Lari the Aarakocra, Cartography instructor


Name Lari "the" Aarakocra
Age unknown, enhanced; ended her adventuring career as a 'level 9 Monk' (whatever that means) and as such she does have quite a lot of background skills, money, and gathered stuff to suit travels and adventures equally
Species Aarakocra, can "pass" as a red-shouldered hawk kin here on Twoarth, but also has added limbs (there is a version of Lari who has the more 'traditional' Aarakocra wing arms, however this is not that version)
Post Instructor
Tenure Recent, late 2010s
...
Smarts/GM 3 (Int 11)
Bod/Feets 8 (Dex 19/Str 12)
RWS 3 (Cha 10)
Luck 5 (Wis 17)
Drive 1 / Fly 10
Looks 3 (Cha 10)
Cool/Mouth 5 (experienced badass)
Bonk 4 (Con 12)
Powers

Flight, Lari is a bird-person and as such she absolutely can fly, and does so very well even with combat or distractions. She uses her wings to fight as well, but with care because flying to her and her breed is essential. She prefers calm conditions and daylight, as she is clearly not a night-bird. Her martial arts training allows her to dash in and out of combat quickly, escape the range of melee in favor of a safer high ground, and her wings, even tucked in or injured, can help break her fall if she cannot actually flap, with reduced damage from any fall

Supernatural Martial Arts, combining the mystic arts of prediction and ki flow, and a lifetime of dedicated practice, she can aid her physical moves with added effects, guaranteeing a stun or a knockdown, and also enabling her to pierce magical shields or hit enemies who require some form of enhanced item to touch. Her talons on both hands and feet qualify as 'magic weapons', and since they do quite a bit more damage (+4 to either bludgeon or slashing) she can reliably bring down even tough higher-level opponents. Quick hands and feet, the ability to deliver rapid-fire blows or even deflect incoming missiles (not ... not like modern missiles; but those from bows, crossbows, or thrown items, as well as falling rocks or other such things)

Health and Wellbeing, with her monastic training she is able to reduce damage and remove special effects that might normally cause fear or charms, on herself only

Clusters

Aerial Acrobatics +5 as an experienced "Monk of the Open Hand", as well as a naturally born flier, Lari incorporates a lot of both of those things into her daily routine. She's incredibly agile in the air, and enjoys helping others learn how to best exploit their biology or preferences. Able to move through narrow areas and open skies alike* though obviously requires at least a certain amount of clearance to be able to truly fly indoors

Observation +3 she looks first, jumps into battle only when she's sure the results will be positive. She can spot small differences in areas she's been through, finding clues in the form of slight tracks or ruffled papers, and other such details; these seem to pop out at her when needed as well, which is why she's adept with cartography, able to spot the right landmarks or specifics to navigate even unknown territory more easily

Skills

Martial Analysis +4 assessing the enemy is vital when your bones are hollow... Can determine the fighting style of virtually any melee user, often just by how they stand or wear their clothes. Do they hide a small weapon under their silk shirt? Are they muscled for landing heavy blows with a blunt weapon? Move like water or root to the spot? All of these can be taught and she enjoys doing so with people who have a wider variety of limbs than just a human...

Cartography +4 truly enjoys flying over an area and placing it to memory, and has a special kit that allows her to sketch out what she sees while flying! Though locally it's less 'important' to have such maps made by yourself, having this skill is something quite a few students really want - they might not be returning to a place that has satellite photos and drone footage of trails after all. Also it's nice to have a math class that doesn't involve a ton of ... math...

Full Color Three Dee Motion +4 she has an inherent understanding of the way space works, even to an abstraction in her Geometry class. Lines and arcs, distance and gravity, all these things and more play strong roles to any flier. She likes passing this knowledge along though does observe that some folks - mainly winged or aquatic ones - 'get it' better...

Knacks

*Claustrophobic +3 requires a bit of bravery to enter an enclosed area (a skill check) and generally speaking won't enter places unless others are with her or if there's sufficient air flow or lighting, or distraction (got a bard handy? they can cast dancing lights and keep her entertained by a story or song while going through those tunnels)

A Bit Of A Hoarder +2 has a collection of stuff and shiny things, some of which seem to be quite ancient, others not so much (that daily planner with the bright gold embossed cover, right next to a shield clearly dug from some dragon's trophy room, also right next to a claw from said dragon) (shhh it was a bad dragon eating people!)

Extremely Loud +2 you will absolutely hear her voice if she wants to say something to you. From across campus. She can be very quiet, her flight is silent! But she is not in any way a quiet little birb, and you will know when she likes a thing or an event by the noises

Period Class Teaching
1 Realtime Geometry
2 Realtime Geometry
3 Cartography
4 Cartography
5 Cartography
6 Martial Arts for Non-Humans
7 -
8 -
Song: Fly Like An Eagle / Steve Miller Band
Dragon Hearth
Hatched (deriv.worlds) Rainbow Glitz breeding project, hosted at Nidus Aven
Pets? Nah, she'd probably eat them, in fact she likes that one kiosk that has freshly caught vermin... mmm, rat on a stick!
Partners? Currently in a relationship (long distance) with Zyakkak
Children? None yet, probably will have them mixed in a lab given she's not remarkably maternal (raihu will probably be involved)

 

The stories that Lari tells are often remarkable and some-say-unbelievable. But she is a terrible liar, and anyone that knows her understands that she's always truthful about their contents if not necessarily as accurate as other historical or observational accounts. (That is to say: she definitely has one version of her adventuring party's stories that differ from the others! Just ask Bequet - who was among them for quite a while!) But when she gets down to business, teaching or locating things, she's super focused and attentive to details that many others will miss.

