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haymitch jumpscare! felix is approved!
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𝓜𝓮𝓲 𝓦𝓮𝓲-𝓧𝓼𝓾
The lower city has always been a kind and gentle home to Mei. As the daughter of a baker, she grew up surrounded by the smell of fresh baked bread and the ring of the shop door below her room. Her three older brothers kept her home lively, with their wrestling and grunting contests as they hefted bags of flour each morning. Mei loved the early mornings in the city when she and her siblings were up preparing the shop for another busy day. It was the only time Voxthain was ever truly still, a hush to the air that even the morning birds hesitated to interrupt. She had the honor of watching the city wake up with the rise of Luminos, a world coming alive with each break of day. She greeted the Seavey paperboy each day with a friendly wave and fed the alley cats behind the bakery, she prepared coffee for the first commuters that passed by the shop, often heading to the Tinkerer's Guild or a factory. After the morning rush died down to a trickle, her parents would bid her and her brothers farewell for school.
People around lower Voxthain knew the Lui family and their bakery, and they would greet the four Lui kids on their way to and from school. Mei was kind and friendly, but she always had an eye for one of the tinkerer boys. He was shy and reserved, keeping to himself more than most of the other lower city kids. Mei couldn't help but be charmed by him and his transmutation work. While in school, she was far too shy to ever approach him herself, instead choosing to keep her crush close to her chest to grow or die away at it's leisure. With time, it faded to the background, her busy life at the bakery taking precedence.
Mei was an average student—never making the top of her class, but also never in need of remedial studies. She had no dreams of becoming a scholar or a Councilor or anything that would require her to ace school. The bakery was her home, and she was content to continue to make cakes and pastries for the rest of her life. When she graduated, she joined her brothers at the family bakery full-time. Two of her brothers had moved from her family home to neighboring houses to start families of their own, but still they came by the house each and every day for work.
One day, when Mei was 19, she went out to deliver fresh rolls to an elderly woman in the community just like any other day. A rogue carriage crashed down the street, wild and untameable. The rider was screaming from their seat, shouting out warnings and cries for help. People dodged out of the way and ran after the carriage, shooting out any magic they could to get the carriage to halt, but there was nothing they could do. The street was so narrow and winding, the buildings built too close together to accommodate the sheer volume of people in the lower city. Mei only saw the carriage when it was too late, and she had nowhere to run and hide even if she had seen it coming.
After the accident, Mei couldn't recall the crash itself or the sickening crunch of the wheels on her leg. She remembered the fear, remembered the sound of the wheels against the uneven stones of the road. Then nothing, just waking up in a hospital bed with the feeling that something was missing.
It was hard adjusting to life on one leg. While what remained of her leg healed—the carriage had crushed her right at the knee—she was stuck hobbling around on crutches, doing what she could to keep up with the bakery she so loved and failing at every turn. The very day the healers okayed her for transmutation, her mother and oldest brother accompanied her to the Tinkerer's Guild to get her a prosthetic. The name Jingyi Wei-Xsu had been passed along to them time and again over the last few weeks—stories of what he had done to help a sister or a friend, praises of his gentle nature and the artistry of his creations. Walking into his work station, Mei was shocked to see that shy little boy she had crushed on all those years ago looking back at her.
Only a week after Jingyi had fitted her with her prosthetic, she saw him in the bakery for the first time. And then he came back a few days later, and again and again until he was buying coffee or a cake or sandwich from them every day. When he left, her brothers would hoot and holler about how cute they were together, already guessing the name of their first kid. Mei would just blush and hide behind her hands, not wanting her brothers to see the wide grin on her face. Months of shy flirting passed until one of Mei's older brothers lost his patience with the two lovebirds and set up a date. The two have been happily together ever since, easily joining their separate lives into one. Their wedding had been the talk of the town, the joining of the sweet baker everyone loved and the quiet tinkerer who had given so much to the city.
A few years later, Mei gave birth to Chae, her sweet girl and the light of her life. Chae was the perfect baby, giggly and calm, her sweet buddy in the bakery when she wasn't keeping Jingyi company at his work station at the Guild. When Chae was older, she was the first to taste all of Mae's creations, giving her honest opinion and suggestions for what could make her treats tastier. Oftentimes, Mae saw Chae as a little Jingyi, following in his footsteps as a mechanic, and she could not be prouder of her daughter and the woman she was growing into.
To this day, Mei is a baker, rising before dawn to watch the bread rise with the sun. She loves the quiet comfort of her life, and hopes that she and her family are able to stay peaceful and happy together forever.
