[Verified by Crosspatch] Altaira Readva

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Altaira Readva

Postby Altaira Readva on October 22nd, 2013, 12:35 pm

Altaira Readva
Do not pity the dead, pity the living.

Image
Details
  • Race: Kelvic, Amazon Parrot
  • Gender: Female
  • Age: 7, (21-23)
  • Birthday: Spring 72, 508 AV
  • Birthplace: Avanthal
  • Current City: Zeltiva
  • Occupation: Herbalist
Face and Form

Altaira is host to a range of conflicting traits, bearing strong Benshira and Vantha lines in her blood, and quite possibly Myrian - though all of the possible reasons behind her dominant darker looks are known to her only through story and banter as to who her father could have been.

In general, her skin is far on the darker side of the typical, northern human - its natural pigmentation a lighter olive, the ease in which it tans and bronzes causing it to tend a shade much darker. Her hair is typically long and loosely curled, varying in colour from black to a burnt brunette, depending on her frequency in the sun, and how often it is washed.

The most striking of her features are her eyes; the irises are a gold-amber, shape slightly rounder and larger than the typical human, and almost a distinguishing feature of her kelvic blood to one practised in their appearance. Other facial features of note are the flush pink-red pigmentation of her lips, and the curve of the tip of her nose.

She is nowhere near the most beautiful being, with her supple skin and otherwise token 'beauty' traits not lasting too long beyond childhood. The more she travelled and saw, the more flawed her skin wore, and the deeper her laugh lines grew - she has her own charm, brought in the warmth of her smile and the strange allure of her eyes, and the bronzing of her skin gives her a glowing vitality. She is, like most kelvic, a little strange. Her gaze quite rarely dwells in a single location for too long, and she is often taping a finger or foot.

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Concept & History
Pride. Affection. Passive Aggression.
 
Concept
Image
Personality
Tanroa's river of time has twisted and changed the kelvic in countless ways, her very kin the kind that thrives in life and learns only by experience.

By nature she flourishes with social attention, and seeks companionship quite fiercely, usually taking to one or two individuals to which she gives unwavering loyalty, though can show utter empathy to those of general adult age who are severe to the young and the old. Although not temperamental, per say, she has been described as 'sassy' and bearing an unbearable attitude when riled and put into unfavourable situations, finding the human ways of sarcasm and harsh words a well-liked means to protect herself without causing physical harm or injury, very rarely lashing out.

In some cases, her parrot kin's more comical and cheeky side shines through in the worst of situations, largely in situations wherein Altaira believes herself to be the larger threat and intentionally baits or mocks those she feels are beneath her (Usually only to worshippers of Rhysol and Uldr, or the unliving in general).

To the greater public, she is obviously kelvic, or otherwise a bit strange (which in itself is not uncommon for those who are marked by Dira). She has a haphazard gaze that quite rarely stills, and a habit of inclining and tilting her head in efforts to see or hear better. She has spent enough time in human settlements to understand basic curtesy, and although she would have done so in the past, is significantly more mindful of public transformations.

Likes and Dislikes (Hint hint, nudge nudge- good plot starters if you wanted to shoot me a PM! ;) )
Likes: Ghosts who are willing to see reason, sweet wine, learning, maps, winter, religion, unarmed combat, herbalism/medicine/botany, climbing (probably), children, silly little adventures, Vantha, the stars

Dislikes: Nuits, Uldr, Rhysol, people are mean to children, people who disrespect those younger than them, those who misunderstand Dira

Motivations
Perhaps the most peculiar thing about her is her development in the ways of religion and worship, being an avid follower of Dira, taking up a following of Tanroa and an almighty respect for Lhex in conjunction with her beliefs. This is primarily due to the passing of two key figures in her life, and the kelvic's willingness to accept that they'd lived their lives full, and that their time had simply come, influenced most heavily by a Vantha elder after her brother's death.

Other gods that have gained her respect include Zulrav and Laviku, as well as Sylr.

Beyond religion, her highest motivation is to better herself and her understanding of life, as well as the protection of all things she deems pure or innocent – more so a throwback to her fierce motherly instincts. She see herself as a protector of life through the service of the dead.

Aspirations
She wishes quite fiercely to find a bondmate that is in agreeance with her life style choice, and even more so, that will aid her in advancing it. Although he growing up in Avanthal meant that she has grown to be much more human than the vast majority of kelvics otherwise, she still struggles severely with complex thought. Her motor skills are superb, and her perception is spectacular, but she has a fool’s hopes of learning mathematics or becoming a literary genius – simple tasks such as learning the names and uses of herbs are a taxing task.

In terms of the servitude of Dira, although she would like to advance her favour with the goddess only to aid in servitude, she does not wish to become what she has heard people call ‘Champions’ for fear of losing herself.
 
PreCreation History
ImageAltaira's parentage is messy. She has a single full blood brother, her twin (Dyson), two half brothers (Warner, often called Willem as a long standing joke, and Vivek), and two half sisters (Neda, Sade). In normal circumstances, the five of them would have split off once they'd reached maturity, with the fact that they were born to the frozen Northern city of Avanthal prohibiting movement.

Due to the nature of her rodent mother's short lifespan, Altaira (Sade, Willen, and Dyson) were left motherless before she reached the age of two seasons, eventually taking up her mother's bonded first name (Readva) as her own last once she left her home city.

After Readva’s death, Altaira and her siblings were somewhat cared for by her polar-bear kelvic father figure (A man who is only related as a father by blood to Vivek and Neda - though was especially fond of Readva. That is, if ensuring that they each had shelter, food, comfortable lives, and grew up under his influence more so by his own philosophies could be considering 'caring for'), in Avanthal, whom influenced all but the youngest and shortest lived into bonding late, and otherwise seeking someone whose heart and soul matched their own.

Already Altaira has seen the death of one brother, Dyson, his base species a smaller, shorter lived bird. It was this that drove Altaira to seek other places, and to break off from the stalemate city that she was born to, and seek cities lush and rolling hills, finding herself to become more and more discontent with her life in the Goddess-Queen’s frozen city.

