Name:
Publically (Elven Lands)- Híril (Lady) Dyril Elian, of the Elian bloodline and granddaughter of Hír (Lord) Raton Elian.
Privately- Agarwaen (blood-stained), Umarth (ill-fated), Hin (child), N'Tel'Quess (not of the people- not elf), Uuner (nobody), etc.
By Lower Station (often slaves and servants) - Híril Dyril

Age: 31 (ages about 1.5 slower than humans)

Appearance Age: 22 due to slow aging process

Gender: Female

Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

Position: Merchant (upper class within Imperial Even society)

Personality:

Value over Image

Being an Elf, her upbring places a high value on image and worth in order to advance your family to a higher status. From her birth she has been taught to hold a strict control over her emotions and give a calm presentation in public, especially when in the present of those equal or higher than her rank. Failure to hold this practice would risk her family reputation, entitling them to mockery over their ‘childish’ behavior. Minor as it might seem, recovering from it was often a chore best avoided. This didn’t mean anyone could insult her family, and by extend herself, without any repercussions and those will come in time when she’s had time to ready them.

Patience

Dyril is very patient, maybe too patient at times. She never rushes into things, as shown in her bio, and instead carefully treads into her plans. It can take months to years to set things up before she feels safe to act on her plans. In some ways this can help and hurt her. While she won’t blindly rush in on instinct, any time sensitive plans she decides to follow could become useless if too much time passes or things don’t add up in her favor. Most times it requires a push from an outside source for her to place aside her patience and go for things ahead of plans.

Motivation

She will have two current motivations. Her original motivation was to prove her worth to her family, both Elven (though she won’t admit it) and human. In order to adaptly do this, she needs to make her trading dealings work out well and benefit her family both here and across the sea. Her second one will surface the moment she learns of recent events about the death of Henry. This will develop into a need for revenge against the individual that took his life away and desire to change her exile family’s state. How long this lasts could change in the future.

Weaknesses:

Image Vanity- Like many Elves are brought up to believe, Dyril values herself and family image highly giving her sense of vanity. Not surprising since her environment has been her teacher most of her life and it is all she knows. When others attempt to ruin it,, Dyril’s calm becomes less natural and more forced. With higher and greater insult to the image, she gains a hidden spite and this builds over time. Dyril rarely forgets an insult as she bides her time, gradually seeking to gain some sort of satisfactory revenge for their insult. If left unchecked, this can eventually become obsession in her free time or influence her focus.

Isolation and Abandonment Fear- While Dyril doesn’t fully know it, she has a minor fear of being discarded and even left behind by all she knows, loves, and even is connected to. This stems from her upbring where her family regarded her as something to be ashamed of and when possible, isolated her from both public and family ordeals. If it wasn’t for Kiseo, she would’ve fallen to the effects of facing her fear a long time ago.

Mix Heritage- Being a hybrid has its perks and limitations, something that Dyril knows fully well. One biggest stigma among hybrids is that they are sterile and are unable to carry on the bloodline into the future. This can bring a promising family into extinction over time if a future heir is unable to produce children. In addition, her physical appearance is a mixture of human and Elven which makes her unappealing to either race for the most part. Too Elven for a human or too human for an Elf is a painful experience forcing her to give up on the notion of any love or family. It also makes any manipulation through sexual appeal clearly out of her skill range unless one is curious or want to try something ‘exotic’. Another issue is that her facial ticks aren’t like humans and sometimes be difficult to read.

Lack of Combative Skills- Dyril was brought up in higher society and being female, these are primary factors that denied her the right to learn combat skills. Females had higher power when it came to marriage and politics than physical or business transactions within Imperial lands which made image that more important to them since it was harder to earn and keep. Married individuals often rode upon their husband’s successes which could range from the battlefield to more common skills unfitting for a female. This means any situation that required pure physical strength or speed would put Dyril at a serious disadvantage or even worse, make her into a fool. She is unable to defend herself should things escalate into blood and violence.

Ignorance of Formaroth- Never traveled beyond her family property too often, Dyril has little to no knowledge of any thing about Formaroth’s politics or recent events. Not even the state of her present family. Any knowledge she does know is officially obtained through traders (which are few and far between) or what guests have been kind enough to share, none she fully puts trust in until she’s seen it.

Appearance:

Physical

Being a hybrid of two races, Dyril’s got characteristics that fit both her mother and father. Her mother’s are dominant which allowed her grandfather, Raton, to hide her heritage with the excuse of deformities. ‘Unique’ isn’t acceptable in Elven society like it is in their slaves, a fact she’s had to live with all her life and struggle to overcome. Compared to her relatives who sport the common dark blue (denim color), hers is a bluish-grey shade. A few have compared it to something called blue spruce trees which don’t exist in Beilokias.

She has dark, brown eyes much like her father. So far, no one she’s been with for extended time- save her family- has noticed the difference compared to their own onyx back irises. Her face is considered long by humans standards, giving her a rather haughty look like the rest of her family. However when closely examined, the subtle differences are easily seen and clearly not completely elven. Her features are fleshed out along her cheeks, sides, and forehead rounder in comparison to her other female relatives.

