shylarah

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@lovejoy

Zt: That is not what I said. At all.

But hmm, it does make me wonder. We've only hearsay of hearsay to indicate that Asherahn was evil. And given that Omestris was...apparently more than a bit nasty herself....Iunno. Pretty sure most of the Remnants are less than stellar, but it's a harsh world and they fit it.

I didn't realize that the Omestrians still prayed to both gods. That's interesting. Kinda odd, if he's supposedly wiped from history -- is he remembered or not? Possibly foolish. Possibly sensible. But interesting. That or the people of the Hand means a specific group of Omestrians, not all of them.

And the Lanostran goddess fought for a while, but then she surrendered too. T'sarae surrendered. Omestris...it's unclear what happened, right?

Nice post all around. <3 @collectorofMyst, you're welcome to have Oren make it back. And...if I'm slow posting, I apologize. My muse is being very fickle.

Adelon: Steeling the Faith (High-Casual)

...It's my post, isn't it? Crud. I'm really not doing well. To the point where I'm barely getting out of bed some days. Please don't wait for me. I can give you info on what Amune is doing, more or less, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to chase down the impetus to actually write a post. I'm really sorry guys. x.x

Storage

Edelessa/Valentine of Luxième

_{". . ."
imagery}

_{B A S I C S}

---

Name: Edelessa Sofia Valentine Blanchefluer (born D'Argent, granted the name Blanchefleur upon ascension to crown princess)
Nicknames: Valentine, Val, Bits (by some of her friends, as well as castle servants when people of rank are not around), Tina/Blue (by Anton) does not respond to Edelessa or variants thereof!
Title: crown princess of Luxième. She's to be coronated in a couple years, once she's old enough to be queen.
Age: 16 (born May 1st; just had her birthday)
Gender: female
Sexuality: primarily uninterested (heteroromantic; may be some form of asexual)
Betrothed to: none

_{A P P E A R A N C E}

---

Even among Blanchefluers, Valentine has particularly striking eyes of vibrant blue. They're easily her best feature, but like the rest of her face they are all too often hiden behind her dark hair. She never pins it back, and prefers to let it serve as a barrier between herself and everyone else. She has calluses from riding and helping look after the horses. She keeps her nails trimmed very short but even so there will often be traces of dirt under them if she's just come back from somewhere she wasn't supposed to be, and she is prone to ink and graphite smudges on her right hand. There's indication that she will be a tall woman, but right now she's just a leggy teenager.

Val prefers simpler dresses and very little makeup, though she does enjoy painting her nails. She favors burgundy, navy, and deep blue in her wardrobe, as well as pastels, but never *ever* the shade of sky blue that is Luxième's traditional color. She has an unseemly fondness for oversized hoodies and comfy sweaters, especially during the colder months, and if she can get away with it she'll wear jeans or other informal pants for her day-to-day wear. She's got a soft spot for bellbottoms with embroidery on one leg, so long as it's not a floral design.

_{P E R S O N A L I T Y}

---

Valentine is a quiet and often sullen girl. She is afraid of a great many things, and covers her fear with anger when she can't just ignore the cause. She prefers not to talk if she can help it, and spends a lot of her time with her eyes glued to her phone, her tablet, her camera, or a book. She likes to keep a barrier between herself and others, and she's found she's happier that way. There are one or two tutors that have reached her, and of course she adores Anton. Beyond that, she's friends with a handful of the palace servants and few others. She has opened up a little since her arrival in Athens, but not nearly to the degree desired of her. She still hates the role she's been forced into and resents those that try to trap her in it. She is always slipping away to the stables, to the nearest field or forest, to the library, to any corner where she can be on her own. Most of the time she takes her camera with her, though she sometimes brings her sketchbook instead. She can sit for hours sketching, or wait without moving as long as it takes to capture the perfect shot of wildlife. Valentine is stubborn, but it tends to be more silent protest than screaming. She is not comfortable enough with others to yell at them, but if she doesn't wish to do something she just won't do it, and most of the time there is nobody around comfortable forcibly dragging her. The only time she really makes a lot of noise in public spaces is when she is so thoroughly distraught that she can't manage to stay quiet, and usually she escapes the situation before she reaches that point. Even when it comes to standing up for Anton she's more likely to use quiet venom and bodily get in their way than yell -- though she does have a very unladylike vocabulary if she wishes to use it.

Online Valentine is a different creature. She loves the faceless anonymity granted her by the virtual world, and the escape it provides. She follows a handful of webcomics, chats on several forums, runs a photography blog, and is a member of two different MMOs. Her digital life is colorful, bright, and far more social, to the point where even her few irl friends note that she's much more responsive by text or voice chat than in person. But through it all she is very careful never to reveal who she is. She never posts photos taken inside the palace walls, and she does not talk about her personal life beyond very general statements. She does, however, occasionally use some of that unladylike vocabulary on party members who do something exceptionally stupid (and where do you think she learned it?)

