Mari Kaula (Southern Mariposa Si'vali: [mah-ree, cau-lah])

Junior Detective Mari Kaula Karino (a.k.a. The Girl From Wallgutter, M'kaula Karino, The Second Zephyr Lily)

A junior detective of the Khandhan Provincial Government 86th Rolandite Frontier Safety Division, Mari Kaula grew up in the border town of Moku'rando under the care of her aunt, renowned ace pilot J'ana Karino. Mari's parents, for a briefly as Mari knew them, were scrap salvagers who traveled the Si'vali Free States in search of recoverable technology from the ancient Avarician Empire.
Self-described as explorers and adventurers, Mari worshipped her parents as her heroes, nothing short of treasure hunters and archaeologists preserving the marvels of the mechanical world live and in person. This perspective is troublesome, as scrap salvagers were in most cases seen as vultures often found in the aftermath of recent battles where the technology is more readily valuable. Mari is not so naïve as to ignore this, but she would argue that as she grew up, the way her perspective of her parents made her feel was far more important than how they might have actually been.
This point of view would not come easily for Mari, as the young Si'vali woman fled from Moku'rando to strike her own in the trade route town of Khandha as soon as she came of age, disconnected from her extended, more pragmatic and practical family.
For her own strengths, Mari is devilishly intelligent, with a sharp eye for patterns and detail that fit her day to day job as detective for the Khandhan regional police. Additionally, owing in part to her parents and aunt's own passions for technology, Mari is not only knowledgably about Avarician tech, but she also can command and repair Rolandite mechanized armor, vehicles, and even weapons. A capable markswoman, Mari is trained in simple hand to hand combat and despite her best intentions to stay out of the line of fire, she can move with a hustle when the time calls for it.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

While Mari is capable of good endurance in times of need, she can be somewhat lazy and as such winds quickly. Additionally, she needs glasses most of the time owing to her myopia.

Body Features

Mari is stocky and strong, with curvy thighs and a round, plump face.

Facial Features

Mari's eyes and face are often obscured by her long bangs, the curly hooks jut inward as if to hide her away in a thick nest of brambles. Underneath those bangs however, Mari has large violet saucers hung over a bed of red freckles speckled across her rounded cheeks.

Identifying Characteristics

Mari's hair, curled and bent in all directions, sticks out and defines most of her silhouette aside from her curves.

Physical quirks

Clear, expressive body language as if Mari wears her words as her clothes. Simple, effortless, and with only as much grace as required to be nice.

Special abilities

Unlike her traveling companions, Mari does not possess special abilities such as magic, but her talents with mechanics and observation help her pick up clues and pieces that others might overlook. As a result, while Felix, Estelle, and Rizeth are more frontline fighters, Mari can act as a strategist, support, or sniper with remarkable accuracy.

Apparel & Accessories

Mari prefers a simple, practical Rolandite outfit, as far from the stuffy and heavy 86th Rolandite Frontier Safety Division uniform as she can get but still sturdy enough that she can work as she needs to.

Specialized Equipment

As part of her traveling gear, Mari carries a thick shoulder pack with a Rolandite first aid kit and basic patching materials for her 1845 Wilbur 4x4 Recon. Aside from that, Mari carries her service revolver in a shoulder holster and lever-action service rifle slung over her shoulder at all times.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

