- The Basics -

01 - What is your full name?

Hi, my name is Jade Tsubaki! Pleased to meet you!\

02 - List any and all aliases used. (How long in use? Why?)

Nope, no fake names here!

03 - How old are you?

I'm just 24, or as mom put it: old enough to get out of school but still young enough to get into trouble.

04 - Where were you born?

My hometown is Deskoni, a charming little independent city state way up in the Hetite Confederacy. We're known for our most excellent universities. Not to boast - oh wait, yes I'm boasting - it's said we've got the greatest libraries on the continent.

Being a major trade network hub nexus, the city sees all kinds of travelers of all stripes and the generous "Bring us a book we don't have" bounty the city maintains, we see a high volume of scholarly pursuits coming in all the time.

As the travel brochures say, if we don't know it, it's not worth knowing.

05 - Do you have any relatives and how close are you?

Not a big family, just Mom, Dad, and a sibling a couple of years younger named Elsie.

06 - Describe your parents, including current status.

Mom is the Laura Croft side, out adventuring and punching Banish agents and finding lost artifacts in deep dark tombs.

Dad on the other hand was the Professor Jones side. Scholarly, respected, tweed jacket with elbow patches and that sort of thing. He's done some field work over the years, but the bulk of his time is spent in his classroom and/or doing research.

They're both happily married, coming up on their fortieth wedding anniversary soon.

07 - Where are these relatives now?

Mom still occasionally goes out into the field to find artifacts and punch Banish agents, but she's slowed down some. She's semi-retired, emphasis on the semi. Dad's line of work is less strenuous, so he's still going ahead great guns. Elsie still needs to finish school before the parents let her out into the wild full time.

Mom and Dad are both pretty chill with Elsie and I venturing out into the world, adventuring, finding treasures and punching Banish secret policemen. "Just be careful dear, it's a big dangerous world out there,'' they say with total sincerity.

08 - What was/is your family's social status (Poor? Well-to-do? Wealthy?)

While dad isn't the dean of his university or mom on the Deskoni educational council, they're still very well respected in the academic community. So I'd say we're very comfortable.

- Background -

09 - What is your level of education?

With parents like these, you think I'm getting away with anything short of a full doctorate and tenure? As it stands, I've made it through the first four years at college. I'm just taking some time off before moving onto the next round of classes.

Besides, field work is valuable too! And yes dad, I'm still sending my homework back to my professors!

Actually, let me walk that back. My parents have always been pretty chill about me and Elsie following or not following in their academic footsteps. I’ve never gotten the sense of pressure from them to be a badassed professor just like them. I do it because History is cool!

10 - Where did you study?

You were not paying attention when I talked about Deskoni and our awesome school system, were you? I attended primary school all the way up to college there. Thankfully, dad didn't want to be one of Those Parents, so I've never attended his classes. Well, at least academically - I've sat in the back of his lecture halls before when he spoke.

11 - Do you hold any degrees?

Nothing beyond the BA in history and anthropology. At least not yet. I've also done some reading on paleontology, but I've hardly studied enough to call myself an expert. More like dangerous amateur.

12 - What jobs, positions, or titles have you held? (When? Where?)

I did several summers as an intern at in the Regional Park system. Although it was not nearly as glamorous as one might think, as I wound up serving more as a tour guide and janitor than actually putting my skills to good use.

13 - Did you ever serve in the military?

Kind of, but not in any official capacity. There was some time a couple of years ago when I was taking some time off from school on an actual vacation - a slightly extended spring break - down in the small kingdom of Demarion.

Ages ago, Demarion had been absorbed by their next door neighbors, the Banish Empire jerks (I'll get to more on them in a second). But what I didn't know it at the time that the Demarion locals were about to try and push back against their oppressors. I wound up in a village that was suddenly and unexpectedly the kicking off point for that revolution. While that's not the direction the vacation was supposed to go, the peon's cause was just and they were way outgunned. While a cunning and resourceful archeologist wasn’t what the revolutionaries needed, it's' what they got.

And so school was pushed back a year while I fought alongside (well, really helped more with logistics and planning and behind the scenes stuff than fighting the front lines) with the Unified Demarion Liberation Army. For funsies.

14 - Do you have a criminal record? (Why? Are you still wanted?)

As pure of heart and strong of spirit the DLA was, what the DLA weren't was plentiful in numbers. I was able to extract myself from the situation before the revolution collapsed, but I did make enough of a name for myself during that time that I shouldn't go back to that neck of the woods any time soon.

15 - Where do you live now?

After staying at home, living in the dorms and working digs, it's time to get out and see the world. So my home is a satchel, address to be determined.

16 - Where did you spend most of your life?

A great deal of time was spent in and around Deskoni, but not all. I studied abroad for a couple of semesters and I've done all kinds of field work here and there.

