Name: Tari Maoria - though only a select few call him by his first name or without deference.
Nickname/Alias: Alpha, Brother, Father, Great One, etc. Also, Mao
Gender: Male
Age: Probably around 43, but appears much younger
Occupation: Alpha-cum-head of the army
Rank: Alpha
Weapon(s) of choice: When forced to use something other than claws and fangs, he is proficent at nearly every weapon, though he prefers a glaive or a pair of wakizashi.
His ceremonial weapons are named and described as follows:
Glaive: Amakaeiri - The blade is made from a sharpened, bloodred claw nearly a third of the length of the weapon. (in other words, it's not really a glaive, but that's the closest thing I can find) Standing straight, it is about a head taller than Tari. Unlike many ceremonial weapons, it is not merely rendered beautiful by the myriad of carvings of jaguars in the blade, but also useful. It has perfect balance and a razor sharp cutting edge. The staff part of the glaive is made of carefully carved and stained wood, thick enough to support the weight of the blade and still comfortable. Fire-hardened, it's nearly as hard to break as the humans' steel. It, too, is carved intricately near the grips. The staff part and the blade are affixed by a binding spell and several different types of bonding agent, including the age-old wrap around. In Tari's hands, it is apparently no heavier than a well-crafted hand-and-a-half sword, but the glaive is extremely heavy.
Wakizashi: Yabaana and Meinaku -A rather shorter version of the well-known katana. Unlike Amakaeiri, the pair are made from a super-hardened steel rather than the demon's claw. Rather plain in comparison, the two are only simply adorned with a few black ribbons and beads. The grips are also simple black cloth. Yabaana is three hands' length, while Meinaku is two hands' length. They are generally kept sheathed, Yabaana on the left and Meinaku on the right.
Pet(s): Does not believe in keeping pets, seeing how close he is to an animal himself.
Eyes:
Shape- wide, slightly slanted.
Color- ice-blue in both forms
Size- proportionally to his face, rather large.
Special notes- He has broken, jagged rings around his eyes that are probably tattoos gained at his coming of age. From the left ring, a smattering of spots and speckles resembling those on a jaguar spread from the outer corner of his eye to his hairline and down his cheek.
Hair:
Length- Long, to the small of his back in human form. In were form, his fur is rather short.
Style- Very long, without bangs. When needed, he will braid it, but he generally doesn't do anything with it other than brush it. Sometimes includes the supposedly native American tendency to add feathers.
Color- Sable. (it's a satin-black) As his were form, it's speckled with dapples.
Skin Tone: Dark-skinned, tanned from the sun of the southern reaches.
Special Note: He has a pattern of black dapples running down his back, though whether they're markings or tribal tattoos is unknown.
Bust Size: N/A
Height: 6'4" in human form. As his were form, he's about waist-height at the shoulder.(about 4 and a half feet?)
Weight: 192 lbs
Build: Rather wiry, but extremely strong. He has no fat whatsoever due to his lifestyle and high metabolism inherent in being a were.
Type of were: Black jaguar/Panther
Description of transformation: Growing up a were, Tari was accustomed to the idea of transformation, and as he first Changed, he had help and support. This helped him gain control over his Changes more quickly than a rouge were, though he rarely bothers to stop himself from Changing. Unlike a werewolf, a were-jaguar does not initially have to Change with the phases of the moon. Rather, their Changes are connected with the seasons, namely summer. During the summer, he may spend weeks without being in his humanoid form as it approaches the Equinox. He also may Change out of any especially strong emotions or at will. Every Change is draining to a certain extent, depending on how recently he has Changed and the emotions behind it. Fortunately, with so much practice and discipline, Tari feels nearly no fatigue at all.
Clothes:
Head - Little other than the occasional feathers or, at times, the ceremonial headress. Each Alpha must create their own headress, and Tari's is made from the skull of a Spirit of Lies from Obsequium that dared venture too close to Veksle while Tari was Alpha. Its bare, iridescent black skull was dissassembled since it had been shattered during the battle and was peiced back together to put the slanted eyesockets over Tari's eyes and the formidable, bloodred fangs curving over the bottom half of his face, with scale-like fragments dripping from the sockets like tears. The two heavy, spiral horns emerge from above Tari's ears. The rest of the headress is a mixture of raven's feathers, skull fragments, and gold filigree.
Upper body - Generally, when not in ceremonial dress, Tari wears a thin cotton sleeveless shirt in the summer, and rather heavy fur jackets in the winter - he's from the South and doesn't care for cold much. In the fall, he also wears a leather jerkin that laces up in the front. When working, Tari goes shirtless. Ceremonially, Tari wears an iridescent black and red breastplate made from the demon. His upper arms are bare, but the shoulder guards(?) are hardened black leather with intricate designs of gold filigree. The lower half of his torso is covered in scale mail made from red and black fragments. This mail extends to abouth a hand's length below his hip. If a warlike appearance isn't in order, he also has long, flowing robes made of some sort of light, black material.
