[center][sub][h3]Main Character[/h3][/sub][/center][hr][hider=Sister Candle of Quiet Vigil][center]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/qNCIlXr.jpg[/img]
[sub][sup]FC: [url=https://www.artstation.com/midfinger]Jay Jiwoo Park[/url] | DC: [color=C49C48]C49C48[/color][/sup][/sub]
[sub][abbr=To Rise, Virtual - FlyByNo (Endless Space 2)][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rZlsad_hNQ][color=C49C48][h2]Sister Candle[/h2][/color][/url][/abbr][/sub]
[sup]Early 20's [color=C49C48]◆[/color] Sister of Quiet Vigil [color=C49C48]◆[/color] 167cm[/sup]
[/center]
[color=C49C48][b]Appearance[/b][/color]
[indent]Armed with holy conviction and filled with righteous purpose, Sister Candle walks with confident strides and a head held high with steel blue eyes that can hold warm kindness and a calculated coldness in equal measure. Underneath her battle layers of cloth and iron, Candle keeps her body fit and well toned almost as well as her mind, ensuring her body can remain as a pure vessel and conduit for Parrel's will.[/indent]
[color=C49C48][b]Personality[/b][/color]
[indent]Sister Candle is a woman of few words, preferring the song of Parrel's hymns or the language of actions over her own speech. After her confirmation as a Sister and a Lantern of Parrel, Candle has attempted to adopt a more confident persona so that she may soothe the worries of those who seek Parrel's guidance and be a guide to those who are lost. In accordance with her role, Candle tries to be as altruistic and generous as she can be within reason. The width of that mercy however often relies on the type of personal connection Candle has to those seeking it and in reality, she is a nervous woman, consistently unsure of herself and always wondering if she is doing right by the values she was taught. However, sweets of all types tend to calm her mood somewhat, even if they tend to be the rarest among rarities.[/indent]
[color=C49C48][b]Background[/b][/color]
[indent]Candle has little memory of her early years, save that she was an orphan taken in by the Sisters of Quiet Vigil and that her original name was Laina. Since then, her world had only consisted of the convent, her life shaped by it, her purpose molded from it. The convent was based in a small settlement that continually migrated every few years based on the movements of the Filth, though it was perhaps more accurate to say that the settlement was built around and moved with the convent itself. 

Thus, with no memory of a better past, Laina found herself content with this life learning, growing, and at some point, loving the convent and all its people. As she got older however, and the content of her classes slowly moved from the pure spiritual teachings of Parrel to becoming the physical embodiment of her will, Laina found herself having to harden her own resolve and steel her own emotions as she became more and more worldly, with every passing year resulting in the slow, but steady loss of Sisters, Brothers, and friends that she had come to know all her own life. 

By the time Laina came to the usual age where she could be confirmed, she had already passed all the tests that allowed her to be inducted into whatever branch of the Sisterhood she desired save for that of the Quill, but hardly anyone passed that in the first place. Becoming a Blade Sister meant that she would be a weapon of Parrel, dedicated to protecting all she had Stewardship over. Becoming a Knife Sister meant that she would be a precise instrument of Parrel, dedicated to seeking those who did not follow Parrel's guidance and dealing with them as seen fit. However, to Laina there was no higher calling than becoming a Lantern Sister, dedicated to preserving and sharing Parrel's light to all those seeking it or were lost. Normally such sisters remained cloistered within the convent, praying to Parrel and guiding those who had already learned to depend on them, but Laina, then confirmed as Sister Candle, sought to share the blissful teachings and values that had guided her all her life to a Filthy world that so desperately needed it.

