Imperfectionist

Blackbury: City of Supernatural

Cool, man. By the way, newGuild has the best smilie combos ever.

AND: Custom Avatars!! Holy Sweet Jesus Cakes!!

The College of Preicana

Sera's back, too.

Common Name: Tenanye Seraphe (pro. like "ten-un-yay" and "Sarah-Faye"), or simply Sera.

True Name: tseenraanpyhee or entsenentraanapyeheye, depending on context. (The two names are spoken simultaneously, bits of each layered over the other. The primary layer, Tenanye, is the family name, while the secondary layer, Seraphe, is the given name. Depending on the faerie in question, the end result can be beautiful and poetic or nigh-unpronounceable. Most Fae seem to be able to glean the individual names from the jumbled mess, though, no matter how complex.)

Appearance:

Formal Sera

This was the best image I could find, for what I'm going for. Curly red hair, green eyes, a penchant for smiling, you get the idea. The clothes, pearl necklace, and leaves in Sera's hair are all part of her wardrobe, definitely, but are only worn on very special occasions or formal events. On most days she instead wears a shorter (just past her knee) and simpler light green dress that matches her eyes; quite the contrast to the trailing gossamer number above. As for shoes, she just doesn't wear any, and basically never has. Shoes aren't as important to a race that doesn't have to touch the ground, you know?

Age: 22

Sex: Female

Race: Fae

Affinity: ALTERATION, Sanguination, Abjuration (healing only)

Personality/Backstory: Many people of the other races see the Fae as untrustworthy. Damn near everyone sees them as mischievous... And they aren't wrong. Faeries delight in poking fun at structure and authority, always crafting clever but lewd riddles, playing pranks, or rudely demeaning the politics of wizards and noblemen. As such, they are often unwelcome in the cities of elves, dwarves and men.

These things do not describe ALL faeries, however. Most have a tendency towards the irreverent, but it somewhat paradoxically coexists with a very deep and strict system of rules and respect within their communities. Along with their above-average number of mages for such a small population, some have theorized that the entire race is a physical, magical representation of the chaotic-yet-structured ways of nature. Indeed, along with the wood elves, the Fae have perhaps the deepest connection with the planet of all the sentient races, and most of their mages are Invokers, Altrists or Venecators, all of which require great knowledge of and respect for the world.

How does this relate to Sera? Well, she is part of a certain sect of faeries whose credo is that the entire universe is composed of pure magic. "All things are one," they say. What we see, or hear, or Divine, or sense in any fashion is simply an illusion, a creation of the collective minds of sentient beings, and thus they see no borders, no boundaries, no races or true differences at all among sentients. They strive to show great compassion towards all (which is sometimes hampered by the negative reputations of their brethren). The sect reveres Altrists for their ability to demonstrate the constant shifting and bending of what we perceive to be nature's laws, thus providing examples of the meaninglessness of strife.

Having grown up among these very idealistic and worldwide compassion-focused people, Sera is a shining example, an Altrist with a great eventual purpose: showing the world the insanity of their petty differences. Showing them how all are the same. How all things are one. First, however, she must learn her craft. Perfect it. Master it. So, with a glad heart and barely a backwards glance, she set off on the long journey North, to the College where her knowledge would blossom and her mission would truly begin.

As can perhaps be guessed, Sera is an idealistic and happy individual, somewhat oblivious to the actual problems of the world she has flung herself into. She greets most everyone with a smile, hums and sings to herself as often as possible, and always seems to be there when someone is upset or hurt, comforting them with the compassion and grace befitting her faith.

Kingdom Hearts: Fractured

Dblade26 said
So, Imp's still planning his entrance, I already made mine, who does that leave us with?

It's her. :) Just to let you know.

Blackbury: City of Supernatural

Well, the Background isn't finished (I still have to explain more about her role in the city, who Boris and Brinnie are, etc.), but this is the idea: She's not exactly a bounty hunter; more like the closest thing to a cop that Blackbury has. She maintains good relationships and healthy rivalries with many of the more well-known and prolific bounty hunters, like Cyrus, but has demonstrated a powerful responsibility to the city over the centuries that goes beyond the "doing this to get by" attitudes of many of the bounty hunters.

