[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/7HlmcQK.png[/img][/center] [color=PaleGoldenrod][b]Abridged History of the Hain as a Species:[/b][/color] [hider=Points in Chronological Order] [center][h2][i]Esaulic Era[/i][/h2][/center] ??: The hain are created by Toun in the Valley of Peace. Toun steals the slave hain and scatters the rest all over Galbar. ??: Hain gather into small tribes and embrace hunter-gatherer lifestyles. ??: The mythical hain, Ch'eater, sacrifices his family to occult powers in return for immortality. ??: Cultural signs of a clean white and complete hain shell being considered attractive and smooth, gapless surfaces seen as aesthetically comforting is observed. Scholars speculate this to be imparted by Toun's perfectionism, though this theory is not popular. Most attribute this behaviour to the nature of its origins; areas populated heavily by dangerous fibrelings originated a cultural aversion to hair and gaps where hair might poke through. ??: The first sculptor in the Cult of Jvan, Fishbones, completes metamorphosis. ??: The first wild urtelem walk upon Galbar. [center][h2][i]Ikanotita Era[/i][/h2][/center] ??: Widespread and sudden signs of violence and fear towards the Cult of Jvan erupt across the global Hain population. This is correlated with evidence of wild creatures and ants behaving the same way. ??: The tale of Niciel's forgiveness takes place, founding worship of Niciel amongst valley hain and beginning relations with the newly created angels. ??: The tale of Slough and the Hunters takes place, where Slough is known by the name ‘Life-Deer’. The tale is supposedly allegorical, but its alignment with descriptions of the life goddess from other species suggests otherwise. Reverence for nature spreads amongst hain tribes, particularly around the north-west Jvanic coast. ??: Stone Chipper begins wandering Galbar, spreading knowledge to willing tribes of hain. Stone working and urtelem taming become widespread. Hain tool use increases and tool designs homogenise, save for contextual applications that prove more efficient. ??: Gerrik the apprentice joins Stone Chipper's travels. ??: The Chipper Tradition of travelling scholars and craftshain begins. ??: The Rovaick walk Galbar. Putatively, they were made by Vestec from an amalgam of all life on Galbar at the time, including hain. They are mostly confined to mountains, away from white giants. ??: The first signs of bright staff flowers (also known as hogweed) used as protective talismans by some hain tribes. This lines up with spread of a number of new flower varieties all over Galbar. Association with Toun appears to be independent, despite some shamanic traditions applying the new flowers' significance to each of the gods. ??: Teknall's 'sacred flower', called the earthsoul flower by most hain, is used in urtelem taming in some parts of the world due to its strange property of colouring to urtelem emotions in the vicinity. ??: Humans walk Galbar in small numbers. ??: The demigod, Lifprasil, is born. The insidie are created. Hain interactions with insidie are limited to Vectec's voren insidie in chaos hordes. ??: Strange remains of an entire tribe of hain, cut into precise and perfect portions, are dated to this point in time. ??: Chaos hordes form near the ironheart mountains, including hain members. ??: First evidence of hain 'second hatching' rituals, otherwise known as 'Beautification of the Flesh' in Jvanic circles. This ritual is different from tribe to tribe, but follows from the intrinsic urge of hain to carve disturbing images into their shells upon adolescence. This evidence lines up a short time after the needle fae appear on Galbar. Attacks against Jvanic sculptors decline. ??: The metatic ocean is created. Countless hain and human tribes are annihilated. Cornerstone is created. ??: Tales of the Great Ant TOBIA take place. The Niciel worshipping valley hain in particular speak of the friendly creature's exploits with them and the angels. ??: A simultaneous period of shared pain amongst the entire hain population precedes the first accounts of strange sparks of unexplained power from a few hain. ??: Proto-Ilunabarous languages tie many languages and dialects by a common root, extrapolated to have been created at this time. ??: Rudimentary astronomy is depicted in some hain societies. ??: The bow drill sees use in hain tribes. Fire creation spreads around Galbar via Chippers. ??: Gerrik Far-Teacher is canonised by Stone Chipper. Stone Chipper reveals his true identity as the god