Stormyx — Roleplayer Guild

Somewhere in Kvatch

Somewhere in a lonely Inn in Kvatch, sat a woman in her quietly modest room, completely out of place. Ashen hair, brittle blue eyes, dressed entirely in black. The only colour about her was from the ring on her finger. This foreign woman observed the ring, admiring the lustre and cut of the red stone in the centre, but there was definitie apprehension in the ache of the coldness of the band. The absolute mundanity of it, beautiful and luxurious as it was. 

This ring was a promise of something better and while normally she’d leap at the chance to snatch her claws into an opportunity, this particular promise was empty and unforgiving. It was a promise from a man who had decided long ago that Reinette couldn’t survive the world alone. 

She stifled a yawn and closed her fist over the smooth oak armrest of the chair she was set in, listening to the feeling of the band touch the wood. Unpleasant. Behind the closed doors of her secret room, Reinette felt quite comfortable to release her upset. It was the sight of her finger adorned with a flawless ruby that made her feel so indignant tonight. She didn’t like the look of it, nor the shine, nor the weight, nor the meaning. 

Gold bought men their feeling of power, and in this case, the gold had kept perversion from her door after her home had been cruelly taken from her. Had she not had the ruby, and more importantly, the giver of such a ring, she might well have been in her grave. She did owe him that.

Her impenetrable blue and grey gaze pointed down at it and she sighed. 

Outside of her window offered her a far better vision. Beyond the backwashed currents of people shuffling over the bent and broken spine of the town, the place had been set alight with an orange glow that was falling out in long flakes, lighting up the sprawling horizon beyond Kvatch too, out upon the fields and forest, like smelting pots in the mark of the sun setting.

At least out there, something was alive - unlike the cold band around her finger, stifling her blood flow. She took the ring off, and placed it back into its velvet pouch.

One thing was certain to Reinette, that nothing got under her skin more than the feeling of powerlessness. That Skingrad was such an unsafe place for her to go to now didn’t frighten her, no. It enraged her. It had left her in a state of inbetween, with a promise from a benefactor as potentially her safest course of action. 

Instead, Reinette made a promise to herself. Not today, and most likely not tomorrow either… But she would get her home back. She’d seize back her place from Count Hruldan, be part of whatever movement it would be that seized Skingrad back from his iron grip. The last thing he would do, would be to choke on his own arrogance. Reinette was judicious in her pursuit for revenge, or did this feel more like justice in heart? Was that chill that crept up her spine truly just a howl of vengeance?

Whatever it was, she wished for it to cease - the noise. 

As they often did, the woman’s fingers quivered to summon forth a pool of a spell into her palm, energy moving and growing around her like a balm of all of her favourite things, instant comfort over her raw and exposed being.

The smell of lavender, lilies, and tulips on a warm morning. Every now and then, a wafting scent of Hammerfell sand carried on a midday breeze, followed by warm champagne and berries in a moonlit garden. The illusion moved around her as she breathed, each slower and deeper than the last until sound slipped in. The pages of an old book turning, a flickering candle, ocean waves retreating to the shore over and over again. Finally, in the furthest pocket of distance, and only when she was completely settled, was the sound of a child’s laughter.

She formed a tapestry from the threads of her spell, until she was bathed in naught but silent moonlight.

══════ A P P E A R A N C E ══════

Reinette is short of height, standing at approximately 5’2, although most would never know this, as she is just about always wearing an impressive heel, or will remain seated in new company - always managing to find high ground to those she invites to her company. Her figure is lean but unmistakably feminine, with a willowy waist and generous hips. She is well aware of the effect that her shape has on people, often using it to her advantage by emphasising a sway in her hips, stretching a leg a certain way, or playing with her collar just so, smiling in the most inviting way that she can.

Unlike the rest of her body, her lips stand out with their fullness. They are most always painted in an eye-catching colour, sat over her perfectly straight teeth. She has a round, soft face, with high cheekbones and her ears have the slight signature pointed tip and her eyebrows are arched - both signal to her Elvish ancestry.

Reinette’s eyes are the centre point of her face. They are the cold and unforgiving grey blue of an ocean, flecked with waves of silver and black around the iris. They are maelstroms. Striking and infamous. Rarely will she look upon a stranger, particularly one she deems inferior to herself, but she has been known to stop people dead in their tracks with a single intensified glance. They are the poisonous jab that can invoke fear in one instance and break through it with charm the next. Framed by well groomed and arched brows slightly darker than her hair, they are the windows into her soul if one can stand to maintain eye contact with her for long enough to find it.

