Nirenai
07-28-10, 10:40 AM
Once Upon A Time...
In a time that bears no relation to our own, in a land that cannot be reached by anything else but the flying imagination, there was a normal day. Yes, such things happen, even in lands where magic lives and legend and truth are the same thing sometimes. And yet, sometimes, there are just normal days, and people enjoy them much more than they would care to admit. On this particular normal day, not much different from today's day in fact, a young woman arrived at the Uphill Orphanage. The caretakers knew the nature of her visit just by looking at her. She would give birth in the next night, no matter where she would be lying or who, if any, would take care of her. Such behavior wasn’t exactly welcomed amongst the staff, but the orphanage, being the home of a little less than a hundred children of all ages, was also a home of peace, understanding, acceptance and love unconditional. The woman was taken in and allowed to do what she came there to do. The next day she was already gone, leaving behind a new life, motherless, but not alone.
The girl was named Corona, to honor the land of her people, and Yarborough, to remember the land of her home, no matter where she might drift to in her later age, as many of the orphans did in the end. No one expected though that she will do exactly that, but so early in her life...
Corona was born into a happy life. The first thing she learned from her simple, but caring and loving caretakers, was how to love and accept, how to share and how to help. They blessed her by showing her the world as a place of good, place where people can be naive and ignorant at worst, but never really evil. They taught her about the Code of the Honest and the Honorable and helped her build a strong, loving character, noble, as far as a children nobility goes, and respectful spirit as well as playful and happy mood of a child. The Uphill orphanage was a perfect place for children, since food was plenty and friends were many, and a mix of many different ages and races lived together, forming an efficient but relaxed community. Joined from many different life stories into one, they quite enjoyed their field chores and house errands (not if you asked them directly, of course), growing up in strong men and women, ready to give the best they can to the land, ready to use this second chance they recieved to its fullest extent. Corona had a family counting more than a hundred people, and never even thought about wishing for something else. She of course, like any other child in the orphanage, had a dream of her blood-family, living somewhere a quiet and peaceful life, ready to come and get her if other children became too mean, or the teachers didn't let her stay up late enough, but other children, together with the caretakers, were her true family and offered her everything a child like her would need to become a good person.
But despite all the good surrounding the Uphill village and Coronas life, there was something that made her feel divided from the others, an invisible wall that made her different from everyone she knew. I’m sure you would think; ''That is completely normal for a child of her age. Even older people sometimes feel different and misunderstood.'' and yes, I would agree with you completely. Everyone goes through different phases in his or her life, and our feelings can change. But nevertheless, there was something different about Corona, something that could be described as disconnection with reality, or self induced hallucination, or maybe more plainly, retardness. It wasn’t hard for the others to notice that she sees things. So it wasn’t Coronas beauty or charisma that made her stand out from the other children, it wasn’t stupidity or intelligence, or strenght, or speed. It was her Imagination. Even if she just imagined it all, that was still a strong reason to be upset. She was different.
First oddities appeared to have come directly from the girl's dreams, and resulted, as the caretakers put it, in slight mental abnormality. She, especially in her early years, found it very difficult to distinguish between reality and the dream world and often saw her dreams while being awake, mixing the two into something… new. Coronas imagination was so wild and creative, that she often took her reality into her own hands and reshaped it, at times so completely that it didn’t resemble the original anymore. Then people found it too hard to follow and were, eventually, left behind. Of course, observed from their perspective, she was the one left behind a little, which, ironically, only increased their attention and affection for the silly little girl that sees faeries, rides dragons and talks to herself when she thinks that no one is around. Because Corona, even as young as she was, felt that she sees the world differently, and in her wish to be equal to everyone else, she tried suppressing her visions, succeeding only partially, but eventually increasing control over her imagination, or better said, over her reactions caused by the creations of her imagination, making her image in the eyes of other people seem a little more sane. She became more normal to the other people and most of them were sure the girl was just having a phase, but it passed and left no damage on her. She never stopped to dream though. And while she was able to ignore some of the less upsetting visions, such as singing dogs and living tapestries on rugs, other creations were not so easy to ignore.
Amongst those that just couldn’t be forgotten, was the bogeyman. All children know of him, and only few do not fear him more than anything. The Fear of the Dark, the Eater of Light, the Thief of Sleep, or however you would call him, Corona saw him more vividly and realistically than
any of the other children. With years he would grow to become her regular companion and enemy, disturbing her peace and the peace of all others, since they couldn’t sleep as well, with the little Corona, crying and screaming, and even describing what she sees at times, when she was really, really upset. She made their own bogeyman seem more alive when they slept in the same room with her. It wasn’t easy to be Coronas room mate. But all that seemed completely normal to the caretakers. She wasn’t the first one to be so afraid of the darkness, and her parents and teachers believed that time will make the bogeyman disappear. But that was not at all what happened in the end.
On a day, three weeks before her eight birthday, a long expected and extremely important event in life of every seven year old, something incredible happened. In fact, it was the most incredible thing that ever happened in Uphill in all seven years together (bless the children ability to cherish the present moment so fully), it was a miracle, even bigger than the miracle of turning eight. Circus came to town! A real circus, a traveling attraction full of surprise and awesome skill, bringing laughter and happiness to the people of all ages, but especially to the youngest. The caretakers would, of course, let them go, everyone one, the whole Uphill and surrounding farms would be there, sharing food and song and enjoying the colorful shows. No one would wish to miss a rarely seen attraction such as this one was. And truly, the caretakers took the children to the village, but only after they all had their breakfasts and finished with those chores that were too important, that they could wait, even on a day like this. After the work was done, they finally took off to see all the wonders that the traveling group had to offer.
And it really was the most magical day of Coronas life, and lives of the other children as well. Seeing the acrobats and jugglers, firetricksters and magicians, strongmen and hypnotists, attracting her attention so completely and fully, she completely forgot about the world and just stared and stared...
A girl raised in the Uphill orphanage would know nothing about magic, never seeing it being used, practiced or talked about outside of the stories about heroes, kings and gods. She knew nothing of the wizard schools and orders that existed across the lands or the many abnormalities that were occurring all around the world, abnormalities that equaled and even surpassed hers. For all her life she believed that she is strange and different, but the circus somehow showed her that she is not alone in the vast ocean of the different. This day was remembered for a long time after by all that were present, and left a mark on everyone that attended it, but no one got marked more than Corona. This evening, without question, changed her life completely.
The hour was getting late. Most of the people already retreated to their homes, to their every day lives, energized by the seen and heard, they would undoubtedly speak about this circus for months to come. Even the children from the orphanage were already sitting behind their dinner plates, yelling lowdly one over another about what they have seen, screaming the names of their new heroes and trying to mimic them and their tricks.
