Nomi

[Nomi]

Nomi General Information Race: Konti Gender: Female Age: 38 Birthday: 27 Winter 479 Birthplace: Konti Isle Greatest Virtue: Diligence Greatest Vice: Pride Place of Residence: Ravok Gnosis: Divination, one mark Konti Gift: Sense Aptitude - After making eye contact, Nomi gets a general sense of a person's skill set. Mechanically, this allows her to know the two highest skills the person has trained, though it doesn't allow her to distinguish between competent, expert, and master. Brief character summary: Nomi is a hard-working, intellectual woman consumed by the all-encompassing desire to satisfy her own curiosity. She mixes grounded observation with Avalis gift of divination, making her something of a novice occult detective, and she viewers herself as more of a watcher than a participant in her life outside her homeland. Though she's serious and studious, she also has a wry, dark sense of humor cultivated from her father (who she had a close relationship to growing up) and she is often irreverent in the face of danger. Appearance: Like many of her kin, Nomi has blonde hair (bordering on white in some lights) and patches of mother-of-pearlesque scaling that dips down her forehead and creeps across her left cheek. Her mouth is long and thin, though her more prominent lower lip does a little to ease the fragility of its appearance, and her eyes are a very particular shade of leaf green that, combined with the intensity of her default expression, are... off-putting. Her chin tapers off into a point, with a jawline that has a slant to it rather than the soft, rounded squareness of her mother, and her ears are small, often concealed by her egregiously, impractically long hair that she refuses to cut. Nomi could not, in any sense of the word, be said to have a large physical presence. Her body is thin and small, lacking much musculature except in her biceps, and even that couldn't be called prominent. The scaling continues down her back, forming a dense cluster that spreads over her shoulders but thins out once it reaches the very end of her spine. The patterning starts up again around her upper thighs, though it doesn't spread down her legs evenly, being more thickly arranged on the right than the left. This asymmetry has an unbalanced quality to it, like a half-filled canvas or an off-balance shelf. Whether she considers this a pleasant quirk or an unsightly feature is difficult to determine. Her elbows are marked with scales as well, along with the backs of her thin, webbed hands, which she keeps very resolutely neat and well-maintained. In her spare moments, she can be seen filing them down or otherwise grooming herself, and that same sense of aesthetic decorum extends to the rest of her appearance. Her hair is always brushed - often tied back in some way, as well, if she needs to perform physical labor - and her garments are always neatly kept and well-mended. Nomi would rather polish her boots than have a well-seasoned meal, which gains only more weight once one acknowledges that, among life's pleasures, Nomi considers food to be of the highest priority. Despite being such a small woman, Nomi carries herself with a confident posture. She is, certainly, quiet (unless she sees value in speaking), but she couldn't truly be called timid. Her expressions vary from intent concentration to detached amusement, and Nomi prides herself on continually being composed. Being taken off-guard is a sign of weakness to her, and giving into grand displays of emotion would only serve to reinforce the negative stereotypes others have of the Konti. She loves the White Island, and she wishes to properly represent the inner strength of her people. This could, of course, be considered overcompensation, and to the right viewer, her body language indeed conveys that impression. She smiles like she thinks the entire world is unaware of an excellent joke that she's in on, which, due to her youth and size, makes her seem like she's possessed of the self-centered arrogance of a child. Yet, there's something else about her demeanor - her ability to focus, her fervent, sharp passion - that communicates something... genuinely unsettling. Yes, she puts on an air of superiority to make herself seem more secure in a strange land, but her own self-assurance isn't simply posturing. She's a diligent, hard-working, exacting woman, and it would be a poor idea to dismiss her completely. Clothing Nomi tends towards a more masculine form a dress, preferring pants and boots to skirts and fine slippers. She always, even in private, wears a pair of long, dark leather gloves trimmed with fine rabbit fur and embroidered with lilies that her mother made for her before she left Mura. They are her great treasure, and she only takes them off to care for her hands. Her boots are leather, solid, and well oiled, as is her leather jerkin, and she tends towards dark, muted cottons for her pants and shirts. This makes the paleness of her hair stand out particularly, even when she has it in a bun, and it gives her a grim appearance, despite her age. Or, well. At least, the appearance of someone trying to be grim and mature. Character Concept There is nothing Nomi loves more than the truth. This obsession is a multifaceted thing, derived from personal interest, her parent's history, and her interpretation of her beloved goddess, Avalis, but it pervades every aspect of her being from the tiniest scale on her little toe to the very tip of her smug little head. Nomi loves the truth, and she loves prying the truth out of every strange crevice she can find. A thorough intellectual, Nomi loves challenges. She's fascinated by puzzles, clues, and riddles, and even when she was a child, she felt an intangible yet definite pull towards the outside