Shienvien

The Prophecy

Danish is supposed to hard to learn? Both of the Estonians who speak fluent Danish I know (and one of them speaks both Danish and Swedish) have at some point stated that they found the language rather easy to learn... Oppositely, Estonian is supposed to be (have seen it cited as such in plenty of places) a very hard language to learn, and the person who lived/studied in Denmark for a while and has a Danish husband commented that it was absolute hell for him [the husband; they live in Estonia] to learn Estonian ... and that her first name literally turned into Kh'ht for the duration of her stay, since Danes apparently cannot pronounce any but the first and last letter of it. Whether it was a doctor's appointment or anything else, whenever she saw someone staring at a name with an utterly exasperated expression, she knew it was her. (Except once, when there apparently was a person with a just as odd name.) And English-speakers typically find the Estonian grammar hard to get accustomed and pronunciation ... will stay extremely strongly accented for a long time, to say the least. Have heard plenty of frankly rather horrible-sounding accents of my own language over time.
- How difficult a language will be to learn tends to very heavily rely on what language-space one is from, I've noticed. So what might be fairly hard to learn for someone from the Germanic branch might not be so for the Finno-Ugric branch, and perhaps even more arduous for one of the Slavic people to pick up, for instance.
Oddly enough, Hungarians can speak Estonian almost accent-free, even when they have never seen the language before and you just give them a page with Estonian text on it, and ask them to read it aloud. I have personally tested this. Which is odd, since the languages do not look or sound anything alike (there were four words total which were the exact same, and some we found that sound slightly similar? If either looks at a text written in another, or hears them speak, nothing at all would be understood). But I guess the languages are related, after all... Then again, with a Finnish person speaking Estonian and vice versa, there usually is an accent (when both are speaking English, the accent is somewhat alike, though you can still fairly easily tell one from another). And Finnish and Estonian are extremely close (well, Finnish will generally sound almost indistinguishable from some South-Estonian dialects when the person can speak neither), to the point you can compose entire sentences which are almost the same with only very minor differences in spelling and pronunciation. Perhaps just a conjugation or two... Of course, there are some words which look exactly the same, but mean different things, so if you went word-lending between the two too liberally you could end up saying something really stupid.
- Uhh, and I am a silly foreigner, so I first identify an accent as Scandinavian and then typically either Swedish or non-Swedish. From the two Danes I had to work together for a while - both of them very very fluent in English, though, so the accent was perhaps not as apparent? - I'd still put the accent far closer to Swedish than German. I never even made the association with German accent, and I have heard German accent in English *a lot*. ...I still can't make the association with German accents. Norweigan and Danish are very easy to tell apart when I hear them spoken, though, and I don't exactly understand much of either (well, I won't understand anything that isn't a lend or doesn't look like Swedish - and admittedly it is far easier with text than spoken word). I have picked up the understanding of some Swedish from being around it (if you recall, one of my aunts has a Swedish husband; they have residences in both countries ... all of my aunts have foreign husbands, actually), but I haven't really as much as tried to speak it aside of common pleasantries. As far as I can tell, I am trying to assign it the same unique-to-me accent I use with English and eh ... with the specific pronunciation-patterns I can only conclude it would sound truly weird if I went with it. (Ironically, with all the talk of my odd English accent, I appear to have opted to go with some some Australian-tinted UK English accent instead the past couple of days.)
(I wasn't wondering what you sounded like because I was wondering what Danish accent sounded like. Mostly I was just curious whether the accent you personally speak in with English comes across as unusual to me as it apparently is to others, or whether it might actually resemble something to me.)

The Prophecy

@Nessa: Uhh... Thaler was wearing absolutely nothing else but Aemoten's coat, so she is now completely and utterly naked (or would be, if someone doesn't realize what she is doing and stop her)?

The Prophecy

Haven't really have had anyone comment on my Estonian (I can speak a dialect, though, if I want), or any other language besides English... But with my English I've gotten the "where are you from?" quite often (curiously enough, with my US accent have also been often asked - including by actual Americans - where in the US am I from more specifically). - If I go switching between accents, it is mostly between English/Australian/US English, rather than me mixing (the accents/pronunciations of) multiple languages. The language-space specific accents just haven't been a strong enough influence, I think (though I won't deny I might still subconsciously try to mimic them if I talk to the people for a while ... just haven't really noticed it myself).
To my recollection I have never actually unintentionally switched between two languages mid-sentence (not even very similar ones, such as Finnish and Estonian), and if I do it intentionally it feels ... wrong. This is also why I, for example, tell people to go with the English, not Estonian spelling of my first name when they are currently speaking to me in English. I have started a sentence in my native when the language in use is something else a couple of times, but it has always been when I am not actually paying attention to the conversation (and therefore it has also almost exclusively been the Estonian for "Ah, what?").
- And now I am curious about what you actually sound like, seeing I haven't really heard you speak other than but a couple of sentences all the way back (VC times, and not the last year of such either) - and then you were speaking fairly quietly because other people were already being bothered by you loudly talking to yourself at night (also the reason why you left rather quickly). I should be familiar enough with the Swedish accent at least; Danish one not so much, since I don't have quarter as many reference points. I don't think those two are all that different, though I know at least one person who can tell them apart by hearing.

@Nessa: - ?

The Prophecy

Hrm... I'll note it down so I would remember to locate the line wherein it was mentioned.

- I found it somewhat interesting that your last IC post would mention accents ... the one I myself most commonly use when speaking English (my, eh, performance-accent? the one I also use when addressing an audience?) is apparently strange. One of the people taking the verbal part of my English exam back in the day commented that it was interesting, and added that it was somehow very easy to understand, but he had never heard something quite like that. (It might have somewhat changed after that, though, since it's been a while. Accents do change over time, and quite a lot.)
Else I tend to just match my accent with the people I am currently speaking to ... and sometimes my brain gets confused (especially if there are several nationalities together, or I am dealing with something in another language on the side) and then I may pronounce the same word in one way in one sentence, and in another in the next.

Welcome! Welcome to De' Seil Carnival!

The Relationship Chart of Elynne

Elynne's Relationship Chart

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The information within is given in accordance to what could be derived from the individuals' descriptions and impressions from what examples of interaction were available at the time of compilation. Assumptions have been made, and as it often tends to be, opinions on the individual examples of the variety of persons around one may be subject to change.

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{{ ♥ = romantic || ☺= friends || ☠ = enemies || ◑ = neutral }}

***
Mr. Reficul Seil ~ ☠ ~
Horrible man, that wicked demon, binding the innocent, enslaving the unsuspecting, drawing in those who desire, those who hope, many of whom only give in in the hopes of eventually doing good... Once she is free, she will see him fall and every not thoroughly evil soul currently in his relentless grasp released, but for now she will have to wait, resist the temptation of trying to inconspicuously drain his power - not to nourish herself, but as an offense, to weaken him in any way she can. One day ... but for now, she must at least feign being his ally. Nevertheless, one day.

***
Rosaline Bell Seil ~ ◑ ~
For the most part, the dreadwraith can only feel deeply sorry for the enslaved angel that is the demon's wife... The other, smaller part of Elynne feels strangely ... frustrated by a number of the angel's main traits. Annoyed at them. Almost angered by them, even. A part of the specter almost wants to confront the naive girl-child and all her precious "purity" and nonconfrontationalness... Show her what her learned vulnerability and her submission does to everyone. Show her that it is not right to condone evil! That inaction is a crime almost as horrible as doing the deed oneself! That it is not right to squeeze your eyes shut, turn your head away, and pretend that everything is fine and dandy with all the things that ensue in the carnival, the things her husband does! She is a woman, for the sake of all that is good and holy, not a day old infant! "Frail gender", she says, "meant to submit" she says, "find a man to protect her", she says... That attitude hurts people! Makes them suffer, both the protected and protectors! If world were a fair place, her passive agreement of what was going on would have long corrupted her through and through...
But for the most part, Elynne can only feel deeply sorry for her. The angel feels like a beautiful swan whose wings have been chopped off - by her own father, no less - when she was still a fledgling, never to learn what the power of flight means. No resistance in her, no fight, no dominance, no hard steadfast resolution coupled with ambition,, nothing. The angel is defenseless, vulnerable and ... weak. So vulnerable, so weak, so frail, so fragile... So easy prey for anyone.
The angel's vulnerability almost beckons the curse still residing deep within the dreadwraith, as she can almost feel it - or is it but her imagination? - being roused by the specter's senses telling her that the woman, with the frailty of her mind, is the perfect victim, one who would die so quickly... Silence, curse! Alas, Elynne can only hope that, should she herself ever be severely injured, the fool of a girl-child will not try to heal her... She fears it would be too much of a temptation for the curse, and that she would most likely be to weak to fight it, and the curse would arise again ... she would fully revert back to being the monster she once was, till someone either manages to kill her or sets her properly free.
- Ah, but of course the angel has never heard any of her thoughts about her, for the dreadwraith is too held-back and mild-mannered to bring such a topic up on her own accord. Elynne merely watches the angel with a deep, painful sadness in her eyes that by far transcends her usual mildly melancholic look, and if approached, she flees from the angel, for the angel is a flickering candle and the dreadwraith is the storm...

***
Andracos Soleviel ~ ☠ ~
A true monster, that one, and furthermore a deceptive one. It is perhaps his seemingly innocent boyish look and twisted sense of 'romanticism' that makes him especially objectionable and vile ... sick, perverted, whatever word one can conjure up to describe his depravity, it would probably fit. Say what one might about wicked beings, but a wicked being who is honest about one's own wickedness is in any case preferable to this specific kind of twisted freak who persists to believe that they have good ideals.
Elynne has made herself a note to drain just a tiny sliver of his energy so she would have a track of him... Both so she would know where he goes - to intercept him the next time he is up to something, perhaps - and to ascertain that she would have an easy time hunting him down once she is free. That ... individual would be one of the first ones to go. Easier to deal with than Seil, and some extra strength in addition to what nourishment she can find otherwise would not hurt her other hunts...

