Mia Brande / Fire Magi

Mia Brande,

the end is coming near

While Mia has undoubtedly inherited her father's passionate, hot-blooded demeanor, she has let these traits run wild and untempered due to a life born of conflict and hardship. Excitable and energetic, it often seems like the only thing Mia lives for is the next challenge. The pursuit of strength drives most of Mia's actions, with her ultimate goal being vengeance on the corporation that robbed her parents of their lives. However, while she boasts great physical strength, Mia greatly lacks in mental and spiritual as evident from her impatience with the slower aspects of a monk's lifestyle and a great deal of uncertainty about how worthy she is to uphold her heritage as the daughter of one of Arithelia's Fists.

The ugly side of Mia's personality lies in her addiction to Uppers which get her through numerous street fights against superior opponents. This dependence has shaped her fighting style into a brutish display of power over technique wherein she focuses on reckless displays of strength. Outside of battles, the craving for the drug leads her to take greater risks for the chance to purchase more. Pointing out that she has a problem is the quickest way to draw her ire, as she loathes admitting that her strength is dependant on this drug. In spite of this, Mia has managed to exert a great amount of self-control over herself: she has never once raised her fist against those weaker than herself.

appearance

Standing at 5'6'' feet tall, Mia is a pint-sized mass of faded musculature on a lean, curvy figure. Her most distinctive physical trait (besides the obvious) is her long, messy honey-blonde hair that flows right down her back that she refuses (see: can't afford) to cut. Her skin is an unhealthy shade of white and pocked with bruises all over, both new and old. This along with the bags under her eyes hint at the young woman's unhealthy lifestyle of constant fighting. She is perpetually standing tall with a defiant aura about her; everything about her movements screams confidence.

As for Magi traits, Mia evokes the image of a Phoenix.

Covering patches of her body are tufts of orange and red feathers which frequently molt, only to grow back a day later; a larger tuft of feathers resembling a "tail" typically grows out of the absolute small of her back. In moments of stress or extreme anger, her feathers will begin to burn off, and the edges of her hair will be set on fire.

Mia's ears are missing, replaced instead with bird-like earholes which she takes advantage of with an unusually flexible neck that affords a greater degree of circular head movement.

Finally, her fingernails and toenails have morphed into a claw-like shape.

Due to how late these traits were acquired, it could be said that they are underdeveloped.

"Casual" would be the simplest descriptor for Mia's fashion sense. Rare is the time where she doesn't just toss on some baggy jeans, faded sneakers, a tank-top or t-shirt, then her favorite jacket and call it a day. Given her penchant for fire, everything has to be loose, minimally covering, and easily patched up.

family relations

Parents
Mother: Aria Fitzpatrick (Deceased)
Father: Flint Brande (Deceased)

Siblings
None

Extended Family
None

biography

From as far back as the Mystic Era, there existed a sect of monks consisting entirely of magi whose affinities lay with fire. These men banded together out of a mutual desire to channel their wild, destructive powers into a peaceful and expressive form of martial art that would bring them closer to their goddess. They became known in Ethean as The Open Palm of Arithela as proof of their commitment to a life of faith and peace. For generations, they sequestered themselves from the outside world, and from their meditation and harsh training regime, they achieved enlightenment. 

Gradually as their hair greyed, the monks, wishing to pass their knowledge to the next generation, opened their gates to the rest of their world and accepted all who would brave the journey to their mountain temple. While anyone could brave the path and earn the right to and their lifestyle in silent respect, only magi attuned with fire and bearing an immense strength of character and will could choose to join them. Generations passed, students became masters, and the way of the Open Palm endured.

The advent of technology brought a new creation into the world: cyborgs and androids, the human race's answer to the primordial power of the magi. Countless generations after the passing of the Mystic Age, the monks observed the dawn of the Industrial Age and gave in to an internal conflict. Some of them wished to utilize their power for the purpose of liberating their subjugated peoples from the threat of the government's abductions, while others saw any direct conflict as an affront to the philosophy of the Open Palm. In the end, the two parties split, with one group remaining at the temple and warning their former brothers to never return. The rest prepared for battle under a new name: The Order of Arithela's Fists as translated in Ethean.

The actions of the Fists would become a magi legend -- and a source of fear among humans that would associate all fire magi with their destructive acts. Despite entering into battle with little more than their hands and feet, they inflicted thousands of dollars in damages in their effort to aid their brothers and sisters' flight from the government.  However, they were still only a handful of men against an endless legion, and it was inevitable that their crusade would end with a well-laid trap by the government that wiped out most of their number. The rest were enslaved, heavily drugged and given the maximum amount of security afforded to them within a relocation camp. 

