Andrasta
08-11-09, 09:06 PM
“Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with crabsauce.” – Popular Coronian saying
“But they never say what to do if the affairs of dragons meddle in you...” –Galen Talethsenn's muttered response
Name: Andrasta Talethsenn
Age: 20
Race: Human, minor dragonblooded [silver]
Hair Color: Silvery-white
Eye Color: Ice blue
Height: 5' 11”
Weight: 163 lbs
[APPEARANCE]
On the whole, Andrasta is a striking and rather pretty example of her species. She stands as tall as most men, give or take an inch. Her build, though solid and bearing obvious muscle mass, is well-proportioned and pleasing to the eye; her face is symmetrical and possesses a lean-boned quality that in poor light might get her mistaken for a half-elf. Andrasta's skin is very fair, marked by only a few incidental scars here and there, easy to sunburn and incredibly resistant to tanning of any sort. Likewise, her hair is worn loose or in a single braid; unbound, it hangs to the middle of her back. Though the strands are straight and well-behaved in general, her hair also shows grime very easily and is rarely at its shiny best outside of special preparations and events, a source of great annoyance to the proud young woman. The one cue that she's not albino is the color of her irises – a striking light blue that stands out against the pale quality of the rest of her features.
Andrasta's movement and posture aren't especially graceful, but instead show an economy of motion and body awareness common to those who've done physical labor or fighting for a living. When she's in a comfortable or familiar setting, the tilt of her head and set of her shoulders will often speak of self-confidence and ease; this ease tends to evaporate when she's thrust into a socially or physically uncomfortable situation, forcing her into a more furtive gait and suppressing the expression of her natural pride.
[HISTORY]
Galen Talethsenn was, on the whole, not an ambitious man. He inherited a modest shipping company that his grandfather had built and his father expanded. By staying the course, applying sound practices and never overextending, Galen kept Talethsenn Transport profitable and stable even through the chaos of coming war and the flight of investors to safer waters. Among Radasanth's social circles, he was accounted the 'least interesting man in the city,' and while he was pleasant and honorable, it was suspected that he never did anything... well... exciting.
The rumor was halfway true. Indeed, Galen kept himself on a tight leash, remembering his misspent youth all too well. Every now and again, though, his old self would surface and he'd do something spontaneous. It was on just one of those nights, twenty years before the present day, that he was drinking to his mediocrity in a tavern in the docks district. A woman joined him at his table in the corner, an enchanting figure with flowing silvery hair and a sword over her back that could have chopped the table in half. She waved off his requests for a name with a playful grin, revealing only that she was passing through on her way to Scara Brae, and then Fallien. Perhaps she was lonelier than she let on; perhaps he was more charming than people gave him credit for. Whatever the reason, the two shared three days and two nights in nearly constant company before she left. Galen pined after her for a time, but being so damned practical as he was, he eventually cleaned up the pieces and moved on.
A year later, against all Galen's expectations, she returned and visited him by night at his house in Radasanth's downtown. Though she still refused to give him her name, “for the sake of old times,” she had with her a young baby, a girl, that she showed to Galen. Though she evaded the question of its exact parentage, Galen strongly suspected that it was their child – and when she reluctantly asked him to help take care of her, he readily agreed. She left her child two things – a name, Andrasta, and a pendant of a blue-lacquered shield with a silver dragon's head center, on a fine silver chain. The two parted on more amiable and final terms, and he never saw her again.
If it had been the mysterious woman's hope that Galen would be a caring and stable father, he didn't disappoint. The merchant raised his daughter responsibly and well. Even if he was a little too stolid at times, young Andrasta was clever enough to evade his restrictions when it was really important to her. In her young childhood, this rule firmly established in her head: all other laws and regulations were there to make you think hard and weigh the risks before you broke them. Her voracious curiosity and thirst for learning propelled her to reading and writing at a relatively young age; at eight, Galen absorbed the expense and sent her academy for a proper education.
At first, academy life was not what Andrasta had dreamed it would be. She'd spent her early childhood playing with bakers' sons and millers' daughters, who were far removed from the refined lifestyle of the rich and powerful. Having no female role models in the house, she hadn't really developed a specific identity as a woman, making her an easy target for mean jokes and snubbing by daughters of the uppercrust. On her ninth birthday, a particular nemesis of hers named Marcia made a tease too close to the heart about her alleged mother. Andrasta snapped, and in the chaos of the ensuing brawl staked Marcia to a wall with a spike of magical ice.
Most of the onlookers, and even Marcia herself, missed it in the fighting. Another witness had not. Yvonne Garth, the instructor of magic and magical arts, recognized the origin of the wound as soon as she'd broken up the scuffle. She hastily healed Marcia to prevent the noble's daughter from bleeding out and marched Andrasta up to her office. The ensuing talk stretched far into the evening and was the start of a friendship that persists to this day.
