Velena
04-09-08, 09:58 PM
Name: Velena Von Straum
Age: 25
Race: Human
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Dull Green
Height: 4'9"
Weight: 100-120 lbs
Occupation: Low-grade assassin
Personality: Quiet and shifty
Appearance: Velena is a stooped and broken looking creature, usually concealed under the many layers of moth eaten rags she wraps around her body. Few people notice her—another crippled beggar in the streets, hobbling painfully from place to place on a makeshift crutch.
Velena is not an unattractive young woman, though she has a rather prominent nose and strong jaw line. Her right eye is bright forest green in hue, and her thick curly hair is jet black. When she was thirteen, however, an accident left the left half of her body horribly disfigured, such that few who gaze upon her unhidden visage can do so without a shudder. Her skin is red and blistered looking, a pitted and rippled texture as if the flesh had melted off part way and then frozen in place, like melted wax, like ravaged meat. She wears a strip of cloth tied over her left eye, hiding it and for good reason—it’s a shriveled thing, that eye, red where it ought to be white and black in the center--it seems to barely fit in the ridges of skin around it and never closes because her eyelids were burned off. Her left hand usually hangs useless at her side—she can wiggle her fingers a little and move it up and down, but that’s about it. Her leg on that side is even less useful. She has long given up feeling anything but pain where her toes used to be, and although she can walk on it if she must, it won’t take her weight for long. She prefers to use her crutch.
History: Little is known of Velena’s past, and she’s understandably unwilling to talk about it. Were one to visit the little village she grew up in, one might find some of the older and more gossipy residents willing to divulge the story.
Velena first came to the tiny hamlet (so small it has no name besides ‘the village’ among its residents) when she was just a babe, with her mother, Vera. Vera took up residence in a small cottage and made her services as a witch and healer available to the people. She charged little and did a good job, so she was soon well liked. The people there were quiet folks who kept to themselves, and made no comment about the occasional strangers who visited her in the middle of the night.
It was on a cool fall evening, when Velena was about thirteen, that Vera’s cottage exploded so violently some of the neighbors to thought it was an earth quake. The able-bodied were quick to run to the scene, where they discovered both inhabitants screaming in agony amidst the rubble. It was clear that some magical experiment had gone awry, as there was a disgusting green liquid splashed all over the place and anything it touched was melting away as though struck by acid.
Vera was the most badly affected, covered in the substance from head to foot. After about an hour of senseless screeching, during which it became more and more apparent that she wasn’t going to survive, someone put her out of her misery. Velena, on the other hand, was only burned on her left side—though almost out of her mind with pain, she managed to communicate to the villagers some basic instructions. They did the best they could to create the mixture she described and apply it to her melting flesh, which helped to stop the slow devouring.
Over the next month or so she faded in and out of consciousness, tending to her own injuries when she could. Her mother had taught her many things, but she was still a young girl, her knowledge of poisons and antidotes incomplete—for it was indeed a poison that she was now affilcted with, a particularly volatile, unstable poison that her mother had been developing for one of their many clients. Vera the Poison Maker. That was how she would be remembered, for that was what she had been
With her rudimentary knowledge of healings and cures, Velena was able to end the immediate threat to her life, though she could not repair the damage done, nor completely remove the poison in her veins. It was a magical substance as well as a physical one, and Velena once admitted that her mother’s intention was to make a poison so powerful, there could be no antidote.
Though it has been many years since Velena left her home village, no grass grows where her house once stood, nor anywhere else the poison touched, and it is thought by the residents that Death itself was in that toxin.
Skills:
Alchemy—Above Average; Velena is well versed in the creation of poisons and antidotes, and decent at creating other potions and balms. She has an extensive knowledge of plants and herbs.
Magic—Average; Her magical talents are varied but not very powerful. She has picked up several useful little spells, none of them offensive.
--Shield: A weak shield spell that creates a barrier about one foot square, within a foot of one of her hands—Velena uses this mostly to disuade people from hitting her with something, which happens a lot when one looks like a filthy beggar. The shield can last for up to a minute, but usually fails after it has actually been struck. Items which hit it bounce off with no harm to themselves.
--Light: Creates a light no stronger than three torches, but white instead of yellowish
--Heal: Closes and effectively removes an open wound no greater than a three inches wide, heals the equivelent of a second degree burn, or fixes a broken bone so long as it has been properly set.
--Illusion: Probably her best spell, Velena can make one thing momentarily appear to be something else. This is not permanent, and ends when she stops concentrating on it. She can only create one thing at a time, but can make sounds as well as images. She doesn’t actually change the thing—for example, she might make a sword ‘turn into’ a hissing snake. It would still be a sword, but its user would probably be confused.
Other:
Deathsight: This isn’t really a skill, but rather, a side effect of her condition. Her left eye is effectively dead, and as such, sees dead people. Usually these are just shades—Velena thinks of them as the footprints of souls in the sands of time, not really ghosts, as they do not communicate and slowly fade away, some after a few days, some after a few centuries. But she can also see full fledged ghosts, ghoulies, vampires, etc., for what they are. The deathsight can be awkward and a little disturbing, so Velena usually keeps her left eye covered.
Equipment:
Besides her rags and her crutch, Velena carries several small vials, a little metal pot, some flint and tinder, and a bit of food in a small travel sack on her shoulder. She also has a steel hunting dagger which she keeps on her belt. This is all usually obscured by the cloaks and rags she wears.
Familiars: Some time ago Velena adopted a young rat, which she has very creatively named Rat. Rat spends most of his time somewhere in the tangles of Velena’s robes, venturing out only for food and to be scratched behind the ears.
