Mana Araki

Name: Mana Araki
Country Affiliation: Sasan
Race: Magician
Tier: D
Class: Magician, Light
Age + Birthdate: 19, December 21
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Demiheterosexual
Personality: There are first impressions of Mana that paint her as sheltered and naive, a sweet and quiet woman without much of a temper or emotional energy behind her; Her demeanor is displayed to others as a reflection of what she thinks everyone else wants to see, an ingrained trait from her upbringing where she was tasked with being a role model and projecting the traits her parents wished her siblings to see. Because of this Mana also keeps herself in a positive mindset, trying to maintain humor and trusting others in ways that reach somewhat further than other people would, as if she is trying to find the good in them. Yet there is something beneath it, and it begins when she focuses on a task.

Mana in concentration is like a woman possessed by what she is doing, her research and her studies often consuming her in a way that pushes her liveliness and energy to new levels. She moves and speaks quickly, thinking and acting in unison to get her points across and becomes altogether much more animated in contrast to her when she's left to her own devices. Her ability to process information is quite high and she naturally picks up and retains knowledge once she starts to pay attention and she is highly observant to the things around her. Her focus can also be applied in other ways, and it gives her an edge under pressure as she is used to blocking out distractions and proceeding with her tasks and what she is focusing on.

Naturally gifted in learning, Mana is also adept at organizing and planning for her studies and many other aspects of life, as well as coming up with ideas and plans on the spot due to her naturally processing things. One of her most pressing qualities, once she's gotten out of her shell, is her nature. She can be quite opinionated and stubborn, refusing to give up on causes she believes in and rarely backing down from a cause or a situation if she's taking it seriously. Her sheltered  and afflicted childhood have given her a distinct lack of street smarts or other assets, so she instead tries to push her way through situations with her force of will and her rebellious nature.

Likes:

• Books - one of her greatest loves in the word are books, her portals to other places and worlds outside the threshold of her house
  
• Knowledge - Goes hand in hand with liking books perhaps, but she enjoys finding things she didn’t know before or deciphering what might be lost
  
• Mystery and Occult - While not particularly disinterested in history itself what is a true passion is the unknown, the mysterious, the occult. Things most people don’t understand or cannot figure out. She enjoys the puzzles.
  
• Cats - She finds their company to be highly pleasant and comforting without being too demanding, the fact they don’t always care to be outside is simply a plus.
  
• Birds - Not as fonds of birds as she is with cats, she came to appreciate their songs and beauty nonetheless
  
• Coffee - While she does like tea, she enjoys the bitterness of coffee and the ability to help her stay awake in a fury of studying or discovery
  
• Lilies and Moonflowers - She loves the color and beauty of a lily but she equally loves the fact moonflowers bloom in darkness, she relates to those the most
  
• Cold Weather - Usually adorned in clothing that covers most of her body in one way or another, she prefers colder weather, it’s the most comfortable
  

Dislikes:

• Lack of Stimulation - Mana doesn’t much like being bored or be forced into situations where she is to observe something she finds distasteful
  
• Outdoors and Brightly Lit Areas - It’s not a dislike so much as an allergy, given her nature she is quite sensitive to the light and the heat of the sun. She carries sensitivity in her eyes to brightness as well
  
• Hot or Too Warm Weather - For much of the reasons she likes cold weather, she rather dislikes warmer weather, having trade into lighter attire that doesn’t offer the same level of protection
  
• Deserts - Dry air, arid sand, sweltering weather. The only good part of the desert are the icy cold nights and little else in her opinion
  
• Sasan - While her mind has been all throughout the world in her books and studies, she picked up from an early age how much she disliked her life in her country; she has never agreed with their view of the world she came to love through words on a page
  

Aspirations: As she read, the words on the page would take her to new places and new experiences but it was only an illusion inside her own mind, soon enough simply ready them wasn't enough, they no longer brought her the same joy as before. With those same words it opened puzzles to be explored and mysteries to be answered; she saw her country for what she always knew it to be and she finally set out from it and left it behind. She wants to see the places she read about, she wants to experience the things in her dreams and wishes, and in those travels and experiences she hopes to find her brother that went missing.
Phobias/fears: Having been stuck indoors most of her life because of her albinism what she fears most and has always feared is her life will pass her by and she will be all but forgotten. Made to be the perfect example of Sasan femininity and have nothing in life for herself, of something she chose for herself. There is nothing in this world more terrifying to her than that; not even death is as horrible a thought.

