Post by Kat Arabelle on Mar 23, 2011 22:01:13 GMT -5
Kathleen "Kat" Arabelle
"'Sit down and shut up'? I think you've got the wrong girl."
"'Sit down and shut up'? I think you've got the wrong girl."
NICKNAMES: //[/color] Kat
AGE: //[/color] 17
DATE OF BIRTH: //[/color] Sept 19
GENDER: //[/color] Female
ALIGNMENT: //[/color] Chaotic Good
OCCUPATION: //[/color] Student, Master, "Troublemaker"
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From the sight of her clothing alone, one would not guess that Kat came from a wealthy family that prided itself on elegance. She typically wears very simple garments that don't make her stand out one way or the other. Jeans are the norm, paired with t-shirts or tank tops of varying colors. Footwear is most often a pair of sneakers. A hat is never absent from atop her head. Should she lose one, it is soon replaced. In colder weather a black, zip up hoodie is added to her attire.
(( What the character in the pictures is wearing does conflict with what I described above. Kat typically doesn't dress that way, that is, the way in the pics, when she's out and about. Sorry about that. ))
Look at that smile... She's about to do something disruptive.
Probably teasing poor Jeanne.
Clearly someone just did something annoying.
"Did you really just say that? Wow."
A moment of startled embarassment. Awkwaaaard.
...I don't even know...
Kat in her natural form of trollface. u mad bro?
HEIGHT: //[/color] 5'4"
WEIGHT: //[/color] 106 lbs
EYE COLOR: //[/color] Blue
HAIR COLOR: //[/color] Black
PIERCINGS: //[/color] Multiple spots in both of her ears, though she typically only wears earrings on one side or the other.
TATTOOS: //[/color] One on her left shoulder, and one on the lower right side of her back.
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: //[/color] She's always wearing some kind of hat.
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- Rebellous
- You say jump, Kat says 'piss off'. She's not an outwardly aggressive or forceful girl without reason, but to assume that she is submissive would be very inaccurate. She sometimes seems to disagree simply to disagree. In reality she just values her ability to make her own choices, and even the slightest sign that someone may be trying to manipulate or force her to their point of view causes her to react negatively.
- Keeps to Herself
- Kat is, perhaps surprisingly, rather calm when she has no reason to be outspoken. She is not truly antisocial in the strictest sense. She has no difficulty interacting with others and has no disdain for social interaction. She just tends to be on the quiet side, though when she is spoken to she will reply in a friendly enough manner. She may seem generally apathetic as a result, which is true for those things which she finds no interest in. Without interest, she finds no reason to put effort into a task. When she does find something intriguing or has a reason to care, it becomes obvious quickly that the girl is not lacking in passion.
- Good at Heart
- Though one might not assume it from first glance or even first impression, Kat is good at heart. She has no interest in being obnoxious just to be obnoxious or starting problems with anyone for no reason. She lets people be who they are and as long as they are doing the same for her and others, she causes no trouble. She has the best intentions in mind with most things she does, but her methods of achieving them can sometimes make that difficult to see.
- Helpful
- Despite her occasional appearance as a loner, she is never one to turn a blind eye to someone in need. She will stand up for someone if she sees them being taking advantage of and she will gladly stretch out a hand to help another if she is able, and as long as the one seeking aid isn't doing something overly harmful to others. Start to treat her or anyone else poorly though, and all bets are off. You're on your own.
LIKES: //[/color]
Freedom/Individuality
Being outside
Anything fast paced
Hats!
DISLIKES: //[/color]
Oppression on any level
Pretentiousness
Her family (Excluding her little sister)
Bad drivers
STRENGTHS: //[/color] Kat is capable of thinking on her feet and good at adapting to new surroundings and situations. She makes many sudden decisions and rather than following some sort of plan, usually prefers to fly by the seat of her pants. She manages to make it work.
She also has a strong sense of loyalty to the people she cares about, to the point where she will put herself in harm's way for their sake. She is even known to go out of her way for people she barely knows if it involves standing up for their rights and well being. By giving loyalty to those who deserve it, she manages to earn it back from them.
WEAKNESSES: //[/color] Prone to sometimes reckless and dangerous actions, Kat will allow herself to be put in the line of fire if it means making a point or taking a stand. While this can be seen as a strength in certain circumstances, she sometimes take it a step into the unreasonable by being immaturely stubborn and overreacting. Taking a punch for someone who's weaker is one thing, intentionally crashing your father's car to make him angry is entirely another.
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MY FAMILY LINE: //[/color] The first recorded history of the Arabelle family goes back to medieval times where they were wealthy lords who ruled over vast amounts of land. Though they have been known to often move from one area to another chasing after potential opportunities for further wealth throughout the centuries, the majority of the Arabelle ancestry has been English and French.