The first thing she did upon her initial leaving, more of a test run than anything, was travel through the safer (If only by slither) parts of the Northern Reaches, the first time in her then four years of life leaving her home city. After she found herself comfortable, and came to the conclusion that she was prepared to live on her own, she returned to Avanthal briefly, finding that her feline sister Sade had bonded and gone her own way, and that Warner was in preparations to leave, as well, with both Vivek and Neda remaining and joining the Ice Watch.

The trip from Avanthal to Syliras was shorter for her than it was for others, with the kelvic bundling what coin she had into a fine purse like bag, and traversing much of Mizahar by flight. When she neared Syliras, she took her coin and bought the necessities, before offering up her skills as a guard to earn extra coin before starting off.
 
Post Creation
ImageThe Guilded Cage - Autumn 513AV
The leaves had already begun to fall, and the season turn colder and crisper when Altaira first set foot in the stone cage that was Syliras. Her attention was first turned and set on the job within Mistress Sahfri's Stormhold Salves, where the Kelvic set to work with a mixture of good and bad bumps along the way.

The season saw her relationship with the wondrous Oriah flourish, among others, and the kelvic began to truly break down her walls and misconceptions. She also began to set her kelvic mind to work, and began to trudge through the difficulties that comes with being unbonded, and therein 'simple minded'- she herself living by the ideologies she'd been instilled with as a child with a close relationship with several of the Ice Watch. She learned that books and written words were not a way with her, and began to explore the near limitless possibilities that came with learning from touch and scent and taste-instead appealing to the ingrained instinct of her animalistic counterpart.

One of the key personality buildings that took root in her core was a dislike for those that ruled over the city- that is, the knights -due primarily to a sour encounter with some so called squire.

Her Life Given - Winter, 513AV
Winter built further on the downfalls and successes of the season prior, adding more to her work and learning within stormhold salves, and paving new friendships as the city experienced its usual waves of coughs and sneezes- learning first hand the stress and Hai that can come of working a job at times of high stress and demand.

Her opinion of the knights once more diminished, and those of the Goddess Dira truly escalated.

It was the season that saw the greatest change to Altaira's life yet- the tearing and rebuilding of her beliefs and all that she held dear- it was the season that she met the ghosts Shiyami and Kimi, and gave her life to Dira, becoming an Eiyon and bound to serve the goddess of death for remainer of her life.
Last edited by Altaira Readva on November 20th, 2015, 1:57 am, edited 58 times in total.
User avatar
Altaira Readva
I can wait.
 
Posts: 305
Words: 279063
Joined roleplay: October 22nd, 2013, 6:39 am
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Scrapbook
Plotnotes

Altaira Readva

Postby Altaira Readva on January 16th, 2014, 8:38 am

Knowledge & Book-keeping
Work and play in equal measures.

Skills and Magic
 
Physical
Skill EXP T Proficiency
Acrobatics XP: 1 1 Novice
Acting XP: 1 1Novice
Botany XP: 2, 1, 2, 2 7 Novice
Cleaning XP: 2 2 Novice
Cooking XP: 2 2 Novice
Dancing XP: 1 1 Novice
Endurance XP: 1, 1, 1, 1 4 Novice
Foraging XP: 2 2 Novice
Gardening XP: 2, 3 5 Novice
Herbalism SP: 10, XP: 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 4 25 Novice
Land Navigation XP: 1, 2 3 Novice
Medicine XP: 5 5 Novice
Running XP: 2 2 Novice
Stealth XP: 1 1 Novice
Teaching XP: 2, 2 4 Novice
Unarmed Combat RB: 10, SP: 20, XP: 1, 2, 2 35 Competent
Weaponry [Daggers] SP: 10, XP: 2 12 Novice
Weaponry [Kopis] XP: 1 1 Novice
Wilderness Survival SP: 10, 3 13 Novice
 
Mental
Skill EXP T Proficiency
Interrogation XP: 2, 1, 1 1 Novice
Intimidation XP: 1 1 Novice
Leadership XP: 2, 2 5 Novice
Meditation XP: 1, 1 1, 1 Novice
Observation XP: 3, 2, 2, 3, 5, 2, 3, 3, 2, 5, 2, 4 36Competent
Organisation XP: 11 Novice
Persuasion XP: 2 2 Novice
Philosophy XP: 1, 1 2 Novice
Planning XP: 1 1 Novice
Socialization XP: 5, 2, 4, 3, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 3, 1 30 Competent
Reading XP: 1, 1 2 Novice
Rhetoric XP: 2, 1, 1, 1 5Novice
Storytelling XP: 2, 1, 1, 1, 1 6Novice
Tactics XP: 1 1 Novice
 
Arcane
Spiritism XP: 3 3 Novice
Lores
 
Location
Avanthal
  • Lore of Avanthal (SP)

Syliras
Stormhold Salves
  • Location: The Stormhold Salves
  • Stormhold Salves Greenhouse: Favorite Place
  • Stormhold Salves Greenhouse: Layout and Workings
  • Sahfri Blackleaf: Owner of Stormhold Salves
  • Stormhold Salves: Organized chaos, layout of the shop
  • Products of Stormhold Salves
  • Magic potion cabinet requires a key, protected by magic
  • Never go into Sahfri's room
  • Greenhouse of the Stormhold Salves layout
  • Variety of plants in the Stormhold Salve's Greenhouse
  • Variety of books on herbalism and medicine in the Stormhold Salves
  • The knights role in Stormhold Salves
Other Syliras Locations
  • Location: Shiyami's home in the Bronze Wood
  • Location: Bronze Woods
  • Location: The Anthonius Fighter's Pit
  • The Anthonius Fighter's Pit: A Primal and Vulgar Place
  • Location: The Purple Forest
  • Syliras: Large Stone Cage
  • The Herald's Arms Sell Drugs
  • Addictive Drugs Are Illegal In Syliras