If one were to look at Mari's childhood, they would think that the constant absence of her parents would have left Mari to feel lonely, but when the treasure hunters would drop in for a few months only to promptly leave to uncover the secrets of the past, Mari's Grandma J'ana would be there to see her through the rest of the year after year after year.
Mari idolized her parents, each mechanical trinket and tidbit of history they brought back with them was a glimpse into the larger world, with Mari left free to fill in the blanks of her would-have-been adventure with her vivid imagination that let her prattle for hours, on much to the dismay of her cousins. Mari's cousin Moral though, while also ever the tinkerer and mechanic of his own right, knew that with each month on month on month that went by, the adventurers that Mari loved were at best an exaggeration, and at worst an outright lie. While her parents had, on occasion, hunted a treasure or uncovered a ruin, the handful of stories they brought home were always the exception to the grizzly and shameless day to day reality of a junk scavenger.
As a child Mari tried endlessly to fit in with her year older cousins and the other children in Moku'rando and Far Reach, but to an unfortunate mix of social awkwardness and naïve adoration toward (and subsequent unrelenting defense of) her parents' reputation, she ultimately turned away from the town and spent her time almost solely in the airfield hangars of her grandmother's airfield , her arms stretched deep into engine guts, hands caked in oil and grease.
At 13, Mari spent a year with her parents in Gebelwalt, where she was introduced to a cadre of scavengers and thieves that made up her parents' community. It was during this time that Mari learned the truth about her a scavenger's lifestyle, but also came to cherish the family and unity they shared with each other.
The last time Mari heard from her parents was via telegram on her 17th birthday in 1899. According to the message, they couldn't come back to Moku'rando because renewed activity in the Mariposa Greatwood had the area on lockdown. Along with the telegram, Mari's parents also freighted to her a salvaged 1845 Wilbur 4x4 Recon mechanized trolly, and asked that when Mari came of age to come find them at the Knife's Edge, a world famous pub only serving experienced and legendary adventurers. Over the next year Mari and Moral restored the trolly and despite Moral's objections, and Mari left Moku'rando and traveled to the town of Khandha.
Immediately upon arrival, Mari set out to try and make her way to Khul'zi to seek her fortune, but as the little savings she had soon dried up, Mari found herself looking for work. She was quick to find it, but the detective job Mari found herself in ended up a prison much the same as Moku'rando.

Gender Identity

Mari identifies as female, her assigned gender at birth.

Sexuality

Mari identifies as gay.

Education

Mari was schooled at the Rolandite Annex schoolhouse for Si'vali students, a segregated school system meant to indoctrinate Si'vali youth into Rolandite history and culture. However, Mari also spent a brief time in Gebelwalt with her parents when she was 13, and attended a Gebali school during her stay there. Combined with the wealth of worldly knowledge imparted by her parents and grandmother, Mari is a gifted engineer and historian with a wide assortment of knowledge about world cultures and adventurers.

Employment

Mari is employed as a junior detective for the Khandhan Provincial Government.

Accomplishments & Achievements

Mari is a talented mechanic and aviation engineer, having worked on her grandmother's airfield repairing aerial frames and vehicles for her neighbors.

Failures & Embarrassments

Mari has a troubled perspective regarding her parents, and although she still speaks highly of them she views the truth regarding their occupation to be somewhat shameful. She is also desperate to prove herself, though she can be quick to buckle under pressure.

Mental Trauma

For Mari, a void has always existed in a longing for family and belonging. In the lonely nights after arriving in Khandha, Mari gained a close appreciation for the warm beds and family meals in her aunt's airfield in Moku'rando. While Mari sometimes feels like she squandered her time there selfishly, her real concern is that if she doesn't do something of value with her life, then she might have squandered the rest of her time too.

Intellectual Characteristics

An analytical and perspective mind coupled with a natural curiosity leads Mari to unravel any mystery presented before her. Possessed of a strong will and a stronger back, Mari is the rock that others fall back on, and she lifts them up with little to ask for in return. That said, Mari has at least some of her family's pragmatic lean, and will weigh all the information quickly, but thoroughly, before making any definitive action.

Morality & Philosophy

While Mari is not a stickler for strict adherence to the written law, she does carry a strong sense of fairness, justice and compassion. Mari abhors intolerance, and won't hesitate to get involved to protect someone from being exploited.

Taboos

More than anything, Mari sees the exploitation of children as particularly heinous.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Despite her best intentions, Mari is desperate to live up to her parents' example as explorers and to one day travel the world. Ambition belies ability however, so Mari's worst habits are often the things that hold back her greater motivations. She also may be developing an eye for Rolandite royalty.

Savvies & Ineptitudes

In areas where Mari is confident, she can be exceptionally gifted and as a such her overconfidence can lead one to think she's being somewhat arrogant, but when that confidence wavers even a moment, the whole façade can be at risk of collapse. Mechanics, sharpshooting, driving, and tests of the mind are areas Mari will accept all challengers, everything else she'd rather do anything else.

