AA: Kairi Xin

6/3/17: Updated art, age, and job!
27/4/16: Updated age and relationships

Current outfit ref
Previous outfit/Winter outfit ref

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Name: Kairi Xin (born Carina Vinterlund)
Age: 31 (as of Sept 14 2018)
Standard Calendar:
    Birthday: 14th Fire, Year of Paths 8263 (September 14th)
    Zodiac: Carta the Scroll
Song-Lu Calendar:
    Birthday: Day 23 of the Month of the Otter, Year of the Lambent Gold Owl
    Zodiac: Falcon (True), Cat (Secret)
Gender: Female
Height: 6’ (180cm)
Race: Human

Class: Scout > Gunner > Sniper (Sight Stitch)
Occupation: Peacekeeper (Mentor to Tian)
City: Song-Lu
Allegiance: Koben Empire


Personality:
Doting // Protective // Jolly // Overcritical // Frank // Reliable // Modest // Dutiful

Having lost everything once before, Kairi holds onto her life and the people in it close to her heart. Sympathy and compassion come to her easily, and feels personally involved or responsible for anyone she comes into contact with, especially in her line of work. Not being able to protect someone goes against her idea of her job and makes her feel incompetent. She is afraid of losing everything again. She will extend her care towards others she feels needs the help, and worries when her aid is unable to reach them. She can come off as overbearing towards strangers, only cutting back once she’s learned the comfort barriers of others.

Kairi will take what she has as well and hold it close. With the general upheaval of Alva there is no guarantee things will remain the same long enough for her to savour it. She wants others to enjoy the time they have as well, and can be a bit of a party animal in an effort to encourage those around her to have fun. She has grown quite social in order to keep in touch with people and likes to spend time with them. Going out and having fun is her way of coping in the face of stress, often in the mentality of “out of sight, out of mind”.

Kairi is quite the perfectionist and high achiever, so she is never satisfied with her efforts. She pushes aside praise from others very readily and tends to point out was bad about her performance rather than what was good. She holds failures against herself very tightly and strives to do better every time. She’s come to be a little more positive with herself over the years, but only a little. Failures stick with her very strongly, often this is a source of worry and loss of confidence.

Towards others, Kairi can come off as a little harsh as she doesn’t like to sugar-coat her words. She will be upfront about issues and think that you are in the wrong, but she is open for debate if her feelings don't get in the way first. Her honesty can be counted on.

Likes: Green // Doting on others // Tea // Floral sake // Duck hunting // Songluan tea snacks // Onsen // Cats

Dislikes: Saccharine food // Being indebted to others // Losing old friends // Others touching her guns


History:

Kairi was born to an abusive Linhian man who often took his anger out on his wife and daughter. She was scarred fighting her father to let her mother leave the marriage. Unable to help her break away, she moved back to her mother’s homeland of Song-Lu to start a new life. Years later, she was delighted to be eligible for the Peacekeepers and signed up immediately.

Or at least, that is what people are supposed to know...

Kairi— no, Carina, was born a Vinterlund. It was not very well known at the time, that her uncle was the head of a generations long black market arms business. Carina’s mother had escaped responsibility over the family trade solely by being the second child. The small family led a comfortable lifestyle, living off the spoils of her uncle’s work but never having to get their hands dirty themselves. Her mother wished for it to stay that way, but fate had other plans.

Then, came the letter. She was only 8 at the time, not quite understanding what happened and why her mother was suddenly announcing that she would soon have a little sibling to look after. A few months after her 9th birthday, Carina greeted her little brother Sjür - though most would now better know him as Seth - for the first time. And her world changed.

She loved her little brother very much, growing protective of him, having now been made aware of the kind of world she lived in. It was a dangerous world, and her mother encouraged her to work with Seth to end the family business. It was never Carina, nor her mother’s desire to continue it. She would strive for a world where Seth could live of his own accord.

When she was 19, a rival trader stepped into the market and made himself known - starting by destroying the Vinterlunds. Carina rushed her brother to the estate’s back rooms, though they were soon found as the mercenaries systematically went through the house to burn everything. When they lit him up first, Carina instinctively picked up her screaming brother and ran.

She threw him into the snow, not before she caught some of the flames herself. She fought her attackers instead as Seth ran away, before she managed to make her own escape as well. Both were presumed dead in the wilds soon after.

She was found by one of the nomadic people groups passing through at the time, who took her to town after some basic healing. Once she was well enough she decided to leave the North and took the first ship out of Belport. All the way, she tried to take her mind off Seth. He was probably dead, and she had failed as his big sister.

Carina did not quite expect to land in Song Lu, but the more she looked around, the more it distracted her from Seth’s death, and the culture shock started to bother her less. Her blonde hair made her stick out like a sore thumb, but it was precisely because of it that she made friends with a local girl. A budding alchemist, like her uncle, Carina was told.

