One x One Phoenix Rising

[Mordecai]

Name: Arkadi Costellanos


Age: 25


Overview: Nothing is ever a problem to Arkadi. Money would come and today was more important than a hundred tomorrows. Everyone is ‘dude’ to him, everyone was his friend, and judgement wasn’t a thing. He slides effortlessly between social groups and avoids competition in any form. He sees the people around him as equals, but expects them to act like one. He is usually the loudest voice in the room, no matter where he is. His conversations are buoyant and excited and there is something of an unsatisfied Thespian in him. He’s a bit loud and can be obnoxious at times, but whenever a friend was in trouble, he is always right there with both boots on; he’s the type you could forget to call for a month or three and he’d still be happy to talk to you.


It is like he was born without the ability to harbor a grudge, though it’s in there, just reserved for people he expects the most from. He’s loyal, but also a bit gullible and aimless in life. By and large, Arkadi has lost his path in life and spends most of his time just hopeless and metaphorically wandering. He often feels unaccomplished.


Growing up with two lovely parents and a younger sister in a middle-class family, Arkadi always had a love for all things flight. Even as a child, he’d admire the planes that’d pass by overhead and there had been no telling him ‘no’ when he went on telling everyone that, someday, he’d be a world famous pilot. His dreams did come to fruition and by twenty-two, he was flying planes for a living, but when the job didn’t quite pay the bills, Arkadi resorted to dealing in used airplane parts on the side. Realizing there was a lucrative niche in the market, and not being an entirely dumb man; Arkadi eventually gave up his dreams of being a pilot and started working full time as a scrap dealer.


Though he started with plane parts, he inevitably ended up dabbling in anything and everything mechanical. While he was never inclined things like math or science, Arkadi is something of a protégé when it comes to machines. A genius tinkerer, Arkadi fills his afternoons fiddling in his shop and selling his inventions.


He is the type who gets annoyed when a space is too tidy and will always disassemble and reassemble pens when bored. He makes one hell of a peach cobbler, though.

 

[Poe]

Name: Riva Khalsa


Age: 23


Brief Overview: Riva has never thought herself much in the grand scheme of things. She is laid back and sarcastic, often times speaking honestly without much room for coddling. While the world has hardened her a bit, she does what is necessary and is fiercely loyal. Those she holds close, she protects with the same strength and fight that she protects her family with. A bit of a street rat – unable to really settle down and keep her feet on the ground – Riva is quick, observant and strong.


Life in the lower class neighborhood left a little to be desired, but she grew up under her father’s voice who always claimed change would and could come with just a bit of hope and a good attitude. Despite their situation, not once did she hear her father or mother complain about their lot in life. Every meal was well-earned and when they could not afford certain things, everyone would conspire to see it happen. Her neighbors, their friends, were good that way. Everyone just gave because it was the right thing to do and they knew too well how precious human life was. Being alive, staying alive, took a lot of work and if there was one thing Riva was raised with – it was the understanding that she would always work hard because it paid off. Maybe not monetarily, but somehow it would.


She has a younger brother, Jayesh, who is a handful but she loves more fiercely than anyone else in the world. He is only ten, but he has an unbridled mouth on him, often getting himself in trouble when he speaks in public. For that alone, Riva keeps a close eye on him even though she had long since left her parents’ home for her own place – a little shanty apartment in a terrible part of town, but it’s her own and she certainly can hold her own.


While Riva is only twenty-three, she became a scavenger at the age of sixteen. Her father worked a terribly difficult labor job and after an accident took the lower half of his left leg and left the entire left side of his body scarred, Riva took it upon herself to help beyond her mother’s dead-end manufacturing job. While stealing is certainly not the most glamorous way for a pretty girl like Riva to provide for her family, she makes just enough off selling to scrappers and harbors resources to help those in her neighborhood that need it most. It only made sense when she got caught red handed by an underground scavenging ring’s leader, Gabriel, that he saw her talent and pulled her into their little group. Now she focuses her efforts on not only helping her family and those in her neighborhood, but all of the citizens left with high need after water rationing.


Sometimes, though she would never admit it, she dreams of better days. She blames her father for such hopeful thoughts, but she keeps them locked away to help her through the hard nights. At the end of it all, no matter what she does, she will protect and take care of her family and the people who stood and continue to stand by her.