Post by Dalia on Nov 16, 2012 1:13:32 GMT -7
Charlotte Firiana
Dalia
.physcial
Age: 57
Gender: Female
Race: Illusion Elf
Appearance:
Her style of dress could be described as mildly gothic, as she prefers the aforementioned laced clothing, often in dark colors. The majority of the time, she'll wear one of several dresses that fit this description, ending in moderately-lengthed skirts, thigh-covering leggings, and black, buckled boots. Her arms will usually be decorated in a fishnet glove material, or with violet bracelets.
However, much of her attire is often covered from prying eyes, as she also frequently covers herself in a dark cloak, complete with a large hood. As a wanderer, her clothing is chosen just as much for its practicality in traveling as it is in opting for a foreboding look.
As if in compliment to all of this, her face can typically be found in an unemotional state, or at times a frown or glower. Her eyes, which are a lustrous purple color, often have the seeming of looking right through a person, and her dark, pale violet hair falls in loose curls on either side of her face.
She is always seen traveling with an Orb of Pure Crystal, which is almost always floating and emitting a soft glow.
Play-By: Lulu Antariksa
.personality
General Personality: Quite in line with her appearance, Dalia's personality is best described as Dark and Gloomy. Although, odd has also been used to describe her. She speaks in an airy, cryptic manner, as though always trying to make others guess at what she means; metaphors and analogies are frequently present in her speech. Though she does occasionally simplify herself for those she is more familiar with, her cryptic mannerisms are practically habitual.
She also seems not to care for what others think of her. When her talents as a Fortune Teller are enlisted, she will tell her client exactly what she sees, regardless of whether it is good or bad. If this earns her scorn for a prediction of misfortune, she will, at best, silently pity the fool for refusing to make efforts to avert this misfortune, but she will not truly care for them.
Generally speaking, it could be said that she harbors enough care for the world and the people in it to try and prevent catastrophe, but does not care enough on a personal level for anyone whom she deems as "unimportant". The vast majority of Setsuwans fall under that category.
There are some who even regard her as a cursed being, as a result of a seeming lack of emotion, inhumane behavior, and her reputation for predicting maladies.
They simply do not know of her inner self, nor do they know that she wishes to prevent her one fear from coming to fruition: The End of the World.
Sexual Orientation: Undecided, and for now, Uninterested.
.specialities
Power Description: Dalia possesses the power to perform scryings, using the Moon and the Stars, her Crystal Orb, or both in tandem, in order to gaze into the Future and the Past.
Her visions of the future are not concrete, however; the Future is never permanently written, and can always change. When Dalia looks into the Future, she will see the events which are most likely to occur. However, she will usually also see some hint of a means that the future can change, whether it be by the actions of one or more individuals, or the adjustment of a certain circumstance. Sadly, her visions are never crystal clear, and so some interpretation or repeated attempts may be necessary at times to gain a clear picture, though repeated scryings in succession can be quite taxing.
When performing a General Scrying, she will typically see important events pertaining to the World on the Whole. Conversely, if she is focusing on a particular area, person, or event, she can call forth visions specifically pertaining to those things.
While not so common, she will also occasionally receive visions completely unbidden; typically, this occurrence is the result of a major change in the potential course of history, and the Powers that Be showing it to her.
Lastly, perhaps as an extension of this power, she tends to have a latent sense about people she comes into contact with, though this is usually vague.
Power-Related Weaknesses: Dalia's power has a number of weaknesses. First and foremost, performing a full Scrying as opposed to a brief, cursory glance into the Future, is both mentally and magically taxing on her, and to do so multiple times over a short period will completely exhaust her.
When looking into the Past, she finds (to her frustration) that many events can be locked away in haze, seemingly impervious to her inner eye.
Lastly, if she is attempting to see something about a specific person, whether it be their future or past, and that person is aware of this, they can mentally will themselves to "Hide their hearts" from her, and thus put a block on her ability.
Additionally, there are some who believe that a fortune-teller like her could perhaps predict their moves in combat; this is false, as making such a prediction would be impossible for her to find the time for in the midst of battle. The only way it could be even remotely possible is if the fight itself was seen in a vision by her at some prior time, and she thus made preparations for it.
