Ifani Brandt

Lady Ifani Brandt

Species	Ethnicity
Human	Oromoo Deutsch
Class	Birthplace
Noble, House Stahlmann	Kingdom of Accia
Age	Status
16 Years	Training in the Accian Military Training Program

Division	Role	Weapons	Affiliations
Infantry Division	Close Combatant	Swords Spears Hand-Axes	Kingdom of Accia Ten Houses Stahlmann Accian Military Training Program Unit Z909

Kaithur

Emryl's Skin

With Emryl's Skin, Ifani can generate heat from her skin into extremes and expand this around her. Higher temperatures rapidly eat up energy. She also cannot be harmed by heat, essentially heatproof.

Martor's Skin
(Tungsten Carbide)

Martor's Skin allows Ifani to convert her skin into tungsten carbide, building up layers or expanding this into different shapes. This is costly to her energy so she rarely does so.

Serious, cynical and prickly, Ifani is difficult to approach. She feels very secure in her friendship with Albert Monet, her childhood friend, and while this acts as safety net it also keeps her from branching out. She doesn't trust others easily, having faced much criticism and, before she became stronger, was even bullied. She took to using intimidation and proving her strength to protect both her and Albert. When pressed, she is even known to use her heat magic to burn those who get too close without consent. Yet despite her hesitations and mistakes, she grows to become one of the closest friends of Tia Minx, the main character!

Underneath the tough facade, Ifani is extremely compassionate, straightforward, sharp, protective, warm and honest. She cares deeply for her friends and will stop at nothing for their comfort and wellbeing with zero hesitation. There is no more stahlwart, protective and caring of a friend! But while Ifani is often perceived as an extremely talented and devoted warrior, most see her as a strange young woman and a misfit. In the eyes of her community, Ifani has always struggled with socializing, has had peculiar habits and displays a short but dangerous temper. In truth, Ifani is neurodivergent but, unfortunately, this isn't recognized within contemporary Accian society. She becomes especially annoyed when people believe her skills are just talent or that her only interest is fighting Yet despite all of the obstacles Accian court has thrown in her way, Ifani has excelled and adapted thanks those supporting her and her own unrelenting determination.

Combat Style

Ifani's kaithur allows her to convert her skin into tungsten carbide metal and, after some training, even generate multiple layers as a kind of armor or even spikes. She is also able to generate heat from her skin into extremes, conducting well with the metal, and is immune to damage from high temperatures. Because the kind of metal is tungsten carbide, it can conduct and withstand extremely high temperatures (melting point of 6,152 F) without losing integrity.

It is also resistant to corrosion, has incredible tensile strength, low thermal expansion and has a nickel-white luster. Overall, she can use it defensively but also to easily burn and melt weapons, armor or even people as well as superheating the air around her. However, she does not use this ability recklessly or in extremes when she can help it, preferring to use it more subtly and not waste her energy. She can go on fighting this way for an extended period, out-enduring most opponents.

Besides burning people outright or using this as armor, she will also use the threat of severe burns to control or alter the way opponents move or react and make herself seem invulnerable. By heating the air around her, her armor or allowing the opponent to see the red hot metal, she toys with their reflexive avoidance of heat to throw off movements, move them into her attacks, to perform feints, to create openings or to force them to reprioritize their actions. Paired with her martial skills, she can appear untouchable. Finally, she can also grab or touch enemy weapons or armor and warp or even destroy them with her bare hands. She dislikes touching opponents directly but will resort to this form of burning when backed into a corner. She tries to avoid heating up her own weapons for fear of damaging or warping them.

Appearance

Gender	Height
Cis Female (She/Her)	5'9"

Eyes	Hair	Skin Tone
Russet Brown	Bronze and Dark Brown Braided	Warm Umber

Ifani is lithe and wiry, extremely fit thanks to years of dedicated training. She is taller than most girls her age. Her bronze hair is braided and spills over her shoulders while her clothes are just as tidy.

Background

Ifani's parents noticed her differences early on and, Ifani's mother being a scholar as well, sought out the advice and expertise of Sophia Monet when traditional doctors were of no help. They did this both for Ifani's day to day life and out of fear for her survival when she came of age for military service. Working together with Sophia to construct a plan and structure that would aid her, they worked on developing ways for Ifani to better adapt to the world around her, despite whatever changes, and even thrive. It was this support system, as well as an immense amount of hard work and dedication from Ifani herself, that has allowed her to become as and self-sufficient as she is now.

The same could be said for her fighting skills, honed carefully through intense years of training and a topic of hyper-focus for Ifani. She is very passionate about combat, especially sword techniques. Her father initially trained her in hopes that Accia's value of strength would carve out a place for her but her passion for the topic grew naturally. Her quirks and behaviors are still poorly perceived and understood by Accian society or her peers and she has become quite defensive and prickly in response. After the bullying Ifani and Albert experienced, they are wary of new relationships and nobility. Additionally, while she has many habits and tools at her disposal, she still struggles with the many changes and challenges of coming of age and travelling—especially when her hard work is overlooked.

