Empatheis App
Sep. 1st, 2018 02:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
adorablenecromancer ⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player: Beryl
Contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
alchemypie
Age: 40
Current Characters: None at the moment. I recently let Shurelia go, though.
⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Age: 13
Canon: Phantom Brave
Canon Point: After the events of the main story. I am not taking into consideration her cameos in other games, and she is from the main timeline, so has no knowledge of the events of the 'Another Marona' storyline.
Background: Marona is from a world known as Ivoire, a relatively low technology world where magic is commonplace. In this world people are frequently born with special abilities unique to them, though occasionally people with be born with similar ones. Such was the case with one couple, a man and woman born with the ability to to see and interact with the ghosts of the dead, an unfortunate ability that earned them a bad reputation despite never using it for evil. Eventually they had a daughter, Marona, and both their ability and the stigma attached to it became a part of her life as well. Knowing the hardship she would face, they made sure to raise her with kindness, and teach her the importance of sharing her own kindness with others.
For the first five years of her life, Marona lived a secluded but love-filled life with her parents and their friend, a man by the name of Ash. The trio made ends meet by working as 'Chromas', people who hired out the unique ability they were born with as a sort of mercenary. Even with their bad reputation, they still were able to find people who were willing to pay them, but eventually they took on a job that was too much for them and all three were killed. Marona's parents passed to the afterlife but, in his last act alive, her father used his remaining power in an attempt to save Ash's life. He failed to do so, but was able to save his spirit, which found its way back to Marona and became her ghostly caretaker.
Unfortunately the world did not see fit to let her grow into adulthood before she was forced to follow in her parent's footsteps as a Chroma. Her island home was only rented, not owned, and she needed a way to pay for that rental. She took on what little work she could get, but the rumors that surrounded her lineage made finding work difficult and, even when she got it, most people cheated her and didn't pay the agreed on price. She managed to make a little bit of money by chasing off a looter using the name of a famous swordsman know as Raphael to get what he wanted. She scraped by in this way until she ran into a complication on a job to rid an island of 'evil phantoms.' A pair of events which would be important to her future happened on this island. While trying to decide what to do about a portal the 'evil phantoms' were pouring out of, an elderly armored man appeared before her and sealed it with a slash from his sword. He didn't even seem to notice her, and stomped away. She would later find out this man was Sprout, a warrior who, in the past, had helped defend the world from an evil demon known as Sulphur.
But before she could finish her job, a second complication arouse. Before this job she had never really seen just how far people were willing to go. While few treated her with kindness, she'd never faced outright hostility before. That changed when she was confronted by a man calling himself 'Walnut'. He was a man that made a living by taking credit for the efforts of other Chromas, and even though Marona and Ash were able to defend themselves from him, he still managed to convince the client he was the one that did all the work. This was the start of a one-sided rivalry, and a harsh lesson for the girl: the world isn't always fair. Her effort was stolen, her client of accused her of lying, and the payment went to Walnut. It was a crushing blow to the innocent girl, who had been convinced that doing the right thing was just naturally the way to live one's life.
But she couldn't wallow in misery forever. She still had bills to pay. She continued taking on jobs, with each one affecting her in some way, and helping her grow as a person. A job to help find a lost animal ended up teaching her she should not necessarily take everyone's words at face value. A client who had hired her to look for a lost animal was actually responsible for it being lost in the first place, as the creature was a circus attraction, and he didn't like seeing it caged. Watching the creature, a thing called a 'putty' shuffle back into its cage with clear reluctance made her realize her work wasn't always going to make her happy.
Sometimes it would, however. Her next job saw her ridding an island of monsters again. This time the clients where a married couple and met with Marona directly. Before they could speak much, however, there was a scream from another room. The couple had a sickly daughter, and Marona rushed to defend her from the monsters. This girl, named Castile, would become an important person to Marona, as the act of saving her became the start of their friendship, the first living friend Marona had ever had. She carried that warmth in her heart as she went about her task of ridding the island of the creatures. She was perhaps a little happy, a fact that Ash warned her about in order to prevent her from getting reckless. It was not a misplaced warning, as on the depths of the island they ran across a monster that was much larger then the others. It was nothing but a scary beast to Marona, but Ash recognized it well. It was the same thing that had killed him. It did not kill Marona, however.
For someone that had gone so many years without a friend, it was not long before she made a second. An felderly fellow by the name of Count Malt called for her assistance to verify a rumor he'd heard, about a sighting of an old friend who also just so happened to be another of the heroes that had faced off against the demon Sulphur. While it was a rumor that had him call for her, he seemed to place no value on the ones surrounding her, and treated with kindness she was still not used to. While she was unable to find his friend, he still paid her in full, as she had been hired to discover the truth of the rumor, and had managed to do so. For the second time she left a job with a smile on her face, the little fluffy rabbitman becoming her second friend.
At this point she had started growing used to her work, and the previous jobs had left her in a better mood then normal, but it was still a shock when her next job request came from a large pharmaceutical company. The CEO had heard of her work, and valued results more then rumors, so was willing to hire her for a job to clear an island of hostile creatures in order to build a new facility there. However, when she arrived she discovered the island was the home island of the same type of creature the one she had unwillingly returned to the circus ringmaster. Feeling sorrow for them, the girl did something that she normally would not do, she lied to her client. Convincing him that the island was filled with dangerous dragons, she was able to spare the homes of the Putties, and although she did not make any money, she was rewarded in a different way. The putties, in appreciation for what she'd done, had sent her quite the pile of random treasures. While a lot of it was junk, there was plenty that had a lot of value, and despite not being paid at all by her original client, the amount she made off of the various trinkets was so large that she was inspired to speak to her island's owner, and offer to buy it from her outright.
