Pirouette

O R I F L A M M E

@Force and Fury

I am close to being done with my character. Tonight should be finished.

The Hourglass Order

Ysilla Al-Nader

---

The excitement was over almost as soon as it began. Her companions were moving on and the silent puppeteer, Ysilla, followed in silence. Her cloak pulled around to cover her so only her face had to bear the worst of the cold this night. She would have been fine making the trek in silence but her companions were quick to break into conversation. They each had their musings of exchanging bits of themselves. Most were uninteresting topics to her aside from the novelty of just how each person acted. Ayla's infectious positivity was drawing the others to her like moths to a flame. It made sense, being a moth herself, but it was intriguing to watch from afar... even though Ysilla's mood drifted to jealousy. Those moths could find their own flame.

Speaking of the others, they mostly left Ysilla alone. Her sister was obvious but the others, at least Ysilla suspected, were disarmed by the fact she never liked to talk. She'd even let questions asked of her go by unanswered if she counted them as the "small talk" sort. It wasn't out of malice but rather there was nothing interesting or revealing about a person in small talk. It was another border put in place to protect people from revealing who they truly were. A waste of time. That's what made Ayla more appealing to her. The girl loved to talk, putting others at ease, and it apparently never bothered the little lioness that Ysilla didn't talk back. Might have even enhanced their relationship in a way, but that was Ysilla's belief rather than a fact.

So when she offered nothing in response to the Snakewood suggestion, they understood each other, at least Ysilla hoped. Her smile was the bridge she created to express her interest. Snakewood could be used as a medium for a puppet although the pattern would be utilized with a snake. The only wooden snake puppets she knew of were the ones constructed out of many segmented pieces allowing the figure to slither. The issue was that the segments were spaced out with nothingness in between them, like a snake's skeletal structure. That was the only way it could move, though maybe you could...

"Sand Wyrm!"

Sand Wyrm?

That wasn't good judging from the tone shift from the jovial mood earlier. Some of them knew this was bad. Ysilla's mind went to planning escape for a moment before Ayla brought her attention in. Dança-Alsahra A game? Curious time to be-oh. It made sense. A character in a play might often make a connection to something that they are familiar with if it helps them in a given situation.

Instructions on what to do next came. Bigger was something she could do. The school of Magnetic magic had been her mainstay for years now. She practiced on always sensing and maintaining her creations around her. She naturally had a sense, like a magnetic pull, where her puppets were and could relate that to actual magnetic objects. At this stage, Ysilla's range was about fifty meters to sense magnetic objects and buried in the sand she could feel all sorts of natural or lost material that fit the description. Necessary because Ysilla believed Ayla didn't just want size but weight, too. While Kaspar drew sand, Ysilla drew all the objects buried around them. Remnants of weaponry and armor, buried stones, and all others she could find buried around them were pulled from the sand and offered to their enlarging tuning fork.

When her part was done, Ysilla stifled her breathing and did her best to remain upright but keeping her cloak closed, her legs wobbled in weakness from the draw threatening to give out. It was her natural reaction when exerting herself, like the first thing to go would be her sense of balance.

She did her part, however, and now it was to them. Watching carefully as Ayla's plan was enacted before being left to stand perfectly still amid her weak knees...

O R I F L A M M E

I heed Thine call and rejoice,
For I have known nothing else

The Hourglass Order

Ysilla Al-Nader

---

Conflict was such a prominent feature in stories that you would be scarce to find a performance without one taking shape in some form. Physical conflict was an easy way to display the narrative device but it was not a limited method by any means. Ysilla understood that and while those stories had their charm, she loved stories that didn't feature physical conflict, stories such has Hassum's Climb and Last Flower in Yu's Garden. The former dealing with Hassum making one last offering at the top of a holy mountain. He wasn't dying but moving on with his life, setting out for a new land and moving past the hinted at trauma. The latter was more solemn with a drought killing all but one flower in a garden. Yu was willing to do whatever she could to preserve that last flower. Not once did they have to physically fight and end a life. It was more about cherishing it.

Although physical conflict was not her in her palette, she nevertheless familiarized herself with the act though she distanced herself as best as she could. She isolated herself and remained a distance away from her walk while the others did their performances. She did hers, stalling for a time as Hoopoe carried Khamsei around one of the Halassa. The porcelain jester's continious laugh egging the rabid beast to an even further madness, she mused. The creatures jaw snapped in the air missing the pair of puppets flying around. This one was 'hers', she continued to entertain the idea of companions' stories beginning here with this test.

