Talis Ebonmere

"The forest doesn't change unless we make it."

- Talis Ebonmere

== History== Talis was born in a small mining village situated halfway between Vale and Vacuo. The village consisted of a roughly equal amount of Faunus and Humans, and had seven hundred people at its' height. His father, Thomas, was the village's resident mechanic, and was responsible for maintaining the village's defense systems, which consisted of stone wall lined with AI controlled turrets. His mother died in a Grimm attack shortly after Talis was born, and when he was two, his father married Sylvia Luminos, a Doe Faunus huntress with a year-and-a-half old daughter of her own.

Throughout his childhood, Talis split his time between learning how to fight, and learning how to build like his father. He frequently fought with his sister, Sapphire, but they would usually laugh after their fights.

Talis saw his first Grimm attack from atop the village wall at the age of four, and throughout his young life, the attacks only intensified. He unlocked his aura at the age of nine in the training room while sparring with his sister, much to her chagrin.

At the age of ten, he unlocked his semblance during a vicious Grimm attack. Despite his young age, he fought, not doing much damage due to his inexperience. While throwing a young Beowolf away from his sister, he felt his hands suddenly tickle, as if a weak current had been run through them. He pounced on it with his bare hands, killing it with electricity generated by his Semblance.

Four years later, a vicious Grimm attack killed his stepmother, along with a large number of the village's fighting force. Shortly after that, a large group of White Fang militants attacked the village, "Freeing" the Faunus and killing or exiling the humans. The White Fang killed his father, destroyed his defenses and split him and his sister apart.

Talis tried to fight the White Fang, as he'd constructed a suit of armor. He beat down several of the militants before being attacked by a black haired Rhino Faunus with an elongated jaw and a horn. The lieutenant, Wielding two flamethrower-chainsaws, fought Talis one on one, and was able to beat Talis with ease. He gave Talis a cut with his chainsaw, running from his chin to his right ear.

Talis, like the other human children, was forced out of the village at gunpoint. Talis tried to keep the other kids alive, but they all either ran away from him or tried to steal his things. Talis broke off from the remaining children and snuck back into the village in the dead of night. He stole back some of his father's guns, as well as the remnants of his armor. He threw it on a wagon and drove it off.

After a year of wandering, living day to day on what he could find and fighting off Grimm, Talis was found by a wandering hunter and escorted to Vacuo, where his remarkable tale of survival got him enrolled in a combat school. He got put into foster care, where he met Enyasi Gorestin. Although her wild ways initially disconcerted him, he grew to care for her, and the two became good friends. Both hated the place, but Talis was able to convince Enyasi that staying was in her best interest, at least until they had enough money to live on their own. It was then that Talis began working on his first set of real armor. He completed it before leaving for combat school their first day.

His first day at Dunduo combat school was eventful, as he was singled out as part of the "Poor Posse". Talis ignored the hecklers for the most part, but got into several fights during his time at Dunduo.

At school, Talis excelled in combat, engineering and most of his classes, especially computer science, where his work in computer security got him recognition and a kingdom wide award. Things were going great for Talis, but he was bored with school. He got caught hacking into people's scrolls in his last year, which got him expelled. With that hanging over him, Talis took Shade's initiation test and excelled. Despite his hacking, he was accepted into Shade, where he ended up leading a team with Enyasi Gorestin, Cappollo Helios, and Heicui Jadian

Body
When not in his armor, Talis is well-muscled, with a six pack and fairly large biceps. He maintains this by eating mostly healthy food high in protein, lifting weights and sparring.

Facial structure
His eyes are sharp and narrow, and his pupils are blue with grey streaks. His hair is the color of wet straw, and it is rather unruly, either because Talis wears a full helm all the time, or because he just doesn't care enough to brush it.

Clothing
When not in armor, Talis wears a single eye visor that provides him with his HUD. It has infrared capabilities, and comforts him. He wears a shiny black leather jacket with silver buttons over a mechanic's work shirt, and black mesh pants with a red stripe running down them. He wears a sweatband both in and out of armor, the better to keep his eyes working. He often wears a tool belt.

Height/Weight
Talis towers over most people at 6'9, but his armor adds three inches to his height. Without his armor, he weighs 330 pounds. His armor weighs about 130, making his weight about 460 pounds when in armor.

Armored
His armor is black with red trim, and it makes him significantly heavier than he normally is. His helmet covers his entire face, with a red tinted visor underneath the metal. This visor serves several purposes, including giving him a HUD. The visor compensates for sudden bursts of light or lack thereof, and can really help when visibility is an issue.

Weapon
Mechanized full plate style armor made out of a titanium alloy with synthetic diamond studs. His armor has several forms, variations and built in weapons. Powered by a reactor that can take dust or convert small amounts of metal into energy. Usually Talis will use his Semblance to power his armor, but he resorts to dust power in a prolonged fight. Power is stored in a battery which can last for two hours of flight time, or a few days of walking. Fighting with his ranged weapons can drain his battery much faster. His armor has an internal cache of dust for emergency usage, but Talis prefers not to use that if he can avoid it.

Standard form
Laser rifles built into arms, mechanized arms and legs, flight capability using thrusters built into the bottom of the feet. Main weapon: retractable rectangular razor edged shields built into both arms. The shields and arms possess powerful hydraulics capable of launching foes skyward.

