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Description

This is my entry for the competition!

-------------

Radical Racer: Kahel

Kahel is bright, quiet and kind to a fault, dabbling in tech whenever he’s not busy around the AERA and in the lush green forests, tracking and securing Philippine Eagles to put them in safe environments and save them from extinction.

His father, a soldier in the navy, was an abusive drunkard who abandoned them when Kahel was 7. One of the Great Binondo Blazes took his mom’s life while Kahel was down in the Pasig River, collecting and selling clumps of water lilies. He was chased away from the slums by their angry neighbors believing that his mom intentionally set their house ablaze and burned the area surrounding it down to cinders. Homeless and abandoned, Kahel spent a portion of his childhood in the shadowed streets, scavenging for spare mechanical parts in the dump for a living just so he could earn enough to buy chunks of bread that he portions to last him for days.

Santelmo Salazar, a reserve worker from the Azurepines Eagle Reserve Association (AERA) happened upon him a few years later, armless and bleeding to death in an alley, all filthy and underfed, so he adopted and took him in. Kahel then became a junior member of the AERA and was taught their way of life among the birds in the skies.

Lucky Charm: Dream Catcher

The Dream Catcher is powered by controlled helios energy to preserve whatever Kahel stores inside it. It was initially a gift to him by the Reserve, but like all things, Kahel dabbled, reassembled, evolved and upgraded it to what it currently is now. Aside from a picture of his mom smiling, the few things he saved from the ashes of the remains of his house was his parents’ love letters. Whenever he gazes at these, he remembers the time when his family was happy and whole. A time when his parents were very much still in love with each other.

Damaso, Kahel’s biological father and the newly minted navy general, saw Kahel in the network news during his later years, racing to the top charts in the renowned Bakunawa Sky and Underground races. He wanted to recruit him to the navy for his skills. He didn’t realize that Kahel was the son he had with his deceased wife, but Kahel remembers his father because he sees his likeness in him whenever he looks at himself in a mirror. Kahel declined the recommendation and told him he belonged in the skies and not the sea, that unlike him, Kahel wants to save lives, not take them.

Transportation: SINAG-IX395

During his early teens, Kahel was depressed & reclusive and spent most of his days just lying on his bed. Santelmo operated one of the Reserve’s broken down scrap SINAG hovercrafts. He was very concerned for his son, so he asked Ignacio, a visiting government mechanic and childhood friend, to create a set of mechanical arms for Kahel. His friend told Santelmo it would be costly, so Santelmo decided to use the money he set aside for opening a veterinarian clinic to pay for it. “Nothing is dearer to me than Kahel,” he remarks, teary-eyed when he saw the amazement and joy in Kahel’s face when he received those on his birthday. “Worth every piece of gold just to finally see him smile.”

Before Santelmo retired, he taught Kahel how to operate the finicky SINAG with hand gestures and feet movement, then pushed him to explore the green expanse outside of the Reserve to master the hovercraft. Kahel learned to focus his energy on saving birds and other endangered species in the wild, improving upon the hovercraft much to the amazement of the AERA. Even at a young age, Kahel had a way with machines so he helped around in the Reserve and he endeared himself to everyone in it. He changed the energy powering the SINAG from the reddish lash of Incendium energy to the warm heat of yellow Helios energy as a remembrance of the sun he didn’t think he’ll see again during his life in the slums. When the time came to inherit the hovercraft, he decided to dub the SINAG with his mother’s initials and the number of days he’s spent with Santelmo since he met him, thus: SINAG-IX395.

Special Trick: Habitat

Kahel initially created the Habitat for different purposes: to move Philippine Eagle nests from dangerous locations and protect the chick and their family from the elements.

One day, he overheard that the AERA wasn’t doing so well because the current government administration cut off their funding and gave a large portion of it to the military. To help the Reserve’s dilemma, he thought about competing in the Bakunawa races, something that peaked his interest when he listened to Ignacio and Santelmo discussing the racers they bet on during a night out with them. He decided to modify the finicky SINAG and change its features more towards racing, and then upgraded and added additional equipment to run it. He went with a passing caravan heading to the Metro so he could register and compete for the annual competition.

To Kahel, the tech he makes should be used with good intentions for the progressive growth and benefit of everyone. His special trick, the Habitats, are designed as a form of protection/defense along with features for terrain, but he also added in some offense mechanisms because he knows how hard life deals lemons. He wants to be ready and able to act on any given situation instead of leaving everything to chance, because he knows how hard it is to be helpless like when he was young. He’s putting offense as a last line of defense, though. He wants to win, but not at the cost of someone else’s well-being.

Every race he competes in reinvigorates him, a reminder that he’s still young and he can let go for a while. In the thrill of the race, he learns not just to win and survive but to make friends and learn how to live again.

He dedicates all of his triumphs in honor of his dearly departed mother and to Santelmo, his adoptive father. All of the medals, trophies and cash he receives whenever he wins, he gives to the AERA under the guise of the racer name The Eagle. By doing this, he sets the world's views upon the AERA's mission, thus increasing traffic for donations to further their cause and support the continued running of the Reserve. This is him simply paying back with gratitude, and to him it’s not enough to thank them for everything they gave him when he was at the lowest point of his life. To Kahel, all the fame and fortune he gets can’t measure up to the value of family and love he received from his mom, Santelmo and everyone in the Reserve. To him, these people are his habitat.

Contest journal link:
Original Character Challenge - Radical RacerThe winners of the newest Original Character Challenge are in! See which Radical Racers were the best Overall, showed excellent Creativity, or impressed our Featured Artist. Congratulations to all the winners on their new Wacom products! #RadicalRacerOCC

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13+ International

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DeviantArt and Wacom

Description

This is my entry for the competition!