The thicker physical appearance doesn’t stop merely at her face, but also include her weight which is considered heavy at 146 lbs and closer to human than any female elf should be. Meanwhile, her saving grace is that she barely falls to the average height of 164 cm (5’4”) and doesn’t need to shrink or alter it in any fashion. The final abnormality is her fingers, they are still considerably long but a bit less claw like and a dead give away to her human side. Instead of three digits on each hand, she has five.

Her default expression is often neutral and difficult to read thanks of her mixed heritage. Often considered permanently stuck in a day dreaming or haughty one, which gives the impression to humans she doesn’t care about what is being said. A fact that is far from her real feelings. However, when she does smile the human in her is quite easily seen and considered genuinely appealing (not sexually), breaking the bizarre features she inherited. Her black hair falls to about the bottom of her shoulder blades, but often bounded into numerous tight braids and loop about her head back. They are pinned in place with silver hair pins that are decorated into handcrafted designs like shells, feathers, and even animals.

Clothing

In Elven culture, despite the hot and arid atmosphere, the higher social classes often wear layers of clothing that reflect their status and importance among their peers. Being a granddaughter of Elian bloodline, her dresses are the official colors of black and yellow with the crest of her family’s rank. They are linked with the Patricians making Raton and his son Dathion apart of the senate. Often, Dyril is dressed in loosely fitting dresses made of two layer skirts, a pleated shirt and binded at the waist with a belt. Upon her feet are slipper shoes and a kaftan (long over coat) is placed over her to allow her to shade her head from view.

Background:
Family
Lists of those Dyril has interacted with on a daily basis, both alive and deceased.

Grandparents
Uncles
Aunts
Male Cousins
Female Cousins

The story begins on the day Dyril was conceived thanks to ill fated combination of a bet and curiosity. After the recent decease of his wife, Angril Elian, Raton’s merchant trade faced possible decline in popularity and worth when profits rapidly shot down. Evidence, much to his cringe, had been planted to discredit the value of his goods causing him to seek additional options to recover from the loss. In 471 A R, Raton and his daughter Crabanil traveled to Formaroth due to establishing trade with Ralda. The Mazeltof was one of a few families that held a rich dwarven source of materials in their land and were willing to trade for then giving the right persuasion. Usually the very rare magical items (thanks to a method done by mandrakes), potions, food goods not native to the continent, silks, and other materials. Drawven metal, in any variety, was often sought after for great prices making the trip worth it and hopefully recover his reputation.

Setting aside his mourning, Hír Raton Elian and his youngest daughter Crabanil traveled to Formaroth. Crabanil was expected to take up the trade negotiations after a few years and show her own worth in her family’s eyes. This wasn’t meant to be since on the last week of being deep into trade dealings, Henry Mazeltof was roped into a bet which his companions believed was impossible for him to complete: to bed the Elven daughter of their host. Being the arrogant, strong headed individual that came with his heritage, Henry took on the challenge in exchange for greater gains and his friend’s respect.

When Raton followed his father into the final night of negotiations, Henry made his move. He followed the young Elven daughter, just hitting the cusp of adulthood, into a secluded area where he began to converse with her. One thing led to another and out of mutual agreement, Crabanil’s curiosity being a main factor, they made their way to the guest room that served for her residence here.

After the one night stand, Crabanil found herself pregnant with child. Raton, himself, found out after they departed the Mazeltof hospitality and had settled back into their own port home. Purely because Crabanil was afraid he would break off trading rights to Ralda over it. Image, after all, was everything to him.

This created stress between her furious father and her, their desires divided over the tainted offspring’s future.

Raton wanted to bribe a priest from the priesthood, made mostly of mages, to abort the growing life within her womb and rid her of the shame it brought upon the family. However, Crabanil had other ideas. She wanted to use the child as a bargaining chip and to pull at the Mazeltof’s honorable reputation get more out of their future trading relationship. Forced to admit to the fact his daughter was an adult now, Raton allowed her decision to stand but he still blamed Henry for contaminating his youngest daughter.

Being a woman of high up bring, it would’ve looked suspicious for Crabanil to avoid public affairs. This would’ve drawn the attention of spies to try to pry the truth about everything then rush back to their masters. The last thing the Elian family needed was for others to create ways to blackmail them into less suitable dealings. So together they fabricated a plausible story to cover the obvious signs of Crabanil’s upcoming pregnant image. The young Elven woman had been seduced and lied to by another Elf within Formaroth, which there was a few. This charming man later vanished into the night after both bedding her and stealing numerous valuables. While it hurt Crabanil’s reputation for the time, it did nothing to harm the bloodline’s and the fact she was with child made the rumor believable.

Through many tried to dug deeper, they often found Raton there as a wall to their progression.

It was a year later that Crabanil went into labor on their estate home. Raton was pacing the hallways with nerves rattling his every step as his daughter’s laboring screams echoed throughout the wall and making him anxious for her health. Unknown to Crabanil, he had gradually threaten her slaves into placing a subtle herb in her tea in hopes to kill the infant late in the pregnancy. It wasn’t a sure success always, but enough to give him hope to try it.
Whatever divine forces above felt he desired punish did so with a vengeance. Instead of the infant dying, it was his beloved daughter. The herb had stopped her body’s ability to clot the blood and so Crabanil had lost a lot of blood during the birth, her blue skin ashy grey in hue. With her dying breath, she named her young female offspring Dyril before she passed away. The loss cut Raton very deeply, a mixture of self guilt and blame upon the child for being born.