While on her journeys, she discovered a crown of rusted iron. She knows not why she was drawn to it nor why she had kept it, but she was and she has nevertheless.[/indent]
[color=C49C48][b]Attributes[/b][/color]
[indent][sub][color=C49C48]◇ Might[/color] 3, An athlete among men
[color=C49C48]◇ Coordination[/color] 2, Reflexes of a man
[color=C49C48]◇ Fortitude[/color] 2, Skin of skin
[color=C49C48]◇ Intellect[/color] 3, The quick
[color=C49C48]◇ Wisdom[/color] 2, Straightforward
[color=C49C48]◇ Willpower[/color] 3, Plenty of will[/sub][/indent]
[color=C49C48][b]Skills and Training[/b][/color]
[indent][sub][color=C49C48]◇ Bladeswoman[/color] Contrary to the name, Blades classes at the convent cover everything from fists and clubs to swords and spears
[color=C49C48]◇ Archer[/color] Ranged combat is taught as well during Blades classes, a useful skill for hunting prey of all sizes
[color=C49C48]◇ Alchemist[/color] Knife classes at the convent often start with basic knowledge of medicines and of how they have the potential to hurt and heal in equal measure
[color=C49C48]◇ Cook[/color] Brewing potions and grinding poultices are not so different from crafting a well balanced meal
[color=C49C48]◇ Woodswoman[/color] While being taught to recognize the various flora and fauna of the world in Knife, so too are survival techniques that guide them and ensure that every cloister member can stay alive in the harsh wilds
[color=C49C48]◇ Sister of the Convent[/color] Lantern classes ensure that every Sister and Brother of the convent graduate with thorough knowledge of the parables and hymns of Parrel
[color=C49C48]◇ Literate[/color] Quill classes at the convent are closely monitored with only a select few acolytes even allowed to partake in them; despite being one of the lucky few, Candle still only has a shaky grasp of her letters[/sub][/indent][/hider]
[hider=A Memory Forever Remembered, Forever Burned]
.
	It was cold, dark, and Laina was utterly alone. 

	Her and a few other acolytes, bored during the settlement's current migration to new lands, wandered a bit off from the main group though at least still keeping the lights of the main convoy in sight. They were all having silly fun as younglings were often want to have until Laina slipped and fell into a densely wooded gorge. 

	When she regained her consciousness, Laina didn't recognize anything around her. A dull throbbing pain lancing her from her calf told her that she was hurt, a wet slick feeling around the area indicated something worse.

	She wanted to cry. She did. But she also remembered the teachings of Master Knife. Stay still, stay silent, observe and learn, survive. What was she supposed to observe though? What was she to learn? How was she to survive? It wasn't uncommon for those who got lost during migrations to be left behind, the threat of the Filth too great.

	So she laid still and cried, pitying herself and saddened by her poor lot in life.

	She didn't know how long she lay there, only that it was dark and she was alone and she was going to die. The tears kept flowing until she spotted a dim light in the distance, the sight of which causing her next sob to become stuck in her throat as she remembered how some creatures of the Filth lured those lost and alone like her by offering a saving light in the cold blackness. So again she lay still, forcing down her hiccups and cries as she placed herself as low on the forest floor as she could. The light came closer, so Laina forced herself deeper into the much and mud. It wandered even closer, so she forced herself to still her breath and quiet her mind. Yet still, the light crawled ever nearer, scanning the forest as if searching for her. The light passed over her and in weakness she let out a whimper, causing the light to snap onto her frame, outlining her small figure as she closed her eyes in an attempt to blind herself to her inevitable future.

	Yet death did not come hurling after her with tooth and claw. Rather, her face was cupped in a hand that radiated comfort and warmth. Her ears were not assaulted with the slaverings of hunger or desire, but instead soothed with gentle words and a soft voice. Believing herself already dead, Laina dared open her eyes, only to be met with the tired, old face of the abbess. 

	Laina's tears flowed once more.[/hider]
[hider=The Instruments of Parrel]
The Instruments of Parrel is a sect of Parrel worshippers whose faith revolve around the idea that all their confirmed clergy are the divine, physical embodients of Parrel's will, of which the Convent of Quiet Vigil is one such band of practitioners. 

Their stories revolve around the idea that Teid is the creator of many things, but not all. Rather, he knew as a divine being that had no equal nor being capable of worrying about mortal concerns such as death and disease, that there was only so much he could imagine and create. So, as he created the other gods and all the inhabitants that lay upon his world, so too did he gift them with the ability to craft and create as he did. To ensure that his creations could remain free and pure, he made it so that he was unable to directly interfere with works that were not made by his own hand.