---
The last of the many shows were finished now, and the tents and wagons were turning out their fires and lights one after the other. Darkness was revealing itself, slowly and patiently, like a falling feather it came on the circus camp. One of the last, if not the last soul on the street, was Corona. She was running along, with a half eaten apple in her left hand, an apple that hasn't seen a bite for some hours already, and with the left trouser of her pants slightly burned because she stood too close to the firetrickster, wishing to see everything, but really everything she could. Her body was tired, but her mind was flying on the impressions of the day, completely relaxed and open for more, even though she has already seen it all, all of the shows, some of them even several times. A half enthusiastic, half sleeping smile on her face was all there was to find from the mind, as she floated along the main road of the encampment. Later she wouldn’t remember the time that passed between the shows, dreaming her way from one stand to the other, all until the main crossroad of the now quiet and resting camp, woke her up from her trance with a question. Where was she heading? Her mind did its best to follow up, catching with the present state, place, time,... Black blankness surrounded her thoughts and froze them up. Realizing that she is all alone, that the sun was gone and the moon is the only light that still shines on her, that the shows have all ended and the magic has submerged back into the minds of the people, and back into her mind, all these things shook her, one after another, like chilled bolts of light shocking her spine, making her shiver in terror. The fight with Him was hard as it was, but this time, she was completely weaponless and unprepared. No blanket, no candle, no teddy... excited by the whole day she completely forgot to be careful, but now that she remembered, she saw no reason why He wouldn’t come. He always comes when you need Him the least. And all the impressions of the day that were dancing in front of her if she closed her eyes, all of the energy that she received in the day, all of her mental power, all together, suddenly focused in one thought. He came.
From the tricksters and ropewalkers, wizards and dancers, all that were performing on that day, men and women of experience that shared their skills and powers, it wasn't any of them that got away with creating the spell of the day, It was not a man nor a woman that weaved the strongest magic, it was a young girl. The title of the greatest trick should rightfully go to Corona for that day her fear came alive.
He watched her scream and tremble, at the sight of His long, skinny fingers made even longer by the sharp nails, appearing from the darkest shadow she found around her. Of course it was the darkest. He was a professional. The nails screeched and screamed when He scratched on the wooden crate that was left there in the shadow, producing a hellish sound that couldn’t possibly come from the contact of wood and nail. So horrible was the sound, that it made the girl run. Heh heh... He felt satisfaction. Another job well done. Finished. Goodby- But he didn’t disappear as he usually did. He was left behind.
Coronas legs, tired of waiting for the mind to get a hold of itself and brake free from the fear that was trapping it, took the matters into their own.. onto themselves, and by themselves found their way to the orphanage, being patient enough to wait for the mind to thank them later, when it recovers from the shock. They just did the most natural thing for them, they ran. Home. What was less natural, was the whole incident around the bogeyman. It would be explained by a scientific mind that a bogeyman should, in the moment the girl ran and stopped thinking of him, disappear, as he was only a product of her imagination, or should follow her on her way to the Orphanage, not being able to exist without her. This was generally true in the Nightmare world, at least as much as Bogey was aware of it. One thing that was disturbing the quiet night of the circus square, was, that this time, it wasn’t true. He was still there, in the shadow, feeling ...alone.
Alone? He never felt alone, he never even existed alone before. He was solely a product of other peoples minds, but now... he felt quite uncomfortable, not knowing exactly what that is...
He had no recollection of any past, nor any feeling that he should have it. He only knew what he is, or more exactly, what is his job. He knew his job and he was the man for the job. But the job required the presence of the people and those were nowhere to be seen. Which led back to the strange concept of alone that the bogeyman started to get to know to and ...fear. Confused as only a few others in the whole history of the world, he began to get acquainted with his very own worst nightmare.
What would a scholar or wizard say of the Bogeyman’s creation? How and why was He born? And who or what is He now? It was obvious that the girl somehow created Him with her mind, and believed in Him strongly enough, imagined Him in such detail, that He really became alive. Considering Coronas state of mind few moments (or the whole day) before the event happened, and considering her special imagination, she created a image, strong enough to survive on its own. It got a life, and a form as well. Bogey knew that He has a body, even though He didn’t know exactly how it looks like, since it could adapt completely, depending on the customers and their preferences. He had a bogeyman’s body and more detail isn’t needed at this moment. But His mind wasn’t all bogeymind.
As human made god by his own image, Corona created the Bogeyman based on her conception of herself or a thinking being in general. Bogeyman was not at all evil, He just had a job to do. Corona’s subconsciousnes filled up some of the gaps that were too obvious for her mind to accept the new existance in the world. So He was a mixture of a bogey and a man, or more specifically, a seven year old girl. Can you imagine it? Let me help you by describing His feelings a minute after His creation: He was missing his mother. Without knowing what a mother is.
It should be pointed out that the girl was also or even more aware that something has happened, and very soon she understood that her enemy is now truly present in her life, without a doubt left to cling to. The small village of Uphill clearly wasn’t big enough for the two of them. She had to run. A whole book could be written about the Coronas journey and the chase across the world. Without going into detail, a short summary of the next years follows:
The young girl in her mortal fear, found refuge with the circus group, and set out with them to meet new lands and people, but mostly because she needed to run away from the Bogeyman. For many years she was moving from one place to another, always finding the Bogey to be able to catch up to her sooner or later. The chase continued and eventually made her leave the caravan, her long year friends, teachers and traveling companions and set out on her own. Her imagination didn’t leave her any rest either. While she learned how to control herself a little bit, her mind was still not happy with the plain reality and it always spiced it up a little. More accidents happened, one of them being Doubt, the little demon that made her life even more complicated. She still couldn’t escape, but being alone helped her more and more with facing the Fear that was chasing her, until she finally stood up to it and found, ironically, that the Fear is tired of the chase as well. They settled their differences, created friendship that would last for a long time, and in the same day, they magically found Coronas blood relatives, her Uncle and Aunt, that were living EXACTLY as she imagined it when she was still living in Uphill, in the exact house, on the exact land, being exactly the people she imagined them to be. Even the dog and other animals on the farm were exactly as she imagined them years ago in the orphanage.It was as though she created it all.
After that they all lived together in harmony,
lived happily ever after.
THE END
Or was it? Once tasting the life of a traveler, it wasn’t likely that Corona will be able to stay at one place for a long time, even if the place was dreamlike and offered her all the love she needed. But in the end she felt the call, and she felt it stronger than ever before. It was actually a wonder that she stayed there as long as she did.
For more than seven years she forgot about the rest of the world, enjoying the peace of the farm life, enjoying the love and warmness of her family. Even her Imagimagic gave her a little rest, and for once in her life, she felt comfortable with being herself, enjoying her very own normal life, even if it included a Bogeyman, the, more and more seldom visiting, Doubt and such. All seemed to be as an ending to a children story, but at the same time, it was a new beginning.
News of the Corone’s political situation flew over the land, making the land restless as a hornets nest. It traveled close and far and eventually reached Corona as well. The stories about the corrupted Empire, but even more so the tales about the honor and courage of the Corone Rangers and their Red Marshal made the girl dream again. To help her with her decision her mind created two knights to be her guides and advisors. Maces and Colises would eventually chase away the Doubt and help her gather enough courage to leave her home and search for her place in the history of the world. Choosing a new name for herself she transformed into a true adventurer, setting out to find the Red Marshal and offer him her best.
Nirenai Dreamstream, Imagimage in training and warrior of the Code, was ready to meet her destiny.
Name: Nirenai Dreamstream (Corona Yarborough)
Corona Yarborough is her original name, and she used it for all her life. When she was 27, she left for the road once more, and from then on introduced herself as Nirenai Dreamstream.
Age: 27
((using liquid time I write about her early age a lot, describing the years when she was running from her fear, from when she left the orphanage on. So 7+ is the more precise answer. I will keep this in mind when creating RP threads...))