 
Knowledge
Races
  • Desolate Ones (basic)
  • Ghosts Can Materialize depending on their power
  • Ghosts Do Not Sleep
  • Ghosts Are Unaffected By Gravity
  • Kelvic bonding: Basic
  • Nuits need lifeless bodies

People and Lifestyle
  • Hypochondriacs: Worrywart People
  • Dealing with Difficult Customers
  • People can be Jerks

Fauna
  • Fauna: Lynx

 
Philosophy
  • Self Contemplation: What I Should Have Done
  • Sweet wine is better than beer
  • Philosophy: Do Not Pity The Dead
  • Dira: The Reason Behind it All
  • Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover

 
Skill
Acrobatics
  • Acrobatics: Post-Exercise Stretches

Botany/Herbalism
  • Lore of Common Herbs in Avanthal (SP)
  • Botany: Botonal, Ginger. Connal, and Fauxil
  • Herbalism: Making Ginger Tea
  • Herbalism: Belltor Herb
  • Tree Anatomy: Stem, Root, Leaf, And Flower
  • Plant Growth Cycle: Perennial, Annual, and Biennial
  • Infusions, Decoction, And Maceration
  • Botany: Chamayo
  • Herbalism: Using gloves to keep Philtering processes clean
  • Herbalism: Properties of Chamayo seed
  • Red-Tangled Mess of Jelly Strings is an Aquatic Plant Killer
  • Plants can be aggressive
  • Botany: Different Soil Types
  • Botany: Requirements of a Desert Plant
  • Botany: Requirements of a Tropical Plant
  • Iwart: Used For Open Wounds

Cooking
  • How to crack an egg
  • How to make Dough

Gardening
  • Gardening: Handle plant life carefully
  • Gardening: Replant in pots to encourage strength
  • Gardening: Improper Pruning
  • Gardening: Proper Pruning
  • Gardening: Properly Uprooting Plants

Land Navigation
  • Navigating the Purple Forest, Beware the Path

Medicine
  • Medicine: Properly Changing Bandages
  • Medicine: Tweezers To Remove Bits of Debris
  • Medicine: The Smell of Infection
  • Medicine: The Applications of Poultice
  • Medicine: Signs of a Sprained Ankle
  • Medicine: Signs of a Fracture
  • Medicine: Caring for Burns
  • Medicine: Triage of Patients

Meditation
  • Meditation Methods

Phiiltering
  • Philtering: Water is the most important tool, Universal solvent
  • Philtering: How to make Chamayo Tonic
  • Philtering: Properties of Chamayo Tonic
  • Philtering: Process of purifying water
  • Philtering: How to use an Albemic
  • Philtering: Process of Absorption
  • Philtering: Using as much of the plant as possible

Spiritism
  • Occupations of a Spiritist
  • Spiritism Uses
  • Making Soulmist (Recipe)
  • Soulmist (how to make it)
  • Spiritism Mantra “Any Help I can give?”
  • Soulmist Creation (basic)

Teaching
  • Teaching: Show 'em how it's done. Demonstration is key.

Unarmed Combat
  • How to perform a Round Kick
  • Unarmed Combat: Dodging Blows
  • Unarmed Combat: Landing Kicks

Weapon
  • Dagger: A Light And Agile Weapon
  • Dagger: Basic Throwing Techniques

 
PC
  • Aoren: Apprentice of Sahfri, Patient man, Reimancer
  • Aoren has a Gnosis mark

  • Meeting a Vantha mercenary
  • Brawling buddy

  • Bethany Loris: Warden of the Scholar’s Asylum

  • Bolivar: Half-Isurian Squire
  • Bolivar: Acquaintance
  • Bolivar Is From Sultros

  • Calidus- A soft spoken Spiritist

  • Oriah: Friendly Benshira
  • A Dance Lesson From Oriah
  • Oriah Is From The Eyktol Desert
  • Oriah: Hate Crows

  • M’wanii : Charodae Seeking Land-Job

  • Millicent: Embarrassed Girl
  • Millicent's Philosophy: Emotions are meant to be hidden
  • Millcent's Age as of 3 Winter, 513 AV: 15
  • Millicent likes to fight

  • Noah: Eagle Kelvic

  • Kimi and Shiyami: Ghosts
  • Kimi died ten years ago
  • Shiyami died four hundred years ago

  • Wrenmae: Hard Minded Sellsword

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Miscellaneous
Relationships
 
Family
Image
Aliara Cantrell
Relationship: Cousin
Status: Unkown
Notes: Altaira knows of the woman through the means and measures of letters and stories, but a face-to-face meeting has never occurred. From what she knows, the girl is said to take after her Aunt, with some resemblance to Altaira's own mother, and as such looks little like her.



...........................................................................

 
Friends
Image
Oriah
Relationship: Old Friends
Notes: One of Altaira's dearest friends, the situation in which the two met is quite simply laughable. Although the kelvic has not seen the woman in several seasons, she has not left her prayers, and the kelvic very much intends to see her again.




..........................................................................
 
Enemies

Other
 
Languages
Fluent Language: Common
Fluent Language: Bird Speak

Basic Language: Vani


 
Gnosis
Eiyon - First Mark of Dira - HD approval
Date: 83rd Day of Winter, 513AV
A rather simple scythe on the palm of her right hand.
Story :
Death was in the air. It was buried in the words that people spoke, cold in their sighs and underlining their musings. People had died, and it seemed their loss touched almost every citizen of the stone city of Syliras. It was strange the way the death of four miners could reverberate so strongly among a bastion and its denizens. She’d seen the way the city wept for fallen for fallen knights – but it was always plastic, or at least that was how it seemed to Altaira.

Save for those directly related, or who knew the knight themselves, it was less real. Like the treasured light of a shining protector had be lost, and another had to be lit to carry on the name and way. But the death of the miners was personal, they were the ones that walked the street as equals, with sprawling families and friends who nodded them off as they droned to work – fellows within the mines themselves that brought their sorrows home to their own family and friends. They wept and mourned because they were reminded that they were not untouchable, that they too could perish in their lines of work, and that there was no glory in their deaths. No nobility or commemoration. Just death.

