Name: Meredith Neo Eng Lok (梁永乐)
Age: 16
Birthday: 10 July 2002
Gender: Female
Species: Human
Category: Student
Class: High School
Grade: 11th
Occupation: Blacksmith/Woodcarver
Appearance Description:
Compared to other islanders, Meredith is short for her age; she stands at 160 centimetres, with skinny bones and a slim figure. Her hair and eyes are black, her skin a dusty beige. She isn't particularly pretty. She's clad in a wrap vest and off-white high-collared tunic; draped over her shoulder is a maroon cloth, wrapped and tied around her waist. She wears cotton trousers too baggy for her legs, fixed in place by bandages encircling both feet. She wears traditional chinese shoes for men on her feet and a simple patch over her left eye. Her sleeves are rolled up and tied with black cloth just below her elbows. She wears plain black leather gloves. A lazy french braid completes her look.
Meredith wears the trousers uniform when in school.
She walks fast and with purpose, as if she's got someplace to be. Despite the eyepatch, Meredith walks very straight and seems to have no problem navigating. Her hands are normally stuffed into the pockets of her trousers, shawl trailing in the wind.
Underneath the patch, Meredith's left eye looks no different to her right. Underneath her tunic, her arms are leanly muscled; core taut with muscle. Underneath her gloves, her hands are coarse and hard, scarred and skin discoloured after years of forge work.
Personality Description: She is a good person.
Meredith firmly believes that anyone can be good, if they only just try. She believes that as long as she works hard for it, and never gets beat down, she'll reach her goals. She's optimistic; she looks for the silver lining in every cloud. That's not to say she's naive; she knows very well the world is a dark place, and the island she lives on houses inhabitants who could cause her harm beyond her imagination.
Meredith knows the world is a cruel place and that is precisely why she is who she is. She chooses to see the good in people. She makes the conscious decision to believe and trust in them. In an already-black place, it’s even easier for her to just look up and spot the stars. Meredith genuinely thinks that if she just were to look up and pause a little, she can find the brightest souls to stick by. She chooses her friends carefully; she interacts with many, but surrounds herself with good people.
She is very introverted. She speaks politely, almost formally. She's withdrawn; whenever she speaks, she does so quietly and succinctly. Meredith doesn't like wasting words; while possessing a quiet sort of eloquence, she rarely uses it. She tends to stop when she's been interrupted, and is often interrupted. She does, however, seem to gain a backbone in all her business-related matters. She seems to turn into a different person altogether; firm, confident, and wily.
Meredith is sociable regardless. She understands to make herself known she has to put herself out there. She’s willing to go the extra mile to attend events or gatherings she’d otherwise prefer not to. She seems friendly — and she is — but really, it all tires her out.
Despite all this, she's well-versed with subtle manipulation to get what she wants done. Her lack of magic and growing up in an inherently magical society has left her extremely resourceful and cunning. Meredith works hard because she needs to work hard to make up for what she doesn't have.
She finds it hard to accept help when it is offered. She needs to be self-sustaining. She needs to be independent. She has little pride in herself, only her work. She believes she needs to give her all, and anything she does must be done to the best of her ability. Meredith's work ethic is possibly the only thing she has confidence in.
She aims for excellence, not perfection; her reputation for reliability often precedes her, one that she is determined to maintain.
Meredith believes that everyone can be a good person if only they are willing to try. She has to; she has little else to believe in.
Active Abilities: Meredith is inherently non-magical. Her learned abilities can be categorised under:
Energy channelling: Because Meredith's body possesses no natural magic, she is able to use her body as a conduit for magic and energy to flow through. Meredith is unable to use them herself. She is able to direct them through her body, of which she has learnt two main abilities:
The limits to this ability are further discussed under Weaknesses.
Shawl: Meredith's shawl was given to her by her grandfather's brother, passed down through their family til it reached her. It resembles a tibetan monk's shawl, but its nature was never revealed to her, so she does not know for sure. It is enchanted to alert her to the presence of magic in the surroundings — as long as there is magic present to draw on, the sigil glows. It has no other real purpose, but is invaluable to her craft. It is a family heirloom; the enchantment was placed generations before she was born.
Passive Abilities:
Fast learner: Exposed to magic in the womb, it didn't give her any magic of her own. However, Meredith learns and absorbs information extremely fast. She only needs to be taught well once, and the amount of practice needed to master something is reduced. Languages only require a week of total immersion, and sign languages through reading and immersion.
