Write

Starkissed

The worst person is me.

Starkissed

Who knows maybe I messed up, who knows. No one.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Crimmy @Plank Sinatra
Behind the Café

"Yes, I know... And yet." I trailed off. I knew whwat I wanted to say, how I wanted to say it. But for some reason it was still hard.

"I don't regret it at all. Because you're here with me and we're figuring this out one step at a time." I said still holding onto Gratia's hand with two of my own shaking slightyl still. "I'm sorry for the headache I've caused you, I know this has been more than you ever deserved to deal with. But I wouldn't hae been able to do it without you." I knew I didn't deserve the girl.

It was so odd.

She was smaller than she seemed.

To me Gratia always seemed larger than life. Massive even, like a huge pillar of will. Jericho was like that too.

I felt small in comparison.

"I don't know how I'll ever make this up to you. I think about it sometimes when I'm trying to sleep at night. How will I ever pay back Gratia Mindaro?"

"I don't know yet, and I don't think I ever will know. Just something I will carry with me, not unlike Vittoria's death. A feeling that no matter what, I owe you, that I need you to be a part of my life."

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Crimmy @Plank Sinatra
Behind the Café

I wanted to tell Gratia that it wasn't that easy. That I wasn't chasing normalcy out of some kind of idea that that would erase everything that had happened already. That I just wanted to feel comfortable again.

But she was right and I knew it.

"I understand." Then came the question of regret.

I wish the situation had played out differently....

---

“Your Mistralian sounds like you’ve spent a lot of time in the lower end, some poor lower class whor-“ Vitoria began, she was stopped severely and instantly by a palm striking the side of her face, in an instant.

The rain smashed into the side of the car with a similar amount of ferocity. Bianca hadn't noticed the rain at the time, only on going back and thinking on it did she remeber the weather that night. In fact, she was surprised by how much she didn't remember. They weren't in some dark void, they were on a street. With houses, the smell of baked goods infiltrated her memory. It was something she hadn't noticed. All she smelled was blood and gunpowder.

As Bianca watched Vitoria begin to reach forward she considered her semblance for approximately a quarter of a second, but with the amount of aura she had it wouldn’t have done anything. In less than one more second her ears rang uncontrollably, her hands shaking violently as Vitoria fell away from Gratia Mindaro and Bianca’s eyesight caved in from her peripheral vision focusing instead on what was directly in front of her.

And then it ended.

---

"Gratia I have always thought that my greatest fortune was having you for a friend. You're an incredibly strong woman and I believe that you could've snuffed Vittoria out in a moment." I started taking a grasp of Gratia's hand as it retreated back to the ponytailed girl's side. "But I couldn't risk losing you. I do not regret it at all."

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Crimmy @Plank Sinatra
Behind the Café

"Okay. I'll look up a few places, we can pick one together you feel good about and I'll start getting some professional counciling. Twice a week is the best I can do with my schedule." I said once more feeling the desperate pinch of Gratia's fingernails in my forearm. My flat expression began to give way to the stiffest upper lip I could manage.

"I'm sorry."

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Crimmy @Plank Sinatra
Behind the Café

There was truth and validity in the other girl's words. But...

I could feel the sting of her fingers digging through the thin fabric of my shirt and into my arm. It acted as a sort of grounding, to this moment.

"I'm sorry, Gratia. I apologize that you don't like how I'm dealing with this. That I'm not laying on the couch in some office expositing an entire history of how my father always wanted my sister to be the proper Nuit, and that no matter how hard I tried to impress him in everything that I was and did, he never offered as much as a second glance in my direction until my mother died." I stood up straighter and faced Gratia. "Then I could tell him about my mother's funeral, about how while I stood there alone crying after my father's eulogy and my sister had to leave to pack her bags for Beacon I was beaten. Dragged through the mud and the muck. Taken to a warehouse, beaten more, had my wings hoisted above my head for buyers to see, had the feathers plucked out by a disgusting bitch with an attraction to pain. Then I could tell him how that made me feel. How I didn't want to shoot her. Because that wouldn't be enough. I could tell him how I listened to other girls die in the same room as me. They pleaded for anyone to help them, that because my semblance couldn't break cast iron I listened to the death of fifteen other girls before I got the chance to send a letter. You think I'm chasing Jericho's dick?"

