[hider=Ilyana the Half-Human] [color=00746b][center][h2][b]Ilyana the Half-Human[/b][/h2][/center][/color] [hider=Ilyana] [center][img]https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/320x600q90/922/RSc6N6.png[/img][/center][/hider] [b]Race, Age, Time in the Caravan:[/b] Half-elf, 29, 2 months [b]Appearance:[/b] Ilyana is below average height for a half-elf, standing at 5' 3" with short-cropped sandy blonde hair and dark tanned skin from her time at sea. She's thin and wiry, but looks youthful, so sometimes mistaken for a boy. One cannot help but notice the pink scar that divides her left eyebrow and travels down on an inward slope to her cheek. The artificial eye she wears on the left has an amber iris that contrasts with her natural jade green right iris. She has an eye patch she wears to hide the socket when its out. One looking closer can see signs of other scars, and perhaps a peep at her skull tattoo on her chest neatly transected by another scar running from her right shoulder to her left hip. Few would ever see what looks like a second naval just under the ribs is actually a scar from a puncture wound, but anyone who rubs her back may feel the raised ridges of the scars from her flogging. Her right palm has an "L" branded there for "Leshere (thief)". [hider=History] Born on the 13th of Uktar in a brothel, where her mother took shelter. Unfortunately she died shortly afterward, so nothing is known of her human father. She was raised by the the staff of her Aunt Pol and Uncle Glyberos' house, largely ignored by the family, including their eldest daughter Sylna and their youngest son Keras. Many visitors assumed the young girl was a child of one of the staff, as she would be frequently seen doing various servant chores. But when Marquis Muleho, friend to the judge and frequent visitor, discovered she was their neice, her Aunt and Uncle, deeply embarrassed, moved her to a private room and forbade her from doing any more domestic work. They also hired a private tutor to address her neglected education. Marquis Muleho showed up one day with a spell book that he brought for Aunt Pol to examine, leaving it in the library. Later, when it was discovered missing, her uncle, his face burning red, went to her room first and found the burned out cover in her fireplace. Keras, who'd been checking her chest of drawers, turned around and presented the jewels that had adorned the cover. Glyberos flogged her until she confessed to taking the spell book (she hadn't), then used his authority as a judge to have her branded and imprisoned for five years. It was in prison that she learned how to be a thief, a necessary skill to survive in that place. During her third year, diseased ravaged the prison and she spent long hours tending to both guards and prisoners before finally succumbing to illness herself. While she couldn't say for sure, there were times afterward that guards and the other inmates gave her some grudging respect and the occasional blind eye. On her release, now fully an adult, she was immediately pressganged into the Royal Navy as a sailor, handed over to the crew of galleon The Golden Falcon. The next four years were spent in hard labor. Crew were not permitted ashore except in the company of an officer, who was authorized to execute them on the spot should they attempt to desert. Her five years in prison had already inured her to the lack of privacy under close quarters. When Ilyana slung her hammock, it was in the middle of the group, rather than on the edges. She also realized that the thief mark on her palm would make others reluctant to trust her, while others would use it as an excuse to rob her blind by claiming she stole their things. Ilyana therefore kept most of her money on the ship's books, avoided gambling, taking care to mark her few possessions and to keep careful receipts with witness signatures. In her fourth year at sea, the Golden Falcon was one of a squadron of ships whose job was to blockade the harbor entrance to contain the ships of the Pretender. Under cover of darkness, the enemy launched some of their ships with skeleton crews to go out with the evening tide, creeping up unaware on the blockading ships before setting them alight before escaping as the fire ships, drawn out by the tide, smashed into the blockading ships. In the confusion, the Pretender and the remainder of his fleet made their escape. Ilyana was the only survivor from the Golden Falcon. Desperate to pull some sign of victory from this disaster, Ilyana was hailed as a hero for her survival - but instead of being released from service, her wounds were treated and she was transferred aboard the galleon The West Wind. Because of her 'lucky' status, she was given the 'honor' of leading the boarding crews - which led to the loss of her left eye in battle. It was the first of many battle scars she'd earn aboard the West Wind. An arrow wound messed up her stomach - and wasn't helped much by the diluted healing potions they'd been supplied