Player Name: Riki
Player Contact: rikimaruhitori, sonichero91 (AIM)

Character Name: Noadiah Vidal, simply known as Noah
Species: Human
Canon: 13th Age (tabletop setting) OC
Canon Point: After drinking an amnesia potion and going unconscious

History:

• Born into a family of ranchers, who he worked with for most of his childhood.
• He developed a fondness for animals during this time, but due to the nature of most ranches, those he befriended didn't stick around very long.
• A natural skill for the sciences lead to an interest in alchemy, a career which required him to move to the Dragon Empire's capital city of Axis. His teacher, Luther, specialized in medicine.
• Noah and Luther regularly visited the arena to attend Kjess matches (chess but with real life people as the pieces). Their concoctions were used to heal wounded warriors.
• He questioned the need for bloodsport as much as he questioned his family's business, leading him to join the Empire's military as a doctor and researcher.
• His first few years of touring were uneventful, but gave him time to sharpen his skills as an alchemist and a soldier. Despite primarily playing a supporting role in the military, even field medics had to keep in shape and defend themselves. A medic can't serve a unit if it can't keep up with them.
• Noah and a few others are stationed in the city of Santa Cora near the Wild Wood, home to the High Druid. The High Druid is a neutral (read: heavily nature-aligned) force and potential enemy of the Empire. His unit is ordered to keep an eye on things and make sure she doesn't expand further than she already has.
• Regular scouting missions of the Wild Wood were conducted, both for the mission and for Noah to gather ingredients for his alchemy. One scouting mission lead him deep into the forest and to a badly injured owlbear. Owlbears occasionally caused trouble in Santa Cora, encouraging the soldiers to try and keep the population in check. Instead of killing it, Noah healed the creature and sent it on its way. Little did he realize this was a test from the High Druid herself. Sensing the man's innate nature alignment, the High Druid tested it and was pleased to see it passed.
• Similar tests yielded similar results, getting Noah into her good graces and potentially granting her an ally. Noah and his comrades took note of this opportunity to have someone who could watch the High Druid more closely. This was reported to The Emperor himself, who sanctioned this opportunity.
• Serving as a liaison between the empire and the High Druid proved difficult. Both relationships needed to be evenly balanced to ensure no one would think he preferred one side or the other. One false move could also paint him as an enemy to both, a fact that Noah had to accept in order to maintain peace.
• Despite the high risk of his position, the alchemist found himself comfortable sitting between his loves of nature and science. The juggling act proved worthwhile as compensation from both sides allowed him to further his skills as an alchemist, with the High Druid allowing him to gather necessities and travel through the Wild Wood unharmed and the Emperor paying his salary and granting requests for more faraway ingredients.
• Noah and his team work to maintain this relationship, a goal which often involved being sent on tasks from both sides, including one from the Archmage, a sworn loyalist to the Emperor. One particular quest required them to gather materials from the Wild Wood and bring them to him, to be used in one of the Archmage's chimera experiments. They weren't told it was one of his chimera experiments until it escaped.
• The chimera finds and imprints on Noah and his team, leaving them in an awkward position as the Archmage holds the alchemist accountable in an attempt to save face. As the High Druid is in opposition of manmade creatures, the Archmage realizes too late that pinning the blame on Noah would damage the trust that he's spent years building up.
• The only way to preserve all of Noah's hard work is to accept the blame for the chimera's creation. Officially, he was dishonorably discharged and ordered to kill "his" creation, with the remainder of his team taking over where he left off. Unofficially, the Emperor and the Archmage set up living arrangements on the other side of the empire as reparations. Noah refuses to kill the chimera due to his distaste in pointless murder, stating that it wouldn't fix anything. Unfortunately, he has no choice and kills the creature himself, despite the chimera doing nothing wrong.
• He is given an amnesia potion before being sent off to live in exile, "just in case." Noah spends a few weeks in his new home weighing his options. Ultimately, he decides to drink the potion, but instead of wiping his memories upon waking, he finds himself in a new world.

Personality:

Above everything else, Noah is a man of reason. This isn't solely due of being a scientist, though that does play a part in it. He believes in doing things for a reason and things without reason tend to irk him. It's this mindset that takes him away from things like mindless killing. He observed this most during his work in his family's ranch and watching Kjess matches with his teacher. At least with the ranch, livestock sold off would go off to feed people. With the arena, boredom was staved off for a day. Beyond that, he likes to believe that everything serves a purpose and will usually refrain from doing something if it lacks one. He will not kill something for the sake of killing it, for example. If he acts in self-defense or acting on a mission to kill something, then he will have a much easier time going through with it.