I asked my chest rising and falling faster than I had realized. Gratia's fingers and cold eyes still dug into me. But I couldn't feel the pain anymore. My eyes were still flat, just like my best friends.

"I'm chasing the fleeting sensation I had when I spoke to him for the first time on the cruise. I'm chasing normalcy and I'm not going to find it on the couch of a therapist. I know that I wanted her dead and I know that isn't the right thing to want. I understand that no one would ever consider that 'my fault' because of what I went through. I know the steps I'm supposed to take, the excercises I should be doing, that I shouldn't jump into new situations because my current state is fragile. I'm aware. I just don't care anymore." I finished staring directly back at Gratia completely unwavering. I had only felt two fleeting moments of normalcy since the night I was kidnapped...

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Crimmy @Plank Sinatra

My vision shook for a moment. This was Gratia, she was as much a sister to me as Estelle was. I loved her.

So why then?

Why was I so mad?

"You want me to speak with a shrink." I said back to myself, calmly and slowly. My mind flashed between a few images, feathers on the ground, my chains holding me to the ground, Vitoria's corpse on the ground. "I'm fine." I answered, my eyes adopting a cold flatness not unlike Gratia's herself. I didn't want to scream anymore. I didn't want to yell or tear my hair out. I just shut it all off once more.

This was how Gratia worried. I understood that. I knew it and before I might've loved it, even reveled it. But right now, I felt suffocated.

"I overstepped and I get that bugs you. So I'll fix it." I said watching as someone walked by Gratia and I and waited until they were out of earshot before continuing. "But you're going to have to give me a fucking minute to get over shooting a girl in the head." I said, my fist shaking a bit more than it had any right to. I knew I shouldn't have let my anger get the best of me, my father always told me it was my ugliest side. I saw the car pull over to the side of the road. I was supposed to be picking up papa in that. Perfect timing, I wanted to leave.

"Thank you for your concern." I said moving past Gratia and towards the cafe to see if Jericho wanted to come along or not.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Crimmy @Plank Sinatra

“Well in my-“

No come on girl, you know her you you’re talking to here. This is Gratia. Shoot up a Mafioso’s headquarters to get you back Gratia. Oh man.

“Something I shouldn’t have done.” I said looking down like a child who had been caught stealing. Gratia had this way of looking at someone. Whether she cared for them or not, that could make them confess all their sins faster than Jericho could get them out of you with any number of office supplies.

“And it was for a dumb reason.” I continued, knowing that the jig was up. But Hayley had been smiled at by Jericho! That was so unfair. The only time I had seen smile was…

I let out a long sigh.

“I have to give her the store and not make her move out to the wastes, huh?” I said glancing at Gratia’s statuesque face that refused to blink, breathe, react, or portray emotion. Yeah I did have to go give her the store to make up for it.

It was just that I got so angry. The only other time he had gotten so much as a grin was back on the cruise.

---

I studied the super spy in my bathroom. He leaned backwardss against the sink, stitching a stab wound on his right abdomen while I sat on the toilet seat. My handbag in my hand and my beautiful evening dress looking a little disheveled.

"Well the idea was, if he came in and he was the killer I'd kill him first." I said matter-of-factly to the waitor as he glanced up at me through the corner of his eye.

"How would you know he was the killer?" He asked paying more attention to the wound.

"Well the soundtrack would've alerted me probably." I said, half-joking. These spy movies always had their soundtracks.

"The...the soundtrack?" He asked, stopping and holding the needle for a second in complete bewilderment.

"you know? Ba duh, ba duh, ba duh ba duh ba duh." I said humming along to the classic tune.

"..." Oh, Jesus. He shook his head in disbelief before going back to the sewing, he wasn't doing a particularly great job, but in fairness he could barely see what he was doing. "So if you had walked in while I was listening to music and stitching myself up in there, you would have tried to kill me."

"Depends on the genre." I noted as he once again stopped and put the needle down. It seemed this conversation needed his full attention.

"The musical cue you just described is the backbone of four of my favorite six Ella Fitzgerald songs." He said staring holes through my eyes.

"Yeah well the thing about that is." I started standing up, almost triumphantly. "I didn't kill you did I?" I finished, cooly. This elicited a sarcastic chuckle from Jericho as I made my way over to the side with the stab wound. It was less of a laugh and perhaps more of a "I don't believe you." The wound was somewhat grisly.