Age: 25
Race: Human
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Dull Green
Height: 4'9"
Weight: 100-120 lbs
Occupation: Low-grade assassin
Personality: Quiet and shifty
Appearance: Velena is a stooped and broken looking creature, usually concealed under the many layers of moth eaten rags she wraps around her body. Few people notice her—another crippled beggar in the streets, hobbling painfully from place to place on a makeshift crutch.
Velena is not an unattractive young woman, though she has a rather prominent nose and strong jaw line. Her right eye is bright forest green in hue, and her thick curly hair is jet black. When she was thirteen, however, an accident left the left half of her body horribly disfigured, such that few who gaze upon her unhidden visage can do so without a shudder. Her skin is red and blistered looking, a pitted and rippled texture as if the flesh had melted off part way and then frozen in place, like melted wax, like ravaged meat. She wears a strip of cloth tied over her left eye, hiding it and for good reason—it’s a shriveled thing, that eye, red where it ought to be white and black in the center--it seems to barely fit in the ridges of skin around it and never closes because her eyelids were burned off. Her left hand usually hangs useless at her side—she can wiggle her fingers a little and move it up and down, but that’s about it. Her leg on that side is even less useful. She has long given up feeling anything but pain where her toes used to be, and although she can walk on it if she must, it won’t take her weight for long. She prefers to use her crutch.
History: Little is known of Velena’s past, and she’s understandably unwilling to talk about it. Were one to visit the little village she grew up in, one might find some of the older and more gossipy residents willing to divulge the story.
Velena first came to the tiny hamlet (so small it has no name besides ‘the village’ among its residents) when she was just a babe, with her mother, Vera. Vera took up residence in a small cottage and made her services as a witch and healer available to the people. She charged little and did a good job, so she was soon well liked. The people there were quiet folks who kept to themselves, and made no comment about the occasional strangers who visited her in the middle of the night.
It was on a cool fall evening, when Velena was about thirteen, that Vera’s cottage exploded so violently some of the neighbors to thought it was an earth quake. The able-bodied were quick to run to the scene, where they discovered both inhabitants screaming in agony amidst the rubble. It was clear that some magical experiment had gone awry, as there was a disgusting green liquid splashed all over the place and anything it touched was melting away as though struck by acid.
Vera was the most badly affected, covered in the substance from head to foot. After about an hour of senseless screeching, during which it became more and more apparent that she wasn’t going to survive, someone put her out of her misery. Velena, on the other hand, was only burned on her left side—though almost out of her mind with pain, she managed to communicate to the villagers some basic instructions. They did the best they could to create the mixture she described and apply it to her melting flesh, which helped to stop the slow devouring.
Over the next month or so she faded in and out of consciousness, tending to her own injuries when she could. Her mother had taught her many things, but she was still a young girl, her knowledge of poisons and antidotes incomplete—for it was indeed a poison that she was now affilcted with, a particularly volatile, unstable poison that her mother had been developing for one of their many clients. Vera the Poison Maker. That was how she would be remembered, for that was what she had been
With her rudimentary knowledge of healings and cures, Velena was able to end the immediate threat to her life, though she could not repair the damage done, nor completely remove the poison in her veins. It was a magical substance as well as a physical one, and Velena once admitted that her mother’s intention was to make a poison so powerful, there could be no antidote.
Though it has been many years since Velena left her home village, no grass grows where her house once stood, nor anywhere else the poison touched, and it is thought by the residents that Death itself was in that toxin.
Skills:
Alchemy—Above Average; Velena is well versed in the creation of poisons and antidotes, and decent at creating other potions and balms. She has an extensive knowledge of plants and herbs.
Magic—Average; Her magical talents are varied but not very powerful. She has picked up several useful little spells, none of them offensive.
--Shield: A weak shield spell that creates a barrier about one foot square, within a foot of one of her hands—Velena uses this mostly to disuade people from hitting her with something, which happens a lot when one looks like a filthy beggar. The shield can last for up to a minute, but usually fails after it has actually been struck. Items which hit it bounce off with no harm to themselves.
--Light: Creates a light no stronger than three torches, but white instead of yellowish
--Heal: Closes and effectively removes an open wound no greater than a three inches wide, heals the equivelent of a second degree burn, or fixes a broken bone so long as it has been properly set.
--Illusion: Probably her best spell, Velena can make one thing momentarily appear to be something else. This is not permanent, and ends when she stops concentrating on it. She can only create one thing at a time, but can make sounds as well as images. She doesn’t actually change the thing—for example, she might make a sword ‘turn into’ a hissing snake. It would still be a sword, but its user would probably be confused.
Other:
Deathsight: This isn’t really a skill, but rather, a side effect of her condition. Her left eye is effectively dead, and as such, sees dead people. Usually these are just shades—Velena thinks of them as the footprints of souls in the sands of time, not really ghosts, as they do not communicate and slowly fade away, some after a few days, some after a few centuries. But she can also see full fledged ghosts, ghoulies, vampires, etc., for what they are. The deathsight can be awkward and a little disturbing, so Velena usually keeps her left eye covered.
Equipment:
Besides her rags and her crutch, Velena carries several small vials, a little metal pot, some flint and tinder, and a bit of food in a small travel sack on her shoulder. She also has a steel hunting dagger which she keeps on her belt. This is all usually obscured by the cloaks and rags she wears.
Familiars: Some time ago Velena adopted a young rat, which she has very creatively named Rat. Rat spends most of his time somewhere in the tangles of Velena’s robes, venturing out only for food and to be scratched behind the ears.