Amanda Hawk

Amanda Hawk

Amanda Hawk in casual clothes, 2120 (Source)

Awakening	Second
Focus	Mending
Birth Year	2053
Age	75
Apparent Age	25
Gender	Female
Status	Alive
Species	Human
First Appearance	Introduction

Amanda Hawk is the protagonist of The Practice War. Her character was built during the introductory/ character creation phase of the quest. The choices made at that time served to not only determine the appearance and name of the primary character, but also to lay the base of who this character would grow to be. Many of Amanda's strengths and weaknesses have been evident even since that initial phase.

Physical Description

Tall and slender, Amanda's appearance is certainly striking in some ways, but less than one might expect from what she has done with her life. Warm blonde hair falls to below her shoulders in a gentle wave, and though possessed of an Aegis, she rarely wears it outside of training or formal events. In casual clothes, it would almost be possible to miss who she was, if one was to ignore her eyes. Those, more than anything else, identify her as the woman who brought humanity together, and led it through the greatest challenge in its history.

Personality

Amanda is among one of the most influential individuals within humanity at the time of quest start, taking up the Presidency with the aim of uniting humanity in defence against the Shiplords. Compassionate, stubborn and a fierce believer in the idea that strength comes from without as much as as within, she has pursued that philosophy since before she could even call it one. She understands fully the depth of the challenge she faces, to guide humanity towards the creation of weapons sufficient to protect her race, but without surrendering so much of what makes them who they are.

History

Born before the Week of Sorrows, Amanda's parents were both taken by the Shiplord selection process so that their children might have a chance at life. She was, however, lucky when compared to a great many, as her siblings were all below the age that the Shiplords defined as adulthood. Born the middle child to a very large family, it was her siblings that Amanda turned to in recovering from the pain which had been inflicted on her world, and through them that the poison which so easily could have turned to bitterness or anger instead was drained away. On emerging from that recovery, Amanda immediately turned childlike efforts to trying to replicate the process for those outside of her family, a course of action which led to the formation of what would eventually become the first Circle.

Her actions even then brought her to the attention of the Elder First, and after her Awakening to a Focus of Mending, she was offered the chance to learn from those who had shepherded humanity out of the collapse that the race had been teetering on the bring of after the Week of Sorrows. Amanda was the only Potential offered this teaching to refuse it, choosing instead to stay with her friends and nascent Circle. The analysis of Mary D'reve, Amanda's oldest friend, played a major role in this decision.

Upon graduation from her Institute, Amanda was directed to an endeavour known as Project Prologue, which sought to replicate the Second Secret biomods which the Elder First had never chosen to take. Although the project was ultimately successful in producing a replica of those modifications via nanotechnology through a Practice Trance, it failed in its larger goal. Nanotechnology like Prologue proved ineffective on the Elder First, and though Prologue and its successor systems undoubtedly saved millions, it could not save them. Once freed of the obligations of that Project, Amanda pursued a program of reconstruction, development and personal research over the decades that followed. Many of the restored cities of pre-Sorrows humanity exist only thanks to her efforts, and alongside the physical, Amanda sought to expand the healing influence of the Circle she'd founded in her childhood. Today, the Circles span the vast majority of humanity, a testament to that success.

Finally, Amanda spent a considerable amount of time with her longtime friend Mary D'reve, daughter of scientist who led the project that unlocked the First Secret. Between them, they were able to considerably expand Humanity's understanding of Practice. She built several Artifacts during this time period, though at the time of assuming her Presidency had lost or misplaced all of them.

With the discovery of the Pattern, Amanda found the humanity she had poured so much of herself into facing an enormous threat far sooner than had ever been planned. With so much of what she had worked to create threatened, she chose to run in the Presidential elections before the State of Emergency took effect. She won in a landslide.

Relationships

HAWK SIBLINGS

Amanda has six siblings.
The eldest are the twins Harry and Juno. They are Followed by Alden and Amanda herself. Then come Georgie, Jordan, and Amelie.
Amanda cares very deeply about her siblings, but they are only a small part of the family she has assembled for herself. That family includes close friends, coworkers. And, of course, her adopted daughter.