Naturally, it was not that easy. While the owner, Sienna, treated her without the disdain she was used to, she did not seem willing to sell the island. To further complicate matters, someone else already intended to try and buy it for themselves. A gruff merman named Cauldron insisted the island be sold to him instead. To settle matters, the landlady declared whoever could bring her a creature called the rainbow bird first would be the one that would have the right to buy the island. The catch was that it was in the most dangerous place in the world, the so-called Island of Evil. This was the place Marona's parents, as well as Ash, had been slain. And yet she showed no hesitation in going there. There she faced off against Cauldron's hired mercenaries, all of whom were intent on getting to the bird before she did. Making matters even worse, Walnut, the man that had assaulted her in the past, had infiltrated one of the groups of mercenaries. He did everything in his power to make sure she was kept busy fighting while he tried to snatch the reward out from beneath both her and everyone else. She defeated every single one of them, only to discover the last group had already secured the bird. This was a group lead by none other then the real Raphael, who willingly gave Marona what she was there for after a battle. But before she could even rest, she was assaulted by Walnut. Despite knowing it was foolish, she was so moved by his determination she willingly left her prize there for him to claim. She couldn't find it in herself to hate him. Her attempt at generosity was thwarted, however, when the creature escaped. She went back empty-handed, but for reasons she didn't understand, Sienna gave her the island entirely free of charge. Unused to such kindness, she tried to insist she pay anyway, and in the ended up buying her island in exchange for giving the woman's assistant a small model ship.
After doing so many things for so many people, different sorts of rumors started to circulate about her. For once, not everything said was negative. She had slowly but surely started to shift the view of the people into a more positive one. She'd come into contact with a lot of people traveling between islands, and the reality of who she was had started to replace the fiction of what people had formerly believed. Job offers became more frequent, and she was able to help her friend Count Malt a second time by traveling to his home island and taking care of a threat there. A second job offer came from another familiar face, the ringmaster who had taken the wild Putty away before. He came to her personally to ask if she knew where it was, but in reality she was looking for an object the creature had spirited away. He left after she assured him she would let him know if she found either of them. It was not very long before she found the Putty, however. It had hidden itself in her house. Having seen the putties seeming happier in the wild, she decided to keep the fact it was on her island to herself.
Her next job seemed awfully familiar, as she was asked to help an island that was under attack from 'Raphael'. However by this time she had met the real thing, so had a good idea what was waiting for her. It was not as simple as she had expected, however. While it was the same wolfman causing problems, he seemed possessed by a dark aura that made him fight with unnatural power. Things proved difficult until the real Raphael arrived to lend a hand. Together with Marona and Ash, they managed to subdue the fake, but he seemed unwilling to stay down. It was then that this job became even more like her first, when the same man in black armor showed up, siphoning the dark aura into himself. He confronted the real Raphael, and this is where Marona learned that she was in the presence of not one, but TWO legendary heroes that had saved the world in the past. She also learned what drove Sprout, a desire to take revenge for what he had lost to the demon Sulphur he had helped to defeat.
Upon returning home, she found the Putty waiting for her. With a wave of its hands, it showed off just what it'd done with the ringmaster's desired item, making a necklace Castile had gifted to her vanish from sight. This, combined with the fact a recent letter from the girl made it seem like she was feeling down prompted her to visit her friend personally. She ended up leaving Putty with her, solving both the worry it might flee while she was gone while giving Castile company while she was away. It was not long after she returned home that she left yet again, hired by none other then the one who had put her through so much trouble on the Island of Evil, Cauldron She found herself treated much differently by him now, though. He was so nice to her it almost felt like he was sucking up to her. He had compliments to offer, and treated her like she was the most darling little girl he'd ever met. He tasked her with getting a troublemaker off her island, a troublemaker who just happened to be the same man who'd attempted to hire her in the past when she first came in contact with Putty. In the process of doing so, she came to realize that the creatures living on the island would be happier if simply left alone. She begged Cauldron to let the monsters of his island live in peace. So heartfelt was her request that the faked affection for the girl started to become genuine, and he readily agreed. His heart fully melted when her gratitude bubbled over, and she dubbed him 'papa' with a hug. He was so moved that he literally created a fanclub for her, with himself as the founding member.
Neither of her next two tasks were official jobs. The lie she told so long ago had been discovered, and plans to build on the Putty's island were set to go forth. She was unable to convince them not to build, so did the only thing she could, chased them right off of the island. Not long after that she was summoned by Castile's parents who had a terrible thing to tell her, that her friend had been taken away by monsters. It was on the way to rescue her that she once again ran across Walnut. Fearing he would stand in her way yet again, she was surprised to find that not only did he not do so, he even fought alongside her. She managed to get to her friend before it was too late, but in the process they fought the same huge monster they'd faced the first time coming to the island. After rescuing her, Marona was surprised to discover that Castile had found a way to communicate with Putty through sign language, who she had named Mocha. Not only did she ask it to return Marona's necklace, but she was able to recover the ringmaster's precious photograph as well.
Its reappearance was merely the sign of worse to come. Upon investigating a strange disturbance on one of the other islands she ran across more people seemingly possessed by a dark aura, and as expected, the warrior Sprout was there as well. Despite how imposing he was, how cold he acted, Marona couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She did her best to try and talk him away from the path of revenge, she tried to hug the sadness out of him, but he was too far gone to listen. More disasters struck, with Marona traveling between islands to save friends and acquaintances from unnatural disasters. She saved the fake Raphael on a desert island, Count Malt on his home island, and even saved the CEO of the pharmaceutical company she'd fought against to protect the island of the putties. This continued for some time until an anonymous request brought her back to the Island of Evil. It was there that she had one final confrontation with Walnut, who had been driven so far that he called her out there intent on killing her.