Mrs. Garth helped to guide Andrasta through the troubled years of puberty and the ensuing manifestation of her blood magic. She stood in for Andrasta's mother in a great many matters, providing the young woman with a steady female role model for the first time. Her tutelage also gave Andrasta some distance from the rest of the student body, which instead of defaulting to teasing tended to treat Andrasta with the same sort of deference that one might use with a hungry puma. Oddly, this suited Andrasta well. Eventually, the bolder students re-approached her … and armed with new self-confidence, she won them over almost without exception. When it came time to graduate from the academy program at fifteen, Andrasta was genuinely sorry to leave.
Though she was now of a borderline marriageable age, Andrasta had no desire to play the courting game. She might have drawn some measure of respect from the nobles with her fledgeling blood magic but still viewed upper society as something to avoid when possible... and few potential suitors were willing to brave the risk of snuggling up to the wild silver girl. Two months of lounging around Galen's home without a job or an education left her listless and bored; the control that she'd won over her magic began to slip, even with Mrs. Garth's continued instruction. It was her father who suggested she could work a few shifts at the docks to burn off extra energy – just an hour here and there, not lifting anything too heavy. Andrasta took to the work with enthusiasm, and soon was working half a shift every day. Her frame filled out quickly, and while Galen harbored doubts that his daughter was growing perhaps a little too muscular to fit comfortably back into a normal household, she was as happy as she'd been in months.
On her eighteenth birthday and full social majority, Andrasta took over some minor management duties for her now-aging father and used her reinforced income to begin paying for further lessons in both swordplay and advanced magical theory. Although she began to forge mental links between swordplay and magic, and to explore a new element of manifestation, her duties with Talethsenn Transport left her less time than she wished to explore herself. Andrasta possessed no special talent with either bargaining or management, but she was determined to do as good a job as possible for her father.
Two years and three months later, Galen announced his retirement and his resignation of control to the board of captains. His buyout share was more than enough to comfortably support him for the rest of his life, however long it might be – he was, after all, nearly sixty. Andrasta specifically refused a share of the sum. Freed of her commitment to Talethsenn Transport, she now had the ability to strike out and seek her own fortune – as well as questions that had haunted her ever since that fight in the hallway.
She made one last offer to her elderly father – an offer to put her own ambitions on hold until he was gone, so that she could see that he was tended well. Now it was Galen's turn to refuse. He told his daughter that, nineteen years ago, he'd let her mother go... and now it was her turn. “Fly free,” he said, “as you were always meant to do. Be strong for me... be strong for yourself.”
It is here that Andrasta's struggle to understand and master her birthright truly begins...
[PERSONALITY]
If one of the classic deadly sins were to be Andrasta's bane, it would be the sin of pride. While the trace of dragonblood in her heritage was never discussed at length, it's been the assumed source of her magic and has molded her personality to a considerable extent. She is kind out of a sense of compassion for 'lesser creatures', even if she doesn't phrase it that way even in her own head, and is forgiving of insult because she's quite confident that the deliverer of the insult is ignorant or jealous. Criticism from people she trusts tends to wound deeply, as do shows of greater force, as they both bypass her psychological defenses.
While greed is a close second, Andrasta makes a specific effort to keep it and envy under control. They're the darker side of a dragon's inheritance, and she knows it far too well. For this reason, she's not a very good negotiator on her own behalf (though she does fine working for others) and she'll sometimes make a decision that harms her own welfare just because doing the opposite seems too greedy to her. This desire to suppress her own greed shapes her study of her own arcane talent and has kept her manifestations far more controlled and predictable than those of many other young blood-mages.
In short, underneath her dragon's bearing, Andrasta genuinely cares for others – but she's still learning how to fully feel and empathize. Her father's quiet pragmatism may have served him well, but her soul takes far more after her mother's.
[SKILLS AND ABILITIES]
Blood Magic
Core Proficiency (Arcane Focus, Concentration): Above Average
Andrasta is a blood mage; she draws arcane power directly from the markers of her heritage left in her body. Whether her dragon ancestor is four or four dozen generations back is unknown, but her magic is her most developed talent. She's been struggling to refine and control it for most of eleven years.
To manifest her magic, Andrasta first has to enter a state of arcane focus. This is equivalent to the rush that most people equivalent when they are 'on the edge' of a dangerous activity, such as riding a horse over dangerous terrain or walking along a high balance. Entering focus involves distilling magic from her soul so that it is ready to use, resting just below manifestation in the real world. While in focus, Andrasta can freely use minor abilities (noted as reserve) as long as she maintains her focus, though only one at a time. Using the most powerful of her gifts (noted as primary) requires her to expend her focus, after which she can't work magic until she gains her focus back.
At present, it requires nearly ten seconds of meditation for Andrasta to gain or regain her focus, using about the same amount of effort as it would take to lift a heavy load over her head. She can perform other actions such as running or fighting at the same time, but the strain on her body and mind will be very high. Because it is tied to her body, focus takes longer as she grows more fatigued. Injury or other disruptive occurrences can interrupt her focus, also causing it to take longer. She can stay focused for a maximum of two minutes before the effect wears off and she must renew it.