Almost as unique as her eyes, is her recognisable hair. Worn in long, soft waves, the ash blonde shines like strands of silver in moonlight. Reinette is impeccably groomed at all times, never a hair out of place, never a crease in her clothing that wasn’t intended to be there. Her living quarters and workspaces are as pristine as she is, with everything in their rightful, designated space. Her signature scent is lavender, daisy, and snowberry. A scent that she formulates herself and carries with her at all times. She is as vain as you would expect her to be, showing great concern to stay clean, neat, and beautiful at all times. She has no qualms about directing her attention to the nearest mirror in conversation.

═══════ H I S T O R Y ══════

Born the first Monday of Morning Star, blossoming into the world as her mother’s greatest miracle, to her father, she was less than that. 

The Patriarch of the Deserine family taught his daughter everything that he knew. History, politics, business. He treated her mostly with a cold distance, but remained dedicated to her being a well-rounded and respected member of his family with the hopes that one day, she’d take up their business and carry on their name, should his wife fail to produce a male heir.

Unlike her husband, Elayne Deserine regarded her daughter with naught but love and great affection. The two were similar in appearance, both Deserine woman had bl. Mother would try to understand Reinette by picking flo. Unfortunately for her, Reinette would always want only what she couldn’t have. Growing up, that something she could never have was her father’s loving attention. Reinette happened to watch her mother suffer the heavy loss of three unborn children while growing up. If she grieved, Reinette did not see it. Salosoix would lock her away and out of sight, “a mage” - becoming more rigorous with his daughter's training and education of a noble life to ignore it himself. 

Eventually, Salosoix’s wife was able to fulfill a promise to her husband - delivering him a son, and this would be her last act as his wife. She died that same afternoon, leaving the screaming, bawling Sirion behind in the arms of Salosoix. Reinette, now 12 years old, finally saw her father’s love. It had been reserved for the moment that he held his precious son.

Growing up in their home, Reinette’s own education and time with her father began to dry up, as he gave his devotion only to Sirion, and his once sincere wish for Reinette to be his official heiress was pushed to the side. With every act of kindness he showed the young boy, Reinette’s resentment for her brother grew and festered. She longed for her father. “All you do is lie.”  Of course the man noticed that his daughter was growing more beautiful. He could have her married in a year or two, and his efforts at teaching her all that he knew wouldn’t be in vain, she would make an exceptional wife. He allocated funds for her to be tutored privately in the arts, in literature, and in conversation.

But by 17, the loneliness, her youth, and her naivete led her to the arms of a town kitchen hand, Dimitri Pierone. She knew her power as a woman, she knew the way that men looked at her, and she knew what they wanted. Reinette wanted it too. Their love affair began as Winter drove in, and what she couldn’t find at home, she found in his arms, and she found under the covers with him - ”as a whore”.

Their affair was kept secret until a trail of whispers found Salosoix’s ears. His influence and power in Daggerfall ensured that Dimitri was relocated, and he was never seen again. It seemed that time had frozen until she had started to grow suspicious of her growing stomach. So too, had Salosoix, after a young Sirion had pointed it out rather innocently.

The man’s response was to send her away to Camlorn, to a small Guild of Adventurers in the part ownership of an acquaintance, the mage Estelle Malveaux. “You will see this through. Have the child. Continue your education.” In the days before leaving, Salosoix was gentle with his daughter, displaying tenderness and caring. Reinette became filled with the hope that if she simply did enough with this new education, when she returned, things would change. He promised her this would be the case.

The romanticised portrait she had painted was not to be. The Guild was cold, harsh, and full mostly of young men who were both appalled and delighted in equal measure at the beautiful, blossoming woman that had arrived at their doorstep, pregnant. It was Estelle who took the girl under her wing immediately, giving her books and modest chores. 

After one week, she awoke in the night to great pains, a twisting ache in her stomach and the feeling of blood in a pool soaking through her mattress. She was held down by Estelle, who quickly gathered her energy into a spell to remove Reinette’s voice while she screamed. She screamed and screamed, her lonely anguish felt in every nerve - heard by no-one. 

”What could we do?” A wave, shattering it’s form on rock.

“Sometimes, life is simply taken from us,” Reinette was told. “Your mother, she suffered the same, did she not?” It was a cruel way to be told to get over it. “What do you want, Reinette?” asked Estelle softly, lifting the woman’s chin with a hooked forefinger. 

