spicykvnt

Tombs & Treks: An Interest Check!

OooooOooOooooooh!

Mass Effect Andromeda: Frontier

Clyff, to be entirely honest, wasn’t used to drills. Not to say he’d never participated in them, but they never were like this. It was awkward, slapdash, and he believed that was the point. More so, he’d never worked with such a diverse group before. They all had skills that he didn’t even come close to possessing. That, along with being a mixture of aliens that he never worked with—well, he was a bit off his game.

The entire exercise ended abruptly before he actually got to shoot anyone. He’d laid down suppression fire, but what fun was that? But apparently, the Kit-Kat… Kett-Kats(?) had decided to raid defenseless scientists. Real classy, aliens. They were told to switch out their equipment, and Clyff may have let out a whistle of relief. These fake guns were way too light and he felt like he was one broad gesture away from throwing them halfway across the room. If he was lucky, it would have been at an opponent’s face. If he was unlucky, it would have been into an opponent’s open arms where they could have had the honor of shooting him with his own gun. Not a lot in war was truly disgraceful, but that one definitely would have taken the crown, cake, and the whole shebang.

On the ride over, the little salarian, Something Something—he really needed to learn names—stated their mission objectives and divided the teams accordingly based on function. Clyff was not surprised he was lumped into the “go shoot things dead” group. It would be strange if he wasn’t. Yet, as Sabrinaus spoke, he wondered if the Kett-Kats (he was aware they were just the Kett, but the name made him chuckle) always brought this sort of force with them. This seemed like a basic mission, for the enemy anyway, and that seemed little a lot of firepower. Maybe they just had that much at their disposal. He made a note to ask Anjor about that later. If this was their normal gaggle of minions, he’d hate to see their elite teams. No. Scratch that, he’d love to see their elite teams and feed them a lot of hot, burning bullets.

Touching down, Clyff pulled out his shotgun and used their moment of silence to activate his incendiary rounds. If they were going after the big ones first, he really needed all the firepower he could get. He then queued up his abilities that would be best for this fight.

One of his previous teammates spoke. He gave her a cursory glance. ”Great pep talk. A plus. I feel so ready to take on anything now.” His voice was flat. ”Though,” he looked over at the Krogan, Krogangrad. That was it, he was going to spend this evening writing their names down five times each. "A fiend, huh?” he asked, very rhetorically. “Didn’t realize your mom was here.”

@Sofaking Fancy

(I just wanted to like this again.)

The Elder Scrolls: Vengeance of the Deep

6th Day in The Imperial City; The Merchant’s Inn

A room with a view.

If by view, they meant the back alleys of The Imperial City - then yes, this was a room with a view.

This was just one of the many gripes that the young Bretonian Mage had with her current dwellings. Still, they had provided her a larger bed and had been able to find softer pillows too. It could be worse, she could be in Riverwood again, a place she had spent far too much time lately. If she thought on it hard enough she could still smell the livestock, shit, and sweaty farmers. She scowled up at the ceiling before rising from the bed.

She made her way to the dresser, opening the first drawer to find her latest procurement's - a small vial of lavender essence. She opened the vial and tipped it against her wrists, massaging it against the delicate skin until she could smell the subtle fragrance. Her hair too, was a mess - a tangled mess of long blonde locks to her waist - something would need to be done about it. For a while longer than a normal denizen of Tamriel might admit, she sat running her fingers through the waves, tucking, braiding, and fastening until it all came together in a delicate knot of plaits at her shoulders, the bottom layers cascading down her back.

Time for the piece de resistance - her new garment. A half robe with an asymmetrical hem, in an ombre wash of lilac to violet to maroon at the very bottom. She fastened the buttons at the front of the decolletage neckline - noticing that it gave her breasts a slight lift - she admired her overall silhouette. Coming to The Imperial City just for a robe - but it wasn’t just a robe. This was haute couture - a blend of velveteen and silks. This truly was an exquisite creation, down to every last detail. There were magenta threads spun through the back to create the shapes of flowers. The trousers were not quite so exciting, a beige colour with thicker fabric padded over the thighs and calves - providing a touch more protection from anything sharp. The final touch was a filigree gold corset belt around the middle. Delicate - the handiwork of the Altmer.

She smiled as she ran her hands down her own body, feeling effervescent - like the Lady of a Manor. She was ready to be on her way out of the City now, and she gathered her things, packing away her bag with efficiency - everything had its place in there. Her staff slipped so easily into the back of the robe too.

As she sauntered down the stairs of the Inn, she caught a glimpse of Cassius, and she made sure that he saw her too - alerting him to her presence with a soft clearing of her throat. “I’ll be taking my leave now, good barkeep. Thank you for the stay and your hospitality... “ she let her steel grey eyes scan the room, and she spotted an older looking gentleman - a Redguard sitting on his own in the corner, nursing an ale. “I just, I wanted to visit a few more landmarks but I’m not quite sure how to get there…” her voice raised a little - the Redguard’s ears pricked and he looked up at her “I’m a local Ma’am… I can show you…!” The ale was slurring his speech but that was perfect. She could see from his attire that he was an adventurer of sorts - perhaps even Military. He probably didn’t have too much gold to his name but he might have a coin or two to buy a true Lady a decent meal… After all, the food in the Inn was shit.