(( OOC Note: For purposes of Althanas and posting, it will be impossible for her to expend her focus more than once every other post. Also, continuously operating at this level would require an interruption-free environment and would still tax her a lot. Very willing to play around with this – just wanting to reassure that her magic won't be spammed and has a real cost to her without arbitrary per-day limits. ))
Elemental Proficiency (Ice): Above Average
Andrasta's ancestor is all but confirmed to be a silver dragon, a noble creature of high mountain peaks and clouds. It's unsurprising, then, that her greatest affinity is for cold water and ice.
Reserve: Andrasta can cool a substance that she can directly touch, as well as produce a thin, nearly invisible ray of cold that contains about as much cooling as a glass of ice water. The ray has a maximum range of thirty feet.
Primary: By expending her focus, Andrasta can conjure enough ice to form a dense ball that is almost too big to hold in one hand. The equivalent amount of ice can be manifested at up to thirty feet away, either in a single shape or in a mist that instantly freezes over solid surfaces. Note that such ice is not magically propelled – if she wants the ice ball to hit something, she's going to have to throw it or manifest it right overhead for it to drop.
Elemental Proficiency (Light): Average
Tapping into the nobility and order of Light is something uncommon to blood mages, but Andrasta has very recently mastered her first casting.
Reserve: Andrasta can cause a light to silhouette an object no larger in volume than her forearm. This light is cool white and about the brightness of a small lantern, and the aura itself has a tendency to flicker and play around, giving it a candle-like quality.
Primary: By expending her focus, Andrasta can project a single beam of brilliant blue-white light at a point within thirty feet. The beam's widest point is about two by two feet. The beam itself is fairly bright, and anything directly struck in the eyes by the light is likely to be dazzled. No damage is done, even to undead or other light-vulnerable creatures, though such creatures are likely to be dazzled even if they have no 'eyes' as such.
Ritual Magic: Below average
While Andrasta has a ritual book and has passingly studied 'deep magic', she has thus far lacked the patience to master the art form as many wizards do. She can only complete very simple magical rituals such as the sending of short words-only messages and opening unwarded doors. All such rituals also require the use of her blood as a reagent, and it must be blood drawn less than an hour ago from a living artery or vein, making any ritual very difficult to complete if she is fatigued or in hostile territory. It's also worth noting that her blood is a useful component to many varieties of spellcasters.
Elemental Affinity
Linked closely to her magic, Andrasta is less vulnerable to cold and ice than most are. She suffers very little discomfort when in cold temperatures; snow is delightful to her as is freshly melted water, and she is mildly resistant to attacks based on magical cold. Her resistance to this type, assuming it is magic, is only 10% due to the power associated with magical ice.
By the same token, Andrasta overheats far more easily than a normal person. Her body has a hard time generating sweat, forcing her to pant and cool herself in other ways. This also makes it a bad idea for her to cover her head when undergoing strenuous activity in any but the coldest climates. In a warm temperate climate or hotter, heat buildup is the limiting factor of her endurance. She takes 25% more harm than normal from magical and mundane heat.
Weapons and Armor Proficiency
Proficiency: Heavy One-Handed Blades: Average
Because Andrasta prefers to keep a free hand to manifest her magic, her combat style focuses on a single sword in her main hand, primarily to present a credible melee threat and defend herself from pointy objects, with the off-hand used for balance and the delivery of magic. Her skill with blocking and parrying is actually above average, but this is balanced by only average offensive strikes – they can be clumsy, more likely to glance off a hard target than do any actual harm. She also lacks force and precision with two-handed strokes, leaving her short of her blade's full use.
Proficiency: Unarmed Combat: Below Average (Untrained)
She's never bothered to learn any techniques specifically related to unarmed combat, and therefore has only her strength and willingness to play dirty to protect her in melee without her sword. Her clawings and flailings are likely to be as dangerous to herself as her enemy.
Proficiency: Light Leathers and Hides: Average
Oddly, Andrasta found that large amounts of iron or steel in close proximity to her skin disrupted her magic, making it difficult to regain her focus. She therefore never trained with metal armor, and instead uses leathers and hides whenever she needs more protection than is offered by the average shirt. Though no expert of armor, she knows the basics of how to move and angle blows onto stronger portions of the suit.
Other Proficiencies
Bartering: Below Average / Average
When negotiating to buy something for herself, Andrasta feels bad about pressing for an advantage. When negotiating on behalf of someone else, she knows about as many tricks and wheedles as are necessary to keep up with an average supplier. In neither case does she qualify for any sort of objective discount.
Persuasion and Leadership: Above Average
Andrasta doesn't feel comfortable appointing herself to positions of leadership. When they're passed down to her, though, she responds with instinctive ease, and very often can sway people into feeling comfortable with her. Andrasta also prides herself on listening to others' input, especially when they've proven their competence in the area at hand. There are worse people to serve under.
Academia: Average
Though bright, Andrasta can't be bothered to know more mundane details of lands outside Corone. She can speak only Trade and Draconic fluently, and knows enough Celestial and Infernal to get by in ritual books. She's above average in most aspects of draconic lore, but below average when it comes to cultural knowledge of most sorts.