Unfortunately, that would prove to be his downfall. When Ligdon forced himself onto Parrel, Parrel begged Teid to remove the cursed child that now lay in her womb. Taken by her pleas, Teid attempted to do as he was asked, but the child was not made by his own hands, and the terrible circumstances on which the child was conceived made it so that when Teid attempted to remove the child, he poisoned it and himself. The Allcreator wasted away as the child continued to grow inside Parrel's womb and when it was born, so too was the Filth, and so too did it signal Teid's death. 

Knowing that the corruption of her child and the death of her creator was her own fault, Parrel took stewardship over all that Teid had created in penance. However, even Parrel herself could not always directly interfere in the affairs of mortals, and so she would entrust a select few who would be her divine instruments on the world.

The Instruments of Parrel often divide themselves into four Brotherhoods and Sisterhoods, or Hoods for short: Lantern, Blade, Knife, and Quill.

Lanterns were dedicated to keeping the stories and songs of Parrel alive, leading her worshippers and directing those who sought her guidance.

Blades were dedicated to keeping the world and Parrel's flocks safe against all manner of threats.

Knives were dedicated to keeping the faith pure, rooting out anyone or anything that sought to undermine their work.

Quills were the most mysterious of all the Hoods, and dedicated themselves to interpreting Parrel's will by the arcane secrets of the written word. They hold the secrets of literacy and guard it jealously, hungering for every scrap of knowledge pertaining to the Old World.

Upon being confirmed as a new Brother or Sister of the sect, they shed their old given names, replaced instead with ones that are chosen by themselves. These new names are often of some physical item or object. By doing so, they shed their old bonds and ground themselves to the world, dedicating themselves fully to the task of becoming one of Parrel's many instruments. It is at this time that new members will also choose which new Hood they will don for the rest of their life, provided they had qualified for it beforehand.

The sect has no formal central authority or leadership, but bound together nevertheless through common stories and ideals. No member truly knows how many followers there are, nor of how many convents and churches there may be. In the Convent of Quiet Vigil, Brothers and Sisters sometimes go on a mission to found a new convent or lead a new flock, though word seldom comes back about them. 

Quiet Vigil itself was founded and centered around its current and only abbess: Abbess Key. Under her are High Sister Tulip and High Brother Bark, or Mistress Quill and Master Knife, respectively. Under them are Sister Snow and Brother Stone, who are also known as Mistress Blade and Master Lantern. Surrounding them are a number of Brothers and Sisters divided among the four Hoods of Lantern, Blade, Knife, and Quill, descending in most populated Hood to the least. Sister Tulip is the only confirmed Quill Sister among all of Quiet Vigil. Surrounding the Convent itself are a number of ordinary people who have gathered around the convent but do not wish to join it for one reason or another, instead providing support by supplying the common physical labor and goods that are needed to run any settlement.

The Convent keeps itself safe from the Filth by ensuring that all confirmed members have martial training of some sort and, more importantly to their actual survival, by being able to quickly move and migrate when the spread of Filth proves too much for their church members to handle.

Important members of the Convent of Quiet Vigil
[indent]◇ Abbess Key
◇ High Sister Tulip / Mistress Quill
◇ High Brother Bark / Master Knife
◇ Sister Snow / Mistress Blade
◇ Brother Stone / Master Lantern[/indent][/hider]
[center][sub][h3]NPCs[/h3][/sub][/center][hr]
[hider=Liam][center]A mercenary Candle encountered on her travels. He is a tall, clean-shaven man with startling blue eyes. While friendly, he holds a number of secrets.[/center]
[color=lightgray][b]Stats[/b][/color]
[indent][color=lightgray]◇ Might[/color] 2
[color=lightgray]◇ Coordination[/color] 3
[color=lightgray]◇ Fortitude[/color] 2
[color=lightgray]◇ Intellect[/color] 2
[color=lightgray]◇ Wisdom[/color] 4
[color=lightgray]◇ Intellect[/color] 2[/indent][/hider]