[b]2. NOELLE SELWYN[/b] (originally in Heavy is the Head (polyvore)) Inspired by: Mai Mei HEAVY IS THE HEAD (POLYVORE) CS: https://urstyle.com/styles/489791 [hider=Lady Noelle of House Selwyn and Rose Point] {"Clever as the devil and twice as pretty."} -Holly Black ♕. NAME: Lady Noelle Selwyn of Rose Point, the White Rose (Noelle rather likes this moniker, which stems from her penchant for white gowns and jewelry) NICKNAME(S): Elle (to her close friends and family /only/, and excluding her father, of course), the White Rose {"Even the most beautiful of roses have thorns."} -Anonymous AGE: 23 BIRTHDAY: December 17th, 1503 KINGDOM: Corvus FACECLAIM: Neelam Gill FAMILY: -LORD & ADVISOR GABRIEL: father -LADY JOANNA: mother -LORD & HEIR GABRIEL II: older brother -LADY HELENA: older sister FAMILY HISTORY: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀♖. HOUSE SELWYN .♖ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⎨for the CROWN.⎬ Jealousy has coursed through House Selwyn since the very beginnings of Corvus. Always the shadow to their royal family's flame, they have bided their time carefully-- plotting and scheming behind closed doors while plastering on good natured grins to point at their king and queen. The current head of the house, Lord Gabriel I, is no exception to this. In fact, he is the epitome of his family's reputation: cunning and ambitious. There is nothing wrong with ambition, unless the person with it doesn't care about others' wellbeing which is the case of the lord and his family. No wonder half the nation thinks Lord Gabriel is behind the assassination of King Draco and Queen Astoria. He pleads innocence of course, and no one has discovered any evidence of his handy work, but he has benefitted from the loss of his king and queen by putting his youngest daughter on the young king's radar. Lord Gabriel knows the kingdom is weak with King Scorpius on the throne and has feigned his support for him by offering his daughter as a wife, when in reality he's only putting his family in a position that will make it easier to seize the throne. -SIGIL: a hawk carrying a rose -DOMAIN: Rose Point -PATRON GOD: God of Death and Riches POSITIONS: Simply a Lady of Rose Point...for now LOYALTY: Noelle's loyalty belongs to her house, at the core, but her loyalty to her father in particular is quite shaky. She is torn in between bettering her House (which would involve doing as her father says) and doing what /she/ truly wants (which is becoming even more powerful than her father, at this point). Noelle's loyalty to her mother and older siblings are rock-solid, though. Nothing anyone ever says or does can change that. Noelle is very careful to preserve her house's honor and reputation, though she hates-and I mean /hates/-her father. STRENGTHS: Noelle is a very talented shadow elemental, and she is very practical and has both feet planted firmly on the ground. She is capable of saying exactly what she means without saying anything at all, as well as flattering and insulting someone in the same breath. In a physical altercation (not that she would ever seek one of these out-they're so terribly /uncouth/), Noelle would be capable of holding her own with her shadow magic and her pretty little stiletto blades (they're more dangerous than they look!). Where Noelle truly excels, however, is with words and outward appearances. Noelle is more than capable of bandying words about all day long, and she is extremely perceptive when it comes to what others are thinking or feeling. She has all of Corvus seeing her as nothing but an extremely well-mannered noblewoman, and Noelle doesn't know if she loves or hates this. If information is the game, then Noelle is a merchant of great renown. Capable of lying, manipulating, seducing, or blackmailing her way to someone's secrets, Noelle will have what she wants out of someone before they even realize she has her sights set on them. She changes personas as easily as she changes gowns; one minute, she's a demure young girl with dreamy eyes and a smile like the summer breeze, and the next, she's a coolly charismatic seductress who will play with her victim like a cat plays with a mouse, torturing them with polite words and coy looks. Noelle fights with words just as well as she fights with her tiny little daggers. She's very discreet about it all, and if she wants to draw blood, you won't know it until the crimson liquid is oozing out of the wound. Noelle hates it when things get messy, though, so she mostly fights with her fluttering eyelashes and coy smiles and threats cleverly disguised as compliments. If she is engaged in an all-out fight (as improbable as it may be), she fights with a deadly, devastating grace, all tricksy shadows and flashing blades. WEAKNESSES: Noelle has a lack of brute physical strength (it's not /proper/ for young noblewomen to be strong like that!), and an inability to trust others outside her family (and even /within/ her family, come to think of it-Noelle trusts her father just about as far as she can throw him). Noelle has a rather cynical and bitter view of the world (she doesn't