***
Vincent Nicolas ~ ◑ ~
The guy has been at the Carnival for a too short time for Elynne to have any kind of strong opinion over him as of yet. Another fallen angel, though... Why did he fall? A harsh unforgiving past or twisted personal morals? Perhaps she will find out soon enough...

***
Pachid Coyotas ~ ◑ ~
Elynne feels ... suprisingly apathetic towards the man, if she were to be honest. She occasionally sees minuscule semblance to herself in him, and she dislikes his indifference and laziness - never even mention those surrounding him he considers friends -, but this is more or less where the extent of her feelings towards him ends. She is aware that he is a hunter of the living much like she is, though one of a somewhat different kind, and she also knows that his wish was to not have to feed as often, likewise not too unlike hers - though Elynne suspects that in his case, it has more to do with lazyness than any kind of desire to protect people who do not necessarily deserve death. Pachid does not appear to be a too violent a man, nor is he a stupid one - quite opposite, in fact -, and much like she herself he seems to always observe and analyze before acting.
Elynne can talk with him, she feels, and sometimes she does, should she find the man alone, but nevertheless there are many things she would never voice in his presence as things stand - nothing about what she intends, nothing about what she desires -, for this man has a wicked company in the way of twisted friends of his own. If it were not for the looming presence of Andracos, perhaps they could even have been something akin to friends themselves. Deep inside, some small part of her hopes that come the day to destroy Andracos, Pachid would not try to stand in the way like she suspects he doubtlessly would...

***
Ty ~ ☺ ~
From what Elynne knows, the air elemental has been at the Carnival for a few years longer than she herself - which says a lot, since back when the dreadwraith joined the ranks of those bound to the Carnival, Ty had been more or less pretty much still a child. Where was her family, one could wonder, for a child to be left on one's own at such a young age? Dead, dead they are, dead they were left behind, and all that's left is to wonder is how or why Ty's own life was spared - a thing which, it seems, not even Ty herself knows. Nor does she know anything of the following several years, but somehow she came upon this Carnival in a search for a place to belong ... and here she ended up being caught and stayed, even if it was perhaps one of the least preferable places a person could call a home, a pretty place with a rotten core.
Indeed, back when Elynne arrived she had seen Ty being still immersed in the superficial wonders of the Carnival, knowing what lied beneath but not truly caring that much ... but in time it had all faded, and the air elemental became cynical and quiet, keeping her mien free of emotions and all feelings within. There was little wonder left in her these days.
Yet... Ty is not an indifferent person, Elynne feels, but rather one who has made oneself to harden and close up in order to better bear what hardships life has had to offer her. It is largely loneliness that the dreadwraith can sense from this woman nowadays - and the sense of loneliness was also what first prompted Elynne to try and approach the air elemental and talk to her. She can be more than just a bit sharp-tongued and unchoosing in her words, but Elynne - seemingly ever-calm and quiet-voiced - barely seems to pay any mind. In the end, Ty responds with the same to those who are kind towards her, and ultimately it by far outweighs a few potentially hurtful remarks.

***
Arina Lécuyer ~ ◑/☠ ~
What is there to say about this one...? Lack of integrity and honor is perhaps her most defining trait. The other defining traits would be unreliability, selfishness and a certain ... flashiness (and here Elynne means behavior, not appearance; as far as she is concerned, it is perfectly acceptable for people to walk around in nothing but their own skin, let alone "look immodest").
The dreadwraith can look past Ty's sharp remarks with ease, since Ty herself she considers a good person, but Arina? Arina will hammer a weakness she discovered just so she can be entertained by the reactions such an act will incite. A vile trait, that is, along with her selfish manipulativeness and swinging. Elynne would not bet one cent on her loyalty, and as such is bound to never reveal anything to her, let alone think of her as an ally of any kind. She is a known conniving little liar and backstabber.
- Those who would not stand by another's side in danger do not deserve protection.
- Those who do not stay true to their words do not deserve loyalty or truth.
- Those who hurt for entertainment do not deserve the respect of others.
- Those who do not give do not deserve to obtain what they want.
For the most part, Elynne just tries to stay out of this fallen one's way; her personality is more irritating than anything. She is not in the dreadwraith's list of people to be eventually killed - regrettably, it appears that the folks the carnival has drawn in have made it notably longer than just "Mr. Seil" -, but she would not step out for her protection, either, even if she were attacked before her very eyes. She would just look, appearing slightly melancholic, and then walk away....

***
Soren Novák ~ ☠ ~
So much arrogance, so much greed... And a soul-collector, too? And proud of his deeds enough to flaunt them? Eurgh, this character is almost as sick as Andracos is, and deserves no mercy from her or others. Mr. Seil and Andracos remain a priority - though chances were that in dealing with Mr. Seil, she would have Soren on her back, too, since it appears that those two are some manner of friends, or at least as close to friends as two selfish demons can be -, but he deserves death, through her doing, should no one else predecede her.
For now ... for now she is content with staying out of his way and pretending he does not exist, just like he usually pretends she does not exist.

***
Reira Masin ~ ◑/☺ ~
The woman has been here for a short while only - from a couple to a handful of days, but less than a week in any case; it can be hard to distinguish one day from another if one does not get tired and sleep at regular intervals. Such a brief period of time is not quite enough to learn to know a person, but from what Elynne has seen, she seems agreeable enough. Quite helpful and carefree, for now at least; perhaps it is only because the cruelty of the carnival has not managed to sour her yet. That was something only time and grim realizations accomplished...
Indeed, for now the woman appeared perhaps a bit too carefree; there was a certain inevitable severity to the traveling circus, a severity Elynne had already seen several of the people here discover for themselves. Ty and the rest... You are naive, Reina; to survive in this place and this world, you need not only determination and adherence to your principles, but also the willingness to walk forward and fight for them. What difference did branding children make? Sealing the soul of a thoroughly good adult was no less fair towards the individuals affected... If he were to only brand the evil, then perhaps ... but what difference would even that make? One person being an oddball would make no difference whatsoever, not with the likes of Soren and Mr. Seil himself around. No, they must stop at nothing less than exterminating the sorry excuses for people.
And you? You will either become a warrior or step aside ... lead all the other people who are not fighters away as well.

***
Stefan Bostock ~ ◑/☠ ~
Another unsavory individual, this one mostly due to being a kind of a sadist. Not only does he observe people in unpleasant circumstances, he will arrange said unfortunate circumstances to incite interesting reactions for him to read... Very observant. Very ... sneaky. Unpleasantly so. Dangerously so. And should he ever get his wish, he would be even more dangerous.
She must be very careful with this one... But he is also not the only one who watches unnoticed, for it is also her forte. He can read people with uncanny accuracy; she tends to only ever display one of two expressions, and is extremely hard to draw out a discernible emotion from. His mind-reading skills are superior, but his manners, intentions and relations are also more evident. He knows humans and their reactions, but she is no human. He hides in shadows, but she does not sleep, can masquerade as plenty of objects, and can pick up a presence without the use of sight. What was this? A game? A war? A dangerous affair in either case.
Elynne doubts the man has a clear allegiance; most likely just another one of those who are only out for themselves.

***
Imalia ~ ◑ ~
To some small extent, she resembles a freshwater spring spirit Elynne once used to know ... though the said spirit was male, had never known anything but freedom, and was probably also fully asexual. Just something about how she was so sensitive and demanding towards the cleanliness and untouchedness of her personal body of water, and her unpredictability, and unfazedness at her own kills. The dreadwraith recalled she had found the spirit sitting on a rock by his spring one time, with the corpse of a six-year-old child floating but half a dozen feet away. When she asked about it, the spirit had just shrugged nonchalantly, and explained that the child had climbed into the spring without asking for and receiving his permission first. The corpse had been left there as a warning - the women coming for drinking water in the early hours of he morning would find it, and spread the word. Of course, Imalia hid her kills; she had no need for such disturbing warnings, quite opposite, she wanted to remain inconspicious. But Elynne was observant. Elynne knew.
The siren was not a very talkative, be the topic her own musings or others' affairs. Appeared to listen to at least some extent when others told her something, though, but whether it was with a genuine sliver of interest or just something she paid some mind to just because it was less monotonous than staring at the walls of her tank day after day, she did not know. She has wondered into her tent a couple of times when no one is near, to talk of random matters. Not her own concerns, or anyone else's. Just talk. About the world, about the way people thought. She was quite certain the siren heard about enough troubles as was.
The siren's voice, however... Perhaps she will ask her to sing one day; she is sure she can resist and just listen still, if becoming slightly mesmerized. She never got to hear her friend, the deathsinger-banshee sing, after all...
- What can happen? At worst, she would be roused by water, but even then, slipping away should be an easy enough feat.

***
Jing Lao ~ ☺ ~
He is certainly a very feminine-looking man - and it is indeed very. If his voice were not at least somewhat discernibly masculine, if still fairly soft, she would probably still be thinking that he is a case of a male mind in a female body... It happened, sometimes, and quite often the disparity caused the individuals great distress.
Other than that ... he has been at the carnival for about a month or so only, but yet Elynne has the feeling that he is the sorts who would retain his manners and calm even in the face of a world ending. Likes to contemplate, it seems, and is always open for a talk (and tries to solve conflicts with mere words, too). He would not be much of an ally in her personal crusade-to-be (and would probably highly disapprove of it), but other than that, he should make for a decent enough friend. They can sit on pillows around a little round table, drinking tea and eating biscuits, and discuss philosophy.
- A part of her keeps being slightly concerned that someone might accidentally step on him in his changed form, or one of the twitchy ones swat him for an actual spider.