Race: human
Born in Corone - Yarborough barony, somewhere in the middle of those fields there, in a village called Uphill. It is small, you wouldn’t know it...would you?
Personality:
Raised with love and caress, even though she is lacking the presence of her blood parents, or maybe even more so, Nirenai follows the code of the Orphanage, code of a respectful Coronian, code of a civilized, thinking human being. Being a traveler once, she experienced enough different people and their habits, believes, characters and stories, that she can distinguish between a tale or truth, or so she thinks. This gives her a slight 'cut to the chase' attitude when she smells deception or mislead. But she can listen to the talk of the older people, talk about the weather, the neighbors dog, the bloody Empire or the wicked politics, and she can listen for ages. She would seldom choose to share her opinion though, at least with the matters that do not seem important enough, or do not seem real enough, regarding the girls past and also present state of mind. She often drifts away from the common reality, which evokes discomfort and insult in most people, and that as well results in the girls lack of courage to express herself.. At times Nirenai loses contact with the rest of the world so strongly, that she looks crazy to the rest of the world, but in the last years she learned to hide her fall outs from the other world if she felt the need, ignoring all that seemed abnormal. Sometimes she ignored too much, which again, seemed strange. She had an aura of strangeness around her, but was usually connected to childish, playful spirit she was blessed with and not to a mad and dangerous image of a senseless stranger. All in all, she was considered to be (and truly was), a happy individual, full of energy and life power, dealing with her problems as they came, ready to accept whatever life throws at her.
Appearance:
Nirenai surely wouldn’t stand out in a normal crowd of Coronians, being neither one of the taller, neither shorter, neither more rare racewise. She wasn’t the most beautiful woman around, but she wasn’t ugly at all, keeping an attitude of a child, energetic and interested in her surroundings, a little shy and reserved with her words, but always ready to share her big and honest smile with everyone. She was not the youngest anymore, but was still young enough to be counted in the younger category. experiencing many different ways of life already, and that made her look experienced as well. Her skin was used to the sun, her hands used to the work. Her steps were well placed, and she appeared to others as a person that has control over her body. Dressed simply, which was completely normal for a farmer, you always found an adventurer and dreamer if you only looked into her big, green eyes, revealing to one that knows how to look, the girls immense potential and strength. Her big curls, reaching a little lower from her shoulders, strong and curled hair of dark brown, that didn’t change their form since she was young, were left free to spread over her back, with front hair tucked behind her ears.
She looked like an experienced child, seeming younger than her age in one way, but older in another.
Equipment:
Hat - That shields from sun and wind, rain and snow, but also it protects from the uncomfortable looks and the direction your eyes are looking in, if you wish them to move unnoticed. The straw, cone shaped hat, with a cotton band to keep it on its place, was perfect to suit her needs.
Staff - A sturdy oaken staff, that has been with Nirenai for many years. It is not as big as it once was (well, it wasnt the staff that changed its size, it was the girl that grew up), but it still reaches the girls eyeheight. Having 'grown into it', its size and weight are perfect and natural to Nirenai, the staff is not too heavy, not too light, and is just big enough to be thrown around with ease.
Boots - Brown, soft soled leather shoes, offering comfort, grip and ability to move freely at the same time, being as small and as light as possible. She never really wears them in the end. But you never know when a strong winter could hit and then you would be happier with your feet in the boots than outside... clearly, an experienced traveler.
Clothes - Simple farmers garb.
Rough brown pants, made of canvas quality material and seam, but patched on many places, and even open on some other.
White linen shirt, loose in the sleeves but more tight in the body, so it fit well with the woolen overcoat that kept her body warm and protected.
Brown cloak that she had since she was in her teens, originally made out of wool, but was later seriously falling apart, torn and used, half eaten from the street dust, half from the moths and such. It was repaired as much as it went, as well as adapted to fit the new size of its owner. Some would say it was a rag she was wrapped in, but to her it smelled like home and carried a ton of memories. But, offering protection from the cold, it failed to protect from rain or at least the wind, and Nirenai felt she should change soon.
Belt - Wide, leather pocket-belt, fitting her hips perfectly and carrying many small things, such as interesting stones, flowers, strings, feathers and all other things adventurers find on their journeys. Strapped to the belt, but hidden by the cloak, is also her small moneypouch, containing the few coins she has.
Bag - Simple canvas ropesack, containing a woolen blanket, some hemp rope and a broken (these things happen) knife, made of steel, but destroyed beyond repair. In the bag was also a waterskin made of leather, a three day old bread and an apple.
Learning and knowledge:
Orphanage lessons (0-7): In the first part of her life Nirenai received examples she still regards as right and proper, such as following the Code, respecting, loving. She was also shown into two of the big topics a moral citizen would find useful, history and, of course, music. Finally, work in the orphanage required basic knowledge of agriculture and gardening. Even if she was too young to be expected to fully work, her caretakers were slowly introducing her into farmwork. Since early years she was showing interest in all of the topics mentioned above and spent as much time to study them as the circumstances around her let her, some more, others less. She also, without the intention of doing so, untapped her latent power of Imagination magic and created the Bogeyman ((see below))
Adventurers trials (7-17): For the bigger part of her travels she was living with a traveling circus, in the midst of the action and show of skill. Everyone knew something that would impress the others, and tricks of hand and body were a normal way of play between the circus children, amongst which Nirenai too had to find her place. With time she was skilled enough to even perform in some of the shows. Last years of her traveling she spent going from place to place, having no real teachers or real time to develop some of her skills further, but it did present her with the opportunity of learning more about history. She got very well aquinted with her walking stick, expressing through it her circus spirit and the power of expression itself. There was also the Imagimagic, which didn’t develop in any way, but stayed dormant in the girl. The only other case of strong magic worth mentioning is the Doubt ((see familiars)).
Farmers life (17-25): After finding her family and settling down with her fear, she wished for nothing more than to live a peaceful life, and she was perfectly satisfied with helping her uncle to man the land and her aunt to care for the house. She almost never left the farm, and if she did, she went for the forests and nature. With this also the rate of her learning and receiving information dropped again, but she practiced what she already knew, learning how to work in the fields or care for the goats, making healing food for the working spirit, singing herself to sleep every night, filled with joy and peace.
She finally accepted her Imagination for being as it is, and that helped her to relax a little, making the effects less bothering and also less common. With time she became even confident enough to try to evoke them herself, using it as she has observed with the tricksters and magicians in the circus, but she didn’t succeed in doing so..
Before departure (25-27): The girl saw many reasons and signs that told her to move on in her life, but she couldn’t get herself to make the next step. Doubt showed up, after long time, but this time he was followed by new creations. Colises and Maces came, chased away the Doubt and helped her with doing the thing she believed was right. In these years the wish to act, to fight, burned inside Nirenai, she was looking for a way to cross paths with the rangers of Corone. She revived her friendship with the stick, this time taking it in her hands for a different purpose entirely, and she started practicing the art of battle, starting with fictional enemies only (and even that was, at times, too much). Still trying to find a common language with her mind, she is accompanied by quite a colorful company already. She doesn’t have anything worth mentioning to pack, and the bogeyman doesn’t even have a bag, so she is ready for the life of adventure once more ((see familiars)).
