Approved Cricket

[Cricket]

Essie 'Cricket' Newhaven
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Age	14
Species	Crested Gecko
Pronouns	She/Her
Size (Extra Small, Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large)	Small (Avg. 4'8")
Build	Skinny/Underfed
Rank	Urchin

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
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Small and scrawny, Cricket is little to look at by average standards for her species. She wears whatever ratty clothing she can scrounge, often in varying states of disrepair, bundling up more in the winter when she can. Her large, crest-adorned eyes are an unblinking silver grey. Often she will lick them to keep them moist, and, yes, she has had many comments regarding this.

Her bizarre little hands offer the ability to scale most surfaces within the city. Alongside her dexterous semi-prehensile tail she can navigate almost anywhere with ease (though her jumping leaves much to be desired and she often misses).

Cricket's scale colouration is what we in the modern world would loosely define as "tri-colour harlequin", mottled reddish patched with darker brown on the arms, with more solid dark patches on the toes and flanks.Her belly and crest, running down in a stripe either side of her spine, are a paler cream with a few mottled patches of this also extending on her limbs and tail.The last third of her tail breaks the patterning as a block of pale cream.

When she is asleep or calm the colouration mellows to paler shades; if she gets angry, excited, emotional or especially warm she will "fire up" and the intensity of the colours will increase to far richer shades.

PERSONALITY:
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As with many street urchins in tales, Cricket is possessed of cheeky charisma. She's talkative, quick-witted and generally gregarious, though seems to appear and disappear seemingly at will and is an expert in the quick exit. She leaves before anybeast else can, even with social gatherings, and is rarely given to goodbyes.

Fiercely independent even to her own detriment, Cricket sees herself as a lone wolf at heart - even if all she desires is companionship. She's drawn to the older crowd as though they are her peers but can rarely truly hold her own amongst them. A lifetime on the streets as an uncommon species has given her a thick skin to insults or kicks from paws, and she has learned to be as swift with her movements as as tongue.

Scamming, pickpocketing or taking money to gather information are how she makes ends meet: she calls herself morally flexible and boasts that she doesn't care. In truth she seethes with resentment for the upper classes who exploit those less fortunate and dislikes seeing others in pain and misery. Still, she's only one child, what can she do?

STRENGTHS:
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Cricket is a fast-talker. She's possessed of a natural wit, if not any academic smarts, and can often endear herself to those who find her commentary amusing. This gets her out of almost as many scrapes as she gets herself into, and paired with her uncanny ability to pop up uninvited in so many places means she generally has a good ear to the ground on the goings-on in the Harbour and Slups areas.

Her ability to climb and fearlessness (or stupidity) when it comes to heights or danger, paired with her tail, means there's little she can't climb or get around. Provided windows aren't locked too well she could get into or out of most places without being seen. This has been her main source of escape and evasion over the years.

If you do manage to garner her trust Cricket will be fiercely loyal and keen to impress.

WEAKNESSES:
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For being a fast talker she doesn't possess the experience of age to know when to stop, or who to be cautious around: her wit is still that of a teenager. She can land herself in trouble with the wrong beasts and with no formal training can only defend herself in panic. She was never taught to read or write and had a general distaste for academia, alongside a healthy derision of the city's wealthiest.

Cricket doesn't trust, particularly grown-ups. Though she manages as a street urchin it's clear that she would do better if she had some support or training, if only she would believe anyone capable of sticking around.

Her climbing abilities are often hampered by a struggle with depth perception; jumping often goes awry and Cricket can be seen splatting against walls or the floor as often as not. Luckily she seems to be made of rubber and so far manages to get away with mostly being dazed.

Winters are notoriously difficult for reptiles, and for the gecko it is no different: the streets of Bully Harbour have almost killed her several times over.

BIOGRAPHY:
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Nobeast really knows where the little gecko came from: her egg, seemingly abandoned, hatched aboard the ship the Newhaven when it was partway through a circuitous route to the Imperium. The crew took a shine to raising the baby on that long voyage, naming her Essie - a name swiftly discarded in favour for her nickname when they discovered her favoured diet on one stop.

On reaching Bully Harbour, however, the crew swiftly realised that she would need raising on a more permanent level. No individual was willing to do this, and so when they docked they handed her over to the nearest orphanage, using the name of the ship as her surname. This done, the crew departed and has not been seen since, rumoured sunk or commandeered by pirates.

Cricket claims that she couldn't care less. The orphanage was, as expected, less than stellar for a foundling and as soon as she deemed herself old enough the little gecko disappeared for a life on the streets. This is where she has been ever since, making coin by whatever means she can to sustain herself. She doesn't know what she wants to do with her life yet, but she feels she's destined for grander things than struggle.

POSSESSIONS/REAL ESTATE:
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Whatever she can get her paws on. Nothing lasts when Cricket gets it: small amounts of money are spent, clothing gets torn and tools get lost.
Currently she's in possession of a loose dusty shirt, tattered slacks and some old mooring rope salvaged from the docks and taken apart to serve as a belt and another corded like a necklace to which she attaches the odd important item or pretty rock. For self-defense she has a small knife, getting loose where it meets the handle.
Most recently she has come into possession of a sturdier fixed-blade knife gifted by Finnian Brightfur, and a heavy cloak from Eskila Ikamaye, shorn to her smaller height and clumsily hemmed with contrasting thread.

SKILLS:​

Physical	Mental	Social
Acrobatics (Climbing) [Proficient] (2)	Sleight of Paw [Proficient] (2)	Charisma [Proficient] (2)
Knife Use [Trained] (1)	Deal-making [Trained] (1)	Frustrating Adults [Trained] (1)
Hardiness [Trained] (1)	Sewing [Novice] (0)	Singing [Novice] (0)
Skill [Rank] (Points)	Skill [Rank] (Points)	Stargazing [Novice] (0)
Total Points in Category: 4	Total Points in Category: 3	Total Points in Category: 3

 

[Dusk Rainblade]

Approved!