For the following years he held deep hatred for the Mazeltof family and it fueled his determination to almost end the trade negotiations. However, his eldest son stepped in and made the request not to due to damaging their family image. Instead, Saeldir took over the trade dealings with the Mazeltof.

Against his daughter’s careful planning, Raton never informed Henry of his illegitimate child or even considered to use her as a pawn to their advantage. In fact, he wanted nothing to do with her. Her life’s care fell upon the family who felt it was best to hide their shame. They couldn’t simply lock her way as all the senate knew Crabanil had been with child and news about the birth had already spread through prior arrangements by the now dead mother. So they prepared for the expose in the future while making her life difficult.

Over the years, Dyril found herself exposed to higher education, various arts and whatever her family’s station allowed her to learn. Unlike Formaroth, women were frowned upon to learn how to combat since they were much more fragile compared to the male gender. Court dancing, sewing, and other more mild forms of quiet etiquette were expected. Everything Dyril learned was taught to her within her family estate which for much of her childhood became her prison. Never once was she allowed to explore the various areas within the city they lived in and her inherited curiosity often pawed at her in daydreams. This wasn’t the only thing she had come to accept in her life. Her family, uncles to aunts and numerous cousins, all made it clear what she was: a blight on their bloodline. A shame that never should’ve been born. Naturally being exposed to such cruelty, Dyril fell to the background and learned to keep her voice to herself until she became an adult.

At the age of nineteen, she became exposed to her first social gathering. It was in honor of her Aunt Duvainil who had become married to another Patrician senator and the ceremony was to make their relationship publically known. To hide Dyril’s human heritage, her fingers and hands were wrapped in cloth and were claimed to be ‘damaged’ due to her father’s unsavory lineage. This also did well to explain her other odd features that were beyond being hidden. Whenever she arrived, one of her family was never too far from her. They ensure she never spoke of her human father and even spoke for her, blocking any attempts to glean information from the younger elven woman. Most the time they gave a snooty air about it.

Around the age of twenty-one, she learned her mother’s old slave Shinx had been bred and expected a new kit in six months. Surprisingly, Dyril found herself worried over the new kit’s arrival and how much attention it would steal from her. For years, she had Shinx’s full attention on her and now something threatened it. However, deep inside she knew Shinx would not last forever and eventually she would need to replace her. If she rejected Kiseo, it would not only hurt Shinx but likely Dyril's family would give her an incompetent and nearly dead slave. That idea was less appealing than taking the risk.

Knowing she had little choice, Dyril sought out only one in the household who would faintly listen to her: Faron, her cousin.

The male, only older than her by a few years, sneered upon her request for an additional slave. He assigned an elderly and well beaten one named Lini to assist Shinx. The persian markings along Lini’s fur was maimed by numerous wounds thanks to burning to vicious beatings which was something that Shinx lacked.

A few months later, Raton had gotten in contact with Doroka Hawk and his company of mercs. Many of the soldiers had also been stationed on the outskirts of their farming property during their services and naturally, her curiosity swelled enough she couldn’t help but investigate. That’s when she met Claus Rotstein, a brash and boastful individual that happened to spy her stalking him one day. This was likely the first time she learned about humans as her interest over her own heritage became sparked the more she learned. She was fortunately enough to have learned the basic speak of humans, thanks to her family’s requirements, but she still had difficulty in making it flow naturally and had to pause to think about how to phrase her words sometimes.

This continued off and on until Raton discovered the pair during her first lesson in combat. The grandfather had been looking for Hawk when he overheard Dyril’s loud cry and the sound of a bow falling to the ground. As the elder elven man entered the doorway, his eyes narrowed and jaw set at the sight of her nursing a hurting wrist. She had let go of the bow too soon and it clipped her hand causing Claus to examine it for serious injury. With a loud, furious bark Raton summoned a no longer pregnant Shinx to the room then had the Mao usher them both back to Dyril’s quarters. What happened between them, Dyril still doesn’t know but it resulted in her being locked in her room or escorted everywhere, something that gradually tapered off over the years.

When she became twenty-eight, she had been mostly left to her own devices now. During her free time, which she had much of, she began to research and question family on her father’s side. From those who believed knowing the truth would degrade her new found determination, she learned about Henry Mazeltof and the events in Ralda. This also included her mother’s original plan to use her in tilting the favor of gain with the trading negotiations. It was a harsh thing for her to learn which took some time to accept, her desire to learn of her father assisted in distracting her mind and hurt emotions.

By this time, Kiseo had matured in the following years and been helping her mother in attending Dyril.

At first the younger Elf had difficulty in accepting the leopard cat patterned Mao, her jealousy and greed for attention conflicted with Shinx’s desperation for her young daughter to be accepted as her one day replacement. Out of all her family, Dyril was the only individual that treated her slaves with a fair merit of respect while many slaves of her family members were left broken, maimed, or worse.

