Tampa Laurca

[Tampa Laurca]

Real Name: Tampa Laurca

Preferred Name: Symphony

Age: 23

Race: Human Shifter (Albatross)

Height: 1.65m in human form

Wingspan: 3.4m in albatross and half-albatross form

Weight: 58kg in human form
10.5kg in albatross and half-albatross form

Physical Description:
Human: Symphony is short and isn't all that bulky either, although he has never been teased because of it. Apart from his noticeably sharper nose, his facial features aren't terribly different from anyone else's. What strikes people most about Symphony is his skin colour. His body and face are ghostly white, however, beginning at his elbows, his skin turns to a blacker colour, a constant reminder of his other form, an albatross. He wears a pair of gloves and a long-sleeved shirt to cover the abnormality, even in sweltering heat. He isn't handsome or ugly, although he walks around with an aura of grace around him, yet another way that his other form has influenced him. He has a scar on his stomach, but this is usually hidden from sight.
Albatross: Symphony is a moderately large adult albatross with no noticeable differences apart from the scar running diagonally across his belly.
Half-albatross: This form resembles an albatross more than a human. The only differences between this form and his albatross form are the presence of arms and legs, making running faster, and holding objects possible.

Possessions: A ring given to him by one of his brothers, Warrior (Lantyra), on his fifteenth birthday. He can sense something strange about it, but it hasn't done anything but serve as a constant reminder of home for several years.
A thirteen year old painting of the Laurca family completed before three of his brothers left.
An map given to him by his mother. Thar Shaddin has been circled in red ink, and below that it says 'Emile and Dean'.
A special backpack made by his mother which will 'shapeshift' with Symphony to fit on his albatross form.

Powers or Strengths: Most of Symphony's strengths derive from his albatross form.
When he wants to get something done, Symphony will make sure it happens no matter what. Symphony's incredible focus and persistence help him to make sure things go his way whether other people like it or not.
Travelling large distances requires a lot of endurance, and Symphony has trained himself to last for a few weeks without needing to eat, drink or sleep. Comes in handy when travelling large distances.
Symphony can control small gusts or a continuous stream of wind, although larger blasts take a long time to create and can't be controlled. During long flights, having wind blow you along can be useful, and Symphony has learnt this skill from numerous chats with his father, who despite disliking him, still taught him a few useful skills (Symphony learnt this before he found out he was a shifter). Whether this ability is classified under 'magic' is debatable, although Symphony insists it isn't.
Symphony's exceptional eyesight allows him to see objects with great clarity from afar. This ability, which is not only useful for spotting potential predators and prey, allows Symphony to aim most ranged weapons as well as his control over wind with more precision.
After living on a deserted island for six years, Symphony knows the properties of many different herbs and plants. He has learnt to brave the toxic side-effects of certain healing plants, although only a fraction of these plants seem to be present in Thar Shaddin, even less within walking distance of Marn or Shim.

Weaknesses: Symphony will occasionally lose control over his form and shapeshift if he becomes too emotional. When this happens, he usually only changes a little – for example, if he happened to be arguing fiercely with someone, he might suddenly start to grow wings and a beak. Although the change is minimal, the frequency of it is more than enough to call it a minor inconvenience.
Symphony's rock-solid personality, which seems to make up for his small stature, can be detrimental in many ways. He doesn't know when to give up, and if he's set on something, it'd be a monumental task to change his mind, even if what he believes is obviously wrong. Telling him the wrong thing or giving him a bad impression can be a big mistake.
Another of Symphony's weaknesses is his hatred for being called by his 'real name', Tampa. Calling him that will almost always be followed by an angry albatross pecking your eyes out.
Symphony, despite being a shapeshifter, has no idea that he could potentially have access to 'magic' (he doesn't count his control over wind as a magical ability). Whether he really does or not, no one knows... yet.