believe in true love, for example), and she has a tendency to be very judgmental of others. She burns with a need for vengeance against her father for what he did to her and for what he views her as, though it's more of a slow, steady simmer that Noelle forces deep down inside of her than a raging inferno that has the potential to cause rash words and rasher actions. She believes that people are not inherently good nor evil, but that it is easier to be evil in difficult situations, so people tend to be selfish and greedy-Noelle herself included. LIKES: pearls, diamonds, and other precious jewels, gowns of silk and satin, intricate lacework, the colors white and silver (they go wonderfully with her complexion), snow, ice, the cold, elegant, expensive gowns that show off Noelle's impeccable taste, her set of small, thin stiletto daggers with intricately carved hilts studded with freshwater pearls, diamonds, and milky white crystals that can be disguised as ornate hairpins, power, independence, being respected for what she is truly capable of (or being viewed as just another pretty face, depending on the situation), white roses (she isn't too fond of the color red; scarlet is much too /Andrean/, but wine-red and burgundy are alright), her magic, magic and Corvus in general, revenge, well-mannered and sincere people (ironic, really, considering how two-faced Noelle can be), her family and those loyal to her family (excluding her father, of course), toying with and manipulating others, especially men (read: her father), the smell of the winter air, cloudy days, fresh blueberries, swans DISLIKES: her father, incompetence, when something/someone unnecessarily ruins her hair or clothing, silly stories about true love and chivalry, relying on others, men who are only powerful because they're men, being sweaty, messy hair, dirty clothing, crude manners, her father, being underestimated because she's a woman by people she actually trusts (who are few and far in between), sloppiness and messiness in general, drunkards, useless and meaningless violence and destruction (could you /get/ any more rude???), physical altercations (they're just so /messy/), large dogs (they slobber too much), her father, ale, swan meat, sweltering summer days, being a pawn in her father's infernal game of politics, feeling powerless or helpless, being forced to marry people for stupid reasons (like, if she's going to be forced to marry someone in the first place, it better be for a damn good reason), being viewed as "property" just because she's a girl, gender roles and stereotypes (even though she frequently uses them to her advantage), the smell of smoke, the color orange, oh, and did we mention her /father/? STANCE ON THE WARS: The wars, you ask? Well. Noelle doesn't really think much of them, if she is perfectly honest with herself. They happened. They're over and done with. Nothing anyone in the present says or does can change that. She has no patience for sanctimonious preachy bullish-t about the wars; Noelle is more concerned about what they mean for the /future/, and how the repercussions of these wars can be dealt with. Of course Noelle thinks that they're big and important (everybody does), it's just that she doesn't like dwelling on, for example, what was going through the heads of the Andreans during the Second Great War. What use is in-depth critical analysis on that particular subject when you have real, present-day Andreans knocking on your door? Noelle doesn't resent the Andrean victories or celebrate the Corvian successes; she merely acknowledges them as a fact of life and moves on. There are many more pressing matters to deal with in this day and age, anyway. Corvian pride and elitism is /dangerous/, and if the rest of the nation doesn't get their act straight, the future of Corvus will be very bleak indeed. STANCE ON THE OTHER NATION: Noelle doesn't trust Andreans. Not because they don't have magic, or because Corvus has fought two wars with them, but because, well, don't they want revenge for everything that the Corvians have put them through? Noelle knows that if /her/ family (okay, her mother, brother, and sister) was murdered by Andreans, she would have been plotting their downfall with every breath she took. The best kind of vengeance is as heady and as cloying as fine wine, and Noelle knows that she's most definitely /not/ a forgiving person. If the Andreans had done to Corvus what the Corvians have done to Andreas, Noelle would be longing for a sip of that sweet, intoxicating liquid every day that she was alive. Perhaps Noelle is just too cynical. But she firmly believes that the Andreans are hiding something (who is purposefully that willful and unpredictable and wild, anyway?) and may the gods have mercy on any Andrean who tries to double-cross /her/. STANCE ON MAGIC: Again, Noelle has no patience for pretentious rhetoric about how magic is a transcendental force that elevates all Corvians and other drivel like that (it's a very elitist way of putting things, and it's what got Corvus into this enormous mess in the first place). If the gods are fair and just, why doesn't her sister have magic? Why don't the Andreans? Noelle secretly thinks that the gods are quite petty, though she respects her house's patron god, of course. She does love her shadow magic so very much, and all the amazing things that the other Corvians can do never fail to amaze her. Magic is a good thing-a /very/ good thing-and Noelle is aware of what a blessing magic is, especially in Corvus. She's seen first-hand how people treat men and women who were born /without/ magic. It's both a blessing and a curse, and Noelle recognizes that disputes in between Corvus and Andreas will always exist due to Corvian magic. {"Courtesy is a lady's armor."