Karuka
07-03-14, 11:40 PM
Big power gains since my last level update, but I’m jumping her from level 7 to level 10. I’d earned the EXP prior to vanishing off the face of the earth, and I hope to have all that she gains (gains back and better, really) make sense in the text. Level 7 (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?19081-Ar-Anam-(Level-7)&highlight=)
Name: Karuka Eithne Tida O'Sheean
Age: 30
Race: Human
Hair Color: Dark red
Eye Color: Blue as the summer sky, with gold around the pupil.
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 137
Occupation: You’d better believe she’s an adventurer.
Personality: When Karuka was first seen in Althanas, she was a young, optimistic teenager who had faith in the guidance of the gods and believed that everything would eventually turn itself around for the best. By the time she was an adult, she had learned better and turned hard and bitter. During her long absence, she has grown up, softened, toughened, wisened, and had experiences that bring her back around to optimism, but a step up: She can make the best happen if she stands up for it.
Adamantine will and Big Brassy Balls: Karuka does not back down, she does not quit, and she does not care if the threat is bigger, stronger, or meaner than she is. Allies and enemies alike have noted that her tenacity is incredible, and she fears neither death nor pain. Thus, she is able to approach any challenge set in her path with unyielding force.
Appearance: Karuka at first glance seems to be a rather curious collection of colors. Her hair is an almost unnaturally deep red at the roots, fading to a coppery orange at the end of a long braid. Her eyes are a warm blue with a gold ring around her pupils, and her skin is a rich honey brown. She wears a vlince traveling outfit and her mother's pendulum around her neck. Beyond her odd coloration, she has a highly fine bone structure, giving her a long, lean build. Once rail thin and lanky, she has grown into herself and has a strong, slender, athletic build that doesn’t try to hide its curves. She’s also grown more comfortable in her own skin, and walks with an alert confidence.
History:Karuka Tida was born to Indian Brahmin Atid and Irish Seer Faylinn. Her mother was the heir to a well-respected line of seers, and all first-born daughters are born with this "gift," known as the O'Sheean Birthright. Her father left when she was five, her stepfather was a miserable human being, and when her mother died in childbirth when she was sixteen, Karuka was sent out to face the world on her own. She decided that she wasn’t going to hang around Ireland, and set out to find her father. Her best-laid plans went awry in a big way when she found a tear in reality in a French cave. She ended up in Alerar, and that was the beginning of a very strange journey.
L0 history:
Shortly after coming to Althanas, Karuka found her way to Scara Brae, where she was almost immediately sent off to the Liviol Sanctum in search of a unique artifact, known in dim legend as the Heart of Scara Brae. From the moment she landed on the island, she felt the subtle call of the Heart, but getting there wasn't easy. The group she went with had to face killer will o' th' wisps and the deadly cat of Scara Brae before even getting to the crumbling ruins, which claimed more lives than the Cat or flickering lights combined. Karuka managed to survive the trip through the ruins and then met back up with the cat, who not only didn't eat her, but seemed to like her well enough to give her a ride back to her boat.
Once back to the island, Karuka had to get the Heart to Queen Valeena, and prevent it from falling into the hands of Count Uyen Barchon. After that, Karuka left Scara Brae and soon found herself in Corone.
On her way through Concordia, she was attacked by an Elf who didn't identify himself or his motives, but a stranger happened upon the aftermath of the battle and took them both to Underwood to be healed. Shortly thereafter, Karuka found herself in the middle of winter in Northern Akashima, and was taken in briefly by Doji Ki, where she entertained the kitsune and her kits with stories while being given food and warm shelter.
As spring started poking its head up, she found herself aboard a new boat, which was attacked by pirates on its voyage. The rebellious Karuka probably would have gotten herself raped and killed, but Seth Dahlios also happened to be aboard the boat, and the following massacre wound up saving the passengers. It was during this time period that Karuka took her first human life, and she now views this as the time that began to challenge her faith.
Level 1 History:
In Radasanth, Karuka bought a set of clothes and boots, participated in her first Citadel battle with Caduceus Grimaldi, and set out for Concordia once more. Inside, she met feline Leon Timyon during a rainstorm, and his natural curiosity had them nearly captured by gremlins and enslaved by Drow. They did, however, manage to escape.
On her way out of Corone, she hitched a ride on a boat to Salvar, and got caught up in a really bad storm. She managed to find a secluded house owned by Taviri Ambria, whose sister, Liliana, was heavily pregnant. The cleric they were going to hire couldn't get to them because of the snow, so Karuka stepped in and helped deliver the baby safely. Before the storm blew over, she learned that the baby girl, Samantha, was Seth Dahlios's daughter.
