Maren Faerluna

"Nobody's done that yet, and I have a good feeling that my magic will be able to bring it into reality!"

- Maren

The eldest child of a mage family and a veritable magic prodigy. So much of a prodigy it pushed her to boredom, just casting the same spells over and over and over. Upon intensifying her studies, she ended up spilling a decent amount of science into her magic, making hand-held items that wrangled physics to cast spells for her. Nowadays she searches about, looking for resources to aid her in whatever idea of the week/month/months she's working on. Her motto: "Magic can do it better!"

Statistics
Proficiency: Arcana, History, Investigation, Perception

Appearance
Perhaps Maren's most immediately noticeable trait are her eyes. Both are a deep, enticing color, prone to circling a room as she examines and compares prospective ideas in spur-of-the-moment bursts. Her skin is a healthy brown color, with her hair growing out wavy and dark. She often keeps it in a bun. Her glasses are half-rim and teal.

Maren takes some aesthetic pride in her own eye color, and prefers to wear close that match or complement it. She isn't particularly loyal to an overtly formal or casual style, rarely giving much thought beyond general notions of color, but one thing that stays the same across her day-to-day outfit is a coolly-shaded bandanna worn around her neck.

On her dominant hand she wears a shiny silver ring with a large strawberry-colored gem centered on it. The ring itself is obviously magic, having geometric runes inscribed into it, likely to help maintain its spells and focus its enchantment. Maren's phone is also often carried on her person, though it looks much closer to a normal smartphone. Appearance-wise, its magical nature is hidden.

Personality
Born with prodigal magic talent, from a young age Maren was taught to think of herself as on a one-way street to arcane supremacy. It wouldn't be at all a stretch to say she carries a bit of pride with her and call her someone who considers progress above much else, though at the same time she's let her outlook on the world be heavily influenced by how she imagines her younger brother, Kelmereed, would approach her work.

Maren values her work and the free will of others above much else, the latter sticking out because it's the foremost thing she reasons Kelmer would have issues with. Both encompass a lot, though. She tries to avoid making deadly or free-will-hurting equipment as a general rule when crafting new items, but sometimes can’t help herself. She's usually okay if whoever hires her uses her gadgets for less-than-moral means, though, as whenever it does happen she takes the high road for herself, and oftentimes only tells Kelmer far after the projects end.

Character Relationships
Kelmereed: Her favorite sibling, one she's always willing to lend a calm ear for him to vent to. She likes Kelmer mostly because she sees in him as something she'd want to see in herself more, but if asked what that is she'd have a hard time putting her finger on it. She knows her favoritism is somewhat one-sided, but is fine with it. She somewhat admires his affinity for spellbrochures and the lengths he went to to learn Soul Perception upon joining the DWMA.

Jake: One of her idols. Looks up to his legacy, prowess, and intellect, as well as his affinity for elements as a parallel to her own sorcerous gifts. Absolutely ecstatic to be working in the same city as him! She wants to talk to him more and perhaps even share ideas... if he'll allow her, of course.

Terra: Considers them a viable source of inspiration, as well as a client of sorts. She crafted an "Anklet of Androgyny" partially from their request, and the way they seem to approach magic with such innocent zeal she finds charming.

Dimitri: He's allowed her to try and work with him on an experiment involving an intriguing magic artifact. She's grateful, but more than that she's excited!

Carden: Knows him only as "Fool" and would only recognize him by his hair and voice. Witnessed the magic he wields via Roulette, and, regardless of how it was cast, was intrigued beyond words by it. She believes that if she's able to figure out how it works she'll have some way to understand and reduce the risk on wild magic and similar magics, decreasing the risk on magical experiments without the need for extra equipment.

Xeno: Fascinated by him as a creature that combines both biology and magic. She really wants to get him in to run some tests sometime.

Xavier: All she knows about him is from a short interaction at a DWMA event and what Kelmer tells her in his letters. She's more intrigued with the magic of demon weapons as a whole than Xavier himself, and thusly hasn't developed a very complex opinion of him. She has no idea about his crush, and Kelmer intends to keep it that way.

Kim: Knows her only as "Chariot" and wouldn't recognize her except by her voice. Thinks she's a bit stuck-up, as she withheld information on Carden's magic. Granted, the grounds on which she did so were fair and valid, so she really can't hold a grudge.
 * Knows these Characters:
 * Algos
 * Anoresha
 * Fionn
 * Louise
 * Sonnielle
 * Tarolina

Innate Abilities

 * Sorcerous Spellcaster: Can do magics just by willing them into existence! Has repressed these in base form, but what's still there is very potent.