Cassius took Raelynn’s hand as she descended the last step - his touch repulsed her but she smiled through it, taking from her bag a small pouch of Septims with her left hand, as she pulled away the right from the Barkeep’s grasp - she passed him the pouch, to which he responded;

“Err, Miss Hawkford this feels a little lighter than wha-”

“I’m sorry my friend” she began softly, cutting him off, her voice like honey “I thought we had agreed to this, I did take a look at your back and gave you a treatment did I not… Was this not to be counted towards my stay?” she tilted her head to the side, eyes widening like a little girl.

“Oh, yeah… err, I forgot about that…” the disappointment sounded in his voice. She had looked at his back, yes, and maybe she had laid a hand on it but for some reason it actually felt slightly worse…

“I’ll be on my way then Cassius...”

The Redguard stood to attention as Raelynn approached, a faux naive glimmer in her eye as she recoiled inside while he bent out his arm for her to take. “So… my friend, where shall we go to get some real food around here…”

_____________________________________________________

Stuffed full of pheasant roast, and peasant soldier out of sight, Raelynn began to make her way out of the City - she had gotten what she came for - and yes it had been worth it. She was turning heads; people were even gasping at her beauty. She felt radiant.

It wasn’t until people began screaming that she realised the reaction wasn’t for her at all she turned on her heel to face an onslaught of airships coming her way. There were Dwemer bursting forth from them, and suddenly Dwemer Spheres were rolling through the very same alleyways that had been her peaceful view. They now ran with blood.

It all happened so quickly.

A Spider lunged at her - set to kill, a City Guard stepped in with his sword; a fool. “Run M’lady - RUN! ALL OF YOU!” he yelled out - barely seconds had passed that he had finished the Spider, a Sphere ambushed him, the sword carving right through his midriff - pavement painted crimson as his insides tumbled outside.

It had happened too quickly.

A tidal wave of people came crashing towards the Breton, in her shock she could only do the same, run and run - eventually growing tired she dipped into an empty alleyway - a chorus of screams and violence. She could hear lightning somewhere, but couldn’t see anything.

"What is the meaning of this?"

No idea of where she was, how far from the city gates, or how soon her demise was to be, she stood with her back flat against the wall of the alley - looking to her left and right while breathing heavily, getting her breath back. She had only seconds to decide her actions now. Nobody was going to save her this time, for the first time in her life, she might have to save herself.

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

So, how is everyone doing? Well I hope?

Are things getting even slightly better for you, @Fetzen?

@The Fated Fallen

I'm doing good - having a good week actually. Last week was a write off but work is actually going awesome this week so yeeeey for not being stressed!

The Elder Scrolls: Vengeance of the Deep

Raelynn Hawkford

Name: Raelynn Hawkford
Race: Breton
Sex: Female
Age: 28
Family Origins: Daggerfall, High Rock - born and bred
Birthsign: The Mage
Playlist

________________________________

Appearance:

Commissioned Art

________________________________

Raelynn is short of height with a waifish figure. She has no scars, something that surprises her - that she has made it to 28 and never received a scar. Her skin is mostly still smooth and soft, a result of having lived a good life with access to oils and herbs that keep one looking beautiful. In recent years she has found that she has begun to weather, but her face shows the subtle and very early signs of aging, lines appear when she makes certain expressions, something that she absolutely abhors.

Unlike the rest of her body, her lips stand out for being full. She has a round, soft face, with high cheekbones. Her ears have that slight signature pointed tip and her eyebrows are arched - both signal to her Elvish ancestry. She has large steel blue eyes, which stand out against her light skin. Her eyes are expressive and to find out how she is feeling, one would only need to look at her eyes to see them bright with happiness, wide with fear, or an eyebrow pointed and raised in disgust.

She keeps her waist length hair tied tightly into braids, with only a few strands framing her face. Raelynn treasures her hair, and keeps it groomed with oils and floral essences at all times. The colour is that of her family - a cool ash blonde.

She wears embroidered mage robes (she never did like the plain clothing required of her to wear at the College). She will wear clothes that are either black, violet, or lavender in hue. She does not always dress in mages robes, and will sometimes dress down into more casual attire. Even her 'casual attire' is more colourful and ornate than others. To Raelynn, looking the part of a Lady is important. She is rarely seen without a jeweled headpiece.

________________________________

Equipment:
[Items kept in a tasteful and fashionable satchel style bag]
Decorative Steel Shortsword
Two Steel Daggers
Small cloth pouch full of dried blue mountain flowers, lavender sprigs, and other flowers
Small knife to harvest plants
3 x Lockpicks
Destruction spell scrolls
Scroll of Chain Lightning
Scroll of Ice Storm
Scroll of Mass Paralysis
Exploding Shock Spider

She always has a pouch full of gold, and tries to carry at least a couple of hundred septims. (218 septims currently)
3 Magicka potions

Misc. Possessions:
She has her notebook filled with her healing tricks and tips, and a journal which she writes in at the end of each day, documenting her whole life and journey for the day she finally sits down to write her memoirs and healing books. This is her secret journal, and she would hate for anyone to read it. Often pouring out her true feelings onto the parchment - whether those feelings are good or bad.