Level 2 History:
Not long after, Karuka found her way out of Corone and went back to Alerar, where she met the malicious Drow Kor. When she told him he needed to stop being such a jerk upon risk of losing what he valued most before he'd even found it, he made her spend the a night in a cave with him, and dawn brought the lizard man Roethe to their camp. As a matter of survival, they were forced to kill him.
Alerar wasn’t really to her liking, so she found herself heading to Fallien, where she met Storm Veritas, who was quite charming and seemed to take a liking to her. Too much of a liking for her comfort. When he tried to take her to bed, she walked out. This, of course, led to the brassy redhead being attacked by people much stronger than she was. While Storm, who had followed her, saved her life, she found a small glass orb. That orb saved her life the next day by emitting a powerful flame when a Fallien firmamancer with a mission to purge the land of all outsiders was going to kill her, seeing her as too dangerous to his mission.
After that, struggling to keep her faith, Karuka was asked to deliver a box to a certain man in Raiaera. From there, she was swept up on an adventure with Damon Kaosi during which she saw the world destroyed. Things were set right again, but at a price: Karuka now believes her gods to be dead, and as such, has lost her faith and her magical abilities.
Level 3 History:
Karuka bought a set of daggers and throwing knives after the incidents in Raiaera, in order to learn how to really fight. Then, believing in using them, she went to the Citadel, facing both Joshua Cronen and Izvilvin. She got her butt kicked pretty good both times.
Then, looking for a little peace, she went back to Dheathain. Peace however, wasn't to find her. A gang calling themselves The Spidermonkey Kids had taken over the mercantile district of Talmhaidh, putting resident shopkeepers in a constant state of fear, and Karuka, being Karuka, couldn't stand for it. She stood up to the gang, and probably would have been killed if not for the aid of the mutant Molotov, who identified himself to her as Topper Headon. He gave her some intense training on how to use her staff, and when the SMK came that evening to finish the two off, they wound up defeating the majority of the gang, leaving the merchants safe. As they parted, Karuka gave Molotov her wooden flute and was given one of his plynt bracelets.
L4 & 5 History:
After that, she went back to Radasanth and participated in a massive Citadel battle which put her alongside old acquaintances and people she didn't know at all, all bent on killing each other. It was a lot of fun!
Then she traveled to Salvar, only to be caught up in the Civil War when religious fanatics waylaid the train she was riding. She was responsible for the lives of the survivors, but very few combatants actually survived the night. She also made a dying woman a promise to get her little girl, Margaret, to safety. Which she did.
L6 History:
After some insignificant bouncing around, Karuka returned to Radasanth. She hadn't been back in the city for more than fifteen minutes when she was attacked by a man-shaped monster. She was slammed against a building before she really knew what was going on, and knocked unconscious. Upon waking, the monster revealed himself to be not only the same Seth Dahlios that she'd met on the boat during her first year on Althanas...he claimed to be stuck with her. And a flesh eating ghoul. Not convinced, Karuka still allowed him to come with her. Not that she had much choice...who would argue with a creature that could break them in half with their pinky?
It wasn't more than a day thereafter that Karuka got a vision of Liliana, another person she had met, Seth's lover and the mother of his child, in danger. So they had to go tearing off across Corone to discover that she was in real danger. There was a menacing demon outside the building, and an even worse one waiting within. Seth happened to have a grudge against the one within, a redheaded avatar of the god Uriel named Amiya, and sent everyone out of the church. Long battle short, Seth got pinned to the altar like a butterfly with a sword that kills immortals, and came back to life when Karuka yanked it out of him. When he left to go feed, Karuka made a fire, and the orb she'd found in Fallien fell in and hatched into a baby phoenix.
Back in Radasanth and preparing to set sail, Karuka found herself face to face with an Elf that wanted nothing more than to kill her. After a brief battle, she remembered him as an Elf that had wanted to kill her nearly four years before. The battle provided Karuka some insight into her own growth as a warrior; the fight was beyond easy and he'd almost killed her when she was sixteen. He left in shame, and she has since put him out of her mind.
Then, figuring she needed to get her head straight, she dragged Seth to Dheathain.
TL;DR (and I don’t blame you) Karuka is an Irish lass who had a crappy childhood, got kicked out of her evil stepdad’s house when her mom died, found her way to Althanas completely on accident, and then kept having adventures (the good, bad, and ugly kind) until she just kind of gave up and figured it was what she was good at.