She could give her puppets half a mind, leading the creature away as she glanced over at the others. They were all succeeding or in the process of doing so in their own unique way that melded with their character. A study for later because she did not want to tarry long.

Turning her full attention back to her Halassa. She finally gave the creature it was so hoping for. Hoopoe swooped towards the snapping jaw, releasing the laughing puppet to dive bomb towards the creature's mouth. In the enraged state, it thought nothing of snapping its mouth around the small figure that presented itself. It was almost swallowed nearly whole save for the left wrist of Khamsei which was caught by the jaw of the snapping turtle. Ysilla winced at the sudden strain her body felt as she maintained the thin repulsive field around her puppet. It might have been more prudent to let Khamsei lose his hand to punish him for his foolishness of throwing his arms up in excitement but he couldn't be fully blamed. Not yet, anyway.

The Halassa opened its jaw again and lifted its head, plunging Khamsei down its throat. Even though Ysilla couldn't see her puppet anymore, she could sense where it was like a magnetic pull towards her creation. She didn't wait long after the swallow before Ysilla concentrated, her hands twisting and fingers curling around an imaginary orb in between her hands. It was a way for her to concentrate as the magnetic field around Khamsei intensified, and the puppet inside reached out stopping himself in the Halassa's throat. If the creature felt this agitation, it made no sign of it as it pursued Hoopoe who continued to drone around it.

The field around Khamsei continued to grow in strength but the Halassa would feel no change until Ysilla believed she had enough magnetic strength stored. The magnetic charge based around the Halassa's neck would be given the opposite charge of Khamsei's and him, bearing such incredible magnetic charge, would repulse the flesh around himself. The end result was near instantaneous and messy.

The Halassa's neck exploded in a violent decapitation, showering blood in the nearby area and sending the head flying. Khamsei pulled Hoopoe towards him through the shower but both were protected from the mess as drops of the creature's blood hit and illuminated the thin layer of magnetic repulsion both had. The puppets collided but the Ysilla dropped the intensity of her channeled magnetic field so the two, after crashing together quickly spun out of their impact and back to Hoopoe carrying Khamsei back, this time returning to Ysilla.

Ysilla lifted her hat and threw open her cloak as Khamsei was released to fall into a cling on the creator's waist while Hoopoe came to roost on her head. Both were quickly concealed as Ysilla replaced her hat and closed her cloak after Khamsei crawled around to her back once more.

The puppeteer would return to her now congregating party to the offer of coffee by her sister. Quietly refusing the offer with a lifted hand, she tucked herself in her cloak again. Though she showed no sign of it, she was quietly lamenting the waste of life aberration could cause. Such a shame that it had to be this way but it was better a creature than the more valuable life of a sentient being like her companions...

Oh well, the Writer may favor Tragedy now but in time, Ysilla may be able to deny even that.

The Hourglass Order

Ysilla Al-Nader

---

Tick,
Tock

The freshman dormitory had been enveloped in silence for the past hour aside from the subtle hymns of a ticking clock. It was a silence born from the intense focus required for the task. Under the light of an oil lamp and zoom of a few magnifying glasses, Ysilla worked on just one part of her craft. A drop of golden paint nestled on the end of the tiniest brush you might have ever seen. Delicately she worked to apply that drop across the raised ridge on the wooden carving of a lion's mane half-painted mane, denoting a single hair in that mane.

It was a level of commitment that was unnecessary but a self-exam of her abilities, nonetheless. The truth of it was, wood was not the best material to carve a lion puppet out of. It would only ever be life-like, not alive. The hair she just painted would never flow in the wind like that of a proud lion catching a breeze on a windy day. Aside from that, it was far too small to represent something proud being no larger than a common housecat. Yet it, along with the many other figures that sat in this room, watching their creator work on a new addition, were all prized for the lessons learned in their creation.

The eyes of animals, monsters, and even people were all simulated in Ysilla's dormitory. All given the same amount of care as this lion but only a handful were ever given more. Two of such acclaim, hung onto her, a passive extension of her unconscious will. They were kept close because they were far more than mere figures but tools to be used by should the need arise. That need was coming and she was ready the moment it arrived. She hardly went out anyway.

---

She was one of a small number to arrive. Her presence came without sound, quietly but respectfully bowing the Paradigm as she separated herself the concentration of others, preferring to maintain a silent vigil over this sudden meeting. She sat, one hand layered over the other and listened to each as they talked. Details of what they were called her for and exchanges between the others were as equally important to her. How were they reacting and acting? It was curiosity of hers, not that she didn't react or act. Quite the contrary, she loved to do so when the moment was right but she could never break her more monotone expressions without it seeming too forced. It was her way and very much unlike her sister.

