shylarah — Roleplayer Guild

Casara Talbot

Cas heard the news on one of her delivery runs.  Two Guild members were talking, not caring that she passed by.  "Do you think he's really dead?" one asked.  "Will that Dark Shadows group fall apart now, do you think?"  It was just a few words, but that was enough.  Cas went cold, then fearful, and it took a moment for her to regain her composure.  Luckily she had her back to the two talking.

Finishing the rest of the day's work was a test of endurance and control.  Cas couldn't risk taking time to find out more, for fear it would be true.  She wouldn't be able to handle that.  When her thoughts strayed, she reminded herself that Aloysius was a clever man, if perhaps lacking in judgement at times.  Still, by the time she finished she was shaky, and for a long moment she just stared at her phone, wondering what she'd do if it was true.  A vague idea had built up in her head over the last couple hours, a suicidal effort at vengeance.  She wasn't much of a fighter, and Shakti wasn't powerful enough to handle everything that would come at her if she started a fight in the Guild.

Aloysius's phone went straight to voicemail, but that could mean any of several things.  But the police report was more encouraging than the sensationalist media.  "Body not found", "missing": those were words of hope to Cas.  And how like Aloysius, not to tell anyone -- damn him.  Oh, she wouldn't know for sure until the meeting -- "8Pm.  HQ.  Don't be late." -- but it made more sense than a random train accident.

To cool her head she went for a flight around town, weaving between skyscrapers with practiced ease.  She didn't have to worry about being spotted.  Air distortion turned into an art form saw to that.  The voice of her demon, whispering in her mind for lack of a convenient shadow, didn't help any, but they had a short and rather one-sided conversation on a hotel roof, explaining that the hurt Aloysuis had caused was inadvertent and not by any means justification to harm him.

At six thirty, Cas checked inside the Dark Shadows' headquarters, then took up an overwatch position on the entry.  She didn't like being inside the building.  Underground and with only one way in or out, it felt like a cage.  There was no reason to subject herself to that until necessary -- and she wanted to catch Aloysius when he arrived.  It was just a few minutes to eight when he came into view, and Cas stepped off her perch and descended in a rush of wind.  She nailed her landing, touching down just far enough ahead that he had to use his own magic to keep her winds from mussing hair and clothes.  He looked none the worse for wear, thank goodness, but with the profound sense of relief she felt there came another emotion, a sharp stab in the gut.  She drew herself up and looked him dead in the eye.  "Bastard," she hissed, before turning on her heel and heading inside before him.

"Sign here, please."

B A S I C SName: Casara Talbot
Gender: female
Age: 20 (born in April, 1996)
Place of Birth: New York City suburbs
Current Residence: New York City
Alignment: Dark Shadow, but does work for the Guild and is welcome there
Rank: Captain-ish (outside of organizational structure)

Birthmark Shape: small stylized wing
Location of Birthmark: left shoulderblade

Magical Abilities: Casara is an aeromancer, and a skilled one.  She can fly on the back of the wind, though it's much harder indoors and she requires a larger room to get off the ground.  As another application of this ability, she is able to handle falling dangerous distances without injury, even indoors.  An interesting side effect of her methods is that flight creates a sort of heat-haze shimmer.  Cas has practiced to enhance this, so the haze will keep mundanes from spotting her when she flies about, working as a natural form of concealment.  It's not so effective at close range, simply because it requires air to be moving in order to work and that tends to be pretty noticeable.  If she's not worried about being seen, or wants to get a better look at where she means to land, forming a sort of magnifier using the same principles of refraction is easy enough.  Wind carries words, and Cas has mastered using it to eavesdrop from a distance.  It's difficult to do indoors without a draft, but outside she can catch a speaking voice quite a distance away.  She can also pick a single voice out of a crowd or through the sound of a noisy room.

In terms of offensive magical ability, Cas is fairly limited.  She's tried using her wind magic in conjunction with a gun and it just isn't worth the effort.  She's not a good enough shot to use her distance viewing to snipe, and bursts of air might knock a person back but they're not particularly effective.  There is, however, one deadly exception to this.  She has mastered air manipulation, and this means it is well within her capabilities to deprive a person of air long enough to kill them silently.

I N - D E P T H   A P P E A R A N C ECasara is a tall young lady, easily the equal in height of the average male.  Her active lifestyle has made her a lean, wiry woman, and genetics have been sparing with their usual gifts: her hips are narrow and her bust small.  Her features are androgynous, though on the rough side, and she is a far cry from what most would call beautiful.  She falls somewhere between mildly cute and unremarkably plain, with an upturned nose and muddy green eyes.  She keeps her dirty blond hair cropped to a short bob, and without her makeup she can pass for a man.  When she's at home, Cas likes wearing mid-length skirts that don't hinder her movement, and looser blouses.  She also has a few hair clips that she is fond of.  For her job as a courier, she dresses in close-fitting attire, generally slacks and long sleeved shirts.  Fingerless gloves, a hat, sturdy shoes, and of course her bag round out the outfit.

