Bionic_

IC: Zeiral - Tesara Marketplace (Roaming about) Zeiral roamed back and forth between what few of the market stalls had remained unscathed from the attack, it had been quite some time since he had been in civilization and the few hours he had spent within Tesara had been eventful to say the least. The activity was taxing on Zeiral, but he was invigorated by the change to his daily routine regardless. He slipped off into a side alley, out of the way of the passers by. "I suppose I should take inventory" he said to himself. The wastelands could easily be very lonely, the habit of talking to himself just seemed to be a natural development during his journeys through the sand. The inspection of his pack didn't reveal much, his sudden push to repair the Scarab to its current working condition had left him lacking in funds. He was down to just a few portions of food, most of a canteen of water, a handful of assorted scrap components and the Scarab's keys. "Well then, employment takes first priority then... Surely someone in this oasis is in need of labor" he reasoned quietly. Zeiral decided that searching through shops any further while lacking capital would be a waste of time. He made his way back to the noticeboard he left earlier. He hoped to find something of interest that payed either through the employer, or the loot found. He inspected the board for something fitting. OOC: Zeiral is Looking over all the postings on the Notice board for Employment. (Hey Nato I'm not trying to bother you with something trivial, but what would be listed here exactly? I just wanna make sure I know what choices I have, if any, so I can decide on a direction to progress)

IC: Zeiral - Tesara Marketplace "Okay Then?" Zeiral said to himself quietly. Despite technically having his question answered the following display certainly didn't serve to strengthen the explanation. Not wanting to get involved with the conversation over the rocket shell he starts making his way towards any market stalls which might've re-opened. OOC: Zeiral is open to interaction at the Tesara Market.

IC: Zeiral - Tesara Marketplace (Bulletin Board) Zeiral had awoken as the sun rose, he had spent the night on a rocky outcropping safe from the creatures below & hard to access from the cliff face above. He had always heard about Tesara from several traders he knew but he had never been there. He had always stayed out of the way, not wanting to risk the large amount of salvage he had always been carrying while passing through the area. Now he wasn't bound the that path, he was free for the first time in years. With his new found freedom Zeiral decided that he would go see this place he had heard so much about. He came in for landing and set down the Scarab out of the way. He took the keys & some essentials from the cargo space. He then locked the hatch and disconnected the ignition coil just to be safe. "That should do it" he thought to himself. Zerial wandered though alleys towards the center of Tesara. Something did seem off though, a settlement this large should be much more active, the tone of what few people he did see was subdued at best. Finally he came to the Marketplace and was greeted with a level of unexpected destruction and more guards than he expected. He suspected something had happened before he arrived that morning. Normally he would observe, hoping to gleam answers from the actions of others, but he had no time for that today. Zeiral made his way to a large noticeboard looking for answers. "Excuse me... You, frigid one. What happened here?" Zeiral asked a Ko-matoran who seemed to be scrutinizing the board. OOC: Zeiral is attempting to ask Akkitu what has happened.