Ysilla accepted her sister's offer of coffee just as wordlessly as it was offered. There weren't too many words exchanged between the pair these days. Ysilla never was a conversationalist but there was little she had to say to her twin sister. Little she wanted to hear from her as well. With a focused stare, she'd watch her sister offer others coffee silently wondering what she has been up to lately.

It wasn't a very occupying thought as Jocasta took that attention as she politely refused a cup. Such a curious character to be present at this meeting. Sure wizards and witches didn't need strong constitutions but there was something disarming about seeing one in a wheelchair. She was such a small figure and yet as the meeting went on, she had such strong opinions despite her frailness and even timidness in her voice. Many plays would feature a character with such fragility. An apparent shortcoming that was made up for by a strong and noble heart and yet...

Zamira

Ysilla had been sitting near motionless, except to take the occasional drink of coffee, this entire meeting. At the mispronunciation of her sister's name, however, she tilted her head, expression bending into one of a mild ponder. It was a note far beyond the usual noble heart character. Her sister didn't even have a difficult name for non-native speakers to pronounce and yet here it was, passing the lips of someone that in the very next breath applied an extensive curtesy. Was it deliberate? Ysilla pondered for an answer, believing that it was but she tried to rationalize that belief by looking at who Jocasta was as a whole. Passive aggressive to make up for unintimidating appearance? An intriguing personality quirk.

There was little else in the meeting from that point on. They were given a blessing and a portal to go on their way.

Emerging out into the sandy dark terrain of a desert night, Ysilla pulled her cloak closed in front of her, a subtle display of the cold bothering her. She made no sound of the discomfort as Jocasta announced the alert of incoming danger and being in the back, witnessed Ayla's struggle with the cold or fright. Delicate would be more suited to the lithe and small character falling onto the sand. The thought slipped into Ysilla's mind to help her up and even offer her place inside her cloak if it was truly the cold. They could be warmer huddled together but it wasn't the practicality that made Ysilla want to ask. She yearned for the Torragonese to be close to her. When the moment came to ask, her throat dried and she did not speak, letting the moment get away.

Regret was quick to follow as she watched her friend jump to her feet and move headlong into the encroaching Halassa.

Oh right.

Stepping forward, Ysilla made no urgent movements as she stood next to Jocasta. Watching the approaching beasts, she finally spoke. "Five encounters five." The towering Virangish would turn her head down at her sitting companion. "One for each of our party to trial against." She held the other's gaze, unmoving as if searching for something but her tone was as stern as it could be. This was not an observation but a demand. They were tasked with something dangerous and one that could be a liability wasn't worth having tag along. "Agreed?" She cocked her head ever so slightly to the side, towards the beasts.

If Jocasta say anything other than stating her agreement, Ysilla would turn and walk away. Without stopping a step, she'd fling her cloak open, allowing the cold to kiss her along her silk outfit underneath. One hand would reach behind her back, the magnetic magic already being channeled to make the black and gold clothed figure, Khamsei scamper out onto her arm. Her other hand pulled her hat from her head, revealing the nesting pearlescent lavender bird, Hoopoe.

She'd lift Hoopoe out in front of her, the jester shaking his head with a monotone laugh. "Haaahaaahaa." He rose to his feet, reaching up. Hoopoe rose to her feet and stretched her wings with caw. The bird then leapt from the top of Ysilla's head, her feet dangling for Khamsei to grab them and the pair took off into the air. Khamsei's laugh hollered across the dunes as the pair approached the Halassa.

Hoopoe flapped her wings but something about how she flew seemed uncanny, like a bird caught in a wind. She was merely being pushed along by Ysilla's will. She watched the pair and almost passively, she made them move but even made moves ever so slightly. Like Khamsei's legs kicking wildly in the air like he was having a grand time, with his head turning to gaze at the landscape.

His laughs, distant, but still audible as the pair came swooping in towards the head of one of the Halassa.

One Universe: Unlimited - A Marvel/DC Comics Roleplay

There are various other, minor sorcerers, witches, wizards, magi, etc. for you to pull from within Marvel and DC. Ones that others will not likely use or care about, so you'd be free to reinvent them for your purposes. That way you keep your story beats and don't restrict other potential Doc Strange players to what you've established.

@Retired

Anyone fun for me to read up on?