Likes & Dislikes

Mari enjoys games and puzzles, particularly if she can show off as she plays them. This can sometimes result in her trying to show off, but she also relishes in moments where others get to take the spotlight. It is less to hog the shine, but rather to share it and encourage others to shine as well. However, selfishness and the trampling on the spotlight of others sticks in her side like a sharp thorn.

Virtues & Personality perks

Mari accepts people as they are, and seeks to understand and learn above all else. She's a natural diplomat, and finds charity and curiosity to be of the utmost value.

Vices & Personality flaws

As Mari has worked on behalf of Rolandite interests in Si'val for the greater part of a decade, she is somewhat out of touch with the communities outside the Rolandite routes from Khul'zi to Khandha, Khandha to Moku'rando, and Khandha to Si'veras. Mari's knowledge regarding the Tel'randese Ikko Monks for example is limited to the general knowledge that they exist and that they are generally hostile towards Rolandites, but she is not at all familiar with the background behind their beliefs or their motivations.
Even compared to her cousins, Mari has a notable tendency to sympathize with Rolandites even as they threaten her own community.
She's also a bit of a scaredy cat.

Personality Quirks

Mari speaks openly and plainly, she'll comment out loud, much to the surprise of the people around her.

Hygiene

Mari observes good hygiene and always cleans up after herself, but isn't afraid to be drenched in motor oil up to her fingernails while she's working on something.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Most, if not all, of Mari's remaining family are centered in Moku'rando, however she has extended aunts and uncles in the Si'vali capitol of Si'veras and the distant island nation of Gebelwalt.

Family Ties

Mari's closest ties are to her aunt J'ana Karino and her cousin Moral Karino, as well as a loose connection to her parents and extended family.

Religious Views

Mari has a flimsy belief in Southern Si'vali Polytheism, the set of religious beliefs and doctrines commonly proselytized by traveling Ikko monks.

Social Aptitude

With a little bit of prep Mari can schmooze with anyone, and can be infectiously friendly.

Mannerisms

Mari tends to lean back and let her weight sink her in a lazy slouch.

Hobbies & Pets

Mechanics, firearms, and relic hunting. Her car can also be viewed as something of a pet, as Mari will die to defend it.

Speech

Casual, blunt, almost to a fault.

Wealth & Financial state

Mari pulls a working-class salary of 600 Rolandite banners a month, plus bonuses based on cargo seized and cases closed.

Alignment

Lawful Good

Current Status

On assignment in Khandha

Current Location

Khandha

Currently Boarded Vehicle

1845 Wilbur 4x4 Recon

Species

Southern Si'vali

Conditions

• Myopia

Ethnicity

Mariposa South

Honorary & Occupational Titles

Junior Detective, Khandhan Provincial Police

Age

28

Date of Birth

20th of Aimea, 1882

Circumstances of Birth

Born in Landaarde, Gebelwalt to Si'vali parents

Birthplace

Landaarde

Family

Karino Airfield

Current Residence

Khandha

Pronouns

She/Her

Sex

Female

Gender

Female

Presentation

Feminine

Eyes

Large amber saucers with thick eyelashes and thicker eyebrows.

Hair

Thick, wavy black hair that fans out to the small of her back.

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Blemished and blushed dark brown.

Height

5'4"

Weight

190 lbs

Quotes & Catchphrases

"Don't ding the car!"
"Never discount the value of proper maintenance."
"Maybe if I stay here they won't see me..."

Belief/Deity

Southern Si'vali Polytheism

Aligned Organization

Khandhan Provincial Government

Other Affiliations

• Karino Airfield

Known Languages

Mariposa Si'vali Common (Fluent) Aristinian Common (Proficient) Gebali Common (Fluent)

Character Prototype

Direct references:

• Inspector "Tequila" Yuen Ho-yan (Hard Boiled)
• Lifeline (Apex Legends)
• Shirai Kuroko (A Certain Magical Index)
• Marguerite Fatima (Xenogears)
• Columbo (Columbo)

Indirect references:

• Jill Valentine (Resident Evil)
• Lewis Nixon III (Band of Brothers)
• "Otacon" Hal Emmerich (Metal Gear Solid)
• Rudeus Greyrat (Mushoku Tensei)
• Misato Katsuragi (Evangelion)