***
Aurelianus "Antoine" Anterioris ~ ◑ ~
Another newcomer to the carnival; there seems to be quite the influx of such recently. A pure demon, but surprisingly enough one who seems almost agreeable based on the first few impressions. Many of the demonkind do not need as much as a day to come across as wicked and depraved ... they often mock, start arguments, brag with their deeds, try to corner someone or another, but Antione quite has not. Not yet, anyway. Pretense? A way to get close to people to backstab them more effectively? Or a genuine attempt to be as good person as a demon could be? Elynne does not know yet.
What she does know, though, is the existence of his skill with fire. Should he become her opponent, that fire could make him a dangerous adversary to her indeed...

***
Llewelyn Rorch ~ ◑ ~
A ... questionable individual. He does not appear to have an easy time interacting with people he has not known for a long time, and seems to distrust everyone; his past is dark. Elynne is inclines to think that rather than being an evil person at heart, he is one of those who has been caught between the flaming jaws of life, and, in order to survive, adapted to the circumstances in a rather unfortunate manner. To be sold to one demon, only for this to force him to become to a slave to yet another demon atop of remaining under the command of the first...
The man's master is yet another of those she might try to pursue (but are not there far too many of such beings?), should Mr. Seil be successfully felled, and perhaps he is also the key that leads to the demon. He himself, though ... she does not think he can be trusted. She may talk to him, should she find him alone, as she is wont to do, but always of purely trivial matters.
Perhaps he can be guided to a better path... Perhaps he will fully condemn himself, and earn his death... But predominantly, he is probably just one of those who should stay out of way.

***
Angoriel ~ ◑/☺ ~
Half-angel, half-demon - the righteousness and protectiveness of an angel, the lust and violence of a demon, the wrath of both... He seems almost perpetually conflicted with himself, often appearing to have immense difficulties sorting through his conflicting instincts and rational thought, and comes across as all too easy to anger, even if he tries his best to restrain himself.
Nevertheless, she almost feels something akin to kinship to him. They are vastly different types of being, but from what she knows, the both of them have been forced into doing things they later on realized would not have wanted to do simply due to being what they were... They both came into existence with something within them that they now have to constantly fight to keep at bay ... even if hers does not affect his thoughts and feelings, but is much more sly . And are many their views and aspirations not similar in some sense or another?
With his wish, he was even more ambitious than she, since he wished to set free his entire people - she did not even dare think what price relieving the dreadwraith-kind of their inherent curse would demand... But she, in return, aims to eventually set free all those souls the Wish Master and Soren have obtained over time, and then to pursue evil and others of their likeness wherever she can.
Should she tell him what she intends to do? She ... does not know. She has not arrived at a concrete conclusion yet, at least. She has been contemplating doing so for a long while, however, and perhaps she will do so indeed - he, after all, seems like one of the very few individuals in the carnival who might actually support her pursuits, maybe even as an actual ally, should he not wish to return to his people right away. Otherwise it seems that the majority of the people at the carnival are either vile and despicable beings themselves, too loyal to Mr. Seil, too morally ambiguous for her to assume that they would sway in one way or another and hence put trust in them, or frail little sweet things who would be crushed - mentally and physically - the very moment it came to severe conflict. Put concisely, she has been feeling quite alone in what she intends...
And Elynne feels that he is genuinely trying to be a good person, something the fact that she has seen him try to comfort and help people on several occasions seems to testify. She approves of it. He also seems to hold honorable principles and good intentions in high regard. She approves of that, too. He also seems to share her dislike of crowds, which makes locating him mostly alone and talking to him easier for her. But in the end, she is still not entirely certain what he thinks of her... Like with many a person, she feels that he might, to some small extent, be fearing her for the kind of being she is.
A part of her cannot help but wonder whether the two halves of him are separate enough for her to be potentially able to weaken one and strengthen the other... She has not dared to bring the topic up, let alone try doing something like that.

***
Sarah Hiddle ~ ◑/☺ ~
Emotionally she feels quite friendly towards this particular angelic woman, be it because she holds herself in a somewhat similar manner or otherwise. Her story is also a fairly sad one... Oh, how familiar Elynne herself is to the feeling of having to watch something horrifying ensue, but not being able to do anything about it! So often did it occur during the days of the full power of her curse that she had to watch a person slowly succumb to something she did. How different is having to watch the one you are supposed to guard grief and end oneself, without being permitted to intervene, especially if you technically would have been physically capable of changing the course of happenings? Oh, how do angels cripple themselves; being born an angel has, more and more, started to seem like a curse in and of itself, with the frailty of their womankind, with the many laws imposed upon them, with corruption always lurking behind a corner...
Rationally, Elynne is conflicted. Is this woman not too gripped by her own personal griefs to not see the bigger picture. What good is saving a single soul, if in exchange thousands of innocent unwitting souls will be handed over to a demon for potentially an eternity of slavedom? Can she not see the cruel irony of her choice? She does no appear to be the one to fight to free them later on, though who knows, perhaps she would yet see the light...
At the current rate, she would not even finish her collection in time - she has only a bit over half of the amount of souls to collect she does, but only a fifth of the time, and despite having been here more than four times longer than she has, her soul-count is at mere quarter of hers. And thusly, all the souls she has sacrificed are bound to be for naught.
It ... is sad. Sad like the heavy emotional weariness residing over the angelic woman.

***
"JaSi", Blueberry Moon of the Jassesi Orchard ~ ◑ ~
Careless happy chatty flower-smelling little faerie... Elynne does not have particularly strong feelings towards her.
Much of a willing fighter she is not (though she certainly can fight, surprisingly enough ... the werewolf-lass and dear Celleci have been teaching her how to), neither is she malevolent despite a few sharp words in her arsenal, and regretfully she also holds Mr. Seil too dear to be entrusted with much. That little drawback left aside, she is agreeable enough of a character, always smiling and fairly generous. So ... overflowing, however. Oh, so overflowing; her buzzing wings and way with words (which she is not shy to demonstrate) are seemingly everywhere.
It is in part due to her mischievous habit of swapping out things that Elynne has taken to constantly wearing her precious amulet around her neck; about that which shall become the Spirit of Sword (which could be an awkward object to carry about at all times) she does not worry much, for it is large and contains a hefty amount of the purest iron - something that would cause serious hurt to a faerie.

***
"Genie", Genvieve L'Ame-Soeur ~ ◑...◑/☠? ~
The ... werewolf-lass. The matriarch alpha of her own personal strand of werewolves. And the ... "madam".
A bit too obsessed with her alpha-status. The most of them are not her pack, and respect goes both ways... She is flamboyant, crafty, and only truly cares for people who are useful to her. She uses people as she sees fit. Protects those she finds useful or considers her kind, but otherwise Elynne questions whether she has many personality traits which are ... desirable.
Her status as the "madam" is also grounds for many a doubt. Of course, there was the occasional individual who actually did enjoy this kind of work... People who did not get too attached to just anyone they were in an intimate physical encounter with, but took pleasure from the activities of this nature as such, individuals who were strong-willed, sensual, were good at bargaining (even took delight in it), and derived some odd brand of self-confidence from seeing people want them enough to pay for it ... individuals who also exclusively worked purely on their own terms and picked their clients carefully according to their own tastes, feeling free to scorn the rest. The overwhelming majority of the representatives of this profession, however? Poor souls who force themselves into letting their bodies be raped while they pretend to enjoy it, just because it seemed like the least bad out of the available options.
How many of those "sisters" are there just because they did not deem themselves capable of anything else and figured they would at least stay physically intact on this post (and the more vain ones may perhaps forget none of the adult carnival workers ages)? Elynne does not know, and for now, she thinks she does not want to know, lest she has another name to be added to her growing list of those meant to die. Some of the were's ... personality traits make the dreadwraith inclined to think most of the "workers" are there not entirely voluntarily.
She wanted to become a true wolf, did she not? An animal would be out of this kind of business, and there were worse people about to prioritize, such as Andracos. To take her entire bloodline along, to share her refound canine nature, possibly against many of their wills? Is it not a crime against them? She ... will have to think about it, should the were get close to meeting her quota.
- Elynne thinks that where atypical variations of werewolf are concerned, she definitely prefers those found in the general region of what she could perhaps call her origin land ... the land the people of which she recalls targeting the earliest. Dreadwraiths are not born to a home; they come into existence in one place, and then move on, from person to person.

***
Robin ~ ◑ ~
She is certainly an interesting kind of being... Not alienating - the dreadwraith has treaded long and far, and seen plenty of uncanny and curious entities -, but highly unusual. But although Elynne has seen her fair share of magical automatons, the dolls she carries are an entire new kind of novelty. The human-looking one certainly has a foul mouth...
She tends to enjoy talking to her, and it appears the notion is mutual. There is something missing from Robin, however... Something that mortals typically have. Elynne finds it very hard to put it to words what it is exactly, and her senses are not exactly attuned to detecting finer nuances like that. It is more of a hunch, or perhaps a general impression. Something about her emotions and how she handles them...
Robin ... tries to replicate the emotional reactions of others? How much of it is intentional mimic? Could it be the result of some form of exaggerated sense of empathy, or is she replicating something that she sees in others, but lacks in herself? Something about the way she was created? Is she still developing, or is she bound to forever remain in the realm of pseudo-emotions lent from others? Remains to be seen...
- Should Elynne be openly wearing her amulet of warded pass when she spots Robin, she will flip it face towards her chest and slide it under her garments, since although she is not certain, she suspects the amulet may cause either Robin or the dolls (these ... have wills of their own, rather than being controlled?) she carries notable discomfort. It is, after all, meant to keep the dead and various magical automatons away amongst other things, and ... well, Robin and her little companions certainly do look like they might fall somewhere under those two categories.