Well, after some thinking on how to make this work I've decided to drop Lowawk & The Shield for simplicity's sake. Probably going to stay that way until I feel confident enough to re-write his backstory. In the Mean time I've Written Zeiral to have a more individual background and The Scarab now looks more like its own namesake, rather than a partner for the Shield. So take two, bear with me. Character: Name: Zeiral Species: Bota Magna Zesk Gender: Male Powers: Natural armored carapace and keen senses Gear: Staff length hammer with light crystal embedded into the head, Traditional Zesk helmet modified with metal mandibles. Personal Aircraft: The Scarab Allegiance/Role: Roaming scavenger, Novice pilot & part-time mechanic Appearance: https://i.imgur.com/DW3K1Iv.jpg Personality: Generally quiet, reserved & observant. Bio: After the failed restoration of the planet many struggled to find their way in the foreign wasteland their home had became, Zeiral was not special in this regard. He recalled when the forests of Bota Magna were new & now he had been forced to watch them wither away to nothing. With his kin scattered to the desert winds & his Bara Magna cousins reduced to simple beasts he began to roam in search of purpose. Life was hard, he lost many things dear to him. His home, his tribe, his tail, all stolen by the cruel sands. Zeiral's life became nothing more than going through the motions. Stop here for a bit, scavenge what he could, sell it over there. Over time this cycle encompassed one big loop around the wastes and Zeiral was nothing if not consistent. He memorized the time it took to travel, the best spots to look for scraps, safest times to move, even the best spots to hide in between salvage runs. It was Zeiral's fourth time making the circuit on foot, he was a few days behind schedule due to one of his normal spots being picked bare. He came up to one of his normal dwellings as the sun rose, a sand cave hidden away out of the normal path the travelers took. Immediately he noticed something odd, there were spots of rough glass sunken into the sand around the mouth of the cave. whatever had caused the sand to melt had been since his last time through the area, it had been worn down by the constant winds. At the back wall of the cave Zeiral found his answer. A beat up skyfighter lay there, smashed into the rocky side of the cave. It's pilot, a small matoran, lay dead beside it. He had been there for some time by the look of things. He took only what he deemed allowable from the corpse, then buried it out of the way. "It would've been a shame to let him lie there any longer" He though to himself. He then turned and took inventory of the craft. It's cargo was scarce and the nose was completely ruined. The engines seemed functional but whatever had hit the vehicle had ruptured the fuel tank and destroyed the personal teleporter in an instant. In that moment Zeiral was reminded once again of the fragility of life, he could either waste away in the sands or pull himself together and rise above. The next few months were hard, he had found what he could in the area to fix the craft and bartered for what he couldn't. It had cost him a small fortune and many sleepless nights of extra work to make up the difference. To him it didn't matter, he was leaving the cave on that skyfighter or not at all. By halfway through the third month he had pulled the craft from the rubble of the wall & rebuilt the nose. He had taken the deserts bounty for himself and now was ready. He packed his things, dragged it to the mouth of the cave and fired it up. With that low rumble of the engines he had found his place again and flew off into the night, no longer bound to the sands. Aircraft: Name: The Scarab Model: Skyfighter Weaponry: Impact Crystal launcher (folded into side compartment when not in use) Customization: Kanohi Hau integration, can protect against attacks when activated in time. Won't protect against sneak attacks. Mechanism needs time to recharge after stopping especially strong attacks. Installed to prevent a similar fate to that of the previous pilot. Appearance: https://i.imgur.com/3KJ0bQs.png

I'm a little torn about these two. Individually, they seemed alright, but once I got to their shared backstory they started to read like fightbots, by which I mean they seem explicitly designed to exclusively work together. They have matching aircraft and firepower (skyfighters with impact crystal launchers), their personalities and fighting styles compliment each other extremely well (one's big, reserved, and strong, the other's small, talkative, and fast), and so on. It's an easy trap to fall into (I myself have done similarly on more than one occasion in my early years of RPing), but ultimately it's often not as much fun for other characters trying to interact with you, and can be pretty unfulfilling for the players involved as well. Eg. if someone wants to chat with one of these two, they'll be forced to deal with both of them. If a battle breaks out, the other person will be stuck fighting two characters controlled by the same player. I'd very much prefer to see these two characters fleshed out as individuals, and given their own distinct personalities and backstories, rather than a shared history with them being engineered to be fully dependent on one-another. Understandable, guess I hadn't thought about it like that. Back to the drawing board I suppose.