One Universe: Unlimited - A Marvel/DC Comics Roleplay

I would say that for characters like Dr. Fate and Dr. Strange, you might seek alternative plans. Those guys both tend to be pretty important cornerstones of the universe, and relegating them to side characters or supporting cast might be more detrimental than intended. It's a little like me saying that my supporting cast includes Daredevil or The Punisher. There's actually precedent for both characters to be Spider-Man related, and one even debuted under his banner, but they're too big for me to just use without applying for one of them as a second.

@Master Bruce

That's a lot more work when I am mainly just interested in playing Cindy. I wanted her to have no strings to anything going on and showing how that could be horribly depressing. Like if Spider-Man managed drop Peter Parker and just became Spider-Man. It is just crime fighting and that sounds awful. And yet it is something that I think that is thought of for the Spider-Man storyline. So I wanna show the opposite. There is Silk but she is slipping more into wanting to be Cindy Moon and progress on how she grapples that. She'd be in a perfect spot where she wants to help Strange with things. Easy and fun "mission" material for me to write.

I did watch the recent Doctor Strange movie and while I was playing around with the idea of having Cindy being tapped by Strange help him with some trippy magical encounters, it was secondary. So the plan was always to hardly touch him.

If that is still detrimental, I guess I can make Strange as my second character but I wouldn't do anything more with him. It would be a waste especially considering someone might join that wants to play him after seeing the movie.

It sounds like less fun for me but I could have Cindy just self-rescue and drop Strange out entirely. I lose a lot of fun ideas I have in mind.

I'll make him if you think it is vital, I guess.

One Universe: Unlimited - A Marvel/DC Comics Roleplay

Hey so I have an idea for Cindy.

Going with her bunker backstory. She gets bit as a child, powers discovered by Ezekiel Sims. Ezekiel believes Morlun is hunting her and stuffs her into a bunker for a few years. It isn't until Doctor Strange discovers her claiming there isn't a Morlun that he knows of so he takes her to the Sanctum Sanctorum until he can find out why someone put her down there.

I'll play a little into Doctor Strange but not a lot. It gives Cindy a lot more to do since she'll not only be adapting to life as a 'normal' kid but she can also jump into spider stuff with Strange's help.

@Master Bruce It affects Spider-Man's story potentially in the future with an Ezekiel Sims and maybe a Morlun. However, that is all very distant and I don't think would affect anything you have planned. Could be something to collab on in the future.

And for anyone else, if you wanted to play as Doctor Strange, the slot is still open. He'll just come with this caveat of having Cindy to watch out for.

If that's fine, I'll go ahead and finish what I have written out.

The Hourglass Order

Casii’fyret’alan

”Remember your roots but grow into what you want to be.”

16 | Female | Yasoi | Respected | 8.21

P E R S O N A L I T Y

❖ Anxious
❖ Nurturing
❖ Uncouth
❖ Abrasive
❖ Loner

Her growth was stunted by the common harassment and tantrums of her kin, leading her to always be cautious and drive her to be closed off. Her family wasn’t cruel but it discouraged vulnerability, leaving Casii to either embrace it or struggle. Yet her family wasn’t all bad. Her great grandmother, Yas, had taught her the virtues of being kind fostering a rare form of gentleness. Nurturing the sick, the injured, or the depressed is a pull that Casii feels wanting to try and be benevolent to others if they are in worse or dire situations.

Outwardly, she behaves like she just doesn’t give a damn, even enacting her lack of keeping up performances. Without thinking, she’ll disregard established manners to be more comfortable. If engaged or challenged by someone that she feels threatened by, she’ll quickly turn to rage believing that the best way to settle disputes.

People just naturally make her uncomfortable in conclusion. She prefers to dance to her own tune and will do her best to avoid others.

C H A R A C T E R A P P E A R A N C E

Typical Yasoi build, Casii has a lithe frame, towering at six feet and four inches. Her hair is a bleached white usually styled over to one side of her head. Her skin is a little warmer and less gray that your typical Yasoi although to the Yasoi her most notable feature is her very human-like nose. Her Tetsoi so far are in a light blue color with the most prominent pattern displayed on her forehead. She has two body Tetsoi, a set of asymmetric patterned rings around her right and left wrists that will mirror each other.

Clothing-wise, she doesn't have much, often wearing the same clothing as the previous day. Ragged clothes with cuts and holes with basic coloring, she'd look rather ordinary had it not been for the extensive dyeing done to make some of her clothes more colorful. She'll pick up bits and pieces of clothing and might add it to her outfit if she likes it, only to discard them the next day due to a change of tastes.

