Visla Eraclaire
05-09-08, 02:27 AM
Name: Visla Layne Eraclaire
Age: 22
Race: Human
Hair Color: Raw Umber Brown
Eye Color: Hazel
Height: 5’3”
Weight: 125 lbs
Occupation: Freelance Arcanist
Personality: Quietly suspicious, Visla is unlikely to be caught off guard in social situations. However, this is largely due to her near total abstention from them. When forced to speak, she is abrupt and brusque. While she is unlikely to volunteer an opinion, her thoughts and feelings on things tend to be strong and well-considered. She rarely acts without planning and is flustered when her elaborate preparations are rendered useless by an unforeseen eventuality. When introduced to new situations she is attentive and curious, but only so long as is necessary to gather whatever information she deems pertinent, at which point her normal reserved demeanor presents itself once more.
Appearance: Visla gives every appearance of a scholarly and fragile young woman, and unlike her quiet and demure social mask, this outward presumption is true to the core. Delicate since birth, Visla has done little in the way of physical labor and often forgets meals. She sees little daylight and breathes mostly the stale air of book repositories and arcanists’ shoppes, leaving her with a somewhat sickly pallor. Her clothes and hair are plain but meticulously well-kept. She carries herself well, more from a frugality of motion than from any true balance or dexterity.
History: Visla’s early life was largely dominated by the social station of her father, the Baron, Lord Xavir Eraclaire. The nobility of her birth was a true blessing, for she would have likely died were she the child of peasants, or even merchants of average means. Her health was precarious from the first day and it took a great deal of medical and magical intervention to bring her to the adulthood she now enjoys.
The older of two sisters, separated by only a year, Visla, by all accounts, should have been the favored heir to her father’s vast estate. However, her younger sister Allistia took much of their father’s affection. Visla was ever the favorite of her mother, Emilia, but the love was to be short lived. A few weeks after Visla’s ninth birthday, her mother fell ill. She lingered for nearly a month, but eventually succumb to the unknown disease.
Following social customs, it was uncouth for a man of the Baron’s standing to be a bachelor and he remarried more swiftly than Visla felt appropriate. His new wife, Bella, was a locally noteworthy cleric who had earned a great deal of favor within the lands of House Eraclaire and beyond. She made quick friends with Allistia, her new husband’s favored progeny but largely ignored Visla, who became increasingly reclusive over the course of her childhood.
Though she would have every reason to do so, Visla did not resent her sister. In fact, Allistia was one of the few people she would talk to. While their noble birth led to a level of social isolation for both of them, Allistia was a far more vibrant and charismatic individual. She attended many of the court affairs that Visla found far too tedious and was well-liked among her social peers. By the time the two of them were in their teens, there were a substantial number of suitors lined up for Allistia but narry a one for her elder sister. The golden haired Allistia often tried to convince her friends of her sister’s merit, but it was all too easy to distrust or simply ignore the quiet, plain faced girl who habitually watched from behind the curtains.
When she reached majority, Visla was sternly encouraged by her father to attend an academy in the neighboring province to become a proper and strong member of the House. The Baron’s ancesters had long been staunch and powerful defenders of their lands, as often swordsmen as spellweavers. Xavir sensed quite correctly that his elder daughter had the regimented mind to be a fearsome arcanist, if properly instructed. Still, Visla showed little interest, preferring studies of her own choosing to the structured courses that would be fed to her at the academy. She managed to ignore her father’s requests for a full year until it came her sister’s time to depart. Eager as always to spread her wings, Allistia gladly accepted her father’s offer to enroll her in the academy. Seeing her only companion on the verge of leaving, Visla reluctantly agreed to accompany her sister.
The academy’s curricula were widely varied, ultimately turning out arcanists of every stripe, from humble town clerics to the mightiest of archmagi. The courses for entering students had long ago been determined as uniform, and so the two sisters entered the same courses of study. It was widely presumed that Allistia would be a cleric like her step-mother and that Visla would end up as some manner of battlemage. The label seemed a strange one to Visla, as she had never expressed any interest in offensive magical arts, or any magic at all, but she chalked it up to her dark and foreboding appearance. She knew all too well that the bright and sunny Allistia made the perfect image of a priestess next to her stodgy wizarding sister.
