[hider= Melanie Theria Layaneth]

[hr][hr][center][color=white][h1][b] MELANIE [/b][/h1][/color][/center][hr][hr]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/o5RXrJi.png[/img][/center]

[center][color=white][B]| 98 | Female High-Elf | Not A Hack |[/B][/color][/center]

[color=white][B]|  PERSONALITY  |[/B][/color]

	An enthusiastic and voracious academician, with an endless motivation in all matters in the sciences. She distinguishes very little in what she actually transcribes or who is informing her: whether that be large, pivotal moments of a new king's coronation, village encounters with a local griffin, or a meandering ramblings of the rube. In fact, she could come off as insensitive or oblivious when she fails to read the room when bombarding her captive interviewee with questions, and aloof to the events happening around her.

	She is also prone to spontaneous flights of fancy, easily swept away by the passion of the moment and swayed by praise with alarming ease. On the bright side, Melanie has near limitless amounts of energy once she's excited with something and tracking down an elusive cryptid. On the other, she has many shelves full of unfinished manuscripts when she lost focus and pursued another rabbit-hole that arrested her attention. Melanie has a very high tolerance of risky behavior and is happy to jump in head first into dangerous situations if she thinks it will get her a good scoop, only to regret it sorely when she inevitably realizes that physical exertion is far from her forte. She's a pushover to many requests of whimsy or embarrassment, simply to sate her curiosity on how people will react.

	Melanie is quite prideful of her works, her status as an academician and regards her work as an idealized, altruistic undertaking. She has great sympathy especially for those who seek to advance any kind of understanding of the world, whether that be a fellow archivist, naturalist or a lowly scribe. Unfortunately, this passion also carries into her academic output, resulting in analyses frequently interrupted by opinionated remarks and purple prose.

[color=white][B]|  BACKSTORY  |[/B][/color]

	Melanie's library of her published works is long and varied, being one of the few advocates of the study of the wider continent. She was beholden to a meteoric rise in infamy by sheer volume; within a few years Melanie had to hire several scribes just to sort the several dozen boxes of references and live specimens flooding in each week. Still, she gained a loyal following for her sweeping observations, obsessive focus on the most mundane of phenomena, and 'academic' studies filled to the brim with poeticisms. 
	She was particularly known for getting into an open fist-fight over the color of Reon's dress during a public debate (of which Melanie would proudly proclaim she won, though it is unclear whether she is referring to the debate or the fist-fight). Many fellow academicians had a much more critical reception of her studies, viewing her as a hack and lacking in the appropriate skepticism one must apply in academia, though she was still respected in her studies of humanoid animation theories. 
	Nonetheless, Melanie has not let up in her indefatigable pursuit of knowledge. Her most recent obsession has taken in the form of social history, and in a characteristic abruptness she dropped her work on the fundamental theories of alchemy to take an extended trip to Velt. She quickly latched onto the Lions as a rich source of insight into the brewing political conflicts as well as a security detail, in exchange for a wellspring of information on golemancy and alchemy.

[color=white][B]|  EQUIPMENT  |[/B][/color]

	[b]Enchanted Journal[/b] - An small leather-bound book filled with ink blotches and hasty scrawls. Melanie's magic allows torrents of paper to come flooding out of the book to take whatever form Melanie requires. The paper's durability is far stronger than usual parchment paper, which lends its strength to Melanie's constructions. The foremost pages of her book contains details on Melanie's most frequently crafted golem archetypes.

	[b]Haphazard Alchemy Set[/b] - Contained in a large box full of esoteric instruments required of any high level alchemical studies, with long slender brass measuring sticks, flasks of all sorts of sizes and several leather satchels of common ingredients. Unfortunately, Melanie's lack of rigor in organization has resulted in many of these containers being completely mislabeled.
	
	[b]Overpriced 'Ancient Relic' Dagger[/b] - A common dagger with a large fake jewel inset into the handle. Melanie got swindled into buying this. Still, she keeps it as a personal defensive tool in case she is cornered.

[color=white][B]|  SKILLS  |[/B][/color]

	Though luck played a large part, Melanie's persistence through her danger-prone expeditions has been largely thanks to her undeniable talent in creating magic constructs and temporary transmutation on the fly. She can summon temporary mimics of creatures to assist her in various activities; birds carrying teacups, horses to ride on long treks and orcs to thump ignoramuses who insult her work. The duration and accuracy of these constructs depend on Melanie's focus on the construct and the strength of Melanie's memory of what it is mimicking, so outside of her usual assortment of ingrained helpers she often simply bases the paper golems off of an ally or enemy she's observing. The solid, defensive elements of her constructs are made of paper, while the more fluid joints or components that emulate certain elements such as fire is made of ink.

	Melanie's knowledge on many wild creatures and physiology is extensive, giving her insight into treatment, both mundane and magical. Unfortunately, she has a tendency to be very clearly biased, confuse two of her many studies or simply get things wrong. It's safe to say that her written works are much more reliable than her recalled knowledge, given that it's not a very high bar. Though zoology is her main arena of study, Melanie's eclectic habits have sent her into anthropology, history, sociology and geology, swinging wildly each year as she pursues whichever field suits her fancy.

	Melanie's more practical knowledge in the natural sciences such as alchemy and transmutation has shown its use in many cases during her travels, synthesizing comforts such as acids, soaps and nightlights. Her most frequently used combination is making sweet cakes, and she will debate anyone who questions whether baking counts as alchemy.

[color=white][B]|  TALES  |[/B][/color]
	
[hider=Archive B12.339, Unopened Letter, Partially Damaged]

[i]Water marks have blurred the opening lines of this letter. The following is a transcript of the legible components.[/i]

	...I have long since learned that one must always be prepared for darker shores should they delve into the depths of man's atrocities. Though each time I write of these wars, scorching plains of undivided pain, I find myself increasingly disturbed. 

	Melanie, should a good, moral man who lofts a banner of evil be considered a victim or perpetrator? I should say my initial considerations incline me to see them as little more than hapless spokes trapped under the great unseen machinery of the divine, and should they simply be freed from these circumstances their humanity must shine again, untarnished. You should know, I've had stressed as much in my works to never see even the twisted individuals as mindless monsters but a malformed blade mistreated by the pressures of their observance. 

	But to simply blind ourselves of these people's capacity to conduct evil, willing or not, would bury the sorrows of the victims of these evil acts. Malefactors will go unnamed, atrocities forgotten. Those who had received mistreatment would not merely have had a great sorrow inflicted upon them but their tears would go unassuaged by their families. Those who come after them would never know what had been sacrificed to build their foundations, and worse yet, what must be stopped should evil return to their loft. Whether in spirit or in memory, by virtue of our sympathetic silence a great injustice would have been conducted.

	Melanie, we as the lamplighters of the history must accept too, the complicity in our actions. Our long lives, cut short or otherwise, does not exempt us from this fundamental fact. We are not separate of what we write, but are a living, breathing continuance of it. We too, are prone to whatever forces we observe in scripture and whatever side we stand on this precarious balance of right and wrong, we must rely on those who come after us to decide if we, too, are a good people. I do not know how my works will be memorialized in the years to come, and I hope at the very least, be honest in my incompleteness.

	It is a hard lesson to learn, a harder balance to strike. In my long, overspent years I am yet to even grasp the pithy roots of it, let alone apply it. I hope in time, you should find peace in your own limitations.

Yours, Now And Forever,
Saylah
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