Xuan Harlequin

Name: Xuan (Vietnamese: springtime) Harlequin

Age: 21

Color: acid green

Race: Human

Influence: Thoth, Egyptian god of writing and knowledge

Setting: Beacon, 4th year

Gender: female

Appearance:
The first impression of Xuan is that of a willow, wiry and thin and tall enough to appear thinner than she is. Her figure is a bit boyish because of this, causing an easy confusion of her gender if one didn’t pay attention. Light and freckled skin is complimented nicely by her clay colored hair, cut pixie-style and with a single green streak dyed along the side. Her eyes are a lovely jade green, as she’s been told.

She wears a simple button-up dress shirt, white with grey stripes. She keeps her sleeves rolled to the elbows, and has dozens of black and blue scribbles and notes all along her arms and often her shirt. A green tie adorns her neck as well as a pen hanging from a necklace chain. Olive pants and black shoes complete the ensemble, as well as round wire-framed glasses.

Personality:
Xuan considers herself a person of the mind. She is insightful and analytical, as well as always good intentioned and upbeat with her outlook. Her downfall is her people skills; they’re nonexistent. She is unaware of many social ideas and interactions, and rarely allows instinct or assumption to guide her way through life. This in turn gives her a nasty little handicap of total honesty. While she isn’t intentionally rude, she will be truthful and blunt to a fault. She is also incapable of lying successfully.

Days are filled with research and studying for Xuan, always furthering her mind and skills. She often remarks that she understands Dust and books (her two favorite pastimes) better than people, causing her to avoid social interaction due to a simple ineptitude for it. In fact, she has never truly been close to anyone in her life. There was always a barrier, some little thing that kept her from relating to others right. She is a kind soul regardless of anything and will not back down from something she feels isn’t right.

People are confused around Xuan. She speaks in an intellectual way and sometimes goes on tangents or barely related topics in conversation, and no one quite knows how to ask for layman’s terms. For those who have enough patience or knowledge, though, she is a delightfully friendly person with boundless energy and passion for whatever topic she sets her sights on. And to her team, her first real and true friends, she is an adorkable and awkward girl with a hidden grace and a heart as big as her brain.

Skills and Abilities:
Ask Xuan any question on any subject involving history, science, math, literature, etc., and she will at the very least know of a relatable topic if not every last answer. Speed reading and research is also among her abilities, though no one tops her proficiency in calligraphy; a secret pastime that she partakes in whenever she feels too stressed. Her capabilities with Dust are also very well defined, able to mix and identify any number of possible Dust compositions.

Weapon and Fighting style:
“Runescrawler” is a deceptively simplistic weapon. A collapsible crook-shaped staff two heads taller than Xuan, it’s bottom half has a wider area, about twice as thick as the shaft, and the crook at the top is trapezoidal and a little longer than her head. Nonetheless, this weapon is devastating. The bottom section as well as the crook hold any number of Dust cocktails that can be blasted out either end, or used as a slicing wave from the top crook.

Xuan is not a fan of direct, close combat under any circumstance. She prefers to let her Semblance and her distance blasts strategically wear down a foe, while her light weight and quick movement let her dodge and evade.

Aura/Semblance: Runes
Those with the Semblance of Glyphs typically have a strategically acute mind and a strong tie to their family sigil. Xuan has a variation known as Rune control. When active, letters and symbols form a glowing green ribbon that flows around her in a figure eight pattern. She can use these runes to lash out at a foe, ensnare one in a trap, or to block attacks and shield herself. They also allow some movement, though not on par with Glyph users. And when coupled with Dust combinations, the runes have added and varied effects.

Backstory/History:
Xuan was born into a well-off home to parents that weren’t quite sure what to do with a child. It wasn’t neglect, not specifically, but it was close to it and may be a contributor to her social awkwardness. Eventually she convinced them herself to send her to a boarding school, at which she discovered a fascination with all things connected to the Huntsman profession; the biology of Grimm, the beauty of Aura, the mechanics of Dust and Nature’s Wrath. With such a brilliant mind many assumed she would become a scientist on any one of the subjects, but instead she chose the path of a Huntress. She was determined to learn that knowledge, and put it to use in the real world, to help people as best she could.

Team:
Member of Team ONYX

Partner with Orville Sanderson

Quotes:
“The truth isn’t always pretty. It isn’t something good or pure or holy, it can be harsh or angry sometimes. But if it’s the truth, then you can make it a good one in the end. You can’t change anything if all you know is lies.”