Taela Ciano

"Could you... please quiet down?... I can't hear the music..."

- Taela Ciano Write the first paragraph of your page here.

Appearance:
Taela is a thin girl, to the point that a physician might worry about her. She has pale skin and violet eyes that always end up focused on the floor, on a distant corner, or just about anywhere that there isn't another person. She has teal hair, which is about medium length and flares out towards the bottom.

Her typical outfit consists of a sage green t-shirt, a white short-sleved jacket with teal details and a popped collar, denim shorts, a brown belt with studs running along it, black socks with teal stripes at the top, white sneakers, and a thin ribbon she keeps tied in a bow around her neck. She also is rarely seen without her headphones (which are white with a gray bridge.)

Taela is a quiet woman, usually  only ever entering a conversation when it's absolutely necessary, and even then always choosing to speak softly. If she becomes upset at something, even then she won't grow loud or agressive. She'll simply put on her headphones (which usually hang on her neck) and find some small, out of the way place to wait out the disturbance. Or, if the situation warrants, simply remove the disturbance herself.

Personality
I want you to picture a DJ. Now, I'll play psychic for just a moment: you were picturing someone loud, maybe even a little obnoxious, bouncing slightly behind a mixdeck and occasionally spouting inane boasting or announcements between tracks, right? Well. That is pretty much the exact opposite of Taela, who is probably one of the quietest people you'll ever meet. You see, she barely ever speaks unless it's of dire importance. This is because of her unfortunate upbringing, which pretty much permanently instilled a tendency towards timidity in her mind.

That said, even with her meek appearance and quiet demeanor, she is still a Ciano- and a formerly abused and abandoned one at that. Hers is not a peaceful mind, nor a kind one. It simply happens to go unused in most cases. But alas, when Taela becomes cornered, and no amount of shrinking or silence will allow her to escape a situation, it becomes very plain that she is not to be trifled with. In all honesty, she is capable of cruelty that when witnessed often shocks and astounds her teamates. Whatever she lasks of her brother's willingness and enjoyment in inflicting pain, she makes up for in effectiveness and inventiveness. As such, it's probably for the best that her main desire in life is much less grandiose than her brother. She only wishes to live out her life in peace, and enjoy her music. And any obstacles to this are dealt with summarily.

Speaking of which, there is the matter of her music. Whenever she gets the chance, Taela likes to compose music in her spare time. The type of music matters little- pop or jazz, electronic or acoustic, R&B or classical, solo or orchestral- she loves, listens to and has created them all. Some could even go so far as to think her music an unhealthy obsession. Aside from being incredibly pleasing to her ears, music has a profound effect on her mental state- simply run a song through her headphones, and she'll seem to nearly transform from a timid, terrified introvert to a person who functions at almost normalcy. Although she still won't talk much (she's hardly able to hear you -the distraction- after all). While the reason behind this odd quirk is as of yet unknown, some think that she has developed it as a means of escapism earlier in her life. This may be somewhat supported by a recent incident in which Taela's mixdeck was heavily damaged. Deprived not only of her songs, but her means of playing them and creating new ones, she immediately took to heavy drinking until Royce was able to get it repaired. She has positively no memory of the four days in question.

Abilities and Skills
Perhaps the reason Taela behaves so strangely in the eyes of other people is a gap between her perception and that of others. It's not hard to see why- her hearing is abnormally sensetive, to the point that she can hear sounds others can only barely perceive in total clarity. The slight pitch change signalling an overburdened power line, the location (and usually size and weight) of a person walking in the dark, the slightest changes in tone that herald a shift in mood, these are all things Taela could pick up as sure as if someone had announced it on a neon sign.

This trait has one main drawback: her ears cannot adjust to varying noise levels. Without earplugs or other precautions busy streets, loud speakers, even a simple shouting match nearby can cause Taela profound pain. Which typically causes her to shout in response, which then causes more pain. As you may imagine, she cried a lot as a baby. There have been several theories as to why her hearing is like this amongst her various foster care providers. They range from birth defects to neurological issues to even a form of aural control disorder. Her father, as was typical, skipped right over these explanations and clung to the notion that she was a half-bred bastard child. It both fit in to his paranoid explanation of why his wife had abandoned the family, and played to his hatred of faunus.

But then, perhaps an offshoot of this, there is Taela's talent with music. She is most likely one of the most naturally gifted composers to walk the face of Remnant, and that's no idle boast. Her obsession with her music combined with her intimate knowledge of its inner workings and nuances allows her to envision songs of unparallelled complexity and beauty. In fact, the main reason she hasn't made a fortune writing songs is that most modern bands and musicians are incapable of the level of technical execution her songs require. And she would sooner press her ear to a foghorn than see her works dumbed down for the sake of inferior performers. As an at least partial solution- and to help bide her time until worthy musicians are born, trained, and found- she has taken up audio engineering. With a proper setup, she will tediously synthesize and arrange the music she envisions perfectly, with absolutely no need for relying on other musicians or her own instrumental abilities (which are, sadly, nonexistant.) Obviously this method of composition is better suited to electronic pieces- for which she is most noted- but given the proper samples, tools and time, she can create true masterpieces of sound of nearly any sort.