***
Jayce ~ ◑ ~
Quite impressive with his magical skills... Certainly a spectacle, seeing him transform... Elynne has, however, not had too much contact with him, even if he is not necessarily a newcomer... Seems harmless enough for the time being, and the dreadwraith has come to suspect he might have a slight crush on Ty. A terrible wind-flag, however, and hence not really one to be relied on. Unless, perhaps, Ty was somehow involved.

---

Mogue Blackfeldspar
Far too loyal to Mr. Seil for her liking. Cynical snide little creature. Holds himself in a manner that seems to indicate that he considers respect towards him for granted.

Vivianna Detro’
Another of those Elynne considers all to loyal to Mr. Seil. Pushy, overbearing, and otherwise largely intolerable character. At least she is honest and has some courage to stand her ground ... whether the latter traits outweigh the former remains to be seen.

Dimuegos Penarum
Mr. Seil's pet dog...

Grog
Compassionate, loyal, selfless, truly and honestly a good person, if a bit slow in grasping things at times. Truly regrettable that such a being would be a loyal subordinate to that bloody Mr. Seil...

Starla Carlotta
Always one to try to entrance others and make herself the center of attention; she enjoys it. Tries a bit too hard with some, should they be resistant, but nevertheless Elynne has yet to pick up anything actually malevolent in her. Empathetic, kind, helpful, caring... But valorous? Righteous? Should it come down to it, would she pick justice and good, or Mr. Seil? She thinks she would rather this one stayed away, should the judgment day arrive. Just in case. Her presence would mean she would be hurt deeply, either way...

Warlockice Comet
Menace. Just ... menace. Or perhaps a vermin to be exterminated.

The Infamous Titanic Rascal
One of Mr. Seil's victims who did not manage to hoard enough souls... Seems benign enough, even good in some simplistic way.

The Corrupt Unholy Jester Who Seeks Solitude
Staying at at least two meters' distance is advisable. Yet one more of the wretched demon's victims, and yet again one who appears like a generally nice, agreeable person...

Welcome! Welcome to De' Seil Carnival!

Elynne/Eliine Meidre

Name(self-given): Elynne Meidre
Alternatively, she goes by Eliine Meidre - the exact name she gives may vary a bit depending on the general characteristics of the native language of the person she is currently speaking to.

Sex/gender: Female/woman...

Age: Looks to be somewhere in her early twenties. In actuality she has existed as a dreadwraith for close to three hundred years, thirty-seven of which in partial freedom.

Creature type: Specter
Neither fully immaterial apparitions nor mundane heavy-footed mortals, they tread between the two and can act akin to and mingle with either.

Species: Dreadwraith
They are not evil by nature - and for the most part hold no distinct perceptible feel of either good or evil, for they, like most specters, are inherently neither corrupt or pure -, but dreadwraiths come into existence already cursed, obligatorily feeding upon the strength of other beings, bound to target one after another not unlike a terminal illness, taking a hold of and draining without choice or free will in the matter ... unless set free by a person who happens to know how to.
If set free, they can finally live as they wish, and either choose to abstain from or continue tapping into their powers - and perhaps even succeed in refining them as they desire, not as their inherent curse had once dictated. Else, slowly but surely each victim will weaken day after day and finally die, unable to hide or flee from the next visit as the tormentor will follow and seep through cracks and keyholes, with the victim being further plagued by the dread emotions, fleeting illusions and horror those specters can - and commonly do - project upon their targets.

About the dreadwraiths' curse:
It seems to be a common assumption that the curse takes the form of a constant urge, the yearning to sap life from beings, but this is but a misconception. While extreme weakening might make a dreadwraith feel the instinctive temptation of draining whomever is available nearby as the fastest and most reliable way of regaining one's strength (as opposed to eating food, which takes both a lot longer time to have an effect and initially actually takes energy for breaking the consumed substance down to components before it starts giving anything back), the dreadwraiths' curse itself does nothing of the kind.
The curse itself takes the form of a waking dream wherein the conscious mind of the dreadwraith is but a passive observer, if not less than even that. It feels not unlike a nightmare wherein one can see what one does and have thoughts over what is happening, but in no way influence the happenings or alter which actions the one's body performs.
Elynne's personal curse has been partially broken - she no longer exists within the curse, but it still remains in a semi-dormant form, now contained within her instead of it containing her. She has to focus daily - nigh constantly - to ensure it stays at bay and will not reawaken fully and engulf her again. Some things appear to rouse it, such as the presence of the weak and dieing... If the curse were but an urge, it would be easy to restrain it, for her mind is strong, but with something of this kind of mysteriously sly and hard-to-define nature, it is much harder.
She must not forget; she must not relent; she must not grow careless and relax too far.

Appearance:
Elynne's one and only actual defined appearance is that of a tall, thin, pale human woman, much like her kind and her kind's closest cousins are wont to have.
[[WILL ADD A SKETCH SOON]]

Written Description

She stands at 6'1'', but due to her narrow frame and borderline unnaturally straight - if not almost stiff-looking - posture, she tends to appear even taller than that; she habitually moves in long, measured, somehow gliding strides which only barely remove her feet from the surface she traverses, with the motion of her legs barely changing along with her speed. A leisurely stroll or movement twice as fast as the average person's walk - there is no discernible variation in the movement besides the speed at which it occurs before she actually starts to run, and even then her usual gait barely breaks. She moves with an almost unnatural quietness; even in absolute silence one has to strain one's ears to discern her footfalls, and even then one may not hear those unless she runs. A human might never; a being of much keener hearing is more likely to.
She is indeed thin - to an extent where it would border unhealthy for a human woman -, and for some unknown reason the appearance of her face seems to be the most affected. As such the outlines of her cheekbones, straight, narrow nose and jaw are especially sharply defined, half-accentuating the fine structure of her face, half harshly reminding people that there is little but a rather thin layer of skin and minuscule muscles covering the skull of humanoid beings. One could nevertheless almost call the overall look of her face - elongated in shape - beautiful, but then it would be a kind of hard, refined, almost regal kind of beauty.
Her lips are pale and thin against an even paler - an almost snowlike white - complexion, her eyebrows are light brown with a mild arch to them, and her hair is very light tone of ashen blond, straight, and falls down past her tailbone in a thick, smooth layer. Her eyes, in turn, are a kind of tone between gray and blue - water-gray, the color is sometimes called. Her gaze usually tends to have a slightly melancholic feel to it, befitting of the stormcloud coloration. She can smile, though, and often does, in performance and otherwise, and her smile is charming; it is actually crying her face has never been subjected to, despite what the melancholy look in her eyes might suggest.
Elynne's shoulders leave very square impression, and her ribs are very clearly defined under the skin of her torso; she has just enough of a bosom to not look completely flat-chested, but her breasts are modest at most. Her rather narrow waistline - another result of the thinness of her frame -, however, combined with the relatively wider ribcage and hips, give her a rather easily identifiable feminine hourglass-figure, even when she is viewed from distance, especially in relative darkness, where her paleness stands out.
Her legs are sleek, and her upper arms appear about as thin as her lower arms. What little flesh there is upon her body appears to almost all be lean muscle rather than soft bolstering of easily-yielding fat. There is indeed very little amenability to her physical body, and her smooth skin seems to always be cool - not outright cold, but definitely much cooler than would be normal for human.
Her movements nigh always seem measured and calm, thought out, but much like a snake can suddenly strike out after a long time of barely perceptible inching forward, Elynne's slender, long-fingered hand can abruptly dart forward with unfailing accuracy at any time and grasp a hold of something, and it takes but a blink of an eye for her to launch into motion from complete standstill.
Unless she is wearing something else - which she prefers to do - she can be seen wearing a long white dress (see belongings), and if that is the occasion, she usually walks barefoot. Often, and especially these days, she can be seen wearing a wooden amulet around her neck.
When she is using her powers to get past physical obstacles or move faster, her visage may very briefly appear - in the lack of a better descriptor - almost foglike, even if the shape of the form is retained as much as the available space allows.

Powers, noteworthy abilities and unusual qualities:
Rather than just the more commonly used abilities being listed, each and every ability or trait which would not be expected from a human woman of similar proportions has been noted down. Here you can both see how far her powers can potentially take her, and also have the utmost limits of her abilities laid bare to avoid possible future misunderstandings.
Summary:
Ability to obtain temporary partial ethereality - or perhaps "fluidity" would describe it better? - to seep through even relatively small openings and move over complex or soft terrain or up steep risings at full running speed, or for example dodge incoming attacks and escape a hostile grasp; ability to slowly drain people of their strength while maintaining physical contact (it takes several hours for a formerly rested and energetic person to start feeling exhausted and unmotivated, and the draining can only occur when she is physically touching or inhabiting the person), but also slowly give them strength through the reverse of this process; ability to induce and mold nightmares in sleeping people (and cause people who are awake see fleeting illusory wisps in the corners of their vision) and cast sensations of terror, dread, fear, pain and hopelessness upon people; ability to inhabit objects and living bodies alike and very limited ability to possess people she inhabits (not likely to work at all with anyone who is at least partially awake and/or conscious); complete immunity to cold and enhanced resiliency to physical damage and mind control abilities, also notably more significant physical strength than her appearance would suggest.
She also never sleeps - she is in actuality no less than completely incapable of sleeping altogether -, cannot fall unconscious, does not require air to survive, and has the ability to tell how good a person's physical and mental state are, as well as can unmistakably track down all individuals she has ever drained strength from, though distinguishing them from one another is a whole different matter.
Elaboration:
This section details the exact extent and limitations of her powers, as well as the effects using each them has on her.