_{L I K E S & D I S L I K E S}

---

LIKES:
~Anton
~pastries, especially danishes
~fruit, especially blueberries
~grape leaves
~the library
~crosswords
~anime (she loves the art style)
~her cellphone
~anonymity
~match 3 games, mahjong matching games
~high fantasy rpgs, including a couple MMOs
~rain
~the ocean
~spiders (but not the really big ones)
~horses, especially hers
~wildlife
~ferns and ivy
~fall leaves
~photography
~sketching
~climbing trees
~hoodies
~bellbottoms

DISLIKES:
~people
~crowds
~blood
~the dark
~fireworks
~fresh laundry
~centipedes
~dating sim games, dressup games
~her given name
~people who call her by her given name
~people who want her to act all proper
~people who try to cut her hair or pin it back from her face
~people mocking Anton
~any clothing in Luxèmi blue
~flowers, especially white ones

_{B I O G R A P H Y}

---

Born the daughter of a younger son's younger son, Edelessa escaped the slaughter of the revolution through sheer luck. She had snuck off to visit a friend and ended up spending the critical hours in a cart full of sheets that needed washing. To this day she cannot stand the smell of a laundromat. She survived off canned goods from the kitchens until she was found by the Athenian team sent to help rebuild. Her eyes and the fact that she'd not gone anywhere were a good indication of her pre-revolution status, and her identity was later confirmed. With most of the ruling family dead -- including all of her immediate kin -- and the Senate in shambles, Athens was deemed the best place for the traumatized girl, now a freshly minted crown princess.

Edelessa wanted nothing to do with any of it. She was terrified of crowds, of blood, of the dark, of anyone and everyone. She refused to eat at proper meals, shut herself in the bathroom rather than sleeping in her bed, and wouldn't talk to anyone. She set about finding the best ways to slip away from her minders and made liberal use of all of them. Many of the servants tasked with caring for her viewed her with pity, the exiled princess who jumped at her own shadow. Some were genuinely kind, hoping to make her feel more at home.

In the end it was the young prince who finally got through to the girl, and over the months and years that followed the two became very close. Anton introduced her to horseback riding, and he bought her the first proper camera she ever owned (she still has it). He was the one to proposed the idea of online courses when the princess had to be dragged to lessons.

Discovery of the internet was immensely liberating for Valentine. Online she could be anyone, not an exiled noble shoved into a role that didn't suit her and that was never meant to be hers. Besides, what government remained in Luxième had little power and it's become increasingly evident that she will be at most a figurehead unless she puts serious effort into changing things -- an effort she has no interest in making.

Four years ago she and her "big brother" discovered that the plan was for the pair to be married once Valentine was old enough. She was absolutely horrified at the idea, and the first serious interest she's shown in statecraft has all been directed at finding a solution that she can live with. She has no interest in marriage, no interest even in ruling, but she's made little progress. She hopes that this business in Aciras means that Anton will be marrying someone else, and she'll be left in peace.

_{OT H E R I N F O R M A T I O N}

---

MUSIC:
"Blue Eyes" by Within Temptation
"Behind Blue Eyes" covered by Within Temptation (originally by the Who)

Additional Imagery

SCREENNAMES: Shattershard (rpgs), Kintsukuroi (aesthetics), KintsugiKitty (linked accounts, "her"), FoilAndFoliage (nature photography), CurlicueQuiet (aesthetics and forums), PieceOfMind (generic forum things), Horsefeathers (specifically animals)

~Valentine has two horses, an older Andalusian blue roan gelding that's almost as old as she is by the name of Balios, and a younger Kinsky palomino mare called Chloé, given to her as a filly.
~multilingual

Luxième

_{B A S I C S}

---

Country: Luxième
Capital: Lumèrie
Current Ruler(s): none at the moment (deceased). Officially the kingdom is run by their Senate and a special advisory council of Athenians; in reality it's pretty much under control of the Athenian government.
Current Heir: her royal highness the Crown Princess Edelessa Blanchefluer is heir apparent, to be coronated once she comes of age
Kingdom Colors: sky blue and silver (represented by white on their flag)
Known For: wine and vineyards, excellent local cuisine, silk and related textiles, artisan crafts, complaining, protests, bloody revolution

_{H I S T O R Y A N D C U L T U R E}

---

Luxième is a tiny country just inland of the Athenian coast. While rich in natural resources they have always been too small to do a great deal with mining and factory production, and so focused more on grape and silkworm cultivation. Blessed with weather suited for farming, if not a great deal of actual land on which to farm, they rely on lucrative exports for profit and imported produce to supplement insufficient food production of their own, and a bad harvest can mean a difficult year for the whole country. As a result, farming techniques that maximize stable output are a main focus for research funded by the government and private institutions alike. The Luxèmi are aware that they cannot overfarm despite the short-term gains, and monitor their soils carefully. Not only can overfarming be harmful, but the perfect bottle of wine requires the perfect nutrient balance in the soil.