There was one thing that finally won over the Elven woman’s heart, Kiseo’s gentle and empathic nature. It was something that Dyril had never been exposed to and in that moment, Kiseo was hers. Three years before their departure, Raton caught wind of Dyril’s conversations with Saeldir over their trade business. His reaction was as expected and in a sad turn of events, Shinx was the victim of it. The elderly Mao, about forty now, had been delivering a message to Saeldir over Dyril’s plans for the upcoming voyage when her path crossed Raton’s. Infurious with the fact his daughter’s shame was aiming to interfere with their family trade, he began to take his anger out on the Mao and took the message from her. Shinx died of her injuries hours later.

When Saeldir send another message inquiring about the voyage plans, Dyril quickly concluded that Shinx had been delayed or stop causing the pair to investigate. Finding the Mao, broken and tossed away, hurt the woman more than she expected as she spotted Kiseo literally break down and cry. Worried about her image in passing, Dyril quickly held the younger slave then ushered the Mao into an alley to console the sorrow and hide her own tears. Interesting enough, that was the final nail in her tolerance for her grandfather.

In about three years, she quickly made arrangements thanks to Saeldir for departure to Formaroth.

Skills:

• Basic Etiquette: Being raised in higher society, Dyril was raised in the similar fashion as her female relatives. Through primary that was to ensure she didn’t mess up or create an ignorant for her family’s image. She knows how to conduct herself within a court, through she lacks a bit of knowledge on Formaroth’s customs which can easily be corrected.
• Translator: She knows how to read, write and speak numerous languages. This ranges from those in Formaroth to the conquered worlds within the Elven Imperium. Most her basic within Formaroth is thanks to interaction with Claus and his men.
• Sewing: Basic sewing as she had spent several hours learning to decorate tapestry pieces for subtle displays in her room.
• Court Dancing: She was expected to properly dance, through this is mainly in Elven fashion. She doesn’t know any Formaroth dances but with some time and practice, she could easily adapt to be able to perform them at a decent level.
• Harp Musician: Dyril is an elegant player of the harp. With this being her main activity aside from reading, sewing and other required skills for a lady, she has become rather good at playing it. The calluses of her fingers, through a bit faded, indicate she practiced rather vigorously over the years.
• Natural Talent with Crossbow: However, she’s not been able to or had any teachers willing to increase her skills in this area. This has made her remain at the novice or lower level, but she does get the lucky shot even so often. Over time, and with practice, her shot might become rather lethal.
• Good Memory: Dyril has learned to keep track of what others say with a keen memory and often uses it to determine if they are lying to her when facts don’t match up. It also makes it easier to recall when someone has wrong or owes her a favor.
• Novice Manipulator: While her heart, honestly, isn’t in it, Dyril’s ability to lie, coax, and even negotiate has grown over the years she’s worked with her Uncle Saeldir. However when compared to those have been doing longer than three years, she’s rather new to it.
• Elven Trader: In order to have some worth in Formaroth, Dyril had to learn the ins and outs of trading through her Uncle Saeldir. Was fortunate enough the Elven man wanted to step down from trading as he hated dealing with humans. However, he knew how badly it could damage their family reputation if they ceased it completely. Upon offering to take his place, he eagerly trained her into the worth of things and what risks were best. She doesn’t have the experience Saeldir did, but she isn’t the little novice she might appear to be.
  -Saeldir has made sure Raton can’t influence her trade ability… for now.
• Magical Examiner: While Dyril doesn’t know how to cast magic, she has regularly dealt with mandrakes, items and potions for the trading business. This has given her an interesting insight and more knowledge than most non casters. After spending a good portion of time with an item (A few days), she is able to tell the bare essentials over it including: if an object is truly magical, the enchantment’s quality and what it does on a baseline level. However since she’s not a mage, she’s only able to get a general sense rather than gritty details.

NPCS:

Name:
Given- Kiseo no last name
Names given by Nobility- Slave, Servant, Cat, Animal, etc. (need I really list them all?)
Nick to Allies and Friends- Seo (primarily to hid from her masters it’s her preferred name)
Title- Personal Slave of Híril Dyril.

Age: 11 years ( Felines mature faster, the ratio is about 1.5x faster than humans making her look about a little more than 17 years.)

Gender: Female

Sexual Orientation: This is an unknown factor for her, purely since interaction in areas of intimacy without express permission is forbidden and often punished. Through it is, Kiseo is taught by her masters she is suppose to be attracted to purely males. This is because a union of opposite sexes will produce kits and eventually added to the population of other enslaved rather than explore the aspect of love. Unknown to her, she does in reality swing both ways, but unless someone nudges this then it won’t be realised.

Position: (In Formaroth) Attendant to Dyril Elian.

Personality:

Invert Personality

Kiseo’s behavior and carefully chosen words give the impression she’s very shy and timid as an individual. While it is true she’s invert when it comes to her personality, she far from shy about meeting people. This side of her often shows only in private and when given permission to speak by Dyril. Though she knows she’s no longer a slave, Kiseo still acts submissive to her Elven mistress as deep down she knows if abandoned then she will likely not last very long on her own.