She isn't even paid.


(On the right, and yes, her nose is indeed that big. Also, imagine the SIG Sauer instead of that revolver.)

Name:
Noor Dhahabi, “the Constable”

Sex:
Female

Age:
A little under five-thousand years

Race:
Pacted Dragon (Gold)

Background:
“The Sheriff of Blackbury”, or in more recent years, simply “the Constable” has been a fixture of the city since its founding, having come to England around 150 years after the Pact (she originally heard of the country from a Crusader during one of the occupations of Jerusalem, and after a century, decided she could use a change of scenery). Using some of the considerable wealth she had brought from the Holy Land, Noor lived under various assumed identities for a few hundred years, enjoying her life as a human (which was at that point quite new to her). She had never had any love of dangerous vampires, though, and when she heard rumors about the town, she traveled to it and became something of an unofficial member of the resident clan of Slayers: they would provide her with a clandestine source of meat and fruits (though they appear human, these beings internally remain dragons, and their appetites reflect this), and in return, when there was a particularly nasty or powerful vampire around, she would tag along and “draw its fire”, so to speak, allowing the Slayers more of a chance to take it by surprise. Over time, as the order lessened in influence and greater numbers of supernatural beings, including more subtle and intelligent vampires began to call Blackbury their home, Noor found herself with a new job: keeping them all alive.

Noor has seen it all, in five centuries of living in Blackbury and several millennia before, and if she was honest with herself, she’d see that it was starting to get to her. Even nigh-immortal magical beings need rest, but there’s always something, some threat she has to track down, someone she has to kill to keep the humans away from the pitchforks and torches, and no matter how tough her scales are (and by God are they tough), fight after fight with powerful supernaturals is going to take a mental toll. She’s overworked, stressed, and working on her biting cynicism, but dragons are built to endure, and she won’t be seeing her last job anytime soon.

Now, suddenly, there’s something new. Someone is attacking on both sides, and (of course), she and her "crew" are the only ones with the knowhow and the means to stop it. Some part of Noor hopes that maybe, after this job, things might go quiet. Maybe, just maybe, she’ll have a good decade or so to rest… But really, she’s not one for fanciful thoughts.

Weaponry:
At her “station”, Noor maintains a very small (but very modern) arsenal composed of surreptitiously acquired British Armed Forces weapons, such as the SA80 assault rifle, the Benelli M4 combat shotgun, and a single suppressed MAC-10 machine pistol, all with a fair amount of appropriate ammunition (including a very limited supply of silver ammunition, for use against werewolves). At her house, she also keeps many of her older weapons in good condition, just in case.

Over the centuries, Noor has utilized various and sundry personal weapons, including spears and pikes, crossbows, daggers, a heavy battle-axe (a birthday gift from Brinnie), and an impressive variety of guns, from old flintlock rifles to some of the first revolvers, all the way up to her current concealable handgun, the SIG Sauer P250 (chambered in reliable .357 SIG). It is a fairly recent acquisition, but she has centuries of experience in learning the use of new weapons, and has already mastered many of its idiosyncrasies. Though the SIG Sauer’s use in taking down werewolves is limited at best, especially without silver ammo, which is very expensive to produce in large amounts, vampires can be slowed down for a bit and mages, if distracted, can be incapacitated or killed in just a couple of shots, one if she’s lucky. In the end, she mostly carries it for comfort. Finally, when she knows werewolves are about, she slips a large silver dagger into a sheath at the bottom of her coat’s right-hand pocket. Otherwise, it stays in the car.

Other Possessions:
A pretty large collection of ancient and eclectic items from her past, including a small Babylonian idol of her mother and a massive collection of vinyl LPs, some of which are pushing 70 years old at this point. Boris put all of her music on an iPod years ago, but she still much prefers listening to them in their original form, generally only using her iPod in the car.

Theme Song:
SHAFT!