Weaknesses:
Resistance: Since Meredith's body essentially functions as a wire for magic and energy, she heats up as she channels it.
Channelling large amounts (10A) quickly, leads to overheating very fast. Channelling a slow, steady, and small stream still causes her to heat up, but less severely. Meredith has a cooldown period proportional to how much heat she gains, which can be accelerated or decelerated by surrounding conditions (eg being doused in cold water - hastens cooldown; a hot day - increased cooldown time).
On a hot day, Meredith would be able to channel a large amount for about three seconds before the effects of heatstroke set in. A further three seconds before it becomes fatal.
On a cool day, she could do the same thing for five seconds, then the same further three seconds.
The spoiler below provides more information about this weakness in relation to her ability.
If Meredith's body heats up too much, she suffers from heatstroke which can lead to death. The heatstroke progresses from minor to fatal if she persists in using her abilities.
Common Magical Items: None
Biography: Meredith is descended from the first pirates who stepped foot on Manta Carlos island. Her great-great-grandparents moved to Malaya for a time where they had her great-grandparents, before moving back to Manta Carlos.
Despite their family legacy of piracy, in recent generations, Meredith's family has turned their gaze inward to more practical livelihoods. Her family produced many master crafters. Her parents themselves were blacksmith and woodworker, crafts they taught her before their deaths. At thirteen, she built the first boat she'd carved from scratch under her father's watchful eye, and learnt to sail.
Meredith was born to aging parents. She knew their family was completely normal; they had neither magic nor supernatural ability. As such, she took it upon herself to work doubly hard to account for it, supporting her parents by the forge or the carving table. A kindly neighbour taught her the art of channelling magic and energy in her surroundings to make up for the fact that she had no powers of her own. While she still could not use it, she could at least direct it.
She attended the Academy from young, having been born on the island. Children were children; for her lack of magic, she was sometimes viciously bullied. But it only reinforced her determination to make herself more than what she lacked.
When she was fifteen, her mother passed away in her sleep. Shortly after, her father died too. She'd always known it was coming. Meredith didn't cry when they cremated her parents, and she didn't cry when she flung their ashes into the sea.
In their will they stated the family heirloom — an old maroon shawl — should be passed to her. When she received it, Meredith asked the same neighbour about enchanting, and the neighbour taught her the basics of it.
During the school holidays and after school, Meredith continues to run her parents' business: a wood shop and smithy.
Resources:
Meredith has a small wooden sailing boat she made with her father when she was thirteen.
Her inheritance is kept in the bank until she turns eighteen. She receives a small stipend from this fund every month to assist running her business as well as pay for various miscellaneous fees.
Her parents' business, Neo's Smithy and Woodwork, serves as both business and home. It is a two-storey building. The forge and wood working station are on the first storey while the living quarters are on the second. Behind the main building is a courtyard with side building where lumber and large projects are kept.
Additional Information:
Meredith is born with stereoblindness (2D vision). Her right eye is shortsighted while her left is longsighted. She wears an eyepatch to keep one eye adjusted to the dark, on the left and right eye interchangeably. People may assume she is blind in one eye.
As a result of this, she:
She has an eidetic memory. She can recall things in almost-perfect detail from years prior.
Meredith speaks Hokkien as her first language, and Mandarin and English as second languages equally fluently. She speaks basic Bahasa Melayu.
She does not stay in the Academy's dorms.
Age: 16
Birthday: 10 July 2002
Gender: Female
Species: Human
Category: Student
Class: High School
Grade: 11th
Occupation: Blacksmith/Woodcarver
Appearance Description:
Compared to other islanders, Meredith is short for her age; she stands at 160 centimetres, with skinny bones and a slim figure. Her hair and eyes are black, her skin a dusty beige. She isn't particularly pretty. She's clad in a wrap vest and off-white high-collared tunic; draped over her shoulder is a maroon cloth, wrapped and tied around her waist. She wears cotton trousers too baggy for her legs, fixed in place by bandages encircling both feet. She wears traditional chinese shoes for men on her feet and a simple patch over her left eye. Her sleeves are rolled up and tied with black cloth just below her elbows. She wears plain black leather gloves. A lazy french braid completes her look.
Meredith wears the trousers uniform when in school.
She walks fast and with purpose, as if she's got someplace to be. Despite the eyepatch, Meredith walks very straight and seems to have no problem navigating. Her hands are normally stuffed into the pockets of her trousers, shawl trailing in the wind.