world. There was something out there for her, some mystery to untangle, and she seeks to find it and rip it to shreds in order to expose the beautiful, glimmering answers beneath. Truth lies at the bottom of a well, and what better person to climb into the dark, murky abyss than a Konti? In this vein, everything Nomi does contributes to a goal. She is purposeful in every action, from her decisions to speak to someone to a simple glance around the street. Always, she is absorbing information, analyzing it, and filing it away, which makes the very act of socializing a mercenary experience where she's fighting for the prize of more information. This bodes ill for her ability to genuinely connect with other people, and in fact, this is a definite foible in Nomi's general character - that she considers there to be a barrier between herself and those outside the White Isle, one that she's subconsciously reluctant to cross. The White Isle was a place of harmony, support, gentleness, and love. She had a good life there, with close friends and a loving family. She viewed her fellow Konti as, well, people, and in contrast, she views those around her in this world as pieces of a game-board that she's playing with. This isn't a mark of intentional misanthropy; more, it is a hallmark of someone from a very emotionally close community dealing with the culture of the outside world. As she learns more - and is forced to connect more - with the people around her, this will certainly muddle the rigid purposefulness of her bearing. Despite this, Nomi is naturally soft-hearted person. She hides it under a veneer of mockery and general amused irreverence - after all, if you laugh at the world, it becomes a lot less scary - but she doesn't like seeing other people in pain. In fact, her natural Konti sensibilities make being in places of strife and conflict emotionally exhausting, which... is a bit of an unfortunate trait for a self-styled detective to have. Sort of comes with the territory, after all. But Nomi is stubborn. Above all things, she is passionate, hard-headed, and determined, and will not compromise when it comes to her curiousity. She throws herself into interesting situations with a voracious hunger for knowledge and insight, though she's usually smart enough and cautious enough to do it in a way that won't get her killed. The temptation is strong, however, and how long will it be before Nomi gets a little too curious for her own good? Character History Parentage Born of the curious union between a Konti seer and a Ravokian man from a well-to-do family, Nomi's peaceful upbringing in Mura was colored by her parents peculiar circumstances which, ultimately, ended up shaping her entire personality. Approximately forty-six years ago, Martel Durand first encountered his future "wife", Hori, when she was purchased by his family at a slave auction. The Durand family oversaw a large and industrious textile business made prosperous by Martel's grandfather - Alexander - which Martel, the oldest son at age twenty, was set to inherit. Hori was, due to her natural gift in divination, purchased to act as an adviser to the family, and for an entire year, she fulfilled that function with relatively little hassle. Her captivity, while unfortunate, was not devastating to her being, and Martel, during this time, formed a strange sort of friendship with the family's pet seer. They spent quite a lot of time together discussing academics, theology, and other intellectual pursuits, and though the power imbalance in their relationship was certainly felt, Martel was a mild-mannered and respectful enough man that he didn't exert his influence over her in an obvious capacity. This genuine companionship provided invaluable when, in a single night, Martel lost almost every close family member he ever had. The specifics of the grand series of murders, while bizarrely intriguing in their own right, were ultimately unimportant, though at the time, both Hori and Martel were intimately involved in the proceedings. The Martel family was a good family. While hardly as wealthy as the great, famous Ravok bloodlines, they were well-respected and well-known. That so many would be killed through the course of a single evening was outrageous, particularly in Ravok, a bastion of safety in a cruel, tumultuous world. The proceeding trial was handled with severity, and both Martel and Hori were interrogated to determine the culprit. In a turn of events that shook Martel to his very core, Hori's divination and his own sleuthing lead them to testify against Eden Auger, a man who Martel had considered to be his very closest, dearest friend. Every case of murder contains three parts - a whodunnit, a howdunnit, and a whydunnit, and it was the final of these that ultimately devastated Martel. In Eden's confession, he admitted that he had planned to commit these murders for years, a desire which originated in a vicious dispute five decades when Martel's grandfather, Alexander, betrayed his then-business partner and Eden's grandfather, Bennett, and lead to the ruination of Bennett's family and the suicide of his wife. Every aspect of Eden's relationship with Martel had been a sham, he had said, a plot of revenge that climaxed in the death of much of Martel's family save himself and his little sister, Louise. Martel lost faith in everything. Himself, in other people, even in his god, Rhysol. It was a deeper, more cutting betrayal that Martel ever been prepared to face, for prior to the case, neither Martel nor his parents were even the slightest bit aware of Eden's family history. Ironically enough - even tragically so - Martel had cared for Eden with such a depth of affection that, had he known of the other man's circumstances, he would have given his