Inspiration for her clothing

L A N G U A G E S

Yasoi (Native)
Avincian (Conversational)
Perrench (Regionally accented and barely conversational)

T H E G I F T

❖ Chemical:
Being a family of horticulturalists, there was a focus on chemical magic passed down from generation to generation. Chemical magic was at the center of this and despite the clan’s fall from grace, they still prioritize the instruction of Chemical magics for all manner of purposes. Aside from the usual biochemical applications, Casii has spent significant time studying the illusionary effects that Chemical magic has. She has a particular fondness of manipulating what others experience, whether for their benefit or to their horror.

❖ Binding:
While Chemical magic is placed at the forefront of the clan, Binding magic would be quick to follow. A versatile type of magic that allowed the healing of disease or the removal of infestations. Traditionally, the family did not bother with the distinction of Blood magic, only turning that power against the pests in their fields, but many in the clan learned it as well as any other magic. Casii has made this her second preference of magic for the practical purposes of being able to heal. However, she does turn this magic against the very plants and creatures if the need arises.

❖ Kinetic:
Casii chose this effect of magic to model after her great grandmother, seeing the benefits of being able to manipulate forces. She knows how useful it can be to give but it really is tertiary to supporting her Greengrowth abilities.

B A C K G R O U N D

They say somewhere on the Alan clan’s tree is a Perrench human ancestor and that is how the Greengrowth bloodline was introduced to the line. It, Casii has decided, is more of a colorful story that changes every time her great grandmother brings it up. A line to try and remind the children that the Yasoi and Huusoi are entwined together in a unique kinship. The story goes like this with variations included:

Your ancestor, Teclis’covish’lethan’alan, had been journeying in Perrence just after the Eskandr invasion. He was a reckless fool and found himself in trouble at the hands of a great beast / a frothing Eskandr / his own clumsiness. He would have been killed and you and I would never be here if that were the case. Thankfully he was saved by a witch / noble lady / landing on top of the poor woman thus cushioning his fall. The woman that happened to save him was a Greengrowth and after showing great compassion to the beast by healing it / healing Teclis / healing herself. Your ancestor made a strong enough impression and felt like he owed it to his savor. He spent time and eventually fell in love…

The story goes on sometimes but usually before then Casii is tuning it out. Yasoi can be Greengrowths so why complicate their history with such fiction? In fact, the origin myth of their bloodline isn’t quite as important as the development to her. Those are the stories she truly likes to hear. The ones that paint the picture of just how strong and clever they could be:

Oh yes, for a few centuries the Alan clan depended upon the Greengrowths of our line. We could grow anything and so all of our kin set out to the furthest reaches of the land to find the most exotic plants they could. They were our treasures usually and while we didn’t exchange the seeds of what we found at the Mette’stiroi, we would grow what we found and offer that instead. Many of our ancestors received their fourth name after the plant they brought back if it was fascinating or delicious enough. Segoii, Hiilay, and oh my, many others. That reminds me…

That was a different time. Even her great grandmother had managed to experience some of that real Yasoi culture. Casii loved to hear the stories because it swept her away from the sorry excuse her family has become. The vibrant and diverse gardens they had were withered husks of former glory. Unremarkable compared to the grandeur of the past:

The gardens in my childhood? Oh they were quite the sight! They used to grow whatever they could in branches, carving out planter boxes where the branches were wide enough, or making their own if a fork proved sturdy enough. I would always climb the tallest tree I could to look down at fields of colors growing in and around the leaves of the trees. It was like a field of flowers but with many colors and patterns from the different trees and bushes growing beyond our forest’s trees.. Fruit was in such an abundance that they covered the ground and the animals would come and gorge themselves. Vines grew and wrapped the trunks and our buildings and whatever cracks could support them, the smaller plants like flowers and shrubs would sprout.

The culture of preserving the life they created faded as the Yasoi as a whole grew closed off. Less of her family ventured out to collect new plants to replace those that had died off. They were controlled not to spread to rightly not invade Yasoi lands as a whole. Unfortunately, that led to the gardens dying out and the beauty that her great grandmother told of, Casii would never see. It was like how her own clan was fading from this world. Dying off from stagnation. Maybe it was the frustration of losing their work that made them bitter. Made them turn to other things to escape the sad reality of what was happening.

Ah, the aberrations. You know about those. They were only the beginning. Where one garden pest began, an infestation would grow. Smokeleaf and the fruits for wines are easy to get from our human neighbors and so they offered people like your father and mother a way to manage with everything going on. I fear the Yasoi look to anything now to keep their minds off the sickness. We are hardly going anywhere nowadays. That isn’t right. We aren’t meant to just sit here. Our lives belong out there.

