From Caelum’s Scrap.  Goal
Kavala wants security, freedom, and love in equal parts with none being more important or less important than the other. I know that sounds a bit quirky and perhaps generic, but its what she truly wants. Kavala NEEDS her day to day and year to year freedom to do what she wants when she wants, rather than the illusion of freedom she currently chafes against in Riverfall. The three things are heavily interwoven to her. Security to her means financial and emotional, a family that surrounds her that is trustworthy and one she fits into. She loves her Drykas family and her roots, but being a Konti in a human world means shes' going to outlive everyone on the Sea of Grass she loves and while they grow old her youth will just be dawning. She needs a different kind of family for that security - one that shares her lifespan and goals - so she can go onward knowing time isn't her enemy in regards to them. Interwoven into that is love. She's lost her heart already and had it broken so part of her security and freedom is also entwined with the fact that she really feels she deserves to find someone who will not just love her in certain conditions, but in all conditions. If that doesn't come in the form of a lover or husband, she's more than willing to accept it in the form of a family for each brings her security and in many ways freedom to be less disquieted about any potential losses that are less guaranteed among her own kind than the certainty of loss by old age among her birth family.
Character Traits
I found the original term 'Character Diamond' a little stupid and wanted to change it, namely because I am heavily into jewelcrafting and anyone who knows gems and gemcrafting knows that diamonds have tons of points on them and couldn't possibly just be restricted to four. In fact, the modern round brilliant (the most popular - think engagement ring folks) consists has 58 facets (or 57 if the culet is excluded); 33 on the crown (the top half above the middle or girdle of the stone) and 25 on the pavilion (the lower half below the girdle). The girdle may be frosted, polished smooth, or faceted. In recent decades, most girdles are faceted; many have 32, 64, 80, or 96 facets; these facets are excluded from the total facet count. Likewise, some diamonds may have small extra facets on the crown or pavilion that were created to remove surface imperfections during the diamond cutting process. The smallest cut you can make for a diamond is a point cut and that has only 8 faucets which is twice the traits the person who coined Character Diamond used. So you see, diamond is totally inaccurate for this, and I'm just calling it Character Traits.
Yes. I'm anal retentive.
This guy in this explanation is just trying to sum up a few key points in your PC so you can have a road map to follow when you are trying to get into character. It's all about the character right? Jen get over yourself. Okay, so here's what he has to say. Create four words. Two that are constant and two that are situational and lean on them when trying to get into character. These aren't things that you can't ever change - sometimes they do - but these are tools hes giving us to add to our character toolbox to use to form up our PC's mentality.
"Finally, these four words should describe pretty much everything there is to know about your character's fundamental personality. The dictionary and thesaurus come in handy here, of course, because your words will need to be generalized enough to cover the whole spectrum of experiences that your character might encounter. If this seems impossible, remember that your character is not "real" in the same sense that you are -- his or her status as a fiction of your imagination means that he or she only experiences those things which are relevant to your roleplaying in the game. "
But but but... she's real to me! Okay, moving on. Traits. Traits are enormously hard to pin down but I think I have a grip on them. I used an usual word and I thought it was also interesting that some of my negatives could be positives and vice versa depending on the situation. Did that happen to you?
Constant Traits
Protective (+) : Kavala can't stand to see people being hurt. In a way this makes her ultimately suitable for Rak'keli's marks. However, it also gives her a drastic character trait in that if she feels someone or something is dangerous, rather than taking them down or injuring them Kavala will time after time go for the kill. She's seen a lot of damaged creatures in regards to their mind and psyche - both sentient and not - and feels like rehabilitation at times is a wasted effort that just buries the damage rather than heals it. This is especially true of people. So if someone is threatening her or her own, she tends to think lethally rather than show compassion for whom she faces. Def'n (adj): giving or capable of giving protection (protecting, covering, sheltering, shielding, safeguarding, insulating, caring, defensive, motherly, fatherly, warm, careful, maternal, vigilant, watchful, paternal, possessive) She is all these things.
Disquieted (-) : This is the perfect term for Kavala. I searched long and hard for something that would sum up her sense of worry, anxiety, dread, and suspicion that things are usually worse than they outright appear and that danger hides beneath everything. Def'n (n): a feeling or condition of anxiety or uneasiness (upset, worried, disturbed, distressed, troubled, anxious). Yes. That's Kavala in a nutshell. Too much has happened to her for her to ever change having this trait, or at least change any time soon.
Situational Traits
Passionate (+) : Kavala doesn't know how to do anything just half way. She's always bursting with emotion, intense emotion, whether she conceals it or not. Kavala situationally reveals this fact often. She also has her own tiny little konti soap box she tends to drag around and hop on whenever someone needs a good lecture delivered to them. Def'n (adj): 1. manifesting or exhibiting intense sexual feeling or desire (a passionate lover) 2. capable of, revealing, or characterized by intense emotion (a passionate plea) 3. easily roused to anger; quick-tempered (emotional, enthusiastic, hot, loving). She is all those things, so this word really suits her.