While he isn't a man of faith, Noah is a man with a deep respect for nature, particularly its fauna. Again, working on a ranch gave him an appreciation for animals and one that played into his favor later on in life. It's thanks to this upbringing that lead to Noah taking mercy on a wounded owlbear and healing it back up, despite the species being known for regularly troubling the city of Santa Cora. This act of kindness was enough for the High Druid to take an interest in him and lead to a potential peace between her and the empire.

It's this peace that he worked hard to protect during his later years of service. From functioning as a double agent and mediator, Noah knows how to keep secrets and is familiar with reconnaissance. Working with intelligence is a delicate matter and one he handled well during his time. Intelligence is his specialty, after all, both in handling information and his highest stat book smarts. A great deal is required to become an alchemist, including one who focused on medicine. Such intelligence let him serve a a good leader to his teammates, who looked to him as the head of the group when he started easing tensions between the High Druid and the Empire.

What may be more valuable than his skills is his loyalty to causes he believes in. He will proudly go through with a task if it falls under a cause he believes in. This involved playing into both the favors of the Emperor and the High Druid for the sake of peace between them, even when it cost him his career. It's this trait that lets him put the needs of others before his own, as any doctor should do. He's grown more lax in his old age, compared to his more stern younger self. He usually keeps a serious demeanor, but isn't so uptight that he can't make a joke or laugh now and again. Laughter is the best medicine, as they say.

Abilities, Powers, Afflictions:

• He's your standard human being, for all of its pros and cons. One from a fantasy setting, sure, where the race is seen as a jack of all trades and a master of none.
• He's a trained soldier and though he's gotten old, he still keeps up with his physical training, leaving him more durable and agile than most. His age means he isn't as physically able as he used to be, but he's more than able enough for adventuring.
• Noah's mind is is greatest strength. He's a skilled alchemist, able to make all sorts of concoctions if he has the right ingredients, ranging from medicinal to more combat-focused purposes. This with his physical aptitudes also make him good at acquiring and managing information, including the more delicate kind of information.
• Noah knows several different languages, from common (English) to elvish to dwarvish to even goblin speak. He can understand draconic tongue but cannot speak it for obvious reasons. Communication played a big part in his work and being able to communicate across as many language barriers as possible proved to be an asset.

Path Preference:

Discovery: As a man of knowledge and the sciences, logic dictates that a scholarly mind such as his belongs in Diplomacy, unearthing the secrets of the world one tome at a time. As a man of action and quick thinking, logic also dictates that his skills would corroborate with the adventurers in Chivalry, protecting those who need it and working through situations as they come. Combining these traits leads to Discovery, a seemingly functional compromise between the other two paths. Brains and brawn both are needed for life as an spy, whether it's unraveling mysteries found along the way or having the physical capabilities to keep your head on your shoulders. Years of experience leave Noah capable of dealing with both when the need arises.

That and he's had a few things blow up in his face a few times before.

Orphan: There's also the alternative to meeting the qualifications of several groups. Though Noah isn't one who wishes for chaos to reign, he is no stranger to keeping secrets and performing underhanded deeds for the sake of a greater good. His service to the emperor has garnered the ire of some, namely the more nature-aligned folk who don't take kindly to alchemy and how it conflicts with the laws of nature. He's a man with a moral compass, but he's also the kind of man who can go through with a purpose if he believes in it enough.

Besides, Noah knows that keeping contact with darker channels can have its advantages.

Element Preference:

Earth: Noah grew up with a love of animals, which makes earth a natural choice for him. Even when taking his alchemy into consideration, he still has a respect for nature and what it provides. His concoctions rely on what's found in the world, after all.

Energy: On the other end of the spectrum is Noah's other passion in life, alchemy. Energy is in direct opposition to earth, just as science is in direct opposition to nature. Electricity can be conducted and used for all manner of experiments, whether beneficial or detrimental.

Shadow: His familiarity with shady dealings and serving as an agent of the Emperor makes him a natural choice for shadow. Darkness isn't necessarily evil, but playing into both sides' favor and reporting on both can be seen as less than favorable.

