Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by Dmytra
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Dmytra

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The History ~ Welcome to Celyn



Your Character ~ The Canavar



Character Sheet



Basic List of NPCs



Rules and FAQs


Accepted Characters
Kucing and Empie ~ cthulu
Ellis Avalon ~ Dmytra
Gideon Tournes ~ The Humble Magnificent
Aelana vos'nar Hagrovische ~ Thrydwulf
Ritka Velius ~ Kogiopsis
Sel Son ~ Hael
Lior Niamh Taliesan ~ Stagprince

Thanks everyone! And, of course, any plot suggestions, questions, and character sheets (finalized) can go below.
Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by cthulu
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cthulu Her Harley

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Excited, think I'll work on my wild cat girl and possibly the empusa, see which you like best. :)
Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by Hael
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Hael

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Is it O.K. to have two characters? I will mostly be writing about them in the same posts, and they won't usually leave eachothers' company. They will also both be vultures
Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by Dmytra
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Dmytra

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Yes, you can have multiple characters.

Also, please check the description for an update regarding NPCs.
Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by cthulu
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cthulu Her Harley

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No problems :)
Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by Thrydwulf
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Thrydwulf

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Finished with the outline of my character's skeletal information; just need to finish up with the addition of a few details and solidifying her background.
Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by TheHumbleMagnificent
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TheHumbleMagnificent All Will Be Well

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This is looking good! I'll get started on working on my character soon.
Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by cthulu
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cthulu Her Harley

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Name: Kucing (means cat)
Previously she had no name but this was the name the king gave his ‘pet’.

Age: Her clan don’t measure time, she is between 20 and 23 years of age though.
Transformation: Human. To her, her normal form is that of her beast and so it is the human form she deems her transformation,
Appearance (while human):

Appearance (while animal):


Personality: The wild tribe she grew up with valued honesty above all else, they had no need for ego soothing or flattery and so she can come off as rather cold, crass and rude at times. She is not afraid to say what she sees, the good or the bad and is hardly put out by the idea of being confronted in the same manner. She doesn’t understand a lot of human interaction and conventions having done away with them for so long but she is a curious cat and quick to learn. She can be incredibly loyal to people she allows close to her but it is hard to get close to her due to her natural demeanour, she can be affectionate and gentle in her own way but can seem heavy handed and rough a lot of the time.

History:
She lived in a small tribe that roamed the tundra forests of Bryn, her family was her tribe and her tribe was her family. It was a simple and ‘better’ way of life. They hunted for food which they then shared, they kept one another safe during the day and moved at night leaving none behind. They had no need for money or jewels, only each other and rarely were their fights over anything aside mating rights and status and always resolved with the tribe a whole once again. Much like those indigenous people’s of Earth, only instead of clinging to their human husks this tribe embraced their beast. Rare was it that one of their tribe ever turned into a human and only then during times of great crisis, like poachers or travelling strangers who would only be warded away by another human.

However disaster often came in the winter months of Bryn in the forms of avalanches that toppled trees, crushing dens and scaring away food. One such avalanche occurred after a heavy snow fall and decimated the forest, the tribe forced to scatter to avoid falling tree limbs and ripped up roots. Then came the hunters, neither was anything new, the pack often faced being split up only to scent find each other in the following days. This time was different though, she ran wide, deeper into the forest, so sure of herself she forgot to check where her paws fell, oblivious to the fresh snow that lay over a trap that caught her paws and caused her to trip and tumble, tangling herself in a fine net that she gnashed her teeth and snarled at.

The more she struggled though the more caught up she became until she was thoroughly exhausted, then the people came and she felt a prick to her rear, spinning around she lashed at the offending hand, catching glove and flesh alike and ripping a wonderful tear in both with her sharp claws. Then everything went rather dark and she felt sleepy, despite trying to fight it she was sure she had fallen asleep, the cold snow was replaced by something solid and equally cold and voices fluttered to her in her unconscious state. “She will do nicely…” A woman’s voice said, “Are we really going to send this?” A man’s voice uttered nervously, then there was the sound of the human’s strange contraptions, pulled by dogs, at some point she thought she heard water and when she awoke her cold white snow had been replaced with odd smells and more green and brown than she’d ever seen, she hissed and snarled but no one paid her any mind.

She was being taken towards a large human dwelling, the streets lined with people watching as she was hauled through the city and while others too followed behind with odd and shiny things. Someone had said it was a celebration, whatever that word meant and another the King’s birthday both words confusing her so she focused on the smells instead. Her stomach growled and she felt a hunger hit her like a wave for the first time since her awakening. It seemed not to matter how much she growled, no food was produced and she was taken inside the human dwelling and placed at the feet of some strange man she’d never seen before. He looked over all the things the human people had bought in and looked at them as she might have a snow rabbit.