Four centuries ago Trèlins split off more or less peacefully, citing the difficulties of crossing the mountains and a history of inadequate attention since the lands were ceded to the Lux clan as the dowry of the chieftain's daughter that married the Lux chief to cement an alliance. The clan she came from was eventually absorbed into other forming nations, but the Trèlins territory remained with what would become Luxième. The Luxèmi king of the time was dealing with a round of bad harvests and could not support a war across the mountains. In a bold diplomatic move he agreed to grant the territory its independence under the rule of the current royal governor, a man he knew and respected. In exchange, Trèlins sent a one-time tribute and came to future negotiations on equal footing. It turned out that respected equals are much more open to requests than bitter subjects, and the two nations have been allies ever since.

Luxième has always been tumultuous, but nobody thought the tradition of highly-vocal protest and the occasional small riot would ever turn truly nasty. However, after several poor harvests in a row and with economic tensions due to global events as well, a serious revolutionary core gathered enough support to make a move. First they incited a riot during a major event at the castle. A handful of sleeper agents already in place started the massacre inside, and the resulting chaos did most of the rest, along with a few strategically placed explosives. Another team took care of the designated survivor and his family elsewhere at the same time. During the emergency senate meeting that followed, a small moving truck full of explosives took out a significant portion of the Senate.

The Athenian Federation stepped in and imposed order on what had turned into anarchy in the capital city of Lumèrie. Most of the core group were brought to justice over the following years, having gone to ground when they could not quell the riots on their own. But even before that, when a little girl with eyes of Blanchefleur blue turned up in the castle ruins, the Athenians put enough pressure on the remaining members of the Senate that she was sent to the Federation. They have more or less annexed Luxième at this point, and the Senate holds little power.

The original plan was to marry the princess into the Athenian royal family, but as the harvests improved and the remaining core members were brought down or chased out of the country, most of the nation did not much mind Athenian governance. Yes, there's a great deal of discussion about how they should go about being represented, but it's a matter of details more than direction. The princess has had little to do with her public and is mostly seen as a tragic figure but not a leader -- though she is adored all the same, and expected to return to the palace eventually. So long as they have good harvests and a government to complain about it doesn't seem to matter so much what the government is, though there's been a lot of resistance to dissolving the nation of Luxième entirely. The white flowers still fly proudly on their sky blue fields atop flagpoles across the country.

_{OT H E R I N F O R M A T I O N}

---

~The fleur-de-lis is a symbol of the country, and a white one that of the Luxèmi royal family (the Blanchefleurs).

~Only members of the royal family may carry the Blanchefleur name. The king's spouse may use it, but the spouses and children of princes and princesses may not. Generally the wife and children of a Blanchefleur prince take the name D'Argent, indicating that they are of a cadet branch of the family.

~Many of the Blanchefleurs (and a number of the Luxèmi high nobility) have bright blue eyes. This is seen as both highly desirable and indicative of noble status. Not all of them do, particularly when there is a dark-eyed spouse, but there are even fewer "common blue" eyes among the Blanchefleurs and the D'Argents than there are non-blue. As a result, there's a saying that "the bluer the eyes, the bluer the blood".

~Luxième is closely allied with both Trèlins across the mountains and the Athenian Federation on their coastward side. The Athenians are seen as good trade partners with a respectable military. The Trèlinians are viewed as supportive and amicable, although the running joke is that they're good people but not ones you want living in your house. There is some rivalry between Trèlins and Luxième but it has always been a friendly one.

---

Rhia of Wales

_{"I do what I must, but that doesn't mean I can't have any fun."}

_{B A S I C S}

---

Name: Rhiannon Heledd Cadfael
Nicknames: Rhia
Title: crown princess and heir to the throne
Age: 21 years old (nearly 22; her birthday is July 20th)
Gender: female
Sexuality: pansexual with a preference for ladies
Betrothed to: no one yet (but soon)

_{A P P E A R A N C E}

---

Rhia has lively brown eyes, a generous (though faint) sprinkling of freckles across her cheekbones, and skin that looks great without any makeup whatsoever. Her wide nose, full lips, and darker complexion she owes entirely to her mother, but also some of her hair difficulties. She has a curly mane of rusty brown that takes a considerable amount of effort to look after, and as a result she usually cuts it once it gets past shoulder-length. She's not really fond of hats or hairpins, but she does like headbands. That's about the limit of what she can get to work, as her hair doesn't straighten well and she can't stand the work it takes to comb out her mane and put it in lots of little braids. She's a curvy young lady, 5'6 in flats (but she likes heels of all kinds) with a fondness for bold and colorful clothing patterns. She likes skirts even for casual wear as often as not, and loves tops that show off her shoulders. Her taste in jewelry runs from chunky modern pieces to woven metal designs, and she's especially fond of animal themes or things that are just plain silly.