own life in recompense for the sins of his grandfather. But there was nothing to be done. Martel was now an orphan, Eden was convicted, and the young Durand boy was left a shattered man. It is Hori that picked up the pieces. After the trial, Martel left all of the family's property to his sister, Louise, except for Hori, whom he intended to release back to the Konti Isle. Perhaps it was simple fondness for her, or perhaps it was some manner of repentance, but he wanted to see her, at least, happy before he... well. It's hard to say what exactly Martel intended to do after he saw his friend's safe passage back to her homeland, but considering how despondent he became, it's only imaginable that he hoped to join his family in death. Hori did not let that happen. When the pair arrived at the Konti Isle, she extended an invitation to him to stay with her - and after much wheedling, he eventually agreed. He was sorely out of place there among the White Isle Women, but something about the atmosphere there helped to soothe his melancholy temperament. After another year, he and Hori - now that the two of them were released from the power imbalance of their previous relationship - began to see each other in a romantic light, and four years after their first meeting, the first of Hori's children was born. In another four years, two more children arrived, the third of which was Nomi. Childhood Hori and Martel were devoted parents to their brood of (eventually) seven children, and growing up, Nomi did not lack for love or parental approval. Nomi knew that her knowledge of and close relationship to her father was unusual - after all, very, very few foreigners live on the Isle - but the accepting nature of the Konti meant that it wasn't seen as unnatural or terribly peculiar in any way. It did, however, help spur her curiousity about the outside world. She asked many questions of her father about his life back on the mainland, which he answered (mostly) patiently. In a show of morbid childhood fancy, she became particularly fascinated with the circumstances behind her parents marriage and why, exactly, Martel left human society behind. Martel's sense of humor, being predominantly dark, lead him to turn the tragic events of his parent's deaths into a game for his young daughter. He explained the suspects, he explained the situation, and he refused to tell her the culprit, instead forcing her to ask questions and figure it out for herself. It took her until she was eighteen for her to finally, correctly identify the three parts of a classic mystery. The piece that truly confounded her was that final thing, that piece of insight which had so destroyed her father - the motive. To Nomi, who had lived a blissful existence in a land full of love, it was hard to determine why anyone would carry such a powerful, generations long grudge. Like her father, that information that the culprit had been his best friend transformed her worldview, but for her, it gave her a strange sort of purpose. The world outside the White Isle was strange, she realized, and in some ways horrifying, but it also fascinated her. What kind of place would produce a story like that, she wondered? What sort of other secrets and dark things lurked in the world outside? That was the genesis of her desire to see the lands outside of the Isle, and also the core reason why she treats the outside world like it's merely a play that she's observing. Such a strange place doesn't feel real to her, not with the way she was raised. Like she's a watcher, and not a participant. Further, the curious tale of her father's origins left another mark on her, for Nomi derived an atypical moral from the ultimate conclusion. Yes, her father had been destroyed by the truth. His ability to trust others had been fragmented, and in his weakness, he had rejected the city of his birth and relied entirely on his final companion, Hori. Yet, when Nomi asked him if he regretted finding out that his best friend was a murderer, Martel had to stop, consider the question... And say no, he did not. If Eden had not been exposed, perhaps Martel would have managed to continue his average life. The death of his parents, his aunt and one of his uncles, his grandmother and many of the servants he'd grown up with had, obviously, left an irreparable mark on his soul. Yet, he would still have maintained his basic faith in his circumstances. He would have still believed in his longstanding friendship with Eden, and he never would have learned that what he considered a deep, emotional bond was, in fact, a cultivated lie. Being free of that shock, he could have mustered the will to honor his parents memory and continue the family business and, likely, would have cared for Louise and Hori in the manner of a true, dignified merchant heir. Yet, he mused... would that have been better than the life he lives now? Hori, his children - would he still have all of that if he had continued to live in Ravok? The knowledge had broken him, certainly. But wasn't it better that he had been broken and then transformed, rather than complacently living a lie? It was then that Nomi truly began to appreciate the beauty of the truth. Oh, she'd been interested in the process of figuring things out long before this revelation. Nomi had always been fascinated by intellectual exercises. But that encounter solidified a life philosophy that only continued to develop as she aged, one that gave her a passion, determination, and drive towards improving her own powers of observation and, with it, her racial proficiency in divination. Avalis, goddess of the Sight represents, to her, the true beauty of divining the hidden truth. Viewing the secrets of the past, present, and future are manifestations of Avalis' precious, beloved