Ninian Deoria

Ninian was always fairly intelligent - a fast learner, someone who ravenously gobbled up every piece of information she could find, be it from books, word of mouth, or just by taking apart old machinery left at her parent's repair shop. Lust for knowledge was never a problem for her. But despite her desire to learn and discover, she still lagged behind her peers as she grew and learned more about the technological world around her. Memorization was the problem for her. For every new piece of knowledge she would pick up, she would leave most of the previous lesson behind her. She had to work twice as hard as anyone else to succeed in her classes and lessons.

Ninian was born to two parents who loved tinkering. Running a successful repair shop in Pokos, they were well known for taking any sort of technology, pulling it apart, and putting it back together in perfect working condition. They were very loving and tolerant parents, never turning anyone away and never making anyone pay for something they couldn't repair (though that was very rare). They taught her to be kind and affectionate to all those she met, and she learned from their example that she could never be too friendly.

Still, this did not mean that they were pushovers. On more than one occasion they were threatened or had attempted robbery forced upon them, and if negotiations failed, they pulled out their weapons and scared the thieves off. But they never stopped being good and amicable to others around them. When she was 7 years old, they started teaching her about tinkering, happy about their daughter's curiosity in all things. She took to it well, and retained the information better than most of her other pursuits.

Her long and thin fingers were perfect for tinkering with gadgets, and before long she started building her own. She kept dozens of reference books, some purchased, and some written with notes by Ninian herself, and each of the, helped her remember the ways things worked. Most of her early work was crank powered, using a lot of patchwork gears to create some small movements - mostly useless. But then she started working with combustion.

When she was 16, she became fascinated with the destructive possibilities of the machines she could make. Guns were her most pursued topic, examining different forms of bullets and propulsion, but she was also interested in grenades. This did not last long - while her parents rapidly dissuaded her from working with such dangerous materials at such a young age, she would hide the explosive components and pull them into the workshop to experiment when her parents were away. Unfortunately, this ended in disaster - the components exploded and set the house and workshop ablaze, sending her reeling and burning over half of her body away. Barely able to walk, it was a miracle that she walked away from the house at all.

She hated herself, and though her parents still loved her, she could tell that their disappointment and the loss of their shop had cut them deep. She was bound to a wheelchair for the next 4 years and spent all of them trying to find a way to walk again. Fortunately during this time, her left hand healed, though it was not quite as dexterous as it used to be and had a wicked scar running down the length of it. She could still hold it steady, and that's what she needed. After years of work, she had managed to make mechanical legs - they were slow and clumsy, but with a hand-charged battery, they could effectively run in perpetuity.

As the years passed she returned to weapons as her primary focus - she wanted to make a less dangerous way to pull the trigger, and she wanted to make her new, robotic legs better. Less noticeable, more functional, even stronger than her legs were before the incident. She wanted to leave, to get away. It didn't matter the years that passed, she couldn't take her parents sidelong looks of disappointment and sadness. She needed a change of place, and she wanted to see things that no one else could see, explore the world, and make her parents proud again.

Her new gun used steam power to rocket hunks of metal at targets - after a few years of dedicated practice, and a carefully made bullet, she could launch them at targets hundreds of meters away (after significant application of heat and water to the resovoir) - although the bullet and conditions had to be perfect. Still, even with a poorly made bullet, she could kill an animal at a medium distance. Her improved legs fastened tightly to the husks of what used to be organic skin, allowing her to flex and climb to find vantage points, search for materials, and learn a little about moving about the world on her own. She felt ready. With nothing but a tear stained note to left her parents, she took her supplies and exited their lives, to venture to the guild and join its ranks.

## Character

### Appearance

Ninian is short and lithe, with dexterous fingers that seem to be too long for her hands. Her most instantly notable features are her hair, white, and long, and her left arm, partly covered in a black, thick leather glove and with a wicked burn scar that splinters like lightning down the lower length of her arm. Her legs are both completely covered in metal, and it's clear that they are being augmented by technology - if she's moving, they tend to make quite a bit of whirring and hissing (though if she's still they're perfectly silent). She is toned and swift, moving quickly and with quite a bit of grace, even through rough terrain. Her clothes include many metallic bits and pieces, but not many singular, large metal portions - this allows her some minor protection while still letting her keep her speed and agility high. She always has a long, well-kept rifle slung over her back, fitted with a removable scope and a steam-powered firing mechanism, as well as many small pouches across her person.

### Personality

Ninian always carries a small and mischievous smile on her face, and tends to greet strangers with inappropriate physicality. An expressive girl as a child, she loves to give and receive extreme, often unnecessary emotion. In her adulthood, she has pulled back a bit, and while she still loves to talk and hug and cuddle, these are often accompanied by an appropriate emotional distance. Most of the time she seems happy and contented, often pulling lighthearted jokes and pranks on her friends. However, there is a subtle solemness that rests beneath the surface of her happy expressions, which often comes out when she is fighting, or sees intense flames.