It was this battle that finally unleashed the demon Sulphur back into the world. It turned out the power Walnut used was the same one that was used to seal the creature, and he expended so much power trying to kill Marona it broke the seal. Everyone despaired except for the revenge seeking Sprout, who was overjoyed at the thought of finally getting a chance at his revenge. Ash and Marona fled the island, leaving behind the defeated Walnut and Sprout.
At this point, no one really believed her a monster anymore. She had saved too many people, done too many selfless deeds. She counted numerous influential and powerful people among her friends, and so when she proposed a longshot plant to banish the demon using the magic of the Putties, she was taken seriously. All of the people who's lives she had touched pledged their help to make it happen. Former enemies gladly worked alongside of her, with every single mercenary group she'd once fought against raising up to assist. Unfortunately as Castile was the only one able to talk to the creatures, it meant she had to go to the Island with everyone.
After numerous hard fought battles, including a battle against Raphael and his soldiers who had fallen under the influence of Sulphur, as well as a third showing of the beast that had taken Ash's life, they finally arrived at the location where the monster was trying to enter the world. There they found Walnut, as well as Sprout facing off against his nemesis. Amazingly, he defeated the demon with ease, or at least that is what it seemed at first. But Sprout had absorbed so much evil power in his quest for vengeance the monster was able to revive itself inside of him. Marona had to watch in horror as the thing literally twisted the old man's body as it used him to return itself to life. It was terrifying to watch, and her emotions twisted right along with his body. Like she had done before, she rushed to the elderly man, compassion making her attach herself to him, as if she could just hug away his pain. But it was too late. With a shove, he sent her tumbling away from him and claimed his own life with his blade.
It seemed like it was over for a moment. But all Sprout's sacrifice had accomplished was weakening the creature, not preventing it from returning entirely. Even after a fierce battle, it wasn't enough to stop it entirely. It seemed they'd have to use the plan after all. Ash was prepared to sacrifice himself in order to make sure the demon didn't escape. But before he could, Walnut stepped up. He knew the demon's unleashing had been his fault, and took responsibility by seemingly sacrificing his life to make sure the beast was sealed again. Of course in the end he didn't actually die, but its not like I am apping from Soul Nomad here.
Personality: While not quite as much as she is when the game first begins, the best way to describe Marona would be 'innocent'. She is a kindhearted individual, one who values her friends more then anything else. Like her parents taught her, she grew up compassionate, and always trying to help others, regardless of what they think of her. This isn't just something she merely plays lip service to, in the 'Rainbow Bird' episode of the game, she was looking at becoming homeless if she gave the bird up, but she still left it for Walnut to claim. While it did not end up that way, she couldn't have known that when she did it.
While her kindness is genuine, a part of her acts that way in an effort to be acceptable to other people. She spent a large portion of her life with little in the way of human interaction, with only the ghost of her parent's friend to look after her. So it should go without saying that she wants people to like her. This desire is the entire reason she ended up the person she did. She is open, friendly, kind, generous, all in an effort to be more likable. While this is not overly unusual, few people want to be disliked after all, she basically began her life with her reputation in the negatives due to her parentage so her already gentle nature was amplified into hyper mode in an effort to prove to the world that no, she is not some kind of monster. This makes her easy to get along with, but it also makes her easy to take advantage of. She tends to automatically think the best of everyone, and is likely to try to justify their bad behavior for them. If she isn't paid in full for a job, she'll tell herself its just because they can't afford it. Of course even that innocence has its limits. Little things are brushed aside, but more serious crimes are too much even for her to ignore. She is a compassionate enough person to understand WHY a person might turn to theft, but that doesn't mean that she is just going to ignore a crime being committed right in front of her.
She has something of a bad habit of bottling up all of her negative emotions. She does her best to portray herself as a cheery person, and it is rare to see her in any other state, but in reality she can be a little bit insecure about herself. While the events of the game did help her see her own value, as she LITERALLY helped save the world, she still scarcely believed it herself. Even when being a literal heroine, she never thought of herself as anything special. The scars on her psyche from years of having the world beat her ego down couldn't be healed overnight, after all, so while this is something that she is well on the way to recovering from, she still has a bad habit of feeling a little down on herself at times. It is just the sort of thing that only close friends will ever be able to get her to admit. A good example of what happens when she lets herself bottle it up too long is how she responds to her first meeting with Walnut. Everything came crashing down on her all at once, and as soon as she got home, she curled up into a little ball of sad. This was admittedly before she had friends to turn to, but still serves as a good example. On the contrary, she has absolutely no ability to hide her emotions when she is happy. When she is in a good mood, she is a sparkling beacon of joy, perhaps literally in this world. The finest example of this is when she makes her first friend. The moment when she discovers that there is someone who is willing to look past all the nasty rumors about her and just see her for herself made her so giddy she was almost a danger to herself with how cheery she was. Her happiness made her so eager to complete the job for her friend's family that she was dangerously close to being reckless, and when your job is fighting monsters, that could have been fatal. Of course she's learned to be a little more in control of herself, but she's still the kind of person that does not need to have the world display her happiness for her. She's more then able to do it herself.
While generally a gentle person, it IS possible to get her angry. Commonplace insults will not do it, though she does seem to have a little bit of a complex about her petite appearance judging by her little argument with one of the post game bonus characters. Its one of the few times she's ever shown actually angry and, while it is mostly played up for humor, it does go to show that personal attacks can get under her skin. A more likely example of something which might get to her would be recklessly endangering one of her friends. Considering how much cares for them, it should go without saying that she does not want to see harm come to them, and she is willing to fight to protect them. But despite all of the fighting she's done, it does not come naturally to her. While her phantom summoning ability makes her from from defenseless in combat, she does not turn to violence as her first response to a situation. If she can defuse it with words, she will be more then happy to do so. She would never let her pride get in the way if she could prevent a fight with a compromise, though since combat is a major part of the game, she was never really able to play diplomat too often.
