Was trying to finish this today, but I'm sick, somehow it's already almost 5 am, and I'm barely holding awake, so that's not happening. Since it won't be done until I wake up I guess I'll jump on board the WIP CS bandwagon for now, though mine might be just a little (read very) more WIP than the others. Have a half-baked hedge mage/utility caster. Also, it has also occurred to me that I've made a couple of assumptions, particularly regarding how magic might work in this setting, and/or used terms that might not be setting accurate, so correct me if I've messed anything up or you have any details to share. [hider=Ophelia Nisbet (WIP)] [center][h1]Ophelia Nisbet[/h1] [img]Picture here[/img][hr][hr][/center] [b]Race:[/b] Human [b]Gender:[/b] Female [b]Age:[/b] 17 [h3]Appearance[/h3][hider=Appearance] A scrawny girl with brown hair and eyes and a lightly tanned completion, she dresses cheaply and practically, but not so cheaply that most would feel inclined to check their purses as she passes. By appearance alone, Ophelia isn’t someone who stands out from the crowd, certainly not amongst the diverse races of the Westerlands. At a glance, Ophelia registers to most observers as nothing more than a down-on-her-luck commoner. A more decerning eye, however, might realise, that despite her dishevelled appearance, Ophelia is clean and that ratty as they may be, her clothes are far from falling apart. They might notice that her eyes never stop searching. They might see the injuries that mar Ophelia’s hands and arms, consistent not with the calluses and scars that mark the hands of common labourers, but with the backlash of an improperly cast spell.[/hider][h3]Personality[/h3][hider=Personality] Ophelia tends to come across as inconsiderate and rude to most people who meet her, seemingly doing whatever she wants without regard for anyone else around her. To a point this would be an accurate description of her personality, she certainly holds little respect for anyone else’s sensibilities, however, rather than not caring how her actions affect other people, it might be more accurate to say Ophelia simply doesn’t care about other people’s opinions of her and unconcerned with actions that don’t have a tangible effect on others. While she doesn’t necessarily wear it on her sleeves, and in fact, many take her as quite impulsive at a glance, Ophelia is a deeply analytical and calculated person at heart, especially when it comes to dealing with anything she deems of consequence. Ophelia is also the sort to form very strong opinions about certain things and though her opinions can be changed she can at times become quite hostile towards those who fail to do so. Most notable of these opinions is her intense dislike of anyone she views as having received an unfair advantage in life.[/hider][h3]Background[/h3][hider=Background]Ophelia’s early life was an unfortunate, if not uncommon, story. Her mother died giving birth to her and when she was still young, the backwater village she was born into was bought up by a noble for development. Ophelia’s father, Joseph, was a blacksmith by trade, but having only ever lived and worked in the small village to which he was born, he lacked the necessary skills and connections needed to be successful in the wider world and struggled to find work, forcing him and his daughter to constantly travel taking odd jobs wherever they could find them. It was a hard life, but despite the difficulties, Ophelia was happy during this time, content with what she had. Joseph on the other hand was not. Even as young as she was, it was clear to him that Ophelia was incredibly intelligent, and the idea she might end up following in the footsteps of a man who couldn’t even hold a single job frightened him more than anything else. What she needed was an education, and to give her that, he needed money. Tales of adventures, delving into dungeons and ancient ruins and returning with vast riches, have always been common amongst the common folk, though for all their talk it was only the most foolhardy that actually attempted it. Or rather, the foolhardy and the truly desperate. Ophelia had begged her father not to go, but Joseph hadn’t listened, assuring her he would only adventure until he had the money he needed. His first expedition was successful, as was his second, and while he didn’t bring the vast riches spoken about in story, each expedition did see him return with more gold than he could earn in two years. His third adventure would have been his last he needed to get the money he needed, and as it turned out, it was his last adventure. He didn’t return. After being orphaned, Ophelia was forced to learn how to fend for herself. Fortunately, she always was a fast learner and was able to quickly pick up what she needed to know before her lack of knowledge could get her in too much trouble, learning how to recognise people looking for trouble, what places were or were not safe to sleep, and all the other bits and pieces needed to fend for herself. Perhaps it was somewhat ironic, that Ophelia spent the years after her father’s death travelling from town to town, just as she had when he was still alive. Sure, her father had hated the need to constantly move, but Ophelia had never minded it, and more importantly, it helped keep the heat off her back, especially since she was stealing to survive. Beyond enabling her illicit activities, however, Ophelia’s travels gave her one other opportunity. [i]Magic.[/i] Ask most people what kinds of people learn magic, and they’d probably think of the elite. They might imagine a noble’s son studying within the halls of some grand academy, or the daughter of a wealthy merchant learning under the tutelage of an accomplished mage. What they probably wouldn’t imagine would be common folk, but common folk do have magic of their own. An innkeeper lighting a hearth with nothing more than a word and a flick of the wrist. A mother suspends her load mid-air in lieu of a surface to rest it. A blacksmith maintains a sword’s temperature with a spell. Their magic might be far simpler and less impressive than the secrets found atop ivory towers. It might be overly specialised or weak. It might even be so common it borders on mundane, but it is still magic. It was this kind of common magic that Ophelia started to learn, at first here and there, and later wherever she got the chance. Over the years she learned and mastered all of what magic was within her reach, and when that wasn’t enough, she began to dissect the spells, modifying them and trying to figure out how they tick. Even injury wasn’t enough to deter Ophelia from her pursuit, and she has injured herself quite badly on numerous occasions, for tinkering with arcane forces is a dangerous craft at the best of times, even with proper tools and education.[/hider][h3]Talents[/h3][hider=Magic]Ophelia’s magical talent stems less from some inborn aptitude for the subject and more from her dedication to learning the craft. In fact, if one were to quantify, Ophelia’s innate magical aptitude, they would likely conclude it to be poor at best, as she naturally possesses a relatively small pool of mana and what mana she has is largely limited by injuries she sustained during her experimentation. Beyond that, Ophelia can’t be said to specialise in any single school or style of magic, except perhaps utility spells, her knowledge of spells having been drawn exclusively from those simple spells used by commoners and her own self-study. Despite these limitations, Ophelia has not only managed to learn a truly astonishing number of spells for her age – even if almost all amount to little more than cantrips – but she has, through a combination of painstaking trial and error, and an egregious disregard for any kind of spell safety, managed to modify each of those spells into a plethora of variations. Furthermore, what Ophelia lacks in raw firepower she more than makes up for in skill and technique, squeezing the absolute most out of any spell she can get her hands on. [/hider] [h3]Flaws[/h3] Fears/Vulnerabilities/Vices [h3]Equipment[/h3] The Stuff your Character carries with them (Nothing Silly) [h3]Miscellaneous[/h3] Whatever else you can think of that needs mentioning [/hider]