"Doesn't work well with others. Keep him away from battlezones." －Gamma

"Sneaky little squirt, can't even take my eyes off him for a second before he goes off to destroy something else!" － Rabiah Ban'Abyad

"You say you're not a human?" Farrier rasped, planting his boot on her ribs to keep her from getting up. He braced the back of his hand against his mouth, coughing into his scarf. "Then don't expect me to treat you like one."

The attacker's gaze fell on Farrier's other leg, the pant leg partially burned away to reveal a glint of metal. Her face twisted into a snarl. "What the hell are you?"

He leaned forward, his thick glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose. "Just a poor tailor."

Tuberculosis-afflicted. Hard of hearing. Short-sighted. Just plain short. The list goes on and on.

Hidden beneath a giant pile of handicaps is a ruthless, cunning warrior that makes a fearsome enemy. Introducing: all you never wanted to know about a nineteen-year-old tailor called Farrier Li.

Background:

Farrier Li really should have been dead, but no one bothered to tell him. He was a ghost brought to life as an automaton by Doctor Marian Li, for no other reason except to prove she could do it (and to rub it in the face of a certain Doctor Alighieri, who thought she was so much smarter).

Raised as the son of Doctor Li and her husband, Archer, Farrier had a relatively happy childhood. Other than the fact that his crazy 'mother' liked challenging him to duels, life was good. For one thing, he wasn't the only elemental in town. The elementals in question were all water, fire, air, and earth elementals－ he'd never met another automaton－ but he wasn't so different that he ever felt ostracized.

He had a baby sister that he loved more than life itself. He felt personally responsible for her safety, and would aggressively protect her at every turn. Whenever he got his hands on a bit of coin, he would spoil her rotten with books and sweets. It was a big hole in his sparse funds, but he liked doing it.

There was only one thing about being a metal elemental that genuinely annoyed him:

Some crowned bastard kept needling him to become a soldier.

It made perfect sense to the Fourwater King since the elementals each had a job that fit their power. Water elementals took care of the irrigation and (canal) transportation system, earth elementals worked with construction, etc. People were typically made into elementals for the benefit of the state.

It'd be easy for Farrier to create an armory with his bare hands, but the Four Waters mostly used obsidian blades that were designed to break metal weapons. Farrier could also manipulate precious metals so fluidly and easily that he could make a fortune if given the opportunity, but it would put the gold and silversmiths out of business. The economy would crumble and so would the King's plans of building a twenty-acre arboretum.

So the young King was hard-pressed to find a use for the automaton. There was only one outlet where Farrier's power could be used to the state's advantage: Warfare.

He presented this idea to Farrier numerous times, pointing out that Farrier could crush the enemy with his mind. Guns, war machines, armor－ all would succumb to the terrible power of metal manipulation. He could turn blades, swat bullets, crumple cannons like they were paper. He insisted that it was Farrier's civic duty to give back to the country that took him in.

Farrier was unimpressed. He crossly told the King where he could shove his civic duty and slammed the door.

His country had barely any class distinction at all and everyone had expected Farrier's reaction, so Farrier went mostly unpunished. I say 'mostly' because the King didn't stop trying to convince him. When he wasn't busy being King, he would wait for Farrier at a random street on the way to the schoolhouse and then pounce, rattling off the reasons for Farrier to dedicate his life to battle.

Farrier solved this problem by quitting school altogether and apprenticing himself to his grandmother, a tailor. He was only eight years old, but he could read a stop sign and count up to a hundred, so his grandmother happily accepted his offer.

Thus Farrier lived in peace, learning to weave, cut, square, hem, and mend cloth. Years passed. He made friends among the artisans and developed a crush on a water elemental. His grandmother made him a business partner. His tiger-head-hook swords collected dust in the back of his closet.

Disaster struck at the worst moment possible. When he was bedridden from a tuberculosis epidemic, his home was invaded. When word reached the quarantines, Farrier dragged himself out of his sickbed and joined the battle. His involvement turned the tide of the war, but he'd joined in too late. His home was gone.

Farrier later died from his wounds, but his automaton form caused him to re-activate some weeks later. He never aged a day since then and will live out the rest of his days trapped in the body of a sickly child.

Personality:

Independent to a fault, Farrier despises being controlled or micromanaged and is a hard person to cooperate with. He has difficulty with focus and is easily distracted, making him likely to dismiss a pressing issue as 'tomorrow's problem'.

Farrier doesn't care about a lot of things, and sometimes it seems as if people are included in the list. His tendency to gamble with lives oftentimes paints him as heartless. To make up for his physical defects, Farrier likes to build a reputation as someone to be reckoned with. He would rather seem cruel than frail.

At a young age, Farrier was imbued with a strong sense of curiosity and imagination. He likes to make up lame excuses to split apart from a group and go out on his own. He can be overly enthusiastic and childish, excitedly chasing after what looks interesting and/or extremely dangerous. His immaturity combined with his vast reservoir of restless energy is an outburst waiting to happen.

Farrier does have a soft spot. He adores his younger sister and crumbles easily under her will. Howlan 'Howl' Li is the one link that keeps this bitter, war-torn automaton from turning his back on the human race.

Appearance:

Physical: Farrier is short, scrawny, and has peaky skin the color of old paper. He does his best to hide these qualities under a heap of baggy clothing and a large ego. Under a pair of thick-lensed glasses, his eyes are brown and almond-shaped. His dark hair is unkempt and curly.

Accessories: He likes collecting rings, specifically silver ones, and is often seen wearing his collection. To keep his tuberculosis from spreading, he typically wears a face mask or scarf.

Distinctive Markings: His father liked keeping big dogs. Farrier has a deep, ugly scar on his right cheek, courtesy of the aforementioned big dogs.

Abilities:

He can control metal.

His metal body composition can heal injuries to his muscles and organs.

He can come back to life so long as his talisman is intact.

He has a lethal fighting style with martial arts as a base. He fights dirty and cheats often.

His hands are scarred with heat runes.

Weaknesses:

He is a walking lightning rod and can't go outside in a thunderstorm.

His body can't heal itself when he's dead and his regenerative abilities don't work on flesh wounds. When he returns to life, his health is not restored.

If his talisman breaks or even cracks, he automatically ceases to exist.

Is likely to have a coughing fit in the middle of a battle. His tuberculosis is serious, so he occasionally coughs up blood and pieces of his lungs. His coughing fits are very violent and force him to pause in whatever he's doing.

Is partially deaf and getting deafer all the time.

Glasses are extremely thick. He's blind without them.

Howlan Li

Stats:

Wins－ 4

Losses－ 0

Farrier vs. Scout－Win

Farrier vs. Vesip Barons－Win

Farrier vs. Einar Ivaldison－Win

Farrier vs. Breezy－Win