Hysteria was in the making, she thought. People were whispering blames and condolences, fears and well-wishes. They sought something – someone – to blame, and words of reimancy had spread like wildfire. The cases of kidnapping and suicide aided little to calm the storm. People were growing uneasy and accusing, making links that held little more evidence to wife’s tales and superstition, acting as though the earth was being torn from right beneath them. Everyone, it seemed to her, was so afraid of death, and of the destruction of the fortress in which they dwelt, that reason and logic carried little weight.

Altaira didn’t understand. She never quite seemed to. The Mistress of Stormhold Salves chalked it up to the woman’s kelvic mind, claiming her perception of things was unlike that of a human. Unbonded, she had as much hope to understand as she did to learn the theorems and calculations scrawled on loose paper about the store – she new numbers, but not arithmetic. Concepts were fine but applications had her bewildered; just as she understood (to a point) the acts of fearing and ushering away the unknown, but it was the lengths that some went to, and explanations were brewed that left her at a loss for words.

If was for these reasons and more that she couldn’t help herself but eavesdrop, Stormhold Salves seemed to be frequented by those that had always had a secret on their lips. Feigning a bored daze, she slid her way along the fullest of the store’s shelves; ears keenly open as she took in the conversation at hand. The older woman of the two was a regular, her tones hushed and secretive, young son attached tightly to her hip. Her dear friend, possible sister, didn’t share the trait, and her words and tones were loud, piercing, and unpleasant.

From the flow of conversation, a single thing could be assured – it was only one woman, the soft spoken regular, who was distraught in grief. A dear cousin had died in the mines, and the woman whose tone and manner of speech had her instantly unlikable seemed to be trying to fan the flames of hatred. Little more could be extracted before her little cover was broken.

Brisk footsteps approached from the back of the room, the heavy closing of the workroom door accentuated by a shatter and hissing on the behalf of the two women. “Dira take you, child!” was the first exclamation made, and the speed at which Altaira rounded the corner was only over looked as her eyes widened at the sight of shattered glass and spilled powder. The mother spoke next, nowhere near as brash or rude as her company. “I am so sorry.” She then pressed her back into the child, before turning and taking him by the hands, bidding him to wait in the cold outside.

“It’s-” Altaira began, words hanging in the air as a look passed Mistress Blackleaf’s expression. “Fine.” She didn’t bother hiding her frown, nor be subtle as she watched the boy run towards the door and stood bolt upright just beyond the nearby window panes. Altaira looked to her least favourite person in the room, and had a sudden welling in her stomach that pressed her to promptly take her leave. “I need some… air,” was her excuse, and her head fell as she stepped over the glass, ensuring to whisper to the Mistress and promise to tidy the spill once all was said and done.

Upon breaking into the cold street, she couldn’t help a quick intake of breath, even through the cloak she wore, the cold still sliced to her bones. She let her gaze softly fall to the form of the small child, and she couldn’t help herself but fall to the his level, hoping that he recognised her enough not to shrink away from her. “It wasn’t my fau-” he began, eyes watery and nose flush from the cold. “It’s ok,” She soothed, sinking further onto her knees, such that it was her who had to look up.

“Things break all the time,” She wrung her fingers as she saw the boy began to tremble. Was he cold? Upset? Gods, he was probably cold. He was such a fair little thing – too small to be left out in winter. “Here,” She said, taking off her cloak as a glance within frosted panes showed his mother and the hog were still in some bout of conversation, and only Gods knew how long it would take before they concluded their business. “Take this,” she didn’t wait for him to respond, or let him attempt to put on the heavy cloak himself, settling it upon his small shoulders before she’d even finished speaking her words.

“But-” he began, look so distraught and dire the kelvic felt her heart leap in chest. “What if Dira takes you?” His eyes were wide, then, wrought with fear and worry. Altaira pressed her lips and sunk her head, unable to retain the giggle that quickly came. When she looked up at the boy he looked down right offended, “Don’t worry about Goddess Dira,” she said, words a soft lull. “If it is from the cold that I die from then you’re better of blaming Goddess Morwen, or myself more than even her.”

Her sweet smile then slipped to sombre, and she shuffled closer still, taking in the small child’s form for a moment. This wasn’t the same little bundle of life, was it? It wasn’t the same, joyous little boy that frequented the store with his mother – the little one that would dash from shelf to shelf cooing and giggling as he pulled a funny face at either whomever was serving them, or his own mother. “What’s wrong, little man?”

She wasn’t sure if he liked the nickname or not, and stood mute for a moment. “Is it about the miners?” She kept her tone gentle and pitch soft, not allowing her gaze to wander, before the boy broke from his stupor and nodded absently. A light sigh left her, and even she could connect the dots. “You don’t want Goddess Dira to take any more people.” The tot stiffened, then, and she knew she’d hit the mark.

“It’s not fair.” He protested, in that sweet, innocent tone that children often had. A tight look came over Altaira’s expression, and she weighed up her options with a heavy mind. If he was older then she could reason with him, try and get him out of the hole that was a life in fear of death. But she couldn’t, it would be several years at least before the little man before her was old enough to truly develop such thoughts. People died. It didn’t feel fair, nor needed or wanted – but that was the way that things were. To do without death was to do without an end, and all good things came to an end.

“I know it isn’t, little man,” she said, playing with her thoughts and wording as she sought a stance that she could work with. She bit her lip and bowed her head, her experience with children not nearly as much as she’d like to. “But death isn’t all that scary, you know.” She felt her expression falter. Was that the way she was going to go about things? A look to the child proved that she was speaking to no avail, and she sighed before continuing on. She was in dangerous territory - she could do just as much harm as she could good.

