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[sassywelshcatgirl]

Player Information

Name: Dragon
Contact: Discord: DragonofLife#4138; dragonoflife
Age: OLD ENOUGH
Other Characters: Dust, Edge, Zetta, Princess Celestia

Character Information

Name: Nia
Canon: Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Canon Point: Postgame
Age: Unknown. She looks like 16? She's had continuity of conscious for much longer. She's existed as a being for much longer still.
History: Nia on the wiki. XC2's plot, also.

Personality: In situations where she's trying to take control or feels like she needs to put up a front, Nia comes off as sharp, snarky, and serious about herself at the expense of others. Especially at the beginning of the game, that's a fair representation of who she is to others, and even as the story progresses Nia shows elements of this for quite a while. She's used to being on her own except for Dromarch, used to being someone and something no one would trust or feel safe around and that some actively hunt, and bereft of purpose. Her cynicism is at the fore, as she bluntly dismisses Elysium as 'a story for children'.

But even before she gets caught up in Rex's whirlwind adventure, Nia shows a better side of herself. Though she baited and toyed with him when they first met, she seeks him out for conversation shortly thereafter and finds common cause with him. When Jin turns on Rex and kills him, she immediately betrays him and Torna at large -- the only one of them who finds this act morally unconscionable.

The rest of the adventure is spent softening Nia's sharp edges and blunting her fear. Everyone who spends any time with her immediately recognizes Nia has a foul mouth but a good heart (and occasionally call her on it in so many word). But for much of the journey, Nia really never opens up to anyone -- not even Dromarch. She hides her nature from them even when she's using her true power to save a life, relying on a cheap distraction to get attention off of her. Most noticeably, her growing feelings for Rex never manifest openly, only in small hints of teasing and incredibly tangential efforts to ferret out his true feelings for Pyra to see if she has a chance.

As seriously as Nia tries to take herself, she can lapse into some ridiculous behavior -- notably, when fired up, she reacts like a cat, hissing and scratching, or does a silly little dance to cheer on her Blade in the middle of a Blade Art.

Nia's arc comes almost complete when she finally finds the resolve, in the middle of despair, to face who she truly is. In that moment she reveals herself utterly -- both her true nature and her heart, showing off her Blade form and declaring her love for Rex in one moment. Never mind that the latter was doomed to fail; she knew that from the very beginning. What she really sought was not to steal Rex's love, but to finally put aside her fear. The Nia that emerges from that is a far more confident and capable person, facing down the Aegis Malos with confidence that she can equal his power. Watching Rex's happiness with Pyra hurts her deeply, but she draws strength from seeing her loved one happy. At the end of the game, when Pyra and Mythra reappear from their apparent sacrifice, she's the one urging him to go to them without a moment's hesitation.

Damn shame she'll forget all those memories.

Abilities: In Xenoblade Chronicles 2, the strongest warriors in the land are called "Drivers". A Driver is a person who is capable of resonating with a special being called a "Blade".

A Blade is an artificial lifeform that a Driver summons out of a Core Crystal by resonating with that crystal. Once the Blade is awakened by a Driver, the Blade's body appears around the Core Crystal (which is always embedded somewhere on the surface of their body), and the Blade becomes conscious and bound to their Driver. Because of their nature, Blades heal wounds almost instantly -- but if their Driver is killed, they return to their Core Crystal and forget everything but their name.

The relationship is intensely symbiotic. Blades are inherently weaponized lifeforms, and every Blade can summon a weapon from their core. They are capable of using this weapon themselves, but when their Driver wields that weapon, the Blade may transmit power and strength to them through their bond. A Driver without a Blade is no better than a normal human, but when they wield their Blade's weapon, they gain enhanced physical power, an instinctive proficiency with that weapon, and the ability to use weapon techniques known as "Driver Arts", which combined their own skill with the power and element of their Blade. Each Blade has its own element, such as Fire, Water, Light, or so forth, and their own role: Tank, Damage, or Healing.

In combat, a Driver wields the weapon and utilized Driver Arts, while the Blade provides primarily passive support by channeling power to them or shielding them from harm. However, when the Driver has 'charged up' by using enough Driver Arts, they may return the weapon to their Blade; the Blade then uses it to unleash a powerful attack called a Blade Art. The more power they have built up, the stronger the Blade Art.

The longer a Blade and a Driver fight in a battle, the more they fall into sync. When their connection reaches its peak, the power flowing to the Driver amplifies immensely, giving them additional power and strength. If they remain synced for a period of time, they are capable of reading and anticipating each other's movements enough that they may combined their powers and together unleash the most powerful attack in their repertoire.