Teknall. ??: Grot's armies mobilise. Hain tribes around the north of the ironheart mountains are destroyed or displaced. ??: Phantasmagoria takes place. Great leaps are made in sentient technology and culture. Evidence of formal trade, bread making, pottery, leatherworking, trapping, herbalism and poisoning, eloquence, poison use, fruit selection, sewing, binding and weaving, artistic wood carving, winemaking, bead making, petroglyphs, and painting are seen worldwide rather than in secluded, accidental pockets. ??: Stories of the archangel Falas speak of meeting 'strange creatures' outside of the Valley of Peace take place. These are a tribe of regular hain, suggesting that the Valley Hain have either emigrated, died out, gone into hiding from the angels of the valley, or mutated beyond physical recognition. Of course, Falas may have simply had a secluded upbringing. Such things are lost to history. ??: Shamanic hain tradition shows more mentions of the foreign entity known as 'Jaan'. ??: The Prophet Sularn is inscribed and the cult of Toun and Teknall is founded. Those with the mark of Toun are able to descend from the mountains without fear and interact with humans and hain. ??: Gerrik Far-Teacher and a mysterious warrior hain known as Wind-Striker assemble an army to help repel a horde of chaos, bringing the first purely hain army to bear. Dedicated weapons and fortifications are crafted and refined in hain communities that participate. ??: The 'Divine Violence', a battle between clashing avatars, occurs. The display of martial wonder lives on in the memories of onlookers. The tale is accused of being exaggerated. ??: The Battle of the Tempest. Gerrik Far-Teacher and Wind Striker use their new army to repel Vestec's horde. The bloody battle is supplemented by the involvement of powerful air djinn under Vizier Ventus and a herd of Urtelem willed to fight by Teknall. ??: First tales of hain-human interaction. Some episodes are peaceful and trade is made, others are violent and superstition is born. Deep seated beliefs about hair do not help in some cases. ??: The battle of angelblood ridge results in some chaos hain joining Lifprasil's budding empire. These are the first hain believed to have joined him. ??: Hain develop djinni fighting techniques with their shamanistic magic. They do not initially work very well. This is in response to some stories of tribes being slaughtered for their second hatching rituals. Hain that consciously avoided second hatchings fell victim to anxiety, fear, and eventual madness as what they would normally carve on their shells became vivid hallucinations. The only cure for this was to undergo the ritual. ??: The event that caused many life forms to follow the tracks of the reincarnation of Slough occurs here. This marks the first chapter in the history of dedicated Slough worship by the hain skirting the Venomweald. Previously, there had only been reverence and respect for Slough. ??: The first sin cults spring up amongst hain and rovaick communities near and on the ironheart mountains. ??: Hain are part of the founding of Xerxes and eventually make up much of its army. ??: Obsidian weapons spread from Xerxes. ??: The Parade comes to the west coast of the Jvanic. Theatre joins oral story tradition. ??: Metalworking techniques spread from the ironheart mountain rovaick. Copper tools begin to spread. ??: Xerxes is shattered by Vowzra's Victors. Hain try to pick up the pieces with other races. Many travel and spread the technology founded in Amestris. ??: Death of Vowzra. ??: Ironheart metals, pioneered by the Toolsmith Conata, spread new kinds of metalworking, such as bronze. Advanced metals, such as those produced by Conata herself or the aluminium found in the bones of white giants, are traded in incredibly rare quantities. ??: Human shamanistic traditions from Ilunabar spread to the hain of Mesathelassa. ??: Tales of the avenging angel Makeda spread amongst hain communities. ??: Grotlings appear and develop in and around the Venomweald. [center][h2][i]The Blinding Purge and the Bronze Age[/i][/h2][/center] 0 PR: Logos' realta storm Galbar from all directions. Countless are caught in their indiscriminate fire, marking the largest planetwide massacre in existence. The attacks last for a few days before stopping. c. 0 PR: The ogre king Ommok invades and occupies hain tribal confederations between the Venomweald and the Shimmering Sea. c. 1 PR: Tauga the Blowfly, a Jvanic hain, unites a predominantly hain slave community in Xerxes to rebuild the city in Amartia's