"I was shirtless and disheveled in your bathroom. If my read on you is correct, you would have been distracted long enough for me to grab a makeshift weapon and incapacitate you had you tried." He lectuerd as I plopped my handbag beside him and got to work sewing the wound close, fixing the handiwork he had put himself through.

"But I was already holding my weapon silly." I corrected motioning towards my handbag, noticing his confusion a litle but deciding to ignore it.

"Your bathroom has seventeen that would have knocked you out long enough for me to finish stitching and sneak out." he said after a very brief moment of silence. That was quite the analysis, and he was right as far as he was aware.

"I think I may surprise you yet secret agent." I said with a small smile, dipping the needle into his flesh in order to seal the wound.

"I don't know if I want that." He responded abjectly.

"Oh you definitely don't." I assured him. "For example, you missed one of the weapon's in the room. There's eighteen."

"Enlighten me." He asked, confused, seemingly scanning the room once more.

"In the toilet filter." I replied remembering Gratia putting the handgun in the toilet filter should anything happen during the cruise.

"..." Heh. I caught the reflection of his lips curling ever so slightly into a small grin as he closed his eyes while I finished the final stitch. "Fair enough, rookie."

---

It’s like Gratia always said. “If you’re going to be a sociopath I’m going to have to shoot you.”

Ugh.

“I feel bad, I’ll go fix this. Thank you Gratia.” I said with a small voice. Leaning towards Gratia to give her a hug.

Starkissed

Fæla / Aeterna / Law, Order, Restriction

⍚ Fæla (fae * la) ⥥ 16 ⥥ Female ⥥ Demisexual ⍚

"There’s something spectacular about knowing you’re missing something, but also spectacularly depressing."

♪♪

---

---

𝔐y 𝔐ortal ℭ𝔬𝔦𝔩

---

---

[ ⍚ ] A _{P P E A R A N C E}

---

”Fæla is a mere five feet two inches, standing shorter than most people her age, however she has a look about her that would stop most in their tracks. Her eyes are fierce and the lines around her face are like the lay lines of the very earth itself. It appears at a glance that she has seen too much or this world already at the brisk age of 21. In that way, her eyes do somewhat look tired. But not as though they are ready for a momentary sleep. More as though they are ready for a release. From this plane, from this life, from too many things to count. She has a dreariness about her that doesn’t escape most encounters.

She has bright green eyes that would surprise most. As they stand out so glaringly amongst her olive complexion. She has a deep but thin scar running diagonally along her nose that is somewhat difficult to make out, mostly due to its thinness. She has sandy brown hair that reaches her chin, so as to keep out of her way should anything escalate. She was raised to be ready, though she doesn’t have much experience with fisticuffs, she is a shaman. She has some been taught in the ways of some offensive magic, though most of it is incredibly weak and relying on a source of natural magick. Which would naturally bring one to her earrings. They are a bright emerald green, quite like her eyes. While they do look fairly similar to one another, it would take a Shaman to notice the difference. The left earring is a slightly different shade of green, closer in hue to a turquoise, but only slightly. The left itself contains a healing magick contained from a spring within a magical subsection of the forests. While the right contains a spell which will escalate the growth of foliage rapidly, a more defensive technique.

Fæla speaks in a low, rather flat tone most of the time. However she isn’t a robot. She feels emotions like everyone else, most of the time she just chooses not to outwardly express it. As such she often comes across as disinterested and uncaring her rigid facial features only complement this opinion. Though she has been known to show a great deal of respect to those who have earned it, affording them a few smiles here and there. Fæla is uncertain often about how to go about interacting with others and often has a rather unfriendly posture and way about her during conversation, not making direct eye contact and speaking in short sentences.

Her mark is. In truth, her scar. Beginning on the bridge of her nose, more and more lacerations over her body before fully consuming her, looking as though she has suffered a complete body-wide devastation, suffering many of the deep but thin scars all across her body. These show up predominantly on her back, shoulders, calves and face.