While she is still mostly innocent minded, her journey from pariah to savior did change her a more then a little. The girl who will be entering this new world is no longer one who merely pretends to be happy in under to get through the day. Even though she might feel compelled to overdo it to try and make new friends in a new world, she is still a much happier person then she was at the start of her story. This does not mean she never gets sad, but the sorrow of rejection isn't saturating her very being anymore. Facing off against so many different monsters, and coming to know so many different people tempered her courage, as well. Facing monsters was one thing, but it took courage for her to ask a man known for his habit of collecting islands to let animals run free on one he'd spent money on, but the girl she'd become by that point was able to make the request, and the honesty of her request was so genuine he couldn't help but grant it.
Having spent her entirely life with Ash as her caretaker, she is a little bit dependent on him, and without him she is likely to attach herself pretty closely to any new friends she makes in this world. While she's strong enough to not be helpless on her own, being alone is something she really, really hates. Despite the solitude of her earlier life, she was never truly alone, Ash was always by her side. She grew so used to the comforting presence that not having anyone around at all would be downright scary to her.
Abilities: Marona's ability as a Chroma is 'Chartreuse Gale', which allows her to see, speak with, and interact with the spirits of the dead. A spirit that is hidden from most people is as plain as day to her, they would need to have some sort of special ability of their own to even hide from her. She can touch a spirit as if it was a living person without any problem, as well as hear its voice when others might not be able to.
However, her interactions go far beyond this. The other half of her ability actually allows her to summon spirits, temporarily, back into the world of the living by anchoring their spirit to an inanimate object to form them a new body. The host object will change shape to resemble an exact duplicate of what the spirit looked like in life. This is not permanent and is actually rather short termed, measured i How long it can be maintained varies from spirit to spirit, and puts a strain on Marona the more spirits she does this to at once, but is a matter of minutes rather then days. She isn't going to plant a whole army into a field of stumps, only a small handful of phantoms can be maintained at the same time. Once a spirit is released, either by Marona cutting the bond, no longer being able to maintain it, or the host body being destroyed the item that was used to form the body will drop wherever the ghost was standing at the time. Barring abilities she just doesn't know about, there is no danger to the actual ghost, all that happens to them if their body is destroyed is they no longer have a physical body.
She also has a limited array of magical spells. While the game's systems allow her to learn any sort of attack, she most excels in healing and support magic, so that is all I will be apping her able to use, though with the potential to learn more if she found a willing teacher. Healing and support, in this case, means your basic cure magic, able to recover peoples injuries and soothe their pain, a spell to revive the unconscious, and a status removal spell. While it removes any status effect the game has to offer, the only four relevant ones are the ability to remove poison, as well as magically caused paralysis, sleep and amnesia.
Alignment: I will be aligning her with Peromei. Hope for a better future was all that got her through her life for awhile and, while nowadays she is not filled with sorrow like she was in the past, she still remembers what it was like to have nothing to hold onto but that hope. And she knows what despair feels like as well, it was the only company her hope had before she finally started making friends. It is not a big part of her life anymore, though!
Other: If possible I would like to have access to a few npc phantoms. I understand that asking to just get to npc actual characters, like Ash or any of the named phantoms who join in the Another Marona mode, would be out of the question. I was thinking just some of the monster type summons you can create in the game. They'd just be like what the pokemon characters have, only dead and unleashed through her ability rather then a pokeball. I could offer examples of the sort of creatures I am talking about if necessary, but there's nothing overly massive or world destroying to worry about.
Other Other: I apologize for the overly long history section. I tried and tried to cut it back, but after doing an entire game review, I found there weren't as many filler chapters as I remembered there being. Most of them had at least a little bit of relevance.
⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉
General Sample:
[It hadn't taken Marona very long to adjust to her new life. While she was sad to not be able to see her old friends, she hadn't had any trouble making new ones, and hadn't stopped doing everything she could to help others. She was humming a merry little tune to herself as she walked the streets, with the only goal in mind finding something sweet to eat. She was practically skipping along, but in her carelessness managed to bump right into someone from behind. The impact knocked her backwards, but was quick to get to her feet and apologize.]
I'm very sorry, sir. I wasn't watching where I was going.
[She was a difficult person for all but the grumpiest to get mad at, and she found herself quickly forgiven. Her apology was so obviously not faked that it would just look bad not to accept it.[
Actually, sir, if you don't mind, can I ask you a question? I had heard there was a bakery nearby, but I haven't been able to find it. If it is all right, could you give me directions? I'd really appreciate it.
[Thankfully not only was the accidental bumping victim not angry, but actually had the directions she needed. With a smile and a little curtsy, she left the man behind and continued her very important mission, operation: pie!]
Emotion Sample:
[To look at her as she walked along, it'd be difficult to believe Marona had ever experienced any hardship in her life. She was in such a perpetual state of happiness she had actually managed to get a job perking people's plants up merely through her presence. She had a smile like sunshine, and it seemed to be literally as good as it at the real thing as she made her way towards the little farm that had requested her presence. They had been having trouble with droopy plants, and she'd quite accidentally proven to be the cure when she happened to walk nearby on different business. Now she spent half an hour a week there, simply thinking happy thoughts. Ever since she'd been hired, every harvest had been a bumper crop.
It was as if the plants had been expecting her, because even as she headed to greet the farm's owner, the plants seemed to perk up, some of them even turning on their stalks to face her. A few of them even slightly grew just because of her presence. She greeted the farmer with a polite bow at the waist.]