Personality
Outgoing, polite, and kind, Mei is the perfect match for her Councilor husband. She knows everyone in the lower city, and they know and love her in return. She does not have a single angry bone in her body (she likes to joke that all of her anger was stored in her missing leg), and could never hurt a fly. Despite her husband's involvement in politics, she tries to stay away from all of that and the nobility of it all, choosing instead to focus on the day-to-day and the good she can do for the people around her right now.
Magic
Conjuration ; Mei always had an affinity for conjuration, but she never cared to cultivate that gift for anything more than telekinesis and conjuring bakery ingredients from the ether.
𝗥𝗮𝗳𝗮𝗲𝗹 𝗔𝘇𝘂𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗲𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑈𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑒, 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑆ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑, 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑒, 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑦-𝐸𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡
𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬
𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬
𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗖
Joaquín C. Stormvale - Stormvale Cousin - Part OneName: Joaquín Cerulean Stormvale
Nicknames: Kino, Kix/Kiks (both used by family and close friends), Jack (mostly used by acquaintances or his family when they want to annoy him)
Age: 19
Gender: M
Home City: Voxthain
Role: Noble
Appearance: Joaquín’s shaggy, black hair brushes the nape of his neck, and since he rarely puts in effort to style it, his hair is usually unkempt and tousled. However, he hates being scruffy, so he’ll take the time to shave. He just never bothers to run a comb through his hair while he’s at it for some inexplicable reason. His eyes are hazel with green flecks, and he has medium olive skin, smooth on his face but rough, calloused, or scarred most everywhere else. He has a straight Greek nose, angular jawline, and defined cheekbones, and his dark eyebrows vaguely resemble question marks. His wide smiles are contagious (he likes to joke that he’s mouthy figuratively and literally), and both his upper canines are slightly crooked. His height is roughly 6’1, and he has a lean and toned build with broad shoulders and long legs. Years of rock climbing, spelunking, and other physically demanding activities have strengthened his arms, back, and core, but he has slender fingers and hands that are always scratched up from various adventures. His feet have high arches and sport numerous callouses since he prefers to go barefoot whenever possible. He has a tattoo of three, interlocking diamond shapes in mismatched colors on the right side of his chest and a second tattoo of a fox slyly curled around a spade on the back of his left shoulder.
His dress style is casual and functional. He hates formalwear with a passion and avoids it at all costs. Most often he wears comfy t-shirts and long pants with plenty of pockets. If he gets cold, he pulls on a plaid flannel, and he prefers to be barefoot as much as possible. His go-to pair of shoes is his leather boots, and he likes to wear hats, though he has a habit of randomly trading them with other people, sometimes without asking. The only hat he keeps around is a little black fedora. He’s not into jewelry, but he does have a silver ring with an onyx flame he wears on a chain around his neck, usually underneath his clothing.
Personality: Joaquín is always a rascal, but whether he’s relaxed and just cheeky or really chaotic and potentially destructive is random. Some days he’s mostly harmless, content to channel his energy into silly rants or good-natured teasing. On his calmer days, he’s much easier to be around, but catching him on his wilder days can be a challenge, even for his closest friends. He’s a massive risk-taker and likes to hunt for thrills. He also enjoys a good prank, though sometimes he forgets not to take things too far. It’s unpredictable which side of him will show up: friendly trickster or frenetic iconoclast and daredevil. However, he tends not to switch from one to the other while in the presence of other people, unless his environment or companions drastically change. If his more chill side is out, he likely won’t suddenly become restless and impulsive – and vice versa.
Whichever side of him is out to play, he loves to run his mouth about anything. He’s too smart-alecky for his own good and can’t resist a well-timed quip, at his own expense or someone else’s. Usually his teasing is meant to be friendly, but he knows how to get under people’s skin and sometimes can get carried away. A gentle reminder from his friends typically admonishes him into reining his tongue back in, but if he’s in a mood or on a crusade, there’s not much anyone can do to hold him back.
He's very curious (especially about science) and has developed into a resourceful person due to all the bizarre situations his unbridled curiosity has landed him in. When it counts, he takes care to be prepared, but the rest of the time, he’s happy to throw caution to the wind and see where it takes him. He gets a thrill out of things not going to plan and is probably happier when things are going wrong than when they’re proceeding as expected.