Levels 7-9: Somewhere in Dheathain, Karuka and Seth found a way to sever the bond between them, allowing them each to go their own way. Not feeling a place or path for her amidst the strife and chaos of Althanas, she headed east, into Kebiras. There, she found a place as a bodyguard for a prince about her age who had, somehow, heard of her exploits. She had no idea she had a reputation, especially not further than the areas she treaded. It may have helped that her accent was strange and she had a phoenix riding carelessly on her shoulder. While in his employment, she met a group of mystics who gently reached into the doubts and demons that had haunted her since the day she’d first killed a man. They showed her that there is more to life than cynicism and needless suffering, and over the course of many years, she found her own faith returning - maybe not in the gods, but certainly, certainly in the belief that tomorrow could be made better than yesterday. Her todays no longer trials to be endured, her yesterdays became lessons she could learn from, rather than simply say that she had survived them. At last, her runes, long silent, began to speak to her again, and after a decade of not being able to use them for anything, she felt them pulling at her fingers, humming with energy. Her magic had returned. Now, lessons learned, she turns back to Althanas. It’s time to see what it is she’s missed.
Skills:
Clairvoyance:
Karuka is the heir to a long line of women with foresight. She cannot control when bad visions come, but they tend to come when she has nothing else to occupy her mind. If she focuses, she can come up with murky predictions about specific events of the present or future, or get glimpses of the past.
She can also see things as they relate directly to her, giving her a second's warning or two in combat when she's about to be attacked.
Clairvoyance Subskill: True Sight:
Karuka can see ghosts and their ilk as they truly are, as well as lingering magical energies from spells and the like used before she was there. She can also see living souls if actively looking for them. Animals and people show up as figures of light, humanoids brightest of all.
Clairvoyance Subskill: Pendulum Divining:
Karuka has discovered that it isn't her faith that her pendulum depends on, it's who she is, part of the O'Sheean birthright. Now, at will, she can make it tell her which direction she needs to go to find what it is she seeks.
Woodland lore: Having been raised as a Druid, Karuka can find her way more easily through wilderness than civilization, and can recognize various plants as good for food, medicine, or poison.
Summoning the Totem: When searching for the Heart of Scara Brae in the Liviol Sanctum, Karuka somehow received a small totem of the Sanctum's guardian cat. The totem will allow her to summon the cat twice for a period of 2 consecutive posts in a battle or two minutes in a quest, whenever and where ever, she chooses, so long as it's within her line of sight. She can also tell the cat who and where to attack if she wishes.
Like Minds: Karuka naturally has a high empathy, and as such this lets her and almost any beast understand each other's wills. She can't use this to harm the creature, merely to keep it still, soothe it, or maybe send it off.
Weapons:
Consequence: A six foot long Nihon redwood staff that has had a prevalida cap with an eight inch spike mounted on it. The spike is enchanted to deliver a painful shock to any it hits or stabs - it can heavily stun a human for up to five minutes. Karuka has legendary skill with this weapon.
Mythril daggers and steel throwing knives: purchased after she lost her faith in the gods, Karuka is now above average at fighting with and throwing them.
Hand to Hand: In her time wandering, she's become a highly skilled fist fighter.
Abilities:
Agility:
Karuka is 5x faster and more agile than the average person. While in ordinary life this means she can run faster, farther, and over rougher terrain than the average Althanian, in combat, it acts in concert with her foresight. Very frequently, she reacts to her opponents' movements before they even realize that they're moving.
Rune Magic: (I’ve been waiting to give her this stuff back, only better, for YEARS. Never thought I’d get there.) The profile where I took these powers (or their great-grandfathers, anyway) away from her. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?9819-A-Dampened-Flame&highlight=))
Karuka can use up to 20 spells per day. She has a belly-button ring that lets her combine spells three times a day. After that, combining runes or using blood to enhance the spell makes it use up two spells.
Rather than using the actual stones, as she did in times past, Karu uses gestures to call on their powers.
Some spells can be enhanced by the use of the caster's blood, so she might cut herself or use a cut to do so (runes that take it -- Thorn, Sigel, Ken, Rad, Eohl, and Is)
+ Line-of sight spell. She has to be looking at the target to attack.
~ Touch spell. She must be touching the target for the spell to have a chance at working.
+Thorn -- This rune is used to control plants. In areas where vines and brambles exist, she can use them to ensnare an enemy, and flatter, more grassy areas, she can call up brambles around a person’s feet. In shallow water, she can call on the kelp. Thorn does not work in desert, open water, or deep snow.
with Jara - No plant matter present? No problem. If there was ever plant life there, Karu can still call up the brambles. If used under normal conditions, she can call up a 100 foot square unkepmt maze.
