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 Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 8:09 pm
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Name: Sylvirah (Sylvi)
Stage: Prentice
Race: Ice
Gender: Female
3 Base Traits: Stubborn - Frank - Resourceful
Personality: Once Sylvi has set her mind on a goal there is little that can deter her. Her dogged sense of determination has worked in her favor while trailing particularly evasive prey, but just as soon as it is to work in her favor the tides can change. Sylvirah doesn't seem to know when to back down; even if a task if far beyond her. She would rather exhaust all of her resources and bring herself to the edge before letting go. Sometimes when living so far up north, when the winters get so bad that contact with others isn't possible, your will just has to be strong enough to pull you through.
This girl isn't one for delicate situations; she's very much a 'tell it like it is' person, regardless of tact or any feelings she may hurt. Coming from such a small village, where each day is a struggle, words mean little to her and Sylvi straight up doesn't have time for B.S. She doesn't mince meat with fancy words and phrases, though she has been known to get pretty nasty when upset. Most of the time those rants are filled with some rather base, uncultured words, though, and each shoot straight to the point.
Sylvirah strives to the be most sincere, honest version of herself that she can be, and while that can sometimes cause conflict with southerners who don't like the way she talks she doesn't actively try to start fights.
She's a fast learner who is able to adapt to most situations relatively quickly. Since her survival revolves around successful hunts and the ability to provide for herself Sylvirah's clan spent the time to groom her into a quick witted young woman. It doesn't take her long to assess a situation before choosing the best path to act on; often the one she believes will yield the best results. Sometimes it doesn't always make sense to others (ex. cutting off a chair leg to use as dry firewood instead of seeking out wood from the forest) but to her it just seems to work (ex. seeking out that firewood in the middle of a winter's night and risking frost bite).
Description: Her hair and skin should be the same colors as her big brother, Ergon (youngling, prentice, two). The style of her hair should be sort of like this with a fair amount of this going on.
Crystal wise I'd like them to focus on her torso and inner thighs, though the actual pattern is up to the artist. Sylvi's eyes should be the lightest shade of yellow for her kind; █.
Clothing: Something akin to this, though the end product should be ice colors/patterns. Give her a pair of dark tights/pants and some furred boots
Accessories: A few of the same belts/hip pouches as the clothing ref, though jewelry itself should be minimal.
History: Sylvirah was an accidental child; certainly never planned, but welcomed, just the same. Her mother, Lakiza, was a huntswoman in the far northern reaches of Zena who had traveled to the southern border with a few friends, chasing game and other sorts of tail. They were a strange group; one that was just as quick to scare others away with their gruff appearances as they were to draw them in by raucous jokes and laughter. It was that heady combination that caught the eye of the married Grashni, and inevitably drew him closer to Lakiza.
Grashni's relationship with his own wife had grown strained, if non-existent, in the years after their son's death. The accident that took Kaygon away seemed to have taken his mother's spirit as well, leaving the family in limbo. While the man still mourned, enough time had passed that Grashni felt the need to start healing as well, though Snowelle seemed resistant. It seemed that nothing could get through to her, and the pressure of raising his son 'alone', the very son that looked so much like his deceased twin, weighed heavy on Grashni's shoulders.
Lakiza was a passing fancy for him; she was warm, brave, and vibrant in all the same ways his wife had once been. She plied the man with drinks, hoping to get him to 'cheer up' a little and have a good night with them. What neither had expected was waking up, pressed against one another, in Lakiza's room that next morning. Guilt and shame overcome Grashni, causing him to flee the scene as soon as possible.
Grashni avoided Lakiza's group for the remainder of their stay, and never expected to see her again after they returned to the far north. It wasn't until several months later that he realized just how wrong he actually was. A large man in thick wool came southward seeking Grashni, and found the home where the iceling lived with his family. At first the wealthy iceling wanted nothing more than to shut the door in the man's face, possibly even call on an armed guard to shoo him away, until Grashni was presented with a little, wrapped infant.
The man, as it turned out, was Lakiza's father. His daughter had returned home from her trip south with more than just meat and fur. The news had come as a shock to the little village, but was quickly met with pure joy. They cared little for how the child was conceived; only that their clan was about to grow, and yet, when Sylvirah was born, the clan's numbers remained the same. Her father explained to Grashni that the long labor had simply been too much for his daughter to bear, and in gaining a grandchild he had lost his precious girl.
Now, he presented the babe to Grashni, hopeful that the man would take her to raise as he should. Grashni, however, vehemently declined. The iceling wanted to do right by his daughter, as....unfortunate as her birth had been, but he simply couldn't keep her, especially not in the same house with his wife and son!
And so Torval took his granddaughter back into the snow with a promise from Grashni; he would provide the family with anything they needed to raise her as long as they promised never to speak his name. As upset as Torval was of the spineless man's desire to hide his daughter away, to ignore the gift his own child had bestowed upon the world before passing, he did as he was bid. Better to raise her himself than to allow her to stay where she was unwanted.