P E R S O N A L I T YCasara is not a people person.  She keeps a cool demeanor while working, but in truth strangers and crowds make her nervous.  Many things make her nervous, and she works hard to keep her anxiety in check.  She has something of a paranoid streak, and worries a lot about everything.  She'll go to great lengths for her friends, such as she has, but she doesn't really make friends easily.  She uses brusqueness and irritability to hide nervousness with her peers, and this earns her no favors.  For those she does consider friends, Casara will go through fire and flood.  Cas handles serious danger better than she does everyday anxiety, though her demeanor will often go cold if she is under a great deal of stress.

H I S T O R YCasara Talbot was born in New York, the only child of a reasonably well-off pair of unaligned mages.  Her father owned a charm shop, and her mother's magic lay in binding winds.  She had a happy childhood, with little in the way of care.  Casara was a sunny girl, curious and full of laughter.  She had the gift of wind, but it looked to be stronger than that of her mother's, and she loved using it.

All that changed shortly after her eleventh birthday, when members of a small cult grabbed both her and her parents.  They ritually tortured and killed the two adults in front of their daughter, forcing her to watch.  As they approached her, she passed out, and when she came to she was the only one left alive, for those in robes had been slaughtered.

Cas wasn't sure what had happened, but she knew her parents were now dead.  She fled the building, eventually finding her way back to familiar streets, and she made her way to where her aunt and uncle lived.  A couple days later, she woke to find them lying dead in the kitchen, ripped apart.  A neighbor she knew found her huddled at the other end of the house the next day, unable to bring herself to come close enough to the bodies to reach the door.  That neighbor took her in, though he was unable to get the girl to tell him or his wife what happened.

That night was disturbed only by nightmares, but the next, when the neighbor's wife tucked the child into bed and blew out the light, a shadow rose beside her and sliced open the woman's throat.  The dead woman's husband came running at Cas's screams, to find the girl knocked off the bed and the small knife her uncle had given her lying across the room after she'd tried to stab the shadow with it.  Calling the girl cursed, he demanded she leave -- fortunately for him, from outside the shade's effective range.  Having no choice, she left.

She was picked up shortly thereafter by a freelance mage pair, sanctioned by the guild but technically not under their governance.  One was a master of shadows, the other a chronomancer.  These two bound the creature in Cas's shadow, and took the traumatized girl to a facility equipped to deal with rogue mages.  It was determined the creature was not under her control, and that she was not at fault for the deaths it had caused.  However, she couldn't exactly go around with a murderous monster hiding in her shadow.  It took a number of months but a method was devised by which Cas would have control of her new pet.

During this time she developed a relationship with an older healer that sometimes worked at the facility.  A man by the name of Hedgewin Randalls, he was actually the father of the chronomancer that brought her in.  Once Cas's shadow was under control, he adopted her, since she had nowhere to go.

It was a long time before Cas was comfortable with people, and even longer before she was comfortable with the dark.  She did well enough in her studies, but memories -- and her shadow demon -- both haunted her.  She's learned to live with both, but some days it's an huge effort just to walk out her door.  At least her growing magic provided her an escape, and there are no shadows while flying.

She was thirteen or fourteen when DS approached Hedgewin.  The doctor's daughter, Leah, was already a member, full of talk about how they'd change how things were done, how chronomancers and others with "restricted" magics would be treated better.  Hedgewin himself wasn't particularly keen, but Cas saw potential, though she wasn't brave enough to join at that time.

Then came Guildfall.  Leah died getting key members of the DS out safely, including a young man at the center of things: one Aloysius Leighton.  It was time for Hedgewin to think about retirement, and with all the political unrest it was easy enough for him to explain moving away from the city and out to Long Island for a quiet retirement.  Cas went with, as did the newest member of his household, Alan.

Cas went into courier and delivery work at sixteen, and is now known for her reliability and discretion.  She doesn't gossip and makes sure things get where they need to go in a timely fashion.  It helps that she's able to shorten the distance between places by flying, though she does a number of deliveries on foot as well.  She is approved for Guild work though she also takes a number of independent deliveries.

When Aloysius was ready to start up his organization again, Cas was right there, and she's quietly been a member ever since.

O T H E R   I N F O R M A T I O Nleft-handed
loves heights
really good with makeup
trained to sense magic seals, and has tools to deal with them (thanks Susan)
knows how to pick locks (thanks again Susan)
can shoot a gun with solid accuracy, and knows self-defense fighting techniques (Susan, you're a bad influence)

inextricably tied to the creature Shakti
Aloysius Leighton: Cas understands loss all too well, and they were friends when neither one had very many people to rely on.  Leah gave her life for Aloysius -- the least Cas can do to honor that sacrifice is to support him.

Lana Ryder: A much needed member of the team, reliable when it counts.  She doesn't trust Cas, but that's better than her trusting every Tom, Dick, and Harry that comes along.

Joseph Freiheit: Lana brought him in.  She must like him, which is interesting in and of itself.

Tiberius Delamar: A violent man, but Aloysius recruited him, and (hopefully) Al had a reason.  At least he's devoted to the cause, though he seems really irresponsible.

Kari and Sigrun Haaken: They're a bit odd, but then so is Cas.

