Full Name: Shani (Shah-nee) Dark Star*
Nicknames: Race: Raevan
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Hair: Long ebony feathers interspersed with several, fluffier slate-colored feathers
Skin: Ebony
Eyes: Gold
Height: 5' 4" (1.7m)
Weight: 125lb. (56.7kg)
Wingspan: 18' (5.49m)
* Note that the use of surnames varies from one unkindness (group of Raevan) to another and, with most being relatively small and some no larger than extended familial units, many Raevan go by but a single name. For those who do so, a secondary title typically emerges to distinguish one from another across geographically related unkindnesses. These titles tend not to be formal, but evolve through natural conversation and become de facto surnames. However, unlike traditional surnames, most such monikers have no familial thread - for example, while there are a handful of Dark Stars, none of them share any direct familial ties.
Place of Birth: Molniya, a small, relatively remote island among the Floating Isles of Sachia. Generations are born and die there without having ever ventured more than an isle or two away for trade.
Appearance:
Shani is a lovely young Raevan. Her petite figure is light and her movements would best be described as possessing deliberate grace, both purposeful and fluid, while her flight is as elegant as it is fast. Within the range of Raevan coloration, Shani's skin tone is ashier than most with a slight bluish tint such that it's a shade closer to dark slate than ebony. While her feathers are, quite obviously, black like other Raevan, she likes to decorate herself by applying semi-permanent pigments to some among them to create a substantially more colorful effect. This is particularly true of those around her eyes and shoulders, which she often tints various shades of blue with the odd one done in titanium white. Her "hair" is a mix of long ebony feathers interspersed with several, fluffier slate-colored feathers and often a number of more exotic feathers woven in with thin brass or copper chains. Shani eschews clothing in general as it impedes her flight, though her feathering is light enough across her body that modesty compels her to wear at least a snugly fit skirt about her waist and hips. Her legs are bare to her knees, where long feathers begin and flow to her feet. In flight, Shani keeps her feet together and fans these feathers out for stability, but they're otherwise kept tucked neatly behind her calves.
Occupation in the frontier forces: Scout
Gear of choice: Shani prefers to travel as lightly as possible, avoiding weapons and armor, though she's likely to carry small parcels or food and water, or other light items necessary for survival on extended flights. She wears a crude-looking necklace with several smoky-colored crystals - a family heirloom taken without permission, the gems of which are each capable of absorbing magical energy.
Personality:Shani speaks in quick, lively bursts and, while she tries to catch herself, frequently interrupts others. She's quick-witted and carries herself confidently, even when she's clearly beyond her depth. Many find her audacious and even a little abrasive at first but, on pushing deeper, find a personable, spirited young woman whose finer qualities are tucked beneath a cavalier attitude toward her own mortality. She quite literally lives in and for the moment, challenging boundaries with courage and a spirit of self-reliance. While these traits are a boon to her as a scout, emboldening her to soar fearlessly across unfriendly or unknown winds, her personal life has tended to follow as well. She's attracted to what most would consider risky or thrill-seeking pass-times, and relationships follow a similar pattern, with her typically losing interest beyond the excitement of the initial novelty and thrill of the pursuit.
Positive Personality Traits: Bold, independent, self-reliant, emotionally stable, spontaneous, resourceful.
Negative Personality Traits: Dis-inhibition, issues with authority, aversion to repetition and routine, reckless.
Misc. Quirks: Shani loves to smoke just about anything, mainly because she's naturally fidgety and it gives her something to occupy her hands. She's terrified of spiders and does not consider them a dangerous thrill. Spiders are definitely for squashing, but only if someone else is going to do it.
Likes: In general, anything that offers a thrill, regardless of the magnitude or risk, draws Shani's attention. It should be of little surprise, then, that she likes to flirt and relishes the pursuit of boys, though only if there's some particular challenge to it. To their disappointment, she's rarely interested in more than the initial rush and loses interest quickly. She's particularly fond of flying and would be, for flightless creatures, the aerial equivalent of a gymnast or acrobat such is her aptitude and skill for it.
Dislikes: Spiders, picking Shafran pods.
Hobbies: Daydreaming, flirting, painting (she loves bright colors and most often uses her own feathers as her canvas).
Paired character: Aerathanis Dwin'raesh (Warm Regret)
Connection with paired character: Complicated. Shani and Aerathanis couldn't be more different. His draw toward the young Raevan is some sort of noble sense of protection, from herself, which she has no interest in whatsoever. Her draw toward him is the sport of provoking him to unease, either by deliberately endangering herself or creating socially awkward situations, which appear to cause him significant discomfort.
History:Within the Raevan culture, it's considered a sign of good fortune to be born on a moonless night in the year of the dark star, when its faint glow can be seen in the heavens above. On such an eve, Shani was born and given the moniker Dark Star, as is tradition in such events so all know favors of the ancients were cast upon the fledgling. For her, however, good fortune would have placed her anywhere but on a tiny, relatively remote chunk of rock among the floating isles where she, along with a dozen or so siblings and cousins, tended to and harvested rare Shafran pods planted among the nooks of the island's cliffs. Few events were so exciting as a flight to the main island to sell pods at market and take in the sights of the Floating City, a complex arrangement of shifting terraces fashioned from the unique stone of the isles upon which stood magnificent structures whose brass-adorned spires gleamed in the sunlight.