Strengths: Dalia is adept at general Sorcery and Spells, applying it as such to make her Crystal Orb hover subconsciously most of the time. She also possesses considerable magical aptitude in the field of combat, as she has needed to defend herself a number of times in her life for a variety of reasons.
Weaknesses: Both thanks to the body she settled on, as well as her lack of interest in such things, she is very lacking in both physical aptitude and dextrous ability. Relying almost solely on her magic can leave her severely disadvantaged in any situation where she cannot use it. She is also lacking in social skills.
Stats:
STR: 2%
WIS: 85%
DEX: 4%
LUK: 9%
WIS: 85%
DEX: 4%
LUK: 9%
.background
Family: Unnamed Parents, both Alive and Well.
Place of birth/residence: Rielcia/Wandering
Education: Basic Education through Adolescence, Continued Specialized education in Magic and Fortune-Reading afterward (Self-Taught).
Occupation: Dalia makes a modest living on Fortune-Reading, and occasionally identifying curses and hexes for Cursebreakers when she needs extra money.
History:
Dalia was born under the name of Charlotte Firianna to a pair of loving parents in the City of Prestego, Rielcia. By all accounts, her childhood was quite unremarkable, though happy and healthy. Her parents took good care of her, she had plenty of friends, and she was loved.
As an Elf of Illusions, her appearance had a habit of shifting about as she aged, changing to a variety of body types, hair styles, and eye colors; This, of course, made it very apparent what she was to others, and she would thus occasionally be looked down upon by Pureblood Elves who would be passing through the area. Any such day where she was made to feel bad, she would often come home with her features morphed into a gloomier disposition, and her parents would immediately know something was wrong.
One particular day, in her adolescence, Charlotte and her friends were running around the City, entertaining themselves with their advanced games of hide and seek afforded by the mystical land of Illusions. But today, things would be a bit different. Whether it was by boredom with the routine, a tremendous show of guts, or just plain stupidity, Charlotte's friends all seemed to unanimously dare one another to take their game into the South-Western region of Rielcia, widely known for its danger and especially bewitching illusions.
Charlotte was initially giddy with the prospect, but it wasn't long after the friends had all entered a wooded glade of ephemeral mist that Charlotte found herself lost. Her friends were nowhere to be found, and despite her calls for them, she heard no response. She began to cry, begging for help, when out of the corner of her eye she swore she saw a woman.
She turned to face her, but there was nothing there. Then, off in the distance, she could faintly see her again. She knew it could just be an illusion, but desperate as she was, she pursued. Once again, the woman was gone, and Charlotte saw a fleeting glimpse on her peripheral. She chased the fleeting images of the woman for what seemed like hours, never finding her or getting a good look at her, but always feeling like she was right nearby, and all Charlotte needed to do was turn a few inches to see...
She began to feel frightened again as the thought entered her mind: Just who was chasing whom?
But just as she had this thought, she heard a voice. To this day she cannot remember what it said, what it sounded like, and at times wonders if she heard it at all. But after the sound of the voice that was or was not there, she felt a touch to the back of her head.
And then all was black.
When Charlotte awoke, she found herself in her own bed, in her own room. She couldn't remember how she had gotten home. When she asked her parents, they just seemed perplexed, wondering what she was talking about. Similarly, her friends were just as confused, none of them having recalled that Charlotte was missing for any length of time; according to them, they had all gotten scared by an illusion shortly after entering the glade, and ran to their homes, Charlotte included.
That strange fear settled in her again. But worried though she was, she decided to let it go, hoping it was just some fevered dream. However, as she slept that night, a real dream came to her. And in this dream, she saw a world of death. All around her, people were dying, the land was corroding, and a horror was seeping from beneath the planet's crust. It was the End of the World.
She awoke with a start, breathing rapidly. The nightmare had seemed incredibly real, and she could recall nearly every detail as though she had just seen it, rather than dreamed it. When she managed to sleep again, she once again dreamed of the end, but this time she saw a world of unending torture. People lived with eternal lives, but it could not truly be called life, for they all lived in torment and endless grief. It was The End, carried out by a different means.
