Alchemia
Contents
Appearance
Alchemia is a short, thin young woman with light brown skin, brown eyes and brown hair with long bangs. She often wears a pair of large, round glasses, dark lipstick and dark eye makeup. When out adventuring, she wears a red robe with a white mantle and white gloves.
Background
Hinewai grew up like a normal girl on Akehua. She played in crystal clear waters near the beach and loved the water, she worked at her fathers drug store and helped him make medicines for people and she learned the proper respect for the spirits around her. Unfortunately, her father had some issues with the time honored tradition of not messing with the spirits as he dreamed of finding the panacea and -knew- that it had to be out there.
One day while going out for medicinal herbs, her father began searching through the forbidden areas, trying to find something that would allow him to cure all the ills of the island's people. His wife tried to stop him, but he only became more and more obsessed. He made several of these trips, coming back with more and more exotic herbs until one day... He was just gone. Taken by the spirits. Her older brother, terrified that the spirit would come for him next, took the next boat to come by and fled to New Zealand. This left poor Hinewai alone to take care of her mother. She continued her father's business at a young age until finally her mother wasted away, leaving her all alone.
When times were at their darkest, Hinewai was visited by a spirit of the waters who took pity on the girl. The spirit did its best to soothe her dark thoughts and taught her secrets about alchemy so that she could surpass her father's level of skill. With her new abilities and the assurance from the friendly spirit, Hinewai was soon back to work and probably would have been lived out the rest of her life in peace in the village if not for one day meeting Hailfire. Through a set of unusual circumstances and with a bit of convincing, Hinewai joined Hailfire in her adventures around the island, using the opportunity to help people deal with the more malevolent spirits and make sure others didn't follow her father's fate!
Soon, the island wasn't enough for the two and a chance encounter ended up with them leaving for Millennium City...
Motutapu a Kehua
Loosely translated to the Sacred Island of Spirits (and often shortened to Akehua). Located east of New Zealand, this island is seemingly a wild and untamed paradise with sparse settlements set up around the available land connected by rough dirt roads. It's an odd place where the superstitions of the local people are definitely well founded! The islanders, who call themselves the Aroiki, live every day with a healthy respect for the spirits that dwell around their homes and the creatures that lurk in the forbidden places of the island.
While the people are friendly enough, the island itself is very unwelcome to outsiders, especially those that don't listen to their warnings. Many outsiders have been lost over the years, giving the place a somewhat dangerous and unwelcoming reputation. A reputation further reinforced by technology's tendency to break down in the waters around the island and serious interference keeping radio communications down to a minimum. Attempts by outsiders to threaten either the land belonging to the spirits or the people living there always end up poorly and it seems to know what people are thinking. The spirits there are more than capable of preventing harm to come to their domain.
Even though they live on a mystical island, the Aroiki have managed to take steps towards being more 'modern'. Over the years visitors to the island have brought with them news, technology, fashion and culture or have found themselves stranded and staying on the island. Despite the inability for a lot of technology to work they've developed a fondness for duplicating it in their own way with a few enchantments and spirit driven devices and have adopted clothing from a hodgepodge of decades as they take whatever they can get their hands on and pass it down until it can't be used anymore.
Their buildings are simple, small and old fashioned for the most part and there was an effort to get well laid out town squares going for each tiny village on the island featuring some kind of important structure or statue. Everything carries a bit of age, especially the few old classic cars they've managed to import to the island over the years and rarely used because of the scarcity and cost of fuel for them.
Personality
Hinewai is a sweet, outgoing young woman that can be a bit forgetful at times. Her fellow villagers often joked that it was likely all the chemicals and herbs she worked with (and they were probably right). The moments when she's not so foggy she shows a highly intelligent mind that's capable of quickly grasping and mastering even complex concepts she's never encountered before. She has a good memory and has memorized over a lifetime's worth of information on her chosen profession.
She's very protective of the apothecaries bag she carries, as it was once her father's and becomes upset if anyone tries to tell her what she's doing as an alchemist is silly or impossible.
Abilities
-Master Alchemist: Alchemia is skilled at working with chemicals both mystical and mundane and is excellent at creating remedies and cures derived from natural ingredients. Despite having no formal training in chemistry or any related sciences, she has a lot of self taught knowledge that has proven useful many times.
-Spiritualist: Alchemica is well versed in knowledge of dangerous ghosts, monsters and spirits local and foreign. She's read many books on the subjects and has first hand experience dealing with such supernatural entities. Paired with her knowledge of alchemy she is quite adept at dealing with them.
Weaknesses
-I'm All Out! Alchemia can't carry an unlimited supply of potions with her. And once she's out...
-F... Fighting?: Alchemia has very little skill in physical self defense and has very poor combat awareness. There's also the fact that her weapon of choice, potions and chemicals, is very unwieldy in actual combat.
Equipment
-Potions: Alchemia is capable of creating many unusual magical effects with her potions and powders, all of which are crafted by hand and blessed by the spirits. These effects range from creating clouds of gas and puddles of sticky goop to granting the person that drinks it fire breath or iron hard skin.
Important NPCs
-Romakoa: A water spirit that sometimes gives Alchemia advice. Though it is very helpful, its mood has to be right to help and she has to have some way to contact it from the city, which can be difficult.
Friends, Allies and Acquaintances
-Hailfire: Though Alchemia is often annoyed by Hailfire's rapidly shifting personality and embarrassed by her tendency to be overprotective of her, Alchemia considers her to be her only real family, seeing her as a kind of big sister (or maybe a weird aunt).
Nemeses
Trivia
-Has a tendency to forget her glasses. Especially if they're on top of her head.
-Loves to swim or visit the beach or do anything involving water. She enjoys watching fish swim and finds it very relaxing.
-Seems to be lost in her own world when she's reading something. This is a somewhat annoying habit, as it frequently makes her late for appointments.
Thoughts and Comments on Alchemia
| ||
|---|---|---|
| Heroes: American Witch • Doll • General Freedom • Nightfang • Surova Grimwish Dobergirl • Violet Mask • Mercy • Lorekeeper • Impsblood • Midas • Greymist Wanderer Zee the Zombie • Ada Clover • Whitecloak • Ember • Tartolmec • Ultima King • Crash Fist • Bom-Pom • Aqualung | ||
| Villains: MetaCorp • Death Watch Beetle • Mindleech • Magpie Family • Other Villains • Cerulean Steel | ||
| Places & Things: PsyKiss • The Bracen Institute • The Forever Night | ||
| Groups: New Vigil (Leader) • Protectors of the World (Member) • Frontiersmen (Member) • Gen Prime (Leader) | ||