She thought she would stay in Song Lu until things blew over back home, but over time she grew to enjoy life in this foreign city. After living with the alchemist and his niece for a few months, she decided to stay. Carina changed her name and look, to blend in with the locals. She had found an interest in firearms that passed through the alchemist’s shop, and took up sharp shooting and tinkering as a hobby.

After a few years she was still growing restless outside of working for him. Wanting to lighten the burden of living with them she decided to join the Peacekeepers for financial support and to get her itching hands to do something.

Her full Peacekeeper status was granted in 8292, and Kairi continues to serve Song-Lu as a skilled investigator alongside her peers, wondering if and when her past will ever catch up to her.

She was investigating Huozai in Song-Lu with her new apprentice Tian, when the world ended.

Additional info:

Speaks fluent Valski, Common and Songhua. Her Songhua handwriting still has a ways to go.

Having lived in Song-Lu for many years, she now follows both Valski and Songluan superstitions, including their incredibly complex calendar and zodiacs.

Green is her lucky colour. Her hair is always tied with green ribbons, and hardly seen without her lucky necklace.

Used to fake tolerance with dark elves, but since growing more acceptable to the teachings of Atros, she has come to dislike them less.

Doesn’t tan, but gets freckles.

Has burn scars along her shoulder and neck. They will intersect with Seth’s.

She is naturally blonde, but dyes it darker to blend in better in Song-Lu. With the apocalypse on, it’s slowly growing out.

She inherited her father’s alcohol tolerance. She’ll be the one standing at the end of the night ready to take everyone home.

Kairi's weapon of choice is a rifle and a hand pistol reminiscent of those used during the Bakumatsu Era in Japan. She uses a variety of regular rounds and ones developed by the alchemist. These special rounds are bullet casings filled with powders and are used with specific runes carved on the guns to activate a specific kind of magic.
    Smokescreen - Powder that dissolves into thick smog upon contact with a surface. Pistol only.
    Explosive rounds - Powder that explodes upon contact with a surface. Pistol only.
    Taser - Powder that creates a 30cm/1ft diameter cloud of electrical charge when shot. Cloud can travel up to 2m/7ft before diffusing completely, losing charge along the way. Also produces a charge along the gun barrel that lasts for up to 5 seconds. Used to immobilise targets. Rifle only.

Her lucky rituals with her guns involve rubbing the decorated side of her rifle’s barrel with her finger and kissing the base of its handle, or spinning her pistol as she withdraws it.

Family:

Ulfrig Vinterlund (Ascetic, deceased)
A joker of a man who held a facade of complacency to hide a more calculative and shrewd personality. He used to dote on Jorunrr and her family, understanding her desire to be free. He was assassinated due to bad blood with a disgruntled client and left behind no children. Kairi was somewhat close to him, so his death came as a shock.

Jorunrr Vinterlund (Thief (Rogue-leaning), deceased)
A free-spirited woman who travelled Alva a lot in her youth. With hopes the family arms business would be passed down her brother’s lineage instead, she started building her own family away from all that. She felt family pressures on her after the death of her brother and was told to return to Valsk to take over, but overall hid her discomfort well from her children.

Fedya Voronin (Berserker, deceased)
From a family of mercenaries who still operate in Valsk to this day. He was formidable on the field, but a loving family man as well. He had a killer pub presence and could outdrink anyone by a mile (or so they say). He loved physical activity with his children, and Kairi fondly remembers reenacting her favourite fairytale battles with him.

Seth Karlsson/Sjür Vinterlund (Rogue)
Her younger brother she presumed dead until they reunited at the Emerald Masquerade several years ago. Kairi still blames herself for the suffering Seth has gone through in the years they were both separated, even though he forgives her. She has not been able to keep in contact with him since and worries about him frequently.

Relationships:
TBA


Notable Inventory:

 Mark of the Citadel - A consequence of taking something from the Citadel (albeit by accident). She is ashamed of it and is worried about what it might mean. It is located over her left clavicle.

 Rusty Citadel keys - A ring of keys she accidentally pocketed out of the Citadel. She dares not throw it out lest it bring about more bad luck.

 Firebomb pendant - Gifted to her by Seth when they reunited at the Estran Masquerade. She holds it dearly and never intends to use it, being the only memento she has to remember him by. She always wears it, under her clothes.

 Handmade bracelet - A bracelet she received from Princess Marise during her birthday celebrations in the East Kingdom. She wears it on her days off, so as not to damage it while on duty.

 Fire-quell Canes - A laquered remedy box containing three cylinders of Fire-quell salve, used for soothing and calming burn wounds. The box also contains a small orange pouch of mountain peach candies, traditional medicine used to soothe stomach problems.

RP Preference: Docs, Discord, RP and HC welcome!!