Hello, Mr. Rumpkins, I am here like I promised I would be!
Player: Beryl
Contact:
Age: 40
Current Characters: None at the moment. I recently let Shurelia go, though.
⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Age: 13
Canon: Phantom Brave
Canon Point: After the events of the main story. I am not taking into consideration her cameos in other games, and she is from the main timeline, so has no knowledge of the events of the 'Another Marona' storyline.
Background: Marona is from a world known as Ivoire, a relatively low technology world where magic is commonplace. In this world people are frequently born with special abilities unique to them, though occasionally people with be born with similar ones. Such was the case with one couple, a man and woman born with the ability to to see and interact with the ghosts of the dead, an unfortunate ability that earned them a bad reputation despite never using it for evil. Eventually they had a daughter, Marona, and both their ability and the stigma attached to it became a part of her life as well. Knowing the hardship she would face, they made sure to raise her with kindness, and teach her the importance of sharing her own kindness with others.
For the first five years of her life, Marona lived a secluded but love-filled life with her parents and their friend, a man by the name of Ash. The trio made ends meet by working as 'Chromas', people who hired out the unique ability they were born with as a sort of mercenary. Even with their bad reputation, they still were able to find people who were willing to pay them, but eventually they took on a job that was too much for them and all three were killed. Marona's parents passed to the afterlife but, in his last act alive, her father used his remaining power in an attempt to save Ash's life. He failed to do so, but was able to save his spirit, which found its way back to Marona and became her ghostly caretaker.
Unfortunately the world did not see fit to let her grow into adulthood before she was forced to follow in her parent's footsteps as a Chroma. Her island home was only rented, not owned, and she needed a way to pay for that rental. She took on what little work she could get, but the rumors that surrounded her lineage made finding work difficult and, even when she got it, most people cheated her and didn't pay the agreed on price. She managed to make a little bit of money by chasing off a looter using the name of a famous swordsman know as Raphael to get what he wanted. She scraped by in this way until she ran into a complication on a job to rid an island of 'evil phantoms.' A pair of events which would be important to her future happened on this island. While trying to decide what to do about a portal the 'evil phantoms' were pouring out of, an elderly armored man appeared before her and sealed it with a slash from his sword. He didn't even seem to notice her, and stomped away. She would later find out this man was Sprout, a warrior who, in the past, had helped defend the world from an evil demon known as Sulphur.
But before she could finish her job, a second complication arouse. Before this job she had never really seen just how far people were willing to go. While few treated her with kindness, she'd never faced outright hostility before. That changed when she was confronted by a man calling himself 'Walnut'. He was a man that made a living by taking credit for the efforts of other Chromas, and even though Marona and Ash were able to defend themselves from him, he still managed to convince the client he was the one that did all the work. This was the start of a one-sided rivalry, and a harsh lesson for the girl: the world isn't always fair. Her effort was stolen, her client of accused her of lying, and the payment went to Walnut. It was a crushing blow to the innocent girl, who had been convinced that doing the right thing was just naturally the way to live one's life.
But she couldn't wallow in misery forever. She still had bills to pay. She continued taking on jobs, with each one affecting her in some way, and helping her grow as a person. A job to help find a lost animal ended up teaching her she should not necessarily take everyone's words at face value. A client who had hired her to look for a lost animal was actually responsible for it being lost in the first place, as the creature was a circus attraction, and he didn't like seeing it caged. Watching the creature, a thing called a 'putty' shuffle back into its cage with clear reluctance made her realize her work wasn't always going to make her happy.
Sometimes it would, however. Her next job saw her ridding an island of monsters again. This time the clients where a married couple and met with Marona directly. Before they could speak much, however, there was a scream from another room. The couple had a sickly daughter, and Marona rushed to defend her from the monsters. This girl, named Castile, would become an important person to Marona, as the act of saving her became the start of their friendship, the first living friend Marona had ever had. She carried that warmth in her heart as she went about her task of ridding the island of the creatures. She was perhaps a little happy, a fact that Ash warned her about in order to prevent her from getting reckless. It was not a misplaced warning, as on the depths of the island they ran across a monster that was much larger then the others. It was nothing but a scary beast to Marona, but Ash recognized it well. It was the same thing that had killed him. It did not kill Marona, however.
For someone that had gone so many years without a friend, it was not long before she made a second. An felderly fellow by the name of Count Malt called for her assistance to verify a rumor he'd heard, about a sighting of an old friend who also just so happened to be another of the heroes that had faced off against the demon Sulphur. While it was a rumor that had him call for her, he seemed to place no value on the ones surrounding her, and treated with kindness she was still not used to. While she was unable to find his friend, he still paid her in full, as she had been hired to discover the truth of the rumor, and had managed to do so. For the second time she left a job with a smile on her face, the little fluffy rabbitman becoming her second friend.
At this point she had started growing used to her work, and the previous jobs had left her in a better mood then normal, but it was still a shock when her next job request came from a large pharmaceutical company. The CEO had heard of her work, and valued results more then rumors, so was willing to hire her for a job to clear an island of hostile creatures in order to build a new facility there. However, when she arrived she discovered the island was the home island of the same type of creature the one she had unwillingly returned to the circus ringmaster. Feeling sorrow for them, the girl did something that she normally would not do, she lied to her client. Convincing him that the island was filled with dangerous dragons, she was able to spare the homes of the Putties, and although she did not make any money, she was rewarded in a different way. The putties, in appreciation for what she'd done, had sent her quite the pile of random treasures. While a lot of it was junk, there was plenty that had a lot of value, and despite not being paid at all by her original client, the amount she made off of the various trinkets was so large that she was inspired to speak to her island's owner, and offer to buy it from her outright.