Survival: Below Average
Sure, Andrasta knows that the pointy side of a tent goes up, but tracking things? Reading the land? Forecasting the weather? Hunting? Probably all going to be fruitless at best and disastrous at worst. She's not a noble's child, but she's surely not a country girl. She'd be more at home sleeping on a bench than sleeping under the stars.
Animal Handling: Below Average
Because Andrasta carries herself like a predator, many mounts and livestock react accordingly. She's got something of a problematic touch with every sort of living thing that's not a person; they're not likely to trust her or get close to her. The sole exception seems to be cats, who mostly view Andrasta as a distant equal, and are generally willing to go mercenary, offering her a pet or a rub in exchange for food and attention. As horses react poorly to her, she's never learned to ride.
Self-Control: Shiny Objects: Below Average
While reasonably adequate in controlling her instincts in most matters, Andrasta is still drawn like a moth to the flame of wealth and shiny objects. Most beloved are gems, and pieces of magical weapons and armor. An especially fine example at an inopportune time could even disrupt her – ooh! Is that a ruby?
[EQUIPMENT]
Nomine Nihilum (Steel Bastard Sword)
This hand-and-a-half sword was Andrasta's first real weapon, and she feels more comfortable with it than any other. Its blade measures twenty-seven inches in length; the blade tapers evenly close to the tip, and has two sharpened edges with a weighting that only slightly favors the true edge. The crossguard and hilt are both also fashioned from steel for durability, and can be polished to a bright finish for formal occasions. The hilt is also wrapped in black leather, worn slightly by long use but well-adapted to Andrasta's hand(s). Nomine Nihilum's pommel bears a setting of a large sky-blue piece of ground glass – far cheaper than an actual gem for the setting, and able to endure bashing with reasonable durability. The sword also has a wooden scabbard with leather trim that is tight enough to keep out water and any adverse effect the metal would have on her magic. While Andrasta has begun the process of preparing the weapon for arcane chanelling, it is currently no more magical than a normal loaf of bread.
When she was first wearing the sword, Andrasta received a lot of teasing from the dockworkers – specifically, that such a 'fine, fancy sword' needed some sort of portentious name, such as Doombringer or Dawnlight or Fleshrender. The result (“Name of Nothing”) is Andrasta's subtle poke at the tradition as well as a nod to one of her first teachings from Mrs. Garth, that a sheet of paper with nothing on it has the greatest potential of all.
Hardened Leather Armor
Andrasta's suit of armor takes the form of a breastplate specifically shaped to her body, form-fitting to her front and slightly less so to the back. She usually wears it with only a linen band underneath, then the option of one of her shirt overtop, which effectively disguises her armor but leaves her a bit hotter than she usually prefers. The set of armor also comes with a pair of pauldrons, rebraces and vambraces to protect her shoulders and arms, all independently strapped to be worn next to the skin or outside her shirt. The secondary components are all too bulky to be worn under clothing without looking stupid.
Faithful Boots
Leather travel boots, far softer than the stuff used for her armor, these have been with Andrasta for three years now. She had the fortune to do most of her growing early, so her size hasn't changed much. They're thoroughly broken in, and very easy for her to move in as well as comfortable for long journeys.
Hero's Cloak
Actually sold by this name in Radasanth. Andrasta picked this up on her way out the gate; it's a tightly-woven cloak of good, waterproofed wool that drapes comfortably over the shoulders and is generous enough to use as a blanket. It also looks good enough, provided it's clean and untorn, to be worn to social functions that have a relaxed dress code. Still just as impractical as any flowing cape in combat.
Dragon's Shield Symbol
Although Andrasta is aware of no particular significance to the pendant left by her mother, she's sure that the mysterious woman had a good reason for leaving it with her. Extensive testing by local mages has revealed that it has no magical properties of any kind, at all, which was somewhat of a disappointment for her as a young girl. However, in time she's come to view the symbol as valuable in spite of its lack of utility as a magical inheritance. She wears it nearly everywhere, finding that the tiny amount of metal has no effect on her spells. The symbol is made of silver, with blue lacquer for the fill of the shield. Though it must have cost a fair bit to make, it would have nearly no resale value... and Andrasta wouldn't resell it in any case, for any reason.
Handy Sack
It's got no extraordinary or magical properties; it's just a burlap travel pack that fits neatly under or over Andrasta's cloak. Contained within:
Two spare shirts
Two spare sets of trousers
Two spare sets of smallclothes
One mage's robe that's kind of silky, and could double as a bathrobe or dress
Eight pairs of socks. Yes, eight. She learned this lesson.
