Name: Aeolia Ferrar
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Race: Elf
Height: 180cm/5’11
Weight: 70kg/154lbs

Appearance: Aeolia’s appearance is wasteful, a disappointment to seemingly everyone besides Aeolia herself. Long blonde hair, straightened and neatly braided for her debut, curls forlornly between her shoulder blades, cut cheaply and poorly maintained. A pristine complexion that earned her compliments in her youth is marred by the pallid hue it has gained after months deep within ancient chambers, surrounded by shuttered windows and old books, and she long since sold her makeup for an experiment which at the time seemed so very promising. Despite protestations, and half-serious offers to send rags and pouches of stamped gold, she wears the finery she is prescribed by her fussing mother: once-crisp white shirts long since in need of ironing drape her slender figure, trousers of fine wool cover her long legs, bearing the specks of old ink and the patterned ghosts of alchemical mishaps. She keeps the sole ball dress she had foisted upon her in good condition, locked out of sight of her narrow, hawkish eyes and their inquisitive, hurried gaze. She walks with a steady pace that is always slightly too fast to be acceptable. She speaks in crisp, richly-accented and clipped words, fluctuating between tacit and lugubrious depending most often on the current state of her dissertation. Her hands are clever and long-fingered, calloused and dexterous, and rarely content themselves with stillness when she is in conversation, either to gesture or fidget. She avoids eye contact not out of nerves but out of skittish distraction, her fascination pulled to the lines of an interesting nose, to the ripples of water, or to the proud cerulean sky and its soaring occupants.

Character Concept: Aeolia is an innovative, if not particularly powerful, Spirit User, and a shining star of the youngest generation of University students, a scholar to the very core in constant need of money to fund her research. She is the scion of the affluent, new-moneyed Ferrarus family, the second daughter of two and the fourth child of four. Her mother was born to failing aristocrats, her father to a jewel trader, and together they raised her with all the advantages wealth and modest status could bring. From an early age, she proved a prodigious student, and was blessed with a Spirit, and her oldest friend, Tacitus. She lacked the charisma and ambition that drew her father’s love to her older brother, or the demure beauty and grace that made her mother dote on her older sister, and so she found patronage in books. She excelled in school, impressed the private tutors she demanded, and exhausted the family library in impressive time. It was only natural for her to continue her education at the University, studying Natural Philosophy and Alchemy alongside her magics. She is the archetypical struggling graduate student, balancing her dwindling allowance from her family with teaching, research, writing and maneuvering within the bureaucracy of the school. She has poured her entire being into the pursuit of knowledge, but in doing so has shuttered herself from the other joys of life, and has resigned herself to the fate of the candle burning at both ends, to be brilliant and poorly-planned. She works fingers to bones to stay afloat in the life she’s chosen, but whispers in the back of her mind, doubts gnawing at her, are making her wonder if her choice couldn’t be improved somewhat.

Combat, Abilities and Skills: Aeolia is not much of a combatant. She’s naturally frail, lacking in much physical constitution, weak and easily startled. She’s never been in a real fight, much to the chagrin of her spirit, Tacitus, and despite his urging has taken few steps to learn how to better protect herself. She took a fencing class when she first came to the university, but had no special talent for it, and so quickly discarded it as a waste of time. With the help of her Spirit, she has a versatile and worthy set of abilities if she ever was to put her life in danger, with Tacitus being a Spirit with an immense and exclusive affinity for metals in general, and Iron in particular.
To Aeolia’s parents, she is defined by what she cannot do. She cannot dance, she cannot sing, she can weave to only the most meager standards. The last time she tried to cook without a recipe she ruined not only the dish but the pot it was cooked in, and she is by no means a great beauty, especially in regards to her womanly assets. She has never had interest in money as an abstract concept, never had the heart for stern negotiation or vicious back-alley deals, never had the charisma to trick or inspire or convince outside the debating hall. She has little patience for politics, and truth be told has very few true friends.
She prides herself on what she can do. She can speak three languages at a conversational level, and read two different kinds of long-dead runic scripts. She can write ten pages of research notes, or a particularly inspiring thesis proposal, in a night, given a hot pot of tea and no distractions. She could navigate an alchemy lab blindfolded and still distill whatever was asked for her. She can treat rheumatism, flux, and a hundred other ailments of the body. She is the authority at the university on the study of explosive reagents and chemical fuels, and has taken work as a teacher, an accountant, an assistant engineer, and, rather bizarrely, on the night before a formal ball she was a crude jeweler for an old acquaintance looking to impress.