Skills:
Survival - she learned a lot in the years of travelers life, being a sort of jack of all trades now, being able to live everywhere, and knowing a little about everything. She also experienced many years of farmers life, getting basic knowledge of plants and gardening. - Above Average
Lore - she knows about the surrounding lands, traveling all over Corone and Scara Brae, knows the places, people, their stories and views on the world, which is the closest you can get to a history scholar when you are on the road, or in the fields. But she does ask an awful lot of questions when she gets interested... - Above Average
Body Skill - Life left her agile and fast, with nimble hands and a graceful step. The road and the work hardened her a little, she is used to be bruised and cut. She prefers no shoes over some shoes, partially since you save shoes that way, but that gives her a considerably better grip on the world. - Above Average
Circus tricks - Knowledge of basic juggling, object manipulation(small objects), gymnastic and balance training. Basic fire manipulation (non magical). Also includes staff manipulation. – Above Average
Staff - She has a feeling for the stick, using it in the circus many times, but also later, on the road. Finally, its not hard to find a broom or a shovel, once you are addicted to twirling and throwing. She never actually fought with a real person before, or even hit anyone. She is a quick learner though... – Expert in handling, Average in fighting.
Imagimagic- Is her latent special ability that expresses itself at seemingly random, but always emotionally powerful moments in Nirenai's life. It is actually the power that defies all laws and rules, that can change the flow of time and space and can alter the reality. It just doesn’t want to work on command. But she is at least aware of what the thing is. You should have seen her running around when she was about ten...
Most common of Nirenai’s magics, starting with bogeyman himself, were spells of creation. She basically created something out of nothing, or better said, out of her mind.
Some other examples (other than bogeyman): talking clouds, pepples (a pear and an apple joined together), faeries and gnomes, Doubt, Colises and Maces, most probably her Auncle and Auntie and a good piece of reality revolving around that story.
Most of the times these creations are unique and disappear after Nirenai stops paying attention to them, with some exceptions:
- Bogeyman (maybe Auncle and Auntie as well) - took form completely and Nirenai no longer has control over Him(them). He(they) really really became alive.
- Doubt, Colises, Maces - different personalities that have their own character, memory etc., and keep returning to the girl. They have no physical form, they are seen and heard only by Nirenai.
- Other - different creations such as faeries etc. They are reappearing in her life, but show no will or memory of their own. They are just images, sounds, objects,...
Spells, companions, familiars, NPCs, and other creations:
The Bogeyman (companion/summonspell)
Age: he became really real when Corona was seven.
Gender: he identifies himself with the masculine more, but if you go into detail...
Race: Nightmare
Ocupation: professional fear
Alignment: Lawfulºconfusedºgood
Description: Bogeyman started existing as the first of many spells of the Imagimage Nirenai Dreamstream, who was at that time still a young girl, called Corona Yarborough. He became real in a splendid and spectacular splash of fear, panic and...confusion. Many years later, he is Nirenai’s friend and ally, traveling with her or at least staying somewhere close around her. During daytime he is usually resting in a pocket of Nirenai's belt. Besides being someone to talk to, he didn’t show any other useful skills, aside from scaring people, preferably children.
Skills: He really knows how to put fear in peoples minds, if they only let him come close enough. But he has too much work with himself to be able to do his job with a really mean and evil drive. He is, deep down, not bad at all. Nirenai believes that a man with a life story like his could do something out of himself, and encourages him to explore his talents for shadow magic, but he isn’t sure that would be a good idea. God knows what happens when you mess with shadow too much...
Appearance: He looks like a proper bogeyman should look, and that differs from person to person. Despite the fact that he doesn’t own a really permanent or personal form and image, he likes to think to be truly himself when he is around Nirenai, calling her interpretation of himself his Birthform, in which he feels at home, often saying it reminds him of his childhood. Nirenai's form is his home and he is terribly afraid of it when he sees it in the mirror. Which is good. That is how a proper bogeyman should look.
Personality: If Nirenai is confused about the whole imagination defect thing, then Bogey is absolutely crazy because of it. He was, firstly, born out of nothing, with no warning whatsoever and no master plan connected to the happening. He was perfectly efficient as an idea, but becoming real was nothing that would improve his position. In fact, it made things harder, forcing him into such things as learning and feeling. he was a mixture of a nightmare and a seven years old girls mind. This resulted in extremely difficult and most embarasing ways possible, such as missing his family without being sure what a family is... or being terribly afraid of fat ladies with brooms... and about his social life... .
((He is changing his form, depending on the fears of people that look at him, but always retaining the ability to melt with shadows, and losing form completely.
He is restricted to shadow, having very little restrictions in the night, but is practically immobile in the daytime.
He doesn’t appear in threads with more writers unless all of the other writers agree with it as well as with the terms of his presence.
He be can changed, 'upgraded' through story.))
Maces and Colises (companions/illusions - alter egos):
Are knights of morals, created by Nirenai’s mind that was dreaming about taking part in the Corone’s political conflict, moving on, towards higher goals, and different destiny. They are her invisible advisors, guides and protectors, offering her wise words, and teachings, remind her of the Code and her place in the world. They help her with her decision to leave her uncle and aunt and seek out the Rangers, the life in the front lines.
Colises, the yellow angel, knight of the sungod, a she warrior, radiating the pure energy of the sun, and power of the heart, dressed in a gleaming golden armor, and wielding Ray of the Sun, a sword made of light, possessing the power to clean and purge. She looks young and white, beautiful and strong, with golden hair falling around her like a waterfall, shining in the morning sunlight, and tender skin, shining with purity and grace.
Colises represents feminine, emotion, power, strength and impulse. She encourages Nirenai to follow her heart and do what is right. She respects honor, bravery and devotion.
Maces, the blue wizard, avatar of the mother moon, the wise scholar, embodied calmness and reason, wearing deep blue robes, presenting himself with pride and cleanliness of mind and body. His staff, The Moonshine, is made out of ancient wood, with a blue orb, glowing dimly and it rest in his hands, making the wizard look just as ancient as his staff. His long hair and beard are very clean and in perfect order, black and straight, shiny and well maintained.
He represents the masculine, reason, tranquility and wisdom. He encourages Nirenai to take her time to think before she acts and to observe the perfect order of the world. He respects patience, speed of mind, observance.
((they are personalities that Nirenai created in her mind, but she sees them vividly and frequently. In fact, they are with her all the time, even if she doesn’t see them she feels their presence.
They rarely show up from in their form without being summoned.
Their existance and abilities can be changed, 'upgraded' through the story.))
Doubt (familiar/illusion - alter ego - doubt):
Is another creation of Nirenai's imagination, a flying demon-like creature, resembling a black baby pig from hell with wings that magically carry the body too big for their size. He only shows up when Nirenai needs him the least, and then he appears to do whatever he does. None of which is worth speaking about. He appears more rarely ever since Maces and Colises arrived, since they do not have a very good relationship and Colises threatened to kill him when she sees him...
Auncle and Auntie (NPC/summonspell):
They own a small farm somewhere in Yarborough, living isolated peaceful lives such as exist only in stories and poems. They are most probably involved in the biggest coincidence that took place in Yarborough barony since time immemorial - They existed just as a little girl thought they would. Nirenai knew everything there was to know about them before she even met them for the first time. That or she imagined them. It doesn’t really make a difference in the long run.