with, which made her very queasy and sick all over the place at the least sign of stress. They finally decided to discharge her from service in the Royal Navy, giving her a handful of medals, her silvered cutlass and dagger, the scarred leather cuirass she'd wear in battle, and all of her back pay on the books. [/hider] [b]Personality:[/b] Ilyana is always wary and reserved, keeping a weather eye not just on the horizon but the other pilgrims as well. In an open room, she prefers to have her back in a corner. A bit of a loner, she can be quick to anger, especially if pressed. Her speech is often blunt and profane, much to the dismay of others. She works hard at being self-reliant - at sea, it's hard to find something left ashore. She's always ready to lend a hand, but Ilyana avoids seeking help from others. Many assume it's her pride holding her back, but really it's to avoid debts as not everyone seeks repayment in coin. She knows well the reputation that half-human girls have among her people. Ilyana is also aware what people will say about a known thief in their midst, so she keeps a careful inventory on her ledgers, recording each sale or purchase to fight any claims on her purse or property. [b]Motivation:[/b] Finally free, she decided to join the pilgrimage, since that would mean crossing over wide stretches of dry land that didn't pitch and roll from the sea and the wind, and allow her to see something other than a lot of water from horizon to horizon. [b]Skills, Strengths and Weaknesses, and Tools:[/b] [hider=Skills] Animal Handling - good with donkeys, ponies, horses. Archer - average skill with shooting a bow and arrow. Works best with a bow and arrows. First aid - experienced in the basic treatment of wounds and illness. Needs bandages and medicinal herbs. Lockpicking - some experience in the opening of locks without using a key. Usually requires lock picks, although some tools can be improvised on the scene. Navigation - sufficient ability to navigate using a map, compass, and/or sextant to get to their destination. Maps, compass, sextant required. Rigger - Experienced with ropes, knots, blocks and tackle, and rigging. Requires rope, fid, sail twine, pully blocks, serving mallets, etc. Sailing - experienced in the basics of sailing. Requires a boat with sails. Sailmaking - skilled in the crafting of sails and other articles of canvas work. Requires canvas, sail twine, needles, and rope. Swimming - allows them to cross bodies of water. Swordswoman - above average skill with her cutlass, especially in close quarters. Requires a bladed weapon. [/hider] Strengths - Right eye can see in the dark like it was dim light - Right eye can see in dim light like it was bright daylight - Speaks Elvish middle-tongue, thieves' cant, a few human languages. - long lifespan (just shy of two centuries) Weaknesses - Trust issues - Bears a thief mark - blind in one eye when not wearing her prosthesis - Visibly scarred - Mixed race with reputation of promiscuity (they grow up faster than elves, so many think they're older than they are) - Underdeveloped body [hider=tools] [hider=Vrudius' Eye] An artificial eye that carries an enchantment that allows the wearer to see through it as if it was their own natural eye. Does not work in mana-depleted zones.[/hider] [hider=Ditty Bag] a canvas bag with a wooden bottom and several interior pockets that hold various rigger tools - sewing palm, needles in a needle case, sail twine, serving mallet, fids, wood rasp, metal file, whetstone, various hanks of cords, bundles of oakum, screw eye auger, small hatchet. This also holds her lockpicks, a pouch of tobacco, and a smoking pipe.[/hider] [hider=Donkey & cart]A gray donkey harnessed to a small cart carrying her few possessions for the trip. Barrels of water, grain, & flour. A chest containing cooking gear, mess gear, lantern, a few flasks of oil, a small tea chest, and few spices. A sea chest holding spare clothes, bedroll, 50' of rope, hammock, some ledgers, a wooden comb, a lockbox with some gold and silver, and a few well-wrapped bottles of her medicine. A couple small casks of rum. A canvas tarp to cover it all while traveling. This also holds her bow, quiver of arrows and her armor while traveling.[/hider] [hider=Pen Holder] a bronze stem that unscrews at one end to reveal a dipping pen inside, while a small covered pot on the opposite end has a length of silk wadded inside, soaked in black ink so that it will not spill. It can be tucked into a pocket in the interior of her jerkin or slipped onto the belt.[/hider] [hider=Bosun's Pipe]A whistle that makes a shrill sound when blown, can be heard over high winds and far distances. A trained user can make a variety of sounds with one.[/hider] [hider=Healers kit]leather belt pouch holding two rolled bandages, two bundles of dried herbs to use as a poultice, other medicinal herbs.