Lola Leighton: Aloysius' sister.  Odd that she wasn't there for him when he needed it.  Suspicious that she turned up for the second iteration of Dark Shadows.  Cas doesn't quite trust her.

Cleo James: More sensible than Emily, but the friendship makes her suspect.

Emily Waring: She's reckless, which is not a good thing in a secret organization.  She doesn't care about the consequences of her actions.

Circe Masers: Cas does not like Circe.  She's violent and lacks sense -- a bad combination.  Cas is honestly not sure why Aloysius keeps her around.

Azmodeus and Belial White: Fenrus's older brothers.  More than a little weird, and rivals for Susan in paranoia.   Not bad people though.

Fenrus White: Nicer than his brothers.  He's a friend, though he's a little bit odd.  Likes his privacy, which Cas is inclined to respect.

---

Salem de Silva: Cas knows her, and is not a fan.  She's responsible for the death of Leah, the reason good mages have to stick to the shadows, and seeks far too much control.  Cas treats her with wary respect, and if she and Shakti find out something that was meant to be secret, that's for the good of Aloysius and the Dark Shadows.

Willow Fitzgerald: Obsessed with Salem, and her lover.  A possible piece of leverage, that.  Salem's cool on the matter, meaning pressure should be applied to Willow.

Damien Louis: A capable team leader.  Cas wishes DS had more people like him.  A real shame he's in the Guild.

Aliira Van Drauga: Capable and loyal, more's the pity.  A bright outlook -- as if that makes what the Guild does okay.

Eliza Hurley: Bouncy and a bit much for Cas, personality-wise.

Jordan Magana: A party girl with no responsibility.

Jun-Seo Kim: Seems nice.  A shame he works for the Guild, but such is life.

Alex Bellamy: A newcomer.  Cas doesn't know enough about her to have an opinion.

Vivian Rushika: Obsessed with her research.  Questionable morality.  Best avoided.

Belial Rothford: Creepy.  Cas doesn't like him, and avoids him when she can.

---

*hiss*

B A S I C SName: Shakti
Gender: none
Age: unknown
Alignment: Casara

Magical Abilities: Shakti appears to be some sort of shadow monster, and spends most of its time in the realm beyond shadows, looking through them into the world.  It is not hindered by walls, only by where light falls.  It cannot go more than perhaps five yards from Cas, though this range is doubled when she is sleeping or unconscious.  Within that range it may emerge from any shadow, so long as it does not emerge into a lighted area.  It can see and hear from these shadows, allowing Cas to effectively snoop behind closed doors simply by going near them.

While Shakti is a skilled and extremely effective physical fighter, it is limited to areas with decent shadow cover.  Bright light cast upon it is injurious, and it must always stay near to its anchor.  It is fast and strong, but has no offensive magic.

When it is in the realm beyond shadows it registers mostly as low-level magical interference.  While there it can neither be seen nor heard, save by Casara herself.

I N - D E P T H   A P P E A R A N C EShakti does not have a true form as such, but it appears as a dark and featureless body in the shadows, save for its ever-glowing eyes.  When fully in view, it rises to 7' tall, with knife-sharp talons of varying length and a rather hunchbacked appearance.

P E R S O N A L I T YShakti is highly paranoid, and feeds into Cas's anxiety.  It tries to keep this in check for her sake, but it is not always successful.  Beyond that it has one purpose and one purpose only: to guard its charge and protect her from all harm.  It has come to recognize those Cas trusts, though it does not exactly trust itself.  Still, it understands that trauma can be as harmful as a weapon or spell.  It is learning.

H I S T O R YShakti's story is something out of legends.  A mistreated child mage, in the time before proper history, created for herself a guardian and an avenger.  After the child's death Shakti brought death down upon the village for their mistrust, and there it lingered, until other mages came to banish it.

Summoned thousands of years later by a cult that must've had at least one true mage to properly evoke the blood ritual, Shakti did not emerge as a weapon to be wielded by the cultists, but rather as a distorted form of the guardian it had once been.  Twisted by eons of painful banishment, Shakti was driven to slaughter any danger to its new anchor, and between the pain and borderline insanity it thought everything was a threat.  It became a curse to the one it should have delivered, reaching from shadows to kill whatever it could, even family and neighbors.

An independent mage team effected the capture of both creature and child-anchor, taking them to a facility where Shakti could be dealt with.  It has been bound to the girl's will in addition to her position, though this binding has erroded over the years.  Fortunately for everyone, Casara and Shakti have formed an agreement on their own in addition to the binding, and after years spent near the light Shakti is no longer the creature of murderous rage it used to be.  It still sees danger in everything, but it has learned that slaughter is not the best method to keep its charge safe.  Even better, it has learned to work with Casara, helping her in her spy work and to keep her safe even in the more dangerous parts of town.

For the most part it stays hidden, but it is ever watchful.  Should Casara find herself in mortal danger, Shakti will not hesitate to use whatever means necessary to keep her safe.

O T H E R   I N F O R M A T I O NMost people do not know Shakti exists, as it stays in the shadows most of the time.

Originally created by Jewels and used as a counterpart to Casara with her permission.  <3

shylarah Member

the crazy one

Status

Recent Statuses

Bio

Most Recent Posts