In a time that bears no relation to our own, in a land that cannot be reached by anything else but the flying imagination, there was a normal day. Yes, such things happen, even in lands where magic lives and legend and truth are the same thing sometimes. And yet, sometimes, there are just normal days, and people enjoy them much more than they would care to admit. On this particular normal day, not much different from today's day in fact, a young woman arrived at the Uphill Orphanage. The caretakers knew the nature of her visit just by looking at her. She would give birth in the next night, no matter where she would be lying or who, if any, would take care of her. Such behavior wasn’t exactly welcomed amongst the staff, but the orphanage, being the home of a little less than a hundred children of all ages, was also a home of peace, understanding, acceptance and love unconditional. The woman was taken in and allowed to do what she came there to do. The next day she was already gone, leaving behind a new life, motherless, but not alone.
The girl was named Corona, to honor the land of her people, and Yarborough, to remember the land of her home, no matter where she might drift to in her later age, as many of the orphans did in the end. No one expected though that she will do exactly that, but so early in her life...
Corona was born into a happy life. The first thing she learned from her simple, but caring and loving caretakers, was how to love and accept, how to share and how to help. They blessed her by showing her the world as a place of good, place where people can be naive and ignorant at worst, but never really evil. They taught her about the Code of the Honest and the Honorable and helped her build a strong, loving character, noble, as far as a children nobility goes, and respectful spirit as well as playful and happy mood of a child. The Uphill orphanage was a perfect place for children, since food was plenty and friends were many, and a mix of many different ages and races lived together, forming an efficient but relaxed community. Joined from many different life stories into one, they quite enjoyed their field chores and house errands (not if you asked them directly, of course), growing up in strong men and women, ready to give the best they can to the land, ready to use this second chance they recieved to its fullest extent. Corona had a family counting more than a hundred people, and never even thought about wishing for something else. She of course, like any other child in the orphanage, had a dream of her blood-family, living somewhere a quiet and peaceful life, ready to come and get her if other children became too mean, or the teachers didn't let her stay up late enough, but other children, together with the caretakers, were her true family and offered her everything a child like her would need to become a good person.
But despite all the good surrounding the Uphill village and Coronas life, there was something that made her feel divided from the others, an invisible wall that made her different from everyone she knew. I’m sure you would think; ''That is completely normal for a child of her age. Even older people sometimes feel different and misunderstood.'' and yes, I would agree with you completely. Everyone goes through different phases in his or her life, and our feelings can change. But nevertheless, there was something different about Corona, something that could be described as disconnection with reality, or self induced hallucination, or maybe more plainly, retardness. It wasn’t hard for the others to notice that she sees things. So it wasn’t Coronas beauty or charisma that made her stand out from the other children, it wasn’t stupidity or intelligence, or strenght, or speed. It was her Imagination. Even if she just imagined it all, that was still a strong reason to be upset. She was different.
First oddities appeared to have come directly from the girl's dreams, and resulted, as the caretakers put it, in slight mental abnormality. She, especially in her early years, found it very difficult to distinguish between reality and the dream world and often saw her dreams while being awake, mixing the two into something… new. Coronas imagination was so wild and creative, that she often took her reality into her own hands and reshaped it, at times so completely that it didn’t resemble the original anymore. Then people found it too hard to follow and were, eventually, left behind. Of course, observed from their perspective, she was the one left behind a little, which, ironically, only increased their attention and affection for the silly little girl that sees faeries, rides dragons and talks to herself when she thinks that no one is around. Because Corona, even as young as she was, felt that she sees the world differently, and in her wish to be equal to everyone else, she tried suppressing her visions, succeeding only partially, but eventually increasing control over her imagination, or better said, over her reactions caused by the creations of her imagination, making her image in the eyes of other people seem a little more sane. She became more normal to the other people and most of them were sure the girl was just having a phase, but it passed and left no damage on her. She never stopped to dream though. And while she was able to ignore some of the less upsetting visions, such as singing dogs and living tapestries on rugs, other creations were not so easy to ignore.
Amongst those that just couldn’t be forgotten, was the bogeyman. All children know of him, and only few do not fear him more than anything. The Fear of the Dark, the Eater of Light, the Thief of Sleep, or however you would call him, Corona saw him more vividly and realistically than
any of the other children. With years he would grow to become her regular companion and enemy, disturbing her peace and the peace of all others, since they couldn’t sleep as well, with the little Corona, crying and screaming, and even describing what she sees at times, when she was really, really upset. She made their own bogeyman seem more alive when they slept in the same room with her. It wasn’t easy to be Coronas room mate. But all that seemed completely normal to the caretakers. She wasn’t the first one to be so afraid of the darkness, and her parents and teachers believed that time will make the bogeyman disappear. But that was not at all what happened in the end.
On a day, three weeks before her eight birthday, a long expected and extremely important event in life of every seven year old, something incredible happened. In fact, it was the most incredible thing that ever happened in Uphill in all seven years together (bless the children ability to cherish the present moment so fully), it was a miracle, even bigger than the miracle of turning eight. Circus came to town! A real circus, a traveling attraction full of surprise and awesome skill, bringing laughter and happiness to the people of all ages, but especially to the youngest. The caretakers would, of course, let them go, everyone one, the whole Uphill and surrounding farms would be there, sharing food and song and enjoying the colorful shows. No one would wish to miss a rarely seen attraction such as this one was. And truly, the caretakers took the children to the village, but only after they all had their breakfasts and finished with those chores that were too important, that they could wait, even on a day like this. After the work was done, they finally took off to see all the wonders that the traveling group had to offer.
And it really was the most magical day of Coronas life, and lives of the other children as well. Seeing the acrobats and jugglers, firetricksters and magicians, strongmen and hypnotists, attracting her attention so completely and fully, she completely forgot about the world and just stared and stared...
A girl raised in the Uphill orphanage would know nothing about magic, never seeing it being used, practiced or talked about outside of the stories about heroes, kings and gods. She knew nothing of the wizard schools and orders that existed across the lands or the many abnormalities that were occurring all around the world, abnormalities that equaled and even surpassed hers. For all her life she believed that she is strange and different, but the circus somehow showed her that she is not alone in the vast ocean of the different. This day was remembered for a long time after by all that were present, and left a mark on everyone that attended it, but no one got marked more than Corona. This evening, without question, changed her life completely.
The hour was getting late. Most of the people already retreated to their homes, to their every day lives, energized by the seen and heard, they would undoubtedly speak about this circus for months to come. Even the children from the orphanage were already sitting behind their dinner plates, yelling lowdly one over another about what they have seen, screaming the names of their new heroes and trying to mimic them and their tricks.