+Sigel -- The rune represents a sun ray, but it's used to call down a bolt of lightning. Without blood, the most damage it can stun an average opponent for up to ten minutes. With blood, it can heavily stun. If the opponent is wet, or standing in water, though...it could be lethal (on PCs and other peoples' NPCs, amount of damage determined by other player). This rune is weather dependent. Without clouds, is impossible. With light clouds, a small bolt can be summoned. During a severe thunderstorm, she can call down a bolt powerful enough to kill.
with Jara - By adding Jara to Sigel, Karu can call down up to five lightning bolts, and if there are no clouds, she can use Consequence’s enchantment instead of the sky as a focus.
+Lagu -- An amount of pre-existing water (up to twenty cubic feet, or the size of a large swimming pool) may be manipulated within a radius of 50 feet from the caster. At this level, if the conditions are humid enough, she can pull some water from the air (up to ten gallons, depending on conditions). This can take the form of either a few concentrated blasts or one rushing wave.
with Jara - By combining spells, Karu can manipulate up to a hundred cubic feet of water or create fifty gallons. She can manipulate it just as well, but the radius of effect only extends out an additional ten feet.
+Ken -- Fire. With this rune, Karuka can create a flame. She can do something as specialized as light a torch, or something as grand as throw a fireball big and hot enough to seriously injure a person or turn sand into glass. She can’t melt metal yet, but give her time and/or motivation.
~Beorc -- The rune represents mother-love, she uses as a healing spell. It can currently heal mild wounds over a course of about a minute, moderate wounds over a period of a few minutes, or serious wounds overnight. Serious wounds cost 2 or 3 spells to heal, depending on the severity.
with Jara - Karuka can combine Jara and Beorc to cure even life-threatening wounds over only a matter of hours. This still costs more than one spell.
Rad -- The rune means movement. As a spell, it’s used to call up winds with a strength of up to 100 lbs/ft^3
with Jara - Adding Jara to Rad can create winds with as much force as a weak hurricane.
Eohl -- Provides a shield against attack. The duration of the shield depends on what it’s being attacked with, and the ferocity of the attack. A barrage of magic or serious pummeling with a strong weapon will wear it out fairly quickly, while weak blows from inferior materials will take time to wear it down.
+Is -- Creates ice. This can range from having crystals form on and around an opponent, creating anything from slightly limited mobility and discomfort to movement-obstructing chunks (no blood), to creating a large, thick layer of ice on a person or object (blood). The ice melts at a regular rate. This spell is also weather dependent. It works about 5x as well during a snow storm, and very slightly on a hot and arid day.
+Jara -- This rune means “fruition,” and can be combined with other spells. On its own, it can be used to pull things to her or push things from her, up to about half a ton and up to 50 ft/second. The more it weighs, the slower it is and the less distance she can drag it. On its own, Jara is perhaps the most passive rune in the Futhark, and while it can be used on living creatures, it's only about 1/10 as effective. It might be the equivalent of a rough shove or a strong tug, but cannot be sustained.
Equipment:
* A rune pouch with 25 runes in it.
* Necklace with a lodestone crystal in it, used as a pendulum to help define direction. (inherited from mother)
* A water flask
* A woolen cloak.
*A silver bell that lights up dimly when it sounds
*A small totem cat
*12 oz. of Liviol balm that has healing properties
*A silken outfit
*A small fire striker
*A plynt bracelet with 4-inch spikes on it (given to her by Molotov)
*An oilskin cloak
* A necklace with a small jade charm (given to her by Storm Veritas)
* Curvy sword with one sharp and one blunt edge (belly-dancing sword) This sword is highly ornamental, carried mainly for show and for the crest that Karuka remembers from one of her father's rings. The metal was made to balance well, not fight, and is therefore too brittle for combat.
*A dragon scale, toughness of delyn and some magical resistance to fire.
*A ring that once belonged to a Priest of the Church of the Ethereal Sway. She plucked it from his body when he died in a train explosion.
*a silver belly button ring with an enchantment that allows it to combine spells.
*Consequence: Nihon staff with prevalida cap
*Mythril daggers
*A device that allows her to locate any ally within ten miles
*A sturdy leather falconer’s glove.
Familiars:
Name: Taodoine
Species: Phoenix
Age: About 10 (That awkward stage between juvenile and adult)
Weight: About as much as a fully grown female eagle owl
Wing span: About 6 feet across.
Appearance: He has red, orange, and gold plumage on his body, with indigo and violet on his wings and tail. His eyes are bright blue, and his beak and talons are powerful weapons.
History: Taodoine is a phoenix whose egg Karuka has had since she was 17, and he hatched just weeks before Karuka vanished from Althanas. She trained him as a loyal, capable companion as he grew, and he is a strong, talented bird today.
Skills:
He’s a bird. He can fly.
Dive bomb: From high in the air, he can select a target - whether it’s food or foe - and plummet to it at speeds of up to 90 miles per hour. Should he collide, he can inflict devastating injuries.