Expand

Most of the time, she is as solid and material as any human woman would be, but at will, this can change, and she can become largely - but never completely! - ethereal. It is this state that allows her to pass through any opening that is at least the size of a keyhole (but not fully solid barriers), to evade attacks directed at her or escape an ill-wishing hold, to be unhindered by terrain that would make any fully material humanoid stumble, get caught in foliage or sink in knee deep to the soft, yielding soil ... she can even run over water in this state (though stopping for more than a second would nevertheless make her sink into the water, getting back out of which still requires reaching something solid and climbing out), or scale completely vertical surfaces (albeit once more, speed has to be maintained while she does it or she'll fall off), or leap nearly two meters into the air.
She, however, cannot move any faster than what her full running speed in completely material form would be in her more ethereal version, and passing through openings that are very small tends to take some time and leave her more vulnerable than usual while she is at it - it appears that she takes approximately as long as an amount of water equal to her body volume would take to flow through an opening of the same size, indicating that she actually has limitations on how much of her can fit through at once, and how fast. In fact, if someone were to try to run a hand through her semi-ethereal form, one would still feel resistance not too unlike that of a heavy, dry liquid, such as quicksilver. She herself can still manipulate physical objects when ethereal if she so desires, but it requires a hefty amount of concentration.
Also, although her more ethereal manifestation can stretch in manners vastly unnatural to get through minuscule openings, she remains in one piece at all times, and retains her general volume. She cannot become notably smaller or bigger (except in cases of inhabitance), or separate herself into several pieces. Should she be cut into several parts by another, it would - depending on the size of the smaller portion cut off - equal to anything from being just lightly hurt to truly grievous, even fatal injury. And while a punch is likely do no harm, a damaging spell, a blade or bullet rapidly passing through is wont to somewhat harm even the more ethereal form. The damage is dampened to about a fifth of what it would be if her fully material manifestation were to be hit in a similar manner.
Being partially ethereal in this manner for short periods appears to have little to no detrimental effect on her, but if she maintains the ethereality for longer durations, it becomes apparent that it tends to spend her reserves rather quickly - almost as if in this state, minuscule amounts of her essence are constantly escaping her and vanishing off into the surroundings, dispersing like vapor to wind. It should also be noted that she cannot drain while in her more ethereal state - she must either touch the subject while completely material or inhabit them to do so.

Her ability to drain people of their energy is native to the dreadwraith-kind; it is how they most naturally sustain themselves. It is indeed a fairly slow process - usually a dreadwraith would wait until a person has fallen asleep, then seep in, inhabit the body of the sleeping victim, and stay for the duration of the night, leaving once they can feel the person starting to wake, only to return the next evening. Like that, with the person having a day in between to somewhat recuperate, it usually takes them a couple of weeks - sometimes two months or more, even - to end an average formerly healthy adult human.
A stronger body tends to take longer to deplete, a weak one tends to run out of reserves quicker - as could be expected, with a weak body having less to spare to begin with. How much exactly a dreadwraith can take per unit of time depends very heavily on the strength of not the person's body, but their mind. A submissive, hopeless person with no desire to fight their fate and others' control - even if at full health in the beginning - may take just a handful of days to deplete, whereas a dominant, determined person who will never give up no matter what the circumstances may last for months even when they start out already physically frail and sickly. Such is the power of the mind.
The species and nature of the one drained has fairly little effect on how successfully they can be drained - all other factors seem to be drowned out by the variable of mental strength -, but it can be generally concluded that the more supernatural the being, the easier they are to leech energy from. An exception to this would be the ethereal, or those who tread between the ethereal and material - specters, ghosts, spirits, wraiths, and their likes. There are about as hard to drain from as mundane mortals, and since they do not sleep or periodically lose their awareness of their surroundings otherwise, perhaps even harder in practice.
The effects of the dreadwaith draining mostly (though it may somewhat vary from one type of creature to another) resemble some combination of sleep deprivation and malnutrition with fatigue and lack of energy becoming particularly exaggerated, and are typically fully reversible - should the dreadwraith stop routinely draining the one, the body will most likely slowly return to its usual health. Being drained just once or twice will take an average person just two or three days of reduced exertion to recover fully from.
Interestingly enough, dreadwraiths can actually also do the opposite of draining people, and give them strength and energy (while weakening themselves; the most notable immediate effect of the weakening would be an acute sense of cold, made particularly notable by the fact that actual cold is something specterkind neither feel nor are harmed by). Much like the effects of draining, the results of this giving may not seem very significant immediately. Nevertheless, over time such giving may be enough to let a person recover from an illness or injury or survive a prolonged hardship they otherwise would have succumbed to. Small things add up.

It is, however, not the ability to drain people - through perhaps terrifying by its own right may it be - that gives dreadwraiths their name. It is the ability to produce the kind of nightmares that seem to go bone deep and stay in people's minds even once they have dispersed, nightmares that make them fear falling back to sleep and which are especially hard to wake from once one is engulfed in them. Indeed, even people who typically just wake with a start from disturbing dreams most likely will find themselves stuck in those.
There is but one limit to this ability - a person must fall asleep and start dreaming before a dreadwraith can contort a dream and mold it into a thing of true terror. If to try to cast a nightmare upon a person who is still awake, the effect will mostly fall short - an awake individual will only see fleeting shadows that prove to not be there when one focuses on them, things darting at them from the corners of their eyes, only to vanish the moment one turns one's head to look at them, a wavering of air or a blurring of a darkening spot on a ground, a flicker of surreal alien scenery - no more than the fleeting phantasms akin to those of deep sleep deprivation or high fever. Not enough to cause unparalleled terror by itself, though in a dire situation demanding reaction and accuracy - such as a fight - even such mirages could prove dangerously, if not potentially fatally, distracting.
What is almost always possible to do is projecting pure feelings of dread, terror, hopelessness, loss, pain, sheer senseless fear and panic... Such sensations are much more raw and primitive in nature than realistic nightmares, and thusly are much easier to produce even in awake people. And while both feelings and nightmares are usually generated internally, a nightmare in an awake person would have to compete against various sensory input, whereas feelings ... feelings do not. Any individual who opts to fight a dreadwraith is bound to know the true meaning of terror.
- It has been speculated that the abilities developed in dreadwraiths in order to help wear the mind down and reduce the fight in it. It has, after all, been established that a body whose mind has given up on resisting makes an easy prey. As for what toll such abilities take on a dreadwraith oneself, then it does not appear to have any more severe consequences than any other activity which requires keen conscious attention and concentration. She has to focus to project nightmares and dread emotions, and the target must be within a handful of meters and not encased in an integral obstacle - such as the solid walls of a building - for the powers to have their full effect.

Another, often perhaps somewhat exaggerated - and thusly overly feared - power of dreadwraiths and most other specters is that of inhabitance. Contrary to common belief, inhabitance by itself does not equal possession, but is merely the ability to first enter and then exist within the same area of space as an object or - as is perhaps even more common with dreadwraiths - being (and it must always be a whole object, and never something that lies in several pieces, though in the latter case she can inhabit one piece out of the many). Of objects she can only inhabit those which are not significantly smaller than she is, whereas any any higher being can be inhabited. Should the inhabited be a being that is both conscious and awake, there exists a fair chance that, should the mind of the inhabited be powerful and determined enough, she could be expelled by them at will with some effort.
She cannot manipulate any non-living object she inhabits in the slightest, but in rare cases, she may be able to seize control of a being's body, in which case the inhabitance becomes an actual possession. The criteria for her being able to possess a being are indeed strict; may it be said at once that with anyone who is both conscious and awake, it is in practice nigh impossible. Namely, there are only two occasions where she might be able to commandeer an inhabited body: the person must either be unconscious (or vegetable, or so freshly dead that their body has not managed to notably decay yet) or alternatively have their minds stuck in dreams while their body has already woken up. The first is self-explanatory - she can take the lead when the conscious mind has ceased to function -, the other may need an explanation.
- A dreaming person is not unconscious; though people often insist the opposite, this is but a misconception. The consciousness, in fact, experiences everything in dreams, though through a filter of surreality. The consciousness also tells the body to perform every action that is performed in the dream, but the body won't comply, not fully at least, for there is a lock in place that would not let the consciousness' commands be forwarded to muscles (should one wake in the night and find oneself unable to move, this is why: the "lock" did not successfully switch off ... sleep-talking and -walking, in return, occurs when the "lock" was insufficient).
The same lock that keeps people in their beds while their dream-selves run free is also what prevents the dreadwraiths - and many other spirits and specters - from seizing control. Should the body be roused and the lock go off while the conscious mind is still encased in the dreadwraith's nightmare (and those nightmares, as established, tend to be exceptionally hard to wake from), however... Then, then the specter is in control. It usually only happens when some bystander tries to very vigorously wake the inhabited one. One may not want to try to wake a person inhabited by a dreadwraith, should one not be certain in the specter's good will...
Dreadwraiths are typically not too reckless with the lent bodies, however, and tend to pick the objects they inhabit carefully: while the injuries and damage present before the inhabitance have no effect on them, the damage sustained by the body during the inhabitance will still cause at least some harm to the specter. (In some extreme cases, intentionally harming the inhabited one has been somewhat successfully used to try and drive them out for this day.)
It should perhaps be also noted that curiously enough, a specter can only exit the someone or something she currently inhabits or possesses in the reverse of the way she entered - the power of inhabitance (or possession) does not allow her to get through obstacles she otherwise cannot get past.

