Appearance

Physical Description

Maru is quite tall in comparison to others her age and gender, standing at 5'11". Overall she is almost excessively skinny, some going as far to wonder if she is somehow malnourished, giving herself the aura of an alley cat.

Body Features

She has a long scar on her back, along her spine. Despite being a frequent traveler outside of the generally colder Solvesian climate she has remained quite pale, almost ghostly. On her left shoulder blade is a tattoo of the Nonya family's crest, as well as a fox's face in blue ink.

Facial Features

Most first time clients tend to point out Maru's eyes as one of her most defining features. Ice blue, they seem to have lost the light of life in them long ago, and as such many tend to misjudge her as inherently shady or distrustful from their discomfort. She often has dark bags that she covers with makeup. There is a beauty mark just under her right eye.

Identifying Characteristics

Maru has a few tattoos and scars that she covers with her kimono, in difficult areas to cover up otherwise. She tends to appear more lifeless than those around her.

Physical quirks

When unobserved by people she walks with a slight hunch, owing to her long hours of leaning over a workbench or carrying a merchant's heavy backpack. Many have noted that she walks too quietly, surprising people she doesn't mean to sneak up on.

Apparel & Accessories

Her kimono is tailor fit to have as many secret pockets possible, alongside personal enhancements such as zippers and even tiny holes to 'lock' them. She wears a small pair of spectacles or goggles when working with documents or her artificer projects. During quests she dons her custom Infiltrator model Arcane Armor and Goggles of Night. Generally she wears the armor underneath her kimono when traveling, adjusting the various components in a way that doesn't change her silhouette.

Specialized Equipment

She is specialized in the crafts of an artificer and the tools of a thief, deftly being able to work with a screwdriver and hammer as well as she can a lock pick. Additionally she has a working knowledge of other artisans tools such as an alchemists set. Maru can wield most common weapons, armor, and even firearms.

Special abilities

Maru is able to speak with the dead, a gift she has had from birth. As such, she has an uncanny instinct to detecting places of great tragedy or people who have had tragedy happen to them.

Mentality

Personal history

Maru was born to a peasant mother and a samurai father, their names long abandoned by Maru herself. When Maru was only five years old, her father perished in a skirmish for his honor working under a local lord of the duchy.
 
Following her father's demise, her mother was quickly unable to repay debts and when speaking with a visiting merchant offered to sell her only daughter for food and money. The merchant, a Nonya, accepted the deal and brought Maru back to his clan to be raised within the family. The merchant's mother, Lady Nozomi, accepted Maru into the clan as many of her other step-siblings had similar backgrounds; many orphans who were offered a new chance at life.
 
Thus began her training as a merchant, specializing in the crafts of an artificer, and her rise in reputation.

Education

Under the Nonya family Maru was taught to read, write, and especially be able to do complicated sets of math in order to properly form contracts and budgets. Starting at the age of 12, like her other step-siblings, she was encouraged to learn a specialization in any of the many schools. She would eventually settle on being an artificer and while learning from a tutor for a few months she has mostly remained self-taught.

Employment

She is a merchant under the Nonya clan, having a legal license with her duchy's guild of commerce to transport and obtain a variety of different goods across the Solveisian border.
 
During her adolescence she was taught to be a book keeper for her elder siblings, assisting them in organizing their contracts and keeping accurate accounts of available supplies and stock.

Accomplishments & Achievements

Compared to certain members of her family she has kept her ties with the criminal underworld under wraps creating a double sided reputation for being a trustworthy merchant for both criminals and do-gooders alike.
 
She has made a number of weapons deals in her family's name, providing even the Leviathan with stocks of armor and weapons among other things.

Failures & Embarrassments

Her social life has remained quite stagnant despite her travels and many clients, her step siblings making sly remarks about how she has a million gold pieces for every friend she has (generally having none she can account for at one time.)
 
During a test run following an experiment with her arcane armor several of her armor's fail safes were mistakenly disabled leading to a surge of power. The experiment was an attempt in making the armor's power source sleeker as well as protecting it from damage in combat by spreading the circuits along points on her back. The power source however was accidentally overloaded, causing her back to be burned and leaving a scar leading up and down her entire spine.

Mental Trauma

Growing up as a child she had to learn to keep her ability to listen to the dead a secret, especially encouraged by her original parents. Still, hiding it has lead her to being desensitized to death and tragedy as she often had to ignore the cries of the wailing dead in order to move on with her life.
 
Her father's reckless pursuit of honor and his oath to a lord getting him killed despite having a family to care for has lead Maru to become disillusioned with the idea of loyalty to a cause, aside from family. She tends to have a mistrust to classes that have a cultural perception of selflessness and lack of ulterior motives, such as Paladins and Clerics.

Intellectual Characteristics

Maru has a strong sense of integrity towards deals, especially ones with similarly well-known figures of society. Still, she can be dishonest with the quality of certain items especially when recognizing that she has the high ground in arrangements. Still, if a customer manages to realize they've been outplayed then she is willing to negotiate and even compensate them for misdoings.

Morality & Philosophy

Maru has a strong sense of fair trade and is willing to bargain with even the worst of society as long as they uphold their portion of the deal.
 