“I want… I want it to stop,” the woman answered as a single tear rolled from her glassy red stare and down her cheek.

“We can do that,” Estelle answered, smiling as easily as she could. “We can make it stop forever.” This time the mage used a powerful spell to fold away the pain, to bury it, so that Reinette could move on.

The scent of something familiar and the sound of the ocean dragged it away. “There are rules”

And she did, for a time. 

She was told a little while later that this was illusion magic, and should she wish to, she could learn it for herself. Seeing no reason not to, and having grown bored of reading historical tomes all of her life, Reinette was ready to move on to something better. First, a spell to lighten the mood. To bring warmth to a room, to bring smiles to a crowd - to fold away feelings of fear and fright.

”-do is lie.”

Fear, she learned, that could be unfolded and weaponised too. One evening after too much teasing by a boy, too much jest at her weakness, too much of his hands grabbing and tearing at her, she was able to find focus enough to turn his room into a nest of arcane spiders. She pulled and wove from his fear until it was made real for him in the dead of night.

Another lesson that she learned was that men were believed, and women were not, and that bruises meant nothing.

Reinette realised the power that she could command, that she could take the unwanted lust of a weak man and turn it to her will and control it, instead of being a victim to it ever again. 

She wished for the victim that stared back at her everyday to be free.

In an attempt to aid Reinette’s growing angst, Estelle, in objection to her orders, introduced her to another art - restoration. If she had picked up illusion quickly, restoration came to her like air to her lungs. There was still enough inside of her to create healing, helpful light. To watch flesh knit back together with her magic lit a fire in the woman, this was a different kind of power indeed - to look at the broken, the wounded, the bleeding, and make the decisions that would allow them to live again. That was truly power. Life, literally in her hands. 

“Your mother must have been a mage,” Estelle remarked.

Hearing the words, Reinette realised that she didn’t know who her mother had even been before she was a wife, a mother. Reinette had never asked, and more than that, she couldn’t quite remember any conversation of note with her. For the first time since her death, Reinette truly felt the loss and pain bubbling to the surface. She had been erasing the memory of the woman who had given her life long before she had even died. 

There was only one more event at the Guild for Reinette. After a standard mission had gone wrong, one of the archers came back with his leg hanging from his hip, held together by skin and sinew. It was Reinette who fixed him, and not only that, made it so the man could walk again. Barely a scar - just the deep stain in the floorboards where she worked and the bundle of rags in a bucket remained. It would only be his memory of the event that would be proof it ever happened after she gave him another chance. 

Estelle held her pride in the stillness behind her eyes and behind the mask that was her porcelain face, and her sigh of relief was pinched in her ribs clasped tight by a corset. The picture of cold grace that her student was emulating. Reinette was a different person now to the lost and directionless girl in the doorway. She was powerful, and she knew it.

The woman didn’t stay at the Guild for much longer. She felt healed, and she felt a sense of purpose in her life - as well as an itch to return to her family, even after all that had happened. Needing help, Salosoix sent his daughter away to Jehanna - finally relenting to her wish to prove herself in business, to his surprise, she took a failing operation and turned it around with ease, and he wasn’t exactly sure how. Unbeknownst to him, she had more up her sleeve than cunning words and intelligence as he did. She had forged herself into an entirely different creature through her intense and continuous study of the arcane arts. 

Reinette was diligent and bright, relying on cunning just as her father taught her. But the power to heal proved to be the secret ingredient to her success. Slipping between the cracks with her gift took her to places an ordinary merchant would never have been allowed to go - to the chambers of men on their sickbeds. They were able to trust wholeheartedly in the woman by their side and so they spilled their secrets as if revealing them relieved the pain of carrying them. 

Her quiet way of living couldn’t last forever. During a visit from her father and brother, a great storm was due to arrive, and so the family had to stay for longer which only caused tension. Sirion was clearly not interested in this way of life - no matter how Salosoix pushed him, and despite this, he chose this time to inform his daughter that the business would indeed belong to her younger brother - as soon as he came of age.

All that she has was a barrage of questions - how could he, why could he? Hadn’t he noticed how hard she had worked? Wasn’t she at least owed something?

Salosoix seethed at his daughter’s brash outburst. “I fixed your life, Reinette. I already gave you everything, I made sure that thing was taken care of.”

“What did you say?” Reinette asked, as confusion wobbled across her breath and a single tear fell from her cheek in a line until it fell to the floor.