There’s no reason to choose between being a renegade and a nerd, so Joaquín never did. His love of science and animals doesn’t interfere with his full-time job of challenging the status quo, and he has no desire to force himself into one box or another. Other people can label him all they like, but he doesn’t have to pay attention or care if he disappoints anyone. He adores all animals and finds bugs fascinating, and he has little tolerance for people mistreating or teasing animals. There have been multiple past incidents where he either started or almost started fights with people who were harassing animals. He hates to see people using their size, strength, or smarts to subdue, torment, or exploit things that aren’t able to effectively defend themselves. It’s one of the few things that really gets his blood boiling, and it’s difficult to calm him down.
Outside of his interest in science, he doesn’t have much patience for books or academics. When he was in school, he had a bad habit of procrastinating on his schoolwork in order to spend more time on his hobbies. However, his parents did a stint as archivists when he was a kid, so he does know how to research pretty well. He doesn’t always like to, but he can gather the necessary focus if he finds a compelling reason. Ever since his parents’ deaths, he’s had an interest in mysteries, murders, and cold cases, so when he’s in the mood, he likes to spend a day at the library looking into whatever’s piqued his interest. He can’t say he’s actually solved anything, but from time to time he has uncovered some relevant detail or other.
He loves to use his sleight of hand tricks to entertain and delight. He also enjoys using them to cheat at cards, though not for the sake of winning. If he does happen to get away with it and win, that’s fine by him, but it’s more about causing mischief and chaos than anything else. He just does it for his own personal amusement. If he gets caught, he’ll pretend not to know what’s going on and won’t drop the act no matter what. It’s all just part of the game to him.
Likes:
Animals
Science
Traveling
Cave Diving
Sketching
Tomatoes
Music (any genre)
Card games
Coffee
Rock climbing
Dislikes:
Indoors
Pottery
Lilies (they make him sneeze)
Green tea
Rules
Tweed
Medicine
Silence
Dressing up
Small talk
Magic:
Evocation: Unsurprisingly, Joaquín is talented at fire magic. He can create and manipulate it, and he loves using it to light cigarettes or cigars with his pinky cause he thinks it’s real classy.
Enchantment: Befriend animals - again, no surprise here. Not that he generally needs it since he’s an animal whisperer anyway, but it comes in handy if he encounters animals that are more aggressive.
Transmutation: He can send messages and heal small injuries. He also uses this magic to enhance his senses, primarily vision and hearing.
Family:
Father: Gregorio Stormvale
Mother: Lola Stormvale
Cousins: Rafael Stormvale (first once removed) and Catalina, Xavier, Camila, Antonio, Azuela, and Alaia Stormvale (second cousins)
History: Joaquín was the only child born to his parents. His father, Gregorio, was a cousin of Rafael Stormvale, so he grew up in both Voxthain and Asterath. His parents preferred Asterath, so they stayed there more often. When he was younger, his parents switched occupations frequently, about every year or two. They had been librarians, cartographers, brewers, horticulturists, and even embalmers, pursuing whatever professions caught their interest. The jobs that included traveling were their favorites, and Joaquín always tagged along with them, wherever they went. They traveled less as he grew older, but he remembers some of it, including very vague and fuzzy memories of some sort of archaeological dig his parents were involved in when he was a small child.
Family was important to Joaquín’s father, so they always made sure to visit their relatives whenever they were in town. As a child, Joaquín wasn’t as close with his same-age cousins, but that was mostly because his parents ping-ponged around so much, even within Asterath and Voxthain. However, he had no contact with his mother’s side of the family, whoever they were. All he knew was that they were from Asterath. He wasn’t even sure if they still existed.
His early schooling was unusual. He did learn basic subjects, but since he accompanied his parents everywhere, he ended up spending more time learning about whatever their current professions were. One of his favorites was the horticulturist job his father got. The fauna interested him more than the flora, but he got to spend most of his day outside, which was where he preferred to be. Another interesting feature of his education was the various sleight of hand tricks his mother taught him. She passed on all kinds of things she’d picked up from her misspent youth, but Joaquín liked the sleight of hand the best. He used it to cheat at cards with his friends or to play pranks on other people.
When he was a teenager, his parents decided it was time to send him to Cogworks. He had been homeschooled up until that point since they moved around so much, but his father was getting older and slowing down. He opened a small pottery studio in Voxthain while Joaquín was in school, and whenever school was out of session, they moved the studio to Asterath. Ceramics was not his favorite pursuit, and even though his father made him help out when he didn’t have homework, he could never get the hang of it. It required too much patience, and he hated sitting still. Instead, he liked running around Asterath or spelunking in any caves he stumbled across.