Deck of common Coronian playing cards
Two inkless quills (graphite pencils)
One proper quill with a red-tailed hawk's wing feather
Dry ink solution and inkpot
Ritual Book
Journal, pages loose enough to be torn out for individual use
Canvas cover (rolled on top)
Spare blanket (rolled on bottom)
Three days' dried trail rations
Two waterskins
Assortment of small containers and vials for sample collection
Letter of passage for Talethsenn Transport vessels, nontransferrable
Firestriking kit including flint and oilwood tender
Two plain eating daggers, iron, barely combat-worthy
Map
“But they never say what to do if the affairs of dragons meddle in you...” –Galen Talethsenn's muttered response
Name: Andrasta Talethsenn
Age: 20
Race: Human, minor dragonblooded [silver]
Hair Color: Silvery-white
Eye Color: Ice blue
Height: 5' 11”
Weight: 163 lbs
[APPEARANCE]
On the whole, Andrasta is a striking and rather pretty example of her species. She stands as tall as most men, give or take an inch. Her build, though solid and bearing obvious muscle mass, is well-proportioned and pleasing to the eye; her face is symmetrical and possesses a lean-boned quality that in poor light might get her mistaken for a half-elf. Andrasta's skin is very fair, marked by only a few incidental scars here and there, easy to sunburn and incredibly resistant to tanning of any sort. Likewise, her hair is worn loose or in a single braid; unbound, it hangs to the middle of her back. Though the strands are straight and well-behaved in general, her hair also shows grime very easily and is rarely at its shiny best outside of special preparations and events, a source of great annoyance to the proud young woman. The one cue that she's not albino is the color of her irises – a striking light blue that stands out against the pale quality of the rest of her features.
Andrasta's movement and posture aren't especially graceful, but instead show an economy of motion and body awareness common to those who've done physical labor or fighting for a living. When she's in a comfortable or familiar setting, the tilt of her head and set of her shoulders will often speak of self-confidence and ease; this ease tends to evaporate when she's thrust into a socially or physically uncomfortable situation, forcing her into a more furtive gait and suppressing the expression of her natural pride.
[HISTORY]
Galen Talethsenn was, on the whole, not an ambitious man. He inherited a modest shipping company that his grandfather had built and his father expanded. By staying the course, applying sound practices and never overextending, Galen kept Talethsenn Transport profitable and stable even through the chaos of coming war and the flight of investors to safer waters. Among Radasanth's social circles, he was accounted the 'least interesting man in the city,' and while he was pleasant and honorable, it was suspected that he never did anything... well... exciting.
The rumor was halfway true. Indeed, Galen kept himself on a tight leash, remembering his misspent youth all too well. Every now and again, though, his old self would surface and he'd do something spontaneous. It was on just one of those nights, twenty years before the present day, that he was drinking to his mediocrity in a tavern in the docks district. A woman joined him at his table in the corner, an enchanting figure with flowing silvery hair and a sword over her back that could have chopped the table in half. She waved off his requests for a name with a playful grin, revealing only that she was passing through on her way to Scara Brae, and then Fallien. Perhaps she was lonelier than she let on; perhaps he was more charming than people gave him credit for. Whatever the reason, the two shared three days and two nights in nearly constant company before she left. Galen pined after her for a time, but being so damned practical as he was, he eventually cleaned up the pieces and moved on.
A year later, against all Galen's expectations, she returned and visited him by night at his house in Radasanth's downtown. Though she still refused to give him her name, “for the sake of old times,” she had with her a young baby, a girl, that she showed to Galen. Though she evaded the question of its exact parentage, Galen strongly suspected that it was their child – and when she reluctantly asked him to help take care of her, he readily agreed. She left her child two things – a name, Andrasta, and a pendant of a blue-lacquered shield with a silver dragon's head center, on a fine silver chain. The two parted on more amiable and final terms, and he never saw her again.
If it had been the mysterious woman's hope that Galen would be a caring and stable father, he didn't disappoint. The merchant raised his daughter responsibly and well. Even if he was a little too stolid at times, young Andrasta was clever enough to evade his restrictions when it was really important to her. In her young childhood, this rule firmly established in her head: all other laws and regulations were there to make you think hard and weigh the risks before you broke them. Her voracious curiosity and thirst for learning propelled her to reading and writing at a relatively young age; at eight, Galen absorbed the expense and sent her academy for a proper education.
At first, academy life was not what Andrasta had dreamed it would be. She'd spent her early childhood playing with bakers' sons and millers' daughters, who were far removed from the refined lifestyle of the rich and powerful. Having no female role models in the house, she hadn't really developed a specific identity as a woman, making her an easy target for mean jokes and snubbing by daughters of the uppercrust. On her ninth birthday, a particular nemesis of hers named Marcia made a tease too close to the heart about her alleged mother. Andrasta snapped, and in the chaos of the ensuing brawl staked Marcia to a wall with a spike of magical ice.
Most of the onlookers, and even Marcia herself, missed it in the fighting. Another witness had not. Yvonne Garth, the instructor of magic and magical arts, recognized the origin of the wound as soon as she'd broken up the scuffle. She hastily healed Marcia to prevent the noble's daughter from bleeding out and marched Andrasta up to her office. The ensuing talk stretched far into the evening and was the start of a friendship that persists to this day.