It is said that the goddess often acts in mysterious ways, and for the monk named Flint, even he wondered if Her hand had pushed him to fall in love with a female guard that had been assigned to him. For Aria, who was briefed on the hardened criminal she would monitor, the realization that her prisoner was a self-reflecting monk without hate in his heart opened her eyes to the truth. Thus did the romance between prisoner and prison guard blossom, and from this union came a child. She was given the name Mia as proof of their rebellion against society's expectations for both human and magi alike. The child was raised in secret with Aria, who was thankful that she had been born a human. However, a complication arose due to Aria's decision to have the birth in secret rather than a hospital: Mia's right arm was deformed to the point of causing her constant pain. A risky amputation was conducted, and she only barely survived.

Nothing lasts forever, not even the brightest flames of hate. When the relocation camps closed and Flint became a free man, he and Aria could finally elope with their eleven-year-old daughter, albeit while keeping their relationship a secret. Settling down in Felici, Flint left his monk's lifestyle behind in order to support his family, a decision he would always lament for the rest of his life given his lack of knowledge concerning the fate of his temple brethren. The constant difficulty Mia faced due to her disability was a source of trouble for the small family, who later discovered that she was a "no-maj" and thus incompatible with augmentations. 

Out a desire to help alleviate his daughter's suffering and rekindle his connection with the past, Flint taught Mia the same martial art passed down to generations of Palms, but modified to accommodate her handicap. Not content to let his daughter run amok with his ancestor's techniques, he then rigorously enforced a philosophy of his own creation. It advocated for the peaceful life of deep connections with the earth and the Goddess practiced by the Palm sect, with the call to defend the weak and champion steely defiance made infamous by the Fist. Young Mia took to these lessons with a great amount of veracity, albeit with more of an inclination towards the way of the Fist.

One day, Terra Nova sent out advertisements for an experimental program seeking disabled magi for possible cyborg limb augmentations. At Mia's insistence, the family signed their daughter up out of hope that she might benefit from modern technology. The outreaching hand of humanity soon morphed into an ugly snare as the true goal of the project became apparent when the family of three weren't allowed to leave. Mia was forced to watch as her mother and father were executed during their ineffectual attempts to protect her. For two years, Mia endured agonizing and ultimately ineffectual "research" based around augmenting a severed arm.

One soon discovers just how much they wish to survive in horrible situations; Mia clung to hope the entire time she remained in Terra Nova's "care", surviving became an act of defiance in and of itself. This desire led her to seek power from the goddess her father and her father's father worshipped so long ago, for power was the only way she could save herself. Innumerable failed operations and her own rapidly declining health led her "caretakers" to decide to have her disposed of. As the guards wrestled her out of a cell and pressed a gun to her head, Mia's powers awoke in a literal blaze of fury and pain. Whether this awakening was due to the Goddess's blessing or Mia's simple desire to defy her fate is unclear.

When Mia awoke, she was lying in the backseat of a car driving through the countryside. The driver was a female scientist she recognized, one of the few who cared about the magi test subjects she was forced to conduct tests on. Mia learned that she had been smuggled out in the chaos of her awakening, and the two of them were on the run to Dagos, a city of Vice that Terra Nova couldn't easily track them in. Despite Mia's initial apprehension due to the occupation of her savior, she accepted the scientist's help, for it was better than taking her chances on the streets. Life wasn't easy, but it was a free life nonetheless.

Cut to two years later. Mia struck out on her own after tensions with the scientist reached a melting point. Street fighting is how she makes ends meet, but the strain of constant bouts has forced her to rely on Uppers in order to stay on her own two feet. When she isn't struggling to defeat a tough opponent, she's fighting her own frustration at failing to emulate the lifestyle preached by her father. How could she be at peace with so much injustice in the world? What use is a connection to the natural world in a filthy city like Dagos? This anger is channeled through one of the few lessons she has taken to heart: to raise her fist only in defense of another.

This adage fuels Mia's desire for revenge. As the burning fist that strikes at the wicked with vengeance in her heart, she will never forget what humanity has taken from her. She is the flame that will never fade.

Higher Resistance to Downers: Takes double the amount to bring down.

Heat: The ability to cause at least one appendage of your body to warm up at a time (arm, leg, etc). Your skin can get to the point of burning someone upon contact if you wish or remain at a comforting warmth. Judging your own character's level of experience and practice, they may be able to heat up their entire body at once.

Ash: You can call ash and make it dance like any flame. The more powerful your Flame ability, the more ash you can summon and control (Following the same restrictions as your Flame ability). This can be used to create screens, flung at foes, or for other creative uses.




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Unarmed Combat I: You know the basics and can hold your own in a street fight. The type of martial art or fighting style is up to you. We trust you to be realistic for what you can accomplish and not accomplish at being a general level one in unarmed combat.

Unarmed Combat II: You have improved in this skill and can accomplish more impressive feats in the fighting technique you've chosen for your character. You are now also able to defend yourself better against melee weapon-ed attacks.

[b]rwby, Yang Xiao Long[/b] as [i]Mia Brande[/i]