Eventually, he learned a little more about his mother’s background. She had been taken in by the Spiders as a young girl, but when she met his father, she ran away to Voxthain with him and left her old life behind. Joaquín could tell she missed it sometimes. There was a wistfulness in her voice when she remembered her old friends in the gang, and though he never met any of them, he knew his mother still kept up with one or two of her best friends from her youth.
When he was sixteen, his parents died. At the inquest, it was declared an accident, but Joaquín wasn’t convinced. There was no evidence directly indicating foul play, but something about it didn’t add up for him. He knew his parents had enemies – specifically his mother – but he had no idea who they were or what grudges they might have held against his parents. It could have been a gang member, someone his mother had stolen from or hurt when she was a Spider, or some other unknown person. He investigated on his own as best he could, but there weren’t many rocks to turn over. His parents left very little behind. Since they spent most of their lives traveling from place to place, they were not burdened with an abundance of things. He didn’t continue the life of the pottery and ceramics studio his father started. He didn’t have the skill, not to mention the interest, so it died with his father. Instead, he used the space to tinker with various things, whatever caught his interest.
Joaquín C. Stormvale - Stormvale Cousin - Part TwoHistory cont'd: Not long after his parents died, he decided to start his own radio broadcast using a pseudonym. He was angry and mouthy, two perfect ingredients for an entertaining radio host, and it provided a good outlet for him to run his mouth about whatever. One of the things he loved most was music, so oftentimes he played songs when he didn’t have much to say or if he’d tired himself out ranting about a particular topic. He liked visiting different pubs and taverns or anywhere he could hear new music. He wasn’t snobbish towards any genres, and as long as a song had something to say or sounded like someone had spent time on it, he enjoyed it. The things he talked about on the radio varied wildly. One day he might be just goofing off, and the next he could have a thoughtful and detailed argument concerning some recent injustice. He had no idea if anyone even tuned in, but it was a lot of fun regardless.
He also became intensely fascinated with zoology and cave diving. He befriended another student at Cogworks who shared some of his interests, so in their spare time, they explored and mapped caves together. Another friend he made was Theodore Seavey. Teddy was a bit quieter, but that was more than okay since Joaquín could talk enough for two or three people. As a general rule, he didn’t like the other noble children much, but Teddy seemed kind and intelligent. As they got to know each other better, Joaquín was thrilled to learn that Teddy was interested in science, and although his preferred field was zoology while Teddy was STEM-oriented, he loved that they could discuss different fields of science together. Whenever they hung out, he always learned some new and interesting fact from Teddy, and as a bonus, if his radio equipment ever broke, Teddy could usually fix it up for him. He also befriended Alex Calico, and for all the obvious reasons, they tended to be a destructive duo.
The other highlight of his time at Cogworks was the betting operation he ran on the side. Students would bet on all kinds of things, especially the noble children who weren’t hurting for things to trade. Things like sports garnered lots of bets, but there were all kinds of other random things too, like whether two of the teachers were hooking up, whether Elliot or Draven would win the prank war, which students would fail the next math test, and so on. Joaquín would calculate the odds and then distribute the payout, if there was one. He quit running the game once he graduated Cogworks, but every now and then some of his old friends from school would hit him up to see if he was still taking bets.
After graduation, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. If not for the shadowfog, he would have taken whatever job took him furthest away because he missed traveling with his parents. It also would have been a nice memorial to his parents to travel all over, but the shadowfog got in the way of that. On the bright side, not traveling far off meant that he stayed closer to Teddy and his cousins. Sometimes he and one of his younger cousins, Camila, would go scouting for animals to observe and sketch. It was one of the only times he could consistently be still and quiet, so as not to spook any animals.
He was ecstatic when Teddy got an apprenticeship. It seemed like a great fit for his friend, and he knew Teddy would excel in science. He considered looking for his own apprenticeship in zoology but ended up deciding to put it off a little while. His side gig mapping caves kept him afloat, and he liked the thrill of potential danger. He also had experience in various other fields his parents worked in to fall back on if things got tough, so he wasn’t overly concerned with his profession. At least he didn’t own many possessions, so it would be all too easy to pick up and move on if he had to.
Currently, he’s still running his radio broadcast and doing whatever odd jobs appeal to his sense of adventure. As for the shadowfog and the murders, he’s curious. Sometimes they even make up the content of his broadcasts, but he’s not an expert on anything, just a guy who’s good at running his mouth and has a long-standing interest in mysteries and murders.
Other: Addicted to yogurt. Will turn into the biggest grump if you take away his yogurt.
Joaquín is approved!!
Character list updated to this point.
