Nymph and Dragon
01-23-08, 05:03 PM
Name: Twyla
Age: Unknown (Looks mid-twenties)
Race: Freshwater Nymph
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Height: 5.8
Weight: 140
Occupation: Private researcher
Personality: Bitter and resentful over the unfairness of her past and the events that turned her from a murderous Siren into a Nymph, Twyla has a sour personality that often leans towards sadistic. She is cynical, sarcastic, and enjoys torturing her familiar with the vulgarity of her thoughts and the crudeness of her hatred towards humanity, which she was not cured of when her soul was merged with the water Elemental’s. She is a terrible actress but a smooth liar and is driven by her insatiable curiosity, which she will do just about anything to satisfy.
Appearance: Taller than most of her water-bound sisters, Twyla nonetheless has a gracefully athletic figure, her muscles honed from her frequent- and required- swims. She is indistinguishable from a human except for her unnatural beauty and garish dress. Her wavy blond hair falls to her mid-back, but is usually hidden beneath a floor-length, hooded, purple cloak that she always wears. The nymph's face as a whole has an innocent, childlike beauty, but the Allure that it holds is not bound up in her features. She has very large eyes, a heart-shaped face, and a small mouth that is usual pulled into a smirk. She always wears, however, a sheer pink scarf that hangs across the bridge of her nose at about ear level and extends down to her chin, obscuring her face enough to prevent her innate magic to effect those she speaks to. Her one blemish is a thin scar that extends from her right ear to just below the right side of her mouth, but it is well-healed and only visible from a very close proximity
Dress: She usually wears an ankle-length robe of blue silk. She also always wears some form of cover for her face, either by wearing the pink scarf mentioned before or by having the hood of her purple cloak pulled down low over her face. She always wears thin-strap sandals that lace at her ankles. A small silver medallion hangs from her neck, but it is usually hidden beneath her gown.
History: I didn’t change any of the history, so if you want to go back and read the long-ass history it’s there (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=2055&highlight=nymph). But these are the highlights: Twyla was a man-killing, human-hating Siren who got cut by a wizard with an iron knife. While she lay dying of iron poisoning (a weakness for her race), he looked at her face and fell madly in love with her and summoned a demon to help him find a cure to save his new beloved. The demon (Ty’Alken) already hated Sirens and especially the overly-efficient Twyla and therefore bonded her soul to a water Elemental that had been the demon’s slave. Her price was the wizard’s undead life, so when Twyla woke up she was alone with the green dragon and could no longer stay in the ocean. She found a monastery of blind monks who taught her how to Mindwrite and she ventured into the world to be a researcher of the human race for them. She is driven primarily by curiosity, though, and her undying hatred for humans.
Skills:
Mindwrite: Silver medallion allows Twyla to record her thoughts on parchment by means of god-given magic. She can choose which thoughts are written and which stay in her mind.
Allure: The inborn ability of Sirens to attract people to them with their looks. This is not really a skill because it's involuntary. At level 1, if someone of level 2 willpower or lower (or as decided by PCs) sees Twyla’s full face, they lose most of their mental functionability for the duration of the look and are slightly more susceptible to suggestions or orders from her than they would be if they hadn’t fallen under her spell. The longer they stare into her face, the more susceptible to her influence they are. More importantly, people that see her face are entranced by it and are more responsive to her on the basis of an instant infatuation. Also, the attraction lasts even after the Allure fades, so that often men who were allured fancy themselves in love with her even after just a glance. (Totally decidable by PCs, of course, depending on character’s willpower and susceptibility to beautiful women.)
Siren's Call: Through the natural ability of her born race, the nymph's voice can be used to lure men- or anyone attracted to her - under her influence. Using her singing voice, which has a stronger attraction than Allure but whose effects last for a shorter time and require constant singing, she has an even greater control over the listeners and can control them more easily with verbal commands disguised in the song than when using just Allure. (At level 1, she cannot control who is attracted to her, and she cannot put people fully under her control, but without distractions she is able to insert behavioral suggestions through her songs that strong-willed characters (and anyone above level 2) can resist.)
Waterbreath: Twyla can breathe underwater, but only in freshwater. Saltwater would drown her and hurts her skin whenever she is in contact with it. Her water-based nature makes her dependent upon water, however, so she has to swim or be submerged in freshwater at least once a day to stay healthy.