Unlike many Magi families who tend to separate themselves from the concerns and society of non-magi, the Arabelles submerge themselves in it in order to acquire power. They are often brilliant masters of manipulation and control.
They began to study magecraft very early on, beginning in the 13th century, seeing it as a way to help them acquire more power more easily. While they studied the more common spells which most magi were capable of, they discovered quickly that their elemental affinity seemed to be for fire. Despite a mastering of the element over the centuries, they were not content, and over generations researched and worked hard to develop a form a magecraft which was unique to the Arabelle line. It fit the family well: spells which focused on creating illusions and directly tricking the mind. These were mainly created for use on non-magi, as other magi were able to see through these spells and resist them quite easily.
The Arabelles are known for a deep sense of pride, sometimes to the point of being extreme. They often look down on those they consider to be 'lesser', but through their manipulative natures and the use of their signature magecraft they are often able to acquire loyalty despite this.
Even if they are not one of the most powerful families in the magi community and may be seen in a somewhat negative light due to their choices of how to use their spells, they take pride in knowing that they have such power and influence, and see any who might disapprove as simply expressing petty jealousy. The last few generations of the Arabelle family have been born and lived in America, where they have mostly been wealthy business owners and CEOs of large, successful companies.
MY HISTORY: //[/color] Born Kathleen to the wealthy and prominent Arabelle family her parents, her father in particular, had high expectations for their first child. She was not an only child for long. When she was three her mother gave birth to her second daughter, another girl who was named Margret. Still, as the first born there was a lot of weight already placed on her shoulders by her parents. The Arabelles considered themselves a proud family who rose above commonality and amounted great wealth, success and power with each generation. They were not overly concerned with how such success was acquired, or how it affected anyone else. They would mold this child into a worthy successor of the Arabelle legacy.
Unluckily for them, even from a young age it seemed clear that Kathleen was not destined to be one to just fall in line simply because she was expected to. As a young child she was unruly and would often act out. As she grew older the needless outbursts stopped, but she would still stubbornly disobey her parents and elders in general. She was labeled a troublemaker early on for her lack of obedience. Many things her family tried to force on her, specific ideals, methods of thinking and 'proper' ways of acting, were met with resistance.
As Katheleen aged into a teenager, what had started out as childish disobedience and immature stubbornness turned into an actual understanding that she wanted to be allowed to be her own person, not be told who she was to be, what she should believe or how she should act. It was with that realization that her unruly actions turned into real acts of resistance. Her parents became frustrated as they realized that what they had thought to be a childish phase that she would one day outgrow turned out to not be so, as they saw little difference between her childish outbursts and her new attempts at forcing them to let her be an individual. Her parents reacted by trying to further tighten their grasp on the girl, figuring that somehow with enough pressure she would eventually give in. All that did was cause her to fight them more.
She was prone to often doing the exact opposite of what she told. Sometimes to her own detriment. To her, it was worth it. As long as her parents had not gotten what they wanted out of her then she was fine with the result. Her family was often frustrated by the girl's antics, finding it appalling that she could act so disgraceful and often going to lengths to hide her embarrassing actions to preserve the family's pride. Even minor things such as her frequent use of a nickname, "Kat", rather than her given name was frowned on by them, who found her disregard for her more dignified sounding name to be plebeian. Punishment was the only other way they knew how to deal with her and attempt to get her to be obedient. It was also typically ineffective.
Kat's sister, however, held much more promise as far as their parents was concerned. She was much better behaved and did as she was told. When it became apparent that Kat would simply not be the golden child they wanted, they focused more on Margret, deciding that she was more worth the effort of molding into a proper heir of the family. From that point on their parents made every possible attempt to drive a wedge between the two of them. It was their way of trying to keep Margret from picking up bad habits from her older sister, and to get her in the kind of mindset that they believed would lead to her success in the future. Try as they might to instill a sense of ruthless competition in the sisters, every attempt failed. The girls were too close. There was no resentment or bad feelings between the sisters. Over the years, Kat even took the blame for some of Margret's actions and mistakes to spare her sister from their parents' disappointment and possible punishment. She was used to them and they affected her much less than they would Margret.
Kat was still their daughter as much as they may have wished otherwise sometimes, and they could not just pretend that she didn't exist. Her father eventually threw the only other solution he was knowledgeable in at her: money. He figured if he set her up with access to wealth via a bank account and allowed her to do what she wanted with it that she would act out less and therefore be less of an embarrassment. In a way he was right, though it had nothing to do with the money. Without the full force of her parents attention on her to be someone she did not want to be, Kat had less reasons to cause them as much trouble. At least for a little while. Her parents still found themselves having to deal with her belligerence, waged not only for herself but now also for the sake of her sister. While Kat was happy to be free of much of her parents attempted conditioning, she hated seeing them bear down on her little sister.