[ ⍚ ] P _{E R S O N A L I T Y}

---

" Fæla is a no-nonsense kind of woman. She rarely finds herself interacting with others because of a want, rather she interacts with them out of necessity. As such, she can come across as very informed, knowing very much about a topic before further questioning about it. However, on the off chance Fæla is uneducated about a topic and speaking to someone who knows what they’re talking about she is respectful and attentive. If one were to strike up conversation with her it would fully depend on where she was and what was happening at the time to gauge her reactions. For example, at a tribe gathering, it is an expected consequence and she would entertain the conversation, remaining rather polite. However, if someone were to approach her during her studies of the arcane or another time of focus, she would not entertain the thought.

Fæla, unsurprisingly perhaps has a slightly more wicked side to her. Often choosing whether to help someone based on whether or not it is helpful to her or not. There is a slight compunction to this however, as if a situation is life or death, Fæla has a hard time resisting helping the victim. This is notable due to the fact that she doesn’t like the feeling of compassion she gets. She doesn’t understand why people perform noble deeds, and yet she has been the performer of quite a few over time. Above all else, however, Fæla will always fall back on the conviction that the cycle of this planet will reset any imbalance.

Fæla views the arcane as what should be the most dominant field of study for this world’s people. Able to create incredible results with even a beginner’s knowledge only proves this more. As such Fæla has devoted her life to uncovering everything she can about the magic that surrounds this world. Becoming something of a master in the field. However, to say that she is a master in the field of which many do not even know exists is not saying much. Of course, that isn’t to say she is uneducated, but it has required a lot of risks gaining the knowledge and experience she has. "

[ ⍚ ] B _{I O G R A P H Y}

---

Fæla, from a young age felt as though she was on the cusp of discovering something massive. While she has already made leaps and bounds into the fields of the arcane and magick in general, she has yet to truly discover what this means for the greater world at large. Especially considering she has little to no idea who she is.

See, Fæla feels as though she isn’t supposed to be where she is, but she has no idea what spurs these feelings and paradoxically at her most relaxed and sensible she feels the strongest about this. Still, through all of her studies she is simply a girl, a girl who may know a lot about a world not many do. But one day she will die just like anyone else put on this earth and she isn’t special in that regard.

This is something that Fæla has had a hard time coming to grips with and has kept her up plenty of nights. Thinking about how she can possibly make her life mean something. She isn’t even sure what she wants it to mean, after all – what could one as small as her on a scale as magical and cosmic as the world she assuredly lives in truly do? Could it be true that the flapping wings of a butterfly could one day create a hurricane? Had she already done something so grand? Would she ever know if she did?

These were the questions eight year old Fæla struggled with since she saw the stars at night and the wisps dancing in the woods. She knew that there was something more to be found in this world. Which is why when she turned ten years old she devoted her life to shamanism. This would be the first time she would venture into the magical section of the woods. Being a young girl in the Abaneki tribe, this was strictly forbade. She was not to enter the forest under any circumstances, lest something terrible should happen to her. Her mother and father were the main source of this ideology, but most of the men in the Abaneki tribe echoed it. They were a prideful man, and as such, they were a protective man. This spurred only more temptation for Fæla. She wanted to know.

The first time Fæla attempted to wander into the forest her father had caught her, and punished her for not listening. He wasn’t a very strict man, punishment was lessons on how to tan a hide and create artwork from that. Fæla was pretty good at creating dreamcatchers. But even that upset her father. She wished it to magically take the bad dreams from your mind, leaving only the good. He felt betrayed. He had done so well at raining her with compassion. And yet here was this rebellious girl, not like the others in the Abaneki tribe, even though it would be so satisfying for her to just conform.

This along with the fact that he had caught her training to fight with an oaken stick. He simply wasn't sure what to do about his daughter. He chastised her day in and day out for her sparring, her insistence on using magic and studying it.

One night, when Fæla was just ten years old she was sent to fetch some water for the evening soup. On her way to the well she met a perimeter guard. He recognized her as the crazy girl who wanted to go into the forest. Not much of a surprise really, the Abaneki were known to fit into their respective roles and Fæla stuck out terribly in that situation. He approached her and asked if she was alright. She didn’t respond, simply walked past him.

“You should follow your heart little one.” He said as Fæla stopped dead in her tracks. The forest was in front of her and the man was behind her. If he was telling the truth…

The bucket hit the ground, while her feet pounded it. She sprinted as quickly as she could until she found herself unaware of where she was. The noises she heard were completely non-descript. Or perhaps they would’ve been rather specific. But it was like entering into a new world once more, she had no idea where she was, what she was hearing, in this forest, everything was possible. She wandered for hours. She met a few spirits who seemed to regard the little girl with interest, though it quickly faded. It was magical.

