I'm feeling uncomfortably sober right now.

-- Andrea, feeling.

Andrea Grant is an infamous scout and hunter in the mining city of Kilak in British enclave within Canada. She struggles with an alcohol addiction and her destiny to inherit the title of the enclave's leader after her father, who is slowly succumbing to a disease, announces his retirement. She sets off for Crossroads to save her father and avoid the terrible future of responsibility.

Appearance

Andrea is an athletic pale woman in her thirties. She has messy medium, black hair with barely noticable red highlights and bangs that often tend to cover her right eye.  She is at times referred to as "an ugly duckling" by her sister.

Due to her addiction, her face tends to be abundant in broken blood vessels and her ruby eyes often look bloated and puffy. She is generally perceived as the unattractive one of the two sisters.

She wears a dusty leather jacket on top of a blue turtleneck sweater, tattered jeans, and black military boots. She also wears dark-red leather gloves.

Her pants are fastened by a military belt with her revolver holstered at the front-left side and a flask inside her jacket. She has a silver chained coiled around her right arm.

Personality

Andrea is a foul-mouthed (literally and figuratively) Canadian who struggles with her place in the world so much so that she had decided to find an escape in alcohol. She likes lazing around and is unwilling to work if there is no clear benefit to it (like getting money for more booze). She is impulsive and hot-headed, does not mince words and tends to keep to herself, although she does not shy away from all social interactions if the mood is right and the glass full.

In general, however, she prefers solitude and often finds comfort in nature if, for some reason, a drink is not available.

Backstory

Firstborn to the Overseer of Kilak, Andrea had expectations set upon her by her father since the day of her birth. Knowing she would have to take over one day, she spent her youngest years studying the traditions of Kilak and surrounding region.

When she was was eight years old, an outlander who arrived in the city had taught her the basics of firearms and hunting which sparked her interest.

However, in the very same year her parents divorced as their views on how Kilak should be managed differed greatly from each other. Andrea stood by her father's and about two years later he remarried and had another child - Octavia.

Andrea's teenage years were a mixed bag. On one hand, she loved being the big sister to Octavia and her new mother was a very kind woman, but on the other hand, the gap between herself and father continued to widen.

Once she turned eighteen, she decided to become a strider - a skilled hunter and scout responsible for surveying and identifying threats and safe passages in the magical wastelands of the world. During her training, her already apparent skills with firearms increased substantially and she had also discovered slight affinity for magic.

At twenty-five, Andrea was a fully-fledged strider. She became an expert when it came to the regions around Kilak and many excavators, treasure hunters or collectors have paid for her services.

Her relationship with father, however, remained cold and distant. After she had finished her training the only interaction between them was whenever the Overseer needed someone found, or if the militia required strider’s insight into some matter.

Several years later, Andrea had grown resentful of her family. She felt alone and abandoned by her father, disregarded by her stepmother as a “fluke” in her husband’s past, and even her birth mother could not help but to treat Andrea with frigid courtesy. Octavia being the only one who seemed to openly harbour some warmth towards her sister, but by the time Andrea turned thirty, she has become jealous of treatment Octavia received from her family.

A year later, Kilak was attacked by a horde of monsters no one in the world had ever seen before. Andrea was part of the defences, but thousands of people perished, nonetheless. Eventually, the horde collapsed, but the situations was becoming hopeless very fast towards the end. Andrea’s own inability to put a dent in the opposing force, supported by the terrifying images of death and gore eventually broke her. She started drinking to cope and it does not seem as if she will be able to stop anytime soon.

I don’t think there’s a fashionista capable of making you look good in a dress, but I think you just might pull of a suit.

-- Octavia considering options

Appearance

Octavia is a fair-skinned petite and youthful woman in the latter half of her twenties. She wears a light pink duffel coat on top of a beige dress sweater and black leather pants with white Beatle boots as well as white leather gloves. She has long blonde hair that she ties into a ponytail.

Her face is small and round which her sister often compares to that of a hamster. Blue-framed half-moon glasses cover her gold eyes. Octavia puts a lot of value in appearances and starts every day with a tasteful amount of makeup.

Personality

Octavia is an earnest and optimistic woman who wants to leave an impression on everyone she cares about. She has a great interest in different cultures and traditions and tends to approach conversations as if other people’s interests were just as grand as hers. She tries to avoid any semblance of physical conflict and looks to mediate arguments, although she often cannot see the bigger picture. She also tends to lose confidence if she cannot guarantee the success or if she cannot do anything to amend the odds.

Backstory

Octavia is the younger half-sister of Andrea. Loved and coddled by her parents, Octavia grew up to me empathetic and kind person who tries to see good despite the flaws and confidently bets on her optimistic approach to life.

Before she turned ten, Octavia discovered that she was a Mute – a person incapable of utilizing or feeling magic in any way. This, however, did not distraught her and instead motivated her to focus on her education.

She idolized her father, the Overseer, and she desired to be useful to him as a part of his inner circle that oversaw the inner workings of the Enclave.

She excelled in her studies, and at age of 19 would leave to study foreign relations and economics in Osaka. There she met and fell in love with a fellow student Ayane, whom she would bring back as a personal bodyguard and the two started a secret relationship.

Octavia became a well-known person in Kilak. Always the face of the party, representing the interests of the Overseer, she had pushed for reformation of education in the enclave.

She continues to thrive in the politics and life of Kilak, genuinely hoping to improve everyone’s lives – her sister included.

Andrea & Octavia