---
The last of the many shows were finished now, and the tents and wagons were turning out their fires and lights one after the other. Darkness was revealing itself, slowly and patiently, like a falling feather it came on the circus camp. One of the last, if not the last soul on the street, was Corona. She was running along, with a half eaten apple in her left hand, an apple that hasn't seen a bite for some hours already, and with the left trouser of her pants slightly burned because she stood too close to the firetrickster, wishing to see everything, but really everything she could. Her body was tired, but her mind was flying on the impressions of the day, completely relaxed and open for more, even though she has already seen it all, all of the shows, some of them even several times. A half enthusiastic, half sleeping smile on her face was all there was to find from the mind, as she floated along the main road of the encampment. Later she wouldn’t remember the time that passed between the shows, dreaming her way from one stand to the other, all until the main crossroad of the now quiet and resting camp, woke her up from her trance with a question. Where was she heading? Her mind did its best to follow up, catching with the present state, place, time,... Black blankness surrounded her thoughts and froze them up. Realizing that she is all alone, that the sun was gone and the moon is the only light that still shines on her, that the shows have all ended and the magic has submerged back into the minds of the people, and back into her mind, all these things shook her, one after another, like chilled bolts of light shocking her spine, making her shiver in terror. The fight with Him was hard as it was, but this time, she was completely weaponless and unprepared. No blanket, no candle, no teddy... excited by the whole day she completely forgot to be careful, but now that she remembered, she saw no reason why He wouldn’t come. He always comes when you need Him the least. And all the impressions of the day that were dancing in front of her if she closed her eyes, all of the energy that she received in the day, all of her mental power, all together, suddenly focused in one thought. He came.
From the tricksters and ropewalkers, wizards and dancers, all that were performing on that day, men and women of experience that shared their skills and powers, it wasn't any of them that got away with creating the spell of the day, It was not a man nor a woman that weaved the strongest magic, it was a young girl. The title of the greatest trick should rightfully go to Corona for that day her fear came alive.
He watched her scream and tremble, at the sight of His long, skinny fingers made even longer by the sharp nails, appearing from the darkest shadow she found around her. Of course it was the darkest. He was a professional. The nails screeched and screamed when He scratched on the wooden crate that was left there in the shadow, producing a hellish sound that couldn’t possibly come from the contact of wood and nail. So horrible was the sound, that it made the girl run. Heh heh... He felt satisfaction. Another job well done. Finished. Goodby- But he didn’t disappear as he usually did. He was left behind.
Coronas legs, tired of waiting for the mind to get a hold of itself and brake free from the fear that was trapping it, took the matters into their own.. onto themselves, and by themselves found their way to the orphanage, being patient enough to wait for the mind to thank them later, when it recovers from the shock. They just did the most natural thing for them, they ran. Home. What was less natural, was the whole incident around the bogeyman. It would be explained by a scientific mind that a bogeyman should, in the moment the girl ran and stopped thinking of him, disappear, as he was only a product of her imagination, or should follow her on her way to the Orphanage, not being able to exist without her. This was generally true in the Nightmare world, at least as much as Bogey was aware of it. One thing that was disturbing the quiet night of the circus square, was, that this time, it wasn’t true. He was still there, in the shadow, feeling ...alone.
Alone? He never felt alone, he never even existed alone before. He was solely a product of other peoples minds, but now... he felt quite uncomfortable, not knowing exactly what that is...
He had no recollection of any past, nor any feeling that he should have it. He only knew what he is, or more exactly, what is his job. He knew his job and he was the man for the job. But the job required the presence of the people and those were nowhere to be seen. Which led back to the strange concept of alone that the bogeyman started to get to know to and ...fear. Confused as only a few others in the whole history of the world, he began to get acquainted with his very own worst nightmare.
What would a scholar or wizard say of the Bogeyman’s creation? How and why was He born? And who or what is He now? It was obvious that the girl somehow created Him with her mind, and believed in Him strongly enough, imagined Him in such detail, that He really became alive. Considering Coronas state of mind few moments (or the whole day) before the event happened, and considering her special imagination, she created a image, strong enough to survive on its own. It got a life, and a form as well. Bogey knew that He has a body, even though He didn’t know exactly how it looks like, since it could adapt completely, depending on the customers and their preferences. He had a bogeyman’s body and more detail isn’t needed at this moment. But His mind wasn’t all bogeymind.
As human made god by his own image, Corona created the Bogeyman based on her conception of herself or a thinking being in general. Bogeyman was not at all evil, He just had a job to do. Corona’s subconsciousnes filled up some of the gaps that were too obvious for her mind to accept the new existance in the world. So He was a mixture of a bogey and a man, or more specifically, a seven year old girl. Can you imagine it? Let me help you by describing His feelings a minute after His creation: He was missing his mother. Without knowing what a mother is.
It should be pointed out that the girl was also or even more aware that something has happened, and very soon she understood that her enemy is now truly present in her life, without a doubt left to cling to. The small village of Uphill clearly wasn’t big enough for the two of them. She had to run. A whole book could be written about the Coronas journey and the chase across the world. Without going into detail, a short summary of the next years follows:
The young girl in her mortal fear, found refuge with the circus group, and set out with them to meet new lands and people, but mostly because she needed to run away from the Bogeyman. For many years she was moving from one place to another, always finding the Bogey to be able to catch up to her sooner or later. The chase continued and eventually made her leave the caravan, her long year friends, teachers and traveling companions and set out on her own. Her imagination didn’t leave her any rest either. While she learned how to control herself a little bit, her mind was still not happy with the plain reality and it always spiced it up a little. More accidents happened, one of them being Doubt, the little demon that made her life even more complicated. She still couldn’t escape, but being alone helped her more and more with facing the Fear that was chasing her, until she finally stood up to it and found, ironically, that the Fear is tired of the chase as well. They settled their differences, created friendship that would last for a long time, and in the same day, they magically found Coronas blood relatives, her Uncle and Aunt, that were living EXACTLY as she imagined it when she was still living in Uphill, in the exact house, on the exact land, being exactly the people she imagined them to be. Even the dog and other animals on the farm were exactly as she imagined them years ago in the orphanage.It was as though she created it all.
After that they all lived together in harmony,
lived happily ever after.
THE END
Or was it? Once tasting the life of a traveler, it wasn’t likely that Corona will be able to stay at one place for a long time, even if the place was dreamlike and offered her all the love she needed. But in the end she felt the call, and she felt it stronger than ever before. It was actually a wonder that she stayed there as long as she did.
For more than seven years she forgot about the rest of the world, enjoying the peace of the farm life, enjoying the love and warmness of her family. Even her Imagimagic gave her a little rest, and for once in her life, she felt comfortable with being herself, enjoying her very own normal life, even if it included a Bogeyman, the, more and more seldom visiting, Doubt and such. All seemed to be as an ending to a children story, but at the same time, it was a new beginning.
News of the Corone’s political situation flew over the land, making the land restless as a hornets nest. It traveled close and far and eventually reached Corona as well. The stories about the corrupted Empire, but even more so the tales about the honor and courage of the Corone Rangers and their Red Marshal made the girl dream again. To help her with her decision her mind created two knights to be her guides and advisors. Maces and Colises would eventually chase away the Doubt and help her gather enough courage to leave her home and search for her place in the history of the world. Choosing a new name for herself she transformed into a true adventurer, setting out to find the Red Marshal and offer him her best.
Nirenai Dreamstream, Imagimage in training and warrior of the Code, was ready to meet her destiny.
Name: Nirenai Dreamstream (Corona Yarborough)
Corona Yarborough is her original name, and she used it for all her life. When she was 27, she left for the road once more, and from then on introduced herself as Nirenai Dreamstream.
Age: 27
((using liquid time I write about her early age a lot, describing the years when she was running from her fear, from when she left the orphanage on. So 7+ is the more precise answer. I will keep this in mind when creating RP threads...))