Miscellaneous:
Dragon magic is not like human magic. It is primal, having to do mostly with the fundamental energy in the world. Possible practical uses include tracking the energy of powerful mages, very limited geomancy, and temporarily regaining certain draconic traits (such as powerful vision, or the ability to breathe underwater), among others.

Blackbury: City of Supernatural

Ach, don't wait for me, Draco. I promise, Noor will find the group, no problem.

EDIT: By the way, are you okay with my dragon background?

Blackbury: City of Supernatural

Why thank you. Hopefully it'll be an interesting character as well.

A Wizard's Pilgrimage

Oh yeah, she's back, ready to kick ass and chew bubblegum... And she's all out of bubblegum (I don't think I mentioned that Emma loves cheesy Muggle movies, just like me).

Anyway, yeah, that sounds great, Vena, especially if we get some new people. If it's just us, though, maybe we can simply start where we left off in the Leaky Cauldron?

A Wizard's Pilgrimage

And now, once again, here is Emma Dilemma:

(Thanks again to Venatrix for her CS from the oldGuild)

Name:
Emma “Dilemma” Robinson

Sex:
Female.

Appearance:

Emma

History:
Probably placed in Gryffindor because of her tendency even at eleven to trailblaze her way through life, conventions be damned, Emma Robinson nonetheless had to grow into herself, and is currently very different from the quiet little girl who first stepped into the Great Hall to be sorted. Her parents, both descended from powerful Kenyan wizarding clans (distantly, in her father's case), considered her a prodigy (though they probably thought too much of her natural talent), and taught her as much African and Western magic as she could handle even before her Hogwarts letter arrived, taking her to get her wand at eight, but starting the wandless training even before that. As a result, when the young witch actually went off to “real school” a few years later, she was accustomed to their impromptu lessons and enthusiastic encouragement of individual research and discovery, and found it difficult to fit into the more rigidly structured Hogwarts system. This landed her in detention many many times in her first few years, as she would try to develop her own spells and potions, mostly to disastrous effect, or sneak into the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night to talk to the centaurs. If it isn’t obvious, this is when her classmates started calling her “Dilemma”, as she always seemed to have detention for something or other. To this day, the name has stuck (mostly because it's fun to say).

Emma took it in stride, laughing at her mistakes and failed experiments with everyone else, and truly came into her own in her third year, when she discovered the Dueling Club. From that point on, she focused a majority of her excess energy and passion into dueling, having never done something quite so fun, and trained as much as she could for her matches, thus cutting down on the experiments and detentions. It took her longer than she would have liked, but two years later she had become the dueling queen of Hogwarts, captain of the club and feared by every member for her inventive jinxing and powerful curses. On the academic side, however, Emma’s scores seemed quite weak. She barely got through classes like Potions, Divination, Herbology and History, where she couldn’t use much or any “practical” magic, but on the other hand, those classes that DID focus on magic (Charms, Transfiguration and DADA) she excelled in, up to and through the N.E.W.T. level. The only non-practical studies she ever did well with were Alchemy, due to its usefulness in “Hedge” magic, and Artification, because of the same. Her non-traditional studies got her interested, and once she was hooked, as usual, there was no way she couldn’t learn everything possible.

Near the end of her seventh year, she got together with a few of her friends and helped to put together a grand adventure, a Pilgrimage around the world just like the famous old wizards and witches of the past. There was no doubt, it was a perfect opportunity to learn about the Muggle world, to learn magic she had never even dreamed of… and to find herself some treasure!