Casii early on had struggled with the sickness. Many of her peers had. With so few of her people leaving to explore other lands, they felt like they were always bumping elbows, being nosy, and just being a nuisance. It flared up a lot of already existing tensions about their lot in life. Growing up, it always felt like you were getting snapped at for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It lead to a lot of children trying to pushback because it felt like they were always under adult surveillance. The event that got Casii her third name had always been an amusing one:

Fyret. You know normally that would net you a lot of trouble. Your whole treetop a blaze because you didn’t quite like how your father was scolding you. It took the whole of us to put out the blaze. Oh my, I can remember being out there. Your father’s smokeleaf burning and all of us getting high off of the fumes. It was a struggle to even stay up there but somehow we managed to put out the fires. Easy to grow back but I don’t think I ever felt sicker in my life thanks to you little Leaf Burner.

She got off easy with her third name. Everyone remembers the event humorously but it felt like her whole childhood was filled with little aggressions against their lot in life. Her peers were the same, lashing out. Casii was quick to pick up on sucking on Jamb’ysp as it made the rounds among the children. Their parents did it, so why not them? It was their elders that actively tried to fight the slowly seeping corruption. Her great grandmother did a good job. Her final advice the last time she saw her before she passed was enough to convince her. She had to leave and learn what it was to be a true Yasoi.

Go out there and see for yourself. We belong out there sweet child.

M O T I V A T I O N

❖ Try to live like a true and proud Yasoi
❖ Discover the world outside of Mycormi and Yasoi lands
❖ Find out what she treasures enough to bring to Mette'stiroi
❖ Recapture the heritage and glory of her clan

I N V E N T O R Y

❖ Bag of Seeds
While not treasures, she does value any plants that take her interest on her travels. Should she find an interesting subject of flora, she will take a few seeds and keep them with her. Paired with her Greengrowth bloodline, she can grow any of these seeds to full maturity in mere minutes. Seeds collected: Jamb'ysp, Gran Naranja, Oasis Lily

❖ Jamb’ysp
Or Monkey Nut in Avincian, is the production of certain type of mangrove tree found in the southern area of Mycormi. The seed, the nut, grows under the elevated trunk of the tree, protected by the tangling roots that elevate the tree from the water. When a storm comes in to raise the water, the seeds are pulled away with the water and allowed to float to new marshy lands to grow. They have a hard shell, difficult to break, but inside is a bitter tar that acts as a stimulant. Casii is horribly addicted to these, cutting the nuts in half and sucking the tar as a mild psychedelic to get through the day is a need for her at this point.

❖ Oasis Lily
Found only in the oasis pools in the Torragon desert, these flowers are a very precious delicacy of the Torragonese nomands. The lily pad and the flower, colored in shades of orange in a very attractive pattern, goes well in any salad!

❖ Riigyl’laht
Deer sigil. A wooden carving of a buck’s skull that is no larger than the size of palm of Casii’s hand. Delicately carved along the median of the frontal plate is her great grandmother’s name in Yasoi, Yas’riigyl’tiix’alan. Out of everything, she prizes the memento of her great grandmother the most, threading a line through the eye sockets and wearing the carving as a necklace.

Jacket of the Desert Wyrm

Name: Desert Wyrm's Leather Jacket

Item Description: A leather jacket with wyrm scales woven into it. Absorbs 15% of kinetic energy directed towards it. Resistant to cutting and piercing attacks.

Special: Not Applicable

Additive Effect: 4%
Mana Type: Standard
Longevity: Silver
Efficiency: Bronze
Density: Gold
Capacity: Gold
Attunement: Gold

Final grade: Gold

Cost of materials: Provided
Cost of manas: Ỽ5
Cost of labor: Ỽ 1
Total item cost: Ỽ6
Contract fee: Ỽ2

Ỽ8 spent

S T R E N G T H S & S K I L L S

❖ Botany and Horticulture
There is something about plants that just makes sense. Maybe knowledge of plants was passed down from her ancestors as well or maybe she just had good experience with the many kinds still cultivated in her clan. Regardless, she is already at the point of being able to identify many plants and those that she hasn’t seen before, she’d probably be able to work out what they are. If they are interesting enough, she might even keep a seed for study.

❖ Scrapper
She was quite a delinquent growing up and that cost her all sorts of trouble. If it was with her peers, she’d often fight with them. You had to be tough if you wanted to not be pushed around and Casii might not have been the strongest but she was the feistiest, never willing to back down. Over time she developed a good sense in a fight to carry her through.