When he stopped by her cage the human person that had bought her announced, “A snow Leopard from King Maxen and Queen Meiriona.”
“I’ve heard of them, they’re considered rather exquisite are they not?” The human man looking at her said, she didn’t like his eyes, they were like those of a male who wished to mate. She dropped her head and snarled but the man only made a strange throaty noise and she stopped from surprise. More words were spoken but she was too confused to pay attention. Soon she was lifted by new people and carried off to another part of the dwelling. There she was left with an armful of fish and a bowl of clean water until the sun had already began to set.

The fish had not lasted long as the strange man announced as soon as he entered the room, then he spoke one word which seemed to have important meaning, “Kucing.” Her ears flickered and for a moment she forgot to be afraid. He spent the evening speaking strange words and gesturing wildly with what seemed to be excitement. Eventually the man yawned, stripped down and lay down on a strange, soft thing that reminded her faintly of snow in the way it tried to swallow the man.

When all had stilled she shifted, changing form until she could slip out a hand and reach for the latch, unlocking the cage door which swung open as silently as she, who was now padding soundlessly across the room to where the bed and the man lay. Carefully, one foot at a time she mounted the strange not-snow and crept closer to the man, crouching above his chest and tilting her head as she observed how weak his senses were. ‘He’d die in a day.’ She idly thought to herself, the human turned and she bit back a hiss as one hand rose, black claws tipping each finger.

Nothing happened though, she watched silently a moment longer and had wrist grabbed and mouth covered as she was pulled from the bed and out the door by a human who called himself ‘Avalon’.

Strengths and Weaknesses:
+ Is a good climber and jumper.
+Is agile and flexible
+Can dance
+Can move silently/stalk/hunt.
+Night Vision
-Can’t stand fire, prone to flight response when close to a lot of it.
-Bright lights dazzle/confuse her.
-Doesn’t understand treachery/betrayal so is easily lead astray.
-

Other:
+Loves the colour yellow, fish (especially salmon), cuddling up to people when its cold and shiny jewellery.
+Dislikes the colour red, goat and horse meat, lies (she can usually work out a liar given enough time), guns and weapons.
+ Catnip can/does get her high, she’s allergic to milk, cheese etc but doesn’t know it and chocolate, cocoa has an adverse reaction with her.

Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by cthulu
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cthulu Her Harley

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[center]
Name: Empie.
Age: 21
Transformation: Empusa, Form of spectre/tormenting demon.

Appearance (while human):



Appearance (transformed):

Personality: Empie is sarcastic, quick witted and out for herself. She’s quick to mention it’s not personal but hey, to her, her survival is worth more than your life. She’s devious, mischievous but its undeniable she’s a lot of fun and can make a person smile despite themselves. She is solely survival driven though and will play the sides when necessary just to keep out of the line of fire. She’s money orientated, or anything pretty and sparkly for that matter, while it might seem she’s hard to trust, give her a good reason to stay loyal and she will. She may even come to see you as a friend and share her sparklies with you.

History:
It’s just another story of a poor sad street rat, no parents, no money and only herself to rely on. She had a name once, a real one, Carlotta Sands, she had parents too, well, she probably still does not that they want anything to do with her of course. It seems people take it personally when their daughters turn out to be lion handed, horse footed, covered in scales with a scream that can make people nauseous.

She lived a rather happy life for a while, same as any other human child, she played in the streets, ate all the things she shouldn’t but Carlotta was always different. The kids knew it and deep down she thought her parents did too, then she hit puberty and her eyes changed. Her mother screamed, she got scared and she screamed too. Her mother threw up on the table and her father ran from the room screaming monster! It wasn’t until Carlotta ran to her room and looked into her looking glass that she saw what they meant.

Eyes the colour of blood, face as pale as a ghosts, her hair had gone from dark blonde to pure white and her body, that that she could see, was covered in sapphire hued scales. What on earth was she? Eventually her father came and chased her out the house with a knife and with her head covered she ran into the streets with only her mother’s sobbing ringing in her ears.
Sneaking into the library she read through a book of monsters and magical beings and found an image a lot like hers. With a quick glance she tore out the page and fled until she could read it in the peace and quiet of the allies. She was an Empusa, which was more or less all the help the page gave her, it was enough though, so she changed her name to Empie and decided to embrace the new her.

The first year was heard, people screamed and she had little control over her transformations when afraid, so she stuck to shadows and swiped the odd bit of food. She realised early on her eyes were never going to change back to the natural purple hue her parents had loved, nor was her white hair ever going to go back to the sandy blonde, still she liked her new look well enough. Finding a rather pretty cloth she wrapped her eyes so none would see them, it worked pretty well and she was somehow still able to see, well sort of. She became ‘Empie the Beggar’ and people took pity on the young woman offering her food and sometimes clothing. One particular lord took her ‘home’ so that he could pay her for sex and when he had passed out she swiped some of his jewels and left without disturbing him.