Credentials:
Charmer (2)
Defender Against the Dark Arts (2)
Transfigurer (2)
Alchemist (2)
Duelist (3)
"Hedge" witch (2)
Artificer (2)

(One is O.W.L.-equivalent, Two is N.E.W.T.-equivalent, and Three means "Truly Skilled". Every character has fifteen points total, and Emma is rather specialized)

Small Expansion

Strengths:
Dueling, and practical magic in general, be it enchanting an object, performing a ritual or just casting spells with her wand. She is quite a contender, with a knowledge of offensive and defensive spells almost unmatched by her schoolmates, and has been the Captain of the Dueling Club since her fifth year. The emotions she feels as she duels, especially when overcoming a difficult opponent, can only be described as “unbridled joy”, and accordingly it’s one of her favorite pastimes. Somewhat following as a result of the above, Emma is in good physical shape, tempered by continuous dodging, side-stepping, running, and tumbling during her duels, and the general fitness training that she does. For fun, she has even learned some Muggle martial-arts, something that often surprises people when she tells them, and especially surprises people she duels against, as she sometimes applies their techniques.

While working with the more academic side of magic, she resonates well with her wand, giving her an edge in transfigurations, and she does well in both DADA and Charms. Finally, because of (among other things) her family heritage and a natural love of adventure, Emma has developed a powerful interest in non-traditional, non-Western and even non-human magic, studying that of the Caribbean islands, her ancestor’s homelands in East Africa, centaurs, elves and goblins. This more ritualistic, often wandless magic is usually frowned upon (and never taught) at Hogwarts, and magical Britain in general, as they much prefer the precision of wands and spells, but obviously she doesn’t share the same prejudice.

Weaknesses:
All of the less-practical classes were very difficult for Emma to stay interested in, if just for the fact that she loves using magic, and in these classes, magic is supplementary instead of being the main focus (Astronomy, Divination, History of Magic, Ancient Runes, Potions and the like). Also, though good at dueling, the other main British wizarding sport, Quidditch, is a big step in the opposite direction. When pushed, she can use a broom in some capacity, but because she gets vertigo very easily while suspended in the air like that, she tries to avoid them as best she can, preferring to keep her feet securely on the ground and Apparate to travel quickly. Finally, some people that she has attempted to befriend have been put off by the rumors that used to travel around the school that she’s a Dark Voodoo witch, not to mention her often troublesome nature (hence the nickname).

Wand:
Padauk, 11 1/2”, Dragon Heartstring

Because of excellent balancing, it is light and mobile in the hand. Described by Ollivander as “very good for... transfiguration, and quite possibly dangerous,” due to the relatively chaotic Paduak wood, as its entropy facilitates the shifting and destruction of forms. Since then, in Emma’s hands, the Padauk wand has absorbed her intense passions, even further enhancing its combative tendencies.

Alma Mater:
Gryffindor.

Extra Information:

Info

Patronus:
Elephant.

Worst fear:
Being powerless. Not just losing her magic, but losing the freedom to choose her own path.

Boggart:
Herself, body broken and trapped in a cage, trying to cast magic, but having none.

Amortentia:
Singed hair, sweat, and the scent of a certain Gryffindor girl in her year...

Natural Ability:
She and her father both have “double-jointed” fingers and thumbs.

Learned Ability:
“Hedge” Magic, which includes wandless magic, “doggerel verse”, pseudo-wandless rituals and the creation of small magical talismans and amulets. She loves the stuff, and is completely willing to teach it to anyone who wants to learn.

Goals:
To duel the most powerful witches and wizards in the world (even if she lost, which she would)!
-
To explore jungles and deserts and far away islands, fighting off magical beasts and collecting treasures as she goes! (In fact, she was one of the first ones to talk about going on a Pilgrimage)
-
To develop her own useful spells and unique artifacts (probably her biggest long-term. She wants to make an impact on the magical world, however she can)

Special Items:
Wand sheath: A commonsense item, and a must-have for any serious duelist, this belt and/or wrist-sheath combo allows quick access to her wand at any time, and she never goes anywhere without it.
-
Ritual items: amulets, incense, animal bones and magical reagents, to name a few, this is Emma’s “hedge magic” and alchemy repertoire, collected over several consecutive summers during trips to magical and/or traditional places around the world
-
Advanced spellbooks: As soon as she became of age at the beginning of the summer, Emma marched (and Apparated) right down to the restricted and advanced section of Flourish and Blotts and had a glorious few hours picking out the most interesting theoretical and practical spellbooks that her parents had never let her buy before, going even beyond N.E.W.T. level in rigor and capability. She won’t pretend to have mastered them already, or even to have read them all, but she is indeed making a valiant effort, and plans to study them during the Pilgrimage.

