Just finished the sheet! It probably needs more polishing up, and I think I wanna paint an appearance drawing to use as reference, but I think it's ready for review. How does this character feel? Anything that needs serious work? [hider=The Pale Queen] [img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjEwNi5kOWUwZWQuVkdobElGQmhiR1VnVVhWbFpXNCwuMAAAAAAA/vtks-focus.regular.png[/img] [b]Title:[/b] The Pale Queen [b]Name:[/b] Eissen Frampt [b]Tale:[/b] Rumpelstiltskin [b]Physical Age:[/b] 38 [b]Actual Age:[/b] 440 [b]Height/Weight:[/b] 6’1”, 151lbs [b]Gender:[/b] Female [b]Appearance: [/b] Eissen is one of those eerie people whose white hair is almost the exact same color as her skin, like somewhere at the top of her forehead the flesh splits apart into silky filaments, while her eyebrows are apparently nonexistent. Her hair is usually pulled back into an elegant and complicated bob, or maybe let loose for those casual Sundays where, mostly, you just stay in bed, maybe with a good book and a hot cup of tea. Eissen tends to treat most days like casual Sundays though, if she can. She has the feel of a woman who’s spent her entire life indoors, and her skin and lips have a drowned look to them, while her mouth is the color of dead violets. Eissen’s eyes can be somewhat off-putting as well, doll-like and charcoal black, the color of forests where children get lost and never come out. Eissen has a long and soft-featured face that ends in a pointed chin, and her entire body has a carefully stretched look to it, like the legs of a spider. Her fingers are long, and covered in rings. You might imagine her fitting nicely in a long, flowing dress, something bizarre with many thorns and flowers woven into it. But instead, Eissen makes do with T-shirts and nice coats bought on discount from the local Macy’s, dark Levis too, and maybe some boots with not-too-uncomfortable heels. She has a strong preference for headscarves and covering herself up if she can, and usually has some sort of black, lacey veil pulled up over her hair and shadowing her eyes. If she doesn’t need to step outside, which is often, Eissen spends most of her time in pajamas and pretty-looking nightgowns. [b]Personality: [/b] Eissen doesn’t expect much from you, and hopes you’re not expecting too much from her. Really, don’t bother. It’s flattering, but you’re just going to be disappointed. That’s what she’ll tell you, at least. Eissen is a very go-with-the-flow kind of Tale, who appreciates a peaceful life but won’t protest too much if you decide to intrude on her story. Cool as a cucumber and not easily shaken, she gives off the impression she knows exactly what she’s doing, though of course that’s absolute nonsense. Still shaken by the haunting names that she devoured and made a part of herself, Eissen sees the potential for destruction and devastation wherever she looks, and though it’s now a long distant memory, when she sleeps, some part of her head is still full of ash and twilight, and boarded up houses with dead families inside. There is a part of her head that is always guilty for her actions, and another part of her that always, always just wants to sleep. And another part misses the woman who once was, the Eissen Frampt who had real wants and ambitions, and would conquer a kingdom just to have her name remembered. She finds very tiny things to distract her, which a more positive person would point out is quite healthy, given the circumstances (though Eissen doesn’t really have anyone in her life who could say that). She loves to play with gold and metal, and tinker with all sorts of mysterious and off-kilter objects. Recently, on a rare trip out into the city, Eissen picked up a guitar, and is currently taking lessons online. Sometimes she reads books. Sometimes, people visit, and she privately takes great pleasure in this. She shouldn’t complain, really. Her life is comfortable. Her life is safe. So it’s a mystery to everyone, especially her, why she seems to be waiting for something, waiting for an unknown whatever that will never come, like the Queen in that mistelling of her story, who died alone in her throne room with a veil wrapped tight over her eyes. [b]Background: [/b] [hider=The Queen and the Imp] Once upon a time, there was a miller and his daughter. The miller was proud and shortsighted, and if his daughter was proud and shortsighted as well, she was also cunning and ambitious and strong in a way her father was not. For she would not be content to live her life as just another miller’s daughter, and she was not content to fade away, to end her life one day as the grieving spinster to some recently deceased farmer. And so on a dark summer night she vanished. No one heard from her for many, many years. And when she finally returned, she was a miller’s daughter no more. The girl was a woman now, and had learned the secrets of the earth and the moon, and she could turn tears into iron, and spin straw into gold. With her powers, she ensorcelled the land, and she stormed the fortress of the king. She took three wires of pure gold, wrapped them around the king’s neck, and with