Ok I hate having so many NPC's to much writing in the fight.... hence why I put one out of action for now and sent another into the back abyss. And yes I just finished another play through of Xcom2 yesterday so that's where I got the snake wrap idea from.
Appearance: Due to her clan's strong genetic lineage, she inherited her clan's characteristic strong body and facial features despite her tall build. So while not being as 'light' as the elves, she is much stronger and resistant than them. Having a natural cold resistance due to the mountain climate means that Ehri doesn't have that much problem dealing with cold. Coupled with her need to be able to move herself freely, the clothes she wear offer protection on the necessary areas such as legs, arms and neck, but leave other places uncovered to give her a good mobility giving her quite an unique style, fitting with how others from the Old Blood clan wear themselves.
O C C U P A T I O N A L A N D F I G H T I N G A B I L I T I E S
Occupation: Tamer/Hunter/Skinchanger
Equipment:
Developed by the hunters from her clan, this unusual recurve, composite bow is made not only with wood, but mostly with animal horn and sinew bound together with animal glue (a type of glue made by boiling skins, bones, tendons, and other animal tissues for a prolonged time) giving it a formidable power despite it's relative small size compared to the common long bows. It has strength, reach and maneuverability but it's complicated construction means that it needs a special care if it ever breaks or if the string snaps (as it's made of sinew) It can be used with maximum efficiency even while riding a horse due to it's compact size.
A strange and uniquely shaped sword almost resembling a sickle or a hook is used by the members of the Old Blood clan. This blade, although compact, has a brutal cut due to it's superior handling, speed and it's curved edge but it suffers with a shorter range compared to normal longswords.
"Bag" made of horse leather: Instead of a 'bag' it's more like two long pieces of horse leather, which she wraps around themselves turning them into a type of bag and on the night she unrolls them, to use it as a sleeping bag and a small tent for one person only.
Hunting Animals:
Ehri actually raised this Harpy Eagle since it was a little chick. After killing it's mother near Elvish territory, Ehri found it on it's nest. Knowing that Harpy eagles raise only one chick per 2-3 years, Ehri took it and choose to raise it herself. After it grew up, it became an unusually big eagle. With a wingspan of around 240cm and weighting around 12kg, it's a threat even to humans with it's sharp and strong claws.
Isaz was the first beast that Ehri tamed. Her clan has an old tradition of coming of age for every hunter. In this tradition, the hunter needs to prove that it's capable by taming a wild beast to be it's companion by his life. On Ehri's case, this ceremony almost ended in tragedy, as the Dire Wolf she tried to tame attacked her and she had to kill it by herself. After a lenghty fight, both Ehri and the wolf were exhausted and were unable to fight. Alone in the cold and harsh mountains, both wolf and human had no other option but work together to stay alive, as they couldn't possibly hunt by themselves. Recognizing each other's strenght, they ended up creating a strong bond. Isaz is a male Dire wolf, weighting around 70kg, a fearsome creature able to easily surpass a human in height when standing up on it's hind legs.
Fighting Style:
Hunter's Dance: Being a 'dance' only in the name, it's a style of combat focused on dealing with dangerous enemies in close combat. It's name come from the gracious motions and footwork the hunter does while analyzing it's target's movements and dodging it's attacks, waiting for a chance to attack while it relies on the hunter's experience and agility to dodge or block it's opponent's blows. It focus on getting close in a fraction of a second in order to prevent an oncoming attack while delivering brutal and deep blows with her Khopesh. Although this style is famed for ending combats in a burst of speed, it can actually drag the battle for a good time before actually doing anything, depending on how experienced the enemy is and due to the fact that it assumes the hunter will be in disadvantage and even a single mistake can prove to be fatal. It's sudden change of pace when the hunter stops analyzing the target and goes for the kill very often catches enemies unaware, be them humans or animals. Albeit optimal for one on one fights, this style has problems in dealing with multiple enemies at the same time or enemies using fighting styles with multiple, fast hits which can easily overrun the hunter especially if such fighting style doesn't give the hunter an opening big enough for him to get closer.
Marksmanship: Using the advantages her clan's Bow has over other traditional bows, Ehri can use it from long range or in a medium range, using her agility and it's maneuverability in something akin to a 'combat archery' style of sorts, keeping herself only barely out of reach from her enemies while always moving, even using kicks and her knees if someone gets too close from her or even to stun her enemies, followed by an arrow to finish them off. While effective, she still has problems fighting against blades in very close range since she can't defend or parry attacks with her bow or with her legs.