But by the time she found the exit, there was a mighty light.

The sun.

She had spent all night in the forest, not sure whether or not it had really felt like an entire night. She wasn’t sure.

By the time a search party found her she was the subject of hot debate. A child had wandered into a forbidden section of the forest and come out unscathed. Her father debated long and hard with the head’s of the tribe. A little girl had to be disciplined. She could not be wandering into the forest, what if something had happened? What if she came out scathed?

Why didn’t anything happen?

The heads of the tribe became interested in Fæla climaxing in them allowing her to renter the forest with supervision once she was thirteen. She walked in with two very proud men from the Abaneki tribe. As soon as the noises and sensations came back, alerting her that she was in the forest, the men were gone. Instead, she was alone and she had found herself in a cave. A snake the size of a tree trunk was there with her and it hissed at her with the voice of a woman.

“What bringsss you here little one?”

“I am here because I love it here. Are you a spirit as well?”

“I am…. What did you wish to take from this foressssst?”

“Nothing but experience.”

“Very well, enjoy your ssstay.”

The snake began to slither away before doubling back faster than Fæla could react. “Why shouldn’t I consume you here? You and your lussst for knowledge?”

“There is no reason. But would you rather I returned and learned, or a tribe return and destroy?” Fæla posed the question to the spirit. It hadn’t answered any of her questions up until this point.

Silently it slithered away. Leaving a content Fæla to explore once more. By the time she had returned she felt as though she was on the precipice of learning something great. She had a general understanding of how magic worked in this world, but not how to translate that into using it. Upon exiting the forest, she saw the tribe had gathered at the edge of the forest. Once more she had a gleam in her eyes, but she was completely unscathed. That wasn’t how it had worked out for the two guards. They lied dead at the edge of the forest. She wondered what they told the snake.

The nobles had to deliberate once more.

A girl who could enter the forest and return unharmed? That would be useful. But they had a reputation.

It stayed in this stasis for two more years.

When she was fifteen towards the falls, it was an area that she frequented for bathing purposes, sometimes simply for relaxation as well. When she reached the falls she found a water spirit, glancing into its own reflection. She sat there, still as can be, and she watched as it deliberated upon itself. It couldn’t decide what it wanted from the reflection, or perhaps it couldn’t decide what it was looking at. What its role was in this giant cosmic canvas, perhaps it was like her. In her careful examination of the spirit, she saw it draw something. It was as if the spirit had finger painted into the very water itself. A sigil had formed. Fæla didn’t know how long the spirit would stay, but she needed to find out what that rune was. She waited for two hours before deciding perhaps her presence would scare the spirit off. So she cautiously exited the brush.

The spirit saw her and immediately retreated, but not far enough to be out of sight. Fæla kept a watchful eye on the spirit as she approached the run, dragging her now soaking pants through the water of the falls. She reached the sigil and for a brief second she felt as though her mind had expanded, physically. It was a searing pain, she knew, in that moment what the sigil was. But it was too late, the water reached up and grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her in. She struggled against it, but it was as if someone had been holding her down forcefully. She had been gifted with beautiful knowledge of what could be, or what she could learn further. But she felt her body forcing her to breathe. She would die in these falls, the men of the Abaneki would be proven right. She shouldn’t have wandered out further.

A hand.

She grabbed it, digging her nails into the flesh and letting it pull her up out of the water. By the time she had caught her breath she recognized the man. It was the same one who had told her that night to follow her dreams, the first time she had gone into the forest when she was a child. He smiled at her, she choked and hit the ground, gasping to refill her blood with oxygen. She knew.

She immediately scrawled a design into the mud as some other tribe guards ran up. The mud shot up, in a small almost ball like form and landed back on the ground. Many things happened in that instant. Silence fell over everyone in the falls. Fæla felt as though she had just exercised a muscle that was dormant her entire life, and a new Shaman was elected for the Abaneki tribe.

Word quickly spread about the sixteen year old Shaman of the Abaneki tribe. Now she is headed to the gathering. Technically speaking she must also take part in a coming of age ceremony now that she has reached 16 years old.

