Riona Saelim

RIONA SAELIM

 

 NICKNAME don't you dare give her a nickname.

 AGE 18
 BIRTHDAY December 6

 SPECIES Gifted human
 ETHNICITY Thai-Belgian, American

 GENDER Female
 SEXUALITY Heterosexual

 DORM Serpens

 POWER Riona can transfer energy between the living and the dead. One aspect of this allows her to communicate with spirits and lend them energy to allow them to manifest as semi-physical beings. Talking to them as noncorporeal beings does not require any energy. However, the degree to which they become physical depends on how much energy she allows them to drain from her. To make a spirit fully physical, it would be like supporting two humans with the metabolism of one, meaning that she will get tired, hungry, thirsty, etc. twice as fast. It's possible to somewhat prepare for this in advance by eating extra and whatnot. She could in theory do it without preparation, but would have to make up for it afterwards. If she draws too much energy from herself and doesn't make up the deficit in time, it will kill her. Past a certain point, she will be unconscious and would then be reliant on things like IVs to get calories and hydration back. This part of her power works no matter where the person died or is buried, although it takes longer and is less likely to be successful the farther she is from the location of their death or burial.

It's not an exact science, and the amount of energy each spirit needs is different, so it's a trial-and-error process. It feels kind of like turning on and off a hose. Once the spirit is allowed to manifest, she has no control over them except that she can stop feeding them her energy and make them noncorporeal once more. If she gives a spirit too much energy, they could in theory get a hold of the "hose" and drain all of her life force.

The other aspect of this is that she can draw energy from the spirits of the dead. For this to work, the person or people must have died or be buried within a half-mile of her location at the time. She can use this to give herself energy, which will keep her from getting tired, and make her resistant to injuries. It doesn't, however, make her any physically stronger in terms of muscle, etc. Riona can also direct the energy at other people, be it malicious or benevolent. For the most part, it's an emotional and psychological onslaught, but for a spirit who died in a particular gruesome way, sometimes their hatred can manifest into physical damage. This is not always a controlled process--if the spirit is too strong and volatile, and she can't control the energy flow, she will be attacked in the process as well. Spirits who are weaker, younger (based on how long they've been dead, not mortal age), or who she has some sort of bond to (ie. they willingly help her) are easier to control. If she drains too much energy from any one spirit, they will die a permanent death.

 APPEARANCE Riona has dark brown hair that she keeps at just below shoulder length. She tends to wear it down, as she doesn't like to spend too much time worrying about her appearance, but will tie it up if she's doing something physical. Her eyes are lighter, almost hazel in color. Without good reason to put in more effort, the most she will do for a formal occasion is put on some eyeliner and perhaps curl her hair. At 5'3", she is shorter than average, but you would never know it by the way she carries herself. She is a stickler for good posture, and holds herself with an air of confidence. Her slight frame belies strength built up over years of training in various martial arts and other athletic pursuits. 

She has pierced ears, although she doesn't put too much thought into selecting what earrings she's wearing each day. It's mostly her way of looking just a little fancier with minimal effort. Riona has a tattoo on her right ring finger that looks like a ring. The 'center' is the letters 'cs' in cursive script, while the 'band' is a simple, thin line. This is a tribute to her brother Callum. It has been mistaken as a romantic thing, but usually when she tells people about her brother was brutally murdered, they shut up about it or at least stop joking about it.

 PERSONALITY After being homeless for two years, Riona has become quite resourceful and tough. Although she isn't intentionally rude or selfish, her first priority is, understandably, herself. Upon first meeting someone, she tends to be guarded until she gets a good sense of whether they are trustworthy or not, and if she isn't sure, she figures it's better to be safe than sorry. 

When everything was normal, and she hadn't discovered her powers yet, she was a pretty average girl. Not exceedingly popular, but she had no trouble making friends. She is very protective of those she likes, and won't hesitate to confront anyone she perceives as a bully. Riona can be overly protective at times--again, better safe than sorry--but doesn't tend to be needlessly malicious. Of course, this changed when her brother was murdered.

Unlike her brother, she embraces her powers, especially now that she's bent on revenge. She doesn't shy away from the topic of her brother's death and is more than happy to let people know that she's out for blood. 