Blackbury: City of Supernatural

Present, my Lord. Distracted, but present.

I started a new job, I'm suddenly involved in several more RPs than I was just last week, all that good stuff. I have a very good start, though. If I can balance all of my other stuff, it won't be too long before I have Noor on here. I wasn't going to start in the bar anyway, so having her meet the group later is no big deal.

(By the way, your avatar and all caps letters really go together. :P I can totally see your unicorn saying WHERE IS THOU)

EDIT: Here's the background (let me know if it's alright). I'm still working on the CS, though.

DotP

Dragons of the Pact

“Secretly Scaly”

They are among the very oldest of supernatural beings, imbued with primal magics from the dawn of time. Massive, sturdy, and immortal, they ruled the planet for millions of years, spending much of the time fighting amongst themselves for territory (and so their population has never been large). Of late, however, draconic influence on the planet has... diminished. Significantly. At one time, all of Earth belonged to the dragons, but now the conquest-minded of their ilk consider themselves lucky to “own” a remote town in the countryside. And it all has to do with humans.

There are many varieties of dragons, divided by body type, by whether they have feathered, membranous or even no wings, and (most commonly) the color of their scales. European dragons especially have distinct differences based around scale color. Red dragons, for example, were (before the Pact) towering creatures, the oldest growing as high as skyscrapers, while Golds were much smaller, much more nimble in movement and flight, skilled in magic and able to breathe underwater and in a vacuum (all things Reds made up for in pure physical and destructive power). The most important differences in the past eight thousand years, however, have been the various dragons’ attitudes towards the upstart apes that were trailblazing through their territories.

Along the banks of Huang He and the Yangtze River, in ancient China, serpentine dragons of sky and water made themselves known, and were worshipped as the wisest and most powerful of creatures. Over the millennia, countless legends and customs based around these beings arose, not only in China, but Japan and Korea as well, and the dragons were amused. Being wise, they stopped their own squabbles, and devoted much of their time to simply watching the humans live their little lives, sending devastating floods every so often to liven things up (as it cannot be said that dragons are kind beings). They even became tutors to the wisest of human sages, amazed that such lowly beings could understand their philosophies and writing system. Far away across the Pacific, American dragons erected a similar system. Ancient civilizations worshipped them, basking in the glory of their magnificent feathered wings. These, unlike those in Asia, demanded overt sacrifices, but in return taught the people mathematics and astronomy, allowing for great feats of engineering.

In India, close relatives to the Chinese/Japanese/Korean dragons called Naga (with the magical spheres of storms, rivers, fertility and good fortune) became very prominent. They were serpentine, among the most snake-like of all dragons, and sometimes took to altering themselves to appear as human/snake hybrids. Naga feature prominently in many Hindu traditions and legends, in both positive and negative ways, and when Buddhism spread North, to China and Japan, these legends blended easily with those already in place, especially because of the many similarities between them.

Finally, there is the large and internally varied group of “Western” dragons, from North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Caucasus region, North into Europe, where they are further divided. Mediterranean dragons, Germanic dragons, Slavic dragons, Iberian dragons, the hydra, the sea serpent, the basilisk, Fafnir, Jormungandr, Nidhoggr. Various cultures saw them in different lights, but in fairly stark contrast to the Asian dragons, many in the “West” were considered irredeemably greedy and evil, collecting vast hoards of cursed treasure and devouring maidens, just to fuck with the humans. Most of these stories stem from the various broods of fire-breathing Red dragon, one of the most ubiquitous of the many sub-species, as they were (still are) indeed combative, greedy, prideful and land-hungry, always seeking to increase their territory and torment the humans. Many innocent dragons were slain over the centuries, after being blamed for the deeds of the Reds, and it was this that provided the opportunity for the Gold dragons to invent the Pact. (As a side note, most mythological dragons around the world were serpentine in some way, and it is only recently that the lizard or dinosaur-like dragon became recognizable in popular culture. This includes the European dragons, whose original bodies were generally snakelike, sometimes with legs and/or large numbers of heads).

