Adelle Amsel

The Red Hot Treasure Hunter

History

Born daughter to noble family of recently conquered city, formerly Istia, and general that recently conquered the city, now renamed Luzengarde. Mining/resource city, part of empire’s old expansion.

Family was political marriage that grew closer, into loving family unit

Adelle born a few years later

Kinda sorta heiress to Istia IV when she was born, as father is the governor and mother a noble lady of the city before it was conquered. Raised as noble girl. Family of servants etc

Always was an adventurous sort, a bit of a handful, but well meaning a beloved by servants/others her age.

When she was 7, family adopted the orphaned son of one of general Amsel’s old war buddies and subordinates after he was KiA against bandits and gunrunners.

Adelle and Isaac meet and become close. Adelle enjoys playing with her new brother, as a new companion, Isaac very protective of his new younger sister, though a bit overwhelmed by her energy at times

A few years later, after isaac is old enough to join military as a cadet, during a trip between cities, the families train, while traveling through the green tide, is stopped by forest beasties. Family guards mostly fight them off, but one manages to slip through and attack adelle, who accidentally incinerates it as her powers activate

Might change this to a more happy version of her powers awakening, rather than angry threat times.

With her esper powers awakened, Adelle is sent to the the Esperical Academia. Though at first worried about being away from her friends and family, she puts on a brave face and a smile.

Though a little lonely at first at the academia, Adelle makes new friends there, her optimism and energy helping to brighten up the place, and soon is part of a close knit group of friends, as well as on speaking terms with most students. Joins a few clubs, including making friends with a few members of the esperical research facility looking into how to recreate espercraft, and signing up for almost all of the outdoors classes – she liked her new friends, but being cooped up in the Academia building – its many secret nooks and crannies notwithstanding – was taking its toll on her

Becomes quite close with one of the sleepwalker cadets, by the name of Ace, and his friends. Joins in on a few of their classes, and briefly considers joining the group when she graduates

During time at the academy, a functional Esperical Forge is discovered in a ruin and bought in for study; these devices were used to infuse esperical energy into other objects, being the basis of Espercraft, and from it some information on the lost art was gleaned.

However, the discovery of the forge and an accidental discharge of esperical energy from it that fried a few things brought up old fears and suspicions, the tales of the calamity and why espers were so distrusted and closely regulated.

Incited by the anti-esper factions, as well as some bigwigs whose financial empire and power relied on cornering the market on recovered espercraft, as well as appealing to the cult of the black gold that the return of espercraft is an affront to the ‘blessed machines’.

Pro-esper sides, as well as those in the academia, argue back that understanding espercraft can prevent further damage and help prove espers are not monsters, as well as better repair and maintain the Espercraft shields and filters that keep the tide and miasma at bay. Adelle sides more with those wanting to understand it, curiosity taking hold of her, as well as hoping

Emperor rules that the benefits of understanding espercraft outweigh risks and ordered it to continue, scheduling a visit himself too the Academia to observe the attempts.

However, behind his back the council convenes and rules to have it seized and stopped, backed by the sleepwalker faction pushing for it, as part of a political ploy to bring down some of their biggest adversaries. After an explosion rocks the Academia and the Emperor is seemingly caught up in it, (and was probably supposed to be), along with adelle and many of her friends. The entire thing is blamed on Espers and them playing with things they did not understand, and the council temporarily takes control of empire.

Old grudges are reaffirmed and brought up, and a witch hunt spreads through the empire, with mobs hunting down and burning many licensed espers at the stake. The Inquisitors, and the divisions under the control of General Amsel step in to try and stop this, but this is spun as them making a push to usurp the empire in this trying time, and the Espercraft riots begin, lasting around three weeks

Three weeks later, the mobs are at the walls of the academia, trying to break it down and many demanding the witches be purged. Then, at the gates out stried the emperor, scratched and bruised but unharmed. He soon dispels the riots, mobilizing the army to come down hard on those breaking the peace, and explains the explosion, the subsequent blow outs and the esperical surges where all acts of sabotage.

While the riots were put down an the violence stopped, the distrust and old wound reopened remained. Furthermore, it was spun by the old blood factions that the blame for the riots, as well as the sabotage, where on the heads of the Pro-Esper factions, a power play to seize control, backed up with evidence retrieved by the sleepwalkers and inquisitors – including place a lot of blame on Adele’s father, General Amsel, arrested by her own brother and his adopted son Isaac, who received a promotion in its wake, and had seemingly sold out his own family.