W E A K N E S S E S & F L A W S

❖ Addiction
Whether it to be to Jamb’ysp, wine, or anything else that consumes a person in alcoholism, Casii remains extremely vulnerable to falling for these vices. Just about anything will require significant attention to break the habit for a time but she’s young and reckless so why not indulge? Jamb’ysp is something else. She needs this substance otherwise she’ll suffer major withdrawal.

❖ Dislikes Humans
There are many names the younger Yasoi are calling humans and not many of them are all too positive. She isn’t quite like her friends back home, willing to venture into human lands, and understands that humans are a part of this world. However, the negatives of humanity are often the first things she points out, overlooking the good. She’ll distance herself both physically and emotionally from humans believing it for the best.

M I S C E L L A N E O U S

❖ Don’t call her tiilyt or talk about her nose.
❖ Fear the Deer

Ysilla Al-Nader

Ysilla Al-Nader

"Heed not my peculiarities; feel secure in gaining from me what advantage you can for I am sure to do the same."

16 | Female | Virangish | Merchant | 7.62

P E R S O N A L I T Y

❖ [ Proud ]
❖ [ Inconsiderate ]
❖ [ Adventurous ]
❖ [ Hedonistic ]
❖ [ Cunning ]

If you were expecting Ysilla to be like her sister, the similarities stop shortly after the pride and ambition that has become a trademark of any Al-Nader woman anymore. Where her sister will wear her emotion like a sleeve, Ysilla will disguise most emotion believing any display betrays your intent. It is better for them to keep guessing, after all, and you will rarely see a display outside of an amused smile.

In truth, Ysilla harbors little patience for others if they do offer something for her to engage with. Those that are joyous, childlike, or maybe just brimming with energy are welcomed with amusement and pandering. Unfortunately for those of you that are serious, sarcastic, or just negative all the time, she will have little more than slighted words at your expense. Despite making her emotion a secret, she is ironically not one to hide what she thinks of a person.

C H A R A C T E R A P P E A R A N C E

Despite being twins with her sister, people can be quick to notice the difference between them. Ysilla maintains an almost porcelain complexion, her beauty mark located inferior from her lips and on her left cheek, brown hair that almost passes for black trailing down to her midriff but almost always kept up in a bun and unnatural red pupils. Being an Al-Nader, beauty is matched with height. Ysilla is 185cm tall with a very lithe figure, matching her sister.

Ysilla prefers the comfort of fine silks that will show off her natural form but often drap herself in an overcoat, again most likely silk, to hide some of her features. She’ll wear jewelry, of course, with dangling ruby earrings, gem set brooches, rings, bangles, and bracelets depending on her preference for the day. Her most trademark piece of attire, however, is her large witches hat, keeping her face shaded at almost all times.

L A N G U A G E S

Languages have been a bit more than a hobby to Ysilla. She can comfortably speak her native and regional tongues but started to learn a few distant languages for her own fun. She tries to mimic the accent of those that she speaks with.

❖ Avincian - Perfectly Fluent, with scarce usage of Virangish expressions or any obvious accent.
❖ Virangish - Native language.
❖ Torragonese - Second native tongue.
❖ Inipori - Semi-Fluent
❖ Yasoi: Intermediate
❖ Rettanese - Intermediate
❖ Belzaggic - Basic conversational.
❖ Perrench - Basic conversational.

T H E G I F T

The Gift in Ysilla has been quite strong matching that of her sisters. Although she, too, did not receive the ‘Devourer’ in her mother. When given the choice of expression, she chose her own path in studies in an attempt to create her own life set away from the family for now.

Magnetic: Was the very start of Ysilla’s discovery on how to make her vessels move on their own. By delicately shifting the polarity of their segmented joints, her figurines could move a string free movement. The other facets of this study have been of little interest but will still learn them to master this school.

Binding: The Al-Nader line has a historical preference here and Ysilla practices Binding for a reason. While Ysilla detests the volatile bloodmagic which her ancestors practiced, she nevertheless, is tempted to experiment with the idea to bring life into her creations one day.

Chemical: A recent fascination that has been showing promise for potential solutions to the problems she is facing in her craft. Emotion can be influenced by chemicals, after all, and the hope is that by tampering with this school she could make her creations feel more alive. Further study in this field is required.

B A C K G R O U N D

_{References: The Blasphemous First and the Graceless Al-Nader found in Zarina Al-Nader’s profile}

Ysilla Al-Nader is how you should properly address me.