Abilities:
Fire Soul: He’s a phoenix. At his option or Karuka’s instruction, he can ignite himself to add extra damage.
Name: Karuka Eithne Tida O'Sheean
Age: 30
Race: Human
Hair Color: Dark red
Eye Color: Blue as the summer sky, with gold around the pupil.
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 137
Occupation: You’d better believe she’s an adventurer.
Personality: When Karuka was first seen in Althanas, she was a young, optimistic teenager who had faith in the guidance of the gods and believed that everything would eventually turn itself around for the best. By the time she was an adult, she had learned better and turned hard and bitter. During her long absence, she has grown up, softened, toughened, wisened, and had experiences that bring her back around to optimism, but a step up: She can make the best happen if she stands up for it.
Adamantine will and Big Brassy Balls: Karuka does not back down, she does not quit, and she does not care if the threat is bigger, stronger, or meaner than she is. Allies and enemies alike have noted that her tenacity is incredible, and she fears neither death nor pain. Thus, she is able to approach any challenge set in her path with unyielding force.
Appearance: Karuka at first glance seems to be a rather curious collection of colors. Her hair is an almost unnaturally deep red at the roots, fading to a coppery orange at the end of a long braid. Her eyes are a warm blue with a gold ring around her pupils, and her skin is a rich honey brown. She wears a vlince traveling outfit and her mother's pendulum around her neck. Beyond her odd coloration, she has a highly fine bone structure, giving her a long, lean build. Once rail thin and lanky, she has grown into herself and has a strong, slender, athletic build that doesn’t try to hide its curves. She’s also grown more comfortable in her own skin, and walks with an alert confidence.
History:Karuka Tida was born to Indian Brahmin Atid and Irish Seer Faylinn. Her mother was the heir to a well-respected line of seers, and all first-born daughters are born with this "gift," known as the O'Sheean Birthright. Her father left when she was five, her stepfather was a miserable human being, and when her mother died in childbirth when she was sixteen, Karuka was sent out to face the world on her own. She decided that she wasn’t going to hang around Ireland, and set out to find her father. Her best-laid plans went awry in a big way when she found a tear in reality in a French cave. She ended up in Alerar, and that was the beginning of a very strange journey.
L0 history:
Shortly after coming to Althanas, Karuka found her way to Scara Brae, where she was almost immediately sent off to the Liviol Sanctum in search of a unique artifact, known in dim legend as the Heart of Scara Brae. From the moment she landed on the island, she felt the subtle call of the Heart, but getting there wasn't easy. The group she went with had to face killer will o' th' wisps and the deadly cat of Scara Brae before even getting to the crumbling ruins, which claimed more lives than the Cat or flickering lights combined. Karuka managed to survive the trip through the ruins and then met back up with the cat, who not only didn't eat her, but seemed to like her well enough to give her a ride back to her boat.
Once back to the island, Karuka had to get the Heart to Queen Valeena, and prevent it from falling into the hands of Count Uyen Barchon. After that, Karuka left Scara Brae and soon found herself in Corone.
On her way through Concordia, she was attacked by an Elf who didn't identify himself or his motives, but a stranger happened upon the aftermath of the battle and took them both to Underwood to be healed. Shortly thereafter, Karuka found herself in the middle of winter in Northern Akashima, and was taken in briefly by Doji Ki, where she entertained the kitsune and her kits with stories while being given food and warm shelter.
As spring started poking its head up, she found herself aboard a new boat, which was attacked by pirates on its voyage. The rebellious Karuka probably would have gotten herself raped and killed, but Seth Dahlios also happened to be aboard the boat, and the following massacre wound up saving the passengers. It was during this time period that Karuka took her first human life, and she now views this as the time that began to challenge her faith.
Level 1 History:
In Radasanth, Karuka bought a set of clothes and boots, participated in her first Citadel battle with Caduceus Grimaldi, and set out for Concordia once more. Inside, she met feline Leon Timyon during a rainstorm, and his natural curiosity had them nearly captured by gremlins and enslaved by Drow. They did, however, manage to escape.
On her way out of Corone, she hitched a ride on a boat to Salvar, and got caught up in a really bad storm. She managed to find a secluded house owned by Taviri Ambria, whose sister, Liliana, was heavily pregnant. The cleric they were going to hire couldn't get to them because of the snow, so Karuka stepped in and helped deliver the baby safely. Before the storm blew over, she learned that the baby girl, Samantha, was Seth Dahlios's daughter.
Level 2 History:
Not long after, Karuka found her way out of Corone and went back to Alerar, where she met the malicious Drow Kor. When she told him he needed to stop being such a jerk upon risk of losing what he valued most before he'd even found it, he made her spend the a night in a cave with him, and dawn brought the lizard man Roethe to their camp. As a matter of survival, they were forced to kill him.