[/hider][/hider] ----- [u][b]Optional Details[/b][/u] [b]What They Most Want:[/b] Freedom [b]If They Had a DnD Alignment, It Would Be:[/b] Chaotic Good [b]Three Likes:[/b] [list] [*]A sharp blade [*]Rum [*]A good smoke [/list] [b]Three Dislikes:[/b] [List] [*]A dull blade [*]Storms [*]Hardtack [/list] [b]Do They Follow Their Heart or Their Mind?:[/b] Their mind. Heart's been betrayed too often [b]Worst Fear:[/b] Imprisonment [b]Favorite Color:[/b] Sky blue [b]Most Like The Animal:[/b] A fox [b]Favorite Time of Day:[/b] Daybreak and the promise of a new day, the sun shining warm on her face. [Hider=How They Dress] [list] [*] Brown tricorne hat [*] Red bandana covering her hair [*] Cream-colored peasant's shirt [*] white bandana tied loosely around her neck [*] Lined Brown leather jerkin with her medals stitched on the left breast, a dolphin embroyered in aquamarine beads on the right breast. [*] Brown breeches [*] Green Hose [*] Brown leather boots with the tops folded down [*] Wide brown leather belt [*][Nested] [list] [*] knife with a broken tip (keeps from punching holes in sails and officers) in a leather sheath [*] Fid in sheath [*] Belaying pin tucked into belt [*] Belt pouch with some coins, flint, small pouch of pipe tobacco. [*] Flask containing medicine for her stomach [*] Cutlass with a silvered blade and scabbard. [/list] [*] knotted lanyard that holds a bosun's pipe [*] Leather cuirass [*] Leather Bracers [/list] [/hider] [b]Favorite Season:[/b] Summer [b]What Gods/Spirits/Whatevers They Worship (If Any):[/b] Fãrryn, goddess of the sea. She appears as a young elvish woman with wavy blue hair who reminds you of a playful dolphin. She has deep-set eyes the color of milk. She has an Amazonian build. Her skin is white. She has thick eyebrows and small hands. Their icon is a conch shell. Fãrryn possesses two powerful items - a magical conch shell that allows her to control sea creatures; and Kŷiriŏn - a magic boat that can go anywhere at command (it is actually her son from a drunken trysk with a sailor, her father Ievis of the Forest thought her son was a degenerate and transformed him). [/hider] [hr] [hider=Granny Siri] [color=00ff66][b]Name: Siri[/b][/color] [color=00ff66][b]Race, Age, Time in the Caravan: [/b][/color] Human, 67, 5 years [color=00ff66][b]Appearance: [/b][/color] This woman puts you in mind of a mysterious raven. She has narrow, dark, disapproving eyes that are like an upright executioner's axe just before it falls. Her thick, straight, salt & pepper hair is worn in basic bun. She is very tall and has a wiry build. Her skin is like alabaster - to her shame, she has never managed to grow so much as a wart on her nose or a hairy mole on her chin. She has hollow cheeks. [color=00ff66][b]History: [/b][/color] A country farm girl who became an apothecary under the tutelage of Esmeralda Le Blank. She's spent fourty years as an apothecary before deciding to become yet another penitent soul joining the Pilgrim's Caravan - and a new profession, as a Wanderer cleric, companioned by her raven Zephyr and her black cat Spooky. Not that she seems to be all that penitent. Or priestly, wearing a black skirt instead of breeches, and giving anyone asking why the hairy eyeball. You get the impression if the Wanderer himself showed up, she'd do the same to him. But she does maintain the boxes and shelters set up by the previous Wanderer, and holds services on every rest day. However, if you want a cookie after the service, remember to leave a donation in the box. It'll help you sleep at night.... Nor does she walk the road like the other Wanderers. She'll hold up her cane, and tell you a wagon makes sense for an old woman to have (despite never seeing her so much as stumble) - but there's a lot of strangeness about her wagon. For a start, it's pulled by four jet-black horses with glowing red eyes, who look more carved than born. And in the front seat is a scarecrow with a painted face, but its eyes glow red, too. Sometimes, she gives the reins to the scarecrow while she goes to tend to something in the back - and it's a better driver than she is. The wagon is also carved like a stone fortress, with carved and painted eyes on the front, sides, and back (nobody seems to notice the one on top or below the dromedary box). Rumors in the caravan says late at night, the scarecrow climbs down for a stretch. Of course, they also say Zephyr can grow as big as a horse and Spooky is sometimes a panther. It doesn't stop there, of course. Some who've been inside claim the inside is bigger than the outside, with all sorts of rooms. But if you ask Siri, she gives you the hairy eyeball and demands to know what you've been drinkin' of late that you'd listen to such tom-fool stories like that? She's just an old country apothecary and it's just a plain old wagon needin' a lick of paint. And why would she want more to clean inside? But iffen you need any doctorin', medicen', birthin', marryin', dyin', or prayers, let her know. [color=00ff66][b]Personality: [/b][/color] Siri seems to have a vast knowledge of a lot of things and places, with an over-abundance of common sense and old-fashioned