Nerine Vandaguurd

The Vixen of Chastity

Female

19

Nerine doesn't really have an occupation. Moreover, she finds minor work wherever she can get it between towns and cities.

Independent, would be a decent descriptor, although in some ways more than others. Her life has been spent in and out of civilisation, traversing the country alone, or with small troupes, for several years. She has learnt to take care of herself in various manners - hunting, cooking, survival techniques, etc. Drifting through different jobs over that time has also granted her a variety of minor skills which she can apply, though most don't tend to come into use very often. This wide range of abilities gives her a kind of self-ensured confidence in her capabilities.

However, she isn't always confident to a fault. Her attribute, after all, is still Chastity, which, despite her best efforts, influences her personality in many a way. Her confidence falters in many ways, often times leaving rendering her down to a shy woman with struggles in social interaction. She is also incredibly easy to embarrass, almost frighteningly so, to a degree where one might be inclined to believe her influencing conversations subconsciously into easily misconstrued topics, only to realise what was going on.

Another similar note would be combat - she can hunt, but, in most every situation, she would rather choose a peaceful alternative. Her fighting skills are, at best, sub-par, forcing her to rely on trickery and subterfuge, and as such her confidence lacks significantly in such areas. She has every willingness to fight if needs come to be, but she is, in general, a friendly, and relatively kind person. Attacking and hurting people are far from the tops of her priority lists.

Standing at approximately five feet and six inches, Nerine is a younger looking woman, at least four years in appearance below her true age. She has long, flowing brown hair, and piercing, grey eyes, beset with a naturally youthful and pleasant to behold face. Her frame is petite, lacking fat almost to the point of being underweight thanks to a lesser diet, and is usually found in dresses of various kinds when it cities and towns, but more rugged and casual clothing out in the wilds.

Nerine is sub-par at best when it comes to combat. Despite her years alone, fending for herself, she never really learnt how to wield a sword, and instead sticks to her roots - a bow and arrow, and a dagger. Her CQC skills are a bit better than in melee combat, however her lack of physical strength makes it unreliable in a pinch. Her true speciality is trickery and subterfuge - setting up ambushes, attacking from unexpected angles, and surprising magic reliant foes with By Virtue of God.

The innate ability of Chastity, the purest of virtues, By Virtue of God is the fundamental concept of being chaste elevated to the province of deities. Up to a maximum of a mile radius around Nerine, a zone of Dead Magic can be created, rendering "Magic" as a concept useless. Spells cannot be cast, and magic based technology ceases to work. By standard, the ability has the passive effect of nullifying all magic that comes in contact with her body, but the field itself can be activated and deactivated at will, spending most of its time deactivated, especially in cities, as to not cause huge amounts of damage unintentionally. However, due to the unique circumstances of the Fourteen Guardians, their Special Abilities remain unaffected by the Dead Magic Field, though they will still be affected by the passive effect on her body.

That said, as expected with any kind of defensive ability, a certain limitation applies, being that of the power of attacks. As a Guardian, Chastity possesses a vast amount of magical energy, and fundamentally, By Virtue of God is "One power cancelling out another". The same is therefore true in reverse - any attack, magical in nature, capable of overcoming her vast magical power, will remain unaffected by the field, and by extension, her passive defence. Of course, beings that surpass her energy are few and far between, but the threat still exists.

Nerine was born in a place most wouldn't have heard of. Some ways to the West of Reever, and its main continent, across an ocean and several thousand miles away, lies the Kingdom of Andleburr. The Kingdom itself was small, but powerful in its own right - perhaps one of the more influential pioneers of magical engineering on the continent. Scattered through it were a couple of cities, but none bigger than, of course, its capital.

Endra, the capital city of Andleburr, was a large city, comprised of five districts, and famed on the continent as the most advanced, and efficient, producer of magic enhanced machinery and constructions. Despite its position as a Kingdom, the nation itself functioned under two rules - The Monarchy, and The Ministers Council. The latter of the two was a technocracy, headed by the most influential members of the country to bring betterment to the people. Alongside the Royal Family, they conducted business, determined laws, etcetera.

Some miles off from the Eastern border of the city was the Pendleton Mining Establishment, headed by one Sir Johnathon Pendleton - a member of The Ministers Council, and head of the Pendleton Family. In collaboration with Alistair Selton, head of M.A.C.E, the Magic for Altruistic and Collaborative Efforts, they brought about a new age of mining technology with specialised devices, powered by magic, which, for the years it was active, boosted the trade and economy of Abdleburr by nearly five times.

But Nerine wasn't anything so special. Her given name at birth was Nerine Durnam, something of a low born, given a job at the Pendleton Mining Establishment at age twelve as a Runner. And her job was simple. She, with the rest of her group of Runners, would run supplies back and forth between the mines and Endra, to save using good horses, carts, and men, dealing with menial and simple jobs. Her group were constantly on the move, dragging food, equipment, machinery, etcetera, from supplier to miners day in and day out. It was hard labour, but for their age, and lifestyle, it paid well.

Two years into the work, she realised her ability. It didn't hit her all it once - it was subtle. Ideas. Memories. Things she understood that she should never have come to know. Concepts rattling through her brain from a life unlived and a past unseen. Small, insignificant pieces of trivia hit her first, then flashes of substantial information. One such thing was her ability - By Virtue of God. She didn't understand it, at least not entirely, but nor did she have control over it.

The first day was fraught with mishap and disaster. Machines in the mines would suddenly stop working, and crash to the ground with horrible results. In the city, weapons would malfunction, vehicles would grind to a halt, and workers would be unable to complete their tasks. Jobs went unfulfilled as she went about her day, passing through the city, and back out again, only to venture to the mines, and then the city again, repeating the cycle of nullification and rejuvenation every time she passed.

In a matter of months, the city was crippled. The economy suffered greatly, and production slowed by a great amount. The neighbouring countries had watched Andleburr for a while, waiting for a chance to strike at its advanced center for the longest of times, and when the train routes went down, and the military was recalled to defend the city, they took their chance. First the outer-lying villages, and then the smaller towns, and finally, with their captured war machines are heavily equipped soldiers, they laid siege to Endra, while Nerine sat inside, weakening her own cities capabilities just by her existence.

A year after the assault, Andleburr was no more. Final refuge ships were sent across the ocean, utilising non-magical means in the face of the crisis that occurred prior, and they made their way to Andleburr's last bastion - a small, singular city on the coast of a far off continent, someways West of Reever. Despite her safety, Nerine came to understand her part in the destruction of her nation, and at first chance took off from the city, into the wilds of the continent.

And there she remained, for multiple years, drifting from town to town, and town to city, taking on small jobs for mediocre wage. Eventually, she gained control of the field she emitted, as well as the distance it extended, allowing her to better integrate into society, as well as take jobs in the larger cities, whilst at the same time taking on the name "Nerine Vandaguurd". And now she has made her way into Reever, and by extension, its Capital, for another job, another week, and another wage.