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Basic Information
Name: Vanessa Harrow
Order: Drenoth
Gender: Female
Age: 19
Appearance: Vanessa is rather tomboyish in appearance. Her ivory locks do not cascade down her shoulders, but are instead short-cropped and rest just beneath her ears. However, they are still pristine and possess a luster that rivals that of runway models. When caught in the light, blonde highlights glimmer beneath her platinum strands. Vanessa's hair frames an oval-like face with strong, high cheekbones and a rather rugged jawline with an indentation in her chin. Piercing jade eyes rest below a light dusting of wispy eyebrows, and above an average nose. Her ruby red lips provide a pleasing contrast to her creamy, off-white skin and dull white, teeth.
Vanessa's smooth neck reveals an almost imperceptible larynx that produces a rich, alto voice. Her frame is lithe and petite, with narrow, bony shoulders leading down to toned arms that belie her strength. Her breasts are average in size; large enough to identify her as a female, but small enough as to go unnoticed. Her ribs are slightly visible if her clothing is removed, as is her toned stomach. Her less-than-shapely hips rest atop thin, muscular legs and diminutive size 6 feet. Vanessa stands at 5'6, and weighs approximately 120lb.
Vanessa dresses in all black leather armor from head to toe, including black leather gloves and combat boots. Underneath this armor, the knight wears a black tunic and black leggings. Her Drenoth insignia is stitched into the right shoulder of her armor and tunic, and is also tattooed in black ink on the bare skin of the same shoulder. While this leather armor provides more protection than no armor at all, it definitely pales in comparison to metal armor. However, this it allows Vanessa a much greater amount of stealth, speed, and flexibility, which are all necessary to her fighting style. Vanessa also keeps a normal wardrobe of jackets, jeans, T-shirts, and sneakers for when she needs to blend in among humans.
Biography: Vanessa was born on December 13 in 1992 into the Harrow bloodline of the Knights of Ancarth. This particular bloodline is one of the most renown families of the knights. They almost always have a member or two of their family in the Circlet. More importantly, they are known for having generations and generations of knights in the Order of Ecclesia, and also for their disdain of those within the Order of Drenoth.
From the time that she was small, Vanessa's mother began her training in the techniques and methods of Ecclesia. She taught her prayers, chants, and incantations. However, she could barely grasp even the most basic of them. Her mother still maintained hope that she would improve when her Magistra manifested itself.
One dark day, Vanessa was sitting alone in her room studying a tome of Angelic writings when she heard the whispers of a dark voice. She became dizzy, and felt a rush of energy release itself from a hidden area of her mind. Her mother walked in on her making shadow puppets on the wall...except she wasn't using a flashlight. In fact she wasn't moving at all. At first, her mother thought that she had developed Light Manipulation, one of the most revered Ecclesian Magistras.
When Vanessa's mother noticed her daughter's lack of movement, she was consumed by horror and disgust as realization slowly dawned on her. She seized Vanessa by the wrist and brutally whipped her. She locked her in a closet and left her there for days at a time. Time and time again, she would ask her to perform the prayers, and to exhibit some sort of Ecclesian Magistra; even one that hadn't been seen yet. Then, she would repeat the process until Vanessa was left broken and helpless.
Eventually, Vanessa's mother abandoned her on the doorstep of a well-known Drenoth household. The eccentric couple took her in and raised her as their own daughter. They could not believe their luck, as the wife of the household was infertile. They trained her in their arts, and allowed her to grow and flourish under their guidance. They took her to the Master of Arms, and her daggers were crafted for her and imbued with her magical energy in order to manifest their abilities.
Now, Vanessa serves as a Drenoth Knight, wandering her way through life and trying to fix what was broken inside of her.
(Note: I know this sucks, but I hate backstories, so please bear with me. XD If it is insufficient, please let me know and I'll add to it or take away from it. I'll probably edit it when the OOC comes out and I have more to work with/add to it.)
Personality: Vanessa is a tortured soul hiding behind a mask of cold indifference and professional efficiency. On the outside, the knight is cool, calm, and collected. She will not hesitate to provide a well-calculated rebuttal to anything that could be even remotely construed as hostility. Because of her abilities, she is left with a broad arsenal of personal weaponry to use against others. Vanessa does not do well in social situations, and mostly prefers to keep to herself. She does not readily volunteer any information about herself, and prefers to keep everyone at arm's length with biting remarks and outwardly exhibiting little care for their well-being.
Underneath this cold exterior, Vanessa is hurting. She was emotionally damaged by the harsh rejection she received from her family when they learned that she was destined for the order of Drenoth, and the verbal and physical abuse she experienced from them as well. She has many issues with her concept of self-worth, and often times entertains thoughts of suicide. The only aspect of herself that she sees as worthy of praise is her aptitude as a knight. That is why she trains incredibly hard and seeks to become a member of the Circlet.
Deep down, Vanessa is lonely and she is seeking someone who can gaze past the mask she wears and see who she is on the inside. She wants to experience love and friendship, but she is unable to let down her guard for fear of getting hurt. She needs someone to teach her how, someone she can open up to and share parts of herself with. Only then can she move past what her family has done to her. Once she opens up to someone and they gain her trust, she will be loyal to them without fault. However, if her trust is broken, it is virtually impossible to win back.
Despite her inner turmoil, Vanessa is able to find peace through a combination of nature and artistic ability. She is absolutely captivated by the beauty of nature. The babbling of a brook is like music to her ears, and the iridescence of the rising sun leaves her breathless. When the pressure of her own mind becomes too much, she simply finds a place laden with natural beauty, and either sketches, paints, or draws what she sees. Through this, she is able to reach a mental state of peace for a short while. This is why she detests urban areas, and is much more moody and volatile when in cities. She is not as controlled, and is even sharper with her words.
