Emma Ellison /// Elian Zefra
If you can find a short-haired elf without egregiously pointy ears in dancer's clothes, preferably holding fans, let me know. Because I can't. X.x Though I wager it's impossible, now that I've detailed the specifics of appearance and attire.“If you want me to heal you, STAY WHERE I CAN @#$%ING HEAL YOU!"”O V E R V I E W
N A M E
Emma Ellison
A V A T A R
Elian Zefra (also answers to Elly, Zef, and a few other nicknames)
A G E
26
G E N D E R
female
V I S A G E
Emma is a fit young woman, her body shaped by years of dance classes. She is solidly built, not willowy, and if she isn't mindful of what she eats she gains weight. She's taller than most women, but this doesn't stop her from wearing heels if she wants to dress up a bit. Her dark hair is untamably curly and she keeps it cut very short so it is manageable. Her eyes are unremarkably brown, her brows thick, and her face rounded. Emma favors intense colors, be it vibrant crimson, royal purple, eye-searing green or jet black. Outside of the dark and the bright, she also likes metallics, and a lot of her jewelry is metalwork, where it's not chunky modern-art plastic. Her fashion sense is a bit quirky, and she is just as likely to be wearing a blouse and a skirt as she is jeans and a T-shirt. One thing she does insist on is comfort -- if it bothers her too much she won't wear it, whether she's having a day in or a night out. Because she can't do much with her hair, Emma has a whole collection of hats, and she'll wear one more often than not.
Emma is very aware that her avatar is not herself. While she might embody Elian while she's logged in, and while MMOs are really not roleplay-heavy in most cases, outside of specific groups, her concept of Emma-as-Elian and Emma-irl are quite distinct. Since that is the case, it's not too surprising that Elain only somewhat resembles Emma herself. The build is the same, with perhaps an extra inch or two of height, but her brown hair has darkened to jet and her eyes lightened to gold. Since it was an option, she elected to get her hair permanently straightened. It's still a shorter style, but now the back is completely off her neck while the very front reaches her collarbone. Her skin tone is slightly darker too, more bronzed than tanned, and she's come out with elfin ears, just pointed enough to have the tips show through her hair. She's traded her hats for a woven golden circlet, but her fondness for dark colors is still very much in evidence. Her attire is three pieces of black velvet, a close-fitting tank top, a long-sleeved jacket, and flowing pants. The pants might be mistaken for a skirt at a distance, cut loose in the leg and widening from hip to ankle. The waist is broad and snug, providing a bit of padding between her skin and a leather utility belt. Her jacket has no collar and only a single, small button near the top so it doesn't fly completely open. Unlike shirt and pants, this garment is covered in gold filigree, Even the smallest movement is accompanied by sparkle and flash as the embroidery catches the light. Leather boots with a slight heel finish off her outfit, with sturdy soles and metal reinforcement for the toes. In addition to the utility belt, Elian often also carries a leather satchel strapped to her thigh to carry somewhat larger items.
P E R S O N A L I T Y
Emma is generally kindhearted and compassionate. She's known among her friends for being a good listener and willing to lend a hand. She is mostly cheerful, with a good sense of humor, and fluent in sarcasm. She is willing to laugh at anything, including herself -- and all the inappropriate jokes as well. Her outlook tends to be a mix of optimism, pragmatism, and cynicism. She did well though not great in school, but she is particularly adept at puzzle-solving and thinking on her feet. She's mostly dependable and trustworthy, though she tends to have trouble learning names, and will forget when things are if she doesn't write them down. She enjoys a good party, so long as it's not too loud, and is perfectly at home among strangers. Emma is outgoing, eager to meet new people and make new friends. This desire for new experiences leads her to be the sort of gamer that enjoys exploration.
She's always had one foot in the virtual world, and the people she befriends online are just as real to her as those she knows in the physical one. She believes there are advantages to each sort of relationship. She's had a number of boyfriends over the years, some starting irl, some starting online, but she's yet to find the person she'd like as her permanent Player Two.
Emma is a huge geek, and acknowledges her various fandoms openly. She is also a dedicated gamer, though she does not play competitively. For her, gaming is a way to step away from any worries she might have and immerse herself in another world, a chance to be whoever and whatever she likes. It's not that she dislikes her life -- indeed, she is quite happy with it. But that doesn't mean there isn't time to let her imagination take the lead while chilling with whomever happens to be on.
Emma is quick to anger, but just as quick to forgive. She's mostly a good sport, though she never likes losing. She hates trolls and people who mess things up for others through sheer stupidity. It should be noted that kindhearted does not necessarily mean kind or polite. She tends to give those she likes a hard time, teasing, taunting, and being generally snarky. This verbal abuse is given with the greatest affection, a casual lack of concern for what's proper or polite that shows she's truly comfortable with that person. Of course, if she really hates someone she's likely to insult and mock sincerely, and this can be a bit confusing if one is not sure where one stands.