Reactive (-) : Kavala struggles each and every day to stop and think before she reacts. Sometimes she succeeds at this when the stakes are not high. But because of her fall from Windsong and her subsequent enslavement where she had no chance to react, it makes her overly reactive because she exercises that privilege daily when she does have a choice even as she trys to dial it back. Def'n (adj): 1. Tending to be responsive or to react to a stimulus.
2. Characterized by reaction (responsive, sensitive). It takes Kavala enormous effort to freeze, think things through and not react instantly. She trains both ways but sometimes it doesn't help and sometimes it does. Situations change. Sometimes instant reactions are needed and this trait has saved her life more than once, but often ... far more often... its a negative trait and caused her to overreact.
Story Arcs
Traditionally these were described as "Acts" but I like the term arcs better and have always used them. So that's why I'm changing this up from a three act play to a three arc event. I do not want my character's 'life' such as it is, broken down into acts like in a play. That means her story eventually ends. And while realistically it should, right now I'm not prepared to think of Kavala's end or how her tale will unfold. I know what I want to happen but that feeling has me trapped somewhere in childhood where little boys want to grow up and be fireman and little girls want to be princesses. Kavala's life will be darker than that because it already has been. But for me to plot out the future means I have to control it, and Kavala controls herself. What else would a passionate, reactive, protective, disquieted person do?
Past Arc
Kavala is the youngest daughter Eachann, the Ankal of the Denusk Pavilion of the Sapphire clan, by his third wife, Ay’aka. Ay’aka came to the Sea of Grass having been Called from Mura to aid the Denusk and thus the Sapphire Clan as a whole to help cure a plague that affected the clan’s horses. Kavala has an older sister named Akela who is also Konti. Her half-brother Vanator is the son of Eachaan’s first wife and heir to the Denusk Pavilion. Like her mother, Kavala was born with Rak’keli’s mark rather than the vision-granting sight of Avalis. As a girl, she followed her mother everywhere and learned what she could of her mother’s Medicine and Healing. Pacifistic and introverted, Kavala was a happy child who fit very well into the Drykas lifestyle. She has been chosen by three striders in her life, the first being an old warmare who’s rider had died. Ironwraith taught her to ride and passed on a few years later. At that time, Kavala impressed a claybank dun named Avak in the prime of her life who died foaling out twin colts. Her current and third Strider chose her when he was just a foal and Kavala had to wait for him to grow up to ride. Windsong has been with her ever since.
Being close to her older brother, Kavala was frequently the go-between Vanator and Akela since both personalities tended to clash. When Vanator took his first wife, Tamar, Kavala became close friends. Tamar’s death during a Zith raid took Kavala hard because of their closeness and since it came on the heels of her own mother’s death via a fall from a horse. Such a death was a dishonor to the pavilion and completely taboo. Ay'aka was a source of pride to the clan, having come and eradicated a severe horse plague with her medicine. She brought strength and joy to the family, her konti daughters believed to be omens of prosperity. After her death, they were seen as a curse – with many of the bad situations that cropped up afterwards being blamed on the two girls.
Bad luck seemed to pursue the Pavilion. Kavala became convinced that she and Akela were cursed… and often referred to it as “The Curse”. The curse is not real, of course, but Kavala almost gives it power by believing in it. And so, in 507, Kavala left the Denusk Pavilion for Konti Isle seeking answers to her heritage and training in the Opal Temple. She remained on Konti for two years before she decided to return to the Sea of Grass and her home she so desperately missed.
On the way home from Konti, however, the curse struck again. Kavala accidentally rode Windsong into a trap designed to kill the strider and capture the rider. Kavala was taken into custody by slavers who set the trap. Their ultimate goal was to take all prisoners to a Zith Colony and sell the women and children for meat ands slaves. Kavala was only with the slavers for thirty days… but during that time they gang raped her and broke her spirit utterly stripping her of her identity. Kavala’s body was carved up, in a cruel way that was designed to maximize her pain – to torture – and as a defense mechanism her body has started to equate pain to pleasure for the Konti. It happened as a coping mechanism so she could more easily deal with the day to day brutality and stripping of identity.
Because of this, Kavala has very little self worth.
She was rescued later, broken, by an Akalak raiding party that freed the surviving women and children and returned them to Riverfall. Kavala became, at that point, a Nakivak – a term the Akalak used for a ‘reclaimed slave’ or someone that owes a life debt. And she’s remained in Riverfall since, licking her wounds, finding herself again, starting a business and waiting for the day that an Akalak will come to her and demand her debt to Riverfall be paid. That debt can only be paid by producing one or more children for the Akalak people – who are slowly going extinct.
Kavala accepts her fate and is slowly growing more and more grateful for her life. She will honor the request of the first Akalak that asks her to serve him because the Konti healer has found enough of the pieces of her life – and has rebuilt them – in order to see how wonderful the people of Riverfall is and how proud she would be to help them thrive in any way she could.