P E R S O N A L
Talents/Skills:
Tracking: As a hunter, tracking her prey is vital to her own survival. Getting away from her can prove to be a very difficult task, as her agility and capability of following her prey in almost any terrain ensures she will eventually reach them.
Survival skills: Nature is not kind, especially to those living in the cold and harsh mountains where even a tiny mistake can lead them to their potential death. Every herb, plant or part of an animal can be used either to help her heal her wounds or potential food in time of crisis.
Taming/Animal Empathy: An old tradition from the Mountain Clans. Every hunter has it's beast, that accompanies him to combats and hunts.
Magical skills:
Skinchanger: An old, forgotten type of magic passed by tribal clans since the dawn of humanity, it allows Ehri to not just enter the mind of her beast, but 'share' it's body, controlling it. While doing so, her normal body is completely vulnerable, as she cannot move herself. The bad side to this is that Ehri is also vulnerable to her beast's instincts and primal desires such as hunting & etc. so it takes a good deal of control to be able to 'discern' where the beast's mind ends and the hunter's one begins.
One Mind, One heart: By using her skinchanger ability, Ehri can link her mind to her beasts', allowing her to see what they see, feel what they feel, communicate with them while being distant from the same even without 'entering' their body. This ability basically shares her senses between her beasts and vice versa having an almost complete awareness of the battlefield as long as her beasts are in the same location as she is. The downside, apart from the hunter itself having to deal with the same primal desires and instincts it's animal has is that if the hunter's beast is wounded, the hunter will feel the pain itself.
A Hunter's Offering: According to the old customs of the clans, it was believed that if a hunter kills a particularly strong beast, upon consuming it's meat and completing a ritual where the hunter extract's the beast's soul stone and grinds it together with a bowl of it's blood, the hunter itself would receive the beast's strength and positive attributes. While only a tale by some, to a select few members of the mountain clan, who have traces of the old blood within their lineage, they can heighten their senses by doing so. Until now, Ehri has done this ritual with only a few animals: A Dire Wolf and an Eagle. Giving her a Wolf's sense of smell and hearing and an Eagle's eyesight. Since she has already has two different animal aspects inside her, it's highly improbable she will be able to have a third one.
P E R S O N A L I T Y
Although she is quiet, serious and used to spending a lot of time alone with only her beasts, Ehri is a very strong woman and has equally strong opinions. She certainly isn't someone that you would like to mess with. She can have a bit of trouble conveying her feelings to others & stuff like that, but if you can earn her trust, she will show you her respect and hold you in high regard as a valuable companion.
Even though she can be rather difficult to approach, Ehri can be rather warm to those who can break through her outer shell. Sure, don't expect her to speak like a teenager and be always bubbly, but if you're looking for someone that will always be there, for a fierce companion who would never betray you, she is your girl.
B I O G R A P H Y
On the cold, harsh mountainous regions on the far north of the Empire, an old clan dwells. They who still follow the old customs, paying respect to the nature and the old gods never had a name for themselves nor felt the necessity of having a specific name for their clans as they all had old blood running through their veins, but others came to call them as simply the 'Old Blood Clan'. It's said that they've mastered the skills to live in such a harsh environment and can tame wild and fearsome beasts living with them harmoniously. Nobody knows how much of that is actually true and how much is mere rumor since only very few are brave enough to go to the cold and harsh mountainous regions that they call home. Only very few have seen the valley hidden amongst the mountains and even fewer were invited on their 'town'... But now those secrets will for ever remain as nothing but secrets and rumors...
The Old Blood Clan never even had a chance to fight against the creatures from the shadowlands. They were accomplished hunters, some even called them 'predators' as they surely would have no problems hunting even other men, but they couldn't do anything when the sky fell down. Their city made mainly with wood and leather, following the customs of the old men stood no chance against the flaming rocks from the sky. Hunters and beasts alike fell victim to that tragedy. The very same valley that were their home made the perfect grave for their clan. There wasn't any way to escape and the sole survivors were only the few who were doing their come of age ceremonies. Without home, without anyone but a few others with the same blood, they tried, unsuccessfully rebuild their clan. But sadly enough, things would go from bad to worse very quickly when the creatures from the shadowlands started going berserk...