absence. Coinage is conceived. c. 1 PR: Amartia returns to Xerxes with the Fallen Victors and assumes control from Tauga in an apparently peaceful handover. c. 2 PR: Keriss visits Xerxes. Her reputation is recorded. c. 2 PR: Keriss and Tauga meet. c. 2 PR: After failed attempts to set the city back to order, Tauga evacuates Xerxes of the last sane inhabitants. Xerxes is bathed in Amartia's deluge of bloodlust a short time after. c. 2 PR: Under the guidance of Gerrik Far-Teacher, the tribe of Fibeslay build the world's first lighthouse to receive boats from the East. Chipper superstitions are shaken in the tribe. c. 3 PR: 'The Tragedy of the Scaled Goddess,' a ubiquitous oral hain story is spread following Keriss' tryst with a hain in a village near the Venomweald, resulting in the village's destruction. Versions of the story diverge wildly as to its final act. c. 3 PR: The battle for Xerxes. The armies of Alefpria and Xerxes meet to decide the ultimate fate of Amestris. Vestec abducts the city into a massive arena in his Realm of Madness. Lifprasil's cosmic knights win a pyrrhic victory and a hole in the ground remains the only trace of the great city of Xerxes. Tauga the Blowfly is named Marquis of Amestris by Lifprasil. c. 3 PR: Edda, the marked hain of Toun's will, lands at Loralom. c. 3 PR: The Loralom Spires burst out of the ground, rallying the hain of Yorum to the Marked Hain Edda and King Akol the Quickhatched. c. 3 PR: Gerrick the apprentice brings agriculture, flint and steel sparking, and cold forging to the hain community of Tallgrass in Mesathelassa. After a time, he also independently innovates agriculture, as it had not reached that part of the world by then. c. 3 PR: Xerxian refugees under Tauga inhabit the north-Metatic island of Axotal. c. 3 PR: Helvana, the Corvian Witch, saves a hain village from a trapped realta. c. 4 PR: Occult alchemy is spread through sculptors via Teknall's whispers. c. 4 PR: Stories of Farxus, the Deathbed Counsellor permeate through Hain folklore from those surviving near-death experiences. c. 4 PR: The Metera Valley community develop worship of the Painter Chiral Phi. c. 4 PR: Stories of Anthanasios, the half-beast healer, spread throughout Galbar. c. 4 PR: Urtelem are imparted with mathematically precise Belruarcian rune magic by Teknall. Hain communities previously unprotectable from powerful threats by Urtelem now find their rocky allies much more capable. c. 5 PR: Death of Kyre at the hands of Xos. c. 5 PR: The Celestial Citadel plummets into the Vetruvian Desert. Vizier Ventus' death causes worldwide instability in weather patterns. c. 5 PR: Legends of Aihtiraq the Wishdjinn spread. c. 5 PR: Teknall rebuilds the fallen and ruined Celestial Citadel into the Terrestrial Citadel, leaving it for any worthy inhabitants. Clockdog is always worthy. c. 5 PR: Vestec gathers and remakes Kyre's shattered sword, before granting it to Aeramen, the Djinni Lord of the Hilt, founding the Knight Protectors. c. 6 PR: The communities living on Axotal (including the refugees from Xerxes) develop great innovations in ship design, navigation, and metallurgy. c. 15 PR: The metera valley booms after advances in silk processing and masonry. [/hider] [hider=Yorum Area Fauna] [u][b]Life Form[/b][/u] [b]Name:[/b] Blutter Swine [b]Life Cycle:[/b] Blutter Boars are typical in life cycle to most wild swine, if at a slower timescale. Piglets are born after a gestation period of ten months in litters of three to eight. Piglets quickly grow a coat of striped fur for camouflage in Yorum's abundant grasses. They wean from their mothers' milk after roughly five months and take another two years to mature into breeding adults. Blutter sows tend to band together socially in sounders under a dominant female for mutual protection of their young. Blutter boars tend to live solitary lives until breeding season, when they become violent and aggressive. Competition for mates is a bloody affair, with even successful males often dying from their numerous tusk wounds after the fact. Breeding season has been observed to occur in the late months of Yorum's winter and hunters in their ecosystem have learned to avoid territories where blutter boar mating calls are heard. Blutter boars die of old age at around thirty years old. [b]Description:[/b] Blutter swine are porcine creatures native mainly to northern Yorum. They gain their name from their alarm squeals that they sound as a warning to predators, often scuppering the attempts of hunters stalking different prey. Standing at