Mrs. Garth helped to guide Andrasta through the troubled years of puberty and the ensuing manifestation of her blood magic. She stood in for Andrasta's mother in a great many matters, providing the young woman with a steady female role model for the first time. Her tutelage also gave Andrasta some distance from the rest of the student body, which instead of defaulting to teasing tended to treat Andrasta with the same sort of deference that one might use with a hungry puma. Oddly, this suited Andrasta well. Eventually, the bolder students re-approached her … and armed with new self-confidence, she won them over almost without exception. When it came time to graduate from the academy program at fifteen, Andrasta was genuinely sorry to leave.
Though she was now of a borderline marriageable age, Andrasta had no desire to play the courting game. She might have drawn some measure of respect from the nobles with her fledgeling blood magic but still viewed upper society as something to avoid when possible... and few potential suitors were willing to brave the risk of snuggling up to the wild silver girl. Two months of lounging around Galen's home without a job or an education left her listless and bored; the control that she'd won over her magic began to slip, even with Mrs. Garth's continued instruction. It was her father who suggested she could work a few shifts at the docks to burn off extra energy – just an hour here and there, not lifting anything too heavy. Andrasta took to the work with enthusiasm, and soon was working half a shift every day. Her frame filled out quickly, and while Galen harbored doubts that his daughter was growing perhaps a little too muscular to fit comfortably back into a normal household, she was as happy as she'd been in months.
On her eighteenth birthday and full social majority, Andrasta took over some minor management duties for her now-aging father and used her reinforced income to begin paying for further lessons in both swordplay and advanced magical theory. Although she began to forge mental links between swordplay and magic, and to explore a new element of manifestation, her duties with Talethsenn Transport left her less time than she wished to explore herself. Andrasta possessed no special talent with either bargaining or management, but she was determined to do as good a job as possible for her father.
Two years and three months later, Galen announced his retirement and his resignation of control to the board of captains. His buyout share was more than enough to comfortably support him for the rest of his life, however long it might be – he was, after all, nearly sixty. Andrasta specifically refused a share of the sum. Freed of her commitment to Talethsenn Transport, she now had the ability to strike out and seek her own fortune – as well as questions that had haunted her ever since that fight in the hallway.
She made one last offer to her elderly father – an offer to put her own ambitions on hold until he was gone, so that she could see that he was tended well. Now it was Galen's turn to refuse. He told his daughter that, nineteen years ago, he'd let her mother go... and now it was her turn. “Fly free,” he said, “as you were always meant to do. Be strong for me... be strong for yourself.”
It is here that Andrasta's struggle to understand and master her birthright truly begins...
[PERSONALITY]
If one of the classic deadly sins were to be Andrasta's bane, it would be the sin of pride. While the trace of dragonblood in her heritage was never discussed at length, it's been the assumed source of her magic and has molded her personality to a considerable extent. She is kind out of a sense of compassion for 'lesser creatures', even if she doesn't phrase it that way even in her own head, and is forgiving of insult because she's quite confident that the deliverer of the insult is ignorant or jealous. Criticism from people she trusts tends to wound deeply, as do shows of greater force, as they both bypass her psychological defenses.
While greed is a close second, Andrasta makes a specific effort to keep it and envy under control. They're the darker side of a dragon's inheritance, and she knows it far too well. For this reason, she's not a very good negotiator on her own behalf (though she does fine working for others) and she'll sometimes make a decision that harms her own welfare just because doing the opposite seems too greedy to her. This desire to suppress her own greed shapes her study of her own arcane talent and has kept her manifestations far more controlled and predictable than those of many other young blood-mages.
In short, underneath her dragon's bearing, Andrasta genuinely cares for others – but she's still learning how to fully feel and empathize. Her father's quiet pragmatism may have served him well, but her soul takes far more after her mother's.
[SKILLS AND ABILITIES]
Blood Magic
Core Proficiency (Arcane Focus, Concentration): Above Average
Andrasta is a blood mage; she draws arcane power directly from the markers of her heritage left in her body. Whether her dragon ancestor is four or four dozen generations back is unknown, but her magic is her most developed talent. She's been struggling to refine and control it for most of eleven years.
To manifest her magic, Andrasta first has to enter a state of arcane focus. This is equivalent to the rush that most people equivalent when they are 'on the edge' of a dangerous activity, such as riding a horse over dangerous terrain or walking along a high balance. Entering focus involves distilling magic from her soul so that it is ready to use, resting just below manifestation in the real world. While in focus, Andrasta can freely use minor abilities (noted as reserve) as long as she maintains her focus, though only one at a time. Using the most powerful of her gifts (noted as primary) requires her to expend her focus, after which she can't work magic until she gains her focus back.
At present, it requires nearly ten seconds of meditation for Andrasta to gain or regain her focus, using about the same amount of effort as it would take to lift a heavy load over her head. She can perform other actions such as running or fighting at the same time, but the strain on her body and mind will be very high. Because it is tied to her body, focus takes longer as she grows more fatigued. Injury or other disruptive occurrences can interrupt her focus, also causing it to take longer. She can stay focused for a maximum of two minutes before the effect wears off and she must renew it.