Friends and Extended Family

Mary D'reve
Mary has been Amanda’s closest friend since childhood. As adults they share a home as well as the responsibility of raising their daughter.

Iris
The daughter of Amanda Hawk and Mary D'reve. An artificial intelligence embodied in a human form, she was as much a child as any biological human despite her differences. Amanda loves her daughter and is very proud of how far she has come and how much she has learned.

Kalilah Mishra
Assigned as Amanda’s bodyguard after her near assassination, Kahlilah has become something much more than a protector. The elder woman has become a friend and is quite near to Amanda’s heart.

Aya Yuuki
Aya is Amanda’s student and perhaps protege in practice involving the web of the world.

Statistics

Martial:	8+2+2+4+2 = 18
	Though you still rely deeply on your Unison Platform in true battle, your skill as a tactician has increased steadily, mostly thanks to the Two Twenty Three. You may not quite be a master of that art, but you are steadily closing that distance.
Diplomacy:	18+2+2+2+1+2+4 = 33
	You built the Circles and acted as a capable leader for the Prologue project. You’ve also started to delve into the esoteric side of your Focus, granting your natural charisma a truly supernatural edge.
Stewardship:	16+2+2+2 = 22
	There is no such thing as ‘broken’. That statement underpins everything you do in this arena, and thanks to your Focus it often pays considerable dividends.
Intrigue:	12+2 = 14
	You’re not really suited to wheeler-dealing or politics, but you had to have some successful interaction with EGOV before you ended up in charge of it. Running what is for all intents and purposes a military operation has given some insight to the situation as well.
Learning:	16+2+2+2+4 = 26
	You soaked up your lessons as a child like a sponge, and Mary has ensured that your knowledge base never had the chance to degrade. You are not a prodigy like her, but you do well enough.
Practice:	16+2+2+2+2+4+2+2+2+2 = 36
	Your skill as a Potential rivals some of the First, and you’re one of the only Potentials alive who is able to sense the strange patterns that you can now feel and hear woven through the very fabric of the world that surrounds you.

Traits and Titles

Child of the Second Secret: You were born before the Week of Sorrows, and so benefit from the basic bioengineering package that almost all children were modified with before birth. +2 Martial

Heart of Circles: As a child you fought to restore the peace that you were so lucky to have with your family to others, leading to the founding of the first of your Circles. +2 Diplomacy
 -  Your time spent as an adult founding more Circles across the world won you praise from many quarters, and was the first time you felt the taste of more exotic Practice. +2 Diplomacy, +2 Practice

A Practiced Form: Like all Potentials, the natural application of Practice to your body through actions have granted you some arguably supernatural advantages. In your case, you heal swiftly and are incredibly hard to kill. +2 Martial, significant increase to survival chance if attacked personally

Childhood Tutor: She might not have been an adult, but your friendship with Mary meant that you never once failed to ace your exams, if not perhaps as spectacularly as she would. +2 Learning

Singer: You have a fine and melodious voice, which has a way of putting people at ease. +2 Diplomacy
 -  You've spent time improving your voice, and have begun to delve in the complexities of its use. +1 Diplomacy

Project Prologue: You worked as a leader for the Prologue project, and were a major part of the first Practiced Miracle. +2 Learning, +2 Practice

Restorer of the Old World: You spent a decade rebuilding the cities of the world before the Week of Sorrows, becoming as one with your Focus and doing all you could to restore a world that many thought lost. +2 Stewardship, +2 Practice

Touching the Forgotten: Time spent working with Mary kept you up to date with some of the less complex scientific advancements of the times, and also gave you the opportunity to delve into the far stranger side of your Focus. +2 Learning, +2 Practice

Untapped Depths: You took a plasma lance to chest, ablated as it was by a body in front of you, and lived through the power of your Potential. Something has been shaken loose by that experience, and you now know that there is far more to discover about what you are capable of. +4 Practice

Speaker of Practice: You've taken your first step into a world suddenly much bigger than it was before. Although it still isn't reliable, or even properly understood, your ability to work Practice with words rather than action is something exciting as it is strange.
 -  Knower of Words: As part of your teaching Vega how to reliably weave Practice into her words, you've worked with Mary to learn a great deal about some of the underlying theory of Practice. Not as much as your Spoken Miracle gave her, but far more than you had before. +4 Learning, +2 Practice
 -  Healer's Edge: Learning to speak was anything but easy. Finding a way to replicate its use in battle as you'd , against the very nature of your focus, was the work of over a decade. You will never like doing so, but you have found that way.

