Setting Information
| Lanya Caliope |
| Thursday, 09 April 2009 20:44 |
 The artist who drew this was a player back in the day named Utsero, though we called him Utsy. His real name was Jonah and he was awesome. Another player named Frug added the fantastic color. Name: Lanya Caliope Birthday: July 15th Age: 27 Gender: Female Race: Plain ol' human. Physical Description: 5'11", red, curly, just below shoulder-length hair, hazel eyes, Amazonian build. Since her line of work is particularly treacherous for a female, she wears a green hooded cloak over men's clothes, in an attempt to draw attention away from her body. Her voice is deeper than most women's, a pure alto when she sings, and has a smokey tone and husky quality. She carries an ornate sapling-wood guitar with an uncanny ability to produce beautiful tones. It never needs tuning and thus far cannot be destroyed, including being crushed or burned. She had a plain wooden staff topped with a carved robin which she carried everywhere; this staff now seems to be living wood, with leaves sprouting from the top, and the robin now perches on her shoulder as a flesh and blood bird. The skin just over her womb boasts an ornate tattoo of an oak tree without any leaves - looking as it would in the dead of Winter. This tattoo prevents her from becoming pregnant, should the worry arise due to rape or a lover, and can be deactivated by a magical charm only she and the artist knows (if deactivated the tree will begin to change seasons depending on her inner workings - a tree blooming in Spring while fertile or pregnant, changing seasons through Autumn during gestation and finally back to Winter scene once the baby has come). Personality: Lanya is a cautious spirit. Despite her red hair, Lanya's temper is long to draw out. She rarely snaps and consciously tries not to raise her voice. Her patience is immense and she prefers to step away from a fight. She's also fiercely intelligent and clever, able to reach the correct conclusions based on limited information. Her intuition is almost always spot-on, but she's not familiar with all races and species so may guess incorrectly because of naivety rather than stupidity. Weapons and Skills: Unless you count the guitar...her nails, her teeth, her legs, her fists. She doesn't have any particular method when she fights (and as a woman wandering alone, she *has* fought) - she just kicks, punches, bites, scratches, and squirms until the attacker gives up. Her older brothers taught her a few nifty tricks to make a man think twice (pinching tender areas with her nails, etc.), and she uses those when she remembers to. Her One Great Skill is her song - she truly loves to sing and play. She likes to learn and discover things, but she's also very down-to-Earth and sensible; she won't put herself or others in unnecessary danger. She does own a magical staff, so perhaps she'll learn to use it as a weapon one day. It once had an intricately carved robin on the top which she named Flame - now a living bird. The only power the staff has shown is the ability to light up red at night to help guide her feet. She used to be able to run really fast. A (left) knee injury has canceled out that ability. Weaknesses: Despite her intelligence, Lanya is a very trusting soul with a naturally optimistic spirit. She believes the best intentions of anyone she meets, and finds herself startled when people do not act as the decent, trustworthy folk she expected them to be. Although compassionate and courteous, Lanya finds it difficult to reveal her true emotions to those around her, often shutting her emotions down or sacrificing how she may feel in order to ease the journey of another. She is naturally inclined to domesticity, and therefore immediately takes up a caretaker's position when the opportunity to do so arises, often neglecting her own needs or safety in the face of another's. She has no weapons training and her few learned fighting moves are rusty; she would stand no chance against a trained fighter for an opponent. Flame: He is about 3/4 the size of a regular robin, though his feather's colors are more vivid and bright. Abilities: He has a young human's intelligence and is capable of conversing - but may only do so through songs and gestures that Lanya has learned to translate. He is capable of mimicking any instrument or animal sound. He is immortal unless killed on purpose by man or animal. He stills retains the trick of glowing red when riled, though this serves no further purpose than turning him into a small glowing robin. An important and potentially exploitable feature is that he is also capable of sensing Lanya's mood and thoughts on a far deeper level, nearly telepathic, and while she is sleeping he can see her dreams and nightmares. Limitations: Flame cannot mimic a human's voice; he is not a parrot and therefore cannot actually break down and speak. He is not stronger or faster than a regular robin. Lanya has never considered using him to help her in a trick or to help bail her out of trouble; that is not his purpose to her and she doesn't want to put him in danger. Flame is not intended to be a dues ex machina. Yes, he could be used to help play some sort of trick, but Lanya would resist the idea because she will not do anything which could