Some would say it was sorrowful but Empie felt free, she was not restricted by laws and the entire city had become her playground. There were times it felt as if it were not worth it, attacks on beggars or the occasional disappearance but most of the time it was sun and sky as far as her arms could reach.

With an itch to wander –and having pushed the city as far as she could go- Empie hitched rides across the country, leaving behind the desert home for wherever the carts took her. After over a year of wandering she came to the Kingdom of Gandryll and took to the streets once more as a beggar. Her grabby hands though got the attention of a man however, someone named ‘Avalon’ who sent her a letter to meet him at the palace. It seemed safe enough, especially since she could shift and run away before the humans could gather their wits so she went along. Could be fun, right?

Strengths and Weaknesses:
+ Surprisingly strong.
+ Can sniff out lies like a blood hound follows a scent.
+ Heat vision (senses the body temperatures of nearby people even if she can’t see them).
+ Can emit an ear aching high pitched scream that can confuse/discombobulate.
+ Can be ever so charming.
+ Fast.

-Has to keep her eyes covered in human society, they’re constantly block red like two rubies.
- Sometimes is over confident and gets herself in sticky situations.
- Can’t swim.
-Can be quite vain so prone to falling for flattery.

Other:
+Loves the smell of cakes, likes diamonds and sapphires, having fun, playing pranks.
+ Hates cheap metals, the smell of cooking horse, stingy people, stuck up people.
+ Plays a beggar during the day, robs houses at night.
+ Never takes off her neck collar (pictured above).
[/center]
Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by Thedreadpirate
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I will be submitting a character soon as well, and it'll be awesome.
Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by Dmytra
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Dmytra

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Name: Ellis Avalon (Goes simply by Avalon)

Age: 32

Transformation: A large silver-tailed hawk whose wings appear almost metallic in the light. The creature has startling grey eyes as well as formidable talons. Though conspicuous in the daytime, it appears almost invisible in the shadows and in the light of the moon.

Appearance (while human): He has a timeless appearance though he is still relatively young. He is tall, thin and remotely effeminate looking. He keeps cleanly shaven with shoulder length silver hair and piercing grey eyes which appear constantly analytical. He has lean muscle but gives the impression of being a lightweight. His rather slight build is compensated by his stern and imposing features. He originally hails from high above the tree line in North Gandryll and has the olive complexion and premature wrinkles to prove it - the brutal exposure is never gentle to the appearance. He underdresses for his high ranking position in simple black shirts, trousers, and hunting boots. There is no need to display his station through dress as he is well-known in Gandryll. Though they are loose fitting, it's clear he's heavily armored underneath.

Personality: He is incredibly serious and well known for his dry and deadpan sense of humor. He has a justice over mercy philosophy and he is both thorough and contemplative. He is a very well travelled and learned man and thus possesses strong logic and analytical skills. He enjoys the study of politics and economics though he was never very gifted at war. He is very loyal to Gandryll though not necessarily its monarch. He can get very paranoid and hasty to the point of sloppiness. He is not an unnecessarily mean person, only extremely committed to his beliefs, something that makes him very ruthless. He does have the capacity to feel compassion, but it is very deeply obscured by his other extremely assertive traits.

History: Born and raised in Gandryll, he is very nationalistic and has developed a passion for the tall forests that make up his homeland. He grew up a second child to the Lord Avalon meaning that his older sister would inherit the family's wealth (the nobility in Gandryll don't discriminate against their female children, as is the case throughout Celyn.) His agility was trained by scaling nearly 200 foot trees and he never felt more at peace then when he was suspended in the sky on their branches. He still had the opportunity to study with many private tutors, eventually becoming classmates with the Crown Prince Leolin. Because Leolin had no siblings, he immediately became attached to Avalon, who would never turn such an opportunity for advancement away.

He was summoned home urgently as a teenager and when he arrived, his family's manor appeared to be under siege and the forest below it in flames. His escorts were urged to join the fray, but they knew not who they fought and were slaughtered after shadows within the fires appeared to swallow them whole. Avalon ran into the burning castle, locating his sister in the tallest tower. As he reached her, the ground gave way and he saw her fall, her eyes wide with surprise. Frozen in utter shock, he did not realize that he was suspended in the air on vast silvery wings, rising higher every second as he caught the thermal air emanating from the heat.

As the fires died down, he realized that he was alone and that no sign of life was to be found in the area. His transformations were sporadic and uncontrollable and he was injured as he fell from the sky during the first few. He spent weeks in the woods, living on what he could scavenge and mulling over the events that brought him to this point. As he was alone, he was able to experiment and eventually control his transformations, associating the feelings of intense fear with his certain transformation. He began to travel, feeling unable to return to his old life and spend day on end in his hawk form. Years passed and he travelled all four kingdom. He learned much about the different cultures and customs of each region. He had an almost obsessive interest in the mysterious dark shadows that devoured his home but no matter where he went, he could find nothing.