There is one final fact that bears mentioning, although it is not so much a skill or ability as a miscellaneous asset: her last name. The simple fact that she's Allen Ciano's sister is enough to intimidate many of those street-wise enough to know the name's true significance. On top of that, Allen treats her often as a doting brother would- she is the one person in the world that he truly cares about the well-being of. Besides himself, of course.

Weapon and Fighting Style:
Taela is not the violent sort, you may well imagine. That said, there are still things that can move her to violence, typically when someone refuses to leave her alone or threatens one of her teamates. Even when she tags along with her team on missions, she avoids combat whenever possible. The whole afair is loud, uncomfortable, and generally unpleasant. Just about the only time she actively seeks out conflict is if she feels Allen has overstepped his responsibilities, in shich case she'll make an example of one or two of his mend while her team is usually preoccupied elsewhere.

In battle, Taela wields a Dust Projecting Combat Mixer named Azione forte. In its compact form, it resembles a two-disk CD mixdeck. Upon activation a pistol grip, foldable stock, and simple optic sight emerge from hidden compartments. The left CD deck also spins up and glows teal. This is because the left deck can't actually read disks: It's a compact dust reactor, designed to take dust stored in the weapon's hidden magazine and convert it into a useful attack. This attack takes the form of  high-intensity laser that is projected from a large port on the barrel end of the deck. This beam is quite powerful, and is capable of cutting through metal and searing through flesh by shear virtue of the heat generated. The beam can be fired in a steady stream, however the beam can only fire for five seconds before needing a fresh dust canister. On top of that, about .20 seconds of impact is all that's needed to punch through most foes. In melee mode, the dust reactor is extended from the front of the weapon past the end of the projector port, forming a hazardous, whirring blade of hazardous dust energy. This blade has every bit of punch as the laser bolt, and can be maintained longer, but it's quite hazardous to an inexperienced user.

An early life filled with violent incidents and screaming from a drunken father has had one positive effect on Taela: She has grown accustomed to pain. Despite her physical frame being vulnerable, her mind is hardened and resistant to pain simply through overexposure. She can usually fight through injuries that would cause others to collapse and surrender out. This is hardly a surprise: After all, stubborn determination runs in the family. On top of that, her one major source of pain in-combat can be managed by her weapon: The right mix deck actually does play music, which she listens to through her noise-canceling headphones mid-battle in order to overcome both her social impediments and her noise vulnerability.

History
Taela's early years were spent much like Allen's- suffering abuse of uncertain nature at the hands of her father- the only difference being she was three years younger. The only thing she hasn't supressed about her childhood is that Allen is the only person in the world who ever defended her- Even when her mother had left, the boy defended his sister with reckless passion. Even when he was scarred for it. Her only escape at that time was into song, wither it was a tune from the radio, her mother's lullabyes, or her brother's admittedly poor immitation after that.

The cause of the fire that burned the Ciano Estate to the ground is unknown. That said, it is all but certain that the two children saw it as a blessing when it finally came to pass. For three years the two were shunted from home to home, obstinantly refusing to be separated from one another. When it happened anyways, Taela had no way of knowing that Allen almost immediately escaped state care thereafter.

Completely isolated from fellow foster children and unwilling to trust the adults that had torn her from her sibling, Taela turned to her music. She filled journal after journal with compositions, stockpiling them, and rereading them whenever she wanted to listen to one, for three whole years. Then, like a ghost from some far-flung dream, Allen came back. Having finally turned eighteen and being capable of legal guardianship, the fledgeling crimelord retreived his sister and, as a means of apologizing for the wait, gave her Azione Forte.

Confused as to why her brother would have had a tool for her one true escape from violence weaponized perplexed her at first. But her brother had returned, and for that she was greatful. However, over time, she realized there would be no happy ending. True, Allen still treated her like a doting brother would, but from behind closed doors she could hear that he has become just as violent and cruel as their father had become. It was her desertion from the estate that first triggered Allen's obsesion with public appearance and charity work. Whether that was for the best or not remains to be seen. To this day, though, a single e-mailed sentence of disapproval from Taela- while it may not always convince him- usually drains all enthusiasm for a scheme or plot from the crimelord.

She eventually stumbled onto employment at the Brew and Bunk. She had been sitting at a table, fiddling with Azione Forte, when a customer mistook her for a DJ and requested a remix. Taela immediately complied- mixing the two tracks on the fly- wishing the man would just go away. After the song, another customer was so pleased that he paid for another one. At the end of the night, she had amassed a healthy stack of tips, and the ol' Brew and Bunk seemed a little more lively than usual. Royce, naturally, immediately offered her a job. The long nights and loud customers are a nuisance to her, but one that she can deal with. The quiet days and free lodgings with which to compose, on the other hand, are a godsend.