Profile
Fa Gleamling, "The Magpie"
conniving . vain . greedy . kind
Status
Likes
- fancy clothing
- daggers and sharp things
- jewelry and shiny things
- gambling
- high altitudes
- parkour
- free fall, races
- a good con
Dislikes
- not getting what he wants
- limitations
- arrogance
- being told no
- his father
- discrimination
- injustice, inequality
⊰ “You’re a conniving little shit, you know that, ‘Magpie’?”, Karga huffed, when he found a shadow waiting for him outside the window.
“Thanks,” the kid said, his new tooth glinting in the moonlight. “I try.” ⊱
About
- 18yrs old and trouble, also captain, unfortunately
- home territory: west blue, vertical city
- city loosely inspired by the tower of babel, build into the tower wall ruins, with biannual bloody rooftop races and ninjas
- fights using various assortments of knives & daggers, plus own version of soru & geppo, observation haki
- fighting: low, dextrous, aerial, quick, slash, throw
- 5'6"/168cm tall walking armory, will sink like a stone
- Pretty Boy™ & cheerful gambler
- proud owner of at least three silver teeth
- will stop to help that old woman cross the road and proceed to, very politely, rob her blind
- has been called a greedy, conniving bastard on more than one occasion
- def not above bringing a gun to a fist fight
- “ooooh, shiny – I want it.“
- he’s like that elusive fruit fly in the kitchen
- coming from nowhere and a pain to get rid of
- fit af from trying to outrun his helper syndrome
- will swear up and down he’s in it for the money, up until he saves kittens from drowning
- do not take him shopping, he’ll spend all your money and make you carry the bags
- but hey, at least you’ll have a great time, right
....
Character
Abilities
Fighting Style
Close combat to medium range. Quick, darting maneuvers, attacks from all sides and on all stages including aerial; if it helps him, cheating
Haki
Awakened Kenbunshoku (Observation) Haki
Weapons
In possession and skilled with knives of all shapes and sizes, long-/single-/double-bladed, a few daggers, two pistols
Unique Skills
He is close to mastering "The Call of the Sky" which is Vertical City's version of Soru and Geppo. He later developes/uses over-intent, where he seems to want and do everything at the same time, which masks his actual moves to Kenbunshoku-premonition, and master Busoshoku (Armament) Haki.
Playlist
Money, Money, Money – Budapest Bár (Cover)
Everything at Once – Lenka
Rich Girl – Gwen Stefani, Eve
The Trapper and the Furrier – Regina Spektor
Run Boy Run – Woodkind
Money – I Fight Dragons
Uprising – Muse
Na Na Na (Na Na Na ...) – My Chemical Romance
Emperor's New Clothes – Panic! At The Disco
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) – Eurythmics
Don't Wait Up – Robert DeLong
Lone Digger – Caravan Palace
Hand Clap – Fitz and The Tantrums
I Want It All – Queen
Relationships
Fa Meiran Mother
Singer & former Roofer, a steady while veiled presence. Did not want Gleamling to become a Roofer, but allowed and eventually supported it. A sore point was her concealing her past, forbidden role as a Roofer & the story of his father, and more importantly her allowing his father to take and keep Dustan. He was used to her eternal state of melancholy and sadness, it didn't seem like she was affected and moved beyond "the usual". It took some growing up for him to understand she was anything but weak and fragile and to stop seeing her as a victim.
Loh Weir Father
Former Pidgeon, Marine Captain & official Marine correspondence of the High Count. Gleamling, after meeting him at age 12, grows to despise him, first because of his treatment of their "family" (blackmailing Fa Meiran, taking away Dustan), and then because he attempts to use him now that he shows promise and manipulate him with fatherly affection. Gleamling relishes in beating him at his own game, making a bet on winning the rooftop races, with his brother, himself and the snagged treasure as the stakes and consenting to rising the odds against himself. In time, Gleamling will realize he has much of his father in him, and trusts his crew to keep him from becoming like that.
Fa Dustan Brother
Pigeon, spy/messager/guard of the High Count. Gleamling was barely older than a toddler when his father came and took the five years older Dustan with him to the palace. After saving each other numerous times on the roofs and reconciling, they slowly dispelled lingering awkwardness. Gleamling got used to reading every single gesture and, while acknowledging and accepting Dustan's difficulties with speech, always listens before speaking for him (after a rocky start in that regard). He's one of the first Dustan reveals his sassy side to. Despite the age difference, Gleamling's abilities grow to outdo his. They still complement each other; Gleamling is the more scheming, driven part, while Dustan often acts as the voice of reason and covers his back. Gleamling calls him his "Pidge" affectionally.
His brother acts as factotum of the crew, keeping count of everything and the ship clean and running – despite recurring bouts of crippling seasickness until Chika joins. (Being Dustan is suffering in dignity.)