What he did discover was his identity as a Canavar. Ofera's library contained traces of information about the Canavar, though much of it was lost after Queen Aurelia ordered large sections of the library burned. She hoped that magic would become like myth and over time, she was successful.

Avalon returned to Gandryll where Leolin now reigned. He cleaned himself up and was instantly recognized for who he was. None of his family had survived and Leolin, because of their old friendship and camaraderie, took him in. Leolin recognized the use of Avalon's vast knowledge and appointed him his Chief Advisor. Leolin caught him mid-transformation and, though taken aback, trusted him enough to hear him out. He will not reveal Avalon's secret as long as Avalon does not pose a threat to his reign.

Strengths and Weaknesses: He is very intelligent and worldly and is a well studied in politics and economics. However, he would make a terrible general given that he prefers much quieter and discreet methods of taking care of business (i.e. espionage.) He is not a natural leader and lacks charisma given that his stern and humorless disposition is often off-putting. He has build a reputation for himself and is, at times, more respected than the King himself. He is not physically strong but possesses agility and has mastered the use of the pole arm, his primary weapon of choice. He tends to become very obsessed with things, meaning that he'll ignore other duties if he is too focused on one particular goal. His transformation of the hawk also possesses its own advantages and drawbacks. It can easily move unseen at night and in the shadows but is very obvious during the day. It's sharp eyesight and hearing make him able to see details many would easily miss. He is a fast flyer, making him able to cover much ground in a short amount to time. His talons are formidable and he is very agile, but against numerous or larger foes, he would have difficulties.

Other: His relationship with the King is brotherly and he is often exasperated by Leolin's playboy-ish lifestyle. His interest in usurping the throne is purely because he believes Leolin will destroy Gandryll at the rate that he is depleting the treasury and earning the dissent of the lower class and nobility. His interest in seeking out other Canavar is not only for the purpose of his complex espionage and assassination missions, but also because he is deeply interested in them. He does not consider himself a separate race from human and the existence of the Canavar draws into question his views on magic.
Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by TheHumbleMagnificent
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TheHumbleMagnificent All Will Be Well

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Name: Gideon Tournes

Age: 24





Personality: Gideon is sly-tongued and vigilant in his feverish attempts to better his station in this world. He makes chess-like calculations in nearly everything he does, carefully analyzing every situation with the sharp, social brevity of a soothsayer. Tournes has a treasure trove full of obnoxious witticisms for all types of people; from the uptight conservative highborns of Bryn, to the lowly scallywags of Afon's thieves guild, the young Cavaner prides himself as a venomous social butterfly.

History: He was born on the hot sands of Ofera, abandoned by his mother, who prayed the dunes would claim his life and free him from the hardships of Celyn. But as the young babe would quickly learn early on in life, a cavaner's prayers always fell on deaf ears. By sheer coincidence, a group of marauders were fresh on a hunt, and had scooped up the winged babe into their nets. The pack leader's curiosity had outweighed the growls of his empty stomach. Tournes was taken back to their camp, where he lived out his early years as a pet slave. Scythal is what his masters called him, and he honored their gambled wages in the pit against other beasts. They sought to domesticate their winged prizefighter by beating the human out of him, until all that remained was a monster. What fools. All they managed to do was awaken a tempest, and the storm of fiery vengeance came at the hands of Scythal's father, Atrigon.

Atrigon was a mythical demon, summoned by an overzealous harlot witch, who in a quest for power, made a pact by delivering his seed into the world. To say Atrigon was enraged when he learned of her sudden change of heart is an understatement; to this day, Scythal's mother burns inside a fiery chasm deep inside the earth. She should be thankful she did not suffer the same fate as Scythal's captors. The balance that regulated both Celyn and the ethereal plane, forbade Atrigon from maintaining a physical form, and the vast reserves of power used to free Scythal from harm, came at a great cost. As a last ditch effort before evaporating completely into nonexistence, Atrigon melded a slither of his consciousness into Gideon, serving as a quasi mentor.

Where humans sought to degrade Scythal into a mindless creature, Atrigon's essence was spent guiding his son down a more sinister path, one that skirted between hellfire and deception. Scythal was obedient for a time, acquiesced by the guidance of his father, until he felt his counsel was no longer needed. By the time Scythal warded Atrigon's ghost from his mind and into nothingness, he had become a seasoned merchant in the black market, well-versed, and well-connected under the name of Gideon Tournes. Ascension into power seemed well within his grasp, but ironically, with all of the control he had in life, the one thing that remained a conundrum was his other self. The winged demon had grown just as he did, but in its growth, it had become more unstable, harder to control. Its violent temperament needed to be reigned in. Trained.

