is used to refer to the appropriate person in games like baccarat and, appropriately enough, roulette.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">II) Semblance


 * Name:  <span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">Fate Roulette


 * User: Rousett Bonavent


 * Type: Glyph


 * Purpose: Utility


 * Short Description:  The user creates a solid fast-spinning glyph, either in midair or on the ground, with possible positive-or-negative effects depending on where the spinning stops.


 * Activation Cue:  The glyph, which is the same color as his Aura, is of a fixed size, always of about a 3.5-foot diameter, and has multiple sections on it, resembling a long-barred roulette wheel (or this, if you’re feeling the reference). There can be anywhere from 4 to 16 sections (of possibly varying sizes) on the roulette, though 8 is the most common. Different sections have one of two different shapes upon them, a solid or hollow circle, which denote the effect that that section carries with it.


 * Range: Medium

<p style="font-weight:normal;"> --The Semblance has multiple status-based effects, making it very powerful, but the trade-off is that the effects can be either positive or negative. Furthermore, they can affect either Rousett himself, or a different target. This means that, if employed right, the Semblance can either positively affect Rousett and/or his allies or hamper his opponents. But it also means that the opposite is true: Rousett is not immune to the potential negative effects of his own glyphs, nor is impossible for opponents to experience the positive effects for themselves. Fortunately, while Rousett can’t manually control what the glyph lands on, the results can still be manipulated to an extent, and only Rousett has experience enough with his own glyphs to know what the actual effects are and how to get the best results out of them.
 * General Limitations:


 * Active Ability (Tier One):  Each glyph-roulette created has two possible temporary effects, one positive and one negative. The positive effect, designated by a solid circle shape, is an Aura-strength boost (increasing the resilience and regeneration of Aura and the power of Aura-based attacks). The negative, designated by a hollow circle, is the inverse: an Aura weakening/draining effect (a damaging effect, mixed with physically hampering the target’s movement). Once it begins spinning, a glyph generally takes 5-6 seconds to stop. Once an effect is selected, the glyph bursts and the effect takes place on any targets within a short distance of it.


 * Active Ability (Tier Two):  In addition being allowed to slow to a stop on its own, a glyph-roulette can be manually stopped in the hopes of getting a specific effect, either by coming into contact with it or hitting it with something. Physically stopping the spin increases the magnitude of the selected effect. Either Rousett or someone else can do this with any glyph, meaning that the effects can potentially be turned against him.


 * Active Ability (Tier Three):  The glyphs can be placed at a distance, and can even be employed as pseudo-traps on the ground should an opponent step on one.


 * Dust Interaction (Fire):  Increases the strength boost of the positive effect, but causes a fiery explosion and an additional drain-over-time for the negative effect.


 * Dust Interaction (Ice):  For the positive effect, it further enhances aura strength/resilience of the affected party. For the negative, however, it creates a frigid burst of ice that slows down or immobilizes targets.


 * Dust Interaction (Lightning):  Adds a movement speed buff to the positive effect, and a surge of paralysis/damaging electricity to the negative effect.


 * Dust Interaction (Air):  Enhances aura regeneration in the positive effect, but creates a powerful wind burst in the negative.


 * Notes:  The Semblance, at first glance, seems to break multiple rules of common sense. It has multiple effects for one thing, capable of both supporting the user and hampering the opponent, and what’s more it’s possible for the Semblance to backlash against it’s own user. This is all a reflection of Rousett’s personality. He equates life to one big game of chance, and that extends to fights. He’s firmly of  the ‘high-risk, high-reward’ mentality, and the Semblance is a complete reflection of that (as well as his love of gambling, but that much is obvious). It’s a self-destructive habit with great possible repercussions, which he knows. But if he plays the game right, the rewards are worth the risk. And if fortune ends up not being on his side, well… at least it was fun while it lasted.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">III) Combat Info


 * Class/Position:  Gambler (duh); combat mage; mid-range


 * Landing Strategy:  As his created glyphs are at least semi-solid, he can use them to physically control his descent. As for landing, he’d create a glyph and alter his strat depending on what card he draws. Ice would be best, as he’d either use the added resilience to take the fall or use the burst of ice as a makeshift platform(s). Air, he’d aim for the negative effect and use the burst of wind to slow his descent. Lightning, he’d go for positive and use the added agility to try and maneuver through the trees. Fire… would be the dead draw in this case, meaning he’d have to draw again or else take the fall.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">
 * Fighting Style:  It should go without saying that Rousett employs a heavily unorthodox and luck-based “fighting” style. He willingly leaves many things up to mere chance, for the sake of added fun or challenge factor. Still, he’s a mix of naturally lucky and good at making his own luck, and employs both misdirection and skilled improvisation in his fights. He most definitely prefers to fight at mid-range, if at all possible, as his skills are of limited effectiveness in a straight melee brawl, and his weapons and semblance are useless if he’s too far away.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Civilian Extension


 * Expanded Occupation:  He doesn’t own a business of his own. Beyond being a mercenary (essentially a Huntsman in all but name, seeing as he has the skillset), he’s also a “professional” gambler, and spends much of his off time in classy bars and casinos.


 * Skills:  Gambling (or haven’t you figured it out by now?). He wouldn’t call <span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:Arial;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;white-space:pre-wrap;">himself a master at it, as he still loses occasionally, but he’s very skilled nonetheless.