[center][url=http://diegogisbertllorens.deviantart.com/art/Dreamreader-481660300][img]http://i.imgur.com/g541kU0.jpg?1[/img][/url][/center] [hr] [center][h2][color=bc8dbf]The Mystic[/color][/h2][/center] [hr] [color=bc8dbf][b]Name[/b][/color]: Tahira Misra [color=bc8dbf][b]Title[/b][/color]: Disciple of the Outlander, Mystic of the Valishul [color=bc8dbf][b]Age[/b][/color]: Mysterious [color=bc8dbf][b]Gender[/b][/color]: Female [color=bc8dbf][b]Armor[/b][/color]: Scale-Cuirass [color=bc8dbf][b]Clothing[/b][/color]: Hooded robes of varying lengths, colors and styles and sturdy leather sandals. [color=bc8dbf][b]Weapons[/b][/color]: A [url=http://www.ashokaarts.com/img/product_images/image/detail/ewquillkuk5-1847.jpg]Kukri[/url], which she keeps sheathed on her lower back, and her magic constructs. [color=bc8dbf][b]Miscellaneous Items[/b][/color]: [list][*][i]Sacred Dyes[/i]: Although she has run out of Gurkara sap, she still performs the rites over more conventional dyes which she uses in their place when marking her skin. [*][i]Whetstone[/i]: For sharpening her kukri, a ritual dagger among her people. [*][i]Medicinal Herbs[/i]: Used for making ointments and balms for a variety of purposes. [*][i]Rations[/i]: A weeks worth of food for her and her companion... he does most of the carrying.[/list] [color=bc8dbf][b]Biography[/b][/color]: On the fringes of Helsath, to the south and east, there is a great desert which only the well-prepared can survive the crossing of. Beyond this desert dwell the Valishul tribes, on a chain of islands strung along the coast. These islands are known as the Sand’s Teeth, and they boast an exotic and twisted landscape compared to the rest of the continent. Born the daughter of a Valishul tribal shaman, Tahira’s childhood was spent learning her people’s hidden ways. The most important of these was the reading of the stars, the Outlander’s sacred language through which the Valishul believe the past, present and future are all unveiled. When she came of age she learned the rituals to prepare the fruit of the Gurkara, a tree native to their isles with unique properties. When consumed properly, it enhances the strength of the Valishul warriors, but if it is eaten without being prepared by a shaman then its effects are fatal. After centuries of religious consumption, the Valishul have become capable of surreal feats of strength, even unaided. It is said that a warrior of their tribes can split a bronze-sheeted shield with a kick, or snap the haft of a spear in his hands. The sap of the Gurkara tree is also used to mix sacred dyes. Using the dyes, Valishul tribesman paint the paths of their tribe’s stars along their bodies. For each tribe, the meaning is different, and Tahira learned the secrets of all of them. As she grew older her magic began to manifest, something that wasn’t unheard of among shamans of the Valishul. Despite the connections to the Outlander which pervade their myths, the tribes did not understand magic. The elders did not know whether to accept it as a gift, or destroy it as a perversion, and so instead of choosing either they sent those who manifested magical abilities out into the world to seek an answer to their question. Was this the Outlander’s will? Out of the dozen or so magic users who had been born in the last few hundred years, none had returned to the Valishul tribes after their pilgrimage. Tahira intends to be the first. She survived the journey across the Great Ajanak Desert, and made a companion out of one of the vicious and cunning Kjolun apes which dominate the desert cliffs. It was the runt of a littler and had been cast out from its nest, but through some kinship Tahira chose to save it, and nursed it to health with the last of the prepared Gurkara she had brought from the isles. Although he was once small enough to sit on her shoulder, over the years since she left the Sand’s Teeth he has grown several heads taller than her and she sometimes finds herself sitting on his shoulders now. The closer she got to the hub of the continent, Lenaya, the more she learned of the Holy Church of the Outlander, a supposed den of warlocks and demons to some, or heretics to others. Yet they boasted abilities not unlike her own, so she chose to approach them. The Church of the Outlander worshiped the comet just as devotedly as the Valishul did, and they seemed to believe the power of magic was granted to them by the Outlander. Among their ranks, she discovered several of the Valishul shamans who had disappeared, commanding fire and lightning with their will and determination, and imbuing items with power. It seemed she had found her people, but had she found the answer? She could not know, so she learned of their holy scriptures, becoming a Disciple of the Outlander as the other shamans had, but it was there she stopped. Traveling the land with her companion, she spreads knowledge of the Outlander wither her own Valishul twists on its meaning, and seeks those who know more about these powers than the humans. On her journey across the continent, she came across a flyer seeking brave souls to cross the land bridge on a quest for gold. Although she has little interest in wealth, the description of the city’s protectors caught her attention and she seeks to track down these Black Wardens for herself. [color=bc8dbf][b]Extra[/b][/color]:[list] [*]Since she went years before receiving magical instruction from the Church, Tahira has a unique magical skill that she developed on her own. Through a form of telekinesis magic, she can manifest constructs which mirror her people's ancestral weapons. Although they require concentration to maintain, she can even pass these to other people temporarily. [*]Valishul myths say that the Outlander's arrival, thousands of years ago, heralded the end of a war that brought their people to the bring of annihilation. They have spent all the time since preparing to resume the war when the Outlander leaves them. These "Black Wardens" match the description of the shadowed titans of their oldest legends.[/list] [hr] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/owittRp.jpg?2[/img][/center] [hr] [color=bc8dbf][b]Species[/b][/color]: Desert Kjolun [color=bc8dbf][b]Name[/b][/color]: Galal [color=bc8dbf][b]Age[/b][/color]: 5-6 Yrs. [color=bc8dbf][b]Equipment[/b][/color]: A knapsack in which he carries Tahira's things, a few shiny baubles Tahira strung along his belt (because he liked them), and a battered club.