Enter Avalon, the Cavaner trainer and advisor to the crown of Gandryll. Gaining control of Scythal was the final piece Gideon needed to set his plans into motion. He immediately reached out to Avalon, posturing as a reformed criminal in need of salvation, keeping his true intentions hidden away.

Strengths and Weaknesses: Due to the continued success of his black market business, Gideon's reputation in the criminal underworld is respected, even in his absence. He is agile, durable, and frighteningly quick in both human and in transformation, though more stronger in the latter form. Unfortunately, even with Avalon's training, Gideon's transformed state can lead to fits of berserker rage; a stark contrast to his otherwise level-headed demeanor.

Other:



Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by Dmytra
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Dmytra

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Looks great so far everyone! I love your contribution to the lore, HumbleMagnificent.

Also, do check the original post for updates on accepted characters and FAQs.

Thanks!
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TheHumbleMagnificent All Will Be Well

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Thank you Dmytra! It's always fun when the lore is open-ended enough to allow players to contribute. I'm really lookin forward to this RP! Might add a bit more info under Gideon and Oathsworn's transformation species.
Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by Thrydwulf
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Name:

Aelana vos'nar Hagrovische


Age:

Twenty-seven.


Gender:

Female


Transformation:

cuol' Balfur


Origin of the cuol' Balfur: The egregious incarnate of a wrathful spirit once thought to have been tempered by the restorative properties of benign magics. Quelled, though only momentarily, by self-induced respite after being beckoned by a warlock who's vengeful aspirations consumed him though not before lying to waste an entire providence. The warlock's gnarled, decomposing flesh never was incinerated and as such the vessel this wraith took to not wholly deconstructed. Upon the lapse of many decades and the accompanying bloodshed of many creatures, both mythical and not, the wraith nourished by the passionate slaughter manifested itself into an undying beast with horrific fortitude. For centuries to come, it ravaged the lands and engorged itself in the wars initiated by humans; appearing in the trenches, shadows, and fallen foe at equally opportune moments. Relentless and indomitable it finally met its demise at the hands of a cadre of Fae and their whispered employments whereupon it was suppressed and its magics sequestered. Being that no one found themselves capable or willing to handle the primordial magic it was disbanded and confined in the strongest bloodlines throughout the land. cuol' Balfur, a name carried by the bitter arctic winds throughout Byrn, is the visage of the wraith among the Yagdravir tribesman.

The Elder Fae were especially keen on using the Yagdravir tribe of the north to embody the greatest brunt of the wraith's energy; the land's ecological hostility and harsh climate birthed a heartiness in the indigenity and honed their faculties of survival to formidable repute. The first lineages who harbored the demon lived in constant degradation of the wrath that surged from within; their spirits tormented and their convictions abolished. They had neither friend nor adversary; attacking only in berserk and only ever for the purpose of bloodshed; beasts who were ultimately confronted with the option of lifelong confinement or euthanization conducted by the eigal himself. After years of hunting and murdering their own, morally exhausted and embittered, the Yagdravir approached the last of the northern Fae and in exchange for their eternal safeguard were granted a means to suppress the wraith's power by way of the Fae imbuing themselves into bodies of the afflicted. The symbiosis of these two spirits, both that of the Fae and the mortal man, existed as the only means to subdue cuol' Balfur's untempered promptings.



Personality:

Years of behavioral rectification and affected social assimilation have created a woman who, with her most practiced manageability, constantly finds herself at odds with those she comes across. While perfectly capable of competence; it's a challenge for her to grasp the niceties of being socially conscious and considerate and more times than not people mistake her general indifference as pretension or condescension. Aelana conducts herself in constant recognition of the wrath that emanates from within and in spite of this has grown complacent and tempered in her ways. Often times she resigns herself to the role of an observant, never getting ahead of herself and only offering her word when it is resourceful or needed. Her play in politics is as unyielding as she a tactician; with her true martial application being on the battlefield where the wrath from within is sanctioned to come forth. In the heat of battle, where the wake of death and bloodshed drowns all and the paranoia of warfare grips men at their throats, she finds herself bolstered and her purpose assured.


Characteristics:

Three Strengths


  • Years of experience have bred an invaluable fighter proficient in open-warfare and espionage.

  • Capable of incredible feats of strength entirely incongruent with her stature and incomparable to any man she's ever met.

  • While scholars would shun her for sheer lack of academic training, strategists would exploit her cleverness and pragmatism eagerly. She may not be able to cite the geometric relation of the stars but she can prosper greatly from limited resources and has a heightened understanding of mortal motivations and capabilities.