Current Arc
Fall of 509
Kavala is rescued from slavery by the Akalaks and taken to Riverfall where her rights and new role is explained. She becomes a Nakivak, a breeder, and must give Riverfall children to pay off her debt to them for her rescue. It is also at this time where Kavala finds out she can buy land on contract and begin a business. She chooses an old abandoned factory setting and negotiates for it to be tacked onto her contract.
Winter of 509
This season was really entitled 'Arranging a new life." She spent the entire season setting up Sanctuary, meeting people in Riverfall and discovering her new environment. Kavala met her first Kelvic and found she had enormous affinity towards them - and officially got Sanctuary up and running. She met Sorian, a feral Akalak, and helped him balance his light and dark sides. She befriended a feral kelvic and watched Sorian bond to her as well. Kavala arranged the kelvics pregnancy so that she would not be executed because of her unstable nature in Riverfall. Horses were purchased for Sanctuary and the breeding season was planned. Kavala received her second Healing mark from Rak'keli.
Spring of 510
This season was Kavala's 'Awakening'. She came out of her shell of abuse and started really living again. Kavala fell in love with Hatot and Radis, another Akalak pair whom she helped to balance out, and found herself in a contract with him and carrying his child. Horses were bred, and Sanctuary had its first crop of foals. The business boomed and Kavala started making a reputation for herself. There were several attacks thwarted, and personalities overcome as the denizens of Sanctuary started forming up. Kavala was marked by Nysel in this season and has shyly started to Dreamwalk. The season was filled with healing and revelation. Kavala began to train in unarmed combat and daggers. And, Kavala meets Eyris and possibly receives a mark from her as well (thead still underway).
Summer of 510
Kavala throws herself into her work and her pregnancy. More horses are brought in, the herd is changed out and Kavala trains staff to help her because her body is to bulky to do real work at this point. Hatot/Radris disappears and Kavala has a hard time coping with the fact he hasn't visited her or been part of her life. The season is somewhat lost to her in the form of depression and anxiety and finally mourning once she realizes her relationship with Hatot and Radris are over. Training and healing continue. Staff changes hands. And Sanctuary continues to grow.
Fall of 510
Training continues, both of body and mind. Kavala studies more magic and keeps training her body for unarmed and daggers. She's grown awkward so the bulk of her work goes to her staff. Kavala spends a lot of time alone and returns to Endrykas for visits when she can with her family. The Konti healer becomes sullen, introverted, and keeps to herself a great deal. She gets into fights with Raiha and continues throwing herself into her work almost to the point of exhaustion.
Winter of 510
Filled with storms and mystery, the Winter of 510 was a harsh one. Horses were kept close and many predators both of the feral and of the sentient type were driven off. Training continued. Many social threads were carried out. And Kavala waited for the birth of her son or daughter. Sorian returned and disappeared again. Hatot remained missing. And Kavala soldiered on feeling awkward and worried about the future but also having the growing hope that with Tasifal's birth she'd be freed of her status.
Spring of 511
Kavala gave birth to an Akontak son and the Oathmaster promptly rebound her for another child stating she was too valuable to release from her contract even though she had totally and officially paid Sanctuary off and the money for her original horses she'd purchased on loan from The Council. This threw Kavala into a depression like no other. She recovered slowly from her birth and along with her healing duties, spent the spring throwing herself into her work, birthing foals, rebreeding mares, and having a barn sale.
Summer of 511
A ghost is discovered in Sanctuary and a lot of down time happened for Kavala. She helped a few people, recovered from her son's birth and worried about the 'rest' period that the Oathmaster gave her and when it would be up. She carried out a great deal of healings and added on a kennels to Sanctuary with the help of her staff. She also ran off to Endrykas to see if what she really wanted twas to be back with her Drykas pavailion. It wasn't. But the trip served a great purpose as Tasifal got tied into the web via Kavala's father and officially recognized into the family though his status as Drykas won't happen until a strider bonds with him.
Fall of 511
The thing Kavala most dreaded happened. An Akalak took up her contract which was officially open Fall 1. So now she's lost what little illusion of freedom she had with having the 'mandatory' rest' after a baby is born. There's a twist however since the contract holder is reluctant as well. Fall is still ongoing, so we'll have to see what happens next.
Future Arc
"Wherein your character either achieves or fails to achieve the Goal."
Will she? I have no idea. No. Idea. At. All. Will she try? Yes. But you cannot manifest love. You have to attract and earn it. You cannot develop security unless you have a lot of water under the bridge and a lot of experience doing so. Conflict comes as a second nature in Mizahar's setting. But its how you handle that conflict that brings about your salvation or not and sees your goals accomplished. They may never be. That's the nature of Mizahar. When goals are met, stories end. I don't want Kavala's story to end anytime soon. |
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by Tssaaloki on September 25th, 2011, 6:44 am 
Yes! Yay for Inarta, old and new! *preens and chuffs* That kinda thing just makes ya want to squee! <3 I LOVE Wind Reach!