She has a mildly hypocritical dislike of dishonest people, especially mistrustful of other lords and ladies as she isn't willing to be used as a political tool.

person.sexuality

Maru is bisexual with a preference for women.

person.gender_identity

Maru considers herself female with she/her pronouns, but has had thoughts of experimenting with they/them.

Taboos

Due to her travels and experiences she tends to have little in way of taboos, sometimes even excusing murder if she can understand the reasoning for it.

Known Languages

Maru knows common, as most do. She learned dwarvish as part of her education and picked up elvish in order to better communicate with her clients in the elven areas of the Redd Isles. She is able to 'read' thieves' cant.

Personality

Motivation

Her goals are most of the time financially motivated as she tries to leave emotions out of professional matters. All she wants is to be recognized for her talents and bring more prestige to the Nonya name.

Quotes & Catchphrases

'Hoiya~! Nonya Maru here~"
 
"Shall we make a deal?"
 
"Elina Brightworth is a bitch ass motherfu-"

Savvies & Ineptitudes

She's quite a good cook, able to make food for herself quite easily and regularly. The problem only arises when cooking for other people as she tends to over or under estimate usage of things such as spices to try and fit a person's palate.
 
While being able to manipulate tools and sneak quite well her flexibility and dexterity is nothing to write home about, being rather clumsy when not working or on quest.
 
Outside of being a professional and charismatic salesman she is otherwise incredibly socially inept especially in a more casual setting.

Likes & Dislikes

Maru has a personal preference for the color blue and oversized clothing. Not picky about food, she tends to avoid luxuries in order to maximize her profits. She has a particular fondness for the lyre, and enjoys wine.
 
Despite being a bit on the loner side socially she actually prefers the loudness of places and people as quieter places force her to pay attention to the voices of the dead.
 
To her, there is nothing worse than leaving past agreements unfulfilled.

Virtues & Personality perks

She is fiercely loyal to her family and can be trusted fulfill a deal once made.

Vices & Personality flaws

She can be blunt, insensitive, and very protective of her personal life. This sometimes lead to awkward situations if someone attempts to learn more about her through conversation as she has no hesitation in forming an emotional wall with people. Due to her desensitized nature from being able to speak to the dead she can be rather rude when addressing the deceased.

Personality Quirks

Sometimes in order to drown out the voices of others she talks to herself to focus her mind. While mostly being confident in her perception she often double checks her pockets and inventory to assure she hasn't been stolen from, a habit from dealing with criminals.

Hygiene

Maru is meticulous in keeping clean as clean equipment ensures no malfunction during critical points in time. Plus, she has to keep up appearances so even in battle she carries a piece of cloth specifically for cleaning off blood (if she uses her blade at all, sometimes evisceration of the enemy results in less mess.)

Social

Birthplace

Solveis

Current Residence

The Nonya Estate, though currently traveling.

Contacts & Relations

Among her most important contacts first and foremost are her step-siblings, some of whom she is closer to than others. Her mother, Nozomi, keeps in touch with her through letters when she has the time but Maru avoids sending many back in fear of inconveniencing her.
 
Growing up as childhood friends, she once considered Elina Brightworth her closest confidant. Though that was the past, and from a falling out she remains quite rude to the tiefling, hiding any... lingering feelings. Still, when the opportunity is available she will contact her if the message were important.
 
She has several trusted clients and contacts, one of them being the Captain of the Leviathan himself, Kestus.

Honorary & Occupational Titles

Known mostly as Ms. Nonya Maru, or Lady Nonya.
 
As part of a family tradition she was given the moniker of 'Azure Fox', her mother and elder siblings sometimes referring to her as 'pup'.

Wealth & Financial state

Maru is well off, having both her personal funds as a merchant and the collective wealth of the Nonya family. By tradition she is required to send a portion of all sales to be added to the family's treasury in support of the matriarch, usually every three months or so.

Family Ties

Within the Nonya family all children pledge loyalty to the matriarch, Lady Nozomi. One tier down are the two natural born children to the matriarch, Honoka, and Hajime.
 
All the adopted children follow, their importance varying by age and experience though their titles are generally non-competitive as they are all encouraged to diversify their careers and skills early in life.
 
Maru has a fairly close relationship with most of her family, writing to and responding to correspondence when required of her. She is especially close to her brother Atlas, a similarly adopted child, he was the merchant to which her original mother had sold her to. Atlas was the one to recommend to Lady Nozomi to adopt the young Maru. She remains protective of him as in her eyes, if it weren't for him she would not have been able to join the family.

Religious Views

She has no particular spiritual or religious loyalty to a particular god, obviously she is aware there is an afterlife as the dead who speak to her do not shut up about returning or passing onto it.

Social Aptitude

Maru is experienced with formal events and parties, and is able to hold her own in conversation as long as it remains professional. Her social ineptness only shows when in casual settings where it is more likely a personal question will be asked of her.

Mannerisms

Maru is sneaky, even when genuinely not meaning to be. Unless in a place where noticing those in the room is an important skill to have she is often unseen unless meaning to be seen. Other than that, she is usually well versed and polite though can be eccentric when performing her artificer work.

Hobbies & Pets

She has a bird that is cared for on the Nonya estate named Efrideet.
 
When free time is available she is usually sketching up new designs for an invention or some other project or experiment.

Speech

Maru tries to have a very clear and concise way of speaking in order to be understood though may purposefully become confusing in order to oversell a product.