As her courses began, Visla felt an increasing frustration with the manner and scope of the instruction. Her ties with her sister became more and more strained as the weeks and months went by. Ultimately, under undisclosed circumstances, Visla exited and academy and renounced her birthright as a member of house Eraclaire. She took the name of one of her mother’s commoner ancestors, Layne, and went into the harsh reality of the world outside her family’s shadow.
(Visla’s arrival, study, and departure from the academy are left intentionally vague to allow for their further explanation in her introductory piece.)
Skills: Visla’s non-traditional approach to magic leaves her often branded as a heretic, infernalist, warlock, or worse. It remains an effective tool, despite its unorthodox nature.
Elemental Magic
Visla’s grasp of the traditional elemental forces is extremely tenuous. The only element she ever found herself particularly capable of controlling was fire. She was, however, unable to fashion it into the traditional shapes of a mainstream elementalist wizard, whether it be a fireball or a wall of flame. Instead, she can draw on existing flames, intensifying them into lashes of fire that strike within a small radius of their origin. The strength of the attack is limited by the intensity of the original flame, candles and torches produce flames which are a mere nuisance, perhaps lightly singing flammable materials or scalding an unwary hand. Her ability to control larger fires is as yet unrefined.
Shadow Magic
A significant bone of contention between Visla and her instructors was the stigma and non-inclusion of the purported element of shadow in their schema. Light was widely recognized as an element, but shadow was characterized merely as its absence rather than a force unto itself. Through deep study of traditionally ignored texts, Visla gained a deep understanding of the nature of shadow as a primal substance. As such, her primary means of attack is through a concentrated ray of shadow. The beam extends from her fingers to a medium range before losing cohesion and dissipating. Those struck feel a biting cold that leaves no visible wounds but palpable harm.
Essence Magic
Visla’s feelings about the nature of life, death, and spirits are complex to say the least. Through a study of the domain traditionally confined to healing and spells of renewal, she developed a somewhat unique theory viewing life as a malleable force that is subject to much more intricate manipulation than traditional magic would allow for. This theory is most practical in its application through the spell of transference. Rather than simply bolstering the life force of a single target, the spell siphons the life force of one creature to another, healing once at the cost of harming another. The amount of energy transferred is low at present, perhaps the equivalent of an hour’s rest or lack thereof, but she remains confident that life can ultimately be reduced to a mere currency, tradable at will.
Physical Abilities
In short, Visla’s physical capabilities are all but nonexistent. She is slow to react reflexively, frail in constitution, and inept in hand to hand combat of all sorts. She carries an engraved cane to support herself during long walks, but the most she could hope to accomplish with it is a lucky strike or parry to buy a moment to either flee or call upon her far superior magical retinue.
Equipment:
Worn
Signet Ring of House Eraclaire : Though she has rejected her heritage and no longer uses its influence to her benefit, she lacked the gall to dispose of her family’s signet ring. To avoid being recognized she wears the elegant silver band as a pendant around her neck. Even if she were to try to sell it, no respectable merchant would deal in what would appear as stolen property.
Traveling Clothes : Simple light woolen garments appropriate for all seasons in temperate climate. The quality is finer than most, giving a subtle hint of her previous station, but she refuses to part with a very practical item for such a minor reason.
Hooded Cloak : Adequate shelter in rain or cold weather, or to cover one’s face, this sturdy piece of gear was one of the first Visla purchased after quitting the academy.
Carried
Lacquered Cane : A memento of her mother, still in quite good condition. Visla’s frailty necessitates the use of a cane on long walks. Her mother’s illness also required her to use one on the rare occasions that she left bed. While she is actually uncertain if this is the same one she remembers from her childhood, it is similarly engraved with subtle vine motifs and covered with a thick black lacquer.
Leather Satchel : A backpack of small size carries the essentials for travel, along with a few books Visla has borrowed from the various libraries she has studied at.