} -Sansa Stark (George R.R. Martin) PERSONALITY: Noelle has always been a people person with her impeccable manners and undeniable charm. There is something about her that seems to draw others to her-whether it's her carefree laugh, her twinkling eyes, or her bright smiles, no one can say. She can be an alluringly innocent temptress, capable of charming the secrets right out of others with a coy glance and a flutter of her long eyelashes. Noelle thinks with her heart when she needs to, but uses her brain at the same time. Behind brown eyes sparkling with mirth and delicate lips curved up in a half-flirtatious, half-demure smile is a woman made of steel who is keenly aware of her surroundings. Noelle processes vast amounts of information all at once, taking in people's' actions, words, and emotions at the same time and forming a conclusion based on what she sees and what she knows. She's always been especially good at reading people like an open book. Sharply observant, perceptive, and brutally analytical, Noelle is able to detect even the most subtle shifts of emotion, assess entire /situations/ with one inconspicuous sweep of her wide brown eyes, and kill a man in a dozen different ways while dancing (this, of course, remains a closely guarded secret). Noelle is constantly listening, though she’ll rarely tell the world what she's thinking. Enigmatically charismatic and exuding an air of elegant refinement, Noelle puts up a calmly playful and chastely coquettish front all while maintaining a certain air of mystery that makes her that much more attractive. Depending on the people around her, Noelle is either a charming, well-mannered noble lady of considerable wealth and status or a coolly polite seductress of equally considerable wealth and status. Noelle is not “smart” in the traditional sense of the word-complicated mathematics and the latest scientific discoveries made by House Scamander all go straight over her head, though she is able to hold her own in conversations about a wide variety of “sophisticated” topics. When around other nobles, Noelle hides her true nature behind expensive silk gowns and delicate lace, pretending that she is an innocent little girl with easily offended morals. She has mastered the right combination of sugary sweetness and sharp wit to detract attention from her real intentions as she shrewdly advances House Selwyn's (read: her own) agenda. Noelle is scarily manipulative, and she isn’t afraid of resorting to less savory methods to achieve her goals. Calm and collected in times of crisis, and Noelle rarely allows herself to panic. She is truly afraid of very, very few people, and she holds no qualms against playing others like a violin to get what she wants, all while smiling prettily and sipping wine from a dainty jeweled goblet. Sly, shrewd, and cunning, Noelle is an ice queen dressed in pearls and lace. Everything about her radiates confidence and refinement, from her just /barely/ low-cut gowns to the diamonds she wears at her throat. If one is able to see past the many, many layers and intricacies of Lady Noelle Selwyn of House Selwyn and Rose Point, one would come face-to-face with an intensely driven yet extremely insecure woman who has been bottling up her emotions for much too long. Noelle may be willing to sacrifice everything for her house and for her dream of being queen, but she doesn’t know what it is that /she/ truly wants (besides being a queen, that is), and more importantly, if what she wants lines up with what her House wants and expects of her. Noelle does not know who she actually /is/, and it makes her wonder-is there anything to her besides the mask that she wears in front of others? BIOGRAPHY: Lady Noelle Selwyn, the White Rose- Her father's favorite; his pride and joy. Polite. Pristine. Perfect. Charming and beautiful, sweet and soft-spoken. Dainty and demure, graceful and svelte. Don't let Noelle's outward appearance fool you, though-she may look like she's as sweet as sugar, but inside, she's ice cold. Noelle was given the upbringing that was expected of a lady of her station, and then plus some. Her father turned away from her older sister, Helena-poor, poor Helena, who had been forsaken by the gods and born without magic-and made sure that Noelle grew up with everything that she could ever want. Pretty dresses, expensive jewelry, all the love and praise and adoration that every child seeks from their parents; Noelle had it all. But