_{P E R S O N A L I T Y}

---

Rhiannon is generally level-headed, though she can have a bit of a temper. She is equal parts girly and sporty, and has learned to handle the media presence in her life by mostly ignoring it. It's frustrating, but just a fact of life. She prefers casual gatherings to stiffly formal functions, though formal events not hosted by the government tend to be more relaxed, and thus more enjoyable. She's learned to handle even the most snobbish ones with patient equanimity, as befits a future queen, and knows how to talk without saying much of anything when she needs to. While she's trained to keep a regal reserve in public, Rhia is openly emotive in nature and prefers to be honest with her feelings and direct with her words. She enjoys the privilege afforded by her position and tries to keep it from weighing her down. She's independently-minded, and while she understands her obligations she also wants a chance at a "normal" life, or as close to it as she can get. She's not particularly fond of politics, and is perversely glad that her parents are young enough that she probably won't need to worry about inheriting for many years yet.

_{L I K E S & D I S L I K E S}

---

LIKES:
music, especially classical, folk, blues, and older rock
folk dances of all kinds
sports, especially archery, cricket, and football (soccer)
thrift stores
shoes
earrings
whimsical jewelry
turquoise (color and stone)
bold patterns
bonfires
fireflies
birds, especially raptors
long showers
fresh fruit
bean sprouts
noodles

DISLIKES:
muggy summers
formal dances
nail polish
rugby
long airplane flights
jet lag
excessive profanity
reporters that try to invade her privacy
designer brands that charge just for the label
skinny jeans
brussel sprouts

_{B I O G R A P H Y}

---

Pedr and Simone were an arranged match, the heir to the throne of Wales and a member of the extended Aciran royal family. Rhiannon is the eldest of three children, though the twins are younger than she by almost eight years. Her parents had her at 19 despite precautions, and then delayed having additional kids until after Queen Generys was pronounced in remission after being diagnosed with cancer. Rhia was too young to understand most of what was going on at the time, and she has many wonderful memories of her grandmother, with whom she had a close relationship. Queen Generys passed away when Rhia was fifteen, and the young princess took it hard, especially between her parents ascending to the throne and media coverage. She had a few extremely rough years where she threw herself into various wild and rebellious activities, though nothing so outlandish as to cause serious backlash. She dyed her hair black and shaved half of it off at one point, and she got a couple piercings. She's let her nose and eyebrow piercings close, as well as the second earlobe piercings, but she's kept the ones in the cartilage of her ears. It was during this period of her life where she discovered that she really prefers women over men, though she's not disinterested in the latter.

Unfortunately she's always known that she'd have to marry for politics, not love, and while she's had a few short relationships Rhia is mostly resigned to her duty as the crown princess, though she managed to convince her parents to delay the process a few years. They're all looking to find a match that looked both useful and tolerable. Rhiannon has a hand in the selection, in exchange for taking on a few minor duties at court, and she vetoed a few options for personality reasons. She knows that she won't find a perfect match, but she's looking for someone with a less formal side that she can work with, from a stable country that provides some benefit to Wales and the greater Britannian Empire.

_{OT H E R I N F O R M A T I O N}

---

~Simone Tiffany Lynton is first cousin to the current Aciran queen, via her father (a younger prince). This means Rhia and the Aciran princesses are cousins as well, and they have done some visiting back and forth.
~She's also related by way of her grandmother Generys's younger brother Pryce to the Reverans, though she's not talked to them as much the past few years.
~Rhia has two younger brothers, Emry and Harri, who are nearly 14.
~She plays harp, piano, and guitar, and also sings a little

Wales

_{B A S I C S}

---

Country: Wales (part of the Brittanian Empire)
Capital: Cardiff
Current Ruler(s): King Pedr Ithel Cadfael and Queen Consort Simone
Current Heir: Crown Princess Rhiannon
Kingdom Colors: green(s) and gold
Known For: sheep farming, fish, shellfish, beautiful landscapes, historical sites, vine and interlace motifs

_{H I S T O R Y A N D C U L T U R E}

---

Conquered by Britannia eight to nine hundred years ago, and has been a vassal nation ever since. Wales is not particularly large, and it was easier to let Britannia handle the majority of military matters with mainland nations instead of trying to win independence again (though they didn't realize that right away). They have a lot of agriculture, though it tends to be animal farming rather than food crops.