The only other thing she carries is a letter from her parents, wishing her well at the College of Winterhold. Despite being fond of fine things, she travels on a shoestring and only keeps what is absolutely necessary on her person - the rest she keeps in a locked trunk at the College of Winterhold, or has sent to her parents for them to keep safe.

________________________________

Family and Associations:
- Salosoix Hawkford - Father (Alive)
- Roxada Hawkford - Mother (Alive)
- Colette Marence - Teacher/Mentor (Alive)
- College of Winterhold - Ex-Student

________________________________

Favoured Skills:

Highly Proficient:

Restoration: She is an impressive healer, and chooses to use only curative magic - save for the few conjurative spells she keeps up her sleeve for sticky situations.

Alchemy: Healing Knowledge. Raelynn has an advanced knowledge of the various plants and other items that are found throughout Tamriel that can provide healing qualities. She is also skilled with treating wounds that cannot be directly healed with magic. She enjoys brewing herbal teas which have been known to revitalise and 'perk up' some of her fellow adventurers. An 'experimenter', Raelynn has been pioneering her own methods of healing - studying into the mind and mental ailments and ways in which to ease the symptoms through 'alternative' treatments like massage, stretching, and supplements.

Moderately Proficient:

Conjuration: She very rarely uses these spells, and will only do so if she herself is in immediate danger, saving her Magicka for restorative purposes.

Lockpicking: She taught herself to pick through locks to get to the more interesting books in the library of the College. Now, she practices lock picking to find and pocket the best treasures in the dungeons and crypts she has found herself in.

Somewhat Proficient:

Dual-Weapons: Raelynn uses twin daggers together to defend herself if need be. She is not an intimidating size, and so will generally only rely on her daggers if she is in absolute immediate danger and can get the upper hand. (Being small and thin sometimes has a speed advantage.)

________________________________

Spell List:
Fast Healing
Healing Hands
Greater Ward
Heal Other
Close Wounds

Conjure Familiar

________________________________

History:
Born in Daggerfall, High Rock, to wealthy parents. Two respected Breton merchants and traders of exquisite antiquities. Her mother, Roxada, was an excellent craftswoman too - she made the most beautiful clothing for the ladies of High Rock - embellishing gowns with jewels and coloured threads. She had tried to teach her daughter the ways of her craft, but Raelynn had other ideas - she just wanted to dress in the gowns and would rather read books and listen to her father's stories about all of the hidden artifacts around Tamriel - about the magical items and hidden caches of gold littered throughout the provinces.

Raelynn had a comfortable upbringing. She never went without luxuries like great food, fashionable attire, and beautiful jewelry. This is the lifestyle that she grew accustomed too. One day, her Father was holding a golden crown that he had procured for a Lord to present to his Lady somewhere in High Rock. She wasn't really listening, she was too transfixed by the shimmering diamonds set into the crown. Everything fell silent when she gazed upon the treasure. At one point, she even licked her lips. Nothing compared to when she actually held it in her hands. She felt... Power. Her eyes were big as she stared at it, seeing her reflection in those flawless diamonds. She wanted nothing more than to have 100 of these crowns to herself. Her poor Father had to prize it from her hands - when she wasn't holding it anymore she felt an emptiness inside. Suddenly she didn't care what she had to do, how many people she had to climb over and stomp on to get it, she was going to have treasures like this of her own one day.

At night, Raelynn would read books on Tamriel, reading about great mages throughout history who had done amazing things, and of adventurers who fought down beasts and enemies to attain magical prizes, and of the hidden secrets scattered through the world. She wanted to be an adventurer, but she didn't really want to get her hands dirty - or put herself front and centre in battle.

Eventually her parents grew tired of her spoilt ways; and perhaps they both sensed that Raelynn also desired for more. Roxada and Salosoix were frustrated. They had an intelligent daughter with aspirations - that they had spent too long coddling and looking after to the point where she would quite happily stay in the family home forever. It was not an ideal situation - the couple had their own plans for the future too and it was very clear that Raelynn was not going to be taking over either of their businesses any time soon. Not to mention that Salosoix was finding it increasingly more difficult to keep his daughter's mitts off his artifacts. She knew how to press her father, and push his buttons into giving her what she wanted. They were left with no choice, no choice but to shift her out and into the real world.

They wanted to give her a gentle push in the right direction. The two concocted a plan; they spoke with their friends and found that among their circle of acquaintances, there was a couple in a similar financial situation to them with a son named Lazenne. He wasn't the most attractive or interesting young Breton in Daggerfall. So for that reason, he was perfect. There would be no way that their daughter would wed him, and so it might be the trick to getting her out - to get off her backside and to finally be independent and follow her own path - and more importantly it would seem to her like she was choosing her new life and that she had gotten one over on her parents.