“Besides – what is so terrifying about Goddess Dira? I’ve heard she’s quite beautiful,” She asked, giving the boy a playful look, hoping to play on the ‘big kid’ complex she’d seen so many other children embody. He puffed his cheeks and looked to the left, something catching his eye, before his look returned to Altaira. “Jackals.” Oh, he had a point. A good point. She nodded her head at him, expression of mock terror. “Oh, they’re horrifying!” She then took an expression that was particularly malicious, and she ran her finger over his stomach. “Just think about them running and eating you up!” She then tickled him mercilessly, relieving much of the thick and heavy atmosphere.

“Really, though.” She continued, when only a few stray chuckles and tears of joy were on the boy’s mind. “Dira is more of a guide than a killer. She brings you to the next stage of your adventure. When this one ends, there’s another one to begin. Who knows?” She brought back one of her playful little looks, then, once again trying to play on the boy’s fantasies. “You could come back as a hero, or a warrior. A man of hope and pride and riches. Perhaps a pirate on the wild seas, or even a guard in the frozen North.”

She gave him an encouraging smile, before going back and ensuring what she said was clear. “But-” She even went to the point of lifting up a finger and shaking it, partly because the cold had it uncomfortable and partly because she needed to keep him paying attention. “Not until your time has come. You need to finish this adventure before you start your next.” She tilted her head then, next words softer. “But not everyone is so lucky.”

She sighed and tucked her arms in close to herself, the cold beginning to really bite at her. Nothing she was yet to encounter was anything as horrid as what she experiences in Avanthal – but that didn’t mean that she didn’t feel the chilly breeze blow through her. “Sometimes people end their adventures here too soon, and others too late.”

He gave her an odd look, then. “I don’t think that its ever too late to die,” he announced. “More time with friends.” Altaira gave him a thoughtful nod, refusing to disallow the boy a chance to develop and think things out for himself. “That’s true,” she said finally, look stern and resolute. “But have you ever lost a friend? Not to Dira, but to life?” He frowned, and she felt for a moment that further explanation was necessary. “You mean like…” his little face was drawn in thought. Oh, what a quick little boy he was- small in form but not in mind, and apparently much older than the kelvic had guessed. Though, given she was not even a single year old when she was as his height, her talent in assuming age was decidedly bad.

“Moving away?” He looked his own kind of resolute, and Altaira paid his thoughts with a smile and a brisk nod. “Exactly.” It was a much sweeter example than anything Altaira cold think for herself, and she was glad that there was some semblance of understanding. “You don’t want to live forever, because life can rob you just as much as death might.” She was vastly satisfied by the course of the conversation, not only pleased with the understanding but finally being able to voice her own beliefs on the matter.

It was then that another thought struck her, and she spoke somewhat rushed – the two women in store then approaching the front counter. “Like ghosts.” She gave him a grave look, and he returned it. “They’re scary, right?” He nodded thrice, swallowing hard. “Well, if living forever is good, and eventually going to Dira is such a scary thing – then why aren’t they happy? Why are they always scarring people and trying to deal with ‘unfinished business’ so they be at peace and move on?” Sound reasoning, she thought to herself, proud of her own words and the look that spread across the child’s expression, even more so as he soon began to give a slow nod.

“I guess so…” he conceded, still not quite convinced. “But don’t go throwing yourself at wolves, either,” she giggled, carefully planning the light joke for when the door swung open, and warm air washed over the two. “We’re going,” announced the Queen B, and the little boy slipped out of the cloak and gave Altaira a short hug, before reattaching himself to his mother. She too, gave a sweet smile, before walking in the opposing direction of the other woman – whose face upon noticing such quickly blazed, a myriad of profanity leaving her lips. Altaira’s own little muse at the scene was cut short, the Mistress being the next one to leave the store. “I’ll return in a bell,” she said, tone clipped and rushed, bidding the kelvic little more than nod as she took her leave.

As Altaira returned to the walls of the store, she felt a strangeness to the room; the air was stagnant, an unearthly quietness of a sort. Her steps were slow and measured, and ensured her gaze did not dwell in one place for too long. The Mistress hadn’t mentioned that there was a customer in the store, had she?

She felt a lump in her throat as she crept towards the counter, hand resting on the smooth surface for a moment, before checking the top draw for the key to the cabinet, a relieved breath leaving her as she noted that the Mistress had kept it with her. She heard the faintest snapping sound come from the core of the store, and she stood approached with practiced caution, a single hand falling to her belt loop, where a small danger was kept. She was better at combat in close quarters, but a blade worked its best in her hands when use as a form of intimidation. “Who is there?” she asked, voice ringing out in the odd silence of the store.

A sigh left her as she failed to gain a response, drawing her dagger as she slipped into the work room. Manuscripts and containers were strewn out upon the center work bench, spilled herbs littering the floor and herbal oils playing on her nose. Nothing out the usual, not for when there was something in the midst of being made at least. She turned to check the Mistress’ quarters, before a figure in the center of the greenhouse drew her eye.

Heavily cloaked and standing tall, their back turned away from the glass door, whoever it was struck a nerve to Altaira’s core. She took in a steady breath, her dagger kept close as she pressed on the old latch and heard it unclick. “Excuse me,” she began, taking to even steps towards the figure, before moving a single step to the left, as to clear a way for the stranger to leave. She had just opened her mouth to speak a warning when they turned, gaze focused elsewhere. “Quite beautiful,” was the only response given, the woman’s cool gaze not faltering in the slightest.

Altaira swallowed hard, a frown taking form upon her expression. She seemed reasonable enough, as well as incredibly beautiful. “I’m sorry, but-” she began, the sound of a low growl cutting her words short. Her eyes fell to the ground, and Altaira was quick to drop her blade and bow her head. She kept herself so for a short moment, not rising for several ticks. When she lifted her head she met Dira’s gaze, and by instinct she stood herself tall and at command, several words of superstition then hitting her. Speak and she shall appear, Death always comes in three.