History: Symphony's immediate family consists of eight people – his parents, Karles and Wyndra, and their six sons, Yehvion, Hajen, Lantrya, Tayk, Guric, and himself. When Symphony was around ten years of age, three of his brothers left home without warning anyone. Their parents have always believed that they would eventually return, but no news has been heard of them since their disappearance.
Symphony's history is largely based upon a sparsely inhabited island known locally as Malai Island, south of Tian Xia. His family's history is unknown to him, all he knows was that his ancestors survived the Changers' War practically unchanged but for one thing – somehow, during the course of the war, a stray spell which had previously passed through an albatross hit one of the family, and a strange process took place. Somehow, he was turned into a shapeshifter.
The shapeshifter talent isn't very common in the Laurca family, but they are probably the only family to have such a strange shapeshifting form. Symphony's (Tampa at that time) father maintained that the talent was a bad thing to have, although Sympony always suspected that he was simply jealous of one of his sibling's abilities. This suspicion was further enforced by the taboo on his aunt, Emile (Templar).
Symphony's childhood was a difficult one. His father had always harboured a secret distrust for him, and whenever disputes occurred between brothers, Symphony was always the one who lost wherever his father was involved. Of course, being an unfounded doubt, his father still taught him basic skills which his mother couldn't, but even this he did reluctantly. His mother, in contrast to his father, loved him the most out of all of her children. Symphony would always seek help from her, but even she had no authority to tell his father how to behave.
Everyone from the Laurca family would choose their own name to go by at the age of fifteen. Symphony was his choice, apparently a random pick from a list of names that sounded good. His father's face glowed bright red when he announced this in front of everyone at his fifteenth birthday. The names were supposed to represent the person, after all, and Symphony didn't seem to fit him and his arguments.
Symphony found out about his shapeshifting talent at the age of seventeen, when he was pushed over the edge of a cliff by a sudden gust of wind. There has always a grain of doubt in Symphony's mind about whether the wind was natural or magical, but there was no denying that fact that that event changed Symphony's life forever.
For the next few weeks, Symphony was able to hide his ability from his father, but he had no idea that one day, during an argument with his father, he would grow a beak. His father, already suspicious of Symphony, left the house after glaring at his beak and stating that if Symphony wasn't gone by tomorrow, someone would die.
His mother went of in search of her husband with after giving Symphony a map and telling him to take care of it no matter what. For the rest of the day, Symphony looked for anything and everything which would be of any use to him and was possible to carry for a long trip. He ate and drank as much as he could, and left the house sometime during the night. He cursed under his breath and ran to the edge of the island, to the cliff where he found out who he really was.
It was already past midnight by the time Symphony had reached the cliff, and someone was waiting there for him. Thinking it was one of his siblings who had come to wish him goodbye, Symphony ran towards the figure and wasn't prepared for what would happen next.
The figure blurred slightly and something sliced through the air and connected with Symphony. The object, a metal bar coated with some kind of magical silver dust, burned its shape into his stomach and he collapsed in pain. The figure sent another bar of metal in his direction, but Symphony, now aware of who the figure really was, managed to roll onto his back and avoid being burnt again. He shapeshifted before making his way to the cliff and taking off. As an albatross, Symphony knew how to make his way forward whilst dodging incoming attacks from his father.
Still in pain, Symphony had no choice but to land on a nearby island. He remained an albatross most of the time as he seemed to be able to live more easily in the wild in that form. Symphony stayed on the island for years nursing his wound, and although he never forgot his original purpose, he was unable to pursue his goal until six years later, when the pain finally subsided.
Symphony instinctively knew all the intricate details of flying even without much practice. The wind blew gently behind him and it served to relax him as well as making the trip just a little easier.
Symphony didn't really know where he was going, only that he was to go to a place called 'Marn'. He had a map of Pal Tahrenor, and he had heard that the city was located within Thar Shaddin, which was clearly marked on the map. Flying in the general direction of the dot on the map was all that Symphony could really do.
Two weeks passed, and Symphony finally spotted a small city in the middle of a sea of desolate terrain. He descended and landed with ease on a small track beside a river, where he finally had a chance to rest after countless hours of non-stop flight. Finding himself unable to do so, Symphony, back in human form, wandered into the city to see what he could find.

[Frug]

Likewise approved, as discussed in chat.

Emile is no pelican

[Tampa Laurca]

Fixed...
That is all, right?

[Frug]

Yes sir, it is.