Curious and Observant

Unable to feed her curious and desire to learn new things by asking questions, Kiseo has learned to be watchful and listen to what interests her. Her mind trained to gleam whatever she can from the subject then make educational explanations. When permitted, which is rare, Kiseo’s excitement can get the better of her causing her to forget her place and embarrass Dyril by hurting the hybrid’s image. On these few occasions, she has been punished with a few light lashes over her bare back but it was nothing compared to past experiences. Since the Mao has learned to curb her need for answers to merely sneaking hidden looks, studying and listening in order to make accurate assumptions. She will adjust when she learns something new however so none of her information is set in stone ever.

Compassion and Protectiveness

Kiseo is a deeply compassionate Mao ever since birth, despite the harsh reality of her status. At first, she cared and watched the young kits under her care with a ferocious protectiveness from the danger of their surroundings. For many she was like a mother they never had as she attended their wounds and even shepherd them from the cliff overlooking the river and sea. Gradually when she became Dyril’s personal slave, her compassion started to flip gears to her mistress’. It only grew after her mother’s telling of how Dyril’s life really was. Most slaves assumed all the Elven masters lived in luxury and paradise, but for Dyril that was only partly true.

Over time, Kiseo began to admire how strong she viewed Dyril against her family’s attempts to tear her down and mentally torment her. However, the Mao knew those chains still existed and there was only one way to fully free her. After Shinx died, Kiseo made a promise to herself that she would help her mistress to find a place she could be anchored and severe her ties to her past. However, in order to do that it was Kiseo’s job to ensure that Dyril survived until then. The slave learned quickly how to appear uninterested, keep her head down, and casually act while listening in order to warn Dyril of unsuspected danger. Through she has her doubts her tactics would hold much assistance here.

Note: I’m still figuring her out so her personality might change and I’ll update if needed. Personality sections are really hard for me.

Weaknesses:

Low Pain Tolerance, Easily Bruised and Fear of Pain- Kiseo fears and can’t stand intense pain. When struck harshly by anything with intention to make her bleed, she can’t stop herself from flinching in reaction. She will not fight back as she’s not taught to, her eyes watering and the punishment seared into her memory. She easily bruises through they are often hidden under her blotchy pattern coat and unless you’ve seen her in her prime, you might never know it. When threat of pain comes with a gesture, or even one resembling it when someone is angry, she will automatically brace herself and assume it will happen.

Low Birth- Due to her low standings, Kiseo has very low confidence about changes in her future and in her own value. This means if she is abused, hurt, or otherwise insulted then she will often take the path of least resistance rather than seek justice for wrongs against her. Especially against those of higher station than herself. After all, she is taught she is purely property from the very beginning and have no rights to protest against how those of higher birth treat her. Though she knows deep down, she is far luckier than most slaves in the household.

Sticking Out Like A Sore Thumb- Kiseo has been pulled into the game of espionage by her mistress, Dyril, in recent few years. While in the Elven Lands she was one of many, here Kiseo faces a greater challenge that she’s never encountered before: She’s literally one of a kind here. While Dyril is the minority, Kiseo is literally the only Mao that has crossed over Elven Imperial Lands and into Formaroth where slavery is outlawed.

Weak in Strength- Kiseo, like others of her species, aren’t raised and bred for heavy labor. Due to her life time of performing lighter tasks like cooking, cleaning, climbing into high places, and other similar tasks, her strength is lacking. At max and with some some notable stress, she can deadlift about 80 lbs (average human beginner for her size, about 119 lbs) for a small time. This makes things a bit difficult should something much heavier get into her way.

Language Barrier- Kiseo wasn’t raised to understand human language in Formaroth and while she has little trouble understanding it, actually talking in it is another hurdle for her. A big issue and difference is the fact that Formaroth puts the subject as first and most important in the sentence. For Mao’s, their native language focuses on the topic, often placing it first to indicate its importance, leaving out key words, and uses description to fill in details. In addition to their verbal speech, her hands, feet and even tail will move out of habit since they include a crude but elegant sign language to their speech in order to further understanding. Here’s an example of how the structure varies, with both placed in English:

“Hello, my name is Kiseo. Would you like curry and eggs for breakfast, mistress? And will you be eating in your room too?”- Basic Formaroth

“Name Kiseo, hello. Curry and eggs for breakfast, you like, mistress? Eat in your room too?”- Kiseo in her attempt to speak basic Formaroth *

Biological

While she has strengths that humans don’t, she also has weaknesses in them. These are listed alongside her biological skills since it’s easier when separating them for me because a strength often creates a weakness if a condition is met.

Appearance:

Physical



Kiseo is a Máoróngrōng which is a race of feline semi-digitigrade creatures both similar and different from humans. Like humans, she stands upright at 7’5” in overall height and weighs at a reasonable 119 lbs. She has two arms, legs, torso, and longer hair upon her head. There’s also five digit hands which are made for gripping, manipulating, and more. Her eyes are in a similar position through they are slightly more slanted compared to humans, colored ember in the irises. The pupil can slit or expand depending on the light source’s intensity, ensuring she can see most of the time. Brown hair that’s slightly lighter is highlighted with yellow streaks and kept at shoulder length, often pulled back into a short fish braid. Whatever short strands that escape the braid are shooting up in a slightly spiky fashion giving the appearance of messy and unkept bangs.