somehow, Noelle could see that her father only cared about her for her magic. Call it intuition, call it intelligence or perceptiveness, call it dumb luck-whatever it was, Noelle /knew/ that Lord Gabriel I would not be so doting, so adoring, if Noelle didn't have her magic. All she had to do was look at Helena to see. She obeyed her father despite it all, of course. In this day and age, the daughter of a lord as powerful as Lord Gabriel Selwyn couldn't be seen openly disrespecting her father. What would that say about their House? It would be the scandal of the century. No, Noelle may not care for her father, but she /will/ remain loyal to House Selwyn. So she does as her father says...or pretends to, anyway. Noelle embroiders, like a proper young lady, and her stitches are so neat and straight and /tiny/ that they're almost invisible. She dances beautifully and has a voice that will break your heart. She can recite every House's genealogy by heart (both Corvian /and/ Andrean), and her paintings of vapid landscapes are impeccable. Most of all, Noelle excels when it comes to her magic. She can manipulate shadows and darkness itself, and oh, how wonderful it was, being able to create illusions and changing the entire atmosphere of a room with a wave of her finger! Power. That's what her magic was to Noelle; it was pure, sheer, unadulterated /power/, and oh! May the gods have mercy, Noelle wanted /more/. Her brother and the heir of Rose Point, Gabriel II, was given the most lovely steel swords as soon as he learned to fight. Why couldn't Noelle do the same? Why couldn't /she/ inherit Rose Point and learn how to fight with steel and fire? No matter, though. Noelle's going to be more powerful than /anyone/ in her family someday. Noelle made sure that everything she did was absolutely perfect, because her father expected no less from her. Perfect manners. Perfect smile. Perfect gown. Perfect /everything/. But for all her dreams of grandeur and for all her talent with shadow magic, Noelle is merely a pawn in her father's grand plan to steal the throne. Ever since she was officially considered fit to be wedded and bedded by some lord or the other, her father has been looking for a suitable husband. One suitor after another came and went, and Noelle was paraded before them like a horse at an auction, albeit a very /valuable/ horse. Her brother was the heir to Rose Point, while Noelle was to be sold to some stranger like the aforementioned horse, to be ridden whenever her new owner liked, beaten whenever he liked, and cast aside in time for a younger filly. Gabriel's future was glory and wealth and power, while Noelle's was childbirth and moonblood and obedience. Gods, how she /hated/ it all. She taught herself how to use her precious little stiletto daggers, and she is quite dangerous with her shadows, but that's not enough. It will never be enough. Lord Gabriel was always finding someone for Noelle to marry. There were so many men, Noelle can't even remember half of them. She always found some obscure fault in them, of course, and explained to her father why they would be bad husbands-this lord is as dumb as a brick. That lord can't even control the commoners living on his land, this lord has a history of legitimizing his bastards, that lord would turn on House Selwyn in a heartbeat. There was one, though, that Lord Gabriel /insisted/ Noelle marry, no matter what. He was more powerful than Lord Gabriel himself when it came to magical ability (a proper shadow elemental, yes, but some speculated that he had dabbled with blood magic as well), and so very /charming/. Everyone liked him; Noelle's lady mother, the chambermaids, even the king and queen themselves... They all said that Lord Samuel Swayn and Noelle would be a perfect match. He was a minor lord sworn to House Nott (and he took after his liege lord, Lord Evan, in more ways than one), but he could offer her father the support he needed for some of his more nefarious plans. Noelle was seventeen, and Lord Samueltwenty-seven, so the age gap wasn't /horrible/, but still-he was cruel, so cruel, and he hid it behind bright smiles and good-natured grins. Noelle can still feel his fingers pinching and twisting her skin so hard that she woke up with bruises decorating her upper arms and abdomen, his lecherous leer, his rough hands (he wouldn't dare to sully her before the marriage of course, but that didn't mean that he couldn't simply /touch/ her), the cold whisper of a blade against her inner thigh- Noelle's father wouldn't listen to Noelle's pleas this time. He ignored her, silencing her like she was a silly child, so Noelle took matters into her own hands. Lord Samuel ended up dying in a hunting accident just days before the wedding. He was drunk, they said. Nobody thought to look for Noelle, who had brought him half a dozen casks of the finest wine in all of Rose Point that very morning. Now, Noelle is to seduce King Scorpius so that her father can seize the throne. Noelle was game until she heard that her /father/ would take the throne, and then she was /furious/, but nevertheless, she will play along-for