Other than those, she has a number of traits which all relate to her being either a specter or dreadwraith more specifically. For one, she is completely immune to cold, no matter how crisp... While fire, though she ironically finds it beautiful and loves its heat, can harm her just as easily as it would a human, cold ... cold is no threat to her. It is, after all, during the deepest and coldest months of winter, when all the spirits of nature lie dormant and in hiding, that the specterkind become the most active, with even the most fleeting of them emerging and taking over the barren realms.
The same, she as a specter is highly resistant to mind-manipulation, be it a siren's allure or a witch's illusion spell ... after all, many a specter and spirit can contort the mind, and such they have evolved to be quite hardy against such dangers. What a messy place the domain of specters and spirits would be if they had as powerful effect on one another as they tend to have on mortals both magical and mundane...
...She who used to mostly target those who sleep herself never sleeps, for she cannot. Neither a specter nor spirit shall ever have a dreams of her own, even if few of them can enter others'. She will forever be awake and aware. Nor will she ever fall unconscious... It appears that a specter or spirit can either have one's mind fully functional, or succumb to death right away. Perhaps their bodies cannot exist without consciousness? And indeed, as soon as they fall unconscious they are dispersing, and verily dead.
Her fully material form will however breathe, for it mimics the body of a human woman even if she technically does not require air in the same manner mortals do, but in the ethereal form or state of inhabitance she seems to neglect to perform the action that comes so naturally for most living. Where would there be air to intake within an object or another's body?
Lastly, beware of specters' and spirits' deceptive strength. Often lithe and frail they look, but nevertheless they can leave a blackened bruises on a man's arm by just grabbing a hold and gripping tight. Elynne's no different in that regard; a human would barely be a match for her strength, although supernatural beings - such as demons, werewolves and vampires - often are notably stronger than she is.
As a dreadwraith, she tends to be very good at gauging others' mental and physical health. She cannot read emotions any more than a human could, but prolonged stress and depression she can pick up on. She can also quickly read into the strength of others' willpower, as well as detect how dominant or submissive they tend to be. Similarly, she would not realize there is a fresh cut in someone's leg unless she sees it, but general poor health, chronic illness, general deterioration, being near death? That can be instinctively sensed.
She also invariably knows where anyone she ever drained from is ... although the knowledge is limited to purely direction and distance. She would not know the environment they are in, nor be able to distinguish one such individual from another by the sense alone. They all feel exactly the same, so she can only try tracking by keeping constant tabs on which direction a specific marker has moved and is going since she saw the person face-to-face.

Personal residence:
If one were to enter her cart - which is not all that likely to happen, since she has never invited any visitors - one might perhaps be shocked to discover that unlike the often spacious and heavily personalized contents of the residences of many of the carnival-workers, hers still only contains a simple bed, kitchen and bathroom, all seemingly never used. The only addition she has introduced are heavy, thick dark blue curtains, plain and meant to be able to block both light and anyone from looking in more than anything else. If anyone were to ever ask, she would tell it is not a home, but a place for her to retreat, should she ever be chased away from everywhere else; since she does not sleep or fear cold, she will normally never retract to the dwelling assigned to her, but rather wander about on the carnival grounds when idle, regardless of temperature, rain, snow, or winds.

Significant/Special belongings:
Elynne has scant few personal belongings, let alone objects that are significant and special. All in all, there are only three objects in her possession she considers meaningful, and would not part from without a second thought, but holds close and dear.
- The first is a garment, a long white dress, a part of her and haunting reminder of what she is.
- The second is a talisman, a wooden amulet, a memento and dear gift from a long-time friend.
- The third is a weapon, a metal sword, a token and solid promise to herself for times to come.

Descriptions

The dress of the dreadwraith-kind
White is the color of ghosts and death, and hence the color the spirits and specters of death are commonly adorned in, the same as the dead and ghosts of the dead themselves. Dreadwraiths come into existence as bringers of death, and as such their garments, long dresses of indeterminable smooth material, are white like freshly fallen snow. These long white dresses are more a natural parts of the specters than something they own, objects that can be summoned at will, objects that can lose their material qualities and re-solidify along with their wearers themselves. A dreadwraith will own one since the beginning of her existence, and the dresses of all dreadwraiths are fitted to their forms, but otherwise nigh identical.
Elynne's dreadwraith-dress is no different. It appears to have a fairly simple and elegant form, flowingly falling to an inch past her ankle, further enhancing the impression that she is gliding over the ground as she walks rather than stepping on it. It barely ever lets her feet show - at most, one might catch a brief glimpse of a toe or heel when she hurries. It widens quite extensively as it nears the ground, allowing her to take long strides with ease; it lacks notable pattern or significant decorations, so its only remarkable qualities are its material and surreal motion; it has a v-neck, but it is subtle and modest rather than reaching deep; it has sleeves, short ones that end before her elbows.
The material falls almost like silk would, but although it is not see-through, it looks somehow lighter, airier, easily influenced by the slightest gust of wind and dancing along in a manner which alone can create an impression of ethereality. To touch it feels incredibly smooth, but seems to lack substance; if to pinch the fabric between two fingers, one would feel only soft smoothness, but no discernible thickness.
Much like any dreadwraith can hers, Elynne can form and disperse this dress at will; should she assume ethereality while wearing it, the dress would follow suit. It is a part of her, and thusly holds emotional value, but it is also a severe reminder of what she is and what she has done. But sometimes, such reminders are necessary... She also detests the color white in general, largely due to its connotations with death and loneliness.

The Amulet of Warded Pass
It is a parting gift of a long-time friend of hers, the ancient and knowledgeable deathsinger-banshee, and hence something Elynne holds dear for emotional reasons more than its qualities, though it does have some magical properties.
It is a perfectly round solid piece made of rowan wood, about three inches across and half an inch thick, thinning a bit towards the edges. Its backside is completely smooth to eye and touch alike, but its face has been meticulously carved into a reliefed surface, the most prominent feature of which is an intricate cross spanning the entirety of it.
It is not the cross of any particular religion, but rather something far more primal, a denial of pass that existed long before and transcended the modern beliefs. If anything, nowadays' religions have taken over the motif, and used this ancient mark of halting power to buff their own symbolics.
On its edge runs the pattern of an old warding spell, and the four quarter-circles left uncovered by the arms of the cross each contain symbols and patterns of their own, not quite as protruding as the cross, but nevertheless strongly embossed. There is not a pinhead's worth of surface left unpatterned.
The only thing that appears to mar the perfection of the amulet is a small, smooth hole, bored through the center of the wider end of one of the cross' four arms - into one of the four possible places where a hole could be carved without it disrupting its many meaningful patterns and thusly weakening the charm. Through this hole, a smooth black curiously twined - and indeed, this manner of twining is not meaningless, but a spell of its own - cord runs, making it possible for the amulet to be worn around the neck or hanged up.
Its backside is painted uniformly reddish-brown with some potent herbal dye that seems to have seeped deep in rather than covered the surface (the pattern of the wood remains visible), but its front has had its pattern further accentuated with two more colors - deep blue and evergreen-green shapes and lines standing out on the reddish-brown background.
Either held in hand and displayed, worn around the neck, or hanged over a path or an opening, it can indeed bar passage, make an individual ineligible for possession or stop the inhabitant for leaving, or force a supernatural being or animal into backing off. It does, however, not work against all types of being, but rather only a specific selection of them.*
The amulet's effectiveness is also heavily dependent on its current positioning - to give an example, it would only have an eighth of the power it has hanging from a branch reaching across a path when lying face down on the same path.

[[*Whether the type of being a played character is would be affected will be hashed out with individual players. I will be presenting my own vision of the effect and the extent of it, which can then be altered, rejected or accepted as is by the player oneself. Only, there can be no later reconsiderations.]]

That which shall become the Spirit of Sword
It is an intricate and beautiful longsword. Forged of only the purest silver and purest iron, it is a stunning combination of gleaming gray and perfect reflection.
For a blade in general, those materials are far from perfect - both pure silver and iron are too soft and yielding to make for a weapon that would endure (although the use of soft metals in weapons is sometimes unjustly frowned upon - sometimes it is better to have a weapon that is bent or warped rather than shattered or chipped, for the first you can bend and beat into shape again whereas the latter would need to be melt down and reforged), and silver is prone to darkening and iron to rust. It is because of these materials' more magical properties, namely the fact that they can harm multiple beings a weapon of any other material would not be able to. And with what she intends to do with the sword, the softness of the metals it is made of would become irrelevant, anyway...
The magnificent double-edged blade of the sword is forty inches long. At the base, it is 1.68 inches wide, whereas at five inches from the tip it has narrowed to just 1.54''; from there on the slightly tilted-inwards center-section (fuller) ends as a ridge takes over and the the blade curves into a fine pointed tip. Thickness reduces at a proportional rate.
Though its heart is iron, the center-surface of the blade is silver, and in it two reflected lines of spell-patterns of iron can be seen. The edges alternate between iron and silver, each segment spanning half an inch. - It is not easy to forge two metals together perfectly like that; magic may have been involved, or someone must have poured a lot of effort into the work. The result seems flawless, nary a crack or mixing present.
The hilt is iron and decorated with silver, matching the rest of the theme. The crossguard is straight rather than forwards-extending, forming a cross with the grip and blade; its fashioning is similar to the cross on the amulet, and the silver lines on it form an intricate patterning that seems almost meaningful. And indeed, though not as effective as its amulet-bound counterpart, this design also holds some power. The grip is oval, wrapped in black leather, and easily fits two hands - much like the grip of a longsword is supposed to. The pommel is round, and decorated with the already familiar mysterious symbolics.
Magnificent and decorative as the sword is, she currently has little use for it, for it is yet unfinished. Using it now would only inflict damage to it before it could reach its full potential, bend its malleable metal and introduce unnecessary imperfection... Furthermore, as it is, she cannot utilize her powers fully when wielding it. As it is now, she would be unable to take it along when seeping through holes, keeping a hold of it when ethereal would require significant effort, it would not respond to her recall... She intends to make it into something that could be summoned at will much like her dress can be, something that, much like she herself, can be both ethereal and material, something that is no longer prone to taking damage. It is truly not a sword she needs, but a ghost of a sword, one bound to her being. And she knows how to make one such ... but it requires time, effort, and some components that may not be the easiest to acquire. She is working on it.
It is currently unnamed, but once it is finished, it will be called Mõõga Vaim**, Spirit of Sword.