_{OT H E R I N F O R M A T I O N}

---

~The previous ruler of Wales, the beloved Queen Generys Olwena Cadfael, died of complications from cancer six years ago, a year shy of 60. Her husband died (or was possibly assassinated) early in her reign.
~Wales has ties to many countries in the Brittanian Empire, as well as direct ties to Aciras and Revera.

---

Johnathan "Sparks" Quinn, from Aciras

_{"Have you tried turning it off and back on again?"}

_{B A S I C S}

---

Name: Johnathan Quinn
Nicknames: Sparks, John
Title: none
Age: 21
Gender: male
Sexuality: gay

_{A P P E A R A N C E}

---

John is not a subtle man. Though of average height, his spiked, sky blue hair guarantees he stands out among the Aciran castle staff. He could probably do to lose a little weight, but he keeps himself in good shape. He has light brown eyes, a squarish jaw, and an easy smile. His natural hair color is blond, but he greatly prefers to keep it dyed blue, or occasionally another bright color. His taste in clothing runs to jeans and graphic tees, but he looks pretty good in a suit when he has to wear one. He doesn't have any piercings, but will occasionally wear a single screwback earring, or an ear cuff.

_{P E R S O N A L I T Y}

---

John is an easy-going man with a good sense of humor. He falls a bit on the nerdy side -- oh who are we kidding, he's a total nerd, but he's also a geek, and geeks are in. He loves hearing about a good prank, though he's too polite to actually play any himself. He's used to dealing with royalty, as he grew up in the serving rooms of the Aciran palace. He's quite clever but puts his intelligence to good use behind the scenes, and doesn't seem to have much desire for the spotlight -- despite his hair color.

_{L I K E S & D I S L I K E S}

---

LIKES:
computers
coding
robotics
AI
vidya
interactive fiction
memes
electronics in general
the color blue
Firefly (huge browncoat)
anime
puns
NotAlwaysRight
ThinkGeek
reptiles, especially lizards

DISLIKES:
people with no sense of humor
having to wear a tie
people who don't get technology
people who think they know what they're doing when they clearly don't
cabbage
people who play their music super loud in public areas
moths

_{B I O G R A P H Y}

---

John is the child of two palace servitors, and had an easy time of it growing up. He graduated college with honors and a degree in math&computer science, and went straight into the tech field. Robotics is his hobby, but his actual job is palace IT, helping make things run smoothly. He runs a tumblr blog that mixes fantasy and tech, called Technical Wizardry, and occasionally dabbles in interactive fiction with a couple friends.

_{OT H E R I N F O R M A T I O N}

---

imagery

---

Ianos Clerides from the Athenian Federation (NPC)

Name: Ianos Clerides
Age: 42
Gender: male

Bio: Ianos is the personal manservant of Andronikos Telesphorides, which also means he helps look after Valentine a good bit of the time. He is the very soul of discretion, and does his best to look after his charge(s).

Storage

Shiara for Aria's Lymiera Institute

Shiara Cazarin

_{Shiara Cazarin ~ Dark ~ Year 10 ~ rebel
other images}

Name: Shiara Cazarin
Year of Education: tenth (Academy)
Age: 14 (born in spring)
Gender: female
Element: Dark

_{I N - D E P T H A P P E A R A N C E}

---

Shiara is a slender youth with deeply bronzed skin in the way of the Peledan islanders. Her hair is untamably curly, a problem she solves by tying it back most of the time, or occasionally putting it in lots of little braids. She keeps it shorter than most noble girls, but there's really not much she can do with it and dealing with it is time consuming. She has a round face; dark, gently tilted eyes; a wide, flat, and slightly upturned nose; high, thick brows; and full, expressive lips. She's still got the stick-straight figure of a young girl, with long limbs that will eventually match her solidly built frame, but for the moment Shiara looks like she couldn't figure out if she wanted to be gracefully slender or strong and stocky.

Her attire is as outlandish as her appearance. The child wouldn't be caught dead in the heavy, hot, restrictive swaddling Eskoran nobility calls clothing. She wears a combination of loose tunics, crop tops, lightweight breeches, and knee-length skirts. She often goes barefoot, but she can be convinced to wear sandals or shoes of supple leather. She loves bright colors and patterns, though she does own a number of darker things (great for sneaking about at night) and earth or cream tones (less notable in town). She has a variety of jewelry, most made of beads or shells. She'll sometimes braid such things into her hair, or add a bright flower behind her ear. One particular necklace she always wears, a simple leather thong with two pendants. One is long and thin, like a claw or a tooth. The other looks more like a large scale or shaped piece of abalone.