Salosoix had selfishly unburdened himself by revealing to his daughter the truth. That he had sent her to Camlorn to forget, and to protect the Deserine legacy and Reinette’s buried grief resurfaced as he invoked that memory with his confession. 

The threatened storm broke outside of the walls, the ocean turning wild from the winds as Reinette watched Salosoix take a steady seat, his usual cigar in hand. “In our society there are rules that must be obeyed if you wish to remain a part of it. Mothering an illegitimate child by acting as a whore is a mockery of the rules that allow us to maintain our place. I fixed you.”

Each word sent her back, a ringing in her ears as folds unfolded, and cruelty rained back in. The sound brought her back forth to her body where she found her hands held out - swirling energy held in her palms. “All you do…” she began as smouldering, ice-cold anger pointed at her Father, “is lie.” 

No matter how hard she focused, no matter the amount of energy she pooled into her hands, there was nothing she could do to strike fear into him, because he could never see her as a threat to him. All Salosoix could do was stare on, bothered only by the act of her raising her voice to him. 

“All you do is take,” she choked, clenching both fists in frustration. 

“What else could we do?” Salosoix asked as clouds outside formed a squall and the sea's crescendo struck the rocks. Everything came back, whatever box that Estelle had locked was opened and the feelings that escaped met a cold harsh truth. That her Father had been her villain all along, and she would never be free of that victim until she was free of him.

And so she turned away.

Skills left unsharpened dulled away as the world moved on. Where Reinette’s learned and practiced knowledge of the merchant trade had given her a successful business and a name for herself - years away from it directly, began to erase the progress. Closing the door on her father closed that door forever, and somehow, through her reputation of inordinate arcane skill she still eventually found herself in the castle of Skingrad, as a Court Physician, Alchemist, and Mistress of Whispers.

Sometimes it was hard to remember the climb that brought her to Skingrad. Each step had been a conversation, a whisper in an ear, a healing of the right person, or a turn of magic that could help words flow freely. There had been nudges. Spells to clear the path, but only on occasion.

The air, at least, was clear around her. It could be so busy in Skingrad that it became entirely quiet. She could walk through the streets invisible, if she really wanted, and she often did. A cloak and gloves on her walk to the outskirts to find the forest. There was solace from grief in collecting from the earth. Mushrooms, plants, insects, flowers. Where once it had been stowed away to fester, she had been living with it since and through meaningful isolation, each day it felt lighter. This was a period of true calm.

She would brew potions for innocent ailments, and for the more serious - it felt strange to find actual trust and honesty. A woman thanking her for providing a tincture for her sickly child. A man’s gratitude for the oils that would ease his itching skin. Reinette regarded the kindness with a cold shoulder and distrust, but carried on diligently regardless, knowing that there were still more steps to take. The tower would always be harder for her climb, but she dreamed only of the day she'd find the very top of it, and be given the ability to gaze below. 

When words would not do, instead her room became a treasure trove of jewels, finery, and antiques. Occasionally, on a peaceful day, she didn’t think about her father at all.

While on a trip away from Skingrad, by a stroke of luck she was spared the mess of being involved in events that led to the usurping of Count Hassildor. The Golden Coast of Anvil and a particular benefactor kept her safe. Her own cunning kept her hidden from those who may seek to find her for association. Finally, she followed a trail of whispers that alerted her to Isobel Aurelia, a rebel taking up arms against the Usurper. 

In this woman, this brave and optimistic woman… Reinette saw an opportunity to take his seat from him. To reach the top, at last.

With nothing else to lose, and plenty to gain by fighting alongside such a movement, Reinette offered her skills as a healer and practiced diplomat to the woman...

═══════ P E R S O N A L I T Y ══════

As an individual, Reinette can be characterized by her ruthless level of rationality and practiced ability to use her determination and sharp mind to achieve the goals she sets out for herself. This is to such a severe degree that she barely finds time to think of anything else, and so can seem high-strung. She is strategic, and manages this long-term focus to execute her plans with precision and confidence. In a room of personalities, she is dominant, relentless, and unforgiving as she genuinely enjoys the challenge of repartee that comes from a group environment. 

The Breton, however, greatly respects those that can stand toe-to-toe with her intellectually, but the same can not be said for those that are lazy, inefficient, or weak-minded. She has no time for them, and will cut them to shreds with a degree of insensitivity that has left those on the receiving end occasionally weeping. 