Face-Claim: Original Character Design
Hair Color: White with a soft undertone of pink
Eye Color: Pink-Red
Height: 145cm, 4 foot 9
Weight: 42kg

Appearance: Mana’s albinism has given her a rather striking and unique appearance, one that gives her an unnatural beauty. An almost haunting beauty, her skin is abnormally pale having little pigmentation to it; her siblings often referred to her as a ghost in her youth in jest. Paired with the pallor are her piercing but softly colored pink-red eyes, often unsettling at a first glance but lovely given the light they give off. Her fair complexion is soft with high cheekbones, almost too-large eyes upon her face, button nose, and full lips quick to smile. She has a dusting of silvery-white freckles across her nose and cheekbones with two dark beauty marks, one under her left eyes and the other close to the left side of her lower lip. Her off-white hair falls in loose waves down her back, brushing the backs of her calves, wispy bangs pushed to one side of her forehead with long locks that frame to either side of her face often braided but held with golden rings either way.

Her body is slim with soft curves, heavier than average bosom, well enough in proportion with her slight stature and presence. Her body is typically covered in layers of flowing fabric of dark dusty blues, purple, grays, and black with adornments of gold and crystals.
Her usual outfit, the one she’s seen in most often, is a soft shift-like dress, off the shoulder, with a slit up the left side and long sleeves that puff towards the wrists before flaring out like flower petals. An underbust corset colored a golden brown holds the dress to her body from beneath her breasts to just over the curve of her hips. Tucked under the bottom of the corset are layered skirts of varying colors and designs picked to complement each other. Opaque tights cover her legs, sometimes puffy harem-style pants, cover her legs with slippers covering her dainty feet, the strapps are wrapped around her lower legs to mid-calf.

Chains and jewelry hang off of her and she is usually always covered in a large veil-cloak draped, covering from her hair to her feet even trailing a little on the ground around her.

Rukh Alignment: White
Special Features: She was born with Albinism, having little color to her skin and hair, her eyes were born almost red.

History: Born to the Araki family of Sasan, Mana's childhood was plagued with trouble from the day of her birth to the second wife of the family's head. A long, exhausting and draining hours long labor that quickly involved the best healers of the area to assist her mother, Khina, through the birth and even when the newborn was finally delivered there was the fear of Mana not surviving the process until her first cries broke through the air. Her mother held her in her arms as the healers gave each other measured looks, for Mana was born pale as death and with eyes that seemed inhuman even then, a pink and red mixture that had them whispering of something unnatural, but they thought better than to speak up in the face of the family they were dealing with.

Then, only a few days later, Khina took her on her outing and when the woman unbundled Mana to show her newborn to her friends  and at first everything seemed fine...until her skin began to burn even after such a short time in the sunlight and she seemed to suffer what could only be called an allergic response to being outside. Healers were called and outside sources consulted, until a foreign healer finally brought them the reasoning; Mana was born with albinism, and her childhood difficulties truly began.

Almost immediately her father, Behdad, completely ceased interacting with her to any real extent as he no longer saw any worth to the Araki family in her and her mother tried her best to take care of her instead, but her mother's career as a songstress . Instead she was raised by nannies and healers who managed her condition which left Mana isolated to an extreme degree; She could not be sent to a traditional school for her condition made it necessary to constantly monitor and attend her and her ability to socialize even with her own siblings was completely cut off, leaving her to be tutored privately within her home and her interactions with her siblings was limited to the tending she did to her younger siblings. With an absent mother and a distant father, Mana quickly became the caretaker for the youngest children.