the height of a small horse and bristling with tusks, they are avoided by most predators at the best of times, though they are mere grazing omnivores. They peruse forest floors for nuts, fruits, and insects for most of their lives. They are known to be grumpy in general and murderous during breeding season. Only talented tedar have managed to tame them as beasts of war. Local hain tribes eat blutter boar as a delicacy, though hunting them requires experienced and courageous teams with short life expectancies. [b]Appearance:[/b] [img]http://i.imgur.com/tJfzY5W.jpg[/img] [u][b]Lifeform[/b][/u] [b]Name:[/b] Loralom Beasthound [b]Life Cycle:[/b] Beasthound litters gestate for roughly eleven months. Unlike other canines, litters of more than three pups are rare, and singular pups are just as common as litters of two or three. Pups suckle for an average of a month before feeding off the same food as their parents until at the age to hunt at four years old. Once they turn seven years old, they reach maturity and form social packs of between four and eight hounds, lead by an alpha male and female; the primary reproductive couple. They hunt as a pack, with similar social dynamics and intelligence to other wild canines. If beasthounds do not die from other natural means, they tend to die following muscular or vascular problems at around seventeen years of age. However, a well-kept beasthound can live up to thirty years old. [b]Description:[/b] Fully grown beasthounds often stand as tall as three and a half hain high. They are mostly carnivorous, though they supplement their diet with berries or grasses like other canines. Their shaggy grey hair is well suited to the colder months of northern Yorum and they can be found hunting all year around for other megafauna that they can catch. They are known for their loyal dispositions, strong jaws, fine eyesight, and deep, baratone barks that make the ground shudder when at full volume. While they are built with the look of graceful and fast creatures, a quirk of biology they possess is their incredibly strong bone structure. This allows them to keep speed despite their weight and grant them load-bearing strength. This puts their capacity for burden close to, but still at a lower level to, horses. Of all west-central Yorum megafauna, Loralom beasthounds are some of the few to be domesticated by native hain. While pack hunters in the wild still exist, Loralom hain have been breeding beasthounds as guard dogs and warbeasts for generations. Hain have grown attached to their loyal and protective attitudes, and unlike the gentle urtelem, are suitable for war against other hain. In particular are fearsome Loralom chariots, drawn by beasthounds and a menace on the battlefield. The tale varies depending on who is asked, though it is generally accepted in Loralom that two chippers from the east and west met in Loralom. One bearing stories of fibreheads that rode beasts in the far east, and another telling tales of huge rovaick that tamed great creatures. The two collaborated to raise a stolen litter of beasthound pups into loyal pets. The hounds were either unsuitable for riding at the time or the chippers never unlocked that secret, but beasthounds have been a part of Loralom's identity ever since. [b]Appearance:[/b] [img]http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/irish-wolfhound-gail-dolphin.jpg[/img] [/hider] [hider=Kingdom of Loralom] [centre][h2]Loralom[/h2] [img]http://i.imgur.com/1gDsyTE.png[/img] [b]Important Information[/b][/centre] [b]|Name|[/b] Loralom, Hain Kingdom of [b]|Capitol|[/b] City of Loralom [b]|Official Language|[/b] Western Yorumglot [b]|Demonym|[/b] Loral, Lorals [b]|Government|[/b] Absolute Monarchy [b]|Population|[/b] Roughly 90,000 (growing) [b]|Demographics|[/b] ~7% Hain nobles (standing army and administration) ~33% Free hain (may be partially levied) ~5% Alien residents (various races, not protected by same rights as free hain) ~55% Slaves (mostly hain and goblins) [b]|Leader|[/b] King Akol "the Quickhatched" The Kingdom of Loralom is the westernmost hain city state of the Yorum region. It was formed from various coastal fishing tribes after agriculture began to promote a sedentary lifestyle and support greater populations. Though the founding legend is vague and orally preserved, it is a mythical affair of the first king [i]Loral[/i] striking the northern snow away with his mace and thus allowing the grass to spread for fertile lands. Loralom was not the first city to be founded in Yorum, though its environment forged