The fallout also caused the emperor to order the espercraft research unit closed down temporarily, as well as many of the higher ranking members of the academia implicated. However, before they could be arrested, most of them vanished, taking the forge with them underground, just before a meeting with the emperor.

Adelle’s graduation was not a happy time – many of her friends were injured or in hiding, her father was in jail, her mother devastated and her brother a jerk. The family standing and fortune were gone, and though her mother retained many of the contacts and her own family wealth, they were far from as well off as before. Worse, Adelle had seen that the empire would rather tear itself apart to keep the status quo than trust people on the chance to make things better.

But ever the optimist, Adelle tried to move past it. She stayed close with her mother and counted the days till her father was released, she kept in touch with all the friends she could. She began working as a courier outside the walls – her immunity to the miasma making her suited to the job – more as an excuse to explore and wander, to fill her adrenaline fix, and soon it grew into collecting scrap and then her own salvage shop, as well as cashing in bounties on any ‘big’ finds she found.

Personality

Adelle is a cheerful, perky and energetic girl, always looking for the next new discovery or big hit, and preferring to do now than regret later. She is curious and excitable, playful and fun loving, with a penchant for getting herself involved in the affairs of others if they seem interesting, and she delights in laughing with and teasing those she talks with, even the most serious or dour getting the same – or greater – levels of gentle poking, prodding and pranking until they crack a smile… or their patience cracks. An eternal optimist that can see the best in any situation, her laugh is earnest and full of joy, and almost infectious.

Adelle is a self confessed adrenaline junkie, loving to live life in the fast lane, and not one to avoid a challenge or hold herself back. She is one to chase every tall tale and minor rumour more than a proven source, more for the experience than the end result.  She burns with an inner energy, always wanting to be moving and active; being stuck in one place for too long feels like torture to her, and she can’t help but explore every nook and cranny of a new place, often vanishing from her store without warning, for an impromptu expedition or just to enjoy freedom of movement. She has an affinity with high places, be they towers, skyscrapers or the edge of an upper floor in the sealed cities, she often gravitates to such places, so much so her brother used to say she was part starling when he found her atop a tall tree or old statue on the family garden, a quirk that has only grown.

Beneath the bubbly, excitable exterior lies a sharp mind and a deep well of guile and cunning, as well as a broad knowledge base that can catch a lot of people off guard; she knows a little something something about pretty much anything and everything, gleaned from a high class education and her own curiosity. She’s a quick thinker, able to improvise quickly and think on her feet, and very few things escape her gaze. Her shop has a reputation as cutthroat, and Adelle lives up to it with a beaming smile even as she can convince people  that this old scrap is totally valuable, or the load they’re carrying is even, or that she’s just a harmless shopkeeper/scavenger and knows nothing about the movements of all the major political factions. Afterall, for those that know how to ask, they’ll find secrets on the shelves besides the salvage.

Adelle has a big heart that she wears on her sleeve, always willing to lend a helping hand. She loves the people of the empire, and part of her motive for helping the future foundation is knowing just how finite and fragile the smiles are and wanting to do anything she can to help preserve them; though she doesn’t agree fully with the creed of the rebel force Calamity Gear, she can see the best of them, and is willing to lend a hand and a few tidbits of information, and is even close friends with a few members – while also keeping close tabs on them in case they ever go too far. She’s a strong believer in personal freedom and is opposed to the oppressive means of the old empire, a firm supporter of change, and wanting to prove to people Espers aren’t monsters – by winning their hearts and helping them out with her gift.

Adelle is very confident in her abilities, almost to the point of recklessness, and it takes a lot to make her drop the levity. She’s able to bounce back from most situations quite well, and can laugh off personal misfortune or disaster easily.

Adelle can be a bit selfish and spoilt at times, occasionally pouting for a little or breaking into childish taunts when she doesn’t get her way, and she can’t keep her nose out of things that seem interesting. She follows her heart, so much so she’ll occasionally drop her responsibilities if she sees a situation she feels needs her help, and can often act without thinking in cases of high excitement or when her sense of justice is breached. She is a fan of the finer things in life, particularly in food – where most of her earnings go – though she does maintain a warehouse just for outfits and nicknacks, often kept more for sentimental value and the memories of friends they share than anything else, but these combined mean she’s often broke again 10 minutes after making a sale.