Memories Retained: Ignore for now

---

---

𝔐y ℑmmortal 𝔖𝔬𝔲𝔩

---

---

⍚ Aeterna ⥥ Law, Order, Restriction ⥥ Female ⥥ Homosexual ⍚

_{DARK GOD}

“That Justice is a blind goddess
Is a thing to which we are wise
Her bandages hides two festering sores
That once perhaps were eyes.”

Aeterna

[ ⍚ ] G_{O D L Y A P P E A R A N C E}

---

Aeterna is a confusing goddess to look upon. At a first glance one would immediately note her very human appearance. Standing only at five foot eight inches. Of course, she does sport a rather interesting set of armour. Seemingly battle-worn and steel in nature, it’s scrapes and cuts look absolutely radiant in the light, as if each bump and indention was a glorious medal from a fight gone by. Her shimmering lilac eyes are all too piercing, seeing you for as less than a metric, as an amalgamation of beliefs and choices you have made. She carries with her a tall spear, taller even than herself. She has a heavy blonde braid that is pushed down her right shoulder and ends past her hip, seemingly made of sunlight it too shines with any amount of light that graces it.

She is flanked by two knights. One of whom is kind, he has a shield and sword with him, he wishes to protect the innocent. The other knight holds with him a broadsword. Heavy, and rusted, it has seen the insides of too many a man to be truly called a weapon of self-defense. Those who wonder long enough who the third knight is and where he stands are either very lucky or have that as there final thoughts.

[ ⍚ ] K _{N O W N F O R}

---

- A goddess that many are confused about. How can a malevolent goddess like Aeterna rule the domain of law, let alone order? She has many supporters despite her mythological status as a dark goddess due to this confusion.
- Many who fear death fear facing her for their actions in life. She is known, somewhat, as a gatekeeper of sorts. Though many consider the fact that if you see her, she wanted to see you. Which is very bad.
- The symbolism of a woman flanked by two knights, one apathetic and the other vitriolic is common iconography for law and order.

[ ⍚ ] F _{O R M A T I V E M O M E N T S I N H I S T O R Y}

---

Aeterna is a dark god whose domain is held in high regards to the common-folk. This has created a dangerous strength in her number of worshippers and general knowledge of her. Her status as a dark goddess unknown to humans, however some of the older generations may remember a tale of Aeterna that serves as a reminder of her morality.

A man wandered into Aeterna’s court, he was sullen, surprised, yet quiet and sad. She asked him what he had done and he took a few moments to answer. He had left his mother to die. Surely an easy crime, but Aeterna was nothing if not thorough.

“Where did you leave your mother for dead?” Her voice quietly boomed.

“In the desert.” The man said not lifting his head to meet the goddesses gaze. He knew not that this was a commonality amongst the guiltiest of guests in her court. Not something that surprised Aeterna one bit.

“Then tell me your tale.” Aeterna decreed, and so he began.

“I was a soldier, I fought to keep my family safe, to keep my land safe. I fought to protect never to kill. Yet it is not the bravest and most noble that win at the end of the eve. It was those who were willing to take demons upon their hearts, to beg for a dark victory, as surely it was better than a loss. It was them that forced my people into the desert. We were seven hundred with food for two hundred. Many of the soldiers decided to turn back, either bargaining for their lives or attempting to fight back into the city. Pray tell what came of them, for I have no idea.”

“They were slaughtered, all of them.” Aeterna said with not a trickle of emotion disturbing the calm waters of her voice.

“I thought that may’ve been the case.” The soldier said.

“Continue.”

“We few who stayed with the women in children were given enough food and water to be healtyh, but before long the weak of heart grew weak of body and their hearts became corrupt with the thirst. Attempting to steal the water… They too had to be purged, like the ones who had come upon our town, the ones who let demons into their hearts. T’was not long before we found ourselves nearly empty on supplies, my mother told me to leave her, to save more children for they had brighter tomorrows and many more of them at that.”

“So I did.”

“I thank you for your honesty, dear solider. I will not leave you guilty for abandoning your mother, an elderly woman should get to choose the method of her own death and if deprivation was her answer, so be it.”

“Thank you, my goddess.”

“I am not yours to behold solider. I find you guilty of waging war, practicing wrath, and slaughtering the youth of another nation. You will join the other soldiers who fought to save your city. Now begone.”