Age: 22
Race: Human
Hair Color: Raw Umber Brown
Eye Color: Hazel
Height: 5’3”
Weight: 125 lbs
Occupation: Freelance Arcanist
Personality: Quietly suspicious, Visla is unlikely to be caught off guard in social situations. However, this is largely due to her near total abstention from them. When forced to speak, she is abrupt and brusque. While she is unlikely to volunteer an opinion, her thoughts and feelings on things tend to be strong and well-considered. She rarely acts without planning and is flustered when her elaborate preparations are rendered useless by an unforeseen eventuality. When introduced to new situations she is attentive and curious, but only so long as is necessary to gather whatever information she deems pertinent, at which point her normal reserved demeanor presents itself once more.
Appearance: Visla gives every appearance of a scholarly and fragile young woman, and unlike her quiet and demure social mask, this outward presumption is true to the core. Delicate since birth, Visla has done little in the way of physical labor and often forgets meals. She sees little daylight and breathes mostly the stale air of book repositories and arcanists’ shoppes, leaving her with a somewhat sickly pallor. Her clothes and hair are plain but meticulously well-kept. She carries herself well, more from a frugality of motion than from any true balance or dexterity.
History: Visla’s early life was largely dominated by the social station of her father, the Baron, Lord Xavir Eraclaire. The nobility of her birth was a true blessing, for she would have likely died were she the child of peasants, or even merchants of average means. Her health was precarious from the first day and it took a great deal of medical and magical intervention to bring her to the adulthood she now enjoys.
The older of two sisters, separated by only a year, Visla, by all accounts, should have been the favored heir to her father’s vast estate. However, her younger sister Allistia took much of their father’s affection. Visla was ever the favorite of her mother, Emilia, but the love was to be short lived. A few weeks after Visla’s ninth birthday, her mother fell ill. She lingered for nearly a month, but eventually succumb to the unknown disease.
Following social customs, it was uncouth for a man of the Baron’s standing to be a bachelor and he remarried more swiftly than Visla felt appropriate. His new wife, Bella, was a locally noteworthy cleric who had earned a great deal of favor within the lands of House Eraclaire and beyond. She made quick friends with Allistia, her new husband’s favored progeny but largely ignored Visla, who became increasingly reclusive over the course of her childhood.
Though she would have every reason to do so, Visla did not resent her sister. In fact, Allistia was one of the few people she would talk to. While their noble birth led to a level of social isolation for both of them, Allistia was a far more vibrant and charismatic individual. She attended many of the court affairs that Visla found far too tedious and was well-liked among her social peers. By the time the two of them were in their teens, there were a substantial number of suitors lined up for Allistia but narry a one for her elder sister. The golden haired Allistia often tried to convince her friends of her sister’s merit, but it was all too easy to distrust or simply ignore the quiet, plain faced girl who habitually watched from behind the curtains.
When she reached majority, Visla was sternly encouraged by her father to attend an academy in the neighboring province to become a proper and strong member of the House. The Baron’s ancesters had long been staunch and powerful defenders of their lands, as often swordsmen as spellweavers. Xavir sensed quite correctly that his elder daughter had the regimented mind to be a fearsome arcanist, if properly instructed. Still, Visla showed little interest, preferring studies of her own choosing to the structured courses that would be fed to her at the academy. She managed to ignore her father’s requests for a full year until it came her sister’s time to depart. Eager as always to spread her wings, Allistia gladly accepted her father’s offer to enroll her in the academy. Seeing her only companion on the verge of leaving, Visla reluctantly agreed to accompany her sister.
The academy’s curricula were widely varied, ultimately turning out arcanists of every stripe, from humble town clerics to the mightiest of archmagi. The courses for entering students had long ago been determined as uniform, and so the two sisters entered the same courses of study. It was widely presumed that Allistia would be a cleric like her step-mother and that Visla would end up as some manner of battlemage. The label seemed a strange one to Visla, as she had never expressed any interest in offensive magical arts, or any magic at all, but she chalked it up to her dark and foreboding appearance. She knew all too well that the bright and sunny Allistia made the perfect image of a priestess next to her stodgy wizarding sister.