[[**More accurately meaning the kind of mentality - in the lack of better term - that a sword would have if we viewed one as a conscious being, or alternatively something that was once a sword, but has now become a spirit. It does not refer to kind of spirit that is either associated with a sword or lives in one. The latter would be one word.]]

Fighting skills/techniques:
Elynne has the same set of qualities and abilities as any dreadwraith, and hence has adjusted her preferred fighting techniques to match with it. Dreadwraiths are not naturally tailored for quick fights; they are typically fairly slow, but utterly relentless and underailable killers. They are not warriors by nature; they are far more akin to chronic terminal illnesses. They may retreat every now and then, but without fail they will return, and without question or doubt finish the jobs they started.
- If Elynne does not need to finish an opponent off a once, she is bound to do what a dreadwraith usually does: follow, watch, wait, project dread emotions, approach, inhabit, taint dreams, drain, retreat, repeat. Relentlessly repeat as the other slowly succumbs in both body and mind and until the one finally meets their demise. It is a slow and cruel way of killing someone, but also a tried, tested, and dreadfully guaranteed way of doing it. ...It is only so long an individual's mind can endure a constant barrage of heavy emotions and nightmares coupled with a following without escape and relentless attacks each time they lose alertness or nod off, and a body which is never allowed to properly recuperate but always loses energy is bound to last for a limited time.
Should she be drawn into a confrontation she does not necessarily want to end in a death (just yet) or just want to drive someone off, chances are she would not resort to dishing out physical harm or leeching, but just solely focus on her ability to induce extremely powerful negative feelings and emotions and fleeting phantasms. Such is usually more than sufficient to put an abrupt stop to a person continuing to do what she saw as warranting such reaction, or at the very least distract them enough to make them ineffective in their endeavors. ...Halting them and making them try to focus on her, if not convincing them to abandon their intentions altogether for the time being, and thusly allowing anyone she might have chosen to aid with her intervention to back out of the situation. She herself will, on those occasions, end the encounter with backing out the same.
More traditional fights, however, fights of she kind she wants to yield fatal results at once... Those are almost a form of art. Much as with the long-winded approach, she will rely heavily on wearing her opponent out, and much like with the bloodless confrontations, she makes heavy use of her power to induce feelings of dread and despair. She will dance, she will dodge, she will break focus and the casting of spells with overwhelming waves of crippling emotion... She does not require sleep, but the opponent usually does, and she does not tire quite in the same manner mortals to - her opponent will be weary and sluggish where she will remain fresh. She will dart close to drain with but a touch, only to evade a counterattack with the elegance of fog in wind. Or perhaps she will inhabit and force the person to try to fight their own feelings and drive her out at once? She will not hesitate to use a blade or firearm; a weaker enemy may have a punch thrown in their way... Drown an opponent, trip them, or collapse a construct on them - if possible, it may be done. In a fight to death, all methods are permitted.

Weapon of choice:
Herself, all the powers in her possession included. Once it has been completed, Spirit of Sword is bound to become a permanent part of her arsenal. In general she will also never shy away from using anything she can use to her benefit in a fight to the death, be it blades, firearms, blunt weaponry or anything else.

Job title & description:
The Vanishing Woman ||| Walker of Walls and Water
She can hide behind an inch-thick pole! She can disappear before your eyes, but beware, should you turn your head, there she shall be, behind your very back! Behold, it is she who can tread across water! She who can walk upon cobwebs and run up a wall as if it were a floor like the one you stand upon! She who cannot be restrained!
- Her acts heavily utilize her ethereal form, and her entire tent is rigged in a manner that allows her to take the most of it. The floor is about two inches elevated from the ground, and the floorboards rest upon a metal grid; the poles holding up the tent are hollow pipes, and the walls are all in two layers of fabric. The exact set she uses varies from performance to performance - more variation for both herself and the repeated audience -, but it typically involves a number of seemingly non-scalable vertical constructs, boxes she gets into but never climbs out of, poles, supports that should never be able to carry a human, sometimes an assistant to bind her up or try to "harm" her, and a part of the stage is typically a fillable pool. She also tends to go through several outfits during each performance, and while he normally never wears any kind of makeup, she will try to keep such on her face (not all that easy to accomplish when she goes ethereal) for the duration of being on stage, if only to make herself appear somewhat less unhealthily gaunt for the audience.
Often enough, she lets members of the audience come over and inspect her equipment for themselves - only to discover that there indeed are no secret hatches or some such trickery, and no one the size of a human could possibly fit through. To reinforce her seemingly human looks, she will every now and then also hold out a hand for people to touch it, quite unlike her typical aversion of physical contact. ...Not only does touch ascertain the spectators that she is truly a material being (while allowing inspection of this kind), but such voluntary closeness makes branding much easier.

Number of souls she has to collect: 100'000

Number of years she has to collect souls: 1000

What was her wish?
To gain full choice and live free of the fear of accidentally hurting those who do not deserve it and worse - be free from the danger of falling back within the curse entirely and resuming the day-by-day merciless killing without having any say in it. ...To not carry the curse within and fight in the name of keeping it contained each day, to nevermore have to constantly fear what she herself might do if her control of the currently-pacified curse slips without her ever having the chance to even try to stop herself. The remnants of the inherent curse still residing within her must go.

How many souls has she collected? 874
(874 before the start of the IC, 0 after)

How long has she been at the Carnival? Seven years and nine days.
(Of which zero days after the start of the IC)

How the collection of souls has affected her?
She knew what she was getting into; she had weighed the act and all of its consequences with meticulous care before she signed the bargain. She knew she would be marking innocent and rotten souls alike for a wicked devil to later claim them, but by then she had also already resolved to eventually end Mr. Seil's endeavors for good. Before then, there were three more things she definitely had to do...
One of those was the completion of the Spirit of Sword, for which she did not need or agree to any infernal aid, another was the finding of potential allies - and would these grounds not attract at least some thinkalikes? -, and the third was the purging of the remnants of her inherent curse, something she could not do anything against herself. The only option she had seen would have been to stop resisting and let the curse engulf her again, and then let someone conduct the releasing properly... But what if the curse would pick not the intended releaser, but someone else of the many she had drained from over time? What if they, intended releaser or not, would fail the releasing and succumb to her, slowly wane away before her eyes like so many before? And how many more would die before she was put a stop to again?
Ironic as it was, a bargain with Mr. Seil seemed like the safer option for everyone involved. And with this option, there was at least the possibility of her undoing any further harm she would cause - whereas for those she had killed she could do little for. It was not an uninformed decision. There simply had not been a better, surer way.
Make no mistake; she wholeheartedly detests the collection of souls and all it entails. It is only for the time being that she puts up with and partakes in it, and even then she will at least attempt to choose those who do something to come across as unlikable in her presence, provided she is not behind of her schedule with the soul quotas. If anything, the activity has only strengthened her determination and resolve to end Mr. Seil's reign. Before she could have walked away with just the knowledge of letting the horrid deals fester on chewing on her consciousness, but now she carries within a moral debt that she sees as binding ... a moral dept that only the release of the souls would erase. Killing Mr. Seil had stopped being an intention and become a duty when the first soul was handed in.
She just has to be patient and handle things properly, or else she would see no victory.