A solemn tale to be sure. It reminds us that while justice may be necessary, in hands too pure or too obsessed it can be a necessary evil, when it need not be at all.

---

---

𝔐y 𝔊ifts 𝔚𝔦𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫

---

---

[ ⍚ ] S _{K I L L S E T}

---

---

Three General skills to start and up to two combat abilities. Due to the setting you may also have 1 Survival ability.

• Magical Awareness - Survival Fæla is incredibly aware of magical beings and the tracks they may leave. Easily able to track the arcane like a hunter may track a wild animal. She, of course cannot hunt wild animals as she is no-hunter. But she will easily recognize signs of arcane or magical creatures.
• Walking Stick - Combat Fæla uses a walking stick, which most would consider rather odd for a 21 year old girl. She typically uses a walking stick as a canvas for runes, but past that she uses it for combat similar to fighting with a staff. The walking stick has a certain heft to that easily allows her to deliver a strong concussive force to limbs or the head, easily incapacitating someone. It has a certain amount of surprise, however clashing with an edged weapon is obviously a horrible idea. But a normal steel that isn’t edged wouldn’t completely destroy the walking stick. The one she currently has is oaken.
• Shaman - General Fæla may not know much about magic in the way that someone could learn history. But she knows it like she knows how to breathe. She has garnered an innate understanding that X will lead to Y as far as magic is concerned and her intuition when based on Magic is often times incredibly accurate, even if she can't adequately explain her thinking. This is primarily due to her interaction with magic first hand and prolonged exposure to it.

• Awe-Inspiring – General While Fæla doesn’t show it off much, she is actually an incredible public speaker. She can speak to groups rather well due to the systematic and calculating way in which she observers conversation and human emotion.
• Arcanist – General/Combat
  Long explanation

  When a rune is created, it is bound to your character's magic. The basic jist of this is that, once placed, the effectiveness is taken from your character's state and dedication to the magic - e.g. how long she spent forming the rune, any rare reagents she gathered to imbue it with, what her concerntration is like at key points in time, her lifeforce)
  
  What this means: A rune you've flung together in one post isn't going to last as long or be as powerful as one you carefully created over weeks, travelled to the four corners of the realm to gather rare reagents for, and then got five people for 24 hours to cast together after fasting for a week and doing purification rituals. So, this means you can, as a player, invest the amount of time, effort and danger into a rune based on your situation. Helping a farmer's ewe give birth safely? probably not going to need more then a paragraph. Preparing for the final end RP battle? you can start preparing for it in advance, and decide what amount of danger you're willing to put your character in to do it. Anyway, next point.
  
  Just as someone would get tired from battling, climbing, running, swimming, ect. and become worse at something, so are runes tied to a character's mental fatigue. While it is possible for a rune to decay (e.g. if you leave it alone for a month and come back, it has a high chance to be less potent then before) what I am more interested in is mental fatigue while actively using the rune. e.g. if you placed a warding rune around your camp at night, it would be considered active while it is working. Whereas if you placed a warding rune and then dismantled your camp and decided to camp elsewhere, that rune is dormant if you're not using it, therefore not taking energy to sustain. Kind of like an off/on switch - if the rune is "on", then it's taking some energy to maintain.
  
  Fatigue depends on a few things - a hastily thrown together rune is less resource-efficient then one carefully thought about. Similarly, a powerful rune takes more to maintain then a simple one.
  
  So here are a few example situations - if you're using a combat rune in the heat of battle, and your opponent nearly slits your throat, breaking your concentration for the moment, your runes are less effective for the time it takes for you to get your head back in the game.
  
  Another example - say you were nearly dying in a cave somewhere after being ravaged by wolves, and had a ward rune up. Normally in this situation, the rune would soon fail and you would be set upon by the wolves. However, if you character was dedicating the last of all their mental effort sustaining the rune while they awaited rescue, that's a very different take on the situation.
  
  As for their effect, you can imbue a rune with a property (e.g. defensive, offensive, nature fertility, luck, ect) with some properties being more difficult then others (e.g. luck being harder). They work over an area of effect (larger areas taking more mental resources) and last a period of time, their effectiveness decreasing over time unless Faela does regular maintenance on them (which is easier/cheaper then making a rune from scratch, but still requires some effort and sometimes resources depending on the nature of the rune) Since every rune will basically be unique they'll each have their own roll tables based on how they were setup, Faela's situation ect. and because of this they are in some ways a chaotic form of magic, their use never always being exactly what you expect. But their reliability increases with effort used to create them.

