Name: Ray Herald
Age: 25
Species: Initia (Diversified)
Elements: Fire (+2 to be learned by the player in RP)
Face Claim: Max Thieriot

Bio:
Childhood memories for most people would involve toys, sweets and games, but not for Ray. All he could remember was guns, drugs and knives. Growing up as the son of a con artist was no walk in the park. he never had a regular childhood and his father never allowed him to go out anywhere for the threat from his enemies and the police were constantly on their heads.
Ray never had a formal education but he did have his father’s many assistants who taught him how to read and write. he was smart and witty and quickly learned many things. One such assistant was Barney, who used to bring him many books to read and tell him many things so that he would never have to face the world unprepared.

Just after his 7th birthday, when Ray was trying to steal a precious necklace, he experienced a stinging pain on him back and when he looked, to his astonishment, he found a tattoo there. Not knowing what to do, he returned back to his camp confused. Soon, Ray felt himself changing, feeling a kind of energy within him that he had never felt before. He felt drawn to fires and anything that contained the energy that fire did. Ray kept it to himself, doing his best to hide the tattoo from everyone, pushing down his connection with fire, he knew anything he did to make himself different would only put himself in danger. he got good at hiding himself from people, only changing when there was no-one around and ensuring him back was always covered.

By the time he was a teen, Ray had seen too many things that a normal person would never even be able to conceive. he hated his secluded life, without friends and having a family of sorts who only spoke the language of destruction. His father used him in many of his crimes and he knew how to steal, break locks and use guns even before he got to learn things kids normally would, like algebra and writing stories. His father was a terrifying man and the fear of his wrath was what made him agree to help him, plus, like any son, the young male always wanted to impress the man who raised him.

One day when he was polishing the guns, him father came in while he was working, he hadn’t even realized his shirt had ridden up until his father commented on the tattoo in an angered tone, strangely disturbed and concerned by what he saw. Initially, he wouldn’t answer him on why he was so bothered by the tattoo, but after getting drunk one night, he revealed to him that his men had taken him in when he was a child, despite him not being their own. He refused to tell him the details of his adoption but he did mention that the last time he had seen that tattoo was on his biological parents.

It was a shock to his system, learning that the parent who had raised him and taught him wasn’t even his real parent. That there was someone else out there in the world that was. He was filled with emotions but he knew better than to show them in front of his father, he always thought crying was a weakness and something men should never do. Every time Ray did so he would be chastised for it. He began to resent the life he led and consistently started sneaking out when his father was asleep, just to see a glimpse of the world outside of the bubble he had been raised in. He was the son of a con man, so sneaking out never got him caught and every morning he would be in bed as though nothing ever happened.

Now, wanting more than ever to know about his real parents, Ray began questioning the men that had been there that day when he was taken in. Gathering the details, he started visiting areas that they mentioned in an attempt to find his parents. However, weeks went by without any success. He had to be careful about the things he did and said, doing his best not to raise suspicion about what he was trying to do. He stole documents to read, to try and figure out where he came from and what the tattoo was, what it all meant.

One day, as Ray was walking through the village to get tobacco for his father and his men, he heard screams and saw many people running and the place in utter chaos. Walking ahead, he saw an apartment on fire and the firemen trying to rescue people. Wanting to help, he entered the building unnoticed and saw a small girl crying in a corner. The fire was all around him, but strangely Ray felt calm and before he knew what was happening, he could feel himself stop the fire from harming the little girl, he didn’t have much time to take in the revelation that somehow he was able to control fire because he needed to get out of there, he scooped the child up in his arms and was about to run for the door. As he turned his head and his gaze collided with a pair of eyes that were so similar to his own that he was shocked. A man in a firefighter’s costume was studying him intently and without saying a word, he removed his jacket and turned around so he could see the tattoo, the same one he had, on his back.

After everything was sorted out at the site, the man approached him and took him aside to talk, it was clear to him immediately that while he was Initia, he hadn’t been trained properly and had very limited control over him powers, to the point where he was worried for his safety if he went back out into the world. he learned about the fact that he wasn’t actually human, he had been born an Initia, a species capable of controlling the elements though he had never managed to fully tap into him because he’d never been surrounded by people like him. The man, named Samuel, offered to take him to the Eternal City. It had somewhat of a reputation for taking in Initia in need, those who were deprived of the structure in their life.

He knew his father wasn’t going to like it, he’d maintained such control over his life so far that he hadn't even known he was adopted. The lies kept piling up, his father couldn’t produce the adoption records, he wouldn’t give him a straight answer and what happened and it became evident to him that he may have forcibly taken him as payment for one of the many debts he collected from people. he was absolutely devastated by the idea of it all and so he made plans in secret to leave. To leave and go to Evermore City.

he packed up in the middle of the night and waited until his father was asleep before slipping out to the edge of the village where he met with Samuel and they sped away into the night. 48 hours of driving later and they found themselves finally arriving in the outskirts of Evermore city. Ray quickly realized however that he had no idea what he was going to do, he had no money, no real education, no knowledge of what he was and he still didn’t even know where to begin on finding his biological parents. Samuel helped him to get set up in a little apartment on the outskirts of the city and brought him to meet the grandmaster of the Evermore tribe. He was finally given his initiation ceremony and allowed access to his affinity element fire.

And then the thought occurred to him, with control over the fire element he could really make a difference in the firefighting field much like Samuel did. He asked him for help in enrolling in the Evermore firefighting academy along with working at a bar in the evenings for the money he needed to afford him training and to keep living the city. It was hard work, but he realized he wasn’t alone, even after Samuel headed back to his post, he had the Initia community, one that had accepted him with open arms, he had never elements to learn and a whole career hopefully ahead of him. The negativity of his past now left behind, he looked to the future.

Secluded, Socially-Awkward, Cynical 

Heroic, Determined, Bold