Underneath the patch, Meredith's left eye looks no different to her right. Underneath her tunic, her arms are leanly muscled; core taut with muscle. Underneath her gloves, her hands are coarse and hard, scarred and skin discoloured after years of forge work.
Personality Description: She is a good person.
Meredith firmly believes that anyone can be good, if they only just try. She believes that as long as she works hard for it, and never gets beat down, she'll reach her goals. She's optimistic; she looks for the silver lining in every cloud. That's not to say she's naive; she knows very well the world is a dark place, and the island she lives on houses inhabitants who could cause her harm beyond her imagination.
Meredith knows the world is a cruel place and that is precisely why she is who she is. She chooses to see the good in people. She makes the conscious decision to believe and trust in them. In an already-black place, it’s even easier for her to just look up and spot the stars. Meredith genuinely thinks that if she just were to look up and pause a little, she can find the brightest souls to stick by. She chooses her friends carefully; she interacts with many, but surrounds herself with good people.
She is very introverted. She speaks politely, almost formally. She's withdrawn; whenever she speaks, she does so quietly and succinctly. Meredith doesn't like wasting words; while possessing a quiet sort of eloquence, she rarely uses it. She tends to stop when she's been interrupted, and is often interrupted. She does, however, seem to gain a backbone in all her business-related matters. She seems to turn into a different person altogether; firm, confident, and wily.
Meredith is sociable regardless. She understands to make herself known she has to put herself out there. She’s willing to go the extra mile to attend events or gatherings she’d otherwise prefer not to. She seems friendly — and she is — but really, it all tires her out.
Despite all this, she's well-versed with subtle manipulation to get what she wants done. Her lack of magic and growing up in an inherently magical society has left her extremely resourceful and cunning. Meredith works hard because she needs to work hard to make up for what she doesn't have.
She finds it hard to accept help when it is offered. She needs to be self-sustaining. She needs to be independent. She has little pride in herself, only her work. She believes she needs to give her all, and anything she does must be done to the best of her ability. Meredith's work ethic is possibly the only thing she has confidence in.
She aims for excellence, not perfection; her reputation for reliability often precedes her, one that she is determined to maintain.
Meredith believes that everyone can be a good person if only they are willing to try. She has to; she has little else to believe in.
Active Abilities: Meredith is inherently non-magical. Her learned abilities can be categorised under:
Energy channelling: Because Meredith's body possesses no natural magic, she is able to use her body as a conduit for magic and energy to flow through. Meredith is unable to use them herself. She is able to direct them through her body, of which she has learnt two main abilities:
- Mending: Lacking magic, Meredith has no healing powers. She instead takes magic or energy (though magic is preferred) from a source (air, plants, another person) and channels it to the person needing healing. She can also use this to fix broken objects and mend/seal things. She cannot heal herself; her body is incapable of processing it.
- Enchanting: Meredith can enchant things by channelling magic into a sigil carved/embedded into an object. Before casting the enchantment, she must prepare by doing proper research on the type of enchantment and intent required. Her enchanting requires that she channel magic into the object with the proper intent — that is, to enchant an object to be lightweight, she must envision it light as a feather while performing the enchantment, so the magic is directed in the correct way. It does not come naturally to her and requires intense focus. Enchanting requires a day for the simplest items; weeks or even months for those more complicated items. The magic in the enchantment is merely an activator and more magic must be drawn to use the items.
- The sigil on an enchanted item glows a bright white when in use. An object constantly in use will continually draw magic from the nearest source; an object used when necessary only draws magic when used. In Meredith's case, without naturally-occurring magic, magic is drawn from the surroundings. Manta Carlos is so heavily populated by supernatural creatures that the enchantment can take excess magic from the surroundings at no harm.
Shawl: Meredith's shawl was given to her by her grandfather's brother, passed down through their family til it reached her. It resembles a tibetan monk's shawl, but its nature was never revealed to her, so she does not know for sure. It is enchanted to alert her to the presence of magic in the surroundings — as long as there is magic present to draw on, the sigil glows. It has no other real purpose, but is invaluable to her craft. It is a family heirloom; the enchantment was placed generations before she was born.
Passive Abilities:
Fast learner: Exposed to magic in the womb, it didn't give her any magic of her own. However, Meredith learns and absorbs information extremely fast. She only needs to be taught well once, and the amount of practice needed to master something is reduced. Languages only require a week of total immersion, and sign languages through reading and immersion.
Weaknesses:
Resistance: Since Meredith's body essentially functions as a wire for magic and energy, she heats up as she channels it.