And so, Sylvirah grew up alongside cousins and relatives in a little village, tucked away from the world. From her grandparents she learned hunting, tracking, and the necessary skills to survive in a frigid world. Stories of her mother's exploits were told often, either by family members or friends, with the hope of keeping Lakiza's spirit alive. It served to form a bond between the deceased huntress and her daughter, leaving the child with seldom a thought as to what her father might be like. In her youth she imagined someone closer to her grandfather, or perhaps even a more spry man, one who could outrun a chiavi in flight, but as she grew such thoughts started to fade, choosing to focus her mind on the more present tasks at hand instead of wondering about a man who had never been.
As she's grown, life in the village has become harder. Game has become harder to come by, the winters seem to take more and more lives, and with the majority of their youthful members fleeing for more stable villages, her grandfather has started talking about uprooting his home as well, leaving Sylvirah at a cross roads. She has no intention of going south, not if she can help it, but soon enough she may not have a choice....
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Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2017 8:18 pm
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Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 9:29 pm
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Quote: When she doesn't actively try to start fights does that mean she's the one to continue them anyways? Is she too proud (or stubborn in her bluntness) to back down when someone confronts her or can she turn her back against conflicting views / insults for example?
It varies. If it's just a verbal fight she can laugh it off without seeing the severity in it (i.e. thinking that someone is telling her to 'piss off' in a joking manner), but if someone throws a punch she isn't going to take it. She'll throw back, and then self defense turns into a need to win.
When confronted on conflicting views her pride can get in the way. Most times she'll push her side of the issue, even if it's wrong, until her opponent either gives up or curses her entire bloodline over her lack of insight. Once she's made up her mind about something that's it; that's the side she's picking, screw anyone who thinks otherwise.
(Also a point of personal growth that can be delved into deeper as she grows (mostly making a note for myself here))
Quote: When it comes to being quick-witted is that mostly with skills that require quick adaptation (like you said with the chair for firewood for example) for survival? Does this quick wit ever play into conversations? You say she strives to be sincere / a 'tell it like it is' persona but does she ever learn to have a filter in order to adapt to a situation requiring charisma? Is it always the blunt truth or a little white lie here and there to help ease tension? Or is she simply super blunt, really good at accidentally insulting someone and irritating them while saving them at the same time by showing them how to survive a snowstorm?
Somewhat? Most of her fast thinking is exhibited in the wild, where a split second decision can either win the day or be the cause of it's ruin, but on occasion, when conversations are necessary Sylvi likes to think she can go tit for tat with folks. She gives what she gets, and while most of her banter is all in good fun, if someone gets nasty then she can hit em hard. As far as 'quick witted', in the sense of word play, she's a novice. It all seems like a waste of time to her, playing around with words like that, but if she can learn to cut someone down in a few words to get them out of her hair then she's all for learnin'.
At this point there is little reason to lie; if you lie about the amount of meat you bring home someone could starve, and for that reason alone she hasn't learned the benefits of filtering her speech. I plan to explore that a bit when she gets further into the prentice stage, and eventually she'll learn how to talk to people with just enough charisma not to piss them off by saying the wrong thing. Sylvirah doesn't mean to do it; she takes no joy in being 'mean' or 'rude', and maybe spending a little time others that aren't like herself (i.e. her village) she can learn those skills.
Quote: Even though her mother's stories are enough to keep her distracted from her mysterious father how does Sylvirah feel about him should someone or anything make her think about him? How does she feel anything like sorrow / anger / etc or does she really not care at all? Any anger or regret that her birth made this woman in these stories pass away?
She's conflicted. On the one hand how can you miss someone you've never known? And on the other, why didn't he step up to take care of her when her mother died? She's hardly the only person in her village with a deceased parent, and even if Grashni and Lakiza hadn't been a 'couple' he could have still taken her in, as a real man should. When she was younger she liked to pretend that he was something bigger than he is; a powerful warrior, a snow spirit, anything other than someone who didn't want to be near her.
Now she's just bitter. He isn't mentioned at all these days, seeing as he was only ever brought up in the past because she asked about him. And whenever her mother is brought up Sylvirah feels both pride and an odd sense of awkwardness. She's happy to be Lakiza's daughter; after all, the woman was strong, capable and very loving, or so she's heard. Seeing as Sylvirah has never actually known her mom, whenever she's brought up, it just feels...weird. She isn't sure how to feel about the woman who died bringing her into the world.
It's something I would like to explore in later solos.
Quote: And of course the obvious question - will she ever find out about her father and his family?
Yes, she will! How else will she be able to be such a big pain in Ergon's backside?
I plan on having Sylvirah travel further 'south' (i.e. towards the border to Sauti) after finding out about the arrangement her grandfather and father made when she was an infant. I'm still working out the kinks as to how she'll find out, and whether or not this will mean a 'perma' move down south, as her village is on the decline anyway.
I don't imagine she'll be thrilled to find out the reason she was kept in the dark was because of her father's family, but we'll get there when we get there. |
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