Founder of the 223: Creating and leading the Two Twenty Three with Vega has been an experience unlike anything else you've been part of. It has expanded your knowledge in ways you're not quite sure you like, sometimes, but people don't always get what they like. +4 Martial, +2 Intrigue

The Promised Future: Knowing what the Shiplords use at least some of their Tributary biomass for is a terrible burden, but it has not broken you. In this, as all things, you remember the words Vega reminded you of. Justice, freedom and peace. For those, you would bear the weight of the universe. +4 Diplomacy, +2 Stewardship

Envoy of Humanity: When Second Contact came, you answered the call that Adri placed at your feet without hesitation, and surpassed all expectations. In a month, you took the most important potential allies in human history from unknown hopefuls to tentative friends. +2 Diplomacy

A Song of Bonds: After humanity fell, something was forged from the ashes to take the place of what failed you. Now, deep contemplation and study has led you to that new creation, a melody so encompassing that it is a tangible presence. In this, lies the truth of Purify, and perhaps much more. +2 Practice, ???

Risen Focus: Your Focus now lies far closer to the surface of your soul, changing both the reality of what you can do, and what your body truly is. Bringing your Focus closer to physical reality has made you stronger, more capable, and yet also far more what you were from the beginning. A Mender. +2 Practice, ???, ???

Unison Platform (Ace): The experience of the Second Battle of Sol has given the Two Twenty Three an edge that's hard to properly express. You didn't fly with them in the void battle, but you did face a Shiplord in personal combat and live. That, combined with the far more intense training since has brought you to leading edge of the Unisonbound. There are few indeed who can match you in this.

Inventory

Concert Set: This detached headset was something you made in the Institute, one of your first Practiced creations. You wanted a way to be heard more clearly, and to put your words into people’s hearts. You thought you’d lost it during your time founding the rest of the Circles, but it had been invaluable pursuing that task.
 -  Now integrated with Sidra, the set grants you skill on par with Vega's at navigating and bolstering social harmony. It also has allowed you to key more precisely into the Harmonial connections between the Two Twenty Three, and without it you may well have failed to help Kalilah realise her synchronisation. +2 Diplomacy, +2 Practice, ???

Multi-tool: A leftover from your time rebuilding the broken cities of Earth, this is probably one of the most Practiced items you ever created. A decade spent using it to channel your Focus into physical change has turned the basic device into a sleek thing of almost dizzying utility. Unfortunately, you’ve since forgotten half of its functions. Now time, and integration with Sidra, has recovered your knowledge of the Artefact. +2 Stewardship
 -  Integration with your Unison Platform, and the intelligence behind it, has given you access to depths of combination that a human mind simply could not follow, and you've had the time to test them. It is still fundamentally a tool of Mending, but that definition has stretched a little now. Into Creation. +2 Martial, major boost to certain uses of Amanda's Practice.

Void Crystal: Even now neither you nor Mary are sure how you created this, or what it’s meant to do. A seemingly featureless black-body crystal, its remained completely impervious to analysis, classification, or physical damage. Mary kept it ever since you created it with her after your first decade as a Restorer, now it's yours.

Unison Platform: The physical housing of the Unison Platform, and Siddhartha's electronic home. Physical contact with this device is required to extend your Aegis, and utilise the Platform's other functions.

Mender’s Eye: Your latest Artefact, what started as something much simpler grew into a device capable of piercing the veil of Shiplord subversion, and much more.
 -  Now integrated with Sidra, the Eye adds a layer of perceptual depth to your world that you can't quite believe you'd been missing, and its presence in your Aegis can't be discounted from your greater awareness of the ties and bonds that hold humanity together.