Kali

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Born a single child her young parents, Kali was placed under a massive weight from an early age. Her father had spent years immersing himself in military and political history, in Hindu culture and their ancestral lineage, and at some point in the process had become dangerously obsessed. Pushing Kali from a young age to excel in all things, all the while telling her that the moment a son arrived that she would be replaced unless she was truly brilliant, he drove her physically and academically while destroying her emotionally.
Kali responded to this pressure directly, working to please her father who was utterly fixated on an unattainable level of perfection, striving until her young muscles screamed and her mind was consumed by a dozen subjects. Protests from her mother were met with psychological cruelty and later violence. Kali survived in this increasingly brutal pressure cooker for twelve years, enduring beatings and her mothers beatings while growing distant and alone as her father never let her socialize normally. The only time she would meet other people was at school, or at the various ship duties her father would force her to volunteer for.
By the time Kali was eighteen she was a truly brilliant but detached and lonely figure. Three days after her birthday she led on her bed, a final report card with perfect grades in her hand, she heard her father screaming. And then her mother screaming. It was over something trivial, a dropped item that wasn’t even broken, but still the sound of violence rose. Something in in Kali snapped that night, as hellfire crept in from the shadows of her bedroom and the walls dropped away. Her mothers screams joined a chorus as Kali’s feet left the bed and walked slowly over black sand, the delicate perfume of sin turning to ash dancing on an alien breeze, tormented figures dancing in the flames that surrounded her. She walked for what felt like an eternity, her Soul scoured by a thousand visions of hell as twisted figures and shadows of people she knew whispered her failures in her ears. Every time she failed her father, every time she fell short of her own expectations...every time she saw her mother hurt and never stepped in or helped her after. Her sins laid over her soul, every time she lost, every lapse of judgement and every moment of weakness hammered into her very being became her road through the fire and to a forbidding door. Reaching out to grasp the twisted brass handle, she opened it and stepped through.
Her first memories of being “back in the real world” were of Security bursting through the door, of a knife in her hand, and the gentle sobs of her mother in the background as she stared down at the bloodied and broken form of her father. She became slowly aware of the warm, tacky feeling of blood on her arms, face and chest as she was quickly and forcefully taken down, the knife removed from her unresisting fingers. She could feel annoyance growing, and she reached out to this new understanding of the world that existed deep within, reality responding to her will as she grasped at the very minds of those holding her down. It was so easy, as she made the officers believe they had made a mistake and were holding down one of their own. As they released her and she stood up, flush from her first use of true magick, she saw her power unravel before her eyes. The officers shook their heads and come for her again, and as her consciousness faded she heard a voice say “Be gentle with her...she’s one of us, now.”. What followed was two years of assessment and therapy, as the ARK’s finest examined her, mind, body and soul for taint, madness and truth. They found her to be remarkably sound of form, her soul unsullied and her mind cold, emotionally distant but free of psychosis. After long months of treatment, she was deemed safe enough to be allowed back into society.
As a Mage she was taught all she needed to know about what she was, how her Magick worked, and most importantly, how she was to not use it. Being hamstrung so very shortly after discovering her true self frustrated her, and she spent some time chafing against new shackles that had replaced her old ones before she discovered the concept of the Adamantine Arrow. Delving into what Awakened Lore was made available to her she devoured it all to determine that the Adamantine Path was the one she would walk. She had been brutally trained all her life, and then scoured by Pandemonium itself. There had to be a reason, and if there was not she would forge one herself by her own will.
After taking up the Oaths of the Adamantine Arrow, witnessed by Lex and steeling herself for the difficult life ahead, she felt free. She had always been driven to excellence, but now she strove for it, her own choices determining how she served those about her. Becoming a member of the Security team seemed only a natural next step for the young Arrow, and those directly in charge of her recognised a natural genius that, due to her less than stellar upbringing, had severely stunted social skills. Forcing herself to follow her commanders “suggestions”, she gritted her teeth and put on her best, unknowingly cold smile and went day by day, learning how to person as best as she can.
Toward the last months aboard the ARK, as the cold, calculating warrior now known as Kali slowly blossomed into the woman she should have been all along, she began to chafe against her prison in the void again. As her self grew, and she could feel the current limits of her understanding, her powers, and where they could be, the desire to start going beyond was already gnawing at her considerable patience. She enacted her duties with increasing precision, and bided her time, but her driving need to excel was at direct odds to the needs of the ARK.