wasn't around for the first one, still its seems interesting so i might as well and throw these out there. hope they're fitting. Character: Name: Zeiral Species: Bota Magna Zesk Gender: Male Powers: Natural armored carapace and keen senses Gear: Staff length hammer with light crystal embedded into the head, Traditional Zesk helmet modified with metal mandibles. Personal Aircraft: The Scarab Allegiance/Role: Roaming scavenger Appearance: https://i.imgur.com/DW3K1Iv.jpg Personality: Generally quiet, reserved & observant. Bio: After the failed restoration of the planet many struggled to find their way in the foreign wasteland their home had became, Zeiral was not special in this regard. He recalled when the forests of Bota Magna were new & now he had been forced to watch them wither away to nothing. With his kin scattered to the desert winds & his Bara Magna cousins reduced to simple beasts he began to roam in search of purpose. Life was hard, he lost many things dear to him. His home, his tribe, his tail, all stolen by the cruel sands. After nearly meeting his end while passing near a particularly large settlement he finally found opportunity. The Destruction of Fe was a terrible time for many, but a grand day for some select few. The scavengers who were willing to risk the rubble and ruin after the battle found great reward among the ashes. This was a time of innovation for New Atero's flying machines and every scavenger knew if they found something worth while to them that it would be a major payday. Zeiral's close proximity to the battle became an advantage in disguise. Within a few months of particularly hard & dangerous work he had a new source of income and transportation, the first thing in quite a long time he could call his own, his "Scarab". Aircraft: Name: The Scarab Model: Skyfighter Weaponry: Impact Crystal launcher (folded into side compartment when not in use) Customization: Kanohi Hau integration, can protect against attacks when activated in time. Won't protect against sneak attacks. Mechanism needs time to recharge after stopping especially strong attacks Appearance: https://i.imgur.com/0Fjq3GN.png Character: Name: Lowawk Species: Le-Matoran (Hordika) Gender: Male Powers: Heightened Instinct & Senses Gear: Small Sword, Backpack & Length of Corded Rope. Personal Aircraft: The Shield Allegiance/Role: Roaming scavenger Appearance: https://i.imgur.com/YfQmElx.jpg Personality: Very talkative and strangely light-hearted given his surroundings, not quite to the point of annoyance though. Doesn't often talk about his past. Bio: Life following the fall of the Matoran universe was a hard time for all, even though a young Lowawk didn't like to admit it. Thanks to the hard work of those around him he had found himself with the position of farming apprentice in a decent sized settlement a decent journey east of Tesara. The work was hard but rewarding and soon, against all odds, the field flourished. For a time all was peaceful, at least as peaceful as it could be. In times of particular strife he found solace in the fields he worked so hard to maintain, looking up at the vast night sky. On one such night he heard the voice of a friend calling out to him, but not from towards the settlement, the calls came from farther out in the fields. It struck him odd, but odd was the law of the land. He sought out the source of the calls only to find himself in the presence of a very menacing looking Oohnorak, one Rhotuka was all it took to render him unable to move. The venom's work was quick and he thought it was the end for him. Suddenly a commotion from his village caught the beast's attention and it slinked towards the outer walls, Five other Visorak in tow. The next thing he knew was the light of morning, he wandered back into the remains of his home. The battered carapaces of Four Visorak were strewn around the central courtyard, another had been crushed when the heavy storehouse gate had been dropped onto it. Finally when surveying the remains of the village head's chamber he found the final Visorak. The Oohnorak. Impaled on the spear of the chief. Both of them dead from their injuries. Nothing remained of his home except empty walls and crops no one would harvest. Lowawk gathered his belongings and made his way out into the wastes, heading northeast towards the mountains of Fe. Little did he know that by his arrival Fe would be nothing but a crater full of strangers picking up the pieces. The work was hard and the pulling of the beast on the fringes of his mind was strong at times, but just as he had before he found solace in the vast, untouched, unchanged night sky. Finally his work payed off. He and the only friend he had made since arriving at the crater, an old Zesk, stumbled across a pristine bit of stabilization technology that New Atero had been quite vocal about their need of. They stowed their find from nefarious eyes and made haste to the remaining New Atero forces in the area. Their treasure netted them a great deal of widgets between them. Both originally intended to go their separate ways, but their similar taste in purchases sealed their bond. Where one would go, the other would follow. Zeiral on his Scarab & Lowawk on his Shield. Aircraft: Name: The Shield Model: Skyfighter Weaponry: Underside mounted Impact Crystal Launcher on rotating mount Customisation: The Shield has been modified with a widened front section, it contains a high amount of cargo space for a Skyfighter with room for spare equipment, extra rations & fuel. Appearance: https://i.imgur.com/el5qjET.png (I've been typing for an Hour now, i think its time to stop being so long-winded, if you actually were interested enough to read all the way through, thank you.)