For Shani, the monotony of the day-to-day was nigh unbearable, as there were few things she disliked more than picking pods. Instead, her days were often spent shirking her chores to fly among a series of inverted canyons on the isle's underside, a risky endeavor with their erratic turns and jagged edges. However, with her light frame and above-average wingspan for a girl of her size, she flitted about them fluidly carrying a glow of elation at the thrill of each nerve-wrenching turn. Her misspent days also saw the discovery of something entirely unexpected - an aptitude for magic. During one such flight on a particularly menacing-looking afternoon, thunderclouds engulfed much of the island, flashes of electricity crackling through them. As she neared one of the more treacherous turns, one such flash erupted immediately before her and sent a wave of adrenalin through her veins. Bluish flashes arced across her skin, such that she thought she'd actually been hit by the bolt. However, as she came to a hover and regained her composure, she noticed that the tiny arcs persisted, crackling across her skin but causing no harm. As she studied them, they moved in time with her thoughts as if subject to her will. The experience was exhilarating and would not be her last as a new layer of her existence was revealed.
Throughout her youth, dreams of adventure, other lands, or anything but picking pods filled her with hope and desire. Only one Raevan in recent memory had left island for any extended period, and that was her older sister Mareeth. To be fair, they were only sisters by birth, as Mareeth was some fifteen years her senior and they'd barely spoken in, well, ever. She was strong, courageous, worldly, and amazing. Shani often dreamed of Mareeth's adventures, inserting herself as the capable sidekick to witness her greatness and participate in some small way. When Mareeth returned for one last visit before embarking on an expedition to the mysterious lands of Ialdia, of which Shani had heard magnificent and dubious myths, the lure was unbearable. Shortly after Mareeth's departure, Shani gathered a light satchel-full of belongings and set off to join the expedition.
The journey to the launching site was an adventure in and of itself for the young Raevan. However, what greeted her was wholly unexpected. A diverse array of beings from all lands bustled about in preparation for the voyage, many making ready for the trip while other still vied for a berth. Given her age, it was a certainty that she'd be lined up with the other fledglings to compete for the handful of remaining vacancies. The trial before them was a narrow course set up along a cliff-side with protruding beams and tiny targets, the final of which was situated perilously close to a jagged set of rocks a the shoreline. She was ushered toward was a nervous, fidgety lot of Raevan from across Sachia, each more anxious than the next about the trials and whether they'd have the requisite talent or end up crashing themselves against a beam, or worse.
Most fared well enough, taking a respectable number of targets methodically with their weapon of choice while either hovering toward the one at the rocks or avoiding it altogether. When Shani's time came, her mind set itself on the inverted canyons back home and on her dreams of adventuring at Mareeth's side. No sooner had her launch been queued than she lunged into the air with pace, navigating the beams with previously undemonstrated speed and igniting the straw-filled targets with thin flashes of lightning. At the end of the course, Shani tucked her wings close to float over the final beam near the cliff's peak, and descend in a free fall toward the final target and accompanying rocks. Breaths were gasped and held nervously as onlookers watched her plummet ever faster downward until, at last, when most were certain they'd witness her grisly demise on the shore, Shani's wings fanned out, feathers in full array, and caught her within less than arm's reach of the rocks. Neon blue flashes spidered across the rocks, igniting the final target as she glided mere inches above it and returned to a round of applause from her junior peers. Though reckless, the performance earned her a place with the expedition. All that remained was a bond.
When Shani offered Mareeth's name, she thought the matter was settled. However, within the span of a brief exchange, the senior Raevan left no uncertainty that Shani was unwelcome and that she had no intention of letting the reckless youth hijack her adventure. Despite the sharp rebuke, and having lost a fair measure of respect for her sister, Shani seemed otherwise unphased by the exchange and remained intent on venturing to Ialdia. That prospect looked increasingly remote, however, as each day was met with more rejections from other Raevan who had either abandoned their dreams of wealth and adventure, or who sought a partner with more experience, or at least a little more sense. Throughout, she found herself repeatedly approcahed by an Elf chocked to the brim with advice she neither wanted nor needed, but who persisted in sharing it nonetheless. The incessant yammering about safety and restraint might've proved unbearable were it not for his reserved, serious nature and Shani's discovery that great sport could be found in deliberately provoking a reaction from the man. And so a bond was formed. While Shani continued her pursuit of another Raevan to share in the adventure, she often found herself seeking out Aerathanis for the amusement of trying to evoke some type of emoitional response from the Elf, often by engaging in even riskier behaviors than she otherwise might. In fact, were he to consider the dynamics of their relationship, he might see the irony that in seeking to protect the young Raevan from impetuousness, he instead incites it.