Pan Rowanna Childhood Friend & Mentor
Rowanna, "The Raven", took the place of Roofer for her family, pretending to be a guy. Three years older than 11yr Gleamling, she saved him from falling to his death on one of his rooftop ventures, and showed him the ropes. They formed an alliance before his first race, where ended up saving him again and then met her untimely death in a duel due to a lack of breathing ability and pain caused by too-tight and unprofessional binding. Her death and the tangle of causes for it, as well as his own injuries disillusioned and shocked Gleamling, who hadn't known her that well.
Khen Eome Co-Conspirateur, Lover
Later "The Swallow", is the daughter of the Racemaster during Gleam's time and was Rowanna's girlfriend. She digs deep after her death and found out about Meiran, confronting her about how she survived while Rowanna did not. She and Gleam start a platonic, later on sexual relationship, both after revenge in their own way. It's conducted in secret, but being headstrong and stubborn, she handles Gleam with little problems. As an exceptional seamstress, she sews Gleam's and later her own costumes. She shouldered through the Coup while "sick", and did only reveal to Dust that she was pregnant. Two years later, after fighting/winning against the other Roofers of her family, she would take the place of the "Khen-Roofer" and become the first winner as well as recognized female winner of the race. (Her daughter Raven will grow up with two mums and a sister-not-by-blood, and is told many stories, but never the name of her father, until she is old enough to decide if she wants to accept the name.)
Quang Friend, Crewmember
The skypean (17) fell from the sky right before Gleamling's nose 1-2years before the Magpie's Coup, and was adopted by him on the spot. His gloomy nature and heart-wrenchingly sad music reminds Gleamling of his mother, and consequently treats it as one of the most normal things of the world. Quang feels continually bewildered and appreciative. He also thinks he might harbour a small crush on his captain.
Radnok Saraswati Friend, Crewmember
The mermaid (39) acts as sharpshooter and cook, and was a former slave of the High Count, gifted by a World Noble after her tail split. Since following Gleamling out of slavery, she keeps the crew fed and rarely takes on the mantle of "responsible adult" without a fight, and rightly so – she has an incredibly short fuse.
Kit Karga Friend, Crewmember
The Ex-Bounty-Hunter (68) has watched Gleamling's path since early on, and was later impressed by him, agreeing to help with his Coup. Having come to respect him and finding the thought of going back to sea as a pirate fairly amusing, he let himself be recruited as Gleamling's navigator – after being tricked into being one of the main suspects by Gleam. Despite his age, he fails to be the responsible, acting adult of the crew, rarely running interference with the crew's shenanigans – beyond a "don't rock the boat now", not even looking up from his knitting.
Context and Origin: Vertical City
Vertical City clings to the remains of a huge, centuries old tower. The ambitious building, part of whose remaining walls reaches up into the clouds, is said to have crashed into itself long before completion and stands for the greed of generations long past. The higher up the building, the richer and influential the people are; the ruling High Count lives in a palace located on the topmost, still stable part of the former walls. The parts that are rising above are considered unstable and are forbidden territory, lest movement would cause stones to get set loose and destroy parts of the city.
Vertical City is the central trading port for West Blue and hosts many of it's craftsmen, and got rich as a result. A Marine Base is located at the outer rim, apart from the city, basically rising out of the waves.
Every two years, Vertical City hosts the Rooftop Race, in which every family-clan has to enter one male "Roofer". The race-course leads around the city and then up the walls until the Count's castle's (selected) treasury, where they get to grab as much as they want before racing vertically down to the finish. There are specific points to pass, where the Roofer has to collect a dagger each, which will help him scale the vertical part. Usually only won if the Roofer jumps and falls the entire altitude until they meet the prepared trampoline, and has grabbed limited gold, since they are already weighted down by the daggers. It's traditional that coins get scattered around the waiting audience at the point of impact. The fastest Roofer with all required daggers wins. He and his clan will be allowed privileges until the next race, and any race-ensued injuries will be covered. The only riches awarded are the ones that the Roofer managed to bring from the treasury.
The races act both an outlet for the people and a method for the High Count to keep them in place, always baiting with seeming wealth and privilege. The leading section is largely marked by violence; Roofers, who all start without weapons, often use the daggers on each other to advance. As a result of the need to train their offsprings, a crime-scene florishes on the rooftops for the rest of the year, kept in check by the "city guardians", basically a secret service that answers to and is trained under the High Count. By the public generally referred to as "Pigeons", common and all-present, and to "have a pigeon on the roof" has become the general phrase for saying "you're in trouble".
The race has had a big influence on Vertical city's society. Since every family has to enter one male Roofer, unions are often made for safety reasons to ensue an able-bodied participant with chances of winning. The generally accepted age-limit is 12 yrs old, but families try to avoid sending in a young Roofer and most are content to have them at the back of the race and finish without injuries. The rest grooms their chosen specifically for the races, in hopes of ascending/keeping their place on the social ladder. The neighboring Marine Base profits from this by gaining capable recruits regularly, but also keeps a very watchful eye on the apparent standing army.
The enforced rules of one-Roofer-per-family and no-women have resulted in unconsented marriages and deaths, and were only abolished by the High Count held at knife-point in the event that would go into the history books as "The Magpie's Coup".
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