get him hurt or killed. Flame himself could be persuaded otherwise, putting him into danger without Lanya's consent. History: She was born the fourth of six children, three older brothers and two younger sisters. Her parents were truly loving but not particularly supportive of her desire to do more than just marry off and become a mother. After a discussion with her father, she left home with his blessing, taking some of her brother's clothes with her, and wandered for a few years, making her way as a bard and occasional thief. Her travels have left her with a scar on the palm of her right hand from a deep knife wound, which ironically was an accident while someone was trying to protect her, and the wound of losing her original guitar. It was a treasured family heirloom which was smashed in a bar fight started by a brute named Chrishton Riadu. As a result, she would recognize him but can't help but remain cool in temper toward the man. She also gained the previously mentioned magical staff, though she herself has no latent magic within her. Its purpose is a mystery, perhaps forever, but it was topped with a wooden robin she dubbed Flame. The robin normally posed as though about to take flight, but was animated and reacted with a nearly human intelligence. It had no powers besides being able to glide about on its wooden wings and sing lovely songs. Flame to this day can mimic other bird's voices as well as instruments, so his song is never the same twice. While traveling, she found a large untended egg in the woods which was just beginning to wriggle as the creature inside tried to break help. She helped, pulling away bits of eggshell, and found herself confronted with a small ashen griffin. Charmed by the small creature, she named the baby Ash and cleared a small hollow in her pack for the little griffin to ride. A little later on she met a blind dryad named Dide who accompanied her for several weeks. They became companions on the road, but Dide's past caught up with her and Lanya found herself on the wrong end of a werewolf's teeth. She only barely escaped being ripped apart by her own quick thinking, and Dide revealed that she was part of a plot to track down and kill the bard. She refused to provide the reason for this plan, but she did convince the group of youngsters out for Lanya's blood to abandon the cause, and as a consolation gift for Lanya gave her Greenfyre, a living wooden guitar fashioned from a sapling. Lanya was grateful for the new guitar since no musician is complete without their instrument of choice, but was saddened by the loss of Ash, who'd been taken by the group of assassins during the werewolf attack. She resolved to find the baby griffin, and headed downtown for supplies. While shopping, she and Dide happened upon a young girl possessed with a vicious demon. Lanya craved to save the child but the demon attacked, and in its efforts to save Lanya Greenfyre detached its strings and strangled the young body, mutilating and nearly decapitating it. Lanya realized that she had no control over her guitar and tried to rid herself of it, but has found that the guitar will actually track her down should she try to leave it behind. Terrified of what else the thing might be capable of, she fled, abandoning Ash to her fate, and has avoided most human contact save for gigs to keep herself fed and clothed. There was an unspoken witness to the girl's death who only saw a young girl screaming bloody murder and a woman wielding a bewitched guitar. He concluded that a powerful red-haired witch had just slain a child and reported as such to the appropriate authorities. Lanya found herself on the run and fled the city for a fresh one, hopefully where her new reputation wouldn't follow. She entered a new area in the hopes that the city would offer her a new life. But old lives are hard to outrun - especially when brought on the shoulders of a shadowy assassin. Upon entering the new town she found herself suddenly and inexplicably befriended by a wolf-like man. He told her that he was defending her against an assassin who had come to slay her. Unsure and mistrusting his words, she hesitantly followed him - only to be convinced when the creature attacked the assassin himself, calling the man out. The creature, Wolfhound, took her to an abandoned warehouse to spend the night, where he revealed his troubled past. She sang him a song of comfort and the two became friends. The next day they took to the streets where Lanya insisted on finding a tavern in order to bathe and rest in a real bed. This would prove to be a mistake. The assassin himself was in the tavern, speaking with the city guard along with none other than their captain, Camulous. The assassin had been busy convincing the guard of Lanya's wickedness, and Wolfhound immediately called the man to challenge when he spotted the cur. Lanya pleaded with Wolfhound to calm down and simply leave, but to no avail - a fight ensued in which one of Wolfhound's treasured pack mates died (an actual wolf). During the fight, the assassin threw a javelin-like weapon, aiming to run the bard through. Horrified and fearing for her life, she abandoned everything in the tavern in favor of running. Wolfhound swung her up onto his back to run faster, a gesture which made her a