Acquired/Learned Abilities

 * Ambitious Artificer: Has combined her natural magery, powerful mind, and raw ambition into feats of discovery, artifice, and magi-technological advancement. Many of which she makes use of on a regular basis!
 * Arcane Smartphone: Maren can cast some spells from her smartphone via self-developed apps.
 * Ring of Illusions: A Maren original, and her go-to tool to tweak when she’s not working on anything else. Has some nifty illusion spells loaded into it.
 * Antimagic Bandana: A modified bandana that protects against inhaled magic when pulled up over her face. Takes a bonus action to ready, and then acts akin to a Necklace of Adaptation (DMG 182) for magical effects of level 4 and lower.

Science and Sorcery
The ring Maren wears is an original invention of her own mind and one she's constantly tweaking and adding new features to. Even without it, she was born with sorcerous talent. While she tries to repress the latter, when it leaks out it has enough potency to bring some of the strongest opponents to their knees.
 * Mirror Image+: Illusory copies appear to confuse opponents, or cast spells the real Maren is too busy to actually walk over and do.
 * Functions similar to the D&D spell of the same name, but the illusory selves can take movement somewhat separately from her.
 * D20: The doubles can be moved as a Bonus Action.
 * The doubles can't move more than 20 feet from her position.
 * On top of that, she can manipulate the doubles to be almost indistinguishable from the real deal, talking as she'd speak herself or otherwise.


 * Phantasmal Protection: Illusory armor appears around her and any doubles she has, potentially giving her opponents trouble landing their attacks.
 * Actually a sort of enchantment that forces threads of magic upon those it fools
 * Doesn't boost Maren's actual defense
 * D20 mechanics:
 * Action to initiate
 * Requires Mirror Image+ to be active
 * Up to 5 targets make an INT save (DC 17)
 * On a failed save, the armor illusion takes root in the target’s mind and attacks against Maren’s doubles are made at a penalty equal to her spellcasting ability (-5)
 * Due to the technological nature of the way this spell is cast, it can affect machines just as well as it can people
 * … albeit the initial save will most likely be made with advantage or get nullified entirely if they have any half-decent anti-hacking protocol
 * Lasts 1 minute


 * Phantasmal Strike: Like Phantasmal protection, but an attack, and with no extra gadgets attached. Victims subjected to it have their minds overwhelmed and perceive Maren to attack them swiftly with a magenta-colored arcane weapon--or whatever fits her desired theme.
 * Can be projected from her illusory doubles, naturally
 * Can be projected from structural illusions made by Maren, provided she's close enough to the target
 * D20 mechanics:
 * Action
 * 5ft range, but can be projected through Mirror Image+
 * Target makes an INT save (DC 17)
 * On a failure, they take 2d10 psychic damage.
 * This is perceived as fitting damage by the target.
 * If the save is successful, the target feels nothing but a slight twitch in their psyche, only taking 1d4 psychic damage. This damage cannot reduce a target to 0 HP.


 * Hypnotic Suggestion: After getting close, Maren whispers words weaved with mind-numbing magical messages to a target that can hear her. Unless they're able to resist the spell, they drop like a sack of potatoes.
 * A trick reserved for enemies and enemies alone
 * ... or just those she feels like she needs to neutralize ASAP
 * D20 mechanics:
 * 10 feet range, one target
 * Rolls 12d10, which is the number of hit points the spell is able to affect
 * If the target has a hit point total equal or less to the number rolled, it becomes charmed by Maren. While charmed, it is incapacitated and has a speed of 0. The effect ends if the target takes damage or if someone uses an action to purposefully shake it out of its stupor.


 * Magic Boost: Maren's reserves of magic are constantly overflowing, and if she feels the need she can direct the excess power to intensify her spells or make them come out effortlessly.
 * D20 mechanics:
 * Literally 5e Metamagic “Heightened Spell” and "Subtle Spell"
 * Maren has 4 maximum sorcery points


 * Heightened Illusions: Maren has invested enough time into perfecting her illusions that she can do so almost effortlessly.
 * Basic illusory techniques, plus a bit more.
 * Parts of her illusions can be uprooted from herself and planted into the minds of others at no extra charge except time and a bit of effort.
 * D20 mechanics:
 * Literally Improved Minor Illusion from RAW
 * Literally Malleable Illusions from RAW (at Wizard 6)
 * As an action while concentrating on an illusory image created by an illusion spell of 1st level or higher, Maren can force a target within 30 feet that she can see to make an INT save (DC 17).
 * If the target succeeds the save, nothing happens.
 * If the target fails, they perceive the illusion as real and rationalize any interactions with it.
 * While they are affected by this, as a bonus action Maren can expend a spell slot to make a portion of the illusion become real and interactable in a way that's logical to the affected target until the illusion ends or is otherwise dispelled.
 * The portion of the illusion that can be affected this way depends on the size of the spell slot
 * 1st: 5' cube
 * 2nd: 10' cube
 * 3rd: 15' cube
 * And so on.
 * Any real portion of the illusion cannot cause direct damage, and the illusion cannot cause direct damage by itself to an affected target.