Alerar wasn’t really to her liking, so she found herself heading to Fallien, where she met Storm Veritas, who was quite charming and seemed to take a liking to her. Too much of a liking for her comfort. When he tried to take her to bed, she walked out. This, of course, led to the brassy redhead being attacked by people much stronger than she was. While Storm, who had followed her, saved her life, she found a small glass orb. That orb saved her life the next day by emitting a powerful flame when a Fallien firmamancer with a mission to purge the land of all outsiders was going to kill her, seeing her as too dangerous to his mission.
After that, struggling to keep her faith, Karuka was asked to deliver a box to a certain man in Raiaera. From there, she was swept up on an adventure with Damon Kaosi during which she saw the world destroyed. Things were set right again, but at a price: Karuka now believes her gods to be dead, and as such, has lost her faith and her magical abilities.
Level 3 History:
Karuka bought a set of daggers and throwing knives after the incidents in Raiaera, in order to learn how to really fight. Then, believing in using them, she went to the Citadel, facing both Joshua Cronen and Izvilvin. She got her butt kicked pretty good both times.
Then, looking for a little peace, she went back to Dheathain. Peace however, wasn't to find her. A gang calling themselves The Spidermonkey Kids had taken over the mercantile district of Talmhaidh, putting resident shopkeepers in a constant state of fear, and Karuka, being Karuka, couldn't stand for it. She stood up to the gang, and probably would have been killed if not for the aid of the mutant Molotov, who identified himself to her as Topper Headon. He gave her some intense training on how to use her staff, and when the SMK came that evening to finish the two off, they wound up defeating the majority of the gang, leaving the merchants safe. As they parted, Karuka gave Molotov her wooden flute and was given one of his plynt bracelets.
L4 & 5 History:
After that, she went back to Radasanth and participated in a massive Citadel battle which put her alongside old acquaintances and people she didn't know at all, all bent on killing each other. It was a lot of fun!
Then she traveled to Salvar, only to be caught up in the Civil War when religious fanatics waylaid the train she was riding. She was responsible for the lives of the survivors, but very few combatants actually survived the night. She also made a dying woman a promise to get her little girl, Margaret, to safety. Which she did.
L6 History:
After some insignificant bouncing around, Karuka returned to Radasanth. She hadn't been back in the city for more than fifteen minutes when she was attacked by a man-shaped monster. She was slammed against a building before she really knew what was going on, and knocked unconscious. Upon waking, the monster revealed himself to be not only the same Seth Dahlios that she'd met on the boat during her first year on Althanas...he claimed to be stuck with her. And a flesh eating ghoul. Not convinced, Karuka still allowed him to come with her. Not that she had much choice...who would argue with a creature that could break them in half with their pinky?
It wasn't more than a day thereafter that Karuka got a vision of Liliana, another person she had met, Seth's lover and the mother of his child, in danger. So they had to go tearing off across Corone to discover that she was in real danger. There was a menacing demon outside the building, and an even worse one waiting within. Seth happened to have a grudge against the one within, a redheaded avatar of the god Uriel named Amiya, and sent everyone out of the church. Long battle short, Seth got pinned to the altar like a butterfly with a sword that kills immortals, and came back to life when Karuka yanked it out of him. When he left to go feed, Karuka made a fire, and the orb she'd found in Fallien fell in and hatched into a baby phoenix.
Back in Radasanth and preparing to set sail, Karuka found herself face to face with an Elf that wanted nothing more than to kill her. After a brief battle, she remembered him as an Elf that had wanted to kill her nearly four years before. The battle provided Karuka some insight into her own growth as a warrior; the fight was beyond easy and he'd almost killed her when she was sixteen. He left in shame, and she has since put him out of her mind.
Then, figuring she needed to get her head straight, she dragged Seth to Dheathain.
TL;DR (and I don’t blame you) Karuka is an Irish lass who had a crappy childhood, got kicked out of her evil stepdad’s house when her mom died, found her way to Althanas completely on accident, and then kept having adventures (the good, bad, and ugly kind) until she just kind of gave up and figured it was what she was good at.