They could handle the creatures due to their training, but they were in severe numeric disadvantage. Like water hitting the stone, the few hunters started getting tired and weaker, until they had to flee... Abandon the land of their ancestors and their fallen friends and families and live as nomads. When Varrian Lionheart unified the old nations, they really had no choice on the matter. Just like what they ancestors did to survive on those harsh mountains, they had to either adapt themselves or perish. And so the nomadic tribe of the Old Blood started making part of the Grand Empire. Albeit it was very rare to see one of the Old Blood, it was easy to distinguish them. Completely adapted to a nomadic lifestyle, they made their homes in large and sturdy, yet portable tents made of leather and wood and always had a wild animal with them. Even living together with others on the Grand Empire, they still preserved their culture and followed the old ways, preserving some of the mysticism and the mysterious aura that was how the other nations saw them.
It is undeniable though that with each generation, the blood of the first men gets thinner and thinner on the remaining survivors of the clan, yet there are rumors amongst them that there are still some who have inherited the abilities from their ancestors. Some say that on this time of crisis, the old blood running through their veins, foreseeing the danger of completely extinguishing itself got stronger, others say that the gods of old still watch for them and some say that they weren't the ones with old blood in their veins and their union with other nations with the same traces of blood ended up in strengthening that ancestral bloodline...
Ehri Khan, just like many of her clan, although scattered through the Grand Empire, still use the old surname her ancestors used in the times before the starfall. Daughter of two hunters from the same Old Blood clan (which is quite rare, given how scarce the members from this old, forgotten clan are) Ehri was born and raised learning the old ways of the clan. Preserving the techniques and the culture of her ancestors, she is one of the few who inherited some of the forgotten abilities from their old clan.
When her parents died, victims of a mysterious disease, Ehri was alone in the world with only Isaz and Misha. Following her parent's footsteps, she choose to live the same way they lived, as a huntress. Starting with small jobs, although only a few people know her, they know exactly how good she is. Even in a young age of 20, few can match her skills, be with her bow or with her Khopesh, when she sets her eyes on a target, the outcome of that hunt is already decided.
Unlike other 'mercenaries' though, Ehri always worked more for the thrill of the hunt and her own survival than money, so she only takes jobs she wants. Even if someone offers her a decent reward, if she doesn't agree with the motives of said contractor, she won't accept the hunt. This sense of pride coupled with her skills and the fact that she is a Skinchanger from the Old Blood only serve to make it even harder for her to find 'jobs'. Common folk seem to avoid her and even some nobles or mages see her as either an object of study or a 'relic' from forgotten times and usually not taken seriously, at least until others see her skills personally. Due to the lack of knowledge regarding her people's culture, there are many rumors such as that she is part animal or that she eats like a beast & etc. Due to this and some other motives, Ehri often prefers to be discreet regarding her jobs and only accept a few ones.
But despite all the mysticism that exists regarding Ehri and her clan's very existence and origin, she is only known by a few who are very well informed. Maybe it's her own desire to not attract unwanted attention, or maybe it is because some people still don't see the ones who follow the old customs with good eyes, labeling them as savages or 'tribal', often only calling her as a last resort. A way she found to circumvent that problem was joining an adventuring company. After a quick search, she found about the name of the Bloodrose Irregulars. Joining them would to be the best option, since being the member of a well known adventuring company such as them would make it easier for her to get jobs and mostly wouldn't even care to know which hunter would complete their request since they trusted the Bloodrose Irregulars.
1. Listen to the GM(s), If you have a complaint tell me. I am not an evil dictator and if I am wrong I will admit it. 2. Romance and Gore allowed, But keep it in good taste and in site rules 3. Now not all characters will play nice with each other I understand that, but keep the disputes in the RP not in OOC 4. Be civilized and polite please 5. All basic RP rules apply to this roleplay: Power playing, Meta gaming, and others are not allowed. 6. The story isn't exactly set, If you have an idea for a mission feel free to pm me the details and I'll try to work it in. 7. Copy the rules into a Hider in the "other" of your cs so I know you read them. 8. Get into your character's skin become him or her as you are playing have fun and give us insight into their thoughts. 9. Try to keep active, in both the IC and OOC pages please. And even if you don't have anything to say, at least read the OOC
I only made a female character bcos my previous character on Bloodrose Irregulars was also a female (only reason I didn't use her it's because she is very similar to Nanami but focusing on 'Dance' instead of songs.
Otherwise if I had taken a better look at the submitted CSs and seen which one of them dropped and which one of them continued to play I would have probably made a male one XD
Ehri herself knows nothing about such matters. So it shouldn't be too hard to convince her. What maybe will be hard is approaching her like that though XD