As her courses began, Visla felt an increasing frustration with the manner and scope of the instruction. Her ties with her sister became more and more strained as the weeks and months went by. Ultimately, under undisclosed circumstances, Visla exited and academy and renounced her birthright as a member of house Eraclaire. She took the name of one of her mother’s commoner ancestors, Layne, and went into the harsh reality of the world outside her family’s shadow.
(Visla’s arrival, study, and departure from the academy are left intentionally vague to allow for their further explanation in her introductory piece.)
Skills: Visla’s non-traditional approach to magic leaves her often branded as a heretic, infernalist, warlock, or worse. It remains an effective tool, despite its unorthodox nature.
Elemental Magic
Visla’s grasp of the traditional elemental forces is extremely tenuous. The only element she ever found herself particularly capable of controlling was fire. She was, however, unable to fashion it into the traditional shapes of a mainstream elementalist wizard, whether it be a fireball or a wall of flame. Instead, she can draw on existing flames, intensifying them into lashes of fire that strike within a small radius of their origin. The strength of the attack is limited by the intensity of the original flame, candles and torches produce flames which are a mere nuisance, perhaps lightly singing flammable materials or scalding an unwary hand. Her ability to control larger fires is as yet unrefined.
Shadow Magic
A significant bone of contention between Visla and her instructors was the stigma and non-inclusion of the purported element of shadow in their schema. Light was widely recognized as an element, but shadow was characterized merely as its absence rather than a force unto itself. Through deep study of traditionally ignored texts, Visla gained a deep understanding of the nature of shadow as a primal substance. As such, her primary means of attack is through a concentrated ray of shadow. The beam extends from her fingers to a medium range before losing cohesion and dissipating. Those struck feel a biting cold that leaves no visible wounds but palpable harm.
Essence Magic
Visla’s feelings about the nature of life, death, and spirits are complex to say the least. Through a study of the domain traditionally confined to healing and spells of renewal, she developed a somewhat unique theory viewing life as a malleable force that is subject to much more intricate manipulation than traditional magic would allow for. This theory is most practical in its application through the spell of transference. Rather than simply bolstering the life force of a single target, the spell siphons the life force of one creature to another, healing once at the cost of harming another. The amount of energy transferred is low at present, perhaps the equivalent of an hour’s rest or lack thereof, but she remains confident that life can ultimately be reduced to a mere currency, tradable at will.
Physical Abilities
In short, Visla’s physical capabilities are all but nonexistent. She is slow to react reflexively, frail in constitution, and inept in hand to hand combat of all sorts. She carries an engraved cane to support herself during long walks, but the most she could hope to accomplish with it is a lucky strike or parry to buy a moment to either flee or call upon her far superior magical retinue.
Equipment:
Worn
Signet Ring of House Eraclaire : Though she has rejected her heritage and no longer uses its influence to her benefit, she lacked the gall to dispose of her family’s signet ring. To avoid being recognized she wears the elegant silver band as a pendant around her neck. Even if she were to try to sell it, no respectable merchant would deal in what would appear as stolen property.
Traveling Clothes : Simple light woolen garments appropriate for all seasons in temperate climate. The quality is finer than most, giving a subtle hint of her previous station, but she refuses to part with a very practical item for such a minor reason.
Hooded Cloak : Adequate shelter in rain or cold weather, or to cover one’s face, this sturdy piece of gear was one of the first Visla purchased after quitting the academy.
Carried
Lacquered Cane : A memento of her mother, still in quite good condition. Visla’s frailty necessitates the use of a cane on long walks. Her mother’s illness also required her to use one on the rare occasions that she left bed. While she is actually uncertain if this is the same one she remembers from her childhood, it is similarly engraved with subtle vine motifs and covered with a thick black lacquer.
Leather Satchel : A backpack of small size carries the essentials for travel, along with a few books Visla has borrowed from the various libraries she has studied at.