Mana showed a skill with Magic early on and was tutored in it to some degrees early on, but it was not the focus of her teaching despite its usefulness. With her condition and her disposition, Behdad decided her only use would be as a tool to marry off to other families and instead focused on domestic skills. She was taught to be a proper Sasanid lady and her tutoring was primarily domestic, with her mother convincing Behdad to allow her to indulge in side studies in her Magic as perhaps one of the only gestures of affection she gave to her daughter throughout the years.

Isolated from her family and locked indoors, Mana began to spend her free time losing herself in the family's large collection of books. She devoured books of any kind but found herself often drawn to books of ancient lands, of mysteries and legends, of lost histories and puzzles that fascinated her throughout all of her hardships. While her siblings played in the sun and enjoyed their childhoods, Mana would sit in the windows and read of the unknown and unexpected, the twists of a good story and the mysteries of puzzles unsolved as a way to escape her own miserable loneliness. Her elder siblings, those of her father's first wife, were already well on their own lives and thus disconnected from Mana herself and while Mana often used her Light magic to play small tricks on her siblings, few found the time to return her affection. The only sibling she was close to was her brother, Gaspar, and he did his best to try and connect with her and treat her as part of the family. Bonding over books and the energy of quietly whiling away days, they were the closest of the family but even he became more and more distant as Behdad sent Gaspar to work in the family's mines.

As Mana grew older she began to grow into a smart, dedicated young woman who's early reading of mysteries and the unexplained became a fascination with solving puzzles. Books far above her age were consumed and she began to study tales of old civilizations and cultures, reading of their histories and the things they'd left behind or the things that had been lost by them. She was almost addicted to it, creating maps from the books she read and the tales they told her. She craved the discovery of these things and the thrill of seeing things no one else could. As she grew older Gaspar tried to nurture her growing curiosity and research, bringing relics or items from the mines and the nearby dig sites for her to study and when Gaspar was abruptly sent into the army more relics arrived by messengers and caravan for her. One of the last things Gaspar ever sent for her was a bundle of pressed flowers and a sketch of an eagle...and then Gaspar disappeared.

Behdad's fury was palpable to every one of his children and even Mana, his disappointment, was  not spared the sudden pressure he suddenly leveled on each and every one of them. Mana's detachment from the rest of the family, though she sensed the change in the house, made her ill prepared for the way her father suddenly forced himself back into her life. Her days surrounded by books and maps in the library were ripped from her as he tried to treat her as he saw her, a possession to leverage with other families, and he was not prepared for the young woman's iron resistance to his plans for her. He pushed, sealing her off from the library, and she pushed back by not only refusing to leave her room but physically resisting the house guards when he tried to have them remove her; Several tried to force her, and were sent screaming from her room by her Magic as she confronted her father for the last time.

He had ignored her her entire life, and she would not bow to his wishes now or ever again.

Shortly after she turned nineteen and Behdad became increasingly hostile towards her, Mana left without a word or even the courtesy of a letter to her family. Using her Magic to slip from her home and the city itself, carrying her research and the books she was inspired by, she boldly stepped into the life she had always wanted and now had the drive to go after. Joining traveling groups out of Sasan, soon Mana was out of the country and though she had her own goals for leaving a part of her hoped her journey would reunite her with her brother...

Then, on the borders of Heliohapt, she happened to overhear a gambler offering an artifact from a ruin he'd found as odds for a game and before she could try her luck at the cards, a man sat down across from the gambler and won it handily. She had intended to follow this gold-eyed stranger and offer to buy it from him for the simple fact Mana could learn something from it, but before she ever had the chance the man was confronted by a pair of thugs outside...and Mana saw an opportunity. Using her magic to assist him in an escape, she helped him flee the area and in exchange she asked for the artifact...and the stranger, who revealed himself to be a Magician named Djedi, offered to join her on her travels when she explained what she needed the artifact for.

Mana and Djedi began journeying together shortly after, chasing Mana's dreams and Djedi's desires ever since.

Role-Play Sample:

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