it into what it is. Its position places it as a bulwark against raiders from less fertile land to the north, promoting a strong warrior culture. Its proximity to the ocean has granted it respectable economic and military power. Iconic to its identity is its tamed kennels of huge Loralom beasthounds, bred for generations and used for war, warning, hunting, and more. While Urtelem are still a force against those that would harm the hain communities of Yorum, Lorals have preferred beasthounds for some time due to the Urtelem tendency to migrate when the hain wish to stay and tend to the land. The current king, Akol the Quickhatched, is so named due to his early second hatching and very early coronation. He is only nineteen years of age, crowned a short time ago after the blinding purge devastated the entirety of Yorum, cutting down much of the population and killing the previous king, Akuet. Akol is known as a prodigal general, though his confidence with the people is varied due to his boisterous personality and bull-headed leadership style. Many nobles have concluded that such an obstinate leader is needed post-purge, as anyone with less energy would allow the sullen and traumatised population to sink into depression. Regardless, none question that he has saved the kingdom a number of times from desperate neighbouring kingdoms that have attacked from all directions to replenish their realta-burned granaries. Loralom's leadership system is not particularly nuanced. Their laws are an oral tradition enforced by personal rights and the might of the monarch. There have been only three dynasties of kings in Loralom's history, but all have necessarily been bred of military commanders and demagogues. All deposed leaders of Loralom were unseated due to their lack of charisma in times of uncertainty. Loralom society is divided into a number of layers, representing rights under the law of the monarch: The top layer is the royal house; the leaders of Loralom and their family and partners. These are officially beholden to the law of Loralom and can therefore be prosecuted by lawful members of the populace, though this is a rare occasion that does not always turn out well for the accuser. Any crime against the kingdom as a whole (attacking its subjects, poisoning the water, etc.) is a crime against the royal house, and they are the prosecutors in such a case. The next layer is the nobility. The Loralom nobility is exclusively made up of professional hain soldiers and their families. These hain tend to be more well-off than others below them. They can own land and make wealth from it, but they also gain wealth, prestige, and glory from battle. They are the best equipped of Loralom's military and often make the core of infantry. The wealthiest nobles own beasthound kennels and ride beasthound chariots into battle. Nobles are fully beholden to the monarch's law, but hold greater political sway with the royal house. A free hain may become a noble by either amassing enough wealth to purchase good military equipment, getting sponsored via another noble to the former point, or getting endorsed by the royal house. Those that amass the wealth themselves are seen as unwashed and mistrusted, disparagingly called [i]softshell nobles[/i] behind their backs. The next layer down are the free hain. These are property owners that are protected by the law of the monarch, but they are not wealthy enough to afford quality military equipment. These make up roughly a third of the Loralom population, filling the roles of merchants, farmers, craftshain, hunters, and livestock herders. While they are not capable of standing as core infantry or cavalry, they are often levied as slingers and skirmishers in the Loralom army. Levies are only called for the defence of Loralom, while volunteers may step forward for offensive campaigns. In this case, volunteers are granted a pension for their families by the monarch in their absence. Loralom hain slaves may become free hain if their owners officially free them with a noble in witness. There have been no known free citizens that were not hain. The next layer are made up of foreigners and non-hain residents. Loralom is not a society rife with xenophobia, but they are not a particularly generous one to non-hain that arrive at their borders. These are mostly made up of travelling merchants or rovaick guests. No humans have yet set foot out this far into Yorum. Foreigners have some basic rights as guests under the law, though they may not purchase land and do not gain full protections