Naturally, it was not that easy. While the owner, Sienna, treated her without the disdain she was used to, she did not seem willing to sell the island. To further complicate matters, someone else already intended to try and buy it for themselves. A gruff merman named Cauldron insisted the island be sold to him instead. To settle matters, the landlady declared whoever could bring her a creature called the rainbow bird first would be the one that would have the right to buy the island. The catch was that it was in the most dangerous place in the world, the so-called Island of Evil. This was the place Marona's parents, as well as Ash, had been slain. And yet she showed no hesitation in going there. There she faced off against Cauldron's hired mercenaries, all of whom were intent on getting to the bird before she did. Making matters even worse, Walnut, the man that had assaulted her in the past, had infiltrated one of the groups of mercenaries. He did everything in his power to make sure she was kept busy fighting while he tried to snatch the reward out from beneath both her and everyone else. She defeated every single one of them, only to discover the last group had already secured the bird. This was a group lead by none other then the real Raphael, who willingly gave Marona what she was there for after a battle. But before she could even rest, she was assaulted by Walnut. Despite knowing it was foolish, she was so moved by his determination she willingly left her prize there for him to claim. She couldn't find it in herself to hate him. Her attempt at generosity was thwarted, however, when the creature escaped. She went back empty-handed, but for reasons she didn't understand, Sienna gave her the island entirely free of charge. Unused to such kindness, she tried to insist she pay anyway, and in the ended up buying her island in exchange for giving the woman's assistant a small model ship.
After doing so many things for so many people, different sorts of rumors started to circulate about her. For once, not everything said was negative. She had slowly but surely started to shift the view of the people into a more positive one. She'd come into contact with a lot of people traveling between islands, and the reality of who she was had started to replace the fiction of what people had formerly believed. Job offers became more frequent, and she was able to help her friend Count Malt a second time by traveling to his home island and taking care of a threat there. A second job offer came from another familiar face, the ringmaster who had taken the wild Putty away before. He came to her personally to ask if she knew where it was, but in reality she was looking for an object the creature had spirited away. He left after she assured him she would let him know if she found either of them. It was not very long before she found the Putty, however. It had hidden itself in her house. Having seen the putties seeming happier in the wild, she decided to keep the fact it was on her island to herself.
Her next job seemed awfully familiar, as she was asked to help an island that was under attack from 'Raphael'. However by this time she had met the real thing, so had a good idea what was waiting for her. It was not as simple as she had expected, however. While it was the same wolfman causing problems, he seemed possessed by a dark aura that made him fight with unnatural power. Things proved difficult until the real Raphael arrived to lend a hand. Together with Marona and Ash, they managed to subdue the fake, but he seemed unwilling to stay down. It was then that this job became even more like her first, when the same man in black armor showed up, siphoning the dark aura into himself. He confronted the real Raphael, and this is where Marona learned that she was in the presence of not one, but TWO legendary heroes that had saved the world in the past. She also learned what drove Sprout, a desire to take revenge for what he had lost to the demon Sulphur he had helped to defeat.
Upon returning home, she found the Putty waiting for her. With a wave of its hands, it showed off just what it'd done with the ringmaster's desired item, making a necklace Castile had gifted to her vanish from sight. This, combined with the fact a recent letter from the girl made it seem like she was feeling down prompted her to visit her friend personally. She ended up leaving Putty with her, solving both the worry it might flee while she was gone while giving Castile company while she was away. It was not long after she returned home that she left yet again, hired by none other then the one who had put her through so much trouble on the Island of Evil, Cauldron She found herself treated much differently by him now, though. He was so nice to her it almost felt like he was sucking up to her. He had compliments to offer, and treated her like she was the most darling little girl he'd ever met. He tasked her with getting a troublemaker off her island, a troublemaker who just happened to be the same man who'd attempted to hire her in the past when she first came in contact with Putty. In the process of doing so, she came to realize that the creatures living on the island would be happier if simply left alone. She begged Cauldron to let the monsters of his island live in peace. So heartfelt was her request that the faked affection for the girl started to become genuine, and he readily agreed. His heart fully melted when her gratitude bubbled over, and she dubbed him 'papa' with a hug. He was so moved that he literally created a fanclub for her, with himself as the founding member.
Neither of her next two tasks were official jobs. The lie she told so long ago had been discovered, and plans to build on the Putty's island were set to go forth. She was unable to convince them not to build, so did the only thing she could, chased them right off of the island. Not long after that she was summoned by Castile's parents who had a terrible thing to tell her, that her friend had been taken away by monsters. It was on the way to rescue her that she once again ran across Walnut. Fearing he would stand in her way yet again, she was surprised to find that not only did he not do so, he even fought alongside her. She managed to get to her friend before it was too late, but in the process they fought the same huge monster they'd faced the first time coming to the island. After rescuing her, Marona was surprised to discover that Castile had found a way to communicate with Putty through sign language, who she had named Mocha. Not only did she ask it to return Marona's necklace, but she was able to recover the ringmaster's precious photograph as well.
Its reappearance was merely the sign of worse to come. Upon investigating a strange disturbance on one of the other islands she ran across more people seemingly possessed by a dark aura, and as expected, the warrior Sprout was there as well. Despite how imposing he was, how cold he acted, Marona couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She did her best to try and talk him away from the path of revenge, she tried to hug the sadness out of him, but he was too far gone to listen. More disasters struck, with Marona traveling between islands to save friends and acquaintances from unnatural disasters. She saved the fake Raphael on a desert island, Count Malt on his home island, and even saved the CEO of the pharmaceutical company she'd fought against to protect the island of the putties. This continued for some time until an anonymous request brought her back to the Island of Evil. It was there that she had one final confrontation with Walnut, who had been driven so far that he called her out there intent on killing her.