Sexuality

Kali's appears to be homosexual and demisexual, after previously presenting as fully asexual. Her meeting with and starting a relationship with Ren Zhao, however, seems to have proven that incorrect, with her devotion to her partner prompting some to label her "Ren-sexual".

Education

Kali's preteen years were spent in her fathers "private tuition", training in close combat arts, tactics, strategy, game theory, and more, alongside more traditional subjects such as mathamatics, language and history. Sometime in her early teens her father was forced by ARK reforms to have her join the ARK school system, and was able to gain more of a general education, for which she was massively over-educated already.
Since her Awakening Kali has delved into the esotoric arts of the Supernal in general, and the focused training of the Adamantine Arrow in specific, immersing herself in the learning of the Awakened world.

Employment

Kali joined the Security forces of the ARK at the age of 21, and within a year had risen to a surprisingly high rank, in part due to her natural skill and intelligence, and in part due to the advantages of her Awakened nature. She served an investigating officer, but was also often called upon for subduing particularly violent or dangerous suspects and criminals, and by all accounts served with distinction.
After the ARK chairmans assassination and the subsequent coup Kali was relieved of duty, and after assessing the situation approached Oz, the mysterious and charming propriator of the Ozone to propose that he employ her as his business manager.
Oz agreed to do so, putting her in charge of his various ventures and businesses, principle of which was the Ozone itself, and she ran the business with a firm but fair attitude until the final days before the drop to Earth.
Kali is now employed part time as part of the Bankers Guild, and is a Squire of the Skysworn.

Mental Trauma

Kali has endured a great deal from an incredibly early age, surviving nineteen long years of emotional and physical abuse and neglect, while simultaneously being isolated from any other relationships and being pushed to her physical and mental limits. This left her incredibly insular and emotionally distant, unable to easily form any connection with those around her, only deepening her sense of loneliness. 
Her Awakening was also exceptionally harrowing, being drawn to the realm of Pandemonium. Her Soul was forced to walk through Hell itself, every percieved failure and weakness endless thrown in her face, she was Scourged of her apparent "sins" and came out stronger for the experience, but not unscarred.
During the ongoing rebellion aboard the ARK and the spacing of an entire floor, Kali was Scrying the situation when those trapped in the closed of sections were exposed to open vacuum. Kali was only able to watch as hundreds of men, women and children died agonising deaths, unable to do so much as look away.

Intellectual Characteristics

Kali is a cold, distant genius, valuing logic over emotion and deliberate action over instinct. Kali appreciates knowledge both as a weapon and for its own sake, and will always choose to gather information where possible rather than reacting blindly, utilising the intelligence like a scalpel to approach any given situation with precision and purpose. 
She will often re-evaluate her own methods of thinking based on new information, placing little value on staying rigid in the face of changing circumstance, and will spend a great deal of time attempting to understand something if she doesn't immediately do so. Due to her lack of social exposure and emotional openness, she often has most difficulty navigating the nuances of societal interaction, including those few close friendships she has, though not for lack of effort on her part.

Taboos

Kali has been noted for having an incredibly devout and robust set of morals and ethics, especially as a Mastigos, and believes firmly in the concepts of consent and free will. She is incredibly wary of using her formidible talent with the Mind Arcana on others without their express permission, and the use of her abilities to control or even influence another is strictly self-prohibited unless given leave by the recipient, or if the target is actively hostile.

Species

Mage

Age

22

Date of Birth

9th of January

Birthplace

The ARK

Sex

Female

Eyes

Dark Brown

Hair

Long, Sleek, Raven Black

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Caramel brown, no noticeable blemishes

Height

5' 11"

Weight

190lbs/86kg

Belief/Deity

The Adamant Way