Race: Human
Gender: Female
Date of Birth: Spring 14, 498 AV
Age: 22
Height: 5’4”
Weight: 104lb
Profession: Spiritism Professor
Birthplace: Alvadas
Location: Lhavit
Housing: Infinity Manor
Gnosis:
Eiyon, marked
Cordas, marked
Fluent: Common
Madeira Craven
Physical Appearance:
Madeira has pale blue eyes behind black cat-eyed glasses she doesn't need, and frigidly pale skin behind outlandish clothes she can barely afford. The dichotomy of an Avalad and a Eiyon is on full display in the Spiritist as she somehow marries the bight ostentatiousness of the former and the grim determination of the latter. Dressed rather bizarrely in full-skirted dresses and dripping in jewelry, she still somehow cuts a dignified figure. Trained from birth, her posture is painfully straight, her speaking voice pleasant and carrying and her etiquette proper. She has mastered the art of conversation and is confident in any social situation, always ready with a observant eye and a practiced smile. In everything she endeavours to exude the kind unshakable control she is striving for.
Yet beneath the diamonds and fancy clothes Madeira is less than perfect, no matter how much she pretends otherwise. Under long sleeves her arms are completely thatched with self inflicted scars from extracting the blood needed for her various magics. A significant portion of her otherwise pure, snowy skin is scrawled with colourful tattoos depicting animals and bones. And while motherhood has finally given her the more womanly shape puberty failed to, she is still small and unmistakably frail. Stripped bare of pretensions and finery she would be an underwhelming little woman barely out of girlhood.
Her hands in particular are ugly, ruined things she keeps well hidden. The right is missing all five fingernails and has the ropy, candlewax like texture of a severe burn scar. Buried in the center of the molted red and white of her palm is the black scythe of an Eiyon gnosis. The left has a three centimeter glossy white puncture scar straight through her palm to the back of her hand that leaves her unable to bend three fingers. On odd days of the season the entire inside of the same hand is transformed into a black stone-like mark that those with auristics would recognize as magical in origin. As such she is rarely if ever seen without her long silvery gloves to keep them out of sight. On top of which her fingers are always spiked with half a dozen strange rings, all of which have secret magical properties.
Markings :
Concept:
498 - 517 :
518 - Present
Outwardly Madeira is a charismatic and somewhat eccentric socialite of good breeding. She genuinely enjoys people and will go out of her way to make friends from all walks of life. She is intensely dedicated to her calling as a Spiritist, which fuels her curiosity, and is extremely loyal to her identity as a Craven, which fuels her goals. Her somewhat creepy area of study consisting of death, undeath and bodily remains can turn some heads, but it's nothing that can't be chalked up to the particularities of wizards. Her upbringing in Alvadas has left her with a love of the illogical and theatrical, as well as a stunted sense of spacial awareness.
It's only as you look deeper that the cracks in her personality start to show. A deeply rooted inferiority complex has ruled her life since she was small, steering her to crave power and control above all things. Her biggest fear is being disposable, and this has awakened a manipulative streak a mile wide as she maneuvers herself to be in an advantageous position over every person and in every situation. Being physically weak and generally defenceless she relies heavily on the strengths and abilities of others, and will go to great lengths to keep her web of friends and allies close and happy- as long as they are useful.
History:
Madeira was born to the prestigious line of Craven through her father, Phillip Craven’s, blood.Unfortunately, his blood was weak, and his hold on the Craven name tenuous. He was twice removed from the main branch of the family, and the responsibilities of head of the house rested with his skilled and intimidating cousin, Madara. And though a trained Spiritist himself, Phillip's lacklustre skill did little to earn him the respect of the family.
With the birth of his daughter, however, the ambitious man saw an opportunity for the girl that he felt was denied him. He named his only child Madeira, as an ode to her namesake Madara, in some wild and pathetic hope that it would endear her to the girl. From birth Madeira was raised in a way Phillip thought ever good Craven should; he bleated notions of family and loyalty to his child before she even understood the words, and she was given the tools to raise her as a Spiritist along with rigorous schooling from a father that expected nothing less than perfection.
When the Madeira was fourteen, Phillip finally made the push to have the girl boarded in the Craven Manor and continue her studies under the tutelage of the main branch. Weeks later, Madeira was given a formal summons to supper with the head of house. It read like a courtesy, but both father and daughter knew it was a test. And so, armoured in silk and pearls, the girl supped with Madara, Minerva, and Leto Craven. Afterwards the child came home shaken and hard-eyed, though not a hair was displaced from it’s pearl net. To this day she’s never shared what happened at that dinner, much to her fathers ire.
Never the less, Madeira was deemed acceptable and invited to live and study in the Craven Manor. Phillip was fiercely proud, watching all his time, money and hard work finally pay off as he shipped his only child away. But as the two of them stood on the steps of the great house, suitcase in hand, Phillip suddenly began to worry. What if Madeira didn't measure up? What if this creature he crafted in his own, idealized image, somehow fell apart when he wasn’t there to watch her? Would she shame him in that way?
His last words to her, whispered in her ear as he kissed her tenderly on the cheek was: “Do not fail me.”