now. Aye, she'll marry the king and be his queen, and she'll tell the king all of her father's plans, and oh, how utterly /powerless/ her father will be to stop it all! Noelle would like that. Her father should be the powerless one, for a change. And King Scorpius himself? Please. Noelle will have him wrapped around her little finger when she's done with him. He's only a /man/, after all. TOP THREE: Lady Rosaline, Lady Antonia, Lady Elodie SPECIALTY: shadow magic (especially manipulating shadows to achieve a certain visual effect with the right lighting and creating illusions out of shadows in order to confuse or distract an opponent). SKILL LEVEL: Noelle is an extremely talented shadow elemental, and she was given the best training that anyone could ask for due to her father's obsession with her magic. As such, she is capable of manipulating even the tiniest of shadows, forming them into swirling images and silhouettes. ♕ ++ APPEARANCE ++ ♕ ☾. HAIR: Noelle has thick black hair that cascades down her back in waves, ending at her waist. She is quite versatile with how she wears it, depending on the occasion. ☾. EYES: Noelle has chocolate-brown eyes that are either sparkling with twinkling amusement or, on /extremely/ rare occasions, as frigid as the winter wind. She generally keeps them in an open, friendly expression, even if she is actually being very guarded and secretive. ☾. HEIGHT: Noelle is five feet and eight inches tall. ☾. BUILD: Noelle has a slim, willowy build. She seems to glide gracefully across the room whenever she walks, and her long legs and slender waist only emphasize this effect. ☾. WEIGHT: Noelle weighs approximately one hundred and twenty pounds. ☾. DISTINGUISHING FEATURE(S): Her wide, almond-shaped eyes, her high cheekbones, and the elegant way that she holds herself. There are also a series of slim scars lining Noelle's inner thighs from one of the lords she was previously betrothed to. Noelle /hates/ those scars. PLAYLIST: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=223953208 STORY: https://www.polyvore.com/but_did_you_forget_that/set?id=224310915 AESTHETIC/MOODBOARD: http://www.polyvore.com/️a_crown_thorns_ice_hith/set?id=224372296 QUOTES: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=224363834 COLLECTION: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/collection?id=6775614 {"If you pick up a male rabbit, he kicks and struggles, but a female rabbit is bleary-eyed and still; Set them both on the ground and let them run-who can tell if I am female or male?"} -From "The Ballad of Mulan" (木蘭辭, or mù lán cí); 5th or 6th century CE (Anonymous) [/hider] LYMIERA INSTITUTE OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY [hider=Lady Noelle Selwyn, Viscountess of Rose Point] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/Kh6UJyv.png?1[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/K4h4e2e.png[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/Kh6UJyv.png?1[/img][/center] [center][hider=Picture] [img]http://68.media.tumblr.com/de51ced1ba41745ce5c777713ff2e58a/tumblr_nod8kbTgJV1r9qel3o8_1280.jpg[/img] [/hider] [sub][i]Noelle ~ Light ~ Graduate ~ Cunning[/i][/sub][/center] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/Kh6UJyv.png?1[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/8ubcnCN.png[/img]j [img]http://i.imgur.com/Kh6UJyv.png?1[/img][/center] [b]Name:[/b] Lady Noelle Selwyn, Viscountess of Rose Point (sometimes referred to as "the white rose", for her penchant for wearing white as well as for her general personality) [b]Year of Education:[/b] Graduate [b]Age:[/b] 23 [b]Gender:[/b] Female [b]Element:[/b] Light (Illusion class) [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/Kh6UJyv.png?1[/img][img]http://imgur.com/bsSLbmw.png[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/Kh6UJyv.png?1[/img][/center] [b]In-depth appearance:[/b] Noelle is a bit taller than average at five feet and eight inches, and on the slender side, weighing about one-hundred and twenty-five pounds. She has thick black hair that falls about halfway down her back, if not a little more, and delicately curved lips. Her most striking features, however, are her dark brown eyes, which are darkly mysterious yet oddly vulnerable. With skin the color of rich milk chocolate and full, dark brows (as well as no curves to speak of), Noelle is hardly a traditional blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty, but nevertheless, her allure cannot be denied. In terms of gowns, Noelle favors pristine white silks and satins that ooze elegance and expense. She [i]always[/i] wears white, no matter what-and may the heavens have mercy on anyone who dares to rip, stain, or otherwise sully Noelle's dresses. Unsurprisingly, Noelle is particularly fond of pearls and diamonds and silver when it comes to her jewelry. She likes to be daring with what she wears; whether its in the neckline of her gowns, the simplicity of the gown itself, or how she's wearing her hair, Noelle has [i]never[/i] been one to simply [i]follow[/i] a trend. Through the years, Noelle has perfected the art of gliding across the room, and