When Raelynn met Lazenne, she laughed hysterically in his face. The poor boy had actually thought he was getting himself a prize wife too. There was no way she would be married to such a... weakling. So, following the natural inclination of her race to wield magic, she was finally prompted to request to join a newly 'reformed' Daggerfall Mages Guild when she came of age to begin learning the art of curative and restorative magic.

She had been feeling that this Guild was not for her, and instead chose to leave her home of High Rock forever and attend the College of Winterhold in Skyrim to study her chosen discipline even further (her parents were overjoyed! They would at last have their home to themselves again!) During her time as an apprentice of the College, she faced teasing from her peers for sticking solely to Restorative magic. This made her choose a secondary discipline of magic to study and she chose Conjuration.

She made a friend of sorts in Collete Marence at the College, although Collete did find her quite offputting and brash - and could sense that Raelynn's ulterior motives were not so squeaky clean. She was clearly very talented at her craft, and intelligent too, and it's not as if young mages were flocking to the College in droves to learn how to be healers, so Collete continued to mentor her, trying her best to teach the Breton to be softer, more honest, more sincere.

As with her growing boredom of the Mages Guild, Raelynn got bored of the libraries and four walls of the College after some years. She grew tired of the bitter cold, the terribly plain food, and the putrid smells which wafted through the corridors and congregated in her chamber of all places. She began to dream of practicing her magic out in the field, going on adventures and making gold. With the blessing of Colette Marence, she left the College to travel the rest of Skyrim.

She found herself frustrated on her travels. Adventurers didn't pay her all that much for her magic, nor did they ever seem to want to share the spoils. She had to think of something else. She had to take matters into her own hands when those she traveled with didn't get any injuries for her to heal or even want to split anything with her. After all, if she didn't have to patch someone up then she definitely wouldn't be getting paid...

So began her stint of treating adventurers who would stumble into taverns with wounds and ailments. First she would ply them with alcohol and sweeten them up with her charm. She found she was especially successful and buttering up loud and clumsy Nord men. How they loved her petite frame and mane of golden hair. Once they had gotten sufficiently wrapped around her finger, she found it much easier to get them to empty their pockets to her...

During these years, she picked up a few new skills from those she travelled with. Until this point in her life she had not really had a need to learn any offensive combat skills. A traveling companion quickly told her that while a spell may keep disease at bay, a dagger or two hidden inside a cloak is likely to save her life.

In dungeons and crypts, she would always place herself between the two largest members of the party - the ones that would best be able to defend her. She got used to sizing up new comrades. Finding the weakest link in the chain. Spotting the clumsier ones - they were to be avoided. She could also pick out the ones who were most likely to suss her out. It was usually other women.

There was a few times when she found herself in dire situations in the middle of an adventure. One such time stood out to her. Her party became surrounded by Draugr, and something enchanted the room, preventing them from using their Magicks. Surrounded by eight Draugr, she backed up to the wall and let the party fight. The best she could do was throw a rock at the smallest Draugr. She had no use of magic, so could not call upon her familiar to do her bidding. She had been buttering up the Axe-Wielding Nord the night before they entered the crypt - and so the absolute fool got himself in a lick of trouble to stop a bigger Draugr from making a kebab of Raelynn.

The Nord stopped the attack, his armour absorbing the hit but Raelynn heard bones crunching and they didn't belong to the Draugr - she could see that the Nord's shoulder had popped out of place. His adreneline stopped him from noticing right away and he made a mess of the Draugr, before turning to Raelynn with a smile. She was surprised he didn't come out with a "M'lady" for good measure. After that the magicka came back, and she summoned the familiar - but it was quite a bit too late. The Draugr had been bested, and now she had to put her skills to the test to get the Nord back up and running.

She firmly held his upper arm with her tiny hands, placing her heel into his side. She wasn't a strong woman by any means, but she could work with muscle and bone with ease. It was just like slotting something back into place. She told the Nord to count to ten - and on five she pushed and clicked his shoulder back into it's socket with ease. He absolutely felt it. Then came the "M'lady".

During the time of the rise of the Dragonborn, Raelynn found herself amongst the aftermath of dragon attacks rather frequently. She would come across the bodies of the burnt. The sight of their armour that had melded to their skin gave them the appearance of steel men, of crumbled statues. There was nothing she could do help them. Some of the scenes she witnessed absolutely traumatised her, giving her an intense fear of fire and flames. She tries to keep this a secret from those she meets, for fear of showing any weakness and vulnerability.

Following the death of the Dragonborn, and the sacking of Windhelm, Skyrim seemed such a quieter place, she felt almost like she had turned over every stone there. It bored her. In 4E208, she set off on her travels. Her destination of choice was Cyrodiil. For her, it was an unexplored and thus untapped province of Tamriel. Besides, how could she not yet have set foot in the famous Imperial City - a place of great wealth. She had brought with her plenty of gold - excited after such a long time of wearing Skyrim furs and long coats, to get her hands on some new embellished light cloaks...