Three Weaknesses

  • The same magics that govern and permit the symbiosis within Aleana also work to prohibit her from a complete transformation. Though to some extent the barriers in place are permeable and from them the powers of Balfur do resonate resulting in a small permission of his manifested influence. Under instances of duress and exhaustion, she will assume certain physical traits that are not at all her own: eyes completely devoid of colour, claws and fangs, and an increase in the girth of her muscles but retain her overall human form.

  • Social recluse, unsympathetic, disloyal, self-driven, guided largely by the promise of coin.

  • Exploits her mortal condition as a means to avoid ordinance.




History:
At birth it was already suspected that Aelana was to be the Harboress. The current one, prior to her conception, had lived long past the expectancy for their kind and relinquished her life for fear of meeting the same fate as those before her. The only way to be certain whom the next afflicted would be, was the occurrence of maternal mortality: it was believed that the soul of two was consumed in the forging of one and always resulted in the mother of the child losing her life. Plagued with a sudden and dire onset of malaise, her mother became exceedingly fearful that she was fated to birth a child who would only know pain and abhorrence. For fear of her daughter living a life of persecution and paranoia, Aelana's mother and kin fled from their village with hopes that she would find more promise for her and her offspring.

Idealistically, Aelana's mother would've managed to carve out a nondescript existence in some remote pocket of the land where the inhabitants were too removed from her own culture to understand the danger her daughter presented. But never fortunate are the optimists of the world; Aelana was either fortunate or burdened to discover this truth early on in her life. Moments into her birth, Aelana's mother found herself overcame by an all-consuming bout of exhaustion; her eyes closed and she slipped into the lifeless void almost pleading that the gods favored her enough to take her child with her. From her corpse, Gvad --Aelana's eldest brother-- carved the babe out of his mother's womb, and within the guts of the Great Forests of the North the bloodied and morally distraught children managed to elude their pursuers.

For some time thereafter, Gvad and his kin managed to endure by employing his very rudimentary understanding of survival and even at that they barely managed to sustain themselves. Rather fortuitously -- circumstances and conditions considered -- they were ambushed by a cadre of mage-slayers bearing the golden crests of the Whitewood Stronghold who had mistaken them initially as hybrids they were tracking. The Templars of Whitewood, while infamous for a number of things, weren't particularly known for their unprovoked generosity; however Ghandall, their leader, did sense something ineffably moving in Aelana and because of it convinced himself of a need to apprehend her.


Thereupon the children were forcibly relocated to the the city of Whitewood; a forbidding construction of stately steel and stone sustained by the blood and ingenuity of its denizens and their primogenitors. Gvad, a young man by every standard save for his own and his standing more or less usurped by the state, was enlisted into the Wards of Whitewood guided by the promise that he and his sister would be Ghandall's sponsored. Ghandall was an illustriously draconian individual, though not unjustly so. He had quelled more tides of war than any man could claim and with the political backing of the king himself had engineered a state of soldiers that could combat the magical creatures of the land by employing their own magics against them. His fondness of Aelana was infinitely perplexing to his peers and a sentiment that Gvad found incredibly vexing; though he saw purpose in the girl and passionately sought to validify his faith in her by stirring the forces that lie in dormancy within her.

Aelana's upbringing was distinguished by rigorous martial applications and measures of training that flirted dangerously close to iniquity. As a girl she worked tiredly as a servant-hand in the militia's barracks; Ghandall's intention clear and simple: premature exposure to the lifestyle she would soon undertake. At the age of twelve she was enlisted into an institution of war and dedicated herself to the academia of war-waging, magic nullification, and battlefield stratagems. She'd almost a natural propensity for the art of war but no considerable knack for applying magic in combat and while few questioned Ghandall's regard for her, the prowess she displayed and manner of fierceness she conducted herself in was irrefutably domineering. At the age of twenty-three she became the second-youngest Whitewood Templar, preceded only by Ghandall himself, and had established a remarkable reputation amongst her peers and those of noble stations.
Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by Kogiopsis
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Kogiopsis

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Oooh, this looks lovely! You just want character sheets posted here, right?
Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by Dmytra
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Dmytra

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Kogiopsis --> Yes please - your character sheets should be posted here!

Thrydwulf --> It's great so far!
Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by Kogiopsis
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Kogiopsis

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Name: Ritka Velius

Age: 22

Transformation: Brown rat


Personality: Much of Ritka's personality is informed by the long period of time she spent living wild as a rat: she's alert and twitchy, keeping to the periphery of rooms and constantly watching for threats. The longer she spends in human form, the more she can mask these tendencies, but they never quite go away. She views people in terms of transactions: what she can gain from them, and what they might take from her. Spending years under the thumb of a crime lord makes her cautious in her speech; she speaks what she's sure will not offend, or not at all. Given the choice of fight or flight, Ritka always flees, though she would call it pragmatism rather than cowardice.