She always has one of her knives on her person, sometimes two or three depending on where she's going. While she knows how to fight with her fists, she's not particularly intimidating and a sharp blade does a lot to convince people to leave her alone if they give her too much trouble. Shiara often carries a small satchel either on a shoulder strap or belted at her hip. It's a good place to put a bit of money, and anything else she might need. It's likewise a good place for Ainel, the little dragon that is nearly always with her. He's in good condition, for a zombie, but no need to take chances. Unfortunately he doesn't always want to stay in there, and often climbs up to her shoulder. She's taken to wearing drapes or scarves, so he still has somewhere to hide.

Shiara's speech carries a gentle Peledan accent imparted by her father and grandparents. Her words and manners mark her as common-born, and she's never seen a reason to change that. She carries herself with confidence, and moves with more energetic athleticism than grace. She's neither clumsy nor particularly awkward, but she would never pass the tests of posture and poise that many young ladies of breeding are subjected to. If she could balance a stack of books on her head, it would only be because her hair is more supportive than the thinner locks of most Eskorans. She's disposed to large gestures, her movements and stance saying just as much as her words. She also tends to fidget a lot, bouncing her leg or toying with a piece of jewelry. Petting Ainel is sometimes an acceptable alternative for the latter.

_{P E R S O N A L I T Y}

---

Shiara started as a bright, cheerful girl. She loved watching the stars or playing in the waves. She enjoyed wandering the beach or the woods, and was eager to try new things. She was always rather independent, encouraged to be self-sufficient from a young age. The questionable acceptance of the townsfolk was never an issue in the mostly-Peledan part of the outskirts where she lived, and she never saw any reason to bother with people that didn't want her around. She took to her grandmother's teaching with solemn dedication, eager to prove herself worthy of her gift of magic, and the sort of respect she saw people giving Nisme. She absorbed stories and music with a wide-eyed eagerness, as if they could show her a glimpse of the world beyond her horizon. Shiara wasn't sure she wanted to be a bone woman despite her dedication to the training. She craved adventure, and there was always a driving curiosity in her constant questions on anything and everything.

Following her move to the Academy, she grew resentful and defiant. Forced to deal with those who neither liked nor accepted her, she developed a thick skin and a sharp tongue. She was never good at sitting still, and being forced to sit through pointless lessons made her eager to avoid them altogether. Their attitude towards dark magic left her with little respect for most academy staff, and her impatience soon turned into barely any tolerance for their foolishness. Shiara is under a lot of pressure just by being at the academy, and as a result she has a short temper. When worked up she hurls insults with a will, and if someone gets in her face she is not above punching them. Those that treat her with casual disrespect may be called out on it, or may be subjected to passive-aggressive baiting until they react or go away. When Shiara gets an idea in her head she can be incredibly stubborn, and she refuses to let others intimidate her, no matter how much bigger or stronger they might be. The way her family encouraged her curiosity is at odds with the school's style, and she's been taken to task many times for questioning teachers or otherwise disrupting classes with tangential discussions and outright challenges to accepted facts.

She is very defensive and prickly, even to sincere efforts to become her friend. Shiara's had too many people act friendly only to cut her deeply to be willing to trust quickly. She is slow to warm up to most strangers, though other islanders have an automatic advantage in this regard. Her respect is hard to earn, and only given to those who show themselves to be intelligent, able to look at the facts instead of trusting blindly in what "everyone knows", willing to back up their words with actions, and possessing a certain level of integrity. She's a clever girl, and it has been remarked that it's a shame she turns her wits to things like slipping off campus. She's been blamed for a number of unkind pranks, but very few were her doing. She's a convenient scapegoat, and other students take advantage of her generally combative manner, knowing that Shiara's indignation at an unjust accusation will look the same as her normal behavior to most adults.

Despite her conduct during classes, Shiara is a driven individual. She means to show all of them just how wrong they are. If the school won't teach her proper magic, then she'll practice on her own. If they want to twist her into a docile, complacent noble lady who can't even hear a bad word without having a case of nerves, then she will go roaming in town and what wilds she can find, pitting herself against challenges to make herself stronger. She's not quite reckless, but she doesn't stick to approved locations and activities. She has a decent idea of what she can handle, and she's not afraid of commoners, nor is does she look like a gilded sign for thieves as many of her classmates do. This lets her enjoy a wider range of locations without any real risk to herself or her possessions.

Shiara cannot wait to be free of her restrictive cage and allowed to stretch herself for real. She wants to travel, to visit the islands where her father and grandparents were born, to see other countries and have real adventures. She wants to find somewhere where her dark skin doesn't make people look down their nose. She wants to learn about other peoples, too, and about things where the answers her teachers give her aren't ones she trusts. They have so much wrong about the Peledan people, after all. Who knows what they've screwed up beyond that? Above all, she wants to show all of Eskora that they are as backwards about dark magic as they accuse the islanders of being in general. She'll be a hero like in the stories, maybe, or she'll find some brilliant use for dark magic that helps everyone in the same obvious, undeniable way life magic does. Or maybe she'll just write songs and tell stories like her grandfather. But she's sure there's an adventure waiting for her just beyond the horizon, if only she can leave the Academy behind.