Channelling large amounts (10A) quickly, leads to overheating very fast. Channelling a slow, steady, and small stream still causes her to heat up, but less severely. Meredith has a cooldown period proportional to how much heat she gains, which can be accelerated or decelerated by surrounding conditions (eg being doused in cold water - hastens cooldown; a hot day - increased cooldown time).
On a hot day, Meredith would be able to channel a large amount for about three seconds before the effects of heatstroke set in. A further three seconds before it becomes fatal.
On a cool day, she could do the same thing for five seconds, then the same further three seconds.
The spoiler below provides more information about this weakness in relation to her ability.
If Meredith's body heats up too much, she suffers from heatstroke which can lead to death. The heatstroke progresses from minor to fatal if she persists in using her abilities.
- There is no real magic quantifier; current in this case will be measured like electrical current (I), in Amperes (A), with resistance in Ohms (Ω), and (thermal) energy in Joules (J).
- For Meredith's body of mass 45kg and a resistance of approximately 500Ω, using Q = mc∆T (where Q = thermal energy gained, m = mass, c = specific heat capacity of a human body, and ∆T = change in temperature), Meredith would need to gain 157500J for her body to reach 40 degrees celsius, at which point her body would begin suffering from minor heatstroke.
- Using P = I^2Rt, 127500J = I^2(500)t, I^2t = 315J
- If t = 1 second, I = 17.7A. The maximum amount of magical current/energy she could channel before heatstroke would be 17.7A.
- If t = 60 seconds, I = 2.3A.
- A "large" amount of current would thus constitute approximately 10A, for a time of 3.15 seconds.
- As t increases, I decreases. The graph of I over t resembles a "negative" exponential graph.
(example of graph)
- If t = 360s, I = 0.94A. If t= 420s, I = 0.87A, et cetera.
Common Magical Items: None
Biography: Meredith is descended from the first pirates who stepped foot on Manta Carlos island. Her great-great-grandparents moved to Malaya for a time where they had her great-grandparents, before moving back to Manta Carlos.
Despite their family legacy of piracy, in recent generations, Meredith's family has turned their gaze inward to more practical livelihoods. Her family produced many master crafters. Her parents themselves were blacksmith and woodworker, crafts they taught her before their deaths. At thirteen, she built the first boat she'd carved from scratch under her father's watchful eye, and learnt to sail.
Meredith was born to aging parents. She knew their family was completely normal; they had neither magic nor supernatural ability. As such, she took it upon herself to work doubly hard to account for it, supporting her parents by the forge or the carving table. A kindly neighbour taught her the art of channelling magic and energy in her surroundings to make up for the fact that she had no powers of her own. While she still could not use it, she could at least direct it.
She attended the Academy from young, having been born on the island. Children were children; for her lack of magic, she was sometimes viciously bullied. But it only reinforced her determination to make herself more than what she lacked.
When she was fifteen, her mother passed away in her sleep. Shortly after, her father died too. She'd always known it was coming. Meredith didn't cry when they cremated her parents, and she didn't cry when she flung their ashes into the sea.
In their will they stated the family heirloom — an old maroon shawl — should be passed to her. When she received it, Meredith asked the same neighbour about enchanting, and the neighbour taught her the basics of it.
During the school holidays and after school, Meredith continues to run her parents' business: a wood shop and smithy.
Resources:
Meredith has a small wooden sailing boat she made with her father when she was thirteen.
Her inheritance is kept in the bank until she turns eighteen. She receives a small stipend from this fund every month to assist running her business as well as pay for various miscellaneous fees.
Her parents' business, Neo's Smithy and Woodwork, serves as both business and home. It is a two-storey building. The forge and wood working station are on the first storey while the living quarters are on the second. Behind the main building is a courtyard with side building where lumber and large projects are kept.
Additional Information:
Meredith is born with stereoblindness (2D vision). Her right eye is shortsighted while her left is longsighted. She wears an eyepatch to keep one eye adjusted to the dark, on the left and right eye interchangeably. People may assume she is blind in one eye.
As a result of this, she:
- Cannot judge fine depth or distance well.
- Is bad at catching things.
- Has issues pouring things into other things.
- And other depth perception-related issues.
She has an eidetic memory. She can recall things in almost-perfect detail from years prior.
Meredith speaks Hokkien as her first language, and Mandarin and English as second languages equally fluently. She speaks basic Bahasa Melayu.
She does not stay in the Academy's dorms.