Levels 7-9: Somewhere in Dheathain, Karuka and Seth found a way to sever the bond between them, allowing them each to go their own way. Not feeling a place or path for her amidst the strife and chaos of Althanas, she headed east, into Kebiras. There, she found a place as a bodyguard for a prince about her age who had, somehow, heard of her exploits. She had no idea she had a reputation, especially not further than the areas she treaded. It may have helped that her accent was strange and she had a phoenix riding carelessly on her shoulder. While in his employment, she met a group of mystics who gently reached into the doubts and demons that had haunted her since the day she’d first killed a man. They showed her that there is more to life than cynicism and needless suffering, and over the course of many years, she found her own faith returning - maybe not in the gods, but certainly, certainly in the belief that tomorrow could be made better than yesterday. Her todays no longer trials to be endured, her yesterdays became lessons she could learn from, rather than simply say that she had survived them. At last, her runes, long silent, began to speak to her again, and after a decade of not being able to use them for anything, she felt them pulling at her fingers, humming with energy. Her magic had returned. Now, lessons learned, she turns back to Althanas. It’s time to see what it is she’s missed.
Skills:
Clairvoyance:
Karuka is the heir to a long line of women with foresight. She cannot control when bad visions come, but they tend to come when she has nothing else to occupy her mind. If she focuses, she can come up with murky predictions about specific events of the present or future, or get glimpses of the past.
She can also see things as they relate directly to her, giving her a second's warning or two in combat when she's about to be attacked.
Clairvoyance Subskill: True Sight:
Karuka can see ghosts and their ilk as they truly are, as well as lingering magical energies from spells and the like used before she was there. She can also see living souls if actively looking for them. Animals and people show up as figures of light, humanoids brightest of all.
Clairvoyance Subskill: Pendulum Divining:
Karuka has discovered that it isn't her faith that her pendulum depends on, it's who she is, part of the O'Sheean birthright. Now, at will, she can make it tell her which direction she needs to go to find what it is she seeks.
Woodland lore: Having been raised as a Druid, Karuka can find her way more easily through wilderness than civilization, and can recognize various plants as good for food, medicine, or poison.
Summoning the Totem: When searching for the Heart of Scara Brae in the Liviol Sanctum, Karuka somehow received a small totem of the Sanctum's guardian cat. The totem will allow her to summon the cat twice for a period of 2 consecutive posts in a battle or two minutes in a quest, whenever and where ever, she chooses, so long as it's within her line of sight. She can also tell the cat who and where to attack if she wishes.
Like Minds: Karuka naturally has a high empathy, and as such this lets her and almost any beast understand each other's wills. She can't use this to harm the creature, merely to keep it still, soothe it, or maybe send it off.
Weapons:
Consequence: A six foot long Nihon redwood staff that has had a prevalida cap with an eight inch spike mounted on it. The spike is enchanted to deliver a painful shock to any it hits or stabs - it can heavily stun a human for up to five minutes. Karuka has legendary skill with this weapon.
Mythril daggers and steel throwing knives: purchased after she lost her faith in the gods, Karuka is now above average at fighting with and throwing them.
Hand to Hand: In her time wandering, she's become a highly skilled fist fighter.
Abilities:
Agility:
Karuka is 5x faster and more agile than the average person. While in ordinary life this means she can run faster, farther, and over rougher terrain than the average Althanian, in combat, it acts in concert with her foresight. Very frequently, she reacts to her opponents' movements before they even realize that they're moving.
Rune Magic: (I’ve been waiting to give her this stuff back, only better, for YEARS. Never thought I’d get there.) The profile where I took these powers (or their great-grandfathers, anyway) away from her. (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?9819-A-Dampened-Flame&highlight=))
Karuka can use up to 20 spells per day. She has a belly-button ring that lets her combine spells three times a day. After that, combining runes or using blood to enhance the spell makes it use up two spells.
Rather than using the actual stones, as she did in times past, Karu uses gestures to call on their powers.
Some spells can be enhanced by the use of the caster's blood, so she might cut herself or use a cut to do so (runes that take it -- Thorn, Sigel, Ken, Rad, Eohl, and Is)
+ Line-of sight spell. She has to be looking at the target to attack.
~ Touch spell. She must be touching the target for the spell to have a chance at working.
+Thorn -- This rune is used to control plants. In areas where vines and brambles exist, she can use them to ensnare an enemy, and flatter, more grassy areas, she can call up brambles around a person’s feet. In shallow water, she can call on the kelp. Thorn does not work in desert, open water, or deep snow.
with Jara - No plant matter present? No problem. If there was ever plant life there, Karu can still call up the brambles. If used under normal conditions, she can call up a 100 foot square unkepmt maze.
+Sigel -- The rune represents a sun ray, but it's used to call down a bolt of lightning. Without blood, the most damage it can stun an average opponent for up to ten minutes. With blood, it can heavily stun. If the opponent is wet, or standing in water, though...it could be lethal (on PCs and other peoples' NPCs, amount of damage determined by other player). This rune is weather dependent. Without clouds, is impossible. With light clouds, a small bolt can be summoned. During a severe thunderstorm, she can call down a bolt powerful enough to kill.
with Jara - By adding Jara to Sigel, Karu can call down up to five lightning bolts, and if there are no clouds, she can use Consequence’s enchantment instead of the sky as a focus.