-------------

Radical Racer: Kahel

Kahel is bright, quiet and kind to a fault, dabbling in tech whenever he’s not busy around the AERA and in the lush green forests, tracking and securing Philippine Eagles to put them in safe environments and save them from extinction.

His father, a soldier in the navy, was an abusive drunkard who abandoned them when Kahel was 7. One of the Great Binondo Blazes took his mom’s life while Kahel was down in the Pasig River, collecting and selling clumps of water lilies. He was chased away from the slums by their angry neighbors believing that his mom intentionally set their house ablaze and burned the area surrounding it down to cinders. Homeless and abandoned, Kahel spent a portion of his childhood in the shadowed streets, scavenging for spare mechanical parts in the dump for a living just so he could earn enough to buy chunks of bread that he portions to last him for days.

Santelmo Salazar, a reserve worker from the Azurepines Eagle Reserve Association (AERA) happened upon him a few years later, armless and bleeding to death in an alley, all filthy and underfed, so he adopted and took him in. Kahel then became a junior member of the AERA and was taught their way of life among the birds in the skies.

Lucky Charm: Dream Catcher

The Dream Catcher is powered by controlled helios energy to preserve whatever Kahel stores inside it. It was initially a gift to him by the Reserve, but like all things, Kahel dabbled, reassembled, evolved and upgraded it to what it currently is now. Aside from a picture of his mom smiling, the few things he saved from the ashes of the remains of his house was his parents’ love letters. Whenever he gazes at these, he remembers the time when his family was happy and whole. A time when his parents were very much still in love with each other.

Damaso, Kahel’s biological father and the newly minted navy general, saw Kahel in the network news during his later years, racing to the top charts in the renowned Bakunawa Sky and Underground races. He wanted to recruit him to the navy for his skills. He didn’t realize that Kahel was the son he had with his deceased wife, but Kahel remembers his father because he sees his likeness in him whenever he looks at himself in a mirror. Kahel declined the recommendation and told him he belonged in the skies and not the sea, that unlike him, Kahel wants to save lives, not take them.

Transportation: SINAG-IX395

During his early teens, Kahel was depressed & reclusive and spent most of his days just lying on his bed. Santelmo operated one of the Reserve’s broken down scrap SINAG hovercrafts. He was very concerned for his son, so he asked Ignacio, a visiting government mechanic and childhood friend, to create a set of mechanical arms for Kahel. His friend told Santelmo it would be costly, so Santelmo decided to use the money he set aside for opening a veterinarian clinic to pay for it. “Nothing is dearer to me than Kahel,” he remarks, teary-eyed when he saw the amazement and joy in Kahel’s face when he received those on his birthday. “Worth every piece of gold just to finally see him smile.”

Before Santelmo retired, he taught Kahel how to operate the finicky SINAG with hand gestures and feet movement, then pushed him to explore the green expanse outside of the Reserve to master the hovercraft. Kahel learned to focus his energy on saving birds and other endangered species in the wild, improving upon the hovercraft much to the amazement of the AERA. Even at a young age, Kahel had a way with machines so he helped around in the Reserve and he endeared himself to everyone in it. He changed the energy powering the SINAG from the reddish lash of Incendium energy to the warm heat of yellow Helios energy as a remembrance of the sun he didn’t think he’ll see again during his life in the slums. When the time came to inherit the hovercraft, he decided to dub the SINAG with his mother’s initials and the number of days he’s spent with Santelmo since he met him, thus: SINAG-IX395.

Special Trick: Habitat

Kahel initially created the Habitat for different purposes: to move Philippine Eagle nests from dangerous locations and protect the chick and their family from the elements.

One day, he overheard that the AERA wasn’t doing so well because the current government administration cut off their funding and gave a large portion of it to the military. To help the Reserve’s dilemma, he thought about competing in the Bakunawa races, something that peaked his interest when he listened to Ignacio and Santelmo discussing the racers they bet on during a night out with them. He decided to modify the finicky SINAG and change its features more towards racing, and then upgraded and added additional equipment to run it. He went with a passing caravan heading to the Metro so he could register and compete for the annual competition.

To Kahel, the tech he makes should be used with good intentions for the progressive growth and benefit of everyone. His special trick, the Habitats, are designed as a form of protection/defense along with features for terrain, but he also added in some offense mechanisms because he knows how hard life deals lemons. He wants to be ready and able to act on any given situation instead of leaving everything to chance, because he knows how hard it is to be helpless like when he was young. He’s putting offense as a last line of defense, though. He wants to win, but not at the cost of someone else’s well-being.

Every race he competes in reinvigorates him, a reminder that he’s still young and he can let go for a while. In the thrill of the race, he learns not just to win and survive but to make friends and learn how to live again.

He dedicates all of his triumphs in honor of his dearly departed mother and to Santelmo, his adoptive father. All of the medals, trophies and cash he receives whenever he wins, he gives to the AERA under the guise of the racer name The Eagle. By doing this, he sets the world's views upon the AERA's mission, thus increasing traffic for donations to further their cause and support the continued running of the Reserve. This is him simply paying back with gratitude, and to him it’s not enough to thank them for everything they gave him when he was at the lowest point of his life. To Kahel, all the fame and fortune he gets can’t measure up to the value of family and love he received from his mom, Santelmo and everyone in the Reserve. To him, these people are his habitat.

Contest journal link:
Original Character Challenge - Radical RacerThe winners of the newest Original Character Challenge are in! See which Radical Racers were the best Overall, showed excellent Creativity, or impressed our Featured Artist. Congratulations to all the winners on their new Wacom products! #RadicalRacerOCC

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Facebook
13+ International

:icon: @
DeviantArt and Wacom