History: When Ritka was a child, her family lived over her father's carpentry shop in Afon. It wasn't a prosperous life, but they got by well enough - until the Abardo crime family came to control their region of the city. They cleared the streets of petty thieves, but sent their own in broad daylight in the form of enforcers who demanded payment for their 'protection' from every citizen of the quarter.
Ritka's parents paid, but the cost grew higher and higher as business got slower and slower. No one in the quarter could afford her father's work anymore, and no one from outside of it ventured in: their coffers dwindled, until one day when the enforcers came there was nothing to give them. They took their price from her father's skin then, one man holding her mother by the wrists as she screamed for them to stop beating her husband. Ritka, pressed into a corner, pressed her hands over her mouth to hold in screams of her own but could not tear her eyes from the violence. Her pulse thundered in her ears, faster and faster until she felt dizzy and sick, and color faded from her vision as she struggled to breathe -
She pitched forward, gasping, and hit the ground as a rat.
That day the enforcers took her away, instead of her family's money. The head of the Avardo family offered her a deal she could hardly refuse: if she, in her rat form, would spy for him on other families and on the police, her parents would live in safety. Ritka agreed instantly, almost weeping with relief. She was twelve years old.
For nearly six years, she worked for the Avardos. Early on, her transformations could only be triggered by something that increased her heartbeat: usually, it was fear. If they needed her in rat shape, one of their thugs would dangle Ritka over the edge of a building, or swing a blade at her throat, and she'd drop nimbly out of the way to land on four tiny feet and scurry into the dark. It was no way to live, reliant on her transformations not just to keep her parents alive but to save her own skin from whatever new terror had been devised to coax out the change. Whenever she had the opportunity, Ritka tried to practice and control her abilities, and by her fifteenth birthday she could change at will consistently. The involuntary changes still happened, but at least she didn't have to be threatened with death to be able to do her job.
Not long into her eighteenth year, someone in Afon's police department got the better of her. She reported information about a planned raid back to Avardo, as she'd done dozens of times before: but this time it was false, a rumor planted within the department to suss out the source of their information leak. Instead of the warehouse she had warned of, the police struck a safehouse and in the process killed Avardo's son.
He didn't hurt Ritka, but what he did was far worse: as it had years ago, the price came from her parents' pain. Her mother died quickly, though horribly, decapitated simply as a demonstration of Avardo's anger. Her father they tortured, interrogating her between every broken finger: why had she lied? How much had she told the police? What had they offered to turn her?
They should have known better, though, than to do the very thing that had triggered her transformations in the first place. Ritka couldn't control it, and wouldn't have even if she could. She slipped from her captors' grips, dodged around their feet, and ran.
She spent the next four years avoiding cities, living most of the time as a rat to avoid notice. From time to time she fell in with natural rat packs, but never stayed for long. The warmth of their bodies was comforting, but the subtleties of pack hierarchy confused her; and inevitably she would return to human shape.
When she crossed into Gandryll, she began to hear whispers of Ellis Avalon, the king's strange (and strangely powerful) advisor. Slowly, Ritka came to a decision: she would go to the palace, seek out Avalon, and offer her services as a spy in return for protection and a place to live. Even if everything went sour again, she had nothing left to lose.

Strengths and Weaknesses: Her senses of smell and hearing are acute, and she can hear sounds at a much higher frequency than normal humans can. She's a natural swimmer, and learned some basic knifework and hand-to-hand defensive combat during her time working for Avardo - a further safeguard on a valuable asset.
Despite all she's tried, Ritka still cannot control her transformations when her heartrate accelerates too far. These transformations are much more physically taxing than voluntary ones, too, leaving her exhausted and short of breath. Her distance vision is poor, and she is red-green colorblind.

Other: Her father taught her the basics of woodcarving when she was a child, and she likes to whittle with a small knife to calm herself down. When she's human, she keeps a thumb-sized piece of carved wood in her pocket and rubs it for comfort.

She's spent long enough shifting between rat and human forms that she doesn't really get embarrassed when nude; however, she is careful most times to change back to human form in a place where she has access to clothes, as she's acutely aware and wary of nudity taboos and doesn't want to cause disruption or draw attention.
That's finished for now, but if there's anything that needs to be changed just let me know.
Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by Hael
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Hael

Member Seen 7 yrs ago

I decided to go with only one character

Name: Sel Son

Age: 23

Transformation: Greater yellow-headed vulture (A.K.A. "Forest vulture")

Appearance (while human): Sel is rather tall, and has angular features. His hair is a flamboyant yellow with flecks of red, which stands in contrast to his black, beady eyes that stare at almost everyone with a look of contempt.

Personality: Sel is silent, serious, and not usually kind. He has a very strong sense of self-preservation and the preservation of those around him, and will satisfy this sense through any means he can. He is not necessarily selfish, but he feels the need to do what he must to insure him and his loved ones live. If he had the ability, he would quickly become a thief or assassin. At best he is a protector, risking his life to defend his friends and family. At worst he is a thief and liar, praying on the weak and defenseless. He was at one point friendly and sociable, but his life and hardships have pushed him into a sort of internal hiding place.