It was this battle that finally unleashed the demon Sulphur back into the world. It turned out the power Walnut used was the same one that was used to seal the creature, and he expended so much power trying to kill Marona it broke the seal. Everyone despaired except for the revenge seeking Sprout, who was overjoyed at the thought of finally getting a chance at his revenge. Ash and Marona fled the island, leaving behind the defeated Walnut and Sprout.
At this point, no one really believed her a monster anymore. She had saved too many people, done too many selfless deeds. She counted numerous influential and powerful people among her friends, and so when she proposed a longshot plant to banish the demon using the magic of the Putties, she was taken seriously. All of the people who's lives she had touched pledged their help to make it happen. Former enemies gladly worked alongside of her, with every single mercenary group she'd once fought against raising up to assist. Unfortunately as Castile was the only one able to talk to the creatures, it meant she had to go to the Island with everyone.
After numerous hard fought battles, including a battle against Raphael and his soldiers who had fallen under the influence of Sulphur, as well as a third showing of the beast that had taken Ash's life, they finally arrived at the location where the monster was trying to enter the world. There they found Walnut, as well as Sprout facing off against his nemesis. Amazingly, he defeated the demon with ease, or at least that is what it seemed at first. But Sprout had absorbed so much evil power in his quest for vengeance the monster was able to revive itself inside of him. Marona had to watch in horror as the thing literally twisted the old man's body as it used him to return itself to life. It was terrifying to watch, and her emotions twisted right along with his body. Like she had done before, she rushed to the elderly man, compassion making her attach herself to him, as if she could just hug away his pain. But it was too late. With a shove, he sent her tumbling away from him and claimed his own life with his blade.
It seemed like it was over for a moment. But all Sprout's sacrifice had accomplished was weakening the creature, not preventing it from returning entirely. Even after a fierce battle, it wasn't enough to stop it entirely. It seemed they'd have to use the plan after all. Ash was prepared to sacrifice himself in order to make sure the demon didn't escape. But before he could, Walnut stepped up. He knew the demon's unleashing had been his fault, and took responsibility by seemingly sacrificing his life to make sure the beast was sealed again. Of course in the end he didn't actually die, but its not like I am apping from Soul Nomad here.
Personality: While not quite as much as she is when the game first begins, the best way to describe Marona would be 'innocent'. She is a kindhearted individual, one who values her friends more then anything else. Like her parents taught her, she grew up compassionate, and always trying to help others, regardless of what they think of her. This isn't just something she merely plays lip service to, in the 'Rainbow Bird' episode of the game, she was looking at becoming homeless if she gave the bird up, but she still left it for Walnut to claim. While it did not end up that way, she couldn't have known that when she did it.
While her kindness is genuine, a part of her acts that way in an effort to be acceptable to other people. She spent a large portion of her life with little in the way of human interaction, with only the ghost of her parent's friend to look after her. So it should go without saying that she wants people to like her. This desire is the entire reason she ended up the person she did. She is open, friendly, kind, generous, all in an effort to be more likable. While this is not overly unusual, few people want to be disliked after all, she basically began her life with her reputation in the negatives due to her parentage so her already gentle nature was amplified into hyper mode in an effort to prove to the world that no, she is not some kind of monster. This makes her easy to get along with, but it also makes her easy to take advantage of. She tends to automatically think the best of everyone, and is likely to try to justify their bad behavior for them. If she isn't paid in full for a job, she'll tell herself its just because they can't afford it. Of course even that innocence has its limits. Little things are brushed aside, but more serious crimes are too much even for her to ignore. She is a compassionate enough person to understand WHY a person might turn to theft, but that doesn't mean that she is just going to ignore a crime being committed right in front of her.
She has something of a bad habit of bottling up all of her negative emotions. She does her best to portray herself as a cheery person, and it is rare to see her in any other state, but in reality she can be a little bit insecure about herself. While the events of the game did help her see her own value, as she LITERALLY helped save the world, she still scarcely believed it herself. Even when being a literal heroine, she never thought of herself as anything special. The scars on her psyche from years of having the world beat her ego down couldn't be healed overnight, after all, so while this is something that she is well on the way to recovering from, she still has a bad habit of feeling a little down on herself at times. It is just the sort of thing that only close friends will ever be able to get her to admit. A good example of what happens when she lets herself bottle it up too long is how she responds to her first meeting with Walnut. Everything came crashing down on her all at once, and as soon as she got home, she curled up into a little ball of sad. This was admittedly before she had friends to turn to, but still serves as a good example. On the contrary, she has absolutely no ability to hide her emotions when she is happy. When she is in a good mood, she is a sparkling beacon of joy, perhaps literally in this world. The finest example of this is when she makes her first friend. The moment when she discovers that there is someone who is willing to look past all the nasty rumors about her and just see her for herself made her so giddy she was almost a danger to herself with how cheery she was. Her happiness made her so eager to complete the job for her friend's family that she was dangerously close to being reckless, and when your job is fighting monsters, that could have been fatal. Of course she's learned to be a little more in control of herself, but she's still the kind of person that does not need to have the world display her happiness for her. She's more then able to do it herself.
While generally a gentle person, it IS possible to get her angry. Commonplace insults will not do it, though she does seem to have a little bit of a complex about her petite appearance judging by her little argument with one of the post game bonus characters. Its one of the few times she's ever shown actually angry and, while it is mostly played up for humor, it does go to show that personal attacks can get under her skin. A more likely example of something which might get to her would be recklessly endangering one of her friends. Considering how much cares for them, it should go without saying that she does not want to see harm come to them, and she is willing to fight to protect them. But despite all of the fighting she's done, it does not come naturally to her. While her phantom summoning ability makes her from from defenseless in combat, she does not turn to violence as her first response to a situation. If she can defuse it with words, she will be more then happy to do so. She would never let her pride get in the way if she could prevent a fight with a compromise, though since combat is a major part of the game, she was never really able to play diplomat too often.