(( OOC Note: For purposes of Althanas and posting, it will be impossible for her to expend her focus more than once every other post. Also, continuously operating at this level would require an interruption-free environment and would still tax her a lot. Very willing to play around with this – just wanting to reassure that her magic won't be spammed and has a real cost to her without arbitrary per-day limits. ))
Elemental Proficiency (Ice): Above Average
Andrasta's ancestor is all but confirmed to be a silver dragon, a noble creature of high mountain peaks and clouds. It's unsurprising, then, that her greatest affinity is for cold water and ice.
Reserve: Andrasta can cool a substance that she can directly touch, as well as produce a thin, nearly invisible ray of cold that contains about as much cooling as a glass of ice water. The ray has a maximum range of thirty feet.
Primary: By expending her focus, Andrasta can conjure enough ice to form a dense ball that is almost too big to hold in one hand. The equivalent amount of ice can be manifested at up to thirty feet away, either in a single shape or in a mist that instantly freezes over solid surfaces. Note that such ice is not magically propelled – if she wants the ice ball to hit something, she's going to have to throw it or manifest it right overhead for it to drop.
Elemental Proficiency (Light): Average
Tapping into the nobility and order of Light is something uncommon to blood mages, but Andrasta has very recently mastered her first casting.
Reserve: Andrasta can cause a light to silhouette an object no larger in volume than her forearm. This light is cool white and about the brightness of a small lantern, and the aura itself has a tendency to flicker and play around, giving it a candle-like quality.
Primary: By expending her focus, Andrasta can project a single beam of brilliant blue-white light at a point within thirty feet. The beam's widest point is about two by two feet. The beam itself is fairly bright, and anything directly struck in the eyes by the light is likely to be dazzled. No damage is done, even to undead or other light-vulnerable creatures, though such creatures are likely to be dazzled even if they have no 'eyes' as such.
Ritual Magic: Below average
While Andrasta has a ritual book and has passingly studied 'deep magic', she has thus far lacked the patience to master the art form as many wizards do. She can only complete very simple magical rituals such as the sending of short words-only messages and opening unwarded doors. All such rituals also require the use of her blood as a reagent, and it must be blood drawn less than an hour ago from a living artery or vein, making any ritual very difficult to complete if she is fatigued or in hostile territory. It's also worth noting that her blood is a useful component to many varieties of spellcasters.
Elemental Affinity
Linked closely to her magic, Andrasta is less vulnerable to cold and ice than most are. She suffers very little discomfort when in cold temperatures; snow is delightful to her as is freshly melted water, and she is mildly resistant to attacks based on magical cold. Her resistance to this type, assuming it is magic, is only 10% due to the power associated with magical ice.
By the same token, Andrasta overheats far more easily than a normal person. Her body has a hard time generating sweat, forcing her to pant and cool herself in other ways. This also makes it a bad idea for her to cover her head when undergoing strenuous activity in any but the coldest climates. In a warm temperate climate or hotter, heat buildup is the limiting factor of her endurance. She takes 25% more harm than normal from magical and mundane heat.
Weapons and Armor Proficiency
Proficiency: Heavy One-Handed Blades: Average
Because Andrasta prefers to keep a free hand to manifest her magic, her combat style focuses on a single sword in her main hand, primarily to present a credible melee threat and defend herself from pointy objects, with the off-hand used for balance and the delivery of magic. Her skill with blocking and parrying is actually above average, but this is balanced by only average offensive strikes – they can be clumsy, more likely to glance off a hard target than do any actual harm. She also lacks force and precision with two-handed strokes, leaving her short of her blade's full use.
Proficiency: Unarmed Combat: Below Average (Untrained)
She's never bothered to learn any techniques specifically related to unarmed combat, and therefore has only her strength and willingness to play dirty to protect her in melee without her sword. Her clawings and flailings are likely to be as dangerous to herself as her enemy.
Proficiency: Light Leathers and Hides: Average
Oddly, Andrasta found that large amounts of iron or steel in close proximity to her skin disrupted her magic, making it difficult to regain her focus. She therefore never trained with metal armor, and instead uses leathers and hides whenever she needs more protection than is offered by the average shirt. Though no expert of armor, she knows the basics of how to move and angle blows onto stronger portions of the suit.
Other Proficiencies
Bartering: Below Average / Average
When negotiating to buy something for herself, Andrasta feels bad about pressing for an advantage. When negotiating on behalf of someone else, she knows about as many tricks and wheedles as are necessary to keep up with an average supplier. In neither case does she qualify for any sort of objective discount.
Persuasion and Leadership: Above Average
Andrasta doesn't feel comfortable appointing herself to positions of leadership. When they're passed down to her, though, she responds with instinctive ease, and very often can sway people into feeling comfortable with her. Andrasta also prides herself on listening to others' input, especially when they've proven their competence in the area at hand. There are worse people to serve under.
Academia: Average
Though bright, Andrasta can't be bothered to know more mundane details of lands outside Corone. She can speak only Trade and Draconic fluently, and knows enough Celestial and Infernal to get by in ritual books. She's above average in most aspects of draconic lore, but below average when it comes to cultural knowledge of most sorts.