 WEAKNESSES Due to her brother's influence, Riona rarely used the more dangerous side of her powers, and thus doesn't have much control in trying to hurt others with energy from spirits. It tends to be more like throwing a giant net of energy rather than a focused spear. In general, her powers are quite imprecise, and as previously mentioned, are a trial-and-error process each time she uses them. This can take some time, so any significant displays of power are not a good go-to in urgent situations. 

Although she has never admitted this to anyone, she feels completely lost without her brother, as if half of her has been ripped out. All she has to keep her going is the thought of hunting down her brother's murderer. Riona tries not to think about what happens once she succeeds, because she has no idea what she'll do with herself. With revenge as her sole purpose, she's begun to lost the ability to see good in the world, and often alienates those around her with her single-mindedness, leaving her without much of a social network. 

 STRENGTHS She has been involved in various sports her whole life, and enjoys exercise, so she's always in good shape. In serious situations, she would probably turn to her physical strength and agility first before her powers. Having to be self-sufficient at such a young age gave her strong survival instincts and problem-solving skills. 

Although her single-minded focus on revenge is a weakness in some ways, it may also be a strength. She is extremely strong-willed, and when she sets her mind on something, she will go to any lengths to achieve that goal. 

 HISTORY Riona was born to two non-Gifted parents on December 6 near San Francisco, Caliifornia. Her older brother Callum, who was two years older, was her best friend and protector growing up. They did everything together, and you wouldn't be at fault for thinking they were twins. For the first twelve years of her life, they were just two normal kids growing up with loving parents. But when Callum was 14, he discovered his power: the ability to temporarily possess the minds of people and animals by sending his own consciousness into theirs. In a heated moment where their mom had been yelling at Riona, he'd possessed the woman, just long enough to calm her down and force her to walk away. When he returned to himself, he frantically told Riona what had just happened. 

She convinced him that things would be okay, and he just needed to learn to control himself. Their mom never figured out what happened, so they just tried to keep it a secret and continue living their lives as normal. However, Riona thought his power was cool rather than dangerous, as Callum had never been a malicious person, and she didn't think he would use it to hurt anyone. She was also slightly jealous that he had somehow gotten superpowers. She persuaded him to try and use them from time to time on animals, which was how he very slowly learned to use his powers. A few times, she tried to get him to possess her out of curiosity about what it would feel like to be possessed, but he always refused. 

A year later, at 13, Riona's own power was revealed when, in a similar incident, she got angry at her parents and drew on malevolent energy from the spirits of the dead to fling at them. This was much harder to hide or ignore, and in terror, her parents kicked her out of the home. Callum refused to let her go without him, and so they were both now officially homeless. She was far more willing to practice using her powers, although she rarely weaponized them as she had that first time unless she really needed to. As she grew older, she began to realize that her powers had manifested much earlier than she had thought, just in a very basic form--some of the imaginary friends she'd had as a child had actually been ghosts. 

After living on the streets for two years, they were taken in by a middle-aged man named Jonathan who kept an eye out for homeless Gifted children. He himself had the gift of foresight, which he put to good use by investing in the stock market, which was how he gained enough money to adopt all these kids. During the time that Riona and Callum were there, they lived with a whole cast of different characters. Jonathan would home school them to try and make up for whatever they'd missed out on. He also gave them a space in which to practice their gifts, although he couldn't do much for those with more physical or offensive powers. His goal was to prepare them to go to Foresta Academy where they could receive proper training for their powers. 

When Callum was almost 17, Jonathan sent him to Foresta. Riona and her brother shared a tear-filled goodbye, and she promised to study as hard as she could so that she could join him sooner. But less than six months later, they received news that Callum had been murdered. Furious and devastated, she demanded that Jonathan send her there immediately so she could exact revenge. Callum had been well-loved among the Gifted kids for his kind nature, so many others made similar demands. Instead, he immediately stopped sending anyone to Foresta, and no one knew how to get there on their own. 

Many of the ones who had known him came of age, and moved on with their lives, but Riona never stopped looking for a way to get to Foresta. Finally, after three years, a mind reader named Mina came along. Mina didn't want to tell her, as she'd seen what gorey details about Callum's death Jonathan had kept hidden from them, but her refusal didn't last long when confronted with an emotional onslaught of death, despair, and anger. Once she had the information she needed, Riona packed what she needed, and headed to find her brother's killer. 

FC: Davika Hoorne

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