a quick snap removed his head from his body, and, moments later, his crown from his head. The woman, the Pale Queen they called her now, was quick to establish her new dominion. The newfound rule of the Pale Queen soon attracted the strange creatures of the world to her kingdom, the goblins and elves and werewolves, and all other manner of beasts. She let them have their way with the land (as long as they remembered who was in control). And among her court was one elf of particular note: the Prince of the Imp-Lands. At first he reveled with the Queen and her court, and watched her cover the provinces with shadow, and thunder, and twilight, whatever her strange agenda demanded from day to day. But as the years went by, the Prince found he could no longer turn a blind eye to her cruelty, and on a bright winter morning he confronted her at the top of the highest tower. “My Queen, do you not hear the screaming of your people?” he asked her. They are not my people, she told him. They are my creatures, and my servants. “My Queen, do you not see the burning of your homeland?” he asked her. Yes, she told him. Some days, I wish to see burning. So I make it so. “My Queen, what will our descendants say of us, one hundred years from now?” he asked her. There will be no descendants, she told him. My court will be forever. Or else it will vanish, and it will take the land with it. With great regret, the Prince saw that there was no reasoning with the Queen. And so he attacked. For three days and three nights they dueled. Where they fought at the top of the tower, the sky clouded over, and lightning and thunder roared across the land. It seemed they were equally matched. But at the end of each day, through sorcery and trickery, the Queen would tear away from the Prince one of his names of power, and she would claim them for her own. And on the third day, when she taken and devoured all three of his true, secret names, the power of the Prince was broken. But by consuming his names, the Queen now saw the world through his eyes, through the eyes of Rumpl Cimpr Campr, and what she saw horrified her. She looked for the imp-prince, desperate to return the names, but it seemed that sometime during the final night of their magnificent duel he vanished, or maybe died. The other wild creatures quickly sensed something was amiss with their sovereign. Whispering of curses and evil omens, they fled the kingdom of the Pale Queen, and so she was left alone in her fortress. When she cast her gaze over the land, she saw that is was dark, and that houses were boarded up, and that no lights were on anywhere to be seen. Everything was different now, and things would never, ever be the same again. The Queen, however, couldn’t believe that. So she waited in her throne room with a veil to cover her eyes, waiting for Rumpl Cimpr Campr to return and take back his names and free her. Until her dying day, she waited there, clinging to the impossible hope that things could be the way they once were, and the things she’d seen with unclouded eyes could somehow be unseen, and undone. [/hider] Though the story traditionally ends, in all its variants, with an “...until her dying day…” the Pale Queen never died, not really. Eventually, after decades left alone inside that broken-down throne room, rain sprinkling in from the ceiling and weeds sprouting up from every crevice, the Queen realized that she had made her bed, and that she would be lying in it forever. But even afterwards, nothing really changed. The Queen took to walking her old kingdom, now a twilight place where the sun can’t shine, full of ash and thorny gardens and places where plants wouldn’t grow. She may have left an old and unhappy life behind her, but the Pale Queen was never able to replace it. She’s a woman caught in the in-between, endless possibilities in front of her, but dark and unhappy thoughts keeping her from going past the starting line. She spent the next few decades siletnyl cultivating what was left of her magicked and unsettled ghost-kingdom, and was never either especially happy nor especially sad. Maybe just a little regretful, with the names of the imp-prince still ringing somewhere in the back of her head. Though not the type to show it, the Queen was eager to join the Great Exodus. The promise of a new start was enthralling and, dare she say it, exciting. With the ability to spin gold out of straw, it wasn’t hard for her to set up a nice place for herself at the Reine apartment complex, and she makes a fair living selling her ambiguously ensorcelled jewelry and knick knacks to weirdos on the internet, and maybe one or two local jewelry places. Sometimes, she takes walks in the park. But all in all, life changed very little for Eissen, from here to there, the Homelands to the New World. She rarely leaves her apartment, and fills it the bursting with a hundred and one glittering, tinkling, faintly moving knick-knacks. To some hidden part of her, this is a crushing disappointment, and some days keeps her from getting out of bed. Everything was different, but in many ways nothing was. Though she would never admit