Aquia Tempest

[Aquia Tempest]

Aquia Tempest Appearance Race: Human: Svefra Sex: Female Gender: Too young for that, but most likely female Age: 14 Birthday: 12th, Spring, 500 A.V. Birthplace: Aboard the Palivar: The Waverunner's Fist Appearance: Short and petite, standing at the height of 5'2", Aquia's heart shaped face is topped with a tumbling mist of sea-tousled, sun bleached hair, its tips grazing slightly below her collar bones at the front, and tumbling down mid-waist at the back. Her sun-kissed skin sets off a striking contrast to her eyes, their blue depths a homage to the Father of the Svefra, Laviku's, domain, and lends to her the healthy glow of one who have been bathed in Syna's light. As well as being short, her figure and stature is almost typical to the Svefra; lean and powerful from the vigorous life of a seafarer, and from her various idle days spent sparring and training in the art of the sword. Appearing almost delicate and fine boned, her innocent and gentle appearance belies a hereditary inner flame common to most, if not all, Svefra; her youthful and soft features used advantageously by her Pod sisters and brothers in various situations, particularly Tydus and his negotiations. Commonly wearing tightly fitting shorts laced with strings of seashells and pretty glass beads, Aquia's clothing is usually free flowing around the busk, and skin-hugging below the waistline, optimising her freedom of movement for footwork while providing plenty of breathing space for her chest. She's a sucker for freedom in clothing. On the rare occasion, such as a ball or a party that calls for more formality and "lady like" mannerisms, she would wear a dress. Character Concept A great deal more sensible than most of her Pod mates, Aquia appears almost mature in her soft, and little, spoken nature, even perceived as shy by those who do not know her. Of course, this does wonders in disguising her appetite for mischief and her calculating ways, her silence an attribute she acquired after learning that she could learn a great deal from listening to others, and that it was more expressive to use body language & facial expressions. However, the Incident, which should not have been an event to be witnessed by one so young, was a pivotal point in her life. Although it did not change her outward demeanor, it served as a great dampener for any positive emotions she felt, serving as a veil on her once carefree outlook on life. Unchanged by this is her tendency to avoid getting her closest Pod members involved with anything that may bring them trouble, especially if it was started by her. This originally applied only to her eldest, and only, sister, Callipsia, the exception being the Lia Tatianna, but it eventually branched out to her closest family and friends. Hidden beneath her calm facade is a continuing war between her irrational feeling of guilt towards the decimation of her Pod, and the belief that she should carry on the livelihood of those she has lost. This need to preserve the memories of her past, and the memories of those who had died, was most strongly attributed to one of her most well hidden, and misunderstood, traits; Aquia's empathetic sentimentality. Although it isn't the only trait that governs her "Moral Code", the others being her general Empathy, Sympathy, Perception of other's, her inability to judge a person upon their first meeting, and her acceptance and unfounded forgiveness of and to almost anyone, it is the most dominant and active trait. Her pranks are not meant to harm; Aquia merely tries to lighten up the lives of others through showing them that everybody makes mistakes and that laughter is good for everyone. When they go out of hand, that's a sure sign that Aquia did not think of the long term results of that particular prank. Character History Having grown up in a Pod, like most Svefra, Aquia grew up as one of the many children being raised by the entire Pod, as per tradition. At an early age, she generally wore a calm and slightly amused expression, using it to her advantage in many a situation where lying was necessary to divert blame. Although this usually worked, her subtle signature flare in her pranks was easily recognised by those close to her and, after a few occasions where escape was the only option, Aquia's daring ploys became terrifyingly more subtle in their approach. It may have very well been due to one of these jokes that her Pod was destroyed and divided. After that calamity, her pranks almost ceased entirely, guilt having taken nest within her conscience, in an attempt to persuade herself that it would prevent any thing like that happening again. Prior to the event Aquia conned "The Incident", a few years earlier, in fact, Aquia was struck with a sudden fascination with blades, and the art of wielding the wickedly sharp tools. First trying out with the cutlass, she found it too...unseemly. Although most of her cousins and Pod loved the curved blade, Aquia admired the elegant and more sadistically sharp, and pointy, blade of the rapiers nobody seemed to use. It was another few years, precisely 2 seasons and a half before the single sided slaughter of the Tempest Pod, before her Lia Tatianna noticed the way she glanced at the blades, abandoned in the corner of the storage. After which she gave one of the few solitary blades, the one most suited to her, to Aquia to use and train with. As a seafaring race, the Svefra needed weapons just in case. Since she was the only one who admired the rapier so, nobody else in the Pod contested against her "ownership" or "need" for the weapon, making it pretty much hers. After obtaining the blade, she began to grasp the basics of the weapon through trial and error. Through sparring, Aquia learnt how to hold the rapier and a few of the basic stances, and through common sense, she further grasped the basic stances and refined them to the highest efficiency she could manage. Under the guidance of her birth mother, she became a rather..."good" swordswoman. Then came the day of the Incident. How Aquia escaped the blood fest was via a wine barrel that had happened to be so conveniently looted by the victors of the battle, which could not have been even referred to as a battle. One bell before her world was sent spinning apart in splinters, Aquia had been playing a game of sorts with herself. It was an odd game, something to do with estimating how much of the alcohol those barrels contained were drunken per day by the Pod, and making various rhymes about the folly of those who drank beyond their limits and entered a stupor. Amongst those barrels were empty ones that were to be filled by various articles of food. It was in one of these that Aquia hid when she heard the first explosions