________________________________

Personality:
To strangers, Raelynn would seem soft spoken and friendly. This is all part of a more questionable mirage to lure in those who would need her help. As a Healer she swore an oath to heal those who were suffering with disease and injuries - and she treats those who come to her with empathy, understanding, and great respect... If they can afford it.

She is incredibly manipulative and calculating in order to get what she wants. She wasn't always this way - at least not so much so. She can weigh people up on the fly, sensing just enough about them to decipher how she should act. Living and traveling in Skyrim of all places has shown her that everyone is out to obtain something, no matter how they present themselves on the outside… Every interaction that she has is pre-calculated, motivated, and for her own gain - to take her one step closer to her goals. The Breton has a remarkable talent at being whoever you want her to be...

Raelynn knows that her value as a healer and her level of skill in the art is worth a lot of gold, jewels, and other rare treasures. After all, what is more valuable to the average man than being able to live another day? Definitely not what he looted on his last adventure, the very trinket that he got injured for.

When she becomes more comfortable around people, she will begin to drop her initial honey-sweet and fake facade, allowing her temper, harsh personality, and snobbishness to appear. She will often become passionate in her speech. In her life, Raelynn has only met a small handful of individuals who have been able to really get past the walls she has so cunningly built around herself. These are usually the people who call her out on her schemes, and are the very few who see through her. She has a somewhat endearing lack of self-awareness and this has found her in spells of trouble, she will frequently accidentally offend other people with her lack of tact and sharp tongue.

She can be impatient and hot-headed, and will scold those she travels with for errors of judgement, even though she is not the kind of person who would step in to prevent them in the first place. She relies on those 'less fortunate' than herself to do the dirty work on excursions. After all, why should she dirty up a robe when the Nord in front is more than willing to do it to win her favour?

Ultimately, Raelynn is on her own journey to fulfill her desire for adventure and to gain power and riches beyond that of normal men, she wants her name to be in books - she wants to be remembered as Royalty. To live as a mere peasant? She would rather die.

________________________________

Miscellaneous:

Raelynn is a terrible, terrible, terrible drunk. Being so small means that even the smallest of amounts of wine, or Nord Ale are enough to tip her over the edge.

She doesn’t care much for animals - and doesn’t understand why people keep them as pets.

She loves all precious jewels almost equally - but the rare and valuable diamond is her favourite. An old companion of Raelynn’s once lamented that “diamonds are Raelynn’s best friend”. She didn’t disagree.

Enjoys Lavender Dumplings, Elsweyr Fondue, and Pheasant Roast.

Knowing your characters: A look into personality.

I think the personality section of a CS is quite important... as a guideline of sorts. I usually think of maybe 1 or 2 strong personality traits I would like my character to have and build with that. If I write a character who is of a 'nice' personality type however, I'm not bound by that - a nice person still does shitty things - just the same as a shitty person probably does nice things. If I see someone in a roleplay acting really really far out of what they wrote in a CS I might bring that up, same as if I see them being completely one note I might try and push them to explore.

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

As much as she wanted to uphold her cold stare, and remain as quiet and intimidating as possible, the second that the Skayleigh put his hands on her she crumpled down, trying to tuck away herself while trying not to laugh. She was ticklish and An-Hasst was not so small that she could just shove him away, she had no choice but to submit. She wondered if he knew. he must have known this was her weakness. He must have known. Why else would he poke and prod at her in this way - and with those giant hands. It was... unspeakably cruel.

"..Ssss... Stop it!" she shrieked out in between squeals of laughter and in a slight shock - waiting for the strange tickler to take his hands away.

Mortified, and feeling like she had well and truly lost any kind of upper-hand, she looked to her right, then to her left, and then to the character holding the key. Truth be told, she hadn't been in any kind of situation like this. In fact, she hadn’t really been in such close proximity to this many different breeds of folk. So far they hadn’t clubbed her, hit her, or cast any magics on her. In fact, they had really saved her life. Or at least, one of them had. He was obviously her best bet.

He was tall and rugged - and human. He looked well travelled and strong. His whole posse looked well travelled and strong. He was clearly the leader - he had that air about him.

Finally, she looked upon the holder of the keys again, her expression suddenly meek now that she had weighed up her options. “I… I will not hurt you” she uttered softly, almost under her breath. This one was short, but she was still shorter. She took a small step towards him, holding out her hands to his fists, locking eyes with his.

“Just… let me on my way.”

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

I'll make a post tonight!

🇴🇫 🇲🇮🇨🇪 🇦🇳🇩 🇲🇪🇳 🇦🇳🇩 🇿🇴🇲🇧🇮🇪🇸

Lawrence sat back on the grass outside of the barn. Sunday's for him were usually spent trekking into town to grab a few items, but today was not one of those Sunday's. So today he sat back on the grass, soaking up the sun, book in one hand, his last cigarette in the other.

He had started the day by bathing - washing his hair with the last of his soap. Next week he'd have to get more. Next week he would have to get his hair cut again, it seemed to grow so quickly under the Florida sun. He could smell the scent of baked bread wafting across from the Tackett house. Sometimes, if he was in the right place at the right time, he would be lucky enough to get himself a warm buttered slice. There was nothing quite like it.