Reinette is observant, and able to absorb, remember, and recall minute details about people of interest. From working with people from all walks of life, she is quick to weigh them up on the fly, deciding for herself enough about them to decipher how she should act should she need something. This is a well defined skill she developed from an early age, and inherited from her father, Salosoix. Just like him, she is intelligent, well-read, and unafraid and unashamed to rely on cunning in many situations in order to get what she wants. This often manifests as flirty persuasion, sometimes a caring listening ear, and then from time to time it is a carousing spirit in the middle of a soiree. Reinette has many masks, and is comfortable in wearing them all.

Her reputation as a talented healer often precedes her first and foremost and provides her enough of an “in” with people to get to know them, but she tends not to develop true friendships and relationships past a surface level. Ultimately, she seems to find that people are boring and intolerable. There have been few individuals in her life that she was unable to read, and it is an enigmatic personality that always captures her deep interest. 

There is still some of that young, teen spirit in Reinette, and she has tried over the years with romantic pursuits as she enjoys the genuine attention and affection of men pursuing her, but nothing has ever really lasted. Often times, she is too dominant, confident, and self-absorbed in relationships for them to last long. 

While all of these aspects of her personality certainly are displayed, it’s only ever because she as an individual is so intensely driven towards her goals. Her goal which is sketchy at best, and perhaps she has thought too much about climbing the ladder that she hasn’t put enough thought into what she’ll actually do should when she finds herself there. This drive has been both her greatest strength, and her biggest hindrance. She is willing to do whatever it takes to succeed, and where many charismatic leaders of the world have followed their hearts on their path, that is not Reinette. She doesn't often listen to her heart, and so this has been neglected. Very few people can count themselves fortunate enough to have ever experienced the softer side of Reinette, but those who have may be pleasantly surprised to find her playful sense of humour, a quirky love of riddles and mathematical puzzles, and a  deeply sentimental nature once it has been coaxed out of her after business has been done. If it happens in company, it is tickled out of her with enough alcohol.

In isolation, when the doors are closed, Reinette allows herself to relax and unwind with contemplative hobbies such as reading, painting, and arranging flowers. She has a particular fondness for flowers, drying them out in the pages of her journal for decoration, or simply for keepsake. She especially loves lavender, admiring how hardy the plant is and how it is able to take root just about anywhere. 

The secrets of her life are buried deep, but unforgotten. Each Sun’s Hand she mourns silently for her stolen summer child on a day of her choosing, saving this time for herself to take a walk and plant a flower in memory.

Ultimately, Reinette is on her own journey to prove herself as powerful in a world seemingly under the control of weak-minded men. She chases power, wealth, and fame and when asked what she wants, Reinette will simply answer “everything”, because nothing so far has so much as come close to satisfying her. Really, Reinette just wants to feel important, to someone who can find her.

═══════ S K I L L S ══════

Reinette possesses a vast knowledge of anatomy that draws upon her endless studying, both magical and not. While she can use her healing magic to mend wounds, she couples this with spells of illusion to calm a troubled mind in physical pain, to bring them close to sleeping so that she can work peacefully and without distraction.

As well as with the magic, she is fascinated by alternative healing - particularly the use of massage, stretching, exercise, and a healthy diet. She has healed many a painful ailment without even a spark of magic, and instead a carefully placed hand.

As an alchemist, she deals primarily with creating tinctures and potions - healing, usually, but she is not without the skill to pull together a potion that will cause some damage. She can also, with enough time to prepare, create poisons. Alchemy, she has found, has been useful for making her own perfumes, cosmetics, and beauty oils.

▼   E Q U I P M E N T
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
    ► Simple velveteen satchel.
    ► 234 gold.
    ► Specialist fabric gloves.
    ► Various items of decorative jewellery, including a golden ring set with a ruby, packaged in a velvet pouch and wrapped in tissue.
    ► Several writing journals, quills, inks.
    ► Several alchemical ingredients like salts, petals, and mushrooms.
    ► A provisioning knife, small mortar and pestle.
    ► Three empty glass vials.
    ► Several changes of clothing, all fine and all in dark hues.
    ► Sprinkles of moonsugar. Some other “medical” tinctures.
    
═══════ M I S C ══════

Reinette suffers from painful headaches from time to time, which make her temper shorter than usual.

Unsurprisingly, Reinette does not flinch at the sight of wounds - no matter how severe, and while delicate in almost every other situation, she is not afraid of being covered in blood while working.

She has a particularly sweet tooth, a favourite treat being a knaffeh she ate during travels through Gilane years ago. To get on her good side, and to lower her defenses slightly, one need only bring her flowers, sweets, or a complex puzzle.

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