So in RPG terms, you have your auto-attacks, your special attacks, your super attacks, and your ultimate attack.

Nia breaks a lot of these rules. Nia is a special case called a "Flesh Eater", which is a Blade that has integrated human cells into their Core Crystal. A Flesh Eater, unlike a normal Blade, does not return to their Core Crystal when their Driver dies -- although her Core Crystal is inextricably part of her, and if it is destroyed she too is killed, just like a normal Blade. It also is blood red, which is an unmistakable sign of a Flesh Eater. Flesh Eaters are long-lived to unaging, and can become Drivers themselves.

Some Flesh Eaters gain incredible power -- in Nia's case, she possesses the power of restoration. It can heal and restore wounds of all sorts and even bring back the recently dead in canon, to the point that she is a direct counter to Malos's incredibly-strong destruction power as an Aegis, and she can also weaponize it to accelerate cellular growth in an opponent to near-immediately fatal levels.

Because of the human cells inside her, Nia is also a Driver, having resonated with Blades during the course of her time alive. She won't have a Blade when she comes to the Far Shore, but my intention would be to eventually regain common Blades. Without one, she has a reasonably proficient level of skill with her most familiar weapons, which are basically sharp discs with handles on them, but no special ability beyond that as a Driver.

As a Blade, Nia's element is Water, and her roles is Healer. Her weapon is a special sword called a 'Catalyst Scimitar'. Nia generally provides significant healing and endurance to her Driver.

Nia can change between her Driver form and her Blade form at will. In her Driver form she appears and acts essentially human except for her Core Crystal, which is embedded in her chest (but almost always hidden beneath clothing). Her Blade form is also very humanlike, save for her ears becoming even larger and her outfit prominently displaying her Core Crystal. She cannot use the abilities of one form while in the other, so she can't equip a Blade in her own Blade form, or summon the Catalyst Scimitar or use her healing power in her Driver form.

Strengths:
-A good heart
-Loyal
-Puts those she cares about above herself
-Resilient
-Commits wholeheartedly if she believes

Weaknesses:
-Comes off harsh and snarky
-Bad at being open about her feelings
-Sometimes violent
-Makes bad decisions when afraid
-Can and does fall for a guy who is blatantly head-over-heels for another girl

God/Shinki: Shinki
Why?: Shinki has enough parallels to Blade existence that I like it, and Nia has interesting potential without memories of why she grew to be the way she did. Also, her Blade transformation versus a shinki vessel form has some interesting potential to explore.
Cause Of Death: Fell in combat with some fearsome supermonster on the new continent.
Vessel: Her Blade form, including manifestation of the Catalyst Scimitar.
Name Location: Her Core Crystal on her chest, basically appearing as if it were written on the inside of its surface.
Power: Driver Bond. Her god would basically gain the same benefit from her shinki form as they would were they actually her Driver. They would automatically be able to use the Catalyst Scimitar competently -- Nia would not have the choice of refusing to hand it over. However, her god would not immediately become proficient in Driver Arts -- they would take practice to develop and master. At least one would provide healing, and all would be charged with the Water element.

In addition, they would only gain a small benefit of the physical enhancement, shielding, and augmentation Nia would ordinarily give to a proper Driver. Only by developing a bond of trust with Nia would she be able to give them the full power a Blade grants to a Driver.


Writing Sample

Sample:

Test drive!
Teeeest drive!

Other

Anything Else?: The ability to resurrect the recently dead would not function in the Far Shore.

With regards to Nia's shinki power, my hope is to explore some of her emotional journey from canon in a new and different form. In canon, she hid her powers until she finally stopped being afraid, and voluntarily allowed Rex to be her Driver. Here in the Far Shore she can possibly will be forced into a Blade's role, providing support for her god, which will be painful for her in its own way -- so my hope is for her, over time, to potentially grow a bond of trust with someone, be it her god or someone else, so that she could and would choose to let them be her Driver. (You can see some of these ideas in the TDM thread with Wrathion, where she adamantly refuses to acknowledge she can assume her Blade form without her shinki name being invoked.)

This application was initially written with the idea that a god who was also her driver would gain additional power from wielding her both as a Blade proper and a shinki, to emphasize that gaining her trust and willing support provides more power than simply naming her and invoking her as a shinki. I very much want it possible for someone who is not a Driver in canon to become a Driver. However, if the additional power is infeasible, it is not something I need for her to function. Similarly, the setting concept of nora could handle the idea of her voluntarily giving power to someone else, so though I would prefer the more canon explanation I can work with that if the mod team has reservations about the whole Driver thing outside of XC2-specific characters.