Gemma

gemma

he / him ❄ pan ❄ thief / drifter

belongs to radar

originally a talented tech developer for a small tech company in where-the-frost-shimmers-brightly, gemma now works as a thief after getting framed and fired from his original job. just a small incident that occurred with his work partner, newmaker, which led to the untimely death of gemma's younger brother, thistle. he now wanders pyrrhia, stealing things just for the fun of it, usually leaving the things he steals on random dragons' doorsteps. he pretends the project he worked on with newmaker never happened, completely making up his past in the process.

no matter where he goes, though, he always has a hunch newmaker is following him, that's why he always looks over his shoulder whenever he exits or enters a building.

Gemma
Art By	base by wheatley
Background Information
Creator	radar
Code	code base by changes by radar
Attribute	paranoia / adrenaline / wittiness / hidden talent / rebranding
Element	lichen / snow / glaciers / broken down computers
Color	pale blue / grey / cream / ash black / light green
Animal	snow leopard / weasel
Song
Character Information
Age	37 (hy)
Gender	male
Orientation	panromantic pansexual
Occupation	"thief for fun" / drifter / tech developer (formerly)
Tribe	icewing
Goal	survive
Residence	travels; where-the-frost-shimmers-brightly (formerly)
Relatives	thistle (younger brother, deceased)
Allies	newmaker (formerly) / thistle
Enemies	newmaker / the rich
Likes	stealing / meat / the cold / puppet shows / acting
Dislikes	newmaker / his old job / buzzkills / reading / the rich / ritualistic sacrifices
Powers	normal icewing abilities / amazing tech skills
Weapons	words / tail / fists / blunt objects
Loves	probably someone
Quote	bis vincit, qui se vincit in victoria.

appearance

quite a sight for sore eyes, with light and dark colors coming together to form his color palette. pale ice blue covers most of his body, the first layer of color on top of all of his markings. light creams are seen in blotches, ringed with white, every now and then. these blotches of cream are seen on his tail and on the talons of his left hind and right front foot. though perhaps gemma's most iconic feature is the ash black "mask" around his eyes and head. this color is also seen on his horns, talons, and wing spurs. a greyer version of this color is seen going down his back in a rib cage-like pattern.

a light cream-brown coloration is seen on the icicle-like spines on the back of his neck. there are additional splotches of cream. similarly, this pattern and color is seen going down his back. a charming or witty smile is seen upon his face, along with dashing grass green eyes, though his right eye has been cut out by newmaker as an offering to the ai they created together. a long, slightly crooked slash mark goes across the now closed eye. speckles of whites and creams are seen upon the pattern going down his back. gemma's wings have icy turquoise membranes, with a darker coloration on the edges. in-between the membranes, the wings have a single, crooked ash black line near each tip.

he has a very wiry and short build, though his flexibility can be compared to the likes of a ferret, he never puts this to use. his shoulders can be seen as rather broad, if you're picky. a long, whip-thin tail is tipped with long, needle-like spines. a small, gold earring can be seen in his left ear, shimmering plainly. the icewing's long but softly ended snout gives him a friendlier appearance. his wings are sharply curved, with the wing spurs being long and sharp at the end. gemma's thin and nimble legs, paired with his long body and neck give him the appearance of a weasel.

personality

• charismatic and flighty. doesn't feel like he has much purpose in life now that it's in shambles, so he just steals stuff to pass the time and keep himself distracted.
• laid back and annoyingly casual towards the most professional of people. often pesters them with a lot of questions because he has nothing better to do.
• doesn't have a life, it died years ago.
• superstitious... maybe? it's hard to tell if he's doing it ironically or not. always calls out others if they're doing something that'll give them bad luck.
• gremlin man with a punchable face. doesn't take his job as a thief very seriously. might break into someone's house just to watch tv... that's how serious he takes his work.
• the thing is, he's not even a bad thief, quite the opposite, actually. he's REALLY good at it. could easily become rich from this profession and become a master thief, but he chooses not to.
• really only steals from the rich because the rich suck. grew up in a very classist society, so that's probably where it came from.
• refuses to kill and would rather be captured than murder someone... unless they really deserve it or something... but even then he's hesitant.
• isn't against using violent force to get out of sticky situations, but prefers to use his charisma and only really fights as a form of self-defense.
  • refuses to kill because he can't stand to look at dead bodies due to large amounts of blood / gore making him nauseous or even faint.
  • also believes it would put him on the same level as the person he fears the most, newmaker.
• is a nuisance.
• secretly paranoid, always looks over his shoulder before entering any building. is under some delusion that his old work partner is hunting him down to sacrifice him to the ai they created.
• would rather just not be associated with any of this stuff and just plays dumb instead.
• used to be into the occult a little bit, but is now fully against and, in fact, fears it after what happened to his brother. is particularly against live sacrifices or any kind of sacrifice of the flesh as a means of exchange.
• doesn't associate with gods because he frankly doesn't trust them to not do something completely inhumane to him.

abilities

gemma's skillset is nothing short of unremarkable, with the standard icewing abilities coupled with very few other abilities. a deadly frost breath can be shot from his mouth, though it can only be used in cold temperatures. serrated talons to help cling better to ice when walking across it in addition to cold-resistance. the icewing is very good at stealing things, though there doesn't seem to be much payoff for such an ability, since he uses it to steal things from dragons and then give it back. his persistence in hot weather is certainly impressive for his kind, but nothing mind-blowing.