Race: human
Born in Corone - Yarborough barony, somewhere in the middle of those fields there, in a village called Uphill. It is small, you wouldn’t know it...would you?
Personality:
Raised with love and caress, even though she is lacking the presence of her blood parents, or maybe even more so, Nirenai follows the code of the Orphanage, code of a respectful Coronian, code of a civilized, thinking human being. Being a traveler once, she experienced enough different people and their habits, believes, characters and stories, that she can distinguish between a tale or truth, or so she thinks. This gives her a slight 'cut to the chase' attitude when she smells deception or mislead. But she can listen to the talk of the older people, talk about the weather, the neighbors dog, the bloody Empire or the wicked politics, and she can listen for ages. She would seldom choose to share her opinion though, at least with the matters that do not seem important enough, or do not seem real enough, regarding the girls past and also present state of mind. She often drifts away from the common reality, which evokes discomfort and insult in most people, and that as well results in the girls lack of courage to express herself.. At times Nirenai loses contact with the rest of the world so strongly, that she looks crazy to the rest of the world, but in the last years she learned to hide her fall outs from the other world if she felt the need, ignoring all that seemed abnormal. Sometimes she ignored too much, which again, seemed strange. She had an aura of strangeness around her, but was usually connected to childish, playful spirit she was blessed with and not to a mad and dangerous image of a senseless stranger. All in all, she was considered to be (and truly was), a happy individual, full of energy and life power, dealing with her problems as they came, ready to accept whatever life throws at her.
Appearance:
Nirenai surely wouldn’t stand out in a normal crowd of Coronians, being neither one of the taller, neither shorter, neither more rare racewise. She wasn’t the most beautiful woman around, but she wasn’t ugly at all, keeping an attitude of a child, energetic and interested in her surroundings, a little shy and reserved with her words, but always ready to share her big and honest smile with everyone. She was not the youngest anymore, but was still young enough to be counted in the younger category. experiencing many different ways of life already, and that made her look experienced as well. Her skin was used to the sun, her hands used to the work. Her steps were well placed, and she appeared to others as a person that has control over her body. Dressed simply, which was completely normal for a farmer, you always found an adventurer and dreamer if you only looked into her big, green eyes, revealing to one that knows how to look, the girls immense potential and strength. Her big curls, reaching a little lower from her shoulders, strong and curled hair of dark brown, that didn’t change their form since she was young, were left free to spread over her back, with front hair tucked behind her ears.
She looked like an experienced child, seeming younger than her age in one way, but older in another.
Equipment:
Hat - That shields from sun and wind, rain and snow, but also it protects from the uncomfortable looks and the direction your eyes are looking in, if you wish them to move unnoticed. The straw, cone shaped hat, with a cotton band to keep it on its place, was perfect to suit her needs.
Staff - A sturdy oaken staff, that has been with Nirenai for many years. It is not as big as it once was (well, it wasnt the staff that changed its size, it was the girl that grew up), but it still reaches the girls eyeheight. Having 'grown into it', its size and weight are perfect and natural to Nirenai, the staff is not too heavy, not too light, and is just big enough to be thrown around with ease.
Boots - Brown, soft soled leather shoes, offering comfort, grip and ability to move freely at the same time, being as small and as light as possible. She never really wears them in the end. But you never know when a strong winter could hit and then you would be happier with your feet in the boots than outside... clearly, an experienced traveler.
Clothes - Simple farmers garb.
Rough brown pants, made of canvas quality material and seam, but patched on many places, and even open on some other.
White linen shirt, loose in the sleeves but more tight in the body, so it fit well with the woolen overcoat that kept her body warm and protected.
Brown cloak that she had since she was in her teens, originally made out of wool, but was later seriously falling apart, torn and used, half eaten from the street dust, half from the moths and such. It was repaired as much as it went, as well as adapted to fit the new size of its owner. Some would say it was a rag she was wrapped in, but to her it smelled like home and carried a ton of memories. But, offering protection from the cold, it failed to protect from rain or at least the wind, and Nirenai felt she should change soon.
Belt - Wide, leather pocket-belt, fitting her hips perfectly and carrying many small things, such as interesting stones, flowers, strings, feathers and all other things adventurers find on their journeys. Strapped to the belt, but hidden by the cloak, is also her small moneypouch, containing the few coins she has.
Bag - Simple canvas ropesack, containing a woolen blanket, some hemp rope and a broken (these things happen) knife, made of steel, but destroyed beyond repair. In the bag was also a waterskin made of leather, a three day old bread and an apple.
Learning and knowledge:
Orphanage lessons (0-7): In the first part of her life Nirenai received examples she still regards as right and proper, such as following the Code, respecting, loving. She was also shown into two of the big topics a moral citizen would find useful, history and, of course, music. Finally, work in the orphanage required basic knowledge of agriculture and gardening. Even if she was too young to be expected to fully work, her caretakers were slowly introducing her into farmwork. Since early years she was showing interest in all of the topics mentioned above and spent as much time to study them as the circumstances around her let her, some more, others less. She also, without the intention of doing so, untapped her latent power of Imagination magic and created the Bogeyman ((see below))
Adventurers trials (7-17): For the bigger part of her travels she was living with a traveling circus, in the midst of the action and show of skill. Everyone knew something that would impress the others, and tricks of hand and body were a normal way of play between the circus children, amongst which Nirenai too had to find her place. With time she was skilled enough to even perform in some of the shows. Last years of her traveling she spent going from place to place, having no real teachers or real time to develop some of her skills further, but it did present her with the opportunity of learning more about history. She got very well aquinted with her walking stick, expressing through it her circus spirit and the power of expression itself. There was also the Imagimagic, which didn’t develop in any way, but stayed dormant in the girl. The only other case of strong magic worth mentioning is the Doubt ((see familiars)).
Farmers life (17-25): After finding her family and settling down with her fear, she wished for nothing more than to live a peaceful life, and she was perfectly satisfied with helping her uncle to man the land and her aunt to care for the house. She almost never left the farm, and if she did, she went for the forests and nature. With this also the rate of her learning and receiving information dropped again, but she practiced what she already knew, learning how to work in the fields or care for the goats, making healing food for the working spirit, singing herself to sleep every night, filled with joy and peace.
She finally accepted her Imagination for being as it is, and that helped her to relax a little, making the effects less bothering and also less common. With time she became even confident enough to try to evoke them herself, using it as she has observed with the tricksters and magicians in the circus, but she didn’t succeed in doing so..
Before departure (25-27): The girl saw many reasons and signs that told her to move on in her life, but she couldn’t get herself to make the next step. Doubt showed up, after long time, but this time he was followed by new creations. Colises and Maces came, chased away the Doubt and helped her with doing the thing she believed was right. In these years the wish to act, to fight, burned inside Nirenai, she was looking for a way to cross paths with the rangers of Corone. She revived her friendship with the stick, this time taking it in her hands for a different purpose entirely, and she started practicing the art of battle, starting with fictional enemies only (and even that was, at times, too much). Still trying to find a common language with her mind, she is accompanied by quite a colorful company already. She doesn’t have anything worth mentioning to pack, and the bogeyman doesn’t even have a bag, so she is ready for the life of adventure once more ((see familiars)).