_{H I S T O R Y}

---

Shiara's father came to mainland Eskora as a teenager with his parents and elder sister in the wake of a volcano eruption that devastated their island home, along with a number of other refugees. His mother, Nisme, is a bone woman -- a spiritual leader among the Peledan tribes native to the eastern archipelago. The Peledan see dark magic not as a curse but as a highly-regarded skill, and it approaches divine blessing. The bone men and women work with the healers as medicine men; they work with the rare speakers of souls to placate restless ghosts; they are the ones sought for blessings and guidance, and to ease the passage of the dying. Nisme's husband Yuriah is a musician and a keeper of stories, and though their daughter returned to the islands they decided to stay with Zelias following his marriage. The Peledan are a highly communal group, and if their son and his wife would not join them on the islands, they would bring the community to the young couple.

Shiara's mother Rosalie lived in the coastal town where most of the Peledan refugees settled. She was studying to be an herbalist like her own mother, and her father worked as an assistant to the harbormaster. She and Zelais met during the worst of the difficult times that faced town and refugees, and married several years later. Shiara was born within a couple years into a warm and happy household that didn't care what the townsfolk thought of the mixed family.

As a toddler the child was much like any other. She was extremely curious, and loved stories and the sea. If other children gave her a hard time she shrugged it off, and played instead with the children of refugees-turned-citizens and the dragon Ainel, who'd adopted her as his. Nisme recognized the girl's magic as soon as it started to manifest, and began lessons the moment they would be retained. Shiara learned of her rich island heritage from her father's side of the family, and while she didn't disdain the more structured life her mother encouraged, she was never very good at sitting still. There was always something to do, somewhere to explore or an adventure to find. Skirts and "proper" clothes were restrictive and got dirty or ripped. She did pick up bits of herbcraft from the instruction of mother and both grandmothers, but she heeded it only because it was her duty to learn in order to fulfill the responsibilities of her magic. She greatly preferred "playing" her grandfather's various flutes and whistles.

Ainel became sick when Shiara was still a little girl and the little dragon passed away soon after. Shiara was distraught, and tied his spirit to his body, creating a zombie that retained all of its former intelligence and personality. She was severely scolded by her family for it, for while she had asked the dragon's permission there were finer subtleties to the creation of intelligent zombies and she was too young to understand most of them. Additionally, dark magic was taboo in the town proper and her parents worried what would happen if hers became common knowledge.

Unfortunately Rosalie's mother, who'd always been less than pleased about her daughter's choice of husband, was less than tolerant of someone exhibiting evil magic. She reported Shiara to the authorities, and at age six the girl was taken to the Academy. She and her family tried to resist, but there was really nothing they could do, and so her official schooling began.

Compared to what her grandmother was teaching her, Shiara found the Academy's magic instruction sadly lacking. They wouldn't teach her anything useful, instead emphasizing how her magic had to be hidden. The students were little better, most of them looking down on her if not outright disliking her for one reason or another. Some were afraid, some were prejudiced, some just didn't care to get to know her before judging her by her appearance, her heritage, or her magic. The rules made little sense, the structure chaffed, they wanted her to wear ridiculous clothing and do nothing. The child quickly gained a reputation as a rebellious and unruly student. Her first room assignment ended in an outright fight, and she wore her half-shorn hair proudly until it grew out enough after to be cut even. Her second roommate was much better, and Shiara became friends with Loren.

With one friend on her side, the misery of academy life was greatly lessened. She still skipped lessons and showed a cavalier disregard for the rules, but at least she was not so alone. Shiara is only a reluctant student, though her inattentiveness and disruptive questions stem from a general boredom and her low tolerance for things she sees as ridiculous. She often challenges teachers when they present things that contradict what has either been taught previously, or what her family has taught her -- especially on the topics of islanders and dark magic. All in all, Shiara can't wait to graduate, though in her heart she knows she probably won't be permitted to go home but instead made to attend the Institute.

_{R E S E A R C H P R O J E C T}

---

Muffled shouting including some words Shiara really shouldn't know at her age preceded her furious exit from the advisor's office. She slammed the door behind her, hard enough that it bounced open again, giving her an excuse to slam it once more (though slightly less forcefully). She shouted a last frustrated insult and stomped off down the hall, fists clenched. Insufferable idiots!

In short, Shiara's got a few ideas, and the advisors have their own ideas, but the two are /very/ different, and they really don't like hers.