gift, and not only is the act of divining - whether magically, or through her own insight - fun for Nomi, it's also something she sees to be divinely right. The truth gained from the Sight may break you, but it will also transform you according to fate's will. This is something Nomi believes more strongly than anything. Young Adulthood As Nomi grew older, she developed a very studious, intent mindset. Where many of her sisters turned to creative pursuits to fill the time, Nomi turned to books, and though she cared for the people around her, she didn't often endeavor to participate in social occasions. Indeed, she became something of a presence in the background, simply enjoying the company of others while they engaged in each other's lives. This gave her the mindset of a listener more than a speaker, though conversing with others doesn't make her nervous. It's just not something she finds natural fulfillment in. It didn't surprise any member of her family when she revealed her intense, all-consuming desire to go see the world beyond Mura for herself. She seemed like exactly the sort of person that would embrace the Call, though her mother - due to her own experience with slavery - was understandably hesitant. Though Nomi wanted to leave home for the mainland as soon as she turned thirty, she allowed her parents to persuade her to stay for seven more years... Not least because, by the time Nomi reached the age of adulthood, her father was already well over fifty years old. Not often was it mentioned that Martel would die far, far before his wife, but it was a shadow that hung over the household as the years passed. Given the difficulty of travel, if Nomi left home for a prolonged period of time... she could very well miss her father's eventual passage. Still, after the better part of a decade, the Call became unbearable, and Nomi left to find her way in the world. With a wide, strange unknown before her, it seems natural that her eye would turn to Ravok, a city that, despite everything that had happened there, her father spoke ultimately of with fondness. It's ironic, in a way, that the same event which caused Martel to leave would eventually lead to his daughter to immigrate, but perhaps it was only right. Besides - her father had left the city with one regret that only festered over the years. He had, in essence, entirely abandoned his then-eighteen year old sister. With Nomi, he sent a letter for her to deliver, if she could indeed find Louise Durand. Unfortunately, the Durand company and household has, in those forty-five years since his departure, dissipated. While her father's regrets weigh on her, and while she intends to find some trace of her aunt, the more immediately pressing concerns of survival weigh on her, particularly due to her non-human status. Her determination is strong - but will Ravok break and remake Nomi, as well? Language Fluent Language: Kontinese Basic Language: Common Poor Language: Tukant [Acquired from a Akalak man of her acquaintance living on the Konti Isle due to the warm relationship between the two races.] Skills Skill EXP Total Proficiency Fortune Telling 10RB, 20SP 30 Competent Intelligence 15SP 15 Novice Investigation 15SP 15 Novice Acquisition Fortune Telling Her abilities with throwing bones and reading tarot cards came from the older Konti in Mura. Nomi took very well to the idea of divining one's path through such simple tools, and finds the symbolic meanings of fortune telling to be fascinating. She often does tarot readings for herself when she's stuck on what to do next, and they can often force her to think of problems and mysteries in a new light. There is insight to be found in the shuffled deck and the thrown dice. Intelligence Nomi is a naturally analytical person, and on Mura, she often entertained herself by collecting information and thinking about its implications. Of course, the White Isle is a place lacking in the intrigue department, but growing up, many of her peers sought her out for her insight on who was a good candidate for the latest upcoming creative competitions. Investigation Developed alongside her intellectual abilities, Nomi proved herself to be a terrible snoop growing up. What little gossip there was, she sought it out with glee, and she honed her abilities in mundane ways... such as figuring out where her father had hidden the latest batch of his city-wide famous cookies. Lores Lore of Religion: Avalis Lore of Geography: Mura Possessions - Flint & Steel Wardrobe (rented) - Simple Shirt - Simple pants, brown - Simple undergarments, plain - Simple cloak - Simple boots - Leather jerkin with buckles on the front Small Chest (owned) - Wash Basin (Average) - Mirror (Small steel) - Mouth Wash (8oz) - Toothbrush - Toothpowder (4oz) - Face powder (4oz) - Powder puff - Comb (Wood) - Brush (Wood) - Soap - Razor 1 Backpack (owned) - Balanced Rations (1 Week’s Worth) - 1 Waterskin - 1 eating knife - Book (journal) - Tarot card deck Heirloom: A pair of elbow length, leather gloves trimmed with rabbit fur and embroidered with lilies. A present from her mother. Housing Location: Ravok House:A common room rented at Tarsin's Boarding House for the season. Contains a bed, writing desk, chair, small table, wardrobe and storage chest. Cost per season: 55 GM Ledger Purchase Cost Total Starting +100 GM 100 GM House Exchange +500 GM 600 GM Room Rental -55 GM 545 GM Vest - 6 GM 539 GM Small Chest -1 GM 538 GM Mirror (Small Steel) -10 GM 528 GM Wash Basin (Average) -2 GM 526 GM Mouth Wash (8oz) -5 SM 525 GM 5 SM Toothbrush -3 GM 522 GM 5 SM Face powder -4 SM 522 GM 1 SM Tooth powder -3 SM 521 GM 8 SM Powder puff -2 SM 521 GM 6 SM Book (blank) -3 GM 518 GM 6 SM Tarot Card Deck -5 GM 513 GM 6 SM Thread List Link your current & past threads here!