better target - and a knife found its way to her back. Flame flew before the dagger, taking the brunt of the hit as the woman fell from the wolf creature's back. When she reached back to remove the knife she instead found her most precious companion stabbed straight through - lifeless and cold. Her wooden robin was dead. Sobbing her grief but unable to remove the knife, she stood and ran once more. In the streets she was attacked once more by the assassin in a precarious leap from a high building and hit the ground hard enough to dislocate her kneecap by a few inches - an injury that will never fully heal into old age. Another protector entered her life here, a gypsy by the name of Lucian. Together they escaped into the woods, where he set her knee. After the pain died down, she fell asleep. Lucian remained awake, and found himself in the company of an ancient nymph who gifted him with natural focus and the ability to commune with the outdoors. Through the nymph's natural magic Flame was transformed into a real bird. Because of this change, the staff that he perched upon has now also come alive, sprouting leaves from the top which will remain as long as Flame lives. During the joy of this moment, Lucian indicated that he'd heard something in the woods, and another moment later one of the old trees surrounding them burst into flames. The battlemage Ryxa and Captain Camulous had found the two fugitives. While Ryxa and Lucian struggled, Lanya succumbed to her fatigue and pain and lost consciousness. Camulous first took her to the guardhouse, where she was healed, and then to Justice Hall, where she was carried to a cell and informed of Wolfhound's execution by Moryldar, one of the city's judges. After a short conversation with him, she fell into a doze. Lucian was brought in and settled into the cell directly across from her, and the two exchanged greetings and news before falling asleep. Moryldar returned in the morning to take Lanya to her trial. During the trial she was told that she was convicted of having magics, and would be executed for this. Seeing the farce for what it was, she began screaming at the assembled even as Lucian began to pass out from magical interference, but was interrupted by Vincas, another judge, flanked by Camulous himself. The trial was called off. As the judges began a political struggle, Camulous removed Lanya from the scene, leaving Lucian behind. He took her to the care of Metarie, a kind elf healer who saw to Lanya's injuries and allowed the exhausted bard to finally rest. Later on, the bard dyed her hair brown in an effort to conceal her telltale red hair. During this process, one of Camulous's men, a brute named Idonir, entered the house and proceeded to make a nuisance of himself. It was soon clear that he was a threat, and while Metarie attempted to fight off his unwanted advances, Lanya left through a crawlspace for the guardhouse to fetch help, returning with Hapnir. They returned to find Idonir drugged and Metarie with broken ribs from a harsh tackle. Camulous himself returned a short while later and informed her of Lucian's execution at the hands of Justice Hall. She struggled to cope as best she could, but soon realized that remaining in the company of others was continuously putting others in danger. Terrified of causing any further deaths in her name, she resolved to return to Justice Hall for her execution. She snuck out of the house through the crawlspace and began a steady trudge towards the Hall, only to be interrupted by Flame as he fussed at her, trying to convince her to stop. A very injured Lucian approached during the one-sided conversation, having been tortured and released but not executed. Lanya took him back to Metarie in the hopes of having him cared for. They soon realized that Lucian was branded by Justice Hall, perhaps as a method of spying or perhaps as a way to betray them later. Either way, the gypsy decided that leaving was the only way to keep the group safe, and left in the dark of night after a tearful farewell with Lanya, whom he now called sister. Reeling from the loss of another friend, the bard took up her guitar and went out the next morning for an impromptu concert in the streets. She was confronted by Jevaisius Yalsa, Dide's lover from years back, who told her that he would destroy Greenfyre and rid the world of its deadly curse. Wishing to shed herself of the burden of the murderous instrument, she gave it over immediately. The moment the strings and frame were blackened from heat, Jevaisius attacked her. Lanya fell from the attack, untrained in combat and unable to withstand the amount of pain being inflicted upon her. It was Greenfyre, the charred weapon, which revived and saved her life - by taking his. Lanya again watched as the guitar wrapped its string into someone's flesh, leaving a bloody and mutilated corpse in its wake. She was found by a kindly stranger who guided her back to the healer's home, where she waited for care, stunned from shock and sorrow. Unable to stand the thought of yet another dying because of her presence, she fled the city within a few days, taking her leave of Metarie and vowing to remain at a companionable distance from anyone else she might meet in her travels. |
| Last Updated on Sunday, 12 April 2009 01:01 |