All of these various types originated in and emigrated from one place: the Fertile Crescent, along the modern Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Here the ancestors, the “gods”, the most ancient and powerful of all dragons resided, and used their god-like magic to hide their true forms from all but the highest of priests (unlike their offspring, who generally made themselves known wherever they went). The people saw only displays of their power, and called them gods, with names like Tiamat, Anu, Enlil, Abzu, and Ashur (among many others). These “gods” were also the most prideful of dragons, however, and were always at odds with each other, competing first for territory, and eventually for the affections and worship of the humans. In great and terrible battles they slew one another, until only two-thousand years after cultivating their various faiths (c. 3000 BCE), it seemed there were none left. Their offspring (the Chinese/Japanese/Korean, the European, the African, the American, the Indian) had been spreading over the planet for a long time, and thought it was no great loss, but their destruction was indeed important, as it allowed a specific breed of “Western” dragon, the Gold, to be born, and the Gold would eventually change the future of all dragonkind.

The youngest sub-species of dragon in the world, the entire Golden race was born from the corpse of the final dragon-god to die. A prophet, she succumbed to her wounds after vanquishing her greatest foe, and used her last bit of godly magic to set in motion a powerful chain of events that could only lead to one place: her greatest vision of the future, the Pact. Becoming a massive egg, the prophet vanished, and they were born. Exactly seven hundred and twenty-nine dragons, thrust into life with only the knowledge that they would one day fulfill a secret prophecy laid down by their mother. They had no idea what it would be, when they would fulfill it, or any details at all. It would be around four-thousand years before they even thought about it again.

Europe, sometime after Charlemagne established his empire but before the first Crusade, and the dragons were being hunted like never before. Anything vaguely serpentine and considered too big to be mundane was hunted down and slaughtered, regardless of actual wrong-doing. The Reds, in their greed, had added so much to the undercurrent of animosity between humans and dragons that the former finally became desperate and indiscriminate, violently “defending” their towns and livestock from the “marauding” dragons. Though the dragons were very powerful, they were also small in number, and were almost always alone, allowing for large groups of the much more populous humans to surround and kill them through sheer attrition.

For the first time in millennia, a dragon moot was held, excluding the Reds, and after years of debate and preparation on the part of the Golds, Silvers, Yellows, Feather-wings, a couple of foreign Naga and many more, a powerful spell was invented: the Pact. Every sub-species that participated would be given human forms, protecting them from the mobs of dragon-slayers while still retaining bits of their power, including their immortality, supernatural durability, and a relatively small amount of their magic (but not their monstrous strength or their ability to fly). Sub-species that were more magically gifted were able to keep a bit more, but not every transformation was perfect. A few of the Pacted dragons became full humans, losing all of their abilities beyond immortality, including agelessness. Mostly, these killed themselves over the next couple of centuries, as they aged and aged, but wouldn’t die. Still others had no magic at all, or too much, causing them to spontaneously transform between dragon and human (most of these were hunted down by their fellows). In addition, by excluding the Reds, the Gold dragons all but ensured the destruction of one of their most ancient foes, and became the undisputed leaders of the draconic communities of Europe and the Middle East, as they had retained much of their already-substantial magical ability even after the Pact.

For the most part, the Pacted dragons have by the present day assimilated into the already extant culture of supernatural creatures, making their homes far away from one another among groups of human mages, werewolves, vampires and others. Their numbers are lower than they have ever been (Pacted life has not been entirely kind), but they know that without it they would likely be near extinction. The ancient American dragons have entered the Pact as well since the first moot, but many Chinese/Japanese/Korean dragons and Naga are confident enough in their abilities to hide themselves in water that they have not joined.

Kingdom Hearts: Fractured

:) I'm still planning my entrance, hoping someone else will post in the meantime. Karen and Bob are kind of odd to write for.