_{O T H E R I N F O R M A T I O N}

---

Shiara has a dragon companion, Ainel (aye-nell), who she turned into a zombie when he passed away from disease. She did get permission from his spirit, but her grandmother was not pleased. Ainel is in good shape for a zombie of his age. He still has all his scales and frills, though his coat is closer to matte and his eyes are rather flat. He also possesses all of the personality and intelligence he had in life. He's quite affectionate, and while he has no need to eat he will often try to take tidbits of Shiara's food, with or without her permission. The little dragon was originally wild on the Dragon Isles. He was one of the dragons to adopt Nisme as his person, though not the alpha among them. Not many dragons came to the mainland with the refugees, so when Shiara was born he took her as his person.

Ainel's scales are a rich amber color, lightening to pale yellow on his underbelly. A double row of bright red spiked frills runs along his spine, and his claws are a deeper variant of the same color, nearly black. In life his eyes were the color of fine sapphires, but they've turned flat navy now. A number of protrusions on his skull give the appearance of horns in addition to a full complement of frills, mostly reds with accents of blue and gold. He's small enough to perch comfortably on Shiara's shoulder, or to hide among the folds of her drape or in her satchel, should he choose. He's a little larger than the popular teacup-sized dragons that are all the rage among Eskoran nobility, though only by a few inches. Nor is he a pet in any way: Ainel comes and goes as he pleases, and his girl has no authority with which to tell him to do things (not that she doesn't try for certain things). It's simply that he chooses to stay with her, like a very small and brightly scaled guardian.

Shiara can play flute, ocarina, and lute. She's got a good singing voice, too, though most of the songs she knows are either Peledan or the sort of thing one might hear in a tavern.

She swims like a fish, and she loves the ocean. The river's okay, but it's not at all the same. She's pretty good at paddling a coracle about, and her aunt has taught her a little bit about sails and how to manage them. She can't do more than the basics for a small sailboat alone, though.

Shiara had a mentor from the Institute, at one point. The fellow had an overinflated idea of his own importance, and very little idea how to use his magic. She ignored him.

Shiara attempted to run away from the academy several times following her not-quite-kidnapping. They pegged her as a potential runner immediately, and she was caught fairly quickly (though not before making it across the river). Her next few attempts were foiled much faster. However, she kept trying. She made it a full time job, keeping her corralled, and eventually they gave up on it. By then she'd realized she couldn't really go home, but she did need her freedom.

Shiara ranges all over the island that holds the academy, as well as swimming or boating in the river and venturing over to the town. She knows all the best ways in and out, and all sorts of little places that are especially pretty, or unlikely to be disturbed.

She runs a lowkey gray market for various items purchased in town and sold at a small markup to students. Generally she has another student front the business for her, so as to facilitate matters. It's hard to sell things to folks that don't want much to do with you, after all. Shiara will also do various errands for her friends when she hits town, and she has run messages or made purchases for others, but only for a fee.

Shiara does a bit of jewelry-making in the Peledan style as a hobby, and she generally sells her work in town. It doesn't make her much after the cost of supplies, but she does net a small profit, and it adds up over time.

Family

grandmother Nisme, a dark mage and a Peledan bone woman.
grandfather Yuriah, dust mage, musician, storyteller, and Peledan lorekeeper.
father Zelas, earth mage, mediator and teacher.
aunt Ameli, air mage, wanderer.
younger brother Cory, life mage, about five years younger.
mother Rosalie, water mage, herbalist.
grandfather Roland, storm mage, harbormaster.
grandmother Alicia, water mage, herbalist.

Relationships

Loren - (roommate)
Joshua - His little sister is Shiara's age, and went out of her way to get to know the young islander. Ruth then introduced her friend to her entire family, and Shiara finds the Steds remind her a lot of the cheerful noise of her home. Their warm, helpful attitude is likewise comfortably familiar, and Shiara will do just about anything for them.
Tihomir - She's seen him and his dragon around. Her opinion of him is low, for various reasons. May have some small respect for his intelligence, but that's it. (in progress)
Wren - Identifies with an outcast taken away from her home. Shiara's willing to just hang out if Wren's feeling down, or missing her folks.
Lyra - Shiara doesn't know the princess well, and doesn't care to. She has, however, heard a great deal about the girl.
to be determined

Storage

exactly what it says on the tin

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@Lovejoy oh wow I forgot that. Happy birthday @Lovejoy! *explodes into confetti* And thanks~

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

I think the movie killed @Lovejoy. I warned her! *flails*

RPGC #17: Singing in the Rain - Discussion

Oh crud I didn't even see this until now. RIP me.

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@Lovejoy I'm so sorry! *hugs tight*

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@Lovejoy you will probably not be in any condition to finish them for 24 hours after the conclusion of the movie anyhow. *hugs you in advance* Have...fun? Fun is probably the right word, but I don't know. Bring tissues.