DEUS EX MACHINA PERSONNEL FORMThe HunterName: Zelda Grier
Nicknames: --
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Category: Mist
The WeaponName: Leolin
Nicknames: Llew
Type of Weapon: A simple bronze arming sword with glowing amber runes.
Former species of weapon: Death Knight
Gender: Male
Personalities:ZeldaAs ethereal as Zelda appears, this slip of a girl lives with the blazing intensity of a shooting star. After moving frequently throughout her childhood, she expects to leave or be left behind by those she grows to care about. Because of this, she adapts swiftly and seizes the day, wholehearted in embracing opportunities in the present. Having a strong sense of self, she moves confidently in the direction of her goals.
Whether Zelda is facing a lesson, a task, or another person, she responds with fully engaged attention. This helps her to catch nuances and opportunities that others might miss, to delve deep into the underlying patterns and principles at work. Possessing an omnivorous appetite for exploring ideas and perspectives, she wants to know not just the what but also the why and the how.
Burnout follows easily in the wake of her laser focus. While Zelda’s dedication is genuine and intense, it is also finite. Routine especially grates on her. She acknowledges that some skills are best learned by practice, by repetition, but even in these cases, she can’t resist switching things up — doesn’t even have to be a big change — with each iteration.
LeolinDedication meets determination in this hunter-weapon pair. Balancing Zelda’s lack of stamina, Leolin encourages her to endure past what she believes are her limits. When hunter and weapon clash in opinion, though, he digs in his heels and tries to get his way via sheer stubbornness. Who needs rhetoric when you’ve got patience? (This is undercut somewhat by his inability to take action, but his hunter tries not to hurt his pride too much.)
In lieu of being able to fight on his own, Leolin devotes himself to protecting and teaching. Part backseat driver, part helicopter dad, part stern taskmaster, he overflows with training ideas and battle advice, not just for his hunter but also regarding everyone she crosses paths with. (She is less enthusiastic about passing on the memo, for some reason. Baffling.) When all the strategy sessions get to be too much, Zelda sometimes convinces him to accept wordplay in place of swordplay; his love of poetry and song is almost as strong as his love of combat.
Why did your human character choose to become a Hunter?As the daughter of two diplomats, Zelda thoroughly enjoyed the globetrotting lifestyle with only one major exception -- the international experience of paranormal phenomena.
Deus Ex offered the chance to learn more and strike back. The company of others who shared her ability was a bonus. Zelda took her time grilling the cryptic recruiters as best she could, but from the start, the answer was clear in her heart: yes.
Weapon AbilityTactical Awareness (
The Eye): Leolin's charged attack lends Zelda or one of her allies a measure of his supernatural skill as a former Death Knight. The sword emits an orb of amber light that speeds toward the target's weapon and fades upon contact. When the charged ability succeeds, the targeted weapon can then reach farther, strike faster, and hit harder.
Physical Description:Eye Colour: Pale grey, bright and clear. Silver, if someone is feeling poetic.
Hair Colour/Style: Thick red curls a couple inches past her shoulders tend to be tied back in a ponytail or half updo.
Skin Colour: Alabaster.
Clothing Style/Colours: Zelda prefers dresses and skirts to pants and jeans, and so much the better if they come in pastel colors and floral patterns. Heeled calf-length boots add an inch or two in height to her 5'4" frame. Over her outfit du jour, she wears the standard gold-trimmed white coat of a trainee, with the sigil of the Mist division on the back. Her blush pink scarf often settles down around her shoulders like a shawl, especially during leisure hours.
Extra: When de-summoned, Leolin becomes a bronze penannular brooch and can be usually found pinned to Zelda's scarf or clothing.
References: official art by Bittiface!