he isn't particularly good at fighting, preferring to rely more on smooth-talking to get out of tense situations. the icewing hides most of his talent in the presence of others for reasons unknown, but he's very skilled as stealing or lock-picking. he could perhaps even be one of the better thieves in pyrrhia, if he cared to use it to actually steal things. gemma can also fit into tight spaces easily, with only his claustrophobia stopping him from doing so. the other most noteworthy abilities he has are his expansive knowledge of computers and his acting.

while he pretends that he doesn't know anything about computers when that couldn't be further from the truth, it just brings up too many bad memories. his incredible acting skills are used for a fresh start in any given place that he happens to come across. no matter the town, he always comes up with a different archetype to play as, sometimes even changing his appearance if he has wanted posters in certain towns.

history

warning: includes vague mentions / depictions of violence

• lived a fairly normal childhood in a middle-class family residing in the outskirts of where-the-frost-shimmers-brightly. fascinated by technology and was into robotics and ai at a young age. so was thistle, but he was more into the vide game side of technology.
• met newmaker near the end of high school, had a lot of shared interests with them and he soon grew to admire how... effortlessly creative they were. eventually they became his work partner and a very close friend of his.
• got a job, along with newmaker, at a small tech company that had headquarters in where-the-frost-shimmers-brightly. newmaker was much more ambitious than he was, began working an a project together relating to advanced ai learning.
• as time went on, newmaker began to get more and more obsessed with this project, spending almost all their time working on it, with or without gemma. they began to develop a sort of religious devotion towards their creation.
• they seemed to be under the delusion that the ai they created was sentient in some way and it apparently began giving them flattery, encouragement, advice, and even predictions of the future. they began talking to gemma about all the glorious things it was going to bring to this world once it broke "it's digital chains."
• left the project entirely at that point. then the... incident happened. newmaker needed a vessel to which they believed their "god" could break free of its shackles. and thistle was the most convenient one, as he was both naïve and mostly ignorant to how mentally unstable newmaker was.
• that day is forever burned into his mind, coming upon the dead body of his brother as well as newmaker, wearing robes that were stained dark blue with blood.
• they were not surprised to see him, strangely. in fact, they walked over to him quite eagerly. completely oblivious to the expression of pure horror on gemma's face... or the fact that they were coated in the blood of their friend's brother.
• started taking odd jobs, and eventually quit them all to become a thief. though he doesn't make any money from it, since he gives away all his potential profit. only steals things for the thrill, not for the profit.
• sorta just became a drifter, wandering pyrrhia and hoping that he'll never run into his ex-friend ever again, convinced they're coming after him.

relationships

please roleplay beforehand

thistle

"i am screaming at my lungs fullest. i would even argue that the echo that reverberates back to me is that of the voice of someone i know. i beg of you... have you seen my dear brother?"

kind and trusting, thistle always saw the good that no one else could in the world. gemma cared deeply for his younger brother and mourns his death even to this day, though he comes out more as a wistful glance than words. thistle admired gemma and looked up to him as a role model, something he took great care in upholding. while thistle didn't actively participate in the secret project gemma and newmaker worked on together, he did contribute a little bits here and there. the icewing feels as though he's failed thistle by letting newmaker get away with the sin they committed that day.

can't fully comprehend his passing and occasionally falls under the delusion that he's still alive, out there... somewhere. perhaps he uses it as a coping mechanism or perhaps he's just in denial, either interpretation holds some merit behind it. he could fall into the black waters of despair and tear up the world to find his fallen brother, but he keeps himself from the brink with his adrenaline-filled job as a thief.

very positive

newmaker

"they are devoted to a god created from delusion. i was naïve to trust them and for my transgression, they stole my brother's life and my right eye. now they wander this mortal plane in search for another lamb."

the two were very close at one point, though such a tender relationship seems naught but a distant memory now. he admired their ambition, their passion, and their skill, he would even argue them to be a creative genius at one point. newmaker taught him everything he knew and their shared passion for developing technology kept them close. they created their own little universe where they could remain ignorant to the world around them and just exist and share passions and enjoy creating something together.

though such a friendship soon turned cold as newmaker began to spiral downward into obsession and delusion. they were always a very imaginative and creative person, gemma always liked that about them, but they grew tired of the mundane reality they lived in. perhaps that's why they were so transfixed by the occult. their ideas became a siren song, he was drawn in by fascination and curiosity... and he paid the price for coming too close. their friendship ended when newmaker killed his younger brother and took one of gemma's eyes.

hurt, betrayed, and fearful for his life, the icewing fled, leaving everything behind to get as much distance from this... thing as possible. he now plays dumb, longing to forget the scars this dragon gave him and erase that entire part of his life from existence. when someone speaks their name, his care-free façade shatters and he falls deathly silent, eye wide with fear. any questions asked about his relation to newmaker are quickly brushed aside. he prefers to just forget.

very negative

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trivia

• moral alignment is chaotic neutral.
• originally was going to named lichen, but was changed to gemma.
• carries a guitar around with him, but doesn't know how to play it. seems to only carry to look more talented.
• claustrophobic after getting stuck in pipe for 24 hours. his boss had to cut him out of it.
• knows a few phrases in the old tongue. newmaker taught them to him during the time they spent together on the project.

gallery

base by wheatley