He could hear one of the women at work in the other barn, taking away their sheets. It reminded him that he hadn't stripped down his own bed yet. He wondered if he'd get a scolding this week because he had left a few oil stains on his pillow this time. The red-headed girl would more than likely scold him. Alice, her name was. He liked Alice - but he liked her from a distance. He couldn't afford to be caught looking at any of the girls who lived in the Tackett house. It didn't matter how much Mr Tackett liked him, if he pushed it with the girls, he'd be out on his ass - and his ass might even get peppered with bullets.

He could see Alice strolling with the baskets of laundry. He only took the quickest look at her and imagined what it would be like to touch her, to kiss her. Then he snapped back to his book. If he couldn't afford to look at her, he sure as shit couldn't afford to think like that. There were plenty of girls for touching and looking at in town. Over here, at work - it was forbidden. But Lawrence knew from his childhood that forbidden fruit was always the sweetest...

He found something likeable in all the girls on the farm. But Tackett's daughters... They actually scared him some. Especially MJ. He learned very quickly that Tackett's daughters were no damsel's in distress. Ever.

He went back to the pages of his book, minding his own business again, taking a long drag from his cigarette before exhaling the smoke into the air. It was a beautiful day to be out on the grass, reminding him that life could be good here.

The Elder Scrolls: Swords and Snobbery

Raelynn Hawkford

Name: Raelynn Hawkford
Race: Breton
Sex: Female
Age: 28
Family Origins: Daggerfall, High Rock - born and bred
Birthsign: The Mage
Playlist

________________________________

Appearance:

________________________________

Raelynn is short of height with a waifish figure. She has no scars, something that surprises her - that she has made it to 28 and never received a scar. Her skin is mostly still smooth and soft, a result of having lived a good life with access to oils and herbs that keep one looking beautiful. In recent years she has found that she has begun to weather, but her face shows the subtle and very early signs of aging, lines appear when she makes certain expressions, something that she absolutely abhors.

Unlike the rest of her body, her lips stand out for being full. She has a round, soft face, with high cheekbones. Her ears have that slight signature pointed tip and her eyebrows are arched - both signal to her Elvish ancestry. She has large steel blue eyes, which stand out against her light skin. Her eyes are expressive and to find out how she is feeling, one would only need to look at her eyes to see them bright with happiness, wide with fear, or an eyebrow pointed and raised in disgust.

She keeps her waist length hair tied tightly into braids, with only a few strands framing her face. Raelynn treasures her hair, and keeps it groomed with oils and floral essences at all times. The colour is that of her family - a cool ash blonde.

She wears embroidered mage robes (she never did like the plain clothing required of her to wear at the College). She will wear clothes that are either black, violet, or lavender in hue. She does not always dress in mages robes, and will sometimes dress down into more casual attire. Even her 'casual attire' is more colourful and ornate than others. To Raelynn, looking the part of a Lady is important. She is rarely seen without a jeweled headpiece.

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Equipment:
[Items kept in a tasteful and fashionable satchel style bag]
Staff of the Healing Hand
Two Steel Daggers
Small cloth pouch full of dried blue mountain flowers, lavender sprigs, and other flowers
Small knife to harvest plants
3 x Lockpicks

Destruction spell scrolls
Scroll of Chain Lightning
Scroll of Ice Storm
Scroll of Mass Paralysis
Exploding Shock Spider

She always has a pouch full of gold, and tries to carry at least a couple of hundred septims. (218 septims currently)
3 Magicka potions

Misc. Possessions:
She has her notebook filled with her healing tricks and tips, and a journal which she writes in at the end of each day, documenting her whole life and journey for the day she finally sits down to write her memoirs and healing books. This is her secret journal, and she would hate for anyone to read it. Often pouring out her true feelings onto the parchment - whether those feelings are good or bad.

The only other thing she carries is a letter from her parents, wishing her well at the College of Winterhold. Despite being fond of fine things, she travels on a shoestring and only keeps what is absolutely necessary on her person - the rest she keeps in a locked trunk at the College of Winterhold, or has sent to her parents for them to keep safe.

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Skills:
Major:

Restoration: She is an impressive healer, and chooses to use only curative magic - save for the few conjurative spells she keeps up her sleeve for sticky situations.

Alchemy: Healing Knowledge. Raelynn has an advanced knowledge of the various plants and other items that are found throughout Tamriel that can provide healing qualities. She is also skilled with treating wounds that cannot be directly healed with magic. She enjoys brewing herbal teas which have been known to revitalise and 'perk up' some of her fellow adventurers. An 'experimenter', Raelynn has been pioneering her own methods of healing - studying into the mind and mental ailments and ways in which to ease the symptoms through 'alternative' treatments like massage, stretching, and supplements.

Minor:

Conjuration: She very rarely uses these spells, and will only do so if she herself is in immediate danger, saving her Magicka for restorative purposes.

Dual-Weapons: Raelynn uses twin daggers together to defend herself if need be. She is not an intimidating size, and so will generally only rely on her daggers if she is in absolute immediate danger and can get the upper hand. (Being small and thin sometimes has a speed advantage.)