Anima Creature Description: A reptilian, similar in appearance to an iguana, who Noah decides to name Abel. Abel's scales are colored darker shades of green and blue, with spines lining down its back. Though soft at first, they harden with age. Abel has four limbs and a long tail. While it's capable of quadrupedal movement, it often prefers bipedal movement, in part to pose as a more intimidating figure. Its strong tail serves largely to provide balance and speed, but can serve as a weapon when needed. Abel often takes to the sea or nearby bodies of water to hunt for its main diet, fish. While fish is greatly preferred, other meats can substitute when necessary.

Egg: An aquamarine egg that smells faintly of the ocean. It shimmers when light shines on it, much like how light refracts off the surface of water.

Hatchling: About the size of a standard iguana. Much of its movement is quadrupedal and it will prefer aquatic environments until its body develops, though life on land is possible. Its eyes are a soft green and prefer to survey its surroundings from higher places, which often lead to curling up on Noah's shoulders.

Juvenile: As Abel grows, its body becomes strong enough to support bipedal movement, which it will start spending more and more time in to get adjusted. It moves similarly to a velociraptor at this stage, though its rapid growth from house pet to roughly six feet tall means it need to eat more to keep its energy up. Its claws are developed enough to grip things on its own, which only feeds into its curious nature. Though its grown too big to ride on Noah's shoulders anymore, it will often curl up against him when nothing significant is happening.

Adult: Abel's rapid growth continues into adulthood, where it reaches a height of 18 feet when standing on its hind legs. Which it does regularly. Since it's far too large to fit indoors most of the time, it will often sleep outdoors or, more preferably, underwater. Though its scales and spines are hardened by this age, it becomes possible to mount as long as one sits by its shoulders, in reverse to the creature's youth. It still prefers curling up around Noah when they need to rest.

Anima Traits:

• Arrogant. Though it starts off meek, Abel's growth sparks a confidence that isn't always backed up by its strength. This mostly forms during its juvenile stage.
• Aggressive. Whether this is in regards to being playful or getting in a fight, Abel doesn't hesitate in getting physical. It's very clear which mood he's in, as one of these moods typically doesn't involve teeth. Sometimes.
• Curious. Like Noah, Abel is always ready to learn new things. This typically involves learning through touch, scent, taste in some cases. Simplified explanations can work, although the reptile will insist on inspecting things anyway.
• Stoic. Abel can sometimes be hard to read, as his facial features are often confused as the reptile wearing a smile on his face. Though he is a little shit now and again, he keeps himself together enough to take things as they come, be they good or bad. Most importantly, he's able to keep going, even when under large amounts of stress.

RP Sample:

It felt comical, how often Noah found himself drawn to water. Whether it was an ocean, a sea or a nearby river, the man would always return to watery areas. They were calming, in their own way. Santa Cora was a seaside city and he spent much of his time there. Funny how he wasn't drawn to its religious appeal or shimmering places of worship. Funny how a scientist like himself lived there with little fuss, though he always had the veil of medicine to help with that. Clerics or chemists, the differences didn't really matter when you needed healing.

Noah took some time to sit by a sprawling lake shortly after waking up in this world, reminded of Santa Cora and the beauty that awaited just outside its walls. Keeping calm from the sudden shift in setting wasn't a problem; figuring out where, why and everything in between was the real trick, a riddle he'd decipher once he got his bearings. He had already been moved after the incident, so there was no reason to move him somewhere else. The few people he spoke do didn't even recognize the name Axis, so if he was even in the same world, it sure wasn't the Dragon Empire.

But wherever he was right now, at least the waters were the same way. The environment around it was still alive, with birds chirping and the occasional movement beneath the waters. Perhaps...a bit more movement than one would typically find. Noah didn't notice it at first, but the object washing up on the shore soon caught his eye. Its color matched the water and even shimmered in the sunlight, an interesting feature. After cleaning his glasses, the old man approaches the item, carefully resting a hand on it to pick it up. A small shock meets his fingers upon touching, causing him to pull his hand back. It's not painful by any means, but it does raise questions. Noah isn't any kind of magic user, yet that word is what comes to mind when describing the sensations from the egg.

"...Egg?" He asks himself. Why did he automatically know it was an egg? The alchemist scans the area around him, expecting some creature to show up and take the egg back. The investigation only yields the songs of birds and water splashing against his feet. Reluctantly, Noah picks up the egg to examine it closer, noting its water-like appearance and reaction to light, despite holding a solid form.

He sits back down on the ground, holding the egg in his arms and continuing to survey the lakeside, laughing to himself and nudging the egg. "I'm used to living seaside. What's your excuse?"

App Visible or Screened? Visible is fine with me!