[ ⍚ ] A _{B I L I T I E S}

---

These will unlock as we continue.

Life Force: 20/20

Innocence: Weakest Ability
I hereby judge you innocent, free to pursue your earthly desires and create memories once again.

Swift Hand: Decreases the amount of time it takes to create a rune, allows their creation to be more specific.

Arraignment: Fæla is able to draw magick from the world, boosting all of her physical aspects and creating a feeling similar to being at peak physicality. However, it should be noted that this does not create combat experience where Fæla notably possesses none.
Decree: Fæla can order a creature of lesser intelligence, like an animal, to take a simple action that they must complete if physically possible. Technically speaking, if it is something that someone would typically do, it could work on them. Small children may also be susceptible. If the command can no longer be completed or there is substantial risk to the creature/child, the hold on the creature or child is broken. The decree will wear off naturally after a period of time.

Guilty: Moderate Ability
I have found you guilty, I am sorry for whatever possessed you to make the decisions you have – but truly, this world is better off. Begone.

Hearsay: Shielding herself and potentially others, Fæla absorbs a magical attack dispersing it as magick back into the world. This of course has drastic, direct, and immediate effects on the environment as flora and fauna alike will experience a boom like no other, rapidly triggering growth and potentially even evolution. It should be noted that while this can block magical attacks, there are two exceptions. If the attack contains any physical component that will not be absorbed, and secondly, she cannot block attacks that consume more life force than this ability. Only the same and lesser life force abilities can be blocked effectively.

Grand Jury: Fæla can create a permanent telepathic link between a group of up to six people. It works similarly to speaking, one must choose to communicate through this method, but you cannot choose not to hear someone speaking through this method.

Cross Examination: Fæla is able to activate this ability, which will summon her two knights to her side. She must ask three questions. Two answers will be true and one will be a lie. These questions can be anything and the knights, if telling the truth will give an in depth answer.

Contempt: Strongest Ability
I will hold you in contempt. Please prepare to meet the third knight and your ultimate end. This is everything you will experience for the rest of time. Goodbye.

The Third Knight: Fæla taking the place of the third knight summons her holy lance, able to pierce even steel, trees and most things. Fæla must announce the names of those she wishes to kill or injure with this weapon, else the weapon will not strike them but go right through the target’s body.

Deposition: By calling upon the arcane lay lines of the world, requiring a specific incantation depending on the element being required. Fæla gains some elemental manipulation for a short amount of time. This should be noted to be manipulation. She can only manipulate that which is already there. This could be as strong as controlling the tide, possibly creating an undertow to pull someone underneath, throw flame from a torch at someone, force rain to storm down upon one person . This ability however cannot affect plants as they are not elements, they are living organisms. This limits Fæla to water, fire, and sand/dirt/stone. This ability can last for a day.

Verdict: Fæla channeling her entire life force, ending her own life can instill an absolute truth on one person. The only thing she cannot do is bend the laws of physics. She can cause someone to fall in love with another, give someone a deadly disease, create the best fighter someone has ever seen, make someone the luckiest person possible and so on/so forth.

[ ⍚ ] I _{N V E N T O R Y}

---

Her walking stick with a defensive rune carved into the bottom, nearly impossible to see without actually looking at the bottom of the walking stick.
A Shaman’s kit – basically think healing herbs, and the like for treating magical illness and what have you.

[ ⍚ ] O _{T H E R}

---

Colour Code: Color=#6495ed.


[ ⍚ ] R _{E L A T I O N S H I P S}

Will you participate in the Relationship Assignment?: Sure thing!
This section will be replaced with a Relation Sheet.

I'd like to bring this character over. I will then be creating one to two new characters if that suits the GM's alright.

@Melo, @Mae

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Crimmy

I nodded at Gratia and nodded at Jer knowingly.

"Be back in a second." I said holding a finger up and winking. Happily making my way to the outside of the Café. I braced myself for the spring heat. Waiting for my friend, I held onto one of my arms with a small smile. But I knew the truth.

It was going to be difficult. Gratia loved few things. I was probably not one of them. Maybe on my best day. But definitely not recently. I was about to be chewed out.

Damn.