Almandine (ACiAR)

**Almandine** is the leader of The Gem 16, alongside her garnet "cousin" Rhodolite.

## Appearance

Almandine is a slight-of-build Gem with red-pink skin and dark red hair in a bob haircut. Her small frame is set off slightly by wide hips, prominent chest, and developed shoulders. Her head is long and thin, with high cheekbones and a small, understated chin with tapered jawline.

Her gemstone is on her right cheek, just under her eye. It moves with her cheek as her face emotes, but also seems anchored to solid "bone" or "deep tissue", and tends to sink into the cheek when she squints or grins widely.

Though her fashion varies between regenerations, common elements of her style include red/magenta and white stripes, cotton-like materials, and an emphasis on casual human fashions. This makes her look very human in appearance before you pay attention to her garish colors and gemstone.

## Personality

Almandine is usually reserved and soft-spoken, seemingly a total opposite of her "cousin" Rhodolite in terms of mental stability. Under that calm surface, however, burns a fighting drive equal if not *more so* than Rhodes'. If anything, her bookishness allows her to fight with words, reveling in the art of the argument, though she'll turn to physical violence immediately should words fail.

Much of her time is spent analyzing human culture, in particular its entertainment, from myths to movies. When not reading of human history, she'll spend time and money on theatre productions and movie screenings. Otherwise, her possessions are few, with only personal computers as her luxury, spending hundreds of dollars upgrading and replacing her systems to keep her connected with human internet communities.

Almandine rarely smiles or shows extremes in emotion; even her bouts of fury are tranquil and brusque. Her most common expression is a slight frown and wide eyes of fascination. The closest thing she'll give to a smile most of the time is a "smize", with caring eyes and otherwise unmoving mouth. A widely smiling Almandine tends to be one with a few screws loose, especially after a particularly illogical argument with Rhodolite or a disorderly human.

## Abilities

Almandine possesses standard Gem abilities, including super strength and durability, shapeshifting, agelessness, regeneration, fusion, and bubbling.

### Fusions

#### Two-member

* Almandine fuses with Rhodolite to form Pyrope
* Almandine fuses with Blue Garnet to form Rainbow Almandine
* Almandine fuses with Triphane to form Enstatite
* Almandine fuses with Bloodstone to form Crazy Lace Agate
* Almandine fuses with Grossular to form Golden Garnet

#### Three-member

* Almandine fuses with Rhodolite and Blue Garnet to form Gadolinium Gallium Garnet
* Almandine fuses with Rhodolite and Bloodstone to form Dragon Scale Agate

#### Four-member

* Almandine fuses with Rhodolite, Blue Garnet, and Grossular to form Yttrium Aluminum Garnet
* Almandine fuses with Rhodolite, Blue Garnet, and Triphane to form Ulexite
* Almandine fuses with Rhodolite, Blue Garnet, and Bloodstone to form Boulder Fire Opal

### Skillset

* **Sword proficiency:** Almandine can generate various sizes and shapes of swords, utilizing each with expert skill against an enemy. Rather than resort to elaborate swordplay, Almandine prefers to take down enemies quickly and efficiently, except when challenged specifically to a showy, non-fatal duel.
	+ **Sword sizeshifting:** swords are not limited to their initial forms once summoned, and can easily change to suit Almandine's combat needs. In extreme cases, her sword can extend rapidly to pole vault Almandine over obstacles or out of danger.
	+ **Multi-sword wielding:** unbound by humanlike considerations for self-preservation, Almandine can summon as many swords as she needs at any one time, sometimes holding several in one hand, and utilize them with the same deadly precision as each one individually. However, this also leaves her open to more mistakes, sometimes cutting herself to ribbons should her grip slip even slightly.
* **Thought reading:** Almandine's knowledge of the human condition allows her to read people like a book; though unable to actually tap into their neurological signals, Almandine uses techniques such as cold reading to let her target confirm her suggestions. This analytical mind works to some extent on Gems, though she has yet to find one that didn't eventually see through her crafty conversational trickery.
* **Extreme speed:** Almandine's lithe figure can move swiftly through the air, often with such speed that she could strike an enemy down before they have a chance to retaliate. Unlike most speed-based Gems, Almandine's speed bursts are limited by her energy levels and have long cooldown periods, forcing her to use alternate strategies after wearing down.

## Relationships

### Rhodolite

Almandine often feels tasked to act as Rhodolite's voice of reason, though she knows such "minder" behavior would only enable Rhodes in her feelings of helplessness to change her ways. On few occasions, however, the two feel mutually driven to unusual behavior, especially after clashing with rival Gem groups.

### Blue Garnet

Almandine's admiration of his bravery, along with his sympathy for her history, led to a clingy relationship which Rhodolite tried to foster. However, when such codependency led only to empty promises and an even emptier fusion, the two mostly kept to themselves after that, but will still explore each other from time to time in the hopes of building chemistry.

### Triphane

Almandine appreciates Triphane's intellect and resourcefulness, though not always his cowardice or eccentricity. The two often pair up to explore unusual happenings on Earth or off-world, scouting out events before sending in the more brute-force members of the Gem 16 to deal with problems that they cannot surmount alone.

### Bloodstone

Bloodstone's brutal honesty and enthusiasm for fighting warm Almandine's moods, and the two often discuss how to get out of (or deeper into) danger as efficiently as possible. Often, when meeting on similar views, they will fuse into the cunning Crazy Lace Agate to get the most out of their shared brainpower.