Application for The Great Space Race

[statictunedintoreason]

PLAYER

HANDLE/PRONOUNS Lox, He/Him
CONTACT You can reach me on loxagn or Loxagn#2076 on Discord.

CHARACTER

NAME Tok
CANON Original Character - Eberron
CANON POINT Mid-campaign
EXTERNAL INFO
A fairly innocuous-looking kobold possessed of rust-colored scales and a manner of speech gained over a young life spent around the mad sort of people who get very serious about things like slide rules and differently-sized wrenches, Tok is usually found wearing heavy, flame-retardant clothing, including reinforced leather gloves and a blacksmith's apron. A pair of smoked-glass goggles are never far from hand, nor is the faintly-glowing metallic apparatus wrapped around her back, a work of brass and steel that gives her silhouette a slightly hunchbacked appearance. Never far from hand, either, is a wide-barreled rifle nearly as long as she is tall, slung with care across her back, easily within reach.

Born in a warren in the Ironroot mountains, Tok from an early age was infatuated with metal. The mountains were famed for their rich veins of iron and copper, and metal, at least, was never in short supply. She found easy employ with the warren's smithies, earning praise for her natural talent and enthusiasm for the job. But she was an imaginative child, one who saw uses for the metal that went beyond the basics of better tools and weaponry, and her head fairly danced with ideas of what she could accomplish, if only she had the knowing.

The knowing came in an unprecedented windfall- the warren's raiders turned up a gift- a House Cannith Forge Manual. Within the pages of that worn and weathered tome were such mechanisms she'd never seen before, and from its pages she learned more than she'd ever been taught by the older smiths. Boilers and pipes to heat the caves in the winter, fans to keep air flowing in the deeper caverns, more efficient forges- her first clockworks, constructs powered by artifice that could perform mundane tasks- and for a time, things were wonderful. She had the respect and adoration of many in the warren, and had matters continued in such a way, she might have stayed- had a conflict with a dwarven mining claim not escalated to the point of blows, and an attempt at undermining that caused a cave-in, a collapse of thousands of tons of stone that barely avoided killing her- but left her maimed, an arm and a leg mangled in the collapse to the point of needing amputation to save her life.

Her capacity to work was hampered, but the warren was not unkind to her. She was not cast out, but so grievously wounded it was difficult to even return to her old position, let alone carry on at the pace she had been. Tok quickly grew infuriated with her lack of independence, and turned to the Forge Manual- and therein found an answer, detailed designs on prosthetics that moved. Her first attempt was sloppy, a glorified clamp- but it was a start. It let her forge again. She could revise the designs as she improved, and return in time to her best, with effort. With conflicts with the warren's dwarven neighbors increasing by the day, she looked for a more peaceful solution, pushed to meet with the dwarves, to offer trade instead of violence, to show them the metalworks she was capable of, how they could surely improve the lives of their neighbors as well, and to the surprise of all... it worked. The second version of her arm and leg, though they were crude and clicked and clacked wherever she moved, attracted the attention of even the most dour dwarven engineers. Her improvements to the warren proper were well-received, and in her excitement when asked where she'd learned such metalwork she showed them the source of her inspiration- the manual that had showed her so much.

It didn't take long, after that, for House Cannith to catch wind of what had happened. Wielding vast political power, the Dragonmarked houses care little for those who would compete with them- and even less for those who steal their knowledge. Cannith offered the dwarves a better deal: retrieve the Manual, destroy any product of it, kill any responsible, and receive better gifts than any imitators could hope to offer.

What had been mere disagreement over land ownership became outright warfare. There was little time to assign blame- she escaped with her life, but only just. The Manual was lost, and with it all the knowledge she might have continued to gain from it. She was furious, of course- at herself for believing, at the dwarves of the mountains for their betrayal- and, later, when she learned the people responsible, Cannith, for their machinations. Unfortunately, with her current level of knowledge and resources, she couldn't do much. She sought out teachers- and she found them, in the end, in Sharn. There she studied, learned the advanced mathematics that could make metal dance and sing, learned the word for what she'd already thought of as 'fiddly smithing'- Artifice.

And, with time, she refined her designs, finding she enjoyed the feel of cool metal moving at her command, more than flesh and bone. The metal parts of her were more durable, easier and faster to fix, faster, stronger- and she began to wonder, at the possibilities. After all, Warforged existed, and nobody worth listening to would argue they weren't every bit as alive as those around them. Ideas began to circulate through her mind, sparks of inspiration that would soon take root in the kindling of her soul and ignite- lighting the fires of the forges of her mind.