As far as mundane education went, she was sent to private schools her whole life. A member of the Arabelle family, even a black sheep like her, would not be allowed to go to a lowly public school. She was a decent student, doing well in the subjects she had actual interest in and less so in the ones she did not. She made a few friends, though she found that typically her personality tended to clash with those of her classmates. She did not go out of her way to cause trouble for her teachers but as she did with her family, she would occasionally misbehave simply to spite a teacher that she felt was getting too overly controlling or unfair. Not only over herself, but over other classmates as well. It was her parents' numerous, generous donations which allowed her to continue to attend these schools even despite her infractions.
Despite the fact that she would not the heir he originally intended her to be, her father still insisted on having Kat having the knowledge of and developing the skills of a magus. It was a matter of the family's pride. Her father lucked out when it came to Kat's studying of magecraft. Even though it was something he expected of her she also had interest in it herself, and therefore didn't fight him over it. Still, she never treated any of it with the sort of reverence that her family, and perhaps the magi community, would have expected. She didn't treat being a magus and mastering magecraft as some grand, amazing act and was rather nonchalant about the entire situation. Which gave her family yet another reason to see her as an outcast.
Yet she seemed to have an impressive grasp on the spells she learned. She was able to understand and cast spells easily and without a great deal of effort and exertion. Things which her little sister struggled to master were no issue for Kat. It was discovered early on that her amount of magic circuits and the prana which ran through them were greatly above average for what was expected of an already matured magus, let alone one of her age and lack of experience. While as a result she was capable of achieving great feats when she actually put her mind to it, she still did not put in the maximum amount of effort to take full advantage of it. She saw no reason to push herself. This was all eternally frustrating to her father who saw it as a waste.
Kat's father was a man who went to great lengths to keep himself informed of the major happenings in the magi community. As such, he heard the whispers of the beginning of a new Grail War being prepared for in Italy. Seeing this as a way to claim further power for the Arabelle family, and deciding that no one other than an Arabelle was worthy of winning, he was determined to have the family represented. Who better to do so than his chosen heir? He informed Margret that she would be expected to participate, provided her with the information she would need (gathered by the family through many generations), including the ritual of summoning a servant, and told her to prepare herself.
Margret shared some of that information with Kat. She confided in her older sister that she did not want to be involved in the Grail War. She did not have the enthusiasm for it that her father expected her to, and she was afraid of what might happen to her. Both girls knew that even if she were to make her feelings known, that their father would not accept no for an answer and would force her into it. Kat made a quick decision to take matters into her own hands. In a way that would not only spare her sister, but also would lead into a situation that would entirely ruin her father's initial plans. With Margret's help, and the texts so helpfully provided by their father, Kat completed the ritual to summon a servant: Jeanne d'Arc. Once the girls were successful, Kat destroyed all the gathered information to ensure that Margret could not still easily be forced into going.
When her father discovered what they had done he was enraged, and in his anger, swore that he would finally disown his rebellous daughter. Despite her little sister's initial protests, Kat hid the younger girl's involvement and claimed that she acted alone. Their father was able to get his anger in check long enough to realize that at this point, Kat was the only one who could represent the Arabelle family. His sense of pride would not allow him to have the family not participate at all.
He begrudgingly made arrangements for Kat and her newly summoned servant to be sent overseas, and provided them with access to funds to use towards a place to live and other such necessities. Before his daughter left, he made it quite clear that he saw her as a disappointment and believed that in the end, she would fail the family. After the very loving parting words of "screw you", Kat and her servant left for Lucca, with Kat promising to herself that she would make him look like an idiot. Yet the girl only has the most basic of understandings of the War and what participation in it truly entails. Something which at this point, she does not have a firm grasp on.
Regardless of that fact, with the help of her servant, Kat's current goal is to win this new Grail War. For herself, above all else. She can think of no greater punch to her family's pride than to have the black sheep succeed and rise above them all.
MY GOALS: //[/color] She's intent on taking a shot at her family's sense of pride and pretentiousness by being successful in the Grail War despite being a "disappointing failure". Whether or not she will discover other motivations remains to be seen.
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Baton - A small, simple black baton. Given to her to use for protection should she find herself in an up close and personal situation, by her father's bodyguard before she left for Lucca.
Small Switchblade - Another 'gift' given to her by her father's bodyguard, for any possibly more serious situations. Kat is much less likely to ever use it or even keep it on her frequently, as she has no experience with using a knife for such purposes and isn't fond of fatally wounding people.
RANK: //[/color] None
ELEMENT: //[/color] Fire
EXPERTISE: //[/color] Basic Hand to Hand Combat - Kat has basic knowledge of simple hand to hand combat, taught to her by her father's bodyguard behind his back. It is enough to be capable of doing more than flailing uselessly should she find herself being physically attacked. Her skill is about the equivalent of someone who has taken a personal self-defense class.