Here is where the feline distinctions come in. Her ‘skin’ is actually fine yellowish brown fur covered with lanceolated, black spots much like a leopard's’ along her sides. Along her neck, mouth and inside of her limbs are lined and colored white to contrast with her outside fur. She walks on her toes with retractable claws on her both her feet and hands. There’s also cushioning pads along her palms and fingertips, while they are on her toes, ball and heel of her foot. From the tip of her tail bone are additional vertebrae which create a tail about the length of her slender torso which is hardly easy to ignore since its tip is usually swishing side to side.

Her face holds the most obvious and alien characteristics, which blend human and feline facial features together in a sharp and elegant way. The shape is slightly diamond like giving it a long and sharp appearance but reasonable width compared to Elven kind. Her nose tip is closer to her lips giving her a bit of downward curve profile with the top of the nose bridge indented less than the average human. Her ears are rounder with a white spot over each, resting at the sides of her head. However, they are able to rotate forward, up, down and a bit backwards to catch any sounds that surround them.



Clothing

When Kiseo was still a slave, her garb was molest and simple due to the nature of her status. While Elven servants were given worn hand downs to reflect their position in the household, most indoor Mao were bred for living decoration and quick service skills. Like many that worked in the home, she often wore a simple wrap on her upper torso covering from her underarms to the bottom of her breasts and specially designed loin cloth that came to mid thigh. The basic materials are designed to show as much fur as possible without exposing any unwanted gender identification. Due to their long tail, the rear flap was often split in order to allow free movement. She was one of the lucky ones that didn’t have their tails severed into a bob because it was an annoyance.

The most clothing she owned was a linen shirt and simple pants without shoes. Through they are in decent condition for her status, they do have both dirt, food and other stains from her rare work in the fields and the kitchen. The fields were harsh because of the elements so the slaves, in order to make them last longer, were often given a linen shirt and pants every year to protect them. They were used in the kitchen to prevent their fur in certain places and from shedding into the prepared dishes.

Background:
Notes: House slaves: 25 avg, due to extreme abuse while field slaves lived up to 40 avg. Dyril’s slaves lived much longer due to better care, extending their lifespan much closer to a natural life span of 60+ years.

Keep in mind, Mao age at about 1.4 faster than humans which means her bio will cover less years and one year will cover more than one when it comes to physical/mental aging.

Kiseo, like many Mao, was born into slavery. There was no pre budding commitment or love between her mother, Shinx, and the stranger that sired her. In truth, Kiseo’s knowledge of him was pretty simple: he was the one she got her coat pattern from and he was a slave of another Elven Patrician branch. The union was arranged by Hír Raton through a minor sum strictly to replenish their Mao slave stock and possibly acquire a pretty fur pattern for display. The more exotic the coat, the more like it would be admired and easily hid the abuse many slaves suffered day to day.

For the first three years, Kiseo would be blissfully ignorant of this fact like all kits of that age.

After being born in 492 AR, she was allowed to remain with her mother for about a month. This was considered unusual for most slaves since the masters often required they become useful quickly. Oddly enough, it was by Dyril’s orders that Shinx care for Kiseo rather than wean her within the week. This was likely the primary reason Kiseo was considered healthier as an infant. While Shinx cared for her child, Lini, an elder Mao, replaced her during her allowed recovery period. When the month expired, young Kiseo was passed from her mother’s arms into others to be cared for in Shinx’s absence. Not being weaned yet, she sustained on rice milk, gruel, and porridge for the next two months. Though she had about three weeks more of her mother’s milk compared to the others, the substitutes still lacked the needed nutrition for her early development and gradually slowed it. She couldn’t run until the year 493 AR, her appearance close to a very thin three year old.

Theirs lives, while mostly work, had its moments of imagination. The children’s primary responsibility was to help the too far crippled with the tiny garden outside their assigned hut, their primary source of food for meals in the summer. It was during this time, Kiseo became attached to an older kit Ferat who shared the bamboo hut with her and about ten others. Ferat was a young, leopard Mao with pretty pattern coat and a shy nature. Through she was only older by one year, she seemed very observant and began to teach this to Kiseo over time.

Limited in resources, Kiseo, Ferat, and the other kits learned to use their surroundings and imaginations to great effect. They often made a game out of the harsh realities by putting on pretend auctions or working under a ‘master’. Sticks to rocks, anything was free game for a toy in their minds. They played ‘lily pad’ (think a crude hopscotch game) to skimming rocks across the drinking ponds and created dolls or quills to draw shapes in the dirt. Throughout the day, about two minor meals with a large meal at the end of it. On holidays they enjoyed a wild fish master Raton Elian allowed them to keep from the sea, but the size was always pitiful, unable to feed all the hungry mouths in the hut. This forced a few volunteers to gave their rations, in turns, up for the younger ones.

Time changes things and as she got older, her observant nature quickly began to break through the illusion of childhood happiness. By this time, she was considered three and the overwatcher of the younger kits still naive in their lives. She began to notice a pattern that whenever a kit reached the age of four, a month later they would become absent from the group. This pattern started to bother her over time since her own fourth birthday was coming close.