+Lagu -- An amount of pre-existing water (up to twenty cubic feet, or the size of a large swimming pool) may be manipulated within a radius of 50 feet from the caster. At this level, if the conditions are humid enough, she can pull some water from the air (up to ten gallons, depending on conditions). This can take the form of either a few concentrated blasts or one rushing wave.
with Jara - By combining spells, Karu can manipulate up to a hundred cubic feet of water or create fifty gallons. She can manipulate it just as well, but the radius of effect only extends out an additional ten feet.
+Ken -- Fire. With this rune, Karuka can create a flame. She can do something as specialized as light a torch, or something as grand as throw a fireball big and hot enough to seriously injure a person or turn sand into glass. She can’t melt metal yet, but give her time and/or motivation.
~Beorc -- The rune represents mother-love, she uses as a healing spell. It can currently heal mild wounds over a course of about a minute, moderate wounds over a period of a few minutes, or serious wounds overnight. Serious wounds cost 2 or 3 spells to heal, depending on the severity.
with Jara - Karuka can combine Jara and Beorc to cure even life-threatening wounds over only a matter of hours. This still costs more than one spell.
Rad -- The rune means movement. As a spell, it’s used to call up winds with a strength of up to 100 lbs/ft^3
with Jara - Adding Jara to Rad can create winds with as much force as a weak hurricane.
Eohl -- Provides a shield against attack. The duration of the shield depends on what it’s being attacked with, and the ferocity of the attack. A barrage of magic or serious pummeling with a strong weapon will wear it out fairly quickly, while weak blows from inferior materials will take time to wear it down.
+Is -- Creates ice. This can range from having crystals form on and around an opponent, creating anything from slightly limited mobility and discomfort to movement-obstructing chunks (no blood), to creating a large, thick layer of ice on a person or object (blood). The ice melts at a regular rate. This spell is also weather dependent. It works about 5x as well during a snow storm, and very slightly on a hot and arid day.
+Jara -- This rune means “fruition,” and can be combined with other spells. On its own, it can be used to pull things to her or push things from her, up to about half a ton and up to 50 ft/second. The more it weighs, the slower it is and the less distance she can drag it. On its own, Jara is perhaps the most passive rune in the Futhark, and while it can be used on living creatures, it's only about 1/10 as effective. It might be the equivalent of a rough shove or a strong tug, but cannot be sustained.
Equipment:
* A rune pouch with 25 runes in it.
* Necklace with a lodestone crystal in it, used as a pendulum to help define direction. (inherited from mother)
* A water flask
* A woolen cloak.
*A silver bell that lights up dimly when it sounds
*A small totem cat
*12 oz. of Liviol balm that has healing properties
*A silken outfit
*A small fire striker
*A plynt bracelet with 4-inch spikes on it (given to her by Molotov)
*An oilskin cloak
* A necklace with a small jade charm (given to her by Storm Veritas)
* Curvy sword with one sharp and one blunt edge (belly-dancing sword) This sword is highly ornamental, carried mainly for show and for the crest that Karuka remembers from one of her father's rings. The metal was made to balance well, not fight, and is therefore too brittle for combat.
*A dragon scale, toughness of delyn and some magical resistance to fire.
*A ring that once belonged to a Priest of the Church of the Ethereal Sway. She plucked it from his body when he died in a train explosion.
*a silver belly button ring with an enchantment that allows it to combine spells.
*Consequence: Nihon staff with prevalida cap
*Mythril daggers
*A device that allows her to locate any ally within ten miles
*A sturdy leather falconer’s glove.
Familiars:
Name: Taodoine
Species: Phoenix
Age: About 10 (That awkward stage between juvenile and adult)
Weight: About as much as a fully grown female eagle owl
Wing span: About 6 feet across.
Appearance: He has red, orange, and gold plumage on his body, with indigo and violet on his wings and tail. His eyes are bright blue, and his beak and talons are powerful weapons.
History: Taodoine is a phoenix whose egg Karuka has had since she was 17, and he hatched just weeks before Karuka vanished from Althanas. She trained him as a loyal, capable companion as he grew, and he is a strong, talented bird today.
Skills:
He’s a bird. He can fly.
Dive bomb: From high in the air, he can select a target - whether it’s food or foe - and plummet to it at speeds of up to 90 miles per hour. Should he collide, he can inflict devastating injuries.
Abilities:
Fire Soul: He’s a phoenix. At his option or Karuka’s instruction, he can ignite himself to add extra damage.