she walks with an easy, practiced grace-a trait that was drilled into her after a decade of "training", as her father likes to call it (it should be noted that, in certain circumstances, Noelle is capable of moving like a warrior if she chooses to do so, and if she decides to engage in a physical confrontation (which she would [i]never[/i], by the way. How horribly uncouth!), Noelle fights with a lithe, fluid agility-all swirling shadows and flashing blades). Depending on the situation, Noelle adopts a giggly, breathless air to convey innocence and cluelessness (with more than just a [i]little[/i] bit of shoving her chest forward), or an arrogant up-tilt of her chin paired with a slight curl of her dainty lips in order to convey authority and disdain. Though most of her classmates tend to dress simply, Noelle refuses to do the same. She's from an important family, and she [i]will[/i] be more important than every single one of her peers one day-just you [i]wait[/i]. [b]Personality:[/b] Noelle has always been a people person, with her impeccable manners and undeniable charm. There is something about her that seems to draw others to her-whether it's her carefree laugh, her twinkling eyes, or her bright smiles, no one can say. She can be an alluringly aloof temptress with her cool modesty and even cooler disdain, capable of charming the secrets right out of others with a coy glance and a flutter of her long eyelashes, or an innocent, demure young lady who has absolutely nothing to hide but plenty of gossip to share. She thinks with her heart when she needs to, but uses her brain at the same time. Behind brown eyes sparkling with mirth and delicate lips curved up in a half-flirtatious, half-demure smile is a woman made of steel who is keenly aware of her surroundings. Noelle processes vast amounts of information all at once, taking in people's' actions, words, and emotions at the same time and forming a conclusion based on what she sees and what she knows. She's always been especially good at reading people like an open book. Sharply observant, perceptive, and brutally analytical, Noelle is able to detect even the most subtle shifts of emotion, assess entire /situations/ with one inconspicuous sweep of her wide brown eyes, and kill a man in a dozen different ways while dancing (this, of course, remains a closely guarded secret). Noelle is constantly listening, though she’ll rarely tell the world what she's thinking. Enigmatically charismatic and exuding an air of elegant refinement, Noelle puts up a calmly playful and chastely coquettish front all while maintaining a certain air of mystery that makes her that much more attractive. Depending on the people around her, Noelle is either a charming, well-mannered noble lady of considerable wealth and status or a coolly polite seductress of equally considerable wealth and status. Noelle does not portray herself as “smart” in the traditional sense of the word-and there is some truth to this, for although she is a brilliant illusionist, complicated mathematics and the latest scientific discoveries all go straight over her head. However, she is able to hold her own in conversations about a wide variety of “sophisticated” topics, as befitting of a lady of her wealth and standing. When around other nobles, Noelle hides her true nature behind expensive silk gowns and delicate lace, pretending that she is an innocent little girl with easily offended morals. She has mastered the right combination of sugary sweetness and sharp wit to detract attention from her real intentions as she shrewdly advances her family's (read: her own) agenda. Noelle is frighteningly manipulative, and she isn’t afraid of resorting to less savory methods to achieve her goals. Calm and collected in times of crisis, and Noelle rarely allows herself to panic. She is truly afraid of very, very few people, and she holds no qualms against playing others like a violin to get what she wants, all while smiling prettily and sipping wine from a dainty jeweled goblet. Sly, shrewd, and cunning, Noelle is an ice queen dressed in pearls and lace. Everything about her radiates confidence and refinement, from her just [i]barely[/i] low-cut gowns to the diamonds glittering at her throat. If one is able to see past the many, many layers and intricacies of Lady Noelle Selwyn of Rose Point, one would come face-to-face with an intensely driven yet extremely insecure woman who has been bottling up her emotions for much too long. Noelle may be willing to sacrifice everything for her ambitions, but she doesn’t know what it is that will truly make her [i]happy[/I] after she achieves what she wants to achieve. Noelle does not know who she actually [i]is[/i], and it makes her wonder-is there anything to her besides the mask that she wears in front of others? [b]History:[/b] Lady Noelle Selwyn, the White Rose- Her father's favorite; his pride and joy. Polite. Pristine. Perfect. Charming and beautiful, sweet and soft-spoken. Dainty and demure, graceful and svelte. Don't let Noelle's outward appearance fool you, though-she may seem like she's as sweet as sugar, but