as the free hain do. The final layer is the slave class. These are the most populous residents and are predominantly made up of goblins and hain captured from other kingdoms. Unlike any other resident of Loralom, they are treated as property of their masters, just like a plough or a hound. Masters are allowed to treat their slaves however they please, though it is the master's sole responsibility to maintain their slaves and ensure that none of their slaves cause problems for others. Other people that damage or steal a master's slaves are liable for prosecution by the master via the monarch's law. While it is not strictly against the law to mistreat, injure, or kill your slave, it is a social faux pas in Loralom to deprive them of what they need to live healthy lives. As such, it is not uncommon for slaves to be free to wander the city to shop and interact with the rest of the populace. Many even have healthy friendships with their masters. Slaves can even have relationships with other slaves of another house (once the masters have agreed on a compromise, usually a trade of slaves or a sharing agreement). However, the dynamic of master and slave is still abundantly clear. A slave that abuses the privileges that their master grants them does not go unpunished, either by a stern word or much worse. Another great social faux pas of Loralom is when a master keeps an undisciplined slave. The city of Loralom is the centre of the kingdom, with sparse villages dotting the lands. They subsist on agriculture, hunting, fishing, and trade. One granite quarry and various small forests supplies most of its building needs, but they do not have the technology to smelt any metal just yet. They trade for some metal, a very valuable resource in Yorum, and few are seen with bronze weapons except for the royal family. [/hider] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/xh8a8v7.png[/img] [i]"If my hammer still swings, the world can be shaped!"[/i][/center] [hider=Conata, Demigod of Metal] [center][youtube]watch?v=gL3daHF26V4[/youtube][/center] [color=Orange][b]Aliases/Suffixes:[/b][/color] Cleverhands, Forgefingers, The Toolsmith Gift, Connie. [color=Orange][b]Gender:[/b][/color] Female [color=Orange][b]Domain (Portfolio):[/b][/color] Toil (Metalworking) [color=Orange][b]Domain (Portfolio) Description:[/b][/color] The azibo prophet Sularn, inscribed by perfection, beseeched the great artisan for the secrets of the earth so that his people could defend against the hordes of giggling chaos. Teknall's answer was to provide a helper, and his creations are nothing if not built to purpose. Conata wields power over metal. She has been imparted with an innate expertise in metal, and may shape it, heat it, draw it, or otherwise manipulate it at will. Her mastery of metal extends to the molecular level, allowing such things as the smelting of ore or the aligning of mixes for an alloy. Doping metals with non-metals, such as with carbon in steel, is slightly trickier as she has to manipulate the non-metal by shunting the metal around it, but it is not impossible. This metal-controlling power is heavily weakened when used upon molecules of metal chemically bonded with non-metal. When this happens she may only accelerate the metal atoms with the weight of a weak human punch. However, given enough time, she can still heat the metal atoms to smelting temperatures. The more complex the molecule and the less metal there is, the longer this takes. Smelting something as complex as the iron in the blood, for example, would take an hour or two of concentration. Smelting the calcium in bone would take longer. As for Conata's domain, her affinity for toil grants her a greater endurance than other demigods. She can fight or work under great physical stress for longer and impart energy into others to do the same. In addition, she is resistant to the effects of direct emotional manipulation if they encourage Conata to give up or to submit. [color=Orange][b]Alignment:[/b][/color] Neutral Good. Conata is more wilful than her father but holds similar ideals. [color=Orange][b]Personality:[/b][/color] Passion, ambition, kindness, and a love of crafting are the most prevalent traits that Conata inherited from her father, Teknall. Conata loves a challenge. She gets visibly excited to take on something new, even without knowing exactly what the end product would be. Whether it be a new project, a puzzle, a journey, or anything else that brings the satisfaction of progress, she will always dive head-first into it. Not only