Personality:
At first look, she comes across rather calm and perhaps even sedate, never one to raise voice or make snide remarks, however there is fierce determination in her, and uncanny unyieldingness of the kind that is not commonly seen in people. She will barely ever argue or contest, but she also would nigh never back down or surrender. She seems polite and nice, often helpful, and appears to know how to make clear she disagrees without inciting an argument or ill feelings towards her when she so desires. That is not to say she cannot kill without the slightest hesitation, the slightly melancholic look in her eyes never wavering, or that she would not judge people and assign them sentences she sees fit according to her own understandings and morals.
It should, however, be noted that to a great extent, her morals have remained influenced by the way of thinking commonly found in various spirits and specters rather than adapting to mortals' moral standards. As such she could not care less for modesty, and would not as much as raise an eyebrow if someone opted to proudly display all of their physical assets, nor care about how many partners one had had... She abhors killing for entertainment and pleasure, but will not think any worse of a person who snapped another's neck just because they happened to be standing on their personal spot, and will not shy away from an individual just because they have killed aplenty in the past. Many things which the average person finds disturbing or odd in others, she merely considers interesting or unusual.
There is no hierarchy amongst spirits, specters, wraiths, ghosts, and their likes, and thusly she tends to treat everyone the same - always with respect, but never as though they were any higher or lower than she is. Just a bit different, perhaps... Like the individuals they are, rather than status signs. Relatedly, she tends to heavily dislike when people go around demanding different treatment just because they have some position or another.
Arrogance is a thoroughly pointless trait; one either can or cannot, state the first if you are confident in your abilities, and from then on let your deeds speak for themselves. Resolution is valued over indecision, inaction is considered silent agreement, and weakness - mental weakness and vulnerability more specifically - is scorned whenever it surfaces. In the world of her likes, the weak are destined to be wiped out; such is the natural course.
She deeply respects individual space and sanctity of others' possessions, and will typically abstain from physical contact unless the other has expressly stated that it is allowed - both because it is personal, and because by contact is how she drains, and hence she commonly expects people who know what she is to want to avoid touching her. She is always truthful about what she is, should people of the carnival ask; truth is a value in itself, and if one does not want to reveal how things truly are, one should rather remain forever silent. From her past experiences with mortals, she also tends to expect that others fear her, or at least be apprehensive towards her kind.
As for personal space and belongings... Many spirits, specters, wraiths and ghosts guard their possessions and respective areas very ... keenly. So keenly, in fact, that should one cross their sole right to those things and take something without being gifted, traded or lent it (and the recipient better hand the lent objects back, or they will pay dearly!), one can easily find oneself cursed, hexed, dying of persistent illness or treading unknown paths till dropping dead from exhaustion or thirst. Or, in rare cases, simply promptly killed - drowned, neck snapped ... often enough, the death will look like an accident. Dreadwraiths themselves are not location-bound, and hence Elynne has no particular sense of ownership towards her assigned carriage, even if she, out of respect towards others, still does not enter the residences of people that are not her targets without being permitted to. She, however, does care about her scant few dear objects ... almost as much as spirits typically do.
Aside of killing for entertainment and fun - something that spirits of nature consider disrupting of balance -, and arrogance and lack of respect towards others' belongings, she predominantly holds strong feelings towards imposing one's will on others, owning and controlling them. Sure, she herself tampers with minds, too, but she only lets the people experience sensations, rather than seizing control over them... No one owns anyone, and none should. Each belongs to oneself only. She is uncertain whether this belief is so powerful because of the culture of spirits and specters or because she herself was forced to do things she did not want to for so long by her curse. You see, the fact that her kind naturally killed slowly left plenty of time for her to learn to know some of those people her curse had picked as her targets well ... and horrifyingly enough, she ended up liking many of them. It was much like killing one's friends, if ... very one-sided friends. She herself was always only seen as a monster and misfortune. And how could she not be?
Hence, while she may go to extreme lengths to help people in the endeavors she approves of and try to support them at almost all costs whenever possible, she will never make a significant effort to make a person reconsider, or force someone to alter their values or change sides. She will find out what they intend and are and ... that is that. Their decision. Their choice. Not hers.
She likes to converse with people, find out what they are like, what their beliefs and opinions are, what they aspire, what they may think of an idea or another ... also support and help them, if she approves of them. She will typically speak in a soft, quiet voice, either unfazed and perhaps ever so slightly melancholic, or contrastingly distinctly happy, but seemingly never anything else. Unless it is positive reaction, it seems that she simply is not all that emotive. One can however conclude it is a matter of sparseness of facial expressions rather than lack of emotions. Her talks also may come as a bit unusual every now and then ... perhaps remnants of the aforementioned spiritkind's culture.
She, however, also tends to stay away from crowds wherever possible - especially if people are packed so densely that it may result in accidental physical contact. Hence, she mostly only approaches people when she discovers them alone, or mostly alone. Despite her aversion of large conglomerations of people she ... has been feeling somewhat lonely, especially now that she is not surrounded by spiritkind as much as she used to be.
What else is there to say about her ways? When she is not performing or quietly talking to a person or another she has seen fit to approach for the time being, she usually wanders about on the festival grounds, seldom asking permission to leave the area to seek out her own likes or do some unknown business. Often, she seems to be almost meditative, focused on keeping the remnants of her inherent curse in their current state.

sugary poison

The Prophecy

Dark Jack said Though I really am wondering whether there is any real purpose to separating the collab from the rest of the RP since the lower post-quality and faster posting we anticipated isn't really showing that much.

I think there is a purpose in the sense that it helps keep the IC a bit cleaner... As it is, there are only two locations the IC keeps jumping between, whereas the collab-part would add a third one... Whereas once we're in Zerul, it would be back to two groups, rather than three or more.

Dark Jack said It would perhaps be more accurate to say that they are mutually dependent on it.

Compete over? (At least this is the term that comes to mind when you mention resources such as light and water.)

- And yes, you have referenced mortal magic causing decay, in the novel at least... Why I brought the topic up is exactly because you cannot do it by an external means. You can break the body indirectly, but even that won't make it decay faster ... would work just as any injury. So unless you introduced some body-unnatural chemical or somehow turned the normally benign bacteria murderous (would once more require nonmortal magic?)... Radiation poisoning might look slightly similar? Wouldn't still find them exactly decayed. Eh...

(There are other things which I'll probably PM later. Now I shall wander off to deal a bit more with bureaucracy. Oeh...)

De' Seil Carnival Reboot!

I may be interested in this still; as you might recall I was writing up a character back in the day, if and by any chance you should find her acceptable, I'd be in.

The Prophecy

Hmm... I believe I indeed see about the deities' perception of good and evil, about about the process of becoming an angel of demon. That was a good explanation, for both of those questions.
(I imagine the original - very first - mortals were a bit less diverse in their beliefs than nowadays' mortals, too, due to being formed directly by the spirits according to their respective perceptions? How diverse you imagine Reniam in general to be? You made a couple of fairly strong statements about how the 'civilized races' would perceive something where I would have imagined very mixed opinions at best...)

And yeah ... according to the story of creation (now that I am actually trying to recall it), plants indeed do not have seeds of good and evil, as they were created by Gaia alone. (Horse chestnuts are evil. Not only dominant - as many plants are -, but downright evil. Rather decorative, though... And some other plants are nice and friendly.)
- It feels strange, though, plants sharing a soul, as in real life plants existing in any sort of harmony is an exception, not the rule. Mostly, they try to very decidedly eliminate other plants in their vicinity by launching a deprivation and chemical war on them, though some will try to "flee". (It can be interesting seeing the same plant pop up a handful of inches from where you last saw it each spring...) How can beings which typically spend their entire lives brutally and relentlessly (if somewhat slowly) murdering one another share a soul?

How come that mind control (and to an extent illusion magic?) and making one's body decay, both of which have been described to work with 'regular', non-favored magic, are not barred by the law of magic that states you cannot directly alter living beings? (As mind control should logically drastically alter the ongoing processes in the brain, and decay is the direct breaking down and altering the consistency of the body. Normal decay only happens due to various bacteria and other flesh-eaters - remove all bacteria, and it would simply stay completely fresh indefinitely ... or eventually simply dry up, if it is in a dry enough room. Time won't cut it.) Or is it just a matter of perception?

Re@Legion's character (since you cannot see the Skype conversations, and hence some of the potential questions may already have been answered; Legion correct me if I misunderstood something, as by the time I left yesterday - well, earlier today - I was already quite tired indeed): Iridiel doesn't have any magical abilities besides her favored powers; the Éireannach simply tend to group all people with magical abilities together, no matter whether it is their own magical prowess or something a deity lends them at prayer. She also did not have her current powers at birth, but was rather 'only' marked by the deity at first. (Sulis occasionally marks people who are meant - or destined - to become her more notable favored at birth; I'd imagine it would work quite well, since the surrounding people are wont to take note of it and start facilitating the idea of being chosen by the goddess early on?) It was only after a long time of dedicated prayers (Legion noted that Sulis is quite big on people routinely praying at her every day, even when they don't necessarily use the favored powers) that she gained the favored powers she has now ... which the officials soon picked up upon, and that did not go well as can be seen.
- The ability to call lightning has a 'cooldown' mostly for balance reasons - it is meant to be the occasional strategic weapon to take out some single important figure (that isn't somehow shielded from magic and/or lightning), but not to be called upon many times in a row to potentially singlehandedly take out an army. (Now when I think of it, being indoors or the opponent having allies very close to them would probably make using it too dangerous for her and/or her allies.) As for what the IC explanation for the cooldown would be, I figure Sulis as a deity is quite free to lend her powers as she as she pleases and may simply not allow using the ability all that often? ("...No. You just asked to use that but moments ago. You do not squander my more destructive powers.")
(Also, we will finally have a proper healer again! Aemoten can go back to just stopping the occasional severe bleeding that can't wait long instead of bearing the brunt of mending everyone's injuries at whatever cost they take.)

Hmm... I believe it is Jack in Zerul and Jillian's party, and Nessa again with the collab? Or does Olan or Jaelnec have something to say?
Edit: And now that Jack's posted, it is Merc/Rhae and Ink/Ashgan respectively (and still Nessa with the collab). Also, Aemoten and Gerald (well, mostly Gerald) already concluded the Withering was demonic back at the gazzeral church' ruins? Guess confirmations can't hurt, though.

The Prophecy

Hrm... I think I am still a bit confused over what makes demons tendenced to generally (though not always) obtain mindset that might fit the general perception of evil, and gods one that might fit the general perception of good. Their instincts, which you referred to? Something about how the seeds were made by the respective spirits? If their drive makes them more likely to do things of a specific kind, then the drive probably has some kind of preset?

Do mortals get their seeds of the opposite alignment expunged when they get turned into demons or angels?

Why do plants not qualify as mortals? I recall their souls are typically more placid, and that in this world a plant-soul can reach over multiple individual plants (though wouldn't it make them one person, rather than not mortal? what about colonial animals, especially the lesser ones?). Real-life plants typically communicate chemically (and while some of them work together, even across species, they more commonly try to kill one another off). The changes of a plant's chemical composition can also be insanely fast.

@Nessa: Your turn in the collab?