I was the second of three to come from my mother, Saoussen. The gift of life, especially to come in a set of three, was a miraculous feat looking back. Three lives created in an instant upon conception and to all be gifted with a magical line. I still believe it did not matter that we were not as potent as mother because she spread that prowess among all three of her children. Although I would probably lose that argument with my sister.

Speaking of, my sister Zarina, fell in line from the beginning with what the family wanted. I saw the family thrust her into the traditions and I knew I wanted to be my own person, to form my own identity. Thus I had often set off on my own as a child in the streets, begging my mother to give me an allowance. I don’t remember how it caught my attention but a man had built a small stage in one of the markets. In his performance he never made an appearance but hid behind the curtain and put on play with string and paper puppets. I could not remember his name but I remember seeing how alive he made his creations move. The bird had such thin strings that you couldn’t see them as she mimicked flight. The human character had a shifting face, expressing as the man projected his voice. I gave him my whole allowance and came back to watch the performance again the next day.

Puppetry, I decided, was the artform that actually was the action of giving life into one’s work. Others could only mimic what I saw. I started making my own paper figures, bought my own puppets to play with. Few in my family could understand since what I wanted was not something such as dancing or singing but I believed it was the same, if not more than just art.

As beautiful as it was that my sisters and I came into this world, fate was conspiring to destroy that beauty. Sabbah’s health was fading and not one person could come up with the same explanation as to why. My older sister, in her daft impatience, wanted to throw life away in a hasty conjuring of old magic that she knew little of. I did not have a better solution to save her, knowing not medicine or healing magic to cure my sister. However, I did know how to preserve her memory.

While the family spent time and money on trying to preserve her life, I spent time preserving her memory. I carved a life sized puppet of her, spending time to get every detail right in my sister’s likeness. When I wasn’t working on that, I practiced how she would talk and act, dedicating myself to her image. I couldn’t sing like her but maybe in time I could. Sabbah would pass away, just like I thought she would. I unveiled my puppet of my sister soon after but none tolerated my act.

It wasn’t good enough.

I knew from then I had to learn how to actually recreate life. It would not do to simply just put on an act of life but it had to actually be a life. Magic had never really been a passion of mine until then. I was going to Ersand’Enise and I would walk the path few dared tread. The beauty of life would be mine to bestow and then everyone, including my narrow minded sister, would understand.

M O T I V A T I O N

❖ Master her craft to be able to create indistinguishable golems from actual life.
❖ Explore and learn from distant lands and cultures to know just what others are like and what they enjoy.
❖ Enjoy the journey she is on.
❖ Make her sister open to enjoying life rather than wasting it.
❖ Restlessly pursues her magnum opus of creation.

I N V E N T O R Y

❖ Hoopoe - The Wooden Flight: Ysilla’s first perfect vessel. Her process to settle giving a creation life is lengthy, requiring her many iterations of the form she has in mind before settling on one. Hoopoe is formed of wood in the shape of a corvidae bird, no more than 20 centimeters tall. It might be painted black, purple, or sometimes white depending on what mood Ysilla takes at the time. It simulates flight and caws like any other bird.

❖ Khamsei - The Porcelain Laugh: The second perfected vessel. Khamsei is a 35 centimeter tall porcelain doll with segmented joints. It is typically clothed in a costume resembling a jester’s outfit, hand-sewn by Ysilla in color pairs that range from black and gold, white and red, blue and yellow being the most typical of pairings. There is no face and instead, a carefully crafted mask is attached simulating a face. Khamsei is known to laugh.

❖ Quite a bit of jewelry, perfumes and fine clothing.

❖ Her hat and cloak

S T R E N G T H S & S K I L L S

❖ Artistic: Ysilla has dedicated herself to the crafting of lifelike puppets, promoting skills like woodcarving, painting, and sculpting.

❖ Acting: A lifelike puppet can only be as real as the actions it performs. Ysilla has spent considerable time learning how to act and perform with a puppet at her fingertips. She claims she can play any part.

❖ Brilliant: Her mind is capable of working fast. She has always been a quick study and quick to understand concepts.

W E A K N E S S E S & F L A W S

❖ Socially Inept: She spends a bit too much time with her craft and puppets and not enough with people. While she knows how to put on an act, she really doesn’t understand people and even social cues.

❖ Suspicious: Being a social pariah, she can’t help but listen in to the whispers behind her back. Are they talking about her?
.

M I S C E L L A N E O U S

One Universe: Unlimited - A Marvel/DC Comics Roleplay

@Master Bruce

Can I play Silk again?