It didn't help that around that time, she met a band of oddballs and misfits that had suffered similar injustices, had similar mindsets. Adventurers by trade, but with sights set on changing the world to make it a better place, on revolution-
And then she found a little metal construct that fell from the sky, invited her to search for a star... and how could she refuse such a tantalizing prize? She bade her friends and comrades a temporary farewell, assured them she'd be back, one way or another- but this? This could change everything, skew the odds in their favor like nothing else ever had.

PERSONALITY

SUPERBIA might sometimes operate on logic beyond that of inferior organic minds, but its judgement is never wrong. WHAT MAKES SUPERBIA THINK YOUR CHARACTER IS PRIVATEER MATERIAL?
Tok's technical prowess is not particularly legendary, certainly not in comparison to the technology which now surrounds her- but her fiercely analytical mind more than makes up for being, comparatively, technologically limited, and for such a small kobold she sure dreams big. She'd be absolutely fascinated by the idea of space travel and would gladly put all other projects on hold for a chance to explore THE ONE PLACE THAT HASN'T BEEN CORRUPTED BY CAPITALISM- SPACE.

Fortuna is always described as being capable of granting any wish, but its exact nature is unknown. DEEP DOWN, WHAT DOES YOUR CHARACTER WANT IT TO BE THE MOST?
Tok, coming from where she comes from, imagines that the Lucky Star is really just some sort of draconic magical artifact- objects that grant wishes are hardly absent from myth and legend, after all, unpredictable as they might be-
But, in her heart of hearts, she hopes that Fortuna is something truly fantastic- some impossibly vast and complex creature of living metal capable of working such complex magic.

SUPERBIA only desires to prove the existence of the Lucky Star; its privateers are free to do whatever they want with it. IF YOUR CHARACTER GOT THE TREASURE, WHAT WOULD YOUR CHARACTER DO WITH IT? WHY DO THEY WANT TO FIND IT?
Tok wants a lot of things. She wants a means by which mortal men can abandon the weaknesses and failings of flesh, without forsaking its advantages. She wants widespread social change in Eberron, where species such as kobolds and orcs might achieve fair treatment and greater access to resources. She wants, also, to grant the struggling lower classes- the miners, the smiths, the farmers and artisans- greater societal leverage than they currently wield. She also happens to be convinced that complete mastery over metal and stone could bring this about. To make this happen, Tok needs resources- and, since people tend not to want to relinquish power willingly, she needs a force to keep at her back. If Tok had access to Fortuna, she would create an inexhaustible wellspring of raw materials, easily accessible at a moment's notice.

Treasure-hunting is not for the weak of heart. WHAT IS YOUR CHARACTER WILLING TO RISK, AND WHAT ARE THEY WILLING TO SACRIFICE?
Tok has, amusingly enough, already sacrificed more than a little of herself to approach her ultimate goals- but then, she doesn't ultimately think of that as a sacrifice, being that she's happier the way she is than she was before. For the chance at completing her goal of achieving a living construct, she would gladly risk her life- or the lives of others- for what she views as a greater ultimate good.

POWERS AND ABILITIES

Mechanically speaking in the source campaign, Tok is a mid-level Gunsmoke Mystic. The powers available to that class are wide and quite varied, so I'll limit it to the simplest.
-Capacity to infuse weapons with elemental magic or generate ammunition for ranged weapons
-High degree of skill with the crafting of magical items and especially constructs and magical prosthetics, including clockworks and golems
-Magic items on her person include:
~~'The Bigger Stick', a rifle based on the same principles as the lightning rail, but on a much smaller scale.
~~A pair of goggles enchanted to analyze the composition and function of magical items and exotic materials
~~The Animus Drive, a device that draws upon the physical and spiritual energies produced by living creatures and converts it into usable magical power. The Drive powers the vast majority of her more supernatural capabilities, as well as providing fuel for personal flight up to a maximum of ~40 kilometers per hour.
~~A portable hole containing personal effects, tools, and a few constructs she uses for personal aid and fabrication. Nothing combat-ready, at present.
If any of this is a deal-breaker, I have no problem nerfing pretty much anything other than the construct/item creation, which the character more or less cannot exist without.

SAMPLES

Link to threads which you feel showcase your grasp on the character.
SAMPLE 1. The Computer is Your Friend
SAMPLE 2. Kobold Space Program