Lockpicking: She taught herself to pick through locks to get to the more interesting books in the library of the College. Now, she practices lock picking to find and pocket the best treasures in the dungeons and crypts she has found herself in.

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Spell List:
Fast Healing
Healing Hands
Greater Ward
Heal Other
Close Wounds

Conjure Familiar
Raise Zombie

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History:
Born in Daggerfall, High Rock, to wealthy parents. Two respected Breton merchants and traders of exquisite antiquities. Her mother, Roxada, was an excellent craftswoman too - she made the most beautiful clothing for the ladies of High Rock - embellishing gowns with jewels and coloured threads. She had tried to teach her daughter the ways of her craft, but Raelynn had other ideas - she just wanted to dress in the gowns and would rather read books and listen to her father's stories about all of the hidden artifacts around Tamriel - about the magical items and hidden caches of gold littered throughout the provinces.

Raelynn had a comfortable upbringing. She never went without luxuries like great food, fashionable attire, and beautiful jewelry. This is the lifestyle that she grew accustomed too. One day, her Father was holding a golden crown that he had procured for a Lord to present to his Lady somewhere in High Rock. She wasn't really listening, she was too transfixed by the shimmering diamonds set into the crown. Everything fell silent when she gazed upon the treasure. At one point, she even licked her lips. Nothing compared to when she actually held it in her hands. She felt... Power. Her eyes were big as she stared at it, seeing her reflection in those flawless diamonds. She wanted nothing more than to have 100 of these crowns to herself. Her poor Father had to prize it from her hands - when she wasn't holding it anymore she felt an emptiness inside. Suddenly she didn't care what she had to do, how many people she had to climb over and stomp on to get it, she was going to have treasures like this of her own one day.

At night, Raelynn would read books on Tamriel, reading about great mages throughout history who had done amazing things, and of adventurers who fought down beasts and enemies to attain magical prizes, and of the hidden secrets scattered through the world. She wanted to be an adventurer, but she didn't really want to get her hands dirty - or put herself front and centre in battle.

Eventually her parents grew tired of her spoilt ways; and perhaps they both sensed that Raelynn also desired for more. Roxada and Saloisex were frustrated. They had an intelligent daughter with aspirations - that they had spent too long coddling and looking after to the point where she would quite happily stay in the family home forever. It was not an ideal situation - the couple had their own plans for the future too and it was very clear that Raelynn was not going to be taking over either of their businesses any time soon. Not to mention that Saloisex was finding it increasingly more difficult to keep his daughter's mitts off his artifacts. She knew how to press her father, and push his buttons into giving her what she wanted. They were left with no choice, no choice but to shift her out and into the real world.

They wanted to give her a gentle push in the right direction. The two concocted a plan; they spoke with their friends and found that among their circle of acquaintances, there was a couple in a similar financial situation to them with a son named Lazenne. He wasn't the most attractive or interesting young Breton in Daggerfall. So for that reason, he was perfect. There would be no way that their daughter would wed him, and so it might be the trick to getting her out - to get off her backside and to finally be independent and follow her own path - and more importantly it would seem to her like she was choosing her new life and that she had gotten one over on her parents.

When Raelynn met Lazenne, she laughed hysterically in his face. The poor boy had actually thought he was getting himself a prize wife too. There was no way she would be married to such a... weakling. So, following the natural inclination of her race to wield magic, she was finally prompted to request to join a newly 'reformed' Daggerfall Mages Guild when she came of age to begin learning the art of curative and restorative magic.

She had been feeling that this Guild was not for her, and instead chose to leave her home of High Rock forever and attend the College of Winterhold in Skyrim to study her chosen discipline even further (her parents were overjoyed! They would at last have their home to themselves again!) During her time as an apprentice of the College, she faced teasing from her peers for sticking solely to Restorative magic. This made her choose a secondary discipline of magic to study and she chose Conjuration.

She made a friend of sorts in Collete Marence at the College, although Collete did find her quite offputting and brash - and could sense that Raelynn's ulterior motives were not so squeaky clean. She was clearly very talented at her craft, and intelligent too, and it's not as if young mages were flocking to the College in droves to learn how to be healers, so Collete continued to mentor her, trying her best to teach the Breton to be softer, more honest, more sincere.

As with her growing boredom of the Mages Guild, Raelynn got bored of the libraries and four walls of the College after some years. She grew tired of the bitter cold, the terribly plain food, and the putrid smells which wafted through the corridors and congregated in her chamber of all places. She began to dream of practicing her magic out in the field, going on adventures and making gold. With the blessing of Colette Marence, she left the College to travel the rest of Skyrim.

She found herself frustrated on her travels. Adventurers didn't pay her all that much for her magic, nor did they ever seem to want to share the spoils. She had to think of something else. She had to take matters into her own hands when those she traveled with didn't get any injuries for her to heal or even want to split anything with her. After all, if she didn't have to patch someone up then she definitely wouldn't be getting paid...