This time she was sobbing when she awoke, and when her parents came to investigate, they found that she was inconsolable. But she would not tell them what she had seen. She feared that if she did, she would somehow make it real, and kept her silence.
But night after night after week after month, the dreams repeated themselves endlessly, and she eventually stopped crying or feeling fear. Instead, she began to feel grim resignation, and her disposition had lost all of the cheer she was once known for.
To her parents' increased worry, they began to notice that her appearance had begun to settle, despite her not being quite old enough for that to be happening just yet. To make matters worse, the body, face, hair, and eyes she was settling on appeared to be the Gloomy look her parents had come to associate with one of her "Bad Days".
They called a number of physicians and magicians, eager to see if they could diagnose any problems with their daughter, who still would not speak to them of her dreams. The physicians could find nothing wrong, while the Magicians could, at best, only obtain a loose sense that something in her had changed. Finally, her parents simply gave up, and Charlotte's appearance finished settling onto its permanent state.
Time passed this way, until one night, Charlotte was surprised to find a different dream visiting her usual tortured sleep. In this dream, she saw her and her parents, suffering under a variety of disasters that all seemed to end in their doom. For the first time in a long while, Charlotte once again felt fear, both for herself and for her family.
The dream returned to her again for two nights, and as she began to fear it was a premonition, she made the decision to leave her home, an act of cowardice that would hopefully save her from whatever disaster was coming. However, immediately after this thought occurred to her, she saw a Vision once again. But this time, it was the first vision she had ever seen while conscious. And in this vision, she saw her parents living happily and healthily, with no trace of her in their midst.
Two things were made clear to her in that moment. The first was that these visions, and the fact that she now understood what they must be, meant that she finally understood what she was: a Seeress, one of those spoken of in old texts and only rumored to truly exist. The very same being that the charlatans on the streets sought to imitate with their fortune-telling.
The second thing that she realized was that her decision to leave home had changed the future she was seeing. And if that was possible, then that meant it was possible to change the future. Which meant it may be possible to avert the End of the World she had seen in her dreams.
She made her decision right then and there, a part of her wishing to no longer resign herself to hopelessness. She would leave on the following day. She spoke with her parents and, for the first time, finally told them of the dreams she had had, and how she was intent on preventing them from happening. She also told her parents of the more recent dream, and of her choice to leave them.
They tried to reason with her, insisting that she didn't need to leave, but she would not be dissuaded. They asked if she might just stay with them one more night, to which she agreed. But as they slept that night, she quietly gathered up what belongings she felt she needed and set out without a goodbye.
It would be better for them that way.
From that point on, she traveled first to other cities and then to other countries, dedicating herself to any libraries she could find. She poured herself into reading about seeresses as described by various texts, as well as magical tomes to help her develop her Sorcery.
It turned out that the charlatans had at least one detail correct - a true seeress could make use of cleansed, pure crystal as a conduit for their powers, and the circular shape helped increase focus. With this information in mind, she found an Elf of Minerals in Dirys and, using all of her savings, commissioned the crafting of such an orb.
She then spent much time in the country of minerals, both due to being stranded with no more money, and because the abundance of crystal helped her to learn focus and control over her power. She also found more libraries where she could read and investigate further into how to focus her ability, and from these texts learned to read the moon and the stars.
Eventually, she began to use her services as a means of making money, so that she could finance her continued living and travels. She also took the name Dalia for herself, as a means of fully leaving behind her old life, and to prevent her parents from finding her and inviting ruin onto their own heads.
Now with an excellent grasp on her powers, she travels the world seeking to warn others of the potential destruction in their futures, but this is mostly done on the side. Her true purpose, as dictated by herself, is to investigate everything she can in the hopes that she will find the catalyst for the apocalypse she has seen in her visions.
And when she does, she seeks to stop it.
.player
Player Name/Alias: Endy/Tom/Zex, whichever anyone knows me by.
Characters Already on the Site: Endless Laeretti, Cherry Milerand, Pelagia Xista, Ein Lamont Lansfeld