Skills:
Survival - she learned a lot in the years of travelers life, being a sort of jack of all trades now, being able to live everywhere, and knowing a little about everything. She also experienced many years of farmers life, getting basic knowledge of plants and gardening. - Above Average
Lore - she knows about the surrounding lands, traveling all over Corone and Scara Brae, knows the places, people, their stories and views on the world, which is the closest you can get to a history scholar when you are on the road, or in the fields. But she does ask an awful lot of questions when she gets interested... - Above Average
Body Skill - Life left her agile and fast, with nimble hands and a graceful step. The road and the work hardened her a little, she is used to be bruised and cut. She prefers no shoes over some shoes, partially since you save shoes that way, but that gives her a considerably better grip on the world. - Above Average
Circus tricks - Knowledge of basic juggling, object manipulation(small objects), gymnastic and balance training. Basic fire manipulation (non magical). Also includes staff manipulation. – Above Average
Staff - She has a feeling for the stick, using it in the circus many times, but also later, on the road. Finally, its not hard to find a broom or a shovel, once you are addicted to twirling and throwing. She never actually fought with a real person before, or even hit anyone. She is a quick learner though... – Expert in handling, Average in fighting.
Imagimagic- Is her latent special ability that expresses itself at seemingly random, but always emotionally powerful moments in Nirenai's life. It is actually the power that defies all laws and rules, that can change the flow of time and space and can alter the reality. It just doesn’t want to work on command. But she is at least aware of what the thing is. You should have seen her running around when she was about ten...
Most common of Nirenai’s magics, starting with bogeyman himself, were spells of creation. She basically created something out of nothing, or better said, out of her mind.
Some other examples (other than bogeyman): talking clouds, pepples (a pear and an apple joined together), faeries and gnomes, Doubt, Colises and Maces, most probably her Auncle and Auntie and a good piece of reality revolving around that story.
Most of the times these creations are unique and disappear after Nirenai stops paying attention to them, with some exceptions:
- Bogeyman (maybe Auncle and Auntie as well) - took form completely and Nirenai no longer has control over Him(them). He(they) really really became alive.
- Doubt, Colises, Maces - different personalities that have their own character, memory etc., and keep returning to the girl. They have no physical form, they are seen and heard only by Nirenai.
- Other - different creations such as faeries etc. They are reappearing in her life, but show no will or memory of their own. They are just images, sounds, objects,...
Spells, companions, familiars, NPCs, and other creations:
The Bogeyman (companion/summonspell)
Age: he became really real when Corona was seven.
Gender: he identifies himself with the masculine more, but if you go into detail...
Race: Nightmare
Ocupation: professional fear
Alignment: Lawfulºconfusedºgood
Description: Bogeyman started existing as the first of many spells of the Imagimage Nirenai Dreamstream, who was at that time still a young girl, called Corona Yarborough. He became real in a splendid and spectacular splash of fear, panic and...confusion. Many years later, he is Nirenai’s friend and ally, traveling with her or at least staying somewhere close around her. During daytime he is usually resting in a pocket of Nirenai's belt. Besides being someone to talk to, he didn’t show any other useful skills, aside from scaring people, preferably children.
Skills: He really knows how to put fear in peoples minds, if they only let him come close enough. But he has too much work with himself to be able to do his job with a really mean and evil drive. He is, deep down, not bad at all. Nirenai believes that a man with a life story like his could do something out of himself, and encourages him to explore his talents for shadow magic, but he isn’t sure that would be a good idea. God knows what happens when you mess with shadow too much...
Appearance: He looks like a proper bogeyman should look, and that differs from person to person. Despite the fact that he doesn’t own a really permanent or personal form and image, he likes to think to be truly himself when he is around Nirenai, calling her interpretation of himself his Birthform, in which he feels at home, often saying it reminds him of his childhood. Nirenai's form is his home and he is terribly afraid of it when he sees it in the mirror. Which is good. That is how a proper bogeyman should look.
Personality: If Nirenai is confused about the whole imagination defect thing, then Bogey is absolutely crazy because of it. He was, firstly, born out of nothing, with no warning whatsoever and no master plan connected to the happening. He was perfectly efficient as an idea, but becoming real was nothing that would improve his position. In fact, it made things harder, forcing him into such things as learning and feeling. he was a mixture of a nightmare and a seven years old girls mind. This resulted in extremely difficult and most embarasing ways possible, such as missing his family without being sure what a family is... or being terribly afraid of fat ladies with brooms... and about his social life... .
((He is changing his form, depending on the fears of people that look at him, but always retaining the ability to melt with shadows, and losing form completely.
He is restricted to shadow, having very little restrictions in the night, but is practically immobile in the daytime.
He doesn’t appear in threads with more writers unless all of the other writers agree with it as well as with the terms of his presence.
He be can changed, 'upgraded' through story.))
Maces and Colises (companions/illusions - alter egos):
Are knights of morals, created by Nirenai’s mind that was dreaming about taking part in the Corone’s political conflict, moving on, towards higher goals, and different destiny. They are her invisible advisors, guides and protectors, offering her wise words, and teachings, remind her of the Code and her place in the world. They help her with her decision to leave her uncle and aunt and seek out the Rangers, the life in the front lines.
Colises, the yellow angel, knight of the sungod, a she warrior, radiating the pure energy of the sun, and power of the heart, dressed in a gleaming golden armor, and wielding Ray of the Sun, a sword made of light, possessing the power to clean and purge. She looks young and white, beautiful and strong, with golden hair falling around her like a waterfall, shining in the morning sunlight, and tender skin, shining with purity and grace.
Colises represents feminine, emotion, power, strength and impulse. She encourages Nirenai to follow her heart and do what is right. She respects honor, bravery and devotion.
Maces, the blue wizard, avatar of the mother moon, the wise scholar, embodied calmness and reason, wearing deep blue robes, presenting himself with pride and cleanliness of mind and body. His staff, The Moonshine, is made out of ancient wood, with a blue orb, glowing dimly and it rest in his hands, making the wizard look just as ancient as his staff. His long hair and beard are very clean and in perfect order, black and straight, shiny and well maintained.
He represents the masculine, reason, tranquility and wisdom. He encourages Nirenai to take her time to think before she acts and to observe the perfect order of the world. He respects patience, speed of mind, observance.
((they are personalities that Nirenai created in her mind, but she sees them vividly and frequently. In fact, they are with her all the time, even if she doesn’t see them she feels their presence.
They rarely show up from in their form without being summoned.
Their existance and abilities can be changed, 'upgraded' through the story.))
Doubt (familiar/illusion - alter ego - doubt):
Is another creation of Nirenai's imagination, a flying demon-like creature, resembling a black baby pig from hell with wings that magically carry the body too big for their size. He only shows up when Nirenai needs him the least, and then he appears to do whatever he does. None of which is worth speaking about. He appears more rarely ever since Maces and Colises arrived, since they do not have a very good relationship and Colises threatened to kill him when she sees him...
Auncle and Auntie (NPC/summonspell):
They own a small farm somewhere in Yarborough, living isolated peaceful lives such as exist only in stories and poems. They are most probably involved in the biggest coincidence that took place in Yarborough barony since time immemorial - They existed just as a little girl thought they would. Nirenai knew everything there was to know about them before she even met them for the first time. That or she imagined them. It doesn’t really make a difference in the long run.