Heavy Assault form
Laser rifles expand into laser Gatling guns. Guns can be overclocked for a massive barrage of energy. Fist spikes are larger, and the shields are reintegrated into the armor. Hydraulics in arms are significantly stronger, and flight capabilities are undiminished. Note: Laser gatlings are very draining. Talis typically uses these only on heavy targets that he can be safe on hitting, or when the team is being swarmed. Needs dust or heavy use of his semblance to fuel this form for anything longer than a few minutes.

Siege form
Ranged and melee weapons are integrated into shields, shields are extended into tower shields with guns in the center and spikes for melee capacity. Flight capacity is non-existent, and unused flight power is converted into an energy barrier for a mighty defense.

Dust usage
Talis doesn't use dust much, other than to power his armor in a pinch.

Armor usage
Talis wears his armor almost all the time, and is often found tinkering with it or with another version of it. He keeps his spare suits in his dorm, and his second best one is in his locker.

Fighting without armor
Talis is a versatile fighter, and can fight without his armor. When forced to do so, he wields his shields, along with a much lighter mechanical enhancement on his arms.

Strength
Medium-high. Without his armor, Talis is still able to take quite some damage before faltering. He's adept at using it to defend himself.

Uses
Talis mainly uses his aura for defense, blunting extreme blows so that his armor can take the punishment. He can use his aura offensively, but unless he's forced to he doesn't, preferring to only use it for a finishing blow.

Weaknesses
In his armor, Talis is bulky and slow on foot, but much faster in the air. His armor uses a lot of power, though, which can be a problem in long fights. Talis needs to concentrate to initially use his Semblance, which can allow enemies to get hits where they otherwise wouldn't. In addition, Talis's heavy armor doesn't protect him against massive blunt impacts, which can still hurt his aura.

As with most armor, his joint armor is are weaker and thinner than his chestpiece, and can cause him to use more aura to defend.

While cold and lightning doesn't effect him (the latter making him stronger) Excessive heat can travel through his metal armor and damage his armor's internal mechanisms, especially over time, and he really hates heat to begin with. The only part of his armor that can withstand excessive heat is his shields, which have more of a heat resistant back.

Personality
Talis doesn't really trust most people, and so interactions can be tough. He's an intelligent guy, constantly on a computer or studying. Sometimes he's found at the sparring room, but he goes there merely to watch unless someone wishes to challenge him, or unless he wants to fight a specific opponent. Talis fights like he works: meticulous, premeditated and he doesn't pull any punches.

Talis is melancholy, and doesn't like to be reminded of his past. Indeed, the only person on his team who knows his past is Enyasi.

Friends
Talis doesn't have many friends, but those who have earned his trust find him unswervingly loyal, even if he doesn't say much. He has no respect for bullies, and will go out of his way to make their lives difficult. If he sees someone beating up another student, he will intervene.

Leadership
Being untrusting, Talis finds leading a team stressful. He can't help but feel unprepared for the job, even when he's successful. Talis is a fairly strict leader, trying to make his team the best fighters they can be. He's not a very good speaker, however, and his tendency to overthink things can slow his reactions in combat. Despite his obvious ineptitude at speaking, he tries the hardest he can to lead well.

Talis prefers to get his teammates' input on team decisions, but during battle expects his team to act like his armor...that is a well oiled machine. He can be a bit obsessive sometimes, but will apologize if he crosses a line. He can be a bit stubborn, but usually a few words from Enyasi can convince him if he's wrong.

Fighting Style
Talis is a defensive fighter, preferring to let his enemies come to him. His armor protects his aura from most hits, and it takes heavy firepower to damage it. In a team situation, he prefers to be the point man, taking hits so that his faster teammates can avoid damage.

He occasionally uses his defensive reputation to his advantage, changing into assault mode and attacking with full force, but only after establishing a pattern of defensiveness. Talis is a strategic fighter, and most of his actions are deliberate and planned.

Talis's favorite weapon is his razor edged shields, but he's accurate enough with his lasers. He enjoys a good fistfight as well, but he's not quite as good with his fists as with his shields.

Purpose
Utility

Passive effect
His body constantly generates electricity, which is stored in his body. Electricity within a dozen feet will arc towards him like a lightning rod. His semblance also makes him immune to electric damage, and able to take whatever electricity is used against him and store it for his own purposes.

Active effect
Quadruples the stored power of a battery/batteries touching Talis's body. Created power lasts for a half an hour before dissipating, leaving Talis with the same amount of power as he started with, if he hasn't used his extra power up before that time limit is reached. Disables his electric generation for an equal amount of time.

Limitations
Active effect cannot be used while there is no passive regeneration. Best used while batteries are full or near full. Talis can control his electricity, but only to keep it from shocking others touching him or within an electric circuit.

Range
Personal/Close

Dust Interaction:
Electricity. Talis can use electricity dust to fuel his armor or to enhance his semblance's passive effect.

Relationships
Is seemingly annoyed by Enyasi, but has grown used to keeping her wildness in check. Enjoys Heicui's company, as the boy without fear doesn't judge him based on his size or armor. He doesn't appreciate it when Cappollo Helios tries to steal his armor, but has grown used to the sight of her trying to put the thing on.

Despite his annoyance at his team's quirks, he cares for them. He'll take a heavy hit to spare a teammate without flinching, and after a major fight he is always seen carrying Enyasi back to their dorm while she snores on his shoulder.

Symbol
A black shield rimmed with red. Teal Gears are emblazoned onto it.

Misc
Talis's first name is an allusion to Teal, a bluish green, but his last name, Ebonmere, alludes to Ebony, a shade of Black.