Summon Serpent: Not really a summons, since the Elemental is bound to her and cannot leave her side for long without damage to both their health. It must, however, return to its realm daily to rejuvenate itself, and she is able to call it from that realm. (It takes, at level 0, about five minutes for him to come when called.) (At level 1, it takes four and a half minutes for the dragon to return from the time it decides to return.)
Oceanic: Twyla can (at level 1) only understand the communication of most marine life. She cannot, however, be submerged in saltwater, so she is pretty much limited to the babbling of freshwater fish.
Equipment:
Silver medallion: A thin (also silver) chain holds a pendant that is a twisted tangle of silver strangs. It is about the size of a slightly-elongated (*gasp* non-Althanian allusion alert!) quarter. The nymph has to be touching the medallion with her fore- and middle fingers (of either hand) and focusing intently for her thoughts to be transcribed. Others, if they touch the medallion with the right fingers and think really hard, can transcribe onto the same parchment. However the "handwriting," that appears on the parchment, if it can be called that, is different for each person.
Purse: Twyla has a shoulder bag that she wears under her cloak that contains several personal items, money and, only when absolutely necessary, her familiar.
*Familiar: The Elemental
Name: None
Race: Freshwater Elemental
Gender: Androgynously masculine
Age: Ancient
Form: Usually a wingless two-foot long (including the tail) serpent-like snake with thin, stubby legs, and black claws. It has a forked tail, a jagged ridge down its spine, and faceted crimson eyes over an elongated snout. It also has short horns (useless for fighting) and occasionally does the tongue-flicker thing like snakes.
Known History: After having lived a torturous existence as the slave of the demon Ty'Alken, the Elemental is grateful to Twyla for indirectly saving him from further misery, despite the fact that he had to share his soul with her and the nymph still despises his company and scorns his help. He is eager to aid her in almost any way possible, but sharing a soul and being constantly connected to her dark mind is a trial for him. He is constantly being confronted with the moral questions of Twyla’s selfish behavior and is forced to choose between fulfilling his vow to help her and keeping his half of their soul clean. He is her equivalent of a conscience, but he is becoming less and less tolerant of Twyla’s immorality.
Skills:
Purify:Can cleanse water-based things from impurities. (Poison from a living thing, dirty water, etc.) At level 1 , he could only cure two people per day or purify about a bathtub full of water.
Shape-shifting: He can change his form from the solid green dragon (not fire-breathing, max size: 5’ by 12’ into a malleable liquid that can be molded into any form (still bound by the size-restraints of his dragon form) or liquid state (solid, liquid, gas). At level 1, he can still only change into ice and liquid water. As a solid (dragon form or ice) he can attack with his teeth and claws.
Telepathy: The Elemental can only communicate telepathically, but he can do so with any person who does not have some kind of mental shield or protection. He can also pick up the thoughts of any sentient beings, but at level 1 he can only hear people’s thoughts if he focuses on their mind individually unless the thought is projected at him. He can also read people’s minds to know their intended actions, mental “yells” that usually precede decisive actions like an attack. (Applicable for evasion and warnings, not used without PC permission.)
Mental Scan: The Elemental can determine the number of living things in an area of one mile (at level 1) by picking up their brain signals. At level 1, he can only tell whether the minds within the radius are sentient or not.
Suggestion: Along with telepathic communication, the Elemental also has the power to plant behavioral suggestions. He has (at level 1) a 50% chance of success with non-sentient organisms and a 30% chance with sentient ones.
Mental Link: The soul shared between Twyla and the Elemental permanently connect their minds, which allows the Elemental to tap into Twyla’s senses so that he can see through her eyes and hear through her ears. Twyla can, technically, do the same thing, but at level 1 she doesn’t know she can and therefore she doesn’t do it.
Weaknesses: The dragon can, while in this world, leave Twyla's side, but only for a few hours. Extended separation weakens both, after and about 6 hours Twyla starts to need to be submerged in water constantly to prevent the drunk-like symptoms of separation (dizziness, blurry vision, inability to walk straight or make sense when speaking . . . I’m sure you know).
When one of the pair is injured the other feels the same blow. But while the Elemental can just go back to his realm to heal, Twyla must be healed by being submerged in water.
Twyla has a great weakness to iron; even a small cut can poison her entire system over time if left untended.
