Pearl

Pearl is an innocent girl who must wear a protective crystalline skin suit at all times due to a rare birth defect.

# History

Pearl was born during a time of political upheaval. A rival nobleman had secretly poisoned the royal family in an effort to make her unable to bear any heirs, but his efforts only proved partially successful. Pearl was born nonetheless, but there were complications that left her incredibly weak and unable to fight off infection. The doctors told her parents she would likely perish within a year. Distraught, the royal family sent for every tradesmen, scientist, and healer to save her only child.

When it came to light the nature of the illness that had stricken his wife and daughter the King became ruthless. He had the perpetrator publicly executed and began searching out for similar detractors in her kingdom. This madness may have also been partially attributed to the poison.

One of the queen's most talented artificers finally created an apparatus out of living sea crystal that would protect the young princess. But the queen quickly came to realize a normal life would be impossible for her, and she did not want her to see this new kingdom of fear and oppression her King was creating. Her final act in life was orchestrating his artificer to take the child far away, claiming the illness had taken her before she could be saved. She hoped she could finally have the peaceful life she always wanted for her, never knowing the evil that had befallen her family and her country.

The old artificer was true to the queen's wish, and raised Pearl as his own. They lived a humble life on the outskirts of a village, working in a repair shop. Pearl was discouraged from interacting with the locals, but remained in good spirits helping her father with his wares. One morning she encountered a maimed snail-bird creature, and was able to build a mechanical wing and shell to aid it. She named the bird Pinion, and he became a loyal pet that would keep her company while her father was out in the village. She was also looked upon by a bulky assistance automaton whom she called "Arm", due to his singular appendage. He was good for little more than moving and holding things, but she valued his company regardless.

One dreary night, her town was raided by pirates. Her father tried to defend her, but in his old age was quickly outmatched. She was quilled youngster named Urchin, who guided her to safety alongside Pinion and Arm. After smuggling her out of the village he confided in her that he was a thief that came with the pirates, but defected after seeing the extent of their destruction. Pearl forgave him, which led him to believe she was far to innocent to survive on her own.

Pearl and her friends eventually crossed paths with the Wanderers, who agreed to find a new home for Pearl and keep her safe. So Urchin said her goodbyes and hoped that she could find what she was looking for. Her upbeat demeanor was a welcome change to some of the more grizzled
veterans, though her naivety did often cause problems on missions. One member that was particularly important to her was Rose, whose matronly nature made her feel like she finally had a family.

She also developped a romantic relationship with her teammate Stag, a level-headed hunter whose skin had almost entirely calcified.  Pearl's armor made her the fist person he felt he could touch without fear of hurting them, and the two became quite close.  This fondness was not shared by his jaded sister Thorn, who particularly disliked Pearl's optimistic and carefree attitude.  Nevertheless, Pearl was the only one Thorn allowed to stay with them during Stag's final night, and she eventually thanked her for being there for him.

As she became involved with some more dangerous adventures, she realized that her exosuit made her nearly impervious to physical harm. This allowed her to prove to be a much more valuable asset to the team, and greatly increased her confidence. She became much stronger, and though she deplored violence she became quite capable of handling herself in a fight and protecting her fellow teammates.

Once while wandering the woods during a break, she encountered someone being attacked by a large beast. She quickly rushed to his aid, and was shocked to see that he wore a suit much like hers. After the beast was defeated, she was shocked to see his suit peel back to reveal the man inside. He introduced himself as the Coral Knight, and explained that a protector of the royal family. He himself was confused were she had obtained her suit, especially on hearing it didn't come off, and invited the Wanderers to dine in the castle with him as thanks.

Several attendants quickly realized who Pearl was, and rushed to tell the King. They explained to her who she truly was, the lost princess of their kingdom and sole heir to the throne. Though the crystal suit was thought to be unsuccessful in her life as a child, it had become implemented into a battle suit for the knights. They met with the King who was overjoyed to see his daughter alive, and offered the Wanderers anything they wanted for delivering her safely.

Pearl was overwhelmed with happiness at finally finding her true home, but at the same time conflicted to learn everything she knew was a lie. The King told her the artificer had abducted her in an effort to grow his political power, but she refused to believe him capable of such a thing. Eventually she encountered one of her late mother's handmaidens who told her the true story of her last wishes to keep Pearl safe. Finally Pearl understood the true nature of the kingdom, and the darkness that had taken it over.

Her father used fear and intimidation to keep his subjects in line, and Pearl begged him to be more civil. He told her that it was that kind of weakness that nearly took her from him all those years ago. Pearls efforts also brought her to the attention of the Onyx Knight, the King's adopted daughter who had quickly rose to become the most feared of the king's knights. As the King himself had finally began to succomb to the illness that took his wife, the Onyx Night was expected to soon take his place at the throne.

She challenged Pearl for the right of succession, claiming to be more of a daughter than Pearl ever was. Although she had no interest in the throne, Pearl refused to allow the cycle of ruling through fear to continue. The Onyx Knight initially underestimated her abilities, and lost the upper hand. Pearl eventually defeated the knight, but when she turned to leave the Onyx Knight pierced her armor from behind and pulled her out. The Coral Knight, horrified, leaped to her side and killed the Onyx Knight.

Luckily, the technology had advanced significantly since Pearl's original suit was made, and she was able to have a new one constructed in time to save her.  She decided to stay in her homeland and work to create a more peaceful existance.

# Abilities

Pearls crystaline suit is almost completely invulnerable to the point that nothing other than similar materials can effectively harm it. It also can also withstand blunt forces by distributing pressure in key points, and can be used to achieve feats of strength a person of her frame would not normally be able to accomplish.

# Personality

She begins her journey incredibly naive having been sheltered from many of the uglier aspects of the world. Nevertheless, Pearl remains a determined optimist, never becoming defeated by the hardships that she suffers through. She is a kind and generous soul, taking great concern in the well being of others.

Her adventures with the Wanderers allow her to become much more self confident and less timid around others.