Survival: Below Average
Sure, Andrasta knows that the pointy side of a tent goes up, but tracking things? Reading the land? Forecasting the weather? Hunting? Probably all going to be fruitless at best and disastrous at worst. She's not a noble's child, but she's surely not a country girl. She'd be more at home sleeping on a bench than sleeping under the stars.
Animal Handling: Below Average
Because Andrasta carries herself like a predator, many mounts and livestock react accordingly. She's got something of a problematic touch with every sort of living thing that's not a person; they're not likely to trust her or get close to her. The sole exception seems to be cats, who mostly view Andrasta as a distant equal, and are generally willing to go mercenary, offering her a pet or a rub in exchange for food and attention. As horses react poorly to her, she's never learned to ride.
Self-Control: Shiny Objects: Below Average
While reasonably adequate in controlling her instincts in most matters, Andrasta is still drawn like a moth to the flame of wealth and shiny objects. Most beloved are gems, and pieces of magical weapons and armor. An especially fine example at an inopportune time could even disrupt her – ooh! Is that a ruby?
[EQUIPMENT]
Nomine Nihilum (Steel Bastard Sword)
This hand-and-a-half sword was Andrasta's first real weapon, and she feels more comfortable with it than any other. Its blade measures twenty-seven inches in length; the blade tapers evenly close to the tip, and has two sharpened edges with a weighting that only slightly favors the true edge. The crossguard and hilt are both also fashioned from steel for durability, and can be polished to a bright finish for formal occasions. The hilt is also wrapped in black leather, worn slightly by long use but well-adapted to Andrasta's hand(s). Nomine Nihilum's pommel bears a setting of a large sky-blue piece of ground glass – far cheaper than an actual gem for the setting, and able to endure bashing with reasonable durability. The sword also has a wooden scabbard with leather trim that is tight enough to keep out water and any adverse effect the metal would have on her magic. While Andrasta has begun the process of preparing the weapon for arcane chanelling, it is currently no more magical than a normal loaf of bread.
When she was first wearing the sword, Andrasta received a lot of teasing from the dockworkers – specifically, that such a 'fine, fancy sword' needed some sort of portentious name, such as Doombringer or Dawnlight or Fleshrender. The result (“Name of Nothing”) is Andrasta's subtle poke at the tradition as well as a nod to one of her first teachings from Mrs. Garth, that a sheet of paper with nothing on it has the greatest potential of all.
Hardened Leather Armor
Andrasta's suit of armor takes the form of a breastplate specifically shaped to her body, form-fitting to her front and slightly less so to the back. She usually wears it with only a linen band underneath, then the option of one of her shirt overtop, which effectively disguises her armor but leaves her a bit hotter than she usually prefers. The set of armor also comes with a pair of pauldrons, rebraces and vambraces to protect her shoulders and arms, all independently strapped to be worn next to the skin or outside her shirt. The secondary components are all too bulky to be worn under clothing without looking stupid.
Faithful Boots
Leather travel boots, far softer than the stuff used for her armor, these have been with Andrasta for three years now. She had the fortune to do most of her growing early, so her size hasn't changed much. They're thoroughly broken in, and very easy for her to move in as well as comfortable for long journeys.
Hero's Cloak
Actually sold by this name in Radasanth. Andrasta picked this up on her way out the gate; it's a tightly-woven cloak of good, waterproofed wool that drapes comfortably over the shoulders and is generous enough to use as a blanket. It also looks good enough, provided it's clean and untorn, to be worn to social functions that have a relaxed dress code. Still just as impractical as any flowing cape in combat.
Dragon's Shield Symbol
Although Andrasta is aware of no particular significance to the pendant left by her mother, she's sure that the mysterious woman had a good reason for leaving it with her. Extensive testing by local mages has revealed that it has no magical properties of any kind, at all, which was somewhat of a disappointment for her as a young girl. However, in time she's come to view the symbol as valuable in spite of its lack of utility as a magical inheritance. She wears it nearly everywhere, finding that the tiny amount of metal has no effect on her spells. The symbol is made of silver, with blue lacquer for the fill of the shield. Though it must have cost a fair bit to make, it would have nearly no resale value... and Andrasta wouldn't resell it in any case, for any reason.
Handy Sack
It's got no extraordinary or magical properties; it's just a burlap travel pack that fits neatly under or over Andrasta's cloak. Contained within:
Two spare shirts
Two spare sets of trousers
Two spare sets of smallclothes
One mage's robe that's kind of silky, and could double as a bathrobe or dress
Eight pairs of socks. Yes, eight. She learned this lesson.
Deck of common Coronian playing cards
Two inkless quills (graphite pencils)
One proper quill with a red-tailed hawk's wing feather
Dry ink solution and inkpot
Ritual Book
Journal, pages loose enough to be torn out for individual use
Canvas cover (rolled on top)
Spare blanket (rolled on bottom)
Three days' dried trail rations
Two waterskins
Assortment of small containers and vials for sample collection
Letter of passage for Talethsenn Transport vessels, nontransferrable
Firestriking kit including flint and oilwood tender
Two plain eating daggers, iron, barely combat-worthy
Map