shylarah

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

@LordOfTheNightprobably not going to be able to post until tomorrow, but others can go ahead and reply.

How Not to be a Douchebag 101

Rhylaen

_{B A S I C S}

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Name: Rhylaen
Age: She calls it twenty-nine, but that's assuming Earth and Tevran have the same length year. The important part is that she is indeed an adult, as her people judge things.

_{I N - D E P T H A P P E A R A N C E}

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Rhylaen appears human...ish. She's not, and a proper looking-over will reveal a number of differences. She's the height of a child, with roughly the same proportions, save that she is spindly and long-limbed where a healthy child would be sturdy. Her skin is very fair, and her messy brown hair occasionally seems to have a faintly copper sheen under the right lighting. Her features are sharply angular, to the point of evoking descriptions such as "fey". Her face is dominated by inhumanly large eyes of brilliant violet, the color of a high-quality gemstone. The observant will note that her ears, though covered by her hair, have distinct points. Rhylaen is used to her ears attracting attention and will mostly tolerate such, going so far as to move her hair out of the way if asked and permitting people to (carefully) touch.

She is far less amenable to those who notice her wings and seek similar tactile confirmation that yes, they are indeed real. She tends to keep them folded down closely to her back, where they more resemble pinned drapes of cloth than appendages for people to tug on. When fully extended, the shape resembles a butterfly or a sail, but the membranes are far more like the patagium of bats: warm and pliant. When folded they move readily in response to outside forces, though the two sets of bones are less flexible, and Rhylaen takes care not to let her wings get caught where she might injure them. This includes a general disdain for seats with backs.

Her preference in clothing runs to earth tones, primarily greens and browns in sturdy cloth or leather. She dislikes sleeves in all but the coldest weather, and nearly always wears a halter top or a shirt with a wide open back. She carries a sword at all times, more out of habit than because it's actually useful.

_{P E R S O N A L I T Y}

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Rhylaen is a young adult, as her people count things. She's driven by a sincere desire to help and protect others, though her new world makes that difficult. She sees humanity from the perspective of an outsider, and finds many of their ways puzzling. She's sincere, open, and honest, and while she's not always good at putting what she means into words she does what she can to be understanding. She hates not being taken seriously, especially when she knows what she’s talking about -- or when she thinks she knows what she’s talking about. She dislikes being patronized, and gets annoyed when larger individuals (especially males, who seem to do this a lot) think she needs protecting. She is occasionally temperamental but always quick to forgive. Her calling is that of a guardian and protector, and there are a few individuals in particular that she has taken it upon herself to look out for.

_{H I S T O R Y}

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Rhylaen is not from Earth. An encounter with a monstrous creature in her world resulted in her being torn from her own reality and flung into another. Initially with no understanding of English whatsoever and confronted by many strange and frightening things, she was taken in by Supers who realized her combative nature was merely in response to perceived threats. She's not much of a super herself, lacking the physical strength of most humans and with a limited skillset away from her native world, but she's good for odd jobs.

_{O T H E R I N F O R M A T I O N}

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She cannot truly fly, but she can glide quite well.
Rhylaen speaks English with a pronounced, lilting accent, and poor grammar.
She cannot read thoughts as such, though there are the occasional strongly focused concepts that punch through the noise clearly enough to “hear”. Mostly she uses her abilities to pick out the meanings of unfamiliar words and concepts, and to support her admittedly lacking linguistic skills. If someone is feeling a single emotion particularly strongly, there’s a chance she might sense it, but this is about on par with what most people would pick up looking at the person’s face.
Although she speaks poor English, her ability to understand others is greatly enhanced by her telepathy. She uses it to pick up the meaning of words she doesn’t recognize, and usually can gather the rough gist of what is being said.

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Shiara Cazarin, bone mage

"If what you seek is an answer to whether he is cursed, then my way would provide it, would it not?" Shiara retorted, when the old man suggested she was stopping him from doing his job. "I've met none of your 'cursed', but I've encountered other things, things stirred up by the imbalance and the breakdown of usual countermeasures."

She'd made her point, and was going to return the man's shovel since his partner had already broken the ground, but the dusty bubbles soon turned into an outright cave in, and the crumbling dirt and mud sent all four of them tumbling.

She landed in a painful heap a level below, and even before Shiara regained her feet she could feel the presence of countless graves. She was covered now in grime, but there were other things to worry about. The wail of a child -- and how had a child made its way down there? From inside the church, perhaps, or was it merely a lingering spirit that did not realize it was dead?

The light in the catacombs was not enough for her to see by -- or it wouldn't be, once they left the hole to dreary daylight behind them. "Noa, if you please," Shiara said, lifting one hand as dull orangey light blossomed in one of her bracelets. She looked again at the man, now cursing and giving his underling orders. He'd still not bothered telling her what they were dealing with, and now they were in a right mess.

"I don't suppose you'd care to tell me more about what we're facing now?" she said, turning in a slow circle to help her pinpoint the direction of the cry.

How Not to be a Douchebag 101

*wiggles*

Villain reform story, 1x1 (possible 3 or 4 player?)

@Metronome Hmm. Usually her powers are more force-and-fireballs, but I suppose I could tweak things. ^.^

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

I'm good with either @Overlord Thraka

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Shiara took the new opposition in stride, though inside she trembled. The woman looked dangerous, and the scent of violence clung to her. "I am more than just an herbalist," she said. "I am a bone woman, a mage that deals in spirits and the dead." She considered mentioning the vision she'd had, but the personal nature of a journeyman's quest made her decide to omit it. "Rumors of unquiet dead have reached even the southern shores, and I seek their source. It's more than a matter of corpses alone." She looked from the newcomer to the older man. "If his spirit is not at rest, I can speak with it. If you give me a few minutes, I can tell you the state of his bones, without needing to dig them up. I know ways to keep the dead at bay, and how to lay them to rest if they have been raised. In short, this is as much my business as yours."

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

@Overlord Thraka@Lordofthenight Debating sticking a quick reply in there with Shiara's response.

The Plague Knight Chronicles: Chapter 1

Shiara Cazarin, bone mage

"Not a mystic," Shiara corrected, thinking irritably of the sham fortunetellers that mazsde coin off of simple folk by pretending to be things they were not. Mention of another nearby made her look over her shoulder, and she ignored entirely the incorrect mention of a town she'd never been to. The older man's next words caught her attention. A corpse become something else? She went over the rumors in her mind, dead that didn't stay dead, rising to wreak havoc.

"A corpse buried on consecrated ground should be beyond medling," she said, though she didn't mean his this time. "But this place's power has weakened -- and by disturbing the dead you weaken it further. I have a duty to the dead, and to the living." As the man listened to his shovel, a strange act indeed, Shiara made her way towards him. The moment he was done she laid her own hand upon the handle and pulled it free, calling silently for Kem to support her. As Shiara stepped back, shovel in hand, her stance was no longer that of a simple traveller but the alert and ready pose of a fighter.

"There are many ways to catch a fish," she said. "Rather than disturb a properly-buried corpse, why don't you let me help? Or else explain exactly what you gain by troubling one that should be left lie."

Villain reform story, 1x1 (possible 3 or 4 player?)

I might be interested. Although the character I have for this circumvents a few of the issues...she's not human and has low-level telepathy. Then again, since her circumstances initially were similar to the mentioned villain's, I can see her wanting to help. (She turned up in a city and attacked a taxi...with a sword. Ended up getting tased, and it took some time to sort things out.)