“Goddess Dira,” she said, placing her hands behind her back. “I’m sorr-"
“No matter, I will say a word and you will tell me what first comes to mind, yes?” She said; voice like velvet and stance relaxed. All at once she was commanding but open, she was fierce but kind and intimidating but welcoming. In her character was as much conflict and contrast as the colouration of her jackals.
“Yes.” Altaira kept her voice loud and clear, and bade her heart to calm and breathes deepen.
“Life?”
“Death.” Altaira pressed her lips, wondering the gravity of the situation that she’d somehow befallen. Was it time for her death, or had she done so already? The pressure of the situation slowed and hazed her mind, and she could scarcely recall what had transpired just a bell ago. For a fleeting moment an eerie calm hit her. It was the feeling after she’d fought a taxing fight, the wash that came over her as she crept into bed at the end of a long night, and the peace that came after a bout of laughter. It slipped away in an instant.
“Death?” There was almost a lack of expectation to the words, with no tone or accentuation - the word rung out in the air hollow and heavy.
“Balance.” Altaira kept her head held high, once again forcing herself to keep her breaths steady and hands from the shake that threatened them.

“Ghost?”
“Lost.” That little response gained no notable reaction, but her stomach turned as soon as they left her mouth. She was one who did not delve into the God’s lives and attitudes. She knew Dira for what she governed, not her personal opinion towards a race that did not wish to accept the proper the cycle.
“Undead?”
“Plague.” Altaira felt her expression falter. She didn’t know much about the world, but she knew that the loathe she felt for the kind was largely unsurpassable. The thought of them made her skin crawl and itch, her fists clench behind her back and her jaw lock. She understood a ghost’s fear and unwillingness to let go, but not their lust.

Dira nodded slowly, gaze then travelling about the greenhouse for a moment. Altaira wagered that she was in thought, but she knew not what of. “Now, finish these sentences,” She was looking at her, then. Really looking at her. Altaira felt her chest constrict, and she gave into the fear and worry. ‘1… 2… 3… Exhale,’ As her breath left her, her form relaxed, and she let go as she kept hold of the look she was given. She gave a slow nod to the Goddess, as though she needed to give a sign to show that she was ready.

“Death is-”
“A part of the cycle.” Just as there was death, there was life and rebirth. Without death, there’d be no appreciation for life. No love for the wonders that was to live and love and breath. Without rebirth, there’d be no balance kept.
“Ghosts should be-”
“Guided back to the cycle.”
“Such guiding would entail-”
“Conversation should they be sane, and force if necessary.”

“Your deceased loved ones-”
“Had come to their time.”
“You miss them?”
“Of course.”
“You’d do anything to bring them back?”
“No. They’ve returned to the cycle. Death came when it was meant to.”
“And if they’re deaths were not of natural causes?”
“Then I’d have thought life unfair for some short time,” She paused, then, and tilted her head from left to right. She hadn’t quite considered such, though she failed to see how much had changed. “Before realising that they were lucky that they did not live to see old age take their sight, their hearing, and their children.” Her last word held the most weight, with one of her brother’s own children far shorter lived than even he was, and her mother not likely to have been able to deal with her youngest passing.

Dira folded her arms and gave Altaira an exacting look, before a certain air of finality came to her demeanor. “The undead should be-”
There wasn’t a flinch or falter this time around, no shake or tremble or worry. She was obstinate and final in her own response, “Eradicated.”
“Have you ever killed before?”
“I’ve killed animals. Undead are no different.”
“Oh,” the Goddess cooed, now walking towards Altaira, a hand extended.

Despite her rather belated understanding of the gravity of the situation, the kelvic remained resolute, and offered her hand when the Goddess drew near. “That, I’m sure, you will find to be quite untrue,” a light kiss on her right palm shortly came, and Altiara’s breath left her in a solid rush. The Goddess left her, then. The sound of the store’s bell as Mistress Blackleaf returned was the next thing she could recall.
 
Possessions
Clothing
  • Dress [Dyed, Cotton] (MT1)
  • 2 under garments (MT1)
  • Low boots [Leather, buckled] (MT1)
  • Skirt [Brocade, Fine Wool] (MT1)
  • Blouse [Embroidered, Linen, Damasked] (MT1)
  • 2 Shirts [Fine Wool, Lace, Dyed] (MT1)
  • Trousers [Fine Wool, Dyed] (MT1)
  • Chemise [Fine Wool, Dyed] (MT3)
  • Jacket [Fine Wool, Dyed, fur lined] (MT3)
  • Simple Shirt
  • Simple Pants
  • Simple Undergarments
  • Simple Cloak
  • Simple Boots


Within Backpack
  • 1 Waterskin
  • Comb (Wood)
  • Brush (Wood)
  • Soap
  • Razor
  • Balanced Rations (6 Days worth)
  • 1 eating knife
  • Flint & Steel
  • Kopis (MT1)


Weaponry
  • Dagger, Punching [Cold Iron] (MT2)
  • 3 Knives, Spider Throwing [Cold Iron] (MT2)
  • 3 Throwing Daggers [Cold Iron]


Personal Care/Toiletries
  • Toilette Kit


Misc
  • Practice Dummy, Simple (MT2)
  • Toolkit: Mapmakers [Traveler's] (MT2)
  • Toolkit: Herbalist/Botanist [Traveler's] (MT2)
  • Medium Basket [Birchwood]
  • Spare Backpack


Heirloom: A small pendent, strung around a strong, fine chain. It features a bird in mid flight. Each of her sibling bear a similar piece, their parrot self adorned in the stone. Although no longer worn as a necklace on her persons, it is used for ceremonial purposes - the woman usually clutching it in prayer and hanging it above her bed.
 