As a gamer, Emma tends to be a completionist, and she enjoys experimenting with what a game will let her do. She loves turning up secrets, and the accompanying thrill of discovery. Her temper also shows in games, and there is a dent in one of her game room's walls where she once threw a controller a bit too hard after some idiot turned a challenging but doable boss run into a TPK. It's interesting to note that while she doesn't often yell at people in the real world, she has no such qualms in virtual combat and an impressive array of curses to boot. All of which she will unleash on...well, just about anyone. The guy that got the party killed. The camper that keeps killing her. The one that steals her kills. The teammate that ruined her perfect shot -- even the tank she was healing who moved out of range. But give her a brief break after a fight and she will settle down again.
Emma will play any class, but tends to favor melee DPS fighters and ranged DPS casters when playing alone. However, because she is very familiar with the shortcomings of MMOs, she knows that a healer and support caster will rarely lack for willing companions in dungeon runs, and these are the areas she chose to have Elian focus on.
B A C K G R O U N D
Emma's life has been nothing particularly exceptional. She grew up in midwest America, the elder of two siblings from an upper middle class family where affording the latest game system was never much of an issue. Both her parents had jobs dealing with computers, and Emma entered the world of the internet and video games young. She'd try just about anything, but has always gravitated toward puzzle games, rpgs, and open-world games. With a network of fellow gamers that spans the globe, it was no surprise that she heard about Pariah very early on. She had to tighten her budget and do some saving, since dance instructors don't exactly make a ton of money, but it was more than worth it when she first entered the world of Pariah.
A T T R I B U T E S
R O L E
caster (primarily healer and support)
A F F I L A T I O N
Tyhrien
P R O F E S S I O N
healer, dancer
W E A P O N O F C H O I C E
Butterfly's Wings: a rather unconventional weapon set, the Butterfly's Wings appear to be a pair of ornate fans. A closer examination reveals they are far deadlier than they seem at first glance. The ribs are quite sturdy, made of metal with wooden handles and extending beyond the dark fabric of the fans themselves. Those tips are sharpened, as well as the leading edges of the outermost ribs, designed to slice and stab as effectively as long knives. Each fan can open as far as a hundred and eighty degrees, revealing a bright swirl of butterflies on the fabric, and she can lock the fans in any position, to keep them from collapsing on impact when this is not desired. The hingepoint of each fan consists of a large gemstone, a magical focus allowing the wielder to cast much like with a wand or a mage's staff.
B E N C H M A R K S
needs rephrasing, but getting approval first
Physical
Healer - her healer type spells are quite effective, and she can cast them more quickly
agile - dart in, strike, and fall back. moves quickly and changes direction on a dime
acrobatic -- dancer, also trying alternative routes, good balance
saw it coming - good at identifying attacks fast enough to get out of the way or use a magic counter
support caster -- since the vast majority of her battle participation is spellwork, she has a high magical endurance
Mental
battlefield awareness - she is constantly assessing who needs help and how, so now she has a vague awareness of which teammates are in trouble, and how badly
identify monster - constantly noted what things did, and then looked up things she encountered afterwards, and now has a better chance of recognizing something, and knowing what it can do
enemy assessment - if she identifies an opponent, she may know this automatically, but when fighting she has tracked attacks and their efficacy, and can use this to identify weaknesses and what attacks are effective
danger assessment - a support caster doesn't last long if she doesn't know how to avoid danger. Experience (and a number of early deaths) have taught her how to recognize unstable terrain and places where unpleasant things might lurk, and now she's much better at recognizing such things.
pathfinder -- exploration, good at recognizing ways to get somewhere, and making improvised routes
R O U G H V I R T U A L H I S T O R Y
Elian has been in Pariah since near the beginning, though she spent a good amount of time getting used to an entirely new system, and then playing with it. For Emma, the new system was almost counter-intuitive, given that she expected it to function like...well, a game. However, once she got the hang of it she immediately set off to see what she could do with it. A lot of time was spent exploring, whether by herself or with a party. A lot of solo explorations ended in death. Embarrassingly many, actually. While Emma is a dancer, she is not a fighter, and the lack of HUD and various other supposedly necessary weasels of gaming made things harder. She still /likes/ solo exploration, as she does in just about any game, particularly the open-world ones, but Emma's learned that Elian's far better off travelling with a group in many cases. There was some benefit to all the dying, and it takes the form of Elian being able to actually land hits in melee combat and then get out of range. She can even do respectable damage, for a character that isn't offensively oriented.
To the community of Pariah as a whole, Elian is known as a reliable healer who will do everything she can to take care of her party. She's known to be adventurous and not afraid of a challenge. She is, however, also known to be a real firecracker, between her habit of shouting profanity at friend and foe alike, as well as her low tolerance for fools. One rather interesting rumor says that after a particularly close call, the feisty healer ressed, killed, and then reressed her party's DPS archer multiple times in a row, since he'd drawn aggro on not only the mobs they were fighting but several more beside, and then failed to back off when he was told he was making a mess of things. The rumor isn't true, of course. Elian only killed him once. And she had help.