Skills

 * Arcane Smartphone Apps: Via a handful of self-developed apps, Maren can use her cellphone to effectively cast the spells "Detect Magic" and "Identify" on objects she takes pictures of. Of course, various forms of pseudo-magic and enchantments meant to mislead can bypass detection from these apps.
 * Other known spells the phone can cast include Message+ (Message but with a greater word limit) and similar spells.
 * These magic apps drain battery like nobody's business.
 * Remixed Caster: Maren may have experience in sorcery, but any part of that she consciously uses has been twisted to bolster and supplement Wizard. This allows her effortless somatics, easily manipulated spells, and a deeper reserve of magic otherwise rare for most mages.
 * Knows a large number of magical techniques good for both personal use as well as combat, if necessary
 * Notable spells (d20)
 * Minor Illusion
 * Mage Hand
 * Silent Image
 * Darkvision
 * Invisibility
 * See Invisibility
 * Phantasmal Force
 * Misty Step
 * Hypnotic Pattern
 * Counterspell
 * Greater Invisibility
 * Phantasmal Killer

Weaknesses

 * Short Fuse: Maren is honestly used to her magic working, but when it repeatedly doesn't work she can get over it easy. If she gets over something and looks back on it she can laugh it off, too. However, when it doesn't work, continues not to work, and people make snide remarks on it amidst the process, she can blow up surprisingly fast. At best this gets her back in the zone once she calms down. At worst this causes her to throw social situations or give her trouble focusing enough to use her more complex magics.
 * Too Much Magic: Magic isn't exactly a choice for Maren. It might have been at one point, but as she's taken so much to the craft her innate magic has only intensified. If she doesn't wring her magic out with her via extreme casting, infusing it into artificery, or other methods, it spills out at inopportune moments. This is almost never good for her, and she can never feel truly at ease until she's met her magic "quota" for the day.
 * Farsighted: ... but she has glasses. And if she loses the glasses she can cast illusions and make temporary magic glasses. Even if she somehow gets the short end on both of those, she's not that farsighted. Still, might be worth mentioning if she has to read fine print after getting shaken out of bed at 4 AM.

Key Items

 * Ring of Illusions: An artificed ring created by Maren. Can draw upon the magic energy of its bearer, allowing them to cast lengthened illusory spells while devoting their mental energy towards others.
 * Maintained regularly
 * Updated infrequently

Other Equipment

 * Shirt:
 * Usually long-sleeved, usually compliments her eyes


 * Pants:
 * Whatever's comfy


 * Glasses
 * Teal


 * Antimagic Bandana
 * You know what this does

Inventory

 * Arcane Smartphone: A smartphone with some magic programmed in, real useful.
 * Arcane Wallet: Enchanted against pickpockets, just for fun.
 * Upon being removed from her person without her consent, afflicts the perpetrator with one of a slew of magical conditions...
 * Too many to list here
 * Saves are all DC 17
 * Technically also usable as a weapon if you think about it

History
When Maren was young, her innate magic was largely destructive and volatile, spilling out at inopportune moments, leading to embarrassment and fear towards her gift. Instead of abandoning magic, though, she was lead to find some way to control it. The tactics she eventually learned to lean on essentially bound and refocused her sorcerous blood into more precisely-controlled arcane feats. While they did not solve the problem entirely, they suppressed and diverted it into a form that some might say is actually beneficial.

She spent nearly every day of her childhood learning and perfecting spells, and when that became too easy she delved into creating artifice to cast spells for her. It was a simple time, albeit one bursting with talent and ambition. Her parents wanted her to be the mage that would bring fame to the family's name, and gave her every resource they could find to make that happen, also telling her how much greatness she would achieve. Naturally, their encouragement got in her head a bit, which is likely where most of Maren's overconfident tendencies come from.

And then Kelmer came along. Seeing the potential Maren was turning out to have, their parents deiced to try their hand at another "success." While they didn't hit what they were looking for, Kelmer was intelligent enough in his own right. As he grew, he became distant from his parents, moving more towards his older sister, no matter how often she was too busy to give him attention. Over time this grew on Maren, and she came to admire something about his outlook, helping bend her pride away from a path of sheer hubris.

... but you can read more on that above. More recently she's graduated from Linestrate University, a prestigious school, and has begun work as a freelance artificer. When she's not working on and/or searching for work on a new invention, she's in her backyard shooting magic into the sky to make sure she doesn't accidentally cast grease on herself. Or something.

Trivia

 * One time she turned into a potted plant due to one of her untamed magic surges. She was trying to go vegan prior to it, but the experience "kind of ruined it" for her.