Age: Unknown (Looks mid-twenties)
Race: Freshwater Nymph
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Height: 5.8
Weight: 140
Occupation: Private researcher
Personality: Bitter and resentful over the unfairness of her past and the events that turned her from a murderous Siren into a Nymph, Twyla has a sour personality that often leans towards sadistic. She is cynical, sarcastic, and enjoys torturing her familiar with the vulgarity of her thoughts and the crudeness of her hatred towards humanity, which she was not cured of when her soul was merged with the water Elemental’s. She is a terrible actress but a smooth liar and is driven by her insatiable curiosity, which she will do just about anything to satisfy.
Appearance: Taller than most of her water-bound sisters, Twyla nonetheless has a gracefully athletic figure, her muscles honed from her frequent- and required- swims. She is indistinguishable from a human except for her unnatural beauty and garish dress. Her wavy blond hair falls to her mid-back, but is usually hidden beneath a floor-length, hooded, purple cloak that she always wears. The nymph's face as a whole has an innocent, childlike beauty, but the Allure that it holds is not bound up in her features. She has very large eyes, a heart-shaped face, and a small mouth that is usual pulled into a smirk. She always wears, however, a sheer pink scarf that hangs across the bridge of her nose at about ear level and extends down to her chin, obscuring her face enough to prevent her innate magic to effect those she speaks to. Her one blemish is a thin scar that extends from her right ear to just below the right side of her mouth, but it is well-healed and only visible from a very close proximity
Dress: She usually wears an ankle-length robe of blue silk. She also always wears some form of cover for her face, either by wearing the pink scarf mentioned before or by having the hood of her purple cloak pulled down low over her face. She always wears thin-strap sandals that lace at her ankles. A small silver medallion hangs from her neck, but it is usually hidden beneath her gown.
History: I didn’t change any of the history, so if you want to go back and read the long-ass history it’s there (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=2055&highlight=nymph). But these are the highlights: Twyla was a man-killing, human-hating Siren who got cut by a wizard with an iron knife. While she lay dying of iron poisoning (a weakness for her race), he looked at her face and fell madly in love with her and summoned a demon to help him find a cure to save his new beloved. The demon (Ty’Alken) already hated Sirens and especially the overly-efficient Twyla and therefore bonded her soul to a water Elemental that had been the demon’s slave. Her price was the wizard’s undead life, so when Twyla woke up she was alone with the green dragon and could no longer stay in the ocean. She found a monastery of blind monks who taught her how to Mindwrite and she ventured into the world to be a researcher of the human race for them. She is driven primarily by curiosity, though, and her undying hatred for humans.
Skills:
Mindwrite: Silver medallion allows Twyla to record her thoughts on parchment by means of god-given magic. She can choose which thoughts are written and which stay in her mind.
Allure: The inborn ability of Sirens to attract people to them with their looks. This is not really a skill because it's involuntary. At level 1, if someone of level 2 willpower or lower (or as decided by PCs) sees Twyla’s full face, they lose most of their mental functionability for the duration of the look and are slightly more susceptible to suggestions or orders from her than they would be if they hadn’t fallen under her spell. The longer they stare into her face, the more susceptible to her influence they are. More importantly, people that see her face are entranced by it and are more responsive to her on the basis of an instant infatuation. Also, the attraction lasts even after the Allure fades, so that often men who were allured fancy themselves in love with her even after just a glance. (Totally decidable by PCs, of course, depending on character’s willpower and susceptibility to beautiful women.)
Siren's Call: Through the natural ability of her born race, the nymph's voice can be used to lure men- or anyone attracted to her - under her influence. Using her singing voice, which has a stronger attraction than Allure but whose effects last for a shorter time and require constant singing, she has an even greater control over the listeners and can control them more easily with verbal commands disguised in the song than when using just Allure. (At level 1, she cannot control who is attracted to her, and she cannot put people fully under her control, but without distractions she is able to insert behavioral suggestions through her songs that strong-willed characters (and anyone above level 2) can resist.)
Waterbreath: Twyla can breathe underwater, but only in freshwater. Saltwater would drown her and hurts her skin whenever she is in contact with it. Her water-based nature makes her dependent upon water, however, so she has to swim or be submerged in freshwater at least once a day to stay healthy.