it, Eissen is quietly glad if anyone, anyone at all, feels like visiting, and is quite welcoming to anyone who wishes to stop by and say hello. [b]Skills and Abilities: [/b] Shackled with the three names of power stolen from the imp-prince, Eissen’s old magic has been greatly diluted. However, the ability to harden tears into pure iron and spin gold out of straw remains the same as the day she learned it, and, if the situation arises, she can still invoke the four names of power still in her possession. [u]Rumpl[/u]: The first name of the imp-prince. To invoke the name [i]Rumpl[/i] is to call on the winds from the imp-lands, cold and disorderly and more than eager to cause trouble. Rumpl, the wind-weaver’s name, can summon these biting and eerie gusts of air to make all manner of mischief. [u]Cimpr[/u]: The second name of the imp-prince. To invoke the name [i]Cimpr[/i] is to call on the privileges of the elf-folk, to walk without being noticed or being heard, and to slip through the tiniest of gaps. The power of Cimpr, the elf-child’s name, won’t work if attention is already focused on her. [u]Campr[/u]: The third name of the imp-prince. To invoke the name [i]Campr[/i] is to defy the powerful and the cruel, and the Pale Queen can use it to shatter or block off another piece of magic, and prevent its master from invoking it again in the immediate future. Campr, the hero’s name, is especially taxing to Eissen, and uses up an entire day’s worth of magical power, if not much more. [u]Frampt[/u]: The true name of the Pale Queen. To invoke the name Frampt is to conjure the power of the woman from long ago who was lord and master of an entire kingdom. Frampt, the ruler’s name, allows her to share her long lost magical abilities with others, to veil them from sight, shield them from harm, and bestow strength and endurance. Frampt doesn’t drain Eissen as much as the other names of power. [u]Gold-Spinning[/u]: Similar to Campr, spinning gold take an enormous amount of magical energy, but it’s still within the Pale Queen’s reach. Hand in hand with that, Eissen sincerely enjoys craftsmanship and jewelry, and spends most of her time tinkering with her toys and creations. Eissen does not need food or air to live, though she does require a reasonable intake of water. She heals slightly faster and more efficiently than most, though it’s not especially noticeable. [b]Starting Items and Trinkets:[/b] Eissen still has her old crown, tucked away in her closet. It brings up a mixed bag of feelings, and she neither likes looking at it, nor likes the idea of throwing it away. Eissen keeps a handgun with her, just in case. It’s a scary world out there, and though she doesn’t exactly seize life by the reigns, Eissen would, by and large, prefer not to get killed if given the option. Her home is filled with strange, mostly pointless knick-knacks of her own making, some of which, like the little knives or paperweights, might be of tangential usefulness. [b]Weaknesses and Flaws[/b] [u]Doubter[/u]: Eissen has just about zero self-faith, and would never rely on herself or allow others to rely on her for anything important. [u]Emotional Exhaustion[/u]: These days, Eissen Frampt is a tired woman who’d really rather not deal with your crazy, magical messes, thank you very much. Both physically and emotionally, invoking the names of power is a draining piece of magic, and she can manage maybe one every thirty minutes, give or take. She doesn't find much interest in actively shaping the world around her, and if you really need her help, it'll take one heck of a motivational speech to rouse her to action [u]An Unfortunate Archetype[/u]: Evil Queens (the ones who survive, at least) are just about the worst sign of bad luck among Tales, and are widely considered unpleasant and unpopular. You don’t trust an Evil Queen character, you don’t help an Evil Queen character, and you try your darndest not to associate with an Evil Queen character. Needless to say, Eissen’s reputation isn’t the best, and she’s not the sort who’d go out of her way to fix that. [u]Passive to a Fault[/u]: While maybe her ability to go with the flow can be a positive trait, there’s no denying that Eissen is an enormously passive person, and will often fail to fight when she ought to fight, and fail to hit the ground running when she should've started sprinting twenty minutes ago. [u]Squishy Wizard[/u]: When it comes down to it, Eissen is simply a physically average person. Unusually tall, of course, decently fit, and maybe against someone much smaller she could use her size to her advantage, but other than that the Pale Queen has only ever dealt with the magical side of the world, and with magical threats. A few quick punches to the face would probably knock her out of the running. [b]Other: [/b] She’s not really aware of it, but Eissen can be quite the magpie, and has a fascination with shiny and curious objects. Though she'll never bring it up, Eissen can be very vain, and a little proud. She won't complain much about insults or mispronouncing her name, but flattery will win you maybe more points than it ought to. [/hider]