[color=orange][b]Shas'La Fi'Rios Ko'vash Tsua'm[/b][/color] (Fire Warrior from Fi'Rios Striving for Moderation)

NOTE: In General Chats & Channels will maintain a semi-IC persona. PMs are completely OOC unless both parties agree to RP.

[collapse=History]
Biologically human, legally tau, raised by tau parents from the fire caste. Striver was given up by her human parents while still an infant and did not meet another biological human until she was six years old. Extremely inquisitive and prone to fights, she was a nightmare to raise. Eventually, based on academic and physical testing, it was decided that the military was the only place a tau like her, limited by human biology, would be of service. She went through the academy but barely passed on account of her poorer eyesight and the tau emphasis on ranged combat. Her struggles where not from any lack of will or determination. If she could have passed on strength of spirit alone she would have passed with flying colors. Currently nearing her 20th year of life, she is a Shas'la, a Fire Warrior Pathfinder. Her superiors keep telling her she's not ready for her Trial by Fire yet despite having served the required four years. So she has never even had a chance at a promotion. Her name is both a description of her personality, a tribute to the ideals of the Greater Good, and a subtle jab at her abilities. Fully aware of the implication she will never be more then mediocre that her name suggests, she prefers to be called just Ko'vash or Striver, believing she is constantly striving for the best she can be to serve the Greater Good.
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[collapse=Appearance]
Striver is of an average height and a lean, wiry and well toned build. She's a little on the pale side but has developed a bit of a ruddy tan from a lot of work and training outside. She has decent curves, but surprisingly small feet. She doesn't let her dark red hair grow much longer then the base of her shoulder blades, periodically cutting it short when ever it reaches that length. She cuts her hair by her self, often with a knife, so its not always the neatest or even of styles. She also has broken her nose, several times, resulting in an obvious kink in it. A life of a soldier has left many scars on her body, the worst being a nasty looking one across her throat, over her larynx. Her pale skin and red hair truly make her almost emerald green eyes pop though, and her slightly squared, strong jaw and high cheek bones gives her a bit of a defiant, wild appearance.
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[collapse=Personality]
Striver has been raised to be a good soldier, to follow orders and not ask a lot of questions. This is contrary to her naturally inquisitive mind and fiery personality. As a child, she was often teased or passed over and ignored due to her limitations resulting from being physically human or ridiculed for her curiosity. This often resulted in tantrums and violent outbursts. It didn't matter that she often had faster reflexes then other tau and was much better at hand to hand combat then many of the other children, and later warriors about her own age. With time, patience, and careful conditioning from her parents, Striver learned to create a sort of balance between what was expected of her and her own tendencies. This resulted in repressing any negative emotions that could possibly hinder her ability to serve the greater good. Moderation became her personal mantra and she grew accustom to being treated as second fiddle in all things thanks to lingering biases against humans. Regardless of being accustomed to the treatment, she never learned to suppress her dislike of it, as such constantly striving to silently prove how useful she really was through her deeds. No matter the hardships or mistreatment she endures, Striver will not often ask for help or assistance. She hates to show any kind of weakness to others to the point she will hide injuries and refuse medical aid sometimes if she deems the injuries minor. This has made her appear to be some what rash, possibly borderline suicidal at times, especially when defending and protecting her fellow warriors. She has a mastery of sheer will power and self control that defies most expectations as a result.

Striver can seem naive and very socially awkward at times partially due to her natural curiosity and partially due to just a lack of experience. She loves to make friends, and can be both fiercely protective and jealous of them at times, but she is often clueless regarding matters of physical pleasure. Sexual references, advances, and the like often seem to go right over her head. Sex has just never been something she thinks about or has been interested in. Love is a different matter however. The idea intrigues her though she has no idea what it feels like. Recently though, it was determined she's demisexual, only experiencing sexual attraction after forming deep emotional bonds or an exceptionally close friendship with an individual. It has yet to be determined if she has a gender preference but so far it does not seem to be the case.

Recently Striver has started to seem far more passive aggressive and defensive then normal. These moments often are marked by a faint, slightly unhinged smirk to her lips. She hasn't crossed any lines yet though, keeping a very tight rein on her temper, but it may only be a matter of time before her famous self control snaps and she takes a swing at some one or something she really should not have.
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[collapse=Quirks & Random Stuff]
Striver has a thing for tea. Especially mint tea. And sharing tea. With her knowledge and skills with tea and the trading skills she developed in the pursuit of tea, its a pity she was never born into a human merchant or trader family. She would have been really good at it. She even keeps several tins of various types of tea and a small travel tea set complete with kettle, burner, metal tea balls, reusable tea bags, measuring spoons, a whisk, collapsible metal cups and her favorite mug. Her favorite mug sports a green tea leaf on the side and has been painstakingly glued back together many times. She also has an extra, never used for tea, kettle that looks quiet old and has a few small dents in it. It has been used as a weapon on several occasions when Striver's personal "Rules of Tea" are violated.