While she is still mostly innocent minded, her journey from pariah to savior did change her a more then a little. The girl who will be entering this new world is no longer one who merely pretends to be happy in under to get through the day. Even though she might feel compelled to overdo it to try and make new friends in a new world, she is still a much happier person then she was at the start of her story. This does not mean she never gets sad, but the sorrow of rejection isn't saturating her very being anymore. Facing off against so many different monsters, and coming to know so many different people tempered her courage, as well. Facing monsters was one thing, but it took courage for her to ask a man known for his habit of collecting islands to let animals run free on one he'd spent money on, but the girl she'd become by that point was able to make the request, and the honesty of her request was so genuine he couldn't help but grant it.
Having spent her entirely life with Ash as her caretaker, she is a little bit dependent on him, and without him she is likely to attach herself pretty closely to any new friends she makes in this world. While she's strong enough to not be helpless on her own, being alone is something she really, really hates. Despite the solitude of her earlier life, she was never truly alone, Ash was always by her side. She grew so used to the comforting presence that not having anyone around at all would be downright scary to her.
Abilities: Marona's ability as a Chroma is 'Chartreuse Gale', which allows her to see, speak with, and interact with the spirits of the dead. A spirit that is hidden from most people is as plain as day to her, they would need to have some sort of special ability of their own to even hide from her. She can touch a spirit as if it was a living person without any problem, as well as hear its voice when others might not be able to.
However, her interactions go far beyond this. The other half of her ability actually allows her to summon spirits, temporarily, back into the world of the living by anchoring their spirit to an inanimate object to form them a new body. The host object will change shape to resemble an exact duplicate of what the spirit looked like in life. This is not permanent and is actually rather short termed, measured i How long it can be maintained varies from spirit to spirit, and puts a strain on Marona the more spirits she does this to at once, but is a matter of minutes rather then days. She isn't going to plant a whole army into a field of stumps, only a small handful of phantoms can be maintained at the same time. Once a spirit is released, either by Marona cutting the bond, no longer being able to maintain it, or the host body being destroyed the item that was used to form the body will drop wherever the ghost was standing at the time. Barring abilities she just doesn't know about, there is no danger to the actual ghost, all that happens to them if their body is destroyed is they no longer have a physical body.
She also has a limited array of magical spells. While the game's systems allow her to learn any sort of attack, she most excels in healing and support magic, so that is all I will be apping her able to use, though with the potential to learn more if she found a willing teacher. Healing and support, in this case, means your basic cure magic, able to recover peoples injuries and soothe their pain, a spell to revive the unconscious, and a status removal spell. While it removes any status effect the game has to offer, the only four relevant ones are the ability to remove poison, as well as magically caused paralysis, sleep and amnesia.
Alignment: I will be aligning her with Peromei. Hope for a better future was all that got her through her life for awhile and, while nowadays she is not filled with sorrow like she was in the past, she still remembers what it was like to have nothing to hold onto but that hope. And she knows what despair feels like as well, it was the only company her hope had before she finally started making friends. It is not a big part of her life anymore, though!
Other: If possible I would like to have access to a few npc phantoms. I understand that asking to just get to npc actual characters, like Ash or any of the named phantoms who join in the Another Marona mode, would be out of the question. I was thinking just some of the monster type summons you can create in the game. They'd just be like what the pokemon characters have, only dead and unleashed through her ability rather then a pokeball. I could offer examples of the sort of creatures I am talking about if necessary, but there's nothing overly massive or world destroying to worry about.
Other Other: I apologize for the overly long history section. I tried and tried to cut it back, but after doing an entire game review, I found there weren't as many filler chapters as I remembered there being. Most of them had at least a little bit of relevance.
⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉
General Sample:
[It hadn't taken Marona very long to adjust to her new life. While she was sad to not be able to see her old friends, she hadn't had any trouble making new ones, and hadn't stopped doing everything she could to help others. She was humming a merry little tune to herself as she walked the streets, with the only goal in mind finding something sweet to eat. She was practically skipping along, but in her carelessness managed to bump right into someone from behind. The impact knocked her backwards, but was quick to get to her feet and apologize.]
I'm very sorry, sir. I wasn't watching where I was going.
[She was a difficult person for all but the grumpiest to get mad at, and she found herself quickly forgiven. Her apology was so obviously not faked that it would just look bad not to accept it.[
Actually, sir, if you don't mind, can I ask you a question? I had heard there was a bakery nearby, but I haven't been able to find it. If it is all right, could you give me directions? I'd really appreciate it.
[Thankfully not only was the accidental bumping victim not angry, but actually had the directions she needed. With a smile and a little curtsy, she left the man behind and continued her very important mission, operation: pie!]
Emotion Sample:
[To look at her as she walked along, it'd be difficult to believe Marona had ever experienced any hardship in her life. She was in such a perpetual state of happiness she had actually managed to get a job perking people's plants up merely through her presence. She had a smile like sunshine, and it seemed to be literally as good as it at the real thing as she made her way towards the little farm that had requested her presence. They had been having trouble with droopy plants, and she'd quite accidentally proven to be the cure when she happened to walk nearby on different business. Now she spent half an hour a week there, simply thinking happy thoughts. Ever since she'd been hired, every harvest had been a bumper crop.
It was as if the plants had been expecting her, because even as she headed to greet the farm's owner, the plants seemed to perk up, some of them even turning on their stalks to face her. A few of them even slightly grew just because of her presence. She greeted the farmer with a polite bow at the waist.]
Hello, Mr. Rumpkins, I am here like I promised I would be!