While she does cater to flighted students overall, she doesn't necessarily favor them for grades; if you screw up your Geometry test you're still going to get marked down, feathers or no.

Lari does have extensive travels under her feathery tool-belt, having moved from realm to realm almost as easily as some more 'professional-level' genrehoppers. How she wound up moving between a 'fantasy realm' and Paragon City is anyone's guess, but there were similarly stranded folk and they made the best of it while there. Heroics were part and parcel for their group anyway! But the connections that Paragon had definitely allowed her to also move toward the west coast - and another dimension's Earth - to roost at Carramba. She does know the path she took, at some point, went to another realm - those notes lead to flipping through her sketch book and noting the differences between the Rhode Island of Twoarth and Primal Earth, but also quite a few of the similarities.

She encourages anyone with powers of flight, teleportation, and dimension hopping to keep a journal. Many times it's actually a requirement of her course, but not every semester has a pile of kids with those abilities. If the group seems to be evenly matched with and without, she'll even put teams together to make sure that their school-time and vacation travels are documented as well as they can.

Lari has been to other worlds that connect to Carramba, of course, not the least of which is Dragondeep, where her new beau Zyakkak resides with his amazing dragon!

But not to be outdone - though it's hardly a competition - Lari soon discovered a portal to Nidus Aven had been 'left open'. And through that portal, a gorgeous pale gold opalescent dragoness emerged. Though young, Hearth seems... wiser than typical, and easily picks up information, apparently never forgetting it? An ideal companion for a teacher, obviously, Hearth has found her niche and might eventually gain the legal rights to help instruct, herself.

 

 

Dragon

Name: Hearth (Named for warmth and home, though they yet may roam. This is "Hearth".)
Gender: Female she/her
Size/Shoulder/Length: medium-large 17' s as shown, 6'6" head humanoid
Colors: Yellow-Gold Opal body, a pale creamy shade with speckles of striking gold and pale accents of green and pink; legs (only) have black stockings; brilliant silver bands around muzzle, neck, legs; wingsails rich velvet indigo-black; mane, back, and tail floof rich auburn rust-red, fire orange, and flame yellow; wing struts, horns, hooves, claws shiny graphite silver; eyes blue
Features: as shown, furry mutt with four mismatched legs (paw/claw front, hoof hind) and two leathery wings strongly shattarnak-sparred; body his high and strong, with a long neck and longer tail; head is boxy with large external fluffy ears with curly ends, foreward pointing and two backward pointing horns, long silky mane; forelimbs have ankle and back of leg floof; floof on rump spine, and large amount of it on tail end
As a humanoid she does keep much of her coloration, and horns and tail though in a much more subdued format
Powers: Winged Flight (very strong) confident in warm air, or in unpredictable currents such as over a fire or with rapid pressure changes; she can soar in the Crescent City bay breezes for hours, as she casually also checks for anyone in the water needing assistance. She is not a small dragon, and as such she can take off and land with a bit of running, helped along by good breezes obviously, but she can carry up to six humanoid sized riders, or a goodly amount of gear as long as it's packed so she can pick it up or sling it across her back and chest
Teleportation (modest) in emergencies she can move between spaces instantly, but prefers to keep this to a minimum as sometimes she gets freaked out while not-present, a feature that other dragons have commented about at times too, so she knows it's not just herself being paranoid...
Telepathy and Verbal Speech (modest, strong) she is able to communicate with other telepathic minds nearby (up to 200 meters), as well as those she specifically chooses to who do not also have the power, though those must be closer (around 10 to 20 meters); her mind is warm, normally gentle and enveloping, but can occasionally sport a few sparks! Her voice is clear and strong, and she has a very broad vocabulary, preferring to speak English or some other localized tongues but easily learning others
Influence Fire (average) though she doesn't necessarily summon or manipulate flames, Hearth lives up to her name at least in this regard, as flames around her such as a campfire or torch will not flick the wrong way, or gust with wind, or go out unless you need them to be out; this ability isn't as strong as some but it shows in her lovely flame-colored mane
Shapeshift (human, average) can become as shown a bipedal individual with faint common traits between her forms, though she does lose the wings and extra fur; she can keep this shape up several hours a day, so if she's needed to be human-sized for a lengthy period she can do so as long as there is room for her to expand back to her normal large size somewhere nearby. She seems unable to teleport while in this form, however she can still influence fire, and speak telepathically (and obviously, make maps)
Cartography (very strong) like her friend Lari, Hearth is a map maker and remembers all the places she's been with great clarity. She does tend to give... strange directions, sometimes telling people to avoid a direction or not go that extra ten paces, or 'don't have your head up in the clouds', directing by omission rather than more straightforward terms
Parentage: Supra-Vie and Verem
Origin: Rainbow Glitz breeding project, hosted at Nidus Aven art by Phe
Other Info: Though not technically bonded to Lari, Hearth is very much a devoted partner and enjoys their work at school and beyond. She has an unerring ability to find 'home', whether this is magical or somehow part of her lineage's "knowlege" is unclear, as she definitely does not have the 'curse' that their sire has...

"Just because everyone in my family seems to know everything, doesn't mean we all do... And I like learning new things!" Hearth is not an in-your-face type like mom, but definitely is paying attention to all things around her. She finds it easy to multitask conversations, or organize group events given information about the people she'll be working with.

Hearth is not yet able to become a professor but definitely is on hand for security and safety, particularly enjoying this duty since they have numerous outdoor classes. There is that 'dungeon crawl' course but Lari tends to go to that one only if it's outside, preferring not to stress herself out even if accidentally. That doesn't stop Hearth, however, and as long as there is room for her in either draconic or humanoid size, she keeps track of anyone that gets more lost than intended, and has them safe and sound in the school locker rooms before the period or event ends.