17 - Name two notable places you've visited

After publishing a well received paper on revisionist neojurassic history, Dad was invited on a lecture circuit of schools and universities. For just over a year Elsie and I accompanied dad on his travels, meeting all kinds of colorful, interesting and occasionally seedy people.

18 - Are you or have you ever been married or romantically involved? (With who?

Well, there was Vabrix the Rotting Blight, who despite the name wasn’t a blight nor was he rotting. Family names handed down over generations can be weird like that.

Although if we’re being honest, his name should have been Vabrix the Magnificent Dong.

19 - Describe a significant event from childhood and/or adolescence.

How about the time when I was twelve, when mom and I were at the Black Archives and I accidentally released a demon. Really, who puts a demon in a book? And then leaves that book just laying around on the shelf? Although I guess a book with the title Lady of the Shadow Vortex in the Library of The Black Archives should have been a big clue.

The Black Archive spent weeks cleaning up after that. I think I still have a restraining order from that one.

20 - Describe a significant event from adulthood.

Well, there was this one time with some primitive natives. There was an - a misunderstanding. Aaaand, they might think I’m a god. It’s. . . . complicated.

22 - How do you describe your lifestyle?

Some might call it dangerous. I call it fun!

23 - Do you have any enemies (who?/why?)

Every Indiana Jones needs a Belloq - and Jade is no different. Mine is named Gustave Deverux

One summer, I was working on a dig with Deverux. He seemed a bit skeezy and underhanded (and did eventually wind up pilfering artifacts from the dig and selling them on the black market, putting the professor supervising the dig in the academic doghouse - but we didn't know that at the time), but there was nothing overt that set off warning bells.

It was when Deverux plagiarized large portions of my paper on ancient bioarchaeology stratification that I figured out his true nature, that he was an underhanded prick. But he is a clever prick who was able to cover his tracks well and I was never able to prove the plagiarism. The Dean's board (thanks to generous donations from his rich family over the years) sided with Deverux, and he wound up winning the Archaeological Society's prize for the year which spun off into a career at the very prestigious Royal Centre of Natural History.

Fortunately that career was cut short when Deverux was suspected of unethical methods and funding a grave robbing expedition. He may be on the outs with some portions of the academic but the bad blood between us remains. As our field isn't that large, it doesn’t help that we occasionally bump into each other.

24 - What conflicts might arise due to your past?

Right, lets get into the Banish Empire. Above and beyond the fact that I'm on several watch lists in their territory and surrounding neighborhood because of the revolution, they're straight up a bunch of expansionist jerks.

It's a monarchy under the delusion that they have been "chosen by fate" (whatever that means) and have been actively pushing out its borders and absorbing smaller nations around it. Even worse, the Santebal - the Directorate of Information and Internal Security, the Banish secret police - maintain an aggressive program of artifact recovery. It's not that they have any interest in history or science. They're just looking for any and all powerful artifacts that'll help them expand their boarders and smite their enemies. I've not run afoul of them yet myself (beyond my time in the DLA), but I know my mom has run into Santebal operations several times.

On a much smaller, more personal scale, there was that time that I nicked the Eye of Harmony from a wizard's castle. Although upon reflection, it's probably a really terrible idea to steal anything from someone with the name "Akeem The Abomination".

25 - Do you have any friends or contacts? (where are they now?)

There have been a couple of professors that have taken a shine to me over the years. Professor Nessa was particularly supportive and cool, although I think she’s retired now.

26 - Do you have any dependents?

Nope

27 - Do you have any pets?

Nope

28 - What are your hobbies?

Punching Banish secret policemen, saving damsels (and whatever the male version of a damsel is), scaling walls and/or not falling into bottomless pits. Also, drawing.

29 - What awards and honors have your received?

Man, **** Gustave. I’m going to beat him senseless with my plagiarized Archaeological Society medallion someday.

31 - List a couple of your favorite foods/drink.

Oh, I do have to admit a weakness for the Allsorts hard candies. Really **** tasty, those.

32 - List a couple of your favorite equipment/vehicles/toys

Just before heading out on this walkabout, mom gave me her Katana. It’s not that it's very special, either historically or in craftsmanship, but it served her well for years and years - so it's special in its own way.

- Personality -

33 - List three physical traits.

I'm of Asian decent with shoulder length black hair. I'm reasonably muscular, and I'd like to think good looking - but in that rugged, dangerous way. Given my druthers, I'll be wearing a long duster and a big hat - which, aside from being an expected trope, looks cool as **** and does have uses in the field.

34 - List three positive (or 'good') mental traits.

Oooh, I'm adaptable and flexible as the situation demands. I'm equally comfortable dangling over a bottomless pit by a pair of ropes as at a Maharaja's table.

I'd also like to think I'm fun. Okay, it's not much of a mental trait, but everything at home is fine, I'm out traveling and seeing the world, I'm finding cool new things. That's fun, I'm having fun. What's there to be dour about?