History: Sel was born into a family of ten, consisting of six sisters, two brothers, and a Mother and Father. He was raised in a farm on the outskirts of Gandryll His childhood was happy, filled with sweet candies and fond memories, but when Sel was nineteen his Mother suffered a heart attack and passed away. Sel's Father mourned for his wife for months before committing a grief-driven suicide at the age of forty-eight- when Sel was twenty. Being the youngest of his Siblings (and his parents being farmers), his inheritance was unfortunately small, but it was enough to get him out of the country side and into the "big city"

Upon arriving in the Capitol of Gandryll, Sel almost immediately fell into poverty. He didn't know what he had been expecting, coming there alone and with little money, but he guessed he had just assumed that all the people in the Capitol were rich and lived in mansions. Those were the kinda stories you heard growing up on the country side, anyway. He spent what money he had left of the inheritance on a "room for rent" in someone else's house, but it was only a matter of time until he got kicked out for not being able to pay the gigantic monthly fee. When he did run out of money and was evicted from the small home, he tried getting a job but nobody would hire him, as his only real skill was farming, and he was much to clumsy for sneaking into someone's house to steal. He regretted coming to the Capitol at all, he had started to starve and he was sure to die within a few weeks if someone didn't take pity on him. He couldn't read or write to send a letter back to his siblings, and he didn't have any skills useful in organized crime. He was alone and certain to die.

Some of the wealthy, noble families of Gandryll have the odd tradition of burying their deceased loved ones with jewels, gems, and valuable personal belongings. He wasn't quite sure where he had gotten the idea from, but at one point he realized it would be easy to sneak into a grave yard at night and steal from the bodies. He knew robbing the graves was probably wrong, but he was hungry and it's not like the corpses needed silver and gold. He would have even killed them himself if he had the right tools and talents. He got into the habit of going for recently buried dead, since grass wouldn't have grown over the grave yet and the graves would look more or less the same as before he dug them up. After robbing a grave he would go and make a pretty penny off the gems, but it still wasn't enough to buy him a home. Most the time the "important" people's graves were guarded, making the opportunity rare.

Soon word got around that someone was robbing graves. The number of grave guards and graves guarded more than tripled. He tried robbing the graves a few more times but always got caught and had to flee. He was back to begging. He tried to beg for a while, but nobody cared to spare any money or food for him. And he couldn't convince anyone to take him in for a while until he "got back on his feet". He only had a few weeks left before starvation, he was sure. At one point, on the brink of death, he revisited the graveyard hoping that maybe, just maybe, there would be an unguarded grave. There was. He gave thanks to the gods and practically ran to the Noble's resting place and started to dig it up with his hands (he had to sell his shovel for some bread), so it took him hours and hours for the coffin to finally reveal itself. It was empty, and was starving. There was nothing valuable on the corpse. He started to cry, he was so hungry and new that he only had a few days left before he passed away.

He wasn't sure how it happened, but he was suddenly tearing into the flesh of the dead noble woman and eating it. He would of been disgusted had he not been so hungry, and had the body not suddenly developed such an appetizing scent. As he was eating the body, he quickly forgot who he was, what he was doing, and that he was ever a human at all. His human intelligence was replaced with vulture instinct.

He heard a shout from behind him, and turned to see a guard running in his direction (not the he knew what a guard was any more, just that a larger animal was approaching him and yelling). He took off into the skies and flew towards the forest, where he lived for weeks flying on air currents and feeding on carrion cut open by larger animals. He slowly but surely started remembering who he was and regaining his internal and external humanity. Once he managed to fully transform into a human again, he tried to go back to the city and possibly forget the whole thing ever happened, but upon approaching the gates of the city he was stopped by someone named Avalon. Avalon explained to him that he knew what Sel was, and could help him control it. Sel couldn't really say no, as he hoped this would help him get a better life.
Strengths and Weaknesses:
Strenghts:
-A strong flyer while transformed
-Strong sense of smell
-Good eyesight
-Strategic mind
-Cunning

Weaknesses:
-No real skills
-Physically weak
-Irresponsible
-Distrusts nobles, royalty, government, and the rich
-Not booksmart
-Has trouble ignoring his animal instincts when transformed

Other:
-He loves flying
-He wants to learn to read and write
Hidden 10 yrs ago Post by Dmytra
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Dmytra

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Great job everyone, I really love how much dimension you've given to this concept, it's really starting to come alive! I believe we're waiting on one or two more profiles before we can start. If anyone would like to throw out some preliminary plot ideas, feel free to do so. We have such an interesting cast of characters, thanks for all of your work!
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