wisdom and personal opinions she's willing to impart as needed. Nor is she afraid to be blunt or to knock anyone down a peg, but will when necessary keep private matters private. The knockin' of heads (or parts lower), she remarks, is a free service she provides on an at-needed basis. But if you use your head first, you'd might not be needin' it. [color=00ff66][b]Motivation: [/b][/color] She's seeing the world and tending to her ever-changing flock, with the occasional late night visitor. [color=00ff66][b]Skills, Strengths and Weaknesses, and Tools: [/b][/color] [hider=skills] [b]Animal handling[/b] - has a way with animals [b]Apothecary[/b] - Master in the art of combining various medical herbs into pills, powders, and tinctures. [b]Cooking[/b] - a five-star chef in the kitchen. Might be best to wait a few days before asking what it is you ate? [b]Fortune-telling[/b] - it's almost like she's got a direct line with Fate, with a very large collection of Tarot cards. [b]Herbology[/b] - knows many uses for many plants, always eager to examine new ones. [b]Knitting[/b] - it may not be the prettiest sweater or whatever it turns out to be, but it will be warm with room to grow. [b]Medicine[/b] - a master at the craft of tending to illness and injury, can perform surgery. [b]Mimicry[/b] - she can make realistic animal calls. [b]Needlework[/b] - keeps her fingers nimble. [b]Orphic Line of Ikalis[/b] - a master in the Orphic Laws of Sacrifice (these spells often have some nasty costs) - Automata, Dowsers, Elementalism, Familiars, Furies, Wyrd Tech, Poltergeists. [b]Orphic Line of Idaqiohne[/b] - a master in the Orphic Laws of Sympathy (like calls to like) - Basic, Battle Magic, Constructs, Golems, Magic Eyes, Rune Magic, Wards, Zombies. [b]Painting[/b] - Don't touch the paintings, sometimes they touch back.... [b]Potion-making[/b] - a master in the creation of potions, explosions are rare. [b]Singing[/b] - good singer, knows a lot of songs. [b]Violin[/b] - very good musician with the violin. [/hider] °Strengths - Clever - Dedicated - Caring °Weakness - Fondness for alcohol and sweets - Sense of duty - Blunt °Tools - Four Horse constructs that pull her wagon - "Scarecrow" construct that drives her wagon - Fortified & warded living wagon that uses glyphs and other magic to allow itself to expand its interior as needed; only people she names can enter - not even if they try the cat flap. - Magic eyes around the exterior of the wagon that allows her to observe what's going around it. - A small library of books, maps, and papers (she is not a lending library, some of these are chained for a reason.) - A small library of unique Tarot decks - A moderate library of glyphs - Painting easle, brushes, canvases, and various jars of paints in trays - Knitting basket with balls of yarn and long knitting needles of wood and bone - Needlework basket with various threads - Black medicine bag - Small distillery - Potion brewing stand - A large apothecary chest - A small crystal ball kept in a padded box or covered when not in use to prevent fires (and peeking) - Orphic reservoir - a pet cat and a pet raven - various boxes with various impliments like trowels, hand saws, hatchets, etc. - a kitchen - a small stove - other fittings that might be found in a living wagon (bed, etc) [hider=Optional: Extra Details] [center][color=00ff66][b]What They Most Want: [/b][/color] Knowledge and new horizons [color=00ff66][b]If They Had a DnD Alignment, It Would Be: [/b][/color] Neutral Good [color=00ff66][b]Three Likes: [/b][/color] - Books - Music - Alcohol [color=00ff66][b]Three Dislikes: [/b][/color] - Needless violence - Abusers of the weak - Stubborn stupidity [color=00ff66][b]Do They Follow Their Heart or Their Mind?: [/b][/color] Their head. If she uses her heart, there could be a lot more craters in this world. [color=00ff66][b]Worst Fear: [/b][/color] To be trapped [color=00ff66][b]Favorite Color: [/b][/color] Red [color=00ff66][b]Most Like The Animal: [/b][/color] A Raven [color=00ff66][b]Favorite Time of Day: [/b][/color] Sunset [color=00ff66][b]How They Dress: [/b][/color] - A green cloak, patterned like bricks, with eye-shaped cloak clasps. Pockets can be seen on the inside. - A tan tunic - A multi-colored scarf (it's warm) - A dark skirt (breeches? Aren't you the odd bird, wantin' ta see an old woman wearin' those.) - Sandals - Socks (needs to keep me toes warm) - A slouched, wide-brim pointed leather hat that's seen better days, with willow-reinforcement inside to protect the head. The embroidered hat band is magic eyes, allowing her to see all what's around her. - Walking stick with a brass ferrule. Some claim if she thumps it hard on the ground, it makes sparks... - A Calabash pipe and a pouch of tobacco. [color=00ff66][b]Favorite Season: [/b][/color] Spring, the renewal of the world [color=00ff66][b]What Gods/Spirits/Whatevers They Worship (If Any): [/b][/color] The Wanderer (You have to wonder when she's preaching if his ears are burning)[/center] [/hider] [/hider]