Lower body - Generally, long, loose pants with a drawstring. Ceremonially, Tari has a belt to cinch the mail close to his body made of black leather. There are two loops at the side through which he hangs Yabaana and Meinaku. His legs are covered by the flowing fabric of a samurai's hakama. At the ends of the mail, raven's feathers and red, clawlike ornaments dangle to about mid-thigh. If need be, he can also put on black, leather half chaps to restrict the hakama's movement. They lace up along the side to fit exactly along the lines of his legs and are traced in lines of gold filigree (again... XD).
Feet - Nothing. Ever. They are kind of calloused, though...
Accessories - Whatever the occasion may call for. He has a hoard built up through the ages by other Alphas, but rarely uses much of it. Normally, he wears a golden arm band that wraps around his upper arm with a leaping jaguar moulded into it as a sign of his rank. The jaguar's eyes are two sapphire chips. He also wears feathers of many colors and sizes in his hair as the mood takes him, and a neclace stringed with large black beads and differently-colored fangs and claws.
Personality:
Likes - A bit of a magpie; he likes shiny things. Also, he enjoys the company of cats, and suprisingly, birds. Tari doesn't really enjoy being Alpha, but someone has to do it, so... he's taken it over. Besides, he's always enjoyed a small tussle here and there. He enjoys hunting, summertime, warm sun, and thick jungles. He listens to music with a heavy beat and is exceedingly proud of his army and his people. (By "people," I mean his tribe and the weres he now rules over) He actually enjoys a warm rain, too.
Dislikes - idiots, layabouts, people who trespass on his turf, cold, windy days, and pets. He also hates anyone who tries to spoil the wilderness and demons in particular. Though he will every once in a while join into a pact with his ancient progenitor, Lucifer, he wants nothing to do with Lucifer's minions.
Basic description - Though he seems cold and proud when he's first met, Tari can actually be very compassionate if the need arises; he only keeps himself straight and stiff in concordance with his high position in the Pack. Among his trusted advisors and a few select friends, he has a different demeanor. He has a few odd customs birthed from his southern upbringing that he has yet to fully esponge, but he's been living in the north long enough that he has gotten accustomed to the new society he's part of. He is very wary of strangers, but hasn't yet hit the paranoia that often accompanies great power. Though he is rather small compared to many of the weres that surround him, Tari is known as one of the most ferocious fighters in the were city, and plans to keep it this way. He is brilliant tactically, but at times a bit less than sharp when it comes to cultural lines.
History: At one point, Tari lived with his parents in the Ashwana tribe below the southernmost borders of the cities. (if you go far enough in that direction, there's a desert, a gulf, then a huge rainforest perched atop a penninsula) When he had reached the age of about nine, he was brought up to the were city, Veksle, to be registered and taught independance, as all foreign young weres are wont to do. His mother and (less often) his father would visit infrequently to check up on him as he grew up within the were cities. After his first Change in the summer of his tenth year, he was taken back home to further his training - there are few jaguar-weres within the city walls and his parents thought it best to teach him their own ways. After seven years of training and a number of strange goings-on, Tari was sent back up to Veksle, where he furthered his education and distinguished himself among his peers. the former Alpha, as was his habit, took a number of the young weres in Tari's class under his wing (literally - he was a golden eagle) to train as his elite. At the age of twenty-four, Tari was admitted into the Alpha's special corps and fought his way to the top. Despite the cost of a thousand silvery scars, some spiderweb thin, others wide as half of a hand, and many blunders between, Tari soon stood at the Alpha's left hand. As the old Alpha, called Fiero, grew slowly older and lost his strength, Tari stepped up to defend his master against the infrequent attacks of those wishing to also become Alpha. When Tari was finally allowed a reprieve to return home for a bit to check up on his tribe, Fiero all but forced him to leave. Tari squirmed, but assured by the second-in-command's skills, he left. Of course, as soon as the Cheif's bodyguard was gone, weres came out of the woodworks to challenge the vulnerable old Alpha, but it wasn't until he was challenged by the third, a young, sprightly, overly ambitious female werewolf that he fell. Against the teachings and against all code, the third killed Fiero to take his place. The city as in an absolute uproar when Tari returned. Upon hearing of his master's death by his comerade's hand, the were-jaguar promptly challenged the newly crowned Alpha to a duel. After a reign of merely three days, the werewolf fell under Tari's claws. As custom in the North dictated, he allowed her to go free, though not without a mark of her shame and a banishment to the lands farther north than the cities' reach. After a few months of mourning after his old master and friend, Tari became the Alpha in full at the age of 31.
Past: Born and mostly raised in the jungles of the southland, Tari is as feirce as the wilds he came from. For the most part, the were-jaguars of the south interact very little with their northern were-siblings and are, actually, somewhat sparse in comparison. Though they live mainly solitary lives, the weres of the southern jungle do consider themselves a tribe. Three or four times a year, all of the were-jaguars of the southern penninsula meet to discuss and learn news. In all actuality, there's little contact aside from family interactions. After the children have for the most part grown up, the parents will often go their seperate ways, and these tendencies are evident in Tari, too.
Birth Place: Southern Penninsula
Current Location: Veksle
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Subject: Character Profiles 
Fri May 30, 2008 10:21 am