Ledger
Purchase Cost Total
Starting +100 GM 100 GM
Housing traded +500 GM 600 GM
Lodging -10GM 590 GM
Market Trip 1 -20.3GM 569.7 GM
Beer -3GM 566.7GM
Living Expenses [Autumn, 513AV] -135 GM 431.7GM
Wages (Autumn, 513AV) +546GM 977.7 GM
Market Trip 2 -67 GM 910.7 GM
Market Trip 3 -36.3 GM 874.4 GM
3 Throwing Daggers (Cold Iron) - 9GM 865.4 GM
Living Expenses [Winter, 513AV] -135 GM 730.4 GM
Lodging (35-End Autumn) - 11 GM 719.4 GM
Moving (Syliras-Zeltiva) -50 GM 669.4 GM
Living Expenses [Autumn, 514AV] -135 GM 534.4 GM
Tuition Costs (2 Classes) -90GM 444.4 GM
Kelp Beer -0.2GM 444.2 GM
Lodgings (Full Season - Winter) 18.4 GM 425.8 GM
Tuition Costs (1 classes) -45GM 380.8
Living Expenses (Winter, 514AV) -135 GM 245.8GM
 
Housing
Altaira resides in temporary lodgings in Zeltiva, currently at World's End Grotto
Last edited by Altaira Readva on April 1st, 2015, 6:26 am, edited 38 times in total.
User avatar
Altaira Readva
I can wait.
 
Posts: 305
Words: 279063
Joined roleplay: October 22nd, 2013, 6:39 am
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
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Altaira Readva

Postby Altaira Readva on January 16th, 2014, 8:38 am

Thread List
A kelvic cannot afford to take their time.


Key :
◙ = Graded
○ = In Progress (Solo)
☼ = In progress (Group/Partner)
c = Awaiting Grade/Completed
 
Flashbacks
☼ Winged Justice
55 Winter, 508 AV :
If there was any doubt that Altaira was a painful, exuberant, and vain child then they are now officially cleared up. Upon her way home from hassling her elder brother, she sees several familiar faces in the Frozen Falls market place, immediately noticing that they were 'Weirder than Usual.' In short, she is quick to attack whom she believes to be the perpetrator, and the thread rolls on from there.

○ Little Soldier Girl
25 Winter, 510 AV :
Neda, Altaira's elder sister, decides that perhaps it is time to further her lovely little sister's knowledge in unarmed combat to a deeper level, and being kelvic herself (although bonded) knows that it will take an extra mile to cement the knowledge. Although Altaira is initially open to the concept, she underestimates just how brutal her outwardly noble sister can get when she takes something serious.

☼ Old Friends and New Ties
32 Spring, 513 AV :
Altaira meets a fellow kelvic, born in raised in the lasting frozen city of Avanthal

 
Autumn 513 AV
◙ Method to Madness
13 Autumn, 513 AV :
Altaira's first day of work goes in ways that she could have never quite imagined, with the first bell spent cleaning, and next half in awe of the store, and the basics of philtering taught by her obscenely tall co worker

XP Awarded: Observation +3, Socialization +3, Philtering +3, Cleaning +2, Herbalism +2, Botany +2, Gardening +2, Land Navigation

Lores Awarded: Sahfri Blackleaf: Owner of Stormhold Salves, Stormhold Salves: Organized chaos, layout of the shop, Aoren: Apprentice of Sahfri, Patient man, Reimancer, Aoren has a Gnosis mark, Products of Stormhold Salves, Magic potion cabinet requires a key, protected by magic, Never go into Sahfri's room, Greenhouse of the Stormhold Salves layout, Variety of plants in the Stormhold Salve's Greenhouse, Variety of books on herbalism and medicine in the Stormhold Salves, The knights role in Stormhold Salves, Philtering: Water is the most important tool, Universal solvent, Philtering: How to make Chamayo Tonic, Philtering: Properties of Chamayo Tonic, Philtering: Process of purifying water, Philtering: How to use an Albemic, Philtering: Process of Absorption, Philtering: Using as much of the plant as possible, Botany: Chamayo, Herbalism: Using gloves to keep Philtering processes clean, Herbalism: Properties of Chamayo seed, Gardening: Handle plant life carefully, Gardening: Replant in pots to encourage strength,

◙ Brushing up on the Basics
14 Autumn, 513AV :
Short job thread that had Altaira rekindle knowledge she hadn't used in years, and learning a little about a field she was soon to immerse herself in.

c More than She Thought
24 Autumn, 513 AV :
- Altaira begins to learn the basics of gardening - how to hank a plant from the ground - for a brief spell, before continuing on to give short aid in the store itself. Overall, a paltry little work thread.

◙ Try Not to Miss Me When I'm Gone
48 Autumn, 513 AV :
Altaira gets quite the surprise when squire Bolivar arrives with questions, quickly riling her further than she has been since childhood, and thus having her flail and fail in her attempts to keep up with him.

◙ A Lady's First Bar Fight
56 Autumn, 513 AV :
Altaira heads to the Rearing Stallion to get a feel for a different walk of life, finding trouble almost immediately and soon gaining the aid from a fellow Avanthal born.

◙ Jumping to Conclusions
67 Autumn, 513 AV :
Altaira leaves a less than busy day of work, and spots two who at first glance appear to be youngsters taking part in what she deems dangerous behaviour. Imagine her shock when she finds that one is over three times her age, and the other eighty?

XP Awarded: +3 Observation, +2 Socialization, +1 Interrogation
Lore Awarded: Ghosts Are Unaffected By Gravity, Kimi and Shiyami: Ghosts, Kimi died ten years ago, Shiyami died four hundred years ago, Location: Shiyami's home in the Bronze Woods, Ghosts Can Materialize depending on their power, Nuits need lifeless bodies, Ghosts Do Not Sleep

◙ Starting out Above the Sea
70 Autumn, 513 AV :
Altaira is first to respond to her new co-workers, glad to have another to aid in the lightening of the load (And perhaps result in a higher frequencies of days and afternoons to herself and personal study).

XP Gained: Socialization +2, Reading +1, Herbalism +2
Lore Gained: M’wanii : Charodae Seeking Land-Job, Red-Tangled Mess of Jelly Strings is an Aquatic Plant Killer, Plants can be aggressive

◙ Bathing in the Morning - Open thread
72 Autumn, 513 AV :
Altaira joins several others in the baths, quickly becoming less than fond of a man whose skills out rank her own by a frightening mile, and befriends a timid younger woman.