Quick Reactions - Kat's ability to adapt and react serve her well in most situations. She's able to keep a close eye on her surroundings and quickly react appropriately to them. Of course her definition of 'appropriate' may not always be what's expected, which sometimes give her another advantage in being unpredictable.
Good Physical Shape - Even despite being a rich girl who one would expect to be spoiled and rarely raise a finger, Kat is actually rather physically active and fit. Things like running, climbing, lifting and other physically strenuous activities are not difficult for her, even despite her smaller stature.
MAGIC CIRCUITS: //[/color] 25 magic circuits at 8 prana each, for total of 200 prana.
SPELLS: //[/color]
Fireball (Fire)
Rank: E
Cost: 3 Pr
Range: 5m
Effect: Increases temperature in the oxygen molecules within the caster's grasp until it ignites. Can be thrown to a distance of up to 5m before dissipating. Causes 2nd-3rd degree burns. Its destructive capacity can be compared to throwing a live torch at somebody.
A one-line spell common to most fire magi. Some older families have stabilized it to the level of Single Action in their Crests.
This spell has a checkered background, and it is believed to have simultaneously originated in different countries around the world within a specific time period, much like gunpowder. That hasn't stopped some very ancient families from continuously claiming the credit for developing it.
Burst (Fire)
Rank: D
Cost: 10 pr
Range: 25m (Required distance for the initial cast, 1.5m for the distance the flames shoot out in all directions when the fireball explodes.)
Effect: This spell has its basis in the more generic Fireball spell, modified by the Arabelle family to be a somewhat altered, slightly more powerful version. When cast a fireball is still created, though rather than the spell being focused in the hand and directed outward in such a fashion, the spell is cast at a specific point where a fireball forms and immediately bursts. The flames shoot out a small distance, burning anyone standing close enough. It is useful as a surprise attack, and is much more difficult to dodge than the typical fireball since there is no visible path of movement to follow.
Inferno (Fire)
Rank: A
Cost: 100 Pr minimum (Can be cast using more, which increases the heat and strength of the flames.)
Range: 30m
Effect: A spell that has only ever been used by the more gifted members of the Arabelle family, and rarely finds itself used in anything other than last resort situations. It requires the compacting of a great deal of prana, usually most of what the casting magus has left, which is then all released at once in a raging inferno. The magus waves their hand to direct the spell, and releases the flames in a large cone in front of them. It expands out a great distance from the cast point, greatly damaging anything or anyone caught in the initial blast radius. Since it is a sudden burst, most flames dissipate rather than remaining behind and spreading once the spell has finished being cast. It is considered a last resort due to the amount of prana it uses, often leaving the caster compleatly exhausted and vulnerable to the point of barely being able to move.
Believing Is Seeing
Rank: C
Cost: 20 Pr
Range: 20m
Effect: Ineffective against magi and servants. One of the first spells developed by the Arabelle family, and one of their most commonly used ones. The caster is able to manipulate a target by directly implanting an illusion within their mind. If done successfully the target will believe wholeheartedly that the illusion is real, and will be tricked by their own consciousness to actually see (and feel, if they attempt to interact with it) the image implanted with their own eyes. They will be the only ones to actually see the fake object, and usually all it takes to break the illusion is for someone else to draw attention to the fact that it isn't really there. Weak minded individuals may take a small amount of convincing. This spell cannot be used to create the illusion of a person, as a person is too complicated and unpredictable to emulate. Requires that the casting magus be able to see the target as well as be close enough.
False Memory
Rank: B
Cost: 40 Pr
Range: 1.5m
Effect: Ineffective against magi and servants. A difficult spell, usually only used by powerful magi of the Arabelle family capable of the focus and strength to cast it correctly. Kat's understanding of this spell is very limited and as such, ever using it is more dangerous for her than beneficial. It requires that eye contact be made with the individual it is cast upon, and allows the magi to implant an altered or completely fabricated memory into the target's mind. The spell is only capable of placing the memory in the consciouness, not of determining how the person will act based on the false experience. The real danger of this spell lies in the backlash it causes. While experienced magi can overcome it, should it be used incorrectly, resisted in any fashion or used by an inexperienced magus unable to resist the side effects, the consequences are dire. The casting magus in such a situation finds themself in a state of delirium, with the stability of their own mind greatly eroded. The time period this 'side effect' lasts for varies depending on the circumstances, though the average length of time is a week.
PLAYER'S NAME: //[/color] Dee
FACE CLAIM: //[/color] Sahasi Yukari (Sekirei)
OTHER CHARACTERS: //[/color] None
MISC. INFORMATION: //[/color] I'm not really an expert on Fate/Stay Night lore (and that's also an understatement). So feel free to point out anything that might not fit within the story or universe, or anything important I missed, it would be helpful. Thanks!
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