inside, she's ice cold. Noelle was given the upbringing that was expected of a lady of her station, and then plus some. Her father turned away from her older sister, Helena-poor, poor Helena, who had been forsaken by the universe and born with little magical talent of her own (certainly not enough to live up to the reputation of her fellow Selwyns, who were all powerful light mages)-and made sure that Noelle grew up with everything that she could ever want. Pretty dresses, expensive jewelry, all the love and praise and adoration that every child seeks from their parents; Noelle had it all. But somehow, Noelle could see that her father only cared about her for her magic. Call it intuition, call it intelligence or perceptiveness, call it dumb luck-whatever it was, Noelle [i]knew[/i] that her father, Lord Gabriel Selwyn I and the Duke of Rose Point, would not be so doting, so adoring, if Noelle didn't have her magic. All she had to do was look at Helena to see. She obeyed her father despite it all, of course. In this day and age, the daughter of a duke as powerful as Lord Selwyn couldn't be seen openly disrespecting her father. What would that say about their family, whose history was already fraught with darkness and suspicion? It would be the scandal of the century. No, Noelle may not care for her father, but she [i]will[/i] remain loyal to the Selwyn name. So she does as her power-hungry father says...or pretends to, anyway. Noelle embroiders, like a proper young lady, and her stitches are so neat and straight and [i]tiny[/i] that they're almost invisible. She dances beautifully and has a voice that will break your heart. She can recite every noble family's genealogy by heart, and her paintings of vapid landscapes are nothing if not exquisite. Most of all, Noelle excels when it comes to her magic. She can make images appear out of thin air, and oh, how wonderful it was, being able to summon armies and fire-breathing dragons with a wave of her finger! Power. That's what her magic is to Noelle; it is pure, sheer, unadulterated [i]power[/I], and oh! May the heavens have mercy, Noelle wanted [i]more[/i]. Her brother and the heir to Rose Point, Viscount Gabriel Selwyn II, was given the most lovely swords as soon as he could walk. Why couldn't Noelle do the same? Why couldn't [i]she[/i] inherit Rose Point and learn how to fight with steel and fire? No matter, though. Noelle's going to be more powerful than [i]anyone[/i] in her family someday. Noelle made sure that everything she did was absolutely perfect, because her father expected no less from her. Perfect manners. Perfect smile. Perfect gown. Perfect [i]everything[/i]. And during her time at the Academy, Noelle made sure to maintain her image as a perfect, pristine lady. She excelled in all her classes there, as well as the etiquette and comportment classes that her father made her take every weekend at home. And everyone told Noelle that she was going to go far, and she believed it. But for all her dreams of grandeur and for all her talent with illusions, Noelle is merely a pawn in her father's grand plan to steal the throne. Jealousy has coursed through the Selwyn family's veins since the dawn of time, and many an assassination attempt can be connected to the Dukes and Duchesses of Rose Point of the past. Ever since Noelle was officially considered fit to be wedded and bedded by some lord or the other, her father has been looking for a suitable husband. One suitor after another came and went, and Noelle was paraded before them like a horse at an auction, albeit a very [i]valuable[/i] horse. Her brother was the heir to Rose Point, while Noelle was to be sold to some stranger like the aforementioned horse, to be ridden whenever her new owner liked, beaten whenever he liked, and cast aside in time for a younger filly. After graduation, Gabriel's future was glory and wealth and power, while Noelle's was childbirth and passive obedience. Her father didn't [i]care[/I] how she was doing in school, so long as she got top marks. To him, a diploma is only something that will add to Noelle's worth when he is finding her a husband. Gods, how she [i]hates[/i] it all. She taught herself how to use her precious little stiletto daggers, and she is quite dangerous with her illusions, but that's not enough. It will never be enough. The Duke of Rose Point was always finding someone for Noelle to marry, after she finished her schooling. Every weekend since she was fifteen, she was whisked off to some count or baron's home in the capital or the other. There were so many men, Noelle can't even remember half of them. She always found some obscure fault in them, of course, and explained to her father why they would be bad husbands-this viscount is as dumb as a brick. That duke can't even control the commoners living on his land, this baron has a history of legitimizing his bastards, that earl would turn on the Selwyns in a heartbeat. There was one, though, that the duke [i]insisted[/I] Noelle marry, no matter what. He was another duke, who everyone said would be more powerful than the king himself someday, and so very [i]charming[/i]. Everyone liked him; Noelle's mother, the chambermaids, even some of her more important classmates at the Academy and the Institute... They all said that he and Noelle would be a perfect match. She was seventeen, and he twenty-seven, so the age gap wasn't [i]horrible[/I], but still-he was cruel, so [i]cruel[/i], and he hid it behind bright smiles and good-natured grins. Noelle can still feel his fingers pinching and twisting her skin so hard that she woke up with bruises decorating her upper arms and abdomen, his lecherous leer, his rough hands (he wouldn't dare to sully her before the marriage of course, but that didn't mean that he couldn't simply [i]touch[/I] her), the cold whisper of a blade against her inner thigh- Noelle's father wouldn't listen to her pleas this time. He ignored her, silencing her like she was a silly child, so Noelle took matters into her own hands. The duke, Samuel Swayn, ended up dying in a hunting accident a year after the betrothal was made, while Noelle was visiting her family home during one of the longer school breaks. He was drunk, they said. Nobody thought to look for Noelle, who had brought him half a dozen casks of the finest wine in all of Rose Point that very morning. Now, Noelle is to finish her schooling as fast as possible so that she can seduce one of the king's younger brothers, bringing her father even closer to his goal of seizing the throne. Noelle was game (she loves the idea of being a princess) until she heard the last part, and then she was [i]furious[/i], but nevertheless, she will play along-for now. Aye, she'll marry the king's younger brother, and she'll tell the him all of her father's plans, and how [i]powerless[/i] her father will be to stop it all! Noelle would like that. Her father should be the powerless one, for a change. And the king's brother himself? Please. Noelle will have him wrapped around her little finger when she's done with him. He's only a [i]man[/i], after all. [b]Research Project:[/b] Though Noelle has delved into the more generic uses of light magic (its [i]so[/i] useful being able to magick herself a new gown whenever she feels like it), what she is truly passionate about is shadows. The way that casting light just [i]so[/i] can create entirely new shapes and forms...there's something poetic about it all. Where there's light, there [i]will[/i] be shadows, and for some reason, the shadows called to Noelle. Noelle's project is focused on using her talents with light to effectively manipulate shadows and darkness...a bit roundabout, yes, but it works. She has been mostly working with creating silhouettes, but she has also branched into "weaponizing" her abilities-namely, sucking all the light out of a room to blind an opponent, or darkening an entire room to use a single spot of light to blind the opponent. [b]Other Information:[/b] *Noelle could have graduated a few months ago, but she is purposefully prolonging her project because she doesn't want to do as her father says *Noelle's older sister, Helena, used to be jealous of her (and Noelle knew it, too), but now she and Noelle get along a lot better. Noelle suspects that it had something to do with the fact that she helped Helena with some of her classes at the Academy, which their father insisted on sending her to, even if she really had no natural talent for magic. *Rose Point is, in reality, a mountain range and all its surrounding forests and valleys near the northern coast of Eskora. The Selwyns have held that land for centuries and centuries. Rose Point is famous for the rose bushes that grow on its lowlands and the snowcaps that are present year-round. [u][b]Noelle's Aesthetic:[/b][/u] •snow-covered mountaintops under a sky full of stars •icicles glittering in the moonlight •strands of pearls speckled with blood •a wreath of white roses perched on inky-black hair •blood oozing languidly from the tiniest of cuts •delicate diamond tiaras •swans gliding across calm lakes on a gray winter day •pristine marble floors •the smell of the frigid winter wind •a crown of thorns and ice •wickedly sharp silver daggers with diamond-encrusted hilts •blood-red lips and snow-white ball gowns •dark eyes filled with mystery and windswept hair flecked with snow [hider=Various polyvore shenanigans] [img] https://i.imgur.com/twGf25d_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=high [/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/lac1WQA_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=high [/img] [img] https://i.imgur.com/7ca3Et0_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=high [/img] [img] https://i.imgur.com/6GRboLB_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=high [/img] [img] https://i.imgur.com/kE2V6Tm_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=high [/img] [img] https://i.imgur.com/M8Q2LJV_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=high[/img] [img] https://i.imgur.com/o7JDqUB_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=high [/img] [img] https://i.imgur.com/ZuMWwGt_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=high [/img] [/hider] [/hider]