Ifani's parents are nobility, even if at the lowest rung. Her father was a warrior from Gaarreen Ho'aa in Alkelbulan who earned renown and, eventually, a position through his military service. Her mother is an Accian scholar born from a noble family from the northern valley. It was her father who taught Ifani swordsmanship, which she took great interest in, so that even if she was different, her strength and skill would still be recognized. Her mother worked with her to find routines and habits which would help her adapt to the unpredictable environments she knew Ifani would face when she came of age.

Traits

Ifani is blunt to an extreme, taciturn, prickly, cynical, harsh and her words carry a bite. However, under this armor her warmth, kindness, generosity, concern for allies, honesty, reliability and general big-heartedness is unparalleled. She is a comfort and stalwart ally to those she cares for and there is nothing she wouldn't do for her chosen family. She won't even hesitate in her ferocious protectiveness of them or her unfettered kindness when it's needed.

Accomplishments

Ifani is extremely proud of the skills and abilities she has developed as a warrior. Years of dedication, study and practice of every martial technique she could get her hands on have honed her into an impressive combatant and she is understandably proud of her knowledge and skills. This is why it irks her when people attribute it all to "talent" or don't recognize her capabilities.

Trauma

Ifani has seen her fair share of bullying and maltreatment thanks to her neurodivergence, totally misunderstood during this era. She lacks even a term for it, only knowing that she is different. Despite this, she found a lifelong friend in Albert Monet and they have endured being the oddballs of the capital together. She is still far more uncertain in social spheres than she lets on, struggling to express herself at times and leaning heavily on Albert. He similarly relied on her for support in physical matters, completely hopeless in combat himself. She is still quite slow to branch out socially, so comfortable with Albert as her safety net, and is slow to trust. Much of the tendencies she developed to protect herself now impede her. Tia becomes the first step in her social expansion, both girls unexpectedly being just who the other needs.

Neurodivergent Characteristics

The first trait most people notice about Ifani is her firm avoidance of eye contact. Her eyes are usually downcast or she looks over their shoulder. Ifani never makes eye contact if she can help it, finding it intensely uncomfortable. Most assume this would be to her disadvantage in battle but Ifani has developed a keen understanding of physical movements and predicting how people will move by watching their body's cues. She also isn't afraid to use her kaithur outside of combat, burning people who touch her without permission rather than vocalizing her discomfort. She prefers to enforce personal space and boundaries using her abilities. Finally, Ifani is a very organized person, using her routines and habits as a source of comfort and predictability despite whatever other changes are going on around her. The same could be said for her hygeine, taking meticulous care of her hair, clothing and weapons, becoming irritable when anyone interrupts these activities. When she has sensory overload, Ifani prefers a dark environment and familiar melodies. She greatly enjoys braiding hair, whether this is her own or someone else's.

Stimming

Hand movements
Hand flapping
Tugging on her Hair
Rubbing/Scratching her Arms
Pacing
Humming
Spinning Utensils
Touching Hair

Triggers

Unsolicited Contact
Touching or Moving her Things
Sharing Personal Space
(outside of combat)
Flashing/Bright Lights
Large Crowds
Shared Living Space
Forced Eye Contact
Various Situational Triggers

Comforts

Stimming
Familiar Music
Privacy
Dark Environments
Training/Exercising
Routines
(Hair Care, Whetting Blades, Sorting, etc.)
Counting
Sparring

Overstimulated

Compulsive Stimming
Closing or Covering her Eyes
Quiet or Widrawn
Muttering to Herself
Giving Sudden Insults
Scratching Arms or Neck too Hard
Heating Air with her Kaithur

Meltdown

Yelling
Throwing things
Withdrawing or Eloping
Verbal Aggression
Superheating with Kaithur
Physical Aggression
(only if she can't withdraw)

Friends and Allies

Unit Z909

Organization | Jul 5, 2024

Ifani is the close combatant of unit Z909 alongside both Tia and Albert. While initially reserved with all but Albert, Ifani begins branching out after befriending Tia. She becomes fairly close with Inge Erling and comes to enjoy Arabella Brunner's company as well. She never could have imagined just how far her social horizons would expand after taking that first step and, despite this array of allies, she never forgets Albert or Tia.

Romance

As opposed to her usual staunch confidence and assertive personality, Ifani is very reserved, shy and uncertain when it comes to romance. She had assumed no one would want her, that she would be married off after service the same as her mother. Brynjar Erling has come crashing into her life and dismantling this view, treating her like an utter goddess. She is warming up to him slowly and discovering her own sexuality in the process. Especially as she learns Andrea Stahlmann has a similar infatuation with her, rather than the rivalry she assumed they had. Ifani is slow test her romantic boundaries, especially compared to her closest friends, Tia Minx and Albert Monet, totally oblivious to the admiration her tenacity and dedication has secured.

Hobbies

Despite Ifani's focus on martial skills, she greatly respects scholars like her mother as much as she respects warriors like her father. This is further strengthened by her respect for Albert. Aside from training and her routines, Ifani loves music and singing. Albert is also a musician and he often plays for her, giving her opportunity to sing and express herself. Ifani is notably tone-deaf and is insecure about singing in front of anyone else but Albert encourages her to sing anyways.