XP Awarded: Observation +2 XP, Socialization +1 XP, Rhetoric +2 XP
Lore Awarded: Millicent: Embarrassed Girl, Wrenmae: Hard Minded Sellsword

 
Winter 513 AV
- 1 Winter, 513 AV, ◙ Acclimatization - A full blown run-in in the hallways has Altaira start an argument of sorts with a Eypharian, and she decides to take it upon herself to be rather blunt and blatant - no one is cockier than a Parrot Kelvic.
- 3 Winter, 513 AV, ◙ What Does a Mask Hide - Millicent comes to Altaira for a burn salve, and the kelvic quickly takes her under her wing - finding a certain kinship about the younger woman's attitude, and a personal feeling of guilt towards her shattered world view, given the circumstances in which it arose.
- 5 Winter, 513 AV, ☼ Visiters, This Early? - Altaira checks up on Millicent, running into a certain kelvic also checking up on her, and she isn't please din the slightest when she hears of their meeting, or rather, how it arose.
- 12 Winter, 513 AV,☼ Within Eyes Hidden - Altaira's day at work neither quite begins nor pans out as it usually would, spotting a man who seems to have distressed a catty customer's timid child.
- 28 Winter, 513 AV, ◙ Ruffled Feathers - Altaira's definition of insane reaches an all new level when a Benshira woman catches her in kelvic form. Literally catches her. It soon comes sweet the minor bump along the way - you can buy drugs in Syliras? Since when? - and the two come out as acquaintances, of sorts.
XP Awarded: Observation +3 XP, Endurance +1 XP, Rhetoric +1 XP, Socialization +4 XP, Storytelling +1 XP, Intimidation +1 XP, Dancing +1 XP,
Teaching +2 XP, Herbalism +2 XP
Lores Awards: Oriah: Friendly Benshira, Addictive Drugs Are Illegal In Syliras, The Herald's Arms Sell Drugs, A Dance Lesson From Oriah, Herbalism: Infusions, Decoction, And Maceration, Orian Is From The Eyktol Desert

- 37 Winter, 513 AV, ◙ Surprise! It's My Birthday - Altaira runs into a familiar face on her morning stroll, and the plot thickens!
◙ Wrought with Worry
91 Winter, 513 AV :
Altaira and Oriah venture into the Bronze Woods in search of a herb or two that can be given to a wrought man. (Bad explanation, I know. I'm tired. Shhhh)

XP Gained: Observation +2 XP, Socialization +1 XP, Planning +1 XP, Storytelling +1 XP, Herbalism +1 XP
Lores Awarded: Hypochondriacs: Worrywart People, Oriah: Hate Crows

◙ Wrought with Worry II
91 Winter, 513 AV :
- Following immediately after the above, a new thread in the Bronze Woods forum, wherein she and Oriah meet an eagle kelvic.

XP Gained:Observation +5 XP, Socialization +3 XP, Rhetoric +1 XP, Interrogation +1 XP, Herbalism +2 XP, Foraging +2 XP, Wilderness Survival +3 XP, Running +2 XP, Endurance +1 XP, Leadership +2 XP
Lores Awarded: Location: Bronze Woods, Fauna: Lynx, Noah: Eagle Kelvic, Herbalism: Belltor Herb, Syliras: Large Stone Cage
 
Autumn 514AV
◙ Ways of the Wicked I
1 Autumn, 514 AV :
Altaira begins to learn spiritism, and several other useful tricks.

XP Gained: Kopis +1xp, Stealth +1xp, Endurance +1xp, Spiritism +3xp, Meditation +1xp, Land Navigation +2xp, Cooking +2xp

Lores Awarded:Calidus- A soft spoken Spiritist, Lore- Occupations of a Spiritist, Lore- Spiritism Uses, Lore- Desolate Ones (basic), Lore- Making Soulmist (Recipe), Lore- Soulmist (how to make it), Lore- Location The Purple Forest, Lore- Navigating the Purple Forest, Beware the Path, Lore- Spiritism Mantra “Any Help I can give?”, Lore- How to crack and egg, Lore- How to make Dough, Lore- Meditation Methods, Lore- Soulmist Creation (basic)


◙ A Game of Woes
42 Autumn, 514AV :
Altaira takes the entrance evaluation for the Djed Academy of the University of Zeltiva, and passes.

XP Gained: Rhetoric +1 EXP, Persuasion +2 EXP, Storytelling +1 EXP, Socialization +1 EXP

Lores Gained: Bethany Loris: Warden of the Scholar’s Asylum
 
Winter 514AV
☼ Bone Pickers
8 Winter, 514 AV :
Altaira ventures into the university in the wake of the mayhem and destruction, and attempts not to notice a man who seems to be broken. It becomes quickly clear his identity, and she damns herself for not taking greater caution. (Ignotus)

XP Awarded:

Lores Awarded:

☼ Call to Order
27 Winter, 514AV :
Altaira finds herself in a gleefull little situation as a mob of angry citizens protest against the Lord of Council, Ignotus.

Skills Awarded:

Lores Awarded:
c The Enemy of my Enemy
[spoiler=32 Winter, 514AV]A hard day of work ended presses the kelvic to seek drink and relaxation, yet mere days since a certain demonstration, a certain someone with 'incorrect' views catches her eye. (Jad- Retired)

Skills Awarded:

[Lores Awarded[/b]

☼ Spread Thin
33 Winter, 514AV :
Altaira's work calls to visit a home, dragged along by a seemingly distraught woman, and finds herself in far deeper work than she thought that she'd ever have to manage- those in the infirmary still far too busied to keep up. (Molly Barlow)

Skills Awarded:

Lore Awarded:

☼ Things We've Lost
37 Winter, 514AV :
Altaira runs into an old few friends on the brink of tiredness, and finds herself once more firm in her actions and beliefs. (Shiyami & Co)

XP Awarded:

Lores Awarded:
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User avatar
Altaira Readva
I can wait.
 
Posts: 305
Words: 279063
Joined roleplay: October 22nd, 2013, 6:39 am
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
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