The night Ferat didn’t return to the kit group, Kiseo laid wide awake in her bed. She heard the field slaves trudge in, like normal, and begin to pull the herb pail from the corner. Without thinking, Kiseo quickly twisted about in her small space on the floor as she heard a familiar voice break through the snoring. It was Ferat, sobbing, as she turned her back to the older tiger Mao. With the night version gifted to her by her race, Kiseo pressed her hands over her mouth to muffle a horrified squeak. All along the leopard patterned back were numerous scars glistening with fresh blood. Her linen shirt was shredded while the Mao began to apply a paste, crushed within his paw with a rock, then traced each vivid line causing Ferat to recoil in pain and bit upon her linen’s sleeve to stifle her cry.

Shocked by the sight, Kiseo couldn’t pull her eyes way as she drifted slowly to sleep. It was her first hint of reality, but she didn’t fully understand it.

When her fourth birthday hit, it should’ve been a day of joy and modest celebration even when forgotten dread lingered in her heart. Being a slave, hardships never hit when individuals were prepared for it. Watching the newest kits, about six, she caught sight of one of the field slaves dragging what she assumed was a sack toward the master’s property edge. It was too far to determine details, a fact she would’ve been glad for, as she went back to her own given task. Later that day, she learned the elder Mao Lini had gone from this world. It didn’t take her long to recall that scene and knew it was proof that their lives matter little to their masters and were easily replaced.

It was a month later, Kiseo braced for her future. She was quickly surprised when her mother came casually walking toward the hut and mentioned she was there to retrieve her. Since her birth, Kiseo’s interaction with her mother had always been limited to an hour once or thrice a week.

These times weren’t given by the masters, but stolen by her mother in the dead of night when Shinx stole away from the house, down to the hut and took her sleeping place beside Kiseo. While the other slaves knew it was happening, they turned a blind eye to allow the pair their peace together. It was primary by voice, thanks to numerous lullabies, that Kiseo knew her mother at all. So when Shinx requested Kiseo to follow her, naturally the chance to spend time and feed her curiosity was too good to pass up. During their walk, Kiseo learned she would be attending a Híril Dyril who would eventually become her master.

A short, cold bath in the sea cleansed her of any filth or external parasites before they made their way into the house. That bath made weekly turned out to be one of many expected requirements. At first, the tasks were small and things she could already do well. Fetching water, supplies, meals and more often left her feet blistered, sore and cracked on the pads. Even worse, she was often clipped, halted or forced to do other tasks by the rest of the household purely to delay her in serving Híril Dyril. This resulted in her being punished a few times.

While the lashings were only skin deep, Kiseo didn’t like the pain in the least and sought to avoid it. She became smarter about her paths through the household and purposely taking longer detours rather than short cuts. In order to make up the difference, she would push herself harder to speed up. While she still was considered slow, the tactic worked. Eventually Kiseo began to avoid crossing paths with Dyril’s family at all. Over the year, Kiseo learned to show her respect, awe and even loyalty toward her would be new master. Something that filled her mother with pride as it endeared the hybrid Elven toward her.

Kiseo’s fear of pain developed when she seven years old. A young adolescent, her built and height would’ve had many humans mistake her for a young ten or twelve year child, she felt sorrow as she helped Shinx pack for Dyril’s yearly exposure to the Elven affairs. Naturally, her mother would accompany the Híril to attend to her during the trip and leaving Kiseo home.

It was a mistake Dyril would later regret.

About a day after Dyril left, the current mistress of the estate, Duvainil, assigned Kiseo to the main house slaves numbers. For the three months that her master was gone, Kiseo learned what true cruelty was and why many house slaves had numerous scars. One incident stuck out in her mind: the day she was ruthlessly whipped for an accident not even her fault. Faron, the very one that killed Lini, had purposely stepped on her tail and then jerked it back without warning. Trying not to fall into any of her ‘masters’, she immediately dropped the food she was holding and crumbled to the floor, her heart racing at the torment that awaited her. Duvainil frowned deeply then ordered two servants to take her out back where she was tied up to the punishment tree by her arms. Frightened, Kiseo pleaded for forgiveness but her words fell on deaf ears. By the Aunt’s command, about sixty lashes were made across Kiseo’s back. She was left hanging there for hours until a tiger Mao named Ting pulled her down. She was then ushered back to the hut where an elder prepared the healing paste. Ting later left to inform Dyril about what had happened.

What occurred between the young mistress and her Aunt, Kiseo had never found out. All she knew was that later that day, Shinx came to retrieve her and then took her into the house. In the kitchen, Dyril was waiting patiently for the pair. When Kiseo noticed her, the child immediately hit the ground and whimpered her apologies in a desperate voice. Tears fell from her eyes while she braced for the worst. It didn’t come as Dyril leaned down and helped Kiseo to her feet, her five digit grip firm but gentle. With a simple gesture, the Mao was pulled into a chair where Dyril motioned for Shinx to clean and wrap the wounds. This would be one of a few rare, caring actions Dyril would perform during her life.