(Note: I will most likely be editing this over time as I flesh out more aspects of her personality and she grows throughout the story. This is the case with most of my characters. As you can imagine, it can become a big mess. XD)
Combat Information
Companion Type: Vanessa's companions are twin daggers. They are colored completely black, except for a silver etching of their names into the blade in Enochian (angelic) runes. (This is Vanessa's humorous display of irony...heheh.) The hilts of the daggers are six inches in length, and two inches in diameter. They also have a metal appendage protruding from the end of the hilt shaped into the form of the Drenoth insignia. There is also a slot right beneath this appendage that the other dagger may be inserted into. The guard is four inches wide, one inch in length, and two inches thick. It is simple and metallic. The actual blade is nine inches in length. Its width begins at three inches, but gradually narrows until it comes to a sharp point at the tip of the dagger. It is thin enough to slide between the ribs of a petite woman.
When the Drenoth insignia of both daggers are inserted into each others' slots, the hilts extend and grow, creating a double-bladed sword staff. All attributes of the weapon remain the same; the middle simply grows until the entire weapon is five feet tall.
Companion Name: When separate, the names of the daggers are "Folly" and "Hubris" respectively. However, when they are combined, they are called "Acumen".
Companion Special Abilities: The names of these weapons provide a subtle hint as to what their powers might be.
Folly: Folly reveals the shortcomings, errors, weaknesses, and negative aspect of a person, animal, object, etc. Vanessa need only have the weapon on her person and be in physical contact with what she is trying to analyze in order to glean this information. Only one object/person's folly can be held at one time, and is forgotten within thirty minutes. Vanessa can use these follies to her advantage. Folly has revealed a certain level of sentience with time, reveling in the weaknesses that it uncovers.
Hubris: Folly's sister blade is quite similar in nature. However, instead of revealing the "follies" of something or someone, Hubris reveals their strengths, successes, and the positive aspects of them. The method of operation is the same. Only one object/person's hubris can be held at one time, and is forgotten within thirty minutes. Vanessa can use their own "hubris", confidence, and strength to her advantage. Hubris has also developed a sentience much like folly. However, Hubris is the positive to Folly's negative, and enjoys learning about the good aspects of others.
Acumen: When combined, the twin daggers Hubris and Folly form the swordstaff Acumen. Acumen possesses the abilities of both blades, allowing it to provide Vanessa with a complete understanding of something. She will know it/them inside and out. Acumen has an internal memory, instantly recalling all aspects of the knowledge that it absorbs. Acumen is essentially an archive that Vanessa may call upon.
Vanessa can also transfer any bit of information to someone by touching them with one of Acumen's blades. It views the information with a neutral indifference in its sentience. Because of its vast amount of knowledge, Vanessa has difficulty controlling this weapon, and has to be careful not to be consumed by the constant pulse of knowledge. She is still training with it and learning how to sort and categorize everything. Unless Acumen is activated, Vanessa cannot access its memory.
Knight Magistra~Shadowmancy: Vanessa was blessed with a rare Magistra that she has named "Shadowmancy". Vanessa can manipulate and bend shadows and darkness to her will. She can use this ability in a variety of ways, from concealing herself to hardening shadows into solid entities for offensive and defensive techniques. Vanessa can also use her manipulation of shadows to create illusions by indirectly bending light using darkness. Darkness and light share an undeniable equilibrium, and Vanessa has simply made this connection. However, it is slightly more difficult and complex to create illusions with this technique, and thus is difficult for her to control at this time. Vanessa can even go so far as to manipulate the "shadows" inside of a person's mind, making their dark thoughts more prominent and malicious, causing nightmares, and bringing torturous revelations.
Order Magistra: Vanessa has learned the art of Demonization through her training as a member of the Order of Drenoth. The knight simply brings forth the memories of her abuse and rejection, and transfers this into a dark, boiling rage and hate. She transforms herself into a terrifying demon. Her platinum locks turn black as night, and her hair grows down to the middle of her back. The sclera of her eyes turn black, and her iris turns blue. She has no pupal. Her skin turns a ghastly gray shade, she grows fangs and clawed hands and feet, and black bat wings sprout from her back. Her Shadowmancy becomes much more potent, and allows her to create semi-sentient shadow entities to battle for her. Vanessa can only hold this transformation for ten minutes at most, and it leaves her completely drained and exhausted until she has rested. It is a last resort weapon.
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Question #1: Are you planning on adding any more Order Magistras? If you aren't, are we allowed to come up with our own that we could pool together in a sort of "master list", and we'd only be allowed to have three of them? It would take some pressure off of you and allow for a more "player-involved" touch to the game. Just a suggestion. If I'm needlessly rambling, my apologies lol.
Question #2: Are you planning on adding a god of Darkness or something along those lines? I was thinking of mentioning that this god was whispering to Vanessa and she received her powers from him/her/it.
Thanks! And let me know if my CS is okay.
EDIT 2This question is now irrelevant.EDIT: Question #3: (They just never stop do they? XD) Are we allowed to claim a position as a member of the circlet? I don't particularly care which position, I would just like to be a member. Could it be like a first come first served type deal? If not, could we earn the position through RP? Just wondering. I wanted to make Vanessa a member, but I wasn't sure if you had the whole Circlet thing reserved for other people or something like that.
Question #4: You probably hate this question, but when do you plan on starting, and on what scenario? I just like to plan things early. If you don't know it's perfectly alright. I'm just a very inquisitive fellow. Heheh