Summon Serpent: Not really a summons, since the Elemental is bound to her and cannot leave her side for long without damage to both their health. It must, however, return to its realm daily to rejuvenate itself, and she is able to call it from that realm. (It takes, at level 0, about five minutes for him to come when called.) (At level 1, it takes four and a half minutes for the dragon to return from the time it decides to return.)
Oceanic: Twyla can (at level 1) only understand the communication of most marine life. She cannot, however, be submerged in saltwater, so she is pretty much limited to the babbling of freshwater fish.
Equipment:
Silver medallion: A thin (also silver) chain holds a pendant that is a twisted tangle of silver strangs. It is about the size of a slightly-elongated (*gasp* non-Althanian allusion alert!) quarter. The nymph has to be touching the medallion with her fore- and middle fingers (of either hand) and focusing intently for her thoughts to be transcribed. Others, if they touch the medallion with the right fingers and think really hard, can transcribe onto the same parchment. However the "handwriting," that appears on the parchment, if it can be called that, is different for each person.
Purse: Twyla has a shoulder bag that she wears under her cloak that contains several personal items, money and, only when absolutely necessary, her familiar.
*Familiar: The Elemental
Name: None
Race: Freshwater Elemental
Gender: Androgynously masculine
Age: Ancient
Form: Usually a wingless two-foot long (including the tail) serpent-like snake with thin, stubby legs, and black claws. It has a forked tail, a jagged ridge down its spine, and faceted crimson eyes over an elongated snout. It also has short horns (useless for fighting) and occasionally does the tongue-flicker thing like snakes.
Known History: After having lived a torturous existence as the slave of the demon Ty'Alken, the Elemental is grateful to Twyla for indirectly saving him from further misery, despite the fact that he had to share his soul with her and the nymph still despises his company and scorns his help. He is eager to aid her in almost any way possible, but sharing a soul and being constantly connected to her dark mind is a trial for him. He is constantly being confronted with the moral questions of Twyla’s selfish behavior and is forced to choose between fulfilling his vow to help her and keeping his half of their soul clean. He is her equivalent of a conscience, but he is becoming less and less tolerant of Twyla’s immorality.
Skills:
Purify:Can cleanse water-based things from impurities. (Poison from a living thing, dirty water, etc.) At level 1 , he could only cure two people per day or purify about a bathtub full of water.
Shape-shifting: He can change his form from the solid green dragon (not fire-breathing, max size: 5’ by 12’ into a malleable liquid that can be molded into any form (still bound by the size-restraints of his dragon form) or liquid state (solid, liquid, gas). At level 1, he can still only change into ice and liquid water. As a solid (dragon form or ice) he can attack with his teeth and claws.
Telepathy: The Elemental can only communicate telepathically, but he can do so with any person who does not have some kind of mental shield or protection. He can also pick up the thoughts of any sentient beings, but at level 1 he can only hear people’s thoughts if he focuses on their mind individually unless the thought is projected at him. He can also read people’s minds to know their intended actions, mental “yells” that usually precede decisive actions like an attack. (Applicable for evasion and warnings, not used without PC permission.)
Mental Scan: The Elemental can determine the number of living things in an area of one mile (at level 1) by picking up their brain signals. At level 1, he can only tell whether the minds within the radius are sentient or not.
Suggestion: Along with telepathic communication, the Elemental also has the power to plant behavioral suggestions. He has (at level 1) a 50% chance of success with non-sentient organisms and a 30% chance with sentient ones.
Mental Link: The soul shared between Twyla and the Elemental permanently connect their minds, which allows the Elemental to tap into Twyla’s senses so that he can see through her eyes and hear through her ears. Twyla can, technically, do the same thing, but at level 1 she doesn’t know she can and therefore she doesn’t do it.
Weaknesses: The dragon can, while in this world, leave Twyla's side, but only for a few hours. Extended separation weakens both, after and about 6 hours Twyla starts to need to be submerged in water constantly to prevent the drunk-like symptoms of separation (dizziness, blurry vision, inability to walk straight or make sense when speaking . . . I’m sure you know).
When one of the pair is injured the other feels the same blow. But while the Elemental can just go back to his realm to heal, Twyla must be healed by being submerged in water.
Twyla has a great weakness to iron; even a small cut can poison her entire system over time if left untended.