and screams above deck, pulling its covering over after her. The series of events that followed were a blur to Aquia; the horrifying, muffled shrieks, screams, and explosions that reached her ears confused her in such a way that the noises began to bleed into one another, sending her orientation veering off in all directions before spinning her into the abyss of unconsciousness. By the time she awoke, Aquia had found herself listening to a celebration above and around her. Her intellect was not to be trifled with, and her ability to come to conclusions were fairly acute. And so, Aquia assumed correctly that the sounds of celebration were not of her own Pod. She knew that, for the Pod was not such a large group, and the screams that emblazoned themselves into her ears were too familial to her for her to be mistaken. She was aboard the boat, or ship, of those who killed her family. With that conclusion, Aquia fell into a detached state of survival instinct. Listening to any snippets of conversation she could discern, Aquia awaited the moment of calm wherein all celebration settled into when alcohol ran through the veins of the celebrators. When that time came, Aquia had gleaned a fair amount of information and, knowing that her Tavan would be awaiting her call in the waters beyond the ship, she snuck out of the barrel, onto the deck, and overboard the ship. Having known that she could not have been far away from Riverfall, Aquia and her Tavan drifted, and swam, through the sea for two days, partially due to her Tavan's horrid sense of direction. During those two days, Aquia had had plenty of time to think about the destruction of her Pod and learn to survive with her Tavan as they drifted near shore, feeding off local fish and crustacean. By the time Aquia had arrived at Riverfall, she was chilled to the bone and weak from both physical and mental fatigue, guilt having gnawed at her for a good portion of her voyage on the seas. Now that she was on land, she was a changed person, much more serious than she was before, and her once carefree and happy-go-lucky disposition was replaced with a more somber attitude to life. It may have, however, been because of the cold. Language Fluent Language: Fratava Basic Language: Common Poor Language: Has yet to learn one Skills Skill EXP Total Proficiency Weapon: Rapier 11 SP # Novice Sailing 6 SP # Novice Escape Artist 10 SP # Novice Swimming 6 SP # Novice Stealth 10 RB, 17 SP 27 Competent Lores The Culture of the Svefra (SP) Stealth: Silent Breaths (SP) Possessions Starter Pack 1 Set of Clothing -Loose fitting white blouse -Beige cut-off shorts -Simple Undergarments -Simple Blue hooded cloak -Scuffed Leather Boots 1 Waterskin 1 Backpack which contains: -Comb (Wood) -Brush (Wood) -Soap -Razor -Balanced Rations (1 Week's worth) -1 eating knife -Flint & Steel 100 Gold Mizas Heirloom: Corial: The rapier the Lia of the Tempest Pod gave to Aquia. Basic in its design, the steel blade of this rapier is simple and typical of its kind before it flares outwards, forming the sweeping guard. Created with the ocean in mind, the guard is formed of multiple bands of fortified steel. Twisting and weaving around and through one another, the steel bands form a lacy network of waves before ultimately colliding to form a rippling knuckle guard in the semblance of the boneless and thin membranes of some fish's fins. In comparison to the guard, the pommel and hilt is simple; the pommel curled like a nautilus shell and inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and the hilt smooth, polished wood. Along with Corial, and its sheath, was the considerably lengthy sea blue satin, died in gradients, sash that originally served as the rapier's sheath before Tatianna located its proper sheath. Approximately 6 Gold Rimmed Mizas worth of satin. Where the material came from, not even Tatianna could remember, knowing only that it was obtained recently. Housing Location: Riverfall, on the Tempest Fleet House: Tempest Fleet: 'The Aural Tide' To be detailed and "Obtained". Ledger Purchase Cost Total Starting Package +100 Gold Mizas 100 Gold Mizas Thread List Link your current & past threads here! Gnosis Oceanus Mark 1: Given to all Svefra at birth, this gnosis is one of Aquia's many prides, the marking as surely a part of her as her soul. Like all other Svefra, Aquia wears it with pride, its scenic patterns visible upon the smooth skin of her legs, where it generally takes the form of a garter-like band. Effect: First Mark: Marked individuals can first and foremost spot Otani readily. Otani will recognize them and often seek them out to play and communicate. Individuals with one Laviku mark can also drink salt water and have the mark automatically convert it to fresh water for ocean survival. Individuals know the direction of the sea if they are on land and how far away it is (in aprox miles). They also immediately recognize where progression tide is, meaning if it is incoming or outgoing or in transition between. Controlling Sea Creatures Mark 1: Control 1 individual predator their size or smaller, or control multiple small animals such as schools of small fish Sensing Distance Mark 1: Surrounding Nautical Mile Tavan Ta'ara Ta'ara, sometimes shortened to Ara, is a 5'4" sexually mature female Porpoise, a hybrid between a Harbour and Dall's Porpoise, presumed to be around 6 years of age. She tends to stay around the ships of the Tempest pod, occupying herself with various other activities, during their voyages and while they are docked, waiting for Aquia to come play with her in its waters. Although she has a horrid sense of direction, and tends to ignore Aquia's orders and suggestions, Ta'ara and Aquia are extremely loyal to one another, never leaving the side of the other if they could help it. Ta'ara also tends to give any items she find during her small, solo adventures to Aquia upon her return, expecting nothing in return but always given a fish or two by Aquia for the sentiment. Over the course of time that they have been together, since the time that Ta'ara was only a calf and Aquia was 11, the two have grown in sync; their trust in one another goes without saying and immeasurable and their whereabouts known to one another without firsthand knowledge nor evidence. Personality wise, Ta'ara is a stubborn, fun loving creature, energetic and always venturing off somewhere near shore when the Tempest Pod is docked. She has a you-go-where-I-go attitude towards Aquia when the latter is riding on her, but she will also occasionally obey any commands and orders that Aquia gives out when the occasion calls for it. However, like her sense of direction, she has a horrid tendency to choose the wrong timing to fall into her stubborn streaks.