Striver also greatly enjoys learning about and trying non Tau foods. She is very careful with drinks and food that contain alcohol however. She learned the hard way the one and only time she got drunk that she is a very violent drunk. The experience has left her with a distinct loathing for alcohol but never begrudges it to others as its often her best bargaining tool for acquiring tea.

Striver keeps a sketchbook. She draws in it any time it is quiet, safe, she is alone and has free time, or when she thinks no one is paying attention to her. It contains anything and everything she finds even remotely interesting from portraits of her fellow warriors and tau, studies of various weapons and fighting techniques, different landscapes she has seen, studies of various different species and races, to various plants and what not. There are also pages of painstakingly practiced symbols and letters as she's been trying to learn to read and write Gothic in addition to Tau.

Striver dislikes Orcs. They have literally dropped buildings on her before. She's also one of the few tau, human or not, to take down a large rampaging orc with just her field knife. She keeps two knives on her person. One is her standard issue field knife and the other is a gift given to her by a Commander she actually trusted and respected highly. This knife appears similar to a curved, guard-less, combat long knife similar to a Hissatsu fixed blade. She has a bad habit of loosing both her helmet and firearms in combat, so she often relies heavily on this surprisingly sharp and sturdy knife.

Considering what she often puts them through, and the damage she's inflicted with them, one has to wonder what both her extra kettle and her Hissatsu knife are made of.
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[collapse=The Tea List]
Though her inventory of various teas can vary and changes depending on season, availability of certain teas, the quantity and quality of recent donations that allow her to trade for teas, and what and how much she can carry with her at the time, Striver tries to keep an updated sign listing what teas she normally has. Two signs actually. One sign is written in both Tau and Gothic in Striver's shaky, scrawling handwriting, and the second sign is written in Eldar by one of her eldar patrons. Striver's personal "Rules of Tea" are posted at the bottom of each sign as well.

Matcha
Green Tea
Oolong
Earl Gray
English Breakfast Tea
Assam Banaspaty Tea
Classic Chai
Nirvana Chai
Spiced Chai
Taiwanese Gunpowder
Tanna Tea
Smoke Tea
Butterscotch Blondie Desert Tea
Iditamint
Mint Medley
Moroccan Mint
Peppermint Tea
Camomile Tea
Raspberry Zinger
Blood Orange Tea
Apple Sun Tea
British Tea
Milk Tea
Puerh

"The first rule of tea is that there shall be no fighting while there is tea to be had. The second rule of tea is there shall not be any tainting of the tea, the tea utensils, tea serving vessels, or the tea maker and/or server. Breaking of these rules can result in temporary or permanent tea ban, hot scalding water in places you do not want it, or a kettle firmly and viciously to the head."

Official Tea Patrons and Suppliers:
[icon]Carlexi Tagii[/icon]

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[collapse=MalCaor]
Striver is the biological sister of [icon]MalCaor[/icon] . Despite Striver and Mal'Caor both being Pathfinders of Sept Fi'Rios, the two have never met, and in fact have no knowledge that the other even exists. In perhaps a joke of fate, the two have had nearly diametrically opposite lives and experiences despite incredibly similar circumstances.

Whereas Mal'Caor was seen as being an excellent Pathfinder, Striver was viewed as being a mediocre Pathfinder at best when compared to a Tau even though they both have similar strengths and skill sets. Despite both being assigned to protect those with markerlights or rail rifles, Mal'Caor was assigned to it out of consideration of his superior abilities, whereas Striver was assigned merely due to a lack of anything else that she was considered capable or competent in.

Mal'Caor was repeatedly sent into battle against humans to test and prove his loyalty to the Greater Good over his species, but Striver's commanders kept her away from human-involved conflicts, not wishing to put her in any situation where her efficiency would be compromised.

Mal'Caor ultimately developed to embody the more aggressive ideals of the Mont'Ka, the Killing Blow, while Striver became an example of the ideals o the Kauyon, the Patient Hunter.
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[collapse=Larry, Curly and Moe]
Striver has been assigned two Marker Drones and a Gun Drone to assist her as she sees fit as a reward for what was thought to be a suicide mission. Instead of dieing, she carried the mission out with minimal casualties. Named after the characters of an ancient Terran entertainment vid courtesy of an Imperial guardsmen she was briefly acquainted with, Striver's three drones are known for having taken on a some what put upon attitude in Striver's service. They even omit an odd grinding and whoring noise when given directions that sounds a good deal like grumbling. Striver often has them assist in prepping and serving tea when the drones are not out on missions, among other menial tasks, and will pat and hug them as if they were small children or pets when she deems they have done a good job. Regardless of their grumpy behavior, Striver treats the three Drones quiet well, always extremely fastidious about making sure the three are always cleaned and regularly maintenanced, right down to fresh coats of camo paint when needed. She also never risks them unnecessarily, treating them as if they were just as valuable as any of her other comrades and fellow warriors.
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[collapse=Goofy OOC Stuff]
Possible theme music:

Stan Bush - Stand in the fire
[url=https://youtu.be/Q3dS4PBuFk4][/url]

Blood Stain Child - Stargazer
[url=https://youtu.be/IjTXeJZM8wg][/url]

I'm still looking for possible theme music so suggestions are always welcome!
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