35 - List three negative (or 'evil') mental traits.

My dad says that this whole "It belongs in a museum" thing, while coming from a good place, can border on obsession too. Mom is okay with it.

Nicking the Eye of Harmony from Ikadrem The Abomination made me realize that in addition to my parents traits of daring do and smarts, that there's a tiny little bit of thievery in there too. But I'd only steal from the bloated 1 percent bastards pricks who can afford it.

And really, it's not about the money, but the thrill and challenge.

36 - List three social traits.

I need to use fewer exclamation points!

37 - Any quirks and habits, both good and bad?

Exclamation points are awesome!

- Outlook on life -

38 - What are your short term goals?

Well, the immediate goal is to see if I can track down any leads on The Night Queen, an artifact that may have an evil demon/sprit/power sealed in it, an evil spirit might be on the poised to return after 5,000 years. To that end, I've hired a group of most interesting - well, I wouldn't say they were bodyguards, and calling them mercenaries is totally the wrong term. Freelance asskicking specialists? Bad Dude Consultants?

Whatever - anyway, we're off to see if we can find this thing, once they get some outstanding stuff off their plate.

Beyond that, I'd like to see the world on my own terms, perhaps get some life experience under me. Along the way, make some money to send back home so mom and dad can be comfortable in their golden years.

39 - What are your long term goals?

Finish my doctorate. While I may or may not be scholarly material, building that foundation to work from is important. Plus while my parent might not be disappointed at a sudden career change (although, lets face it - they probably would be), I sure as **** would be with myself.

40 - What are your companion's goals (both long and short term)

I've not gotten a good read on them yet. On the surface, they seem solid and upstanding enough (and crazy skilled - Koseema is a strong asskicker and I bet there's tons of times mom would have loved Lenthi and her Holy Blasts of Kerblam in her toolkit), but anything deeper like goals? But beyond the immediate task of having to return some horses and kidnapped kids to to Ayla's people, I have no idea.

Hopefully getting my new friends paid from the expedition stipend doesn't turn to one of those long term goals.

41 - What are your hopes and fears?

Snakes! Can't stand them!

Naw, just kidding. Snakes are cool. Dragons are cool too. Lizards in general I’m good with. Spiders, on the other hand. . . .

As for hopes, I do kind of aspire to that One Big Score. Oh come on, what academic does not want to get their name in the books with a once-in-a-lifetime discovery that changes everything. A little fortune and glory? **** yeah I’ll take that, thank you very much.

42 - What is it that drives you?

Curiosity. "Ooooh, I wonder what's in that old building? What ever happened to King Bubulaa the Magnificent? Where did the Eternity Cage disappear to? Should I open this coffin? What does that taste like?"

43 - Do you have a religion or believe in a mystical energy? (What are the disciplines of your faith?)

I’m not tied to any one particular faith. I've seen enough mystical artifacts of power from antiquity all the way up to the modern era to give them the nod, but I’m scientific enough to question them too. Are they just super powerful beings? Are they actual gods? If they need us worshipping them to grant blessings and favors, aren’t they just giving us back the power we granted them in the first place? If that’s the case, isn't the power within us all along?

44 - What would you like to be doing in 5 years?

Probably still seeing the world.

45 - Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Too soon to tell if I'll follow the path of the scholar, the Banish puncher or something else all together. Perhaps I'll become a master thief?

46 - How do you see yourself?

Do you want to come with me? If you do, then I should warn you, you're gonna see all sorts of things. Kung Fu Monks trying to catch you, Monsters trying to kill you, cannibals trying to eat you, long forgotten deathtraps trying to melt you. It won't be quiet, it won't be safe, and it won't be calm. But I'll tell you what it will be: hella fun!

47 - How do others see you?

“Cannibals, monsters and death traps? I’m out.”

48 - In a short paragraph tell of your most vivid memory:

The most frustrating memory of my (admittedly very short) career was just last year. Up in the mountains to the north of Deskoni, a rich strike of gold was discovered, and as these things tend to attract attention people from all over the region poured into the area to grab what they could. The local barbarian tribes were none to happy about the invaders moving into their territory and tearing up their sacred mountains all in the name of some typical Manifest Destiny bull.

The problem is that right in the center of all of this? There were some very ancient, very valuable native burial grounds - which as a "grave robber", I guess puts me in the wrong too, at least in the native's eyes.

The miners were busy smashing any artifacts in their way in their mindless pursuit of some stupid shiny rocks, and the native barbarians were busy harassing any outsider they could. Most of the miners were ultimately killed and driven out of their lands. We were lucky to get out with the small load of precious trinkets you did. The natives are now exceptionally restless and get very aggressive towards any perceived trespass.

**** both sides and their short sightedness.