The next time was when her mother was killed and she learned how much Shinx truly meant to the half elf. Fear had tilted and raged in her heart when the news about Shinx’s absence reached them. It wasn’t like her mother as both of them knew. Without a bit of nudging, Kiseo dressed Dyril for travel then placed on her linen shirt, pants and even a hand-me-down cloak of itchy material before they left for the docks. It was an hour later when the older Mao was found.

She was discarded under the docks with her neck broken and tilted at an odd angle. Kiseo was the first to find her in the grim twilight of the dawn. The horror and sorrow to her heart over the loss broke her down immediately as she cradled the lifeless corpse.

Any other master would’ve beaten her into submission then sent her home, but Dyril lowered herself and pulled Kiseo upright. Gently, Dyril guided them both from the open area into a local back alley hidden from view. After they finally became hidden from sight, her mistress allowed her to sob uncontrollably. Her own tears covered the ones the Elf was holding inside herself. When both females had composed themselves once more, they both knew how it happened and who had done this. It was a deep motivation to Kiseo to begin to take over her mother’s duty and help pass letters between Dyril and Saeldir. Over the course of the next few years, she began to help Dyril by assisting in her research, delivering letters, and other smaller tasks for her owner. Every bit was critical toward their trip to meet the Mazeltof and across the sea.

Skills:

• Farm Experience: Very limited, but she does know how to grow and tend to mandrakes in the fields. This is usually only to get them to sprout and keep them healthy, but if they fall ill due to disease or need harvested… she won’t be much help.
• Able to Read and Write: This is primary Elven, Mao, and quite a bit of basic human. All taught out of need, rather than by allowance, purely because she is made to write out numerous things for her master and assist in the research over Dyril’s family in the last past three years.
• Cooking: The Mao, due to her requirement to take of her mistress, has been educated to cook primary Elven dishes.
• Mending Clothing: Is an excellent seamstress when it comes to repair, altering and other basics in clothing care.
• Language: Kiseo understands the language used by Formaroth, but speaking it is another matter. This allows her to eavesdrop and spy in a fashion that most might not realize, most the information being pulled back to her master for Dyril’s own personal use later on.
• Fast Runner: Being the only slave to Dyril, an Elf of many needs, Kiseo has learned to be fast and to navigate her path in the best possible way. Through most types of terrain, through when it comes to a run of endurance, she often falls behind the more athletic humans.
  
  • Spell: Metal Skin
    
    This spell makes an individual's flesh become as hard as steel armor for a limited time, gaining resistance to non magical piercing and slashing damage.
    
    Duration: 1 hour
    Classification: Restoration
    Range: Individual
    Concentration: Yes
    Limitations: This spell requires active focus and concentration from the user, which means that any action done to cause distraction has a chance -50/50- to cancel out the effect early. This spell doesn't protect against internal wounds such as internal bleeding, broken bones and other related wounds caused by high power impacts. Included and not limited to bludgeoning weapons, crossbow bolt (won’t penetrate, but hurt) and other weapons that able to hit with the same impact force.
    
    Notes: I have a method to keep track of this during use, but a great deal of if stops or continues will depend on the scene, story and other factors.

Biological Traits

• Flexible and Agility: Being a Mao, her feline traits give her advance flexibility by allowing her to dislocate her collarbone and squeeze into tight spaces most humans can’t. However it falls short of domestic cats ability making it difficult to fit her body into anything smaller than about 1/2 her shoulder width, mainly since her clavicle isn’t free floating or she couldn’t lift anything in her arms above her head.
• Balance: With her tail, she’s got excellent balance when darting across narrow bridges or areas as well as able to twist her body about on her feet when falling from high heights (about 7 m max). The bad part… her tail can get in the way of things if she’s not watchful.
• Claws: Retractable claws are noted on her fingers and feet, but they are primarily for climbing, delicate manipulations, and minor self defense rather than any sort of decent combat weapon.
• Silent Walking: Mao, when bare foot, are silent in their walking. Unless it’s on very weak floorboards or you strain to listen, you likely won’t hear when Kiseo walks up and stands beside you. Another thing to note, her movements in her attempt to be quiet are often slow and cautious as she still can make a sound if careless. So she’s not going to be running while using this skill.
• Higher Hearing: Higher hearing than humans, her ears about to rotate and can pick up faint sounds often missed by humans. While not as high as felines, her ears still are sensitive to extremely loud sounds. An example is the clashing of swords. Any similarly loud sounds will briefly hurt her ears, causing her to flinch in discomfort, distract or make her go temporarily deaf.
• Night Vision: Kiseo has limited night vision up to twenty feet, making her nearsighted in almost complete darkness. Everything is displayed in black and white making details like color hard to determine. Anything beyond the twenty feet is a complete, unreadable blur to her and straining will not help. In addition, unexpected or warned flashes or light will temporarily blind and hurt her depending on the exposure time and harshness. So say you stick fire in her sight suddenly when her eyes are in night time form, she won’t see anything for a good minute or more until her eyes readjust from the sudden change (varies with how long).

*_{Keep in mind, I’m trying and it might not be an accurate attempt to mimic a foreign Chinese individual trying to speak broken English. However, it should get the gist across.}