that, but she stubbornly sees such things through to completion, even against daunting odds or distractions. Though she tends to leap on new things with gusto, that does not mean she is incapable of keeping focus. In fact, she could spend an entire century at a forge building something without keeping track of the time. If someone doubts Conata, she takes it as a slight against her pride. She is often headstrong and overconfident, to the point where suggesting that she can't do something goads her to do it out of spite. This pride can simmer into frustration and anger if something constantly thwarts her plans. Though not particularly destructive in her rage, she is loud and difficult to interact with when in such a state. Stronger than her bottomless self-confidence is Conata's drive to do the right thing. She takes more careful consideration when making decisions that affect other people. She is easy to trip into guilt if her own actions resulted in trouble and goes out of her way to make amends. Conata likes the kind of people who work honestly for their lot in life and dislikes those that take from others without permission. She is honest, extroverted, and friendly, but tends to take on more than she is capable of at any given time. Though pragmatic, she is not the most careful or forward thinking person and tends to become too sentimentally attached to friends and objects. [color=Orange][b]Appearance:[/b][/color] Conata takes the form of an average height human woman. Slight muscular tone shapes the surface of her skin, mostly in the shoulders and upper back, but she is otherwise thin set and athletic; narrow waisted, strong, and lithe. Conata's eyes look like regular human eyes from a distance, apart from the red irises, but the odd way the light plays with it reveals that they are made from materials resembling pearl, ruby, and onyx. Her skin is always in the likeness of some kind of metal or patina, but its hues change with her mood. Positive emotions are lustrous golds, silvers, and alloys, while negative emotions become abrasive rusts and corroded pittings. Strong emotions cause this to heat, steaming or taking on a red-hot glow. Her face appears young and amused, with a small nose and chin and a charming smile. Conata wears her straight hair short, falling just below her ears. It is held away from her face with a steel headband. Her hair is the same colour and texture of her skin and bristles like a set of expanding wires under the previously mentioned strong emotions. The apparel that Conata usually selects is pragmatic. She does not keep vain adornments unless they do something interesting. Instead, she wears a plain leather tabard over a white tunic and trousers. These articles have bands of metal laced into them for ease of manipulation. Large leather boots secured by steel bands cover her feet. A band of steel wraps around her waist with loops for what would be tools but instead are thick pitons of various metals that she could shape into whatever was necessary at the time. [color=Orange][b]Description:[/b][/color] Metal shines, metal sets, metal cuts, metal flows. Metal bends, metal springs, metal holds, metal glows. Conata's very presence wells up a second wind in one's lungs. She is seen by her followers as a bringer of inspiration and determination. She is a symbol of obstinance but at the same time a driver to pursue one's ambitions. All of this is granted most fervently to those who strive under their own efforts the majority of the time. Still, a pervasive virtue in her being encourages charitable behaviour. It is heavily frowned upon to disrupt another's hard work or ability to achieve, even in pursuit of one's own ambition. This is, of course, excepting fair competition, which is instead encouraged. Conata can make for the sake of making things, but most of the time it is to help out someone that comes by. With the vast catalogue of projects she often maintains at once, getting something for free is unlikely. The three conditions that each may encourage her to do a service are sufficient payment in the form of raw materials or an interesting invention, demonstrating a true need that she agrees to help with, or a request for something that would be a new challenge to make. If anyone asks her to make something that would subjugate or harm innocent people, she is liable to do anything from refuse to make something, to designing the creation to turn against its owner. Under Conata's guidance, her followers see a future built upon achievement and prosperity. [/hider]