So began her stint of treating adventurers who would stumble into taverns with wounds and ailments. First she would ply them with alcohol and sweeten them up with her charm. She found she was especially successful and buttering up loud and clumsy Nord men. How they loved her petite frame and mane of golden hair. Once they had gotten sufficiently wrapped around her finger, she found it much easier to get them to empty their pockets to her...

During these years, she picked up a few new skills from those she travelled with. Until this point in her life she had not really had a need to learn any offensive combat skills. A traveling companion quickly told her that while a spell may keep disease at bay, a dagger or two hidden inside a cloak is likely to save her life.

In dungeons and crypts, she would always place herself between the two largest members of the party - the ones that would best be able to defend her. She got used to sizing up new comrades. Finding the weakest link in the chain. Spotting the clumsier ones - they were to be avoided. She could also pick out the ones who were most likely to suss her out. It was usually other women.

There was a few times when she found herself in dire situations in the middle of an adventure. One such time stood out to her. Her party became surrounded by Draugr, and something enchanted the room, preventing them from using their Magicks. Surrounded by eight Draugr, she backed up to the wall and let the party fight. The best she could do was throw a rock at the smallest Draugr. She had no use of magic, so could not call upon her familiar to do her bidding. She had been buttering up the Axe-Wielding Nord the night before they entered the crypt - and so the absolute fool got himself in a lick of trouble to stop a bigger Draugr from making a kebab of Raelynn.

The Nord stopped the attack, his armour absorbing the hit but Raelynn heard bones crunching and they didn't belong to the Draugr - she could see that the Nord's shoulder had popped out of place. His adreneline stopped him from noticing right away and he made a mess of the Draugr, before turning to Raelynn with a smile. She was surprised he didn't come out with a "M'lady" for good measure. After that the magicka came back, and she summoned the familiar - but it was quite a bit too late. The Draugr had been bested, and now she had to put her skills to the test to get the Nord back up and running.

She firmly held his upper arm with her tiny hands, placing her heel into his side. She wasn't a strong woman by any means, but she could work with muscle and bone with ease. It was just like slotting something back into place. She told the Nord to count to ten - and on five she pushed and clicked his shoulder back into it's socket with ease. He absolutely felt it. Then came the "M'lady".

During the time of the rise of the Dragonborn, Raelynn found herself amongst the aftermath of dragon attacks rather frequently. She would come across the bodies of the burnt. The sight of their armour that had melded to their skin gave them the appearance of steel men, of crumbled statues. There was nothing she could do help them. Some of the scenes she witnessed absolutely traumatised her, giving her an intense fear of fire and flames. She tries to keep this a secret from those she meets, for fear of showing any weakness and vulnerability.

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Personality:
To strangers, Raelynn would seem soft spoken and friendly. This is all part of a more questionable mirage to lure in those who would need her help. As a Healer she swore an oath to heal those who were suffering with disease and injuries - and she treats those who come to her with empathy, understanding, and great respect... If they can afford it.

She is incredibly manipulative and calculating in order to get what she wants. She wasn't always this way - at least not so much so. She can weigh people up on the fly, sensing just enough about them to decipher how she should act. Living and traveling in Skyrim of all places has shown her that everyone is out to obtain something, no matter how they present themselves on the outside… Every interaction that she has is pre-calculated, motivated, and for her own gain - to take her one step closer to her goals. The Breton has a remarkable talent at being whoever you want her to be...

Raelynn knows that her value as a healer and her level of skill in the art is worth a lot of gold, jewels, and other rare treasures. After all, what is more valuable to the average man than being able to live another day? Definitely not what he looted on his last adventure, the very trinket that he got injured for.

When she becomes more comfortable around people, she will begin to drop her initial honey-sweet and fake facade, allowing her temper, harsh personality, and snobbishness to appear. She will often become passionate in her speech. In her life, Raelynn has only met a small handful of individuals who have been able to really get past the walls she has so cunningly built around herself. These are usually the people who call her out on her schemes, and are the very few who see through her. She has a somewhat endearing lack of self-awareness and this has found her in spells of trouble, she will frequently accidentally offend other people with her lack of tact and sharp tongue.

She can be impatient and hot-headed, and will scold those she travels with for errors of judgement, even though she is not the kind of person who would step in to prevent them in the first place. She relies on those 'less fortunate' than herself to do the dirty work on excursions. After all, why should she dirty up a robe when the Nord in front is more than willing to do it to win her favour?

Ultimately, Raelynn is on her own journey to fulfill her desire for adventure and to gain power and riches beyond that of normal men, she wants her name to be in books - she wants to be remembered as Royalty. To live as a mere peasant? She would rather die.

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Miscellaneous:

Raelynn is a terrible, terrible, terrible drunk. Being so small means that even the smallest of amounts of wine, or Nord Ale are enough to tip her over the edge.

She doesn’t care much for animals - and doesn’t understand why people keep them as pets.

She loves all precious jewels almost equally - but the rare and valuable diamond is her favourite. An old companion of Raelynn’s once lamented that “diamonds are Raelynn’s best friend”. She didn’t disagree.

She refuses to eat Skeever, but enjoys Lavender Dumplings, Elsweyr Fondue, and Pheasant Roast.