Equipment and Inventory: Aeolia goes nowhere without an inkwell, pen, and several pages of cheap paper. Besides that, she travels light. She has good quality, if not always fashionable, clothes for all weather, and she often travels with Iron for Tacitus and a small pocketknife for when she forgets her dormitory key in the library.

Sample Post/Introduction:

Name: Aeolia Ferrar
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Race: Elf
Height: 180cm/5’11
Weight: 70kg/154lbs

Appearance: Aeolia’s appearance is wasteful. Long blonde hair, straightened and neatly braided for her debut, curls forlornly between her shoulder blades, cut cheaply and poorly kept. A pristine complexion that earned her compliments in her youth is marred by the pallid hue it has gained after months deep within ancient chambers, surrounded by shuttered windows and old books. Reluctantly, she wears the finery she is prescribed by her mother: once-crisp white shirts long since in need of ironing drape her slender figure, trousers of fine wool cover her long legs, bearing the specks of old ink and the patterned ghosts of alchemical mishaps. She views the world through narrow, hawkish eyes and their inquisitive, hurried gaze. She walks like she speaks: too fast. She uses crisp, richly-accented and clipped words, fluctuating between tacit and lugubrious depending most often on the current state of her dissertation. Her hands are clever and dexterous, and rarely content themselves with stillness when she is in conversation, and the bright cerulean eyes she boasts roam free of their own will.

Character Concept: Aeolia is an innovative, if not particularly powerful, Spirit User, and a shining star of the youngest generation of University students, a scholar to the very core in constant need of money to fund her research. She is the scion of the affluent, new-moneyed Ferrarus family, the fourth child of four. Her mother was born to failing aristocrats, her father to a wealthy jewel trader, and together they raised her with all the advantages wealth and modest status could bring. From an early age, she proved a prodigious student, and was blessed with a Spirit, and her oldest friend, Tacitus. She lacked the charisma and ambition that drew her father’s love to her older brother, or the demure beauty and grace that made her mother dote on her older sister, and so she found patronage in books. She excelled in school, impressed the private tutors she demanded, and exhausted the family library. It was only natural for her to continue her education at the University, studying everything she can find time for. She spends her days balancing the ever-dwindling allowance from her family with teaching, research, writing and insufficient sleep. She has poured her entire being into the pursuit of knowledge, and has resigned herself to the fate of the candle burning at both ends, to be brilliant and poorly-planned. She works fingers to bones to stay afloat in the life she’s chosen, but she has found herself wondering more and more if it is a good one.

Combat, Abilities and Skills: Aeolia is not much of a combatant. She’s naturally frail, lacking in much physical constitution, and as weak as can be expected. She’s never been in a real fight, much to the chagrin of her spirit, Tacitus, and despite his urging has taken few steps to learn how to better protect herself. With the help of her Spirit, she has a versatile and worthy set of magical abilities if she ever was to put her life in danger, with Tacitus being a Spirit with an immense and exclusive affinity for metals in general, and Iron in particular.

To Aeolia’s parents, she is defined by what she cannot do. She cannot dance, she cannot sing, she can weave to only the most meager standards. The last time she tried to cook without a recipe she ruined not only the dish but the pot it was cooked in. She has never had interest in money-making, never had the charisma to trick or inspire or convince outside the debating hall. She has little patience for politics, and truth be told has very few true friends.

She prides herself on what she can do. She can speak three languages at a conversational level, and read two different kinds of long-dead runic scripts. She can write ten pages of research notes, or a particularly inspiring thesis proposal, in a night. She could navigate an alchemy lab blindfolded and still distill whatever was asked for her. She can treat rheumatism, flux, and a hundred other ailments of the body or mind. She is the authority at the university on the study of explosive reagents and chemical fuels, and has taken work as a teacher, an accountant, an assistant engineer, and in one particularly interesting anecdote a diary-thief.

Equipment and Inventory: Aeolia goes nowhere without an inkwell, pen, and several pages of cheap paper. Besides that, she travels light, never bringing more than she thinks she needs.