Synodiporia: Reclaim Application
Mar. 31st, 2017 09:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tailforbrainsP L A Y E R;
NAME: Gail
AGE: 35
PLAYER JOURNAL:tailforbrains
TIMEZONE: PST
CONTACT: cacopheny on plurk
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: Riddick, Lyall, Jolie
C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Neeshka
CANON: Neverwinter Nights 2
POINT IN CANON: Chapter Three, start of Vale of Merdelain. She’s being pulled from a game path with a male-led party, since that shows a lot more depth of character (and the fact the she was originally slated to be a romance option) than a game with a female-led party.
AGE: Early 20s, or thereabouts. Even she’s not entirely sure.
APPEARANCE:
If she were a normal human being, Neeshka wouldn’t really stand out much: she’s not tall, nor particularly short; her build is neither sturdy nor lithe; her hair is an auburn brown, cut short out of convenience and sticking up in the back; and her eyes are a muddy sort of brown. Her clothes are nondescript and well-used leather by necessity rather than out of a sense of fashion, moderately protective and not particularly pretty, and even given the choice, she prefers things that are easy to move in and not eye-catching in any way. She moves, perhaps, with more careful grace and skill than one might expect, and she’s more likely to position herself behind you than most other people, but otherwise, she’d be perfectly unremarkable.
However, since her good ole grandfather was a Fiend, a kind of lower-plane demon, she has a few... non-standard traits. Her hair is swept back from a pair of small, slightly curly horns of gold-tinged gray and her ears are long, pointed, and unusually flexible, rather like a cat’s. Her triangular face is mottled along the hairline with red markings, and, probably most noticeable of all, she has a long, prehensile tail with a spade at the end. Those muddy brown eyes tend to be either full of mischievous good humor, or badly-concealed uncertainty.
CANON HISTORY:
@The campaign plot
Though Neeshka doesn’t know who her mother or father might be, it’s obvious that her grandfather (or -mother, but she assumes grandfather) on one side or the other is a demon. After all, she has the horns and tail and sensitivity to magic that came with it. She’s even been told he was, specifically, a Fiend, and she thinks it’s possible-- from what other demons said to her over the course of her adventures since-- that he was an important one of some sort. She has yet to get sufficient explanation for that one, though.
Without parents-- she was abandoned as a baby-- she was taken in by the priests of Helm (“The Watcher, the Vigilant One, Kind to Children”, as she says, somewhat sarcastically), where she grew up to be something of a troublemaker, constantly trying the patience of the priests by lying, cheating, stealing, and otherwise being unable to resist her own impulsive nature. She finally helped herself to a particularly generous offering plate and fled, once she was old enough and had tried their patience enough, and started life in the city of Neverwinter, a large metropolis on the Sword Coast. Her inherited abilities lent well to the life of a thief, and she eventually took up with a partner, Leldon, who she worked with for a couple years before one job went south and he claimed far more than his share of the takings. When she protested-- she, after all, had done all of the work!-- he took everything she had, up to and including precious personal belongings-- such as a “lucky” coin she frets herself to pieces without-- and turned her out. She got him back by sneaking in and stealing some of it back... but not that coin.
Fleeing the city to avoid Leldon’s retribution, she just missed being trapped within quarantine when the Wailing Death-- a terrible wasting illness caused by magical means-- hit, Neeshka wandered the countryside living off what she could steal for a few years while a war with Luskan raged and Neverwinter burned. She somehow managed to stay out of any major trouble-- though she mentions being run out of villages and threats of being burned at the stake, presumably from this period-- until peace finally prevailed. And then, of course, she was caught doing absolutely nothing wrong, at all. She was just trying to sneak past the guards at Fort Locke when her invisibility potion wore off, and they trapped her, assumed she was one of the local bandits, and planned to kill her for a reward.
Neeshka escaped being tortured and killed for her horns by the lucky passing by of a young harborman and his foul-mouthed dwarven friend, Khelgar. With their help, she not only avoided a terrible death, she got to join up with them to have adventures, to her delight. The harborman was not only “nice-looking people”, as she shyly told him when they first met, he was actually nice, wanting to know about her past and valuing her contributions to the little group. What she didn’t expect after that was joining up with him on a quest to save the world, that took her not only back to her home city of Neverwinter, she got her lucky coin back and actually made a group of people who might possibly sort of be friends.
CANON PERSONALITY:
@Influence chart and quotes that help display her character
Central to Neeshka’s character is her demonic heritage: it greatly shaped not only how she acts-- her impulsive nature, her selfish tendencies, and her constant attempts at being independent, brave, and carefree-- but also affected how she was shaped by others-- constantly being expected to be evil and conniving, never having friends of the upright nature, and generally being mistrusted by all, for the mere presence of her horns and tail. In reaction, Neeshka perversely tries to show pride in what she is, trying to make an asset-- or at least a personal badge of honor-- out of her demonic nature. She turns insults into compliments in casual conversation, and she reacts to surprise at her cavalier attitude at being insulted with a shrug and the comment, “well, they’re all true”. She also makes frequent references to her horns and tail in conversation. Just in case you forgot they were there.
As a result of all the abuse, she trusts no one at first, expecting insults and persecution, and is actually surprised when people (such as the main character of the game) actually want to know about her. She is extremely vulnerable to praise, gratitude, and being treated like a normal and even valuable being. Tell her she’s done well and thank her for standing by you, and you make her smile. Value her company and her skills, and you’ve made a friend for life.
Of course, as soon as you tell her she should stop being so impulsive and needs to straighten out her life, you’ve lost her again. Being a thief is something that she’s good at, even if half of the time she doesn’t even think about doing it. Between the impulsive nature, a tendency to speak before she thinks, and endless curiosity, she often spouts things like “I know you didn’t bring anything back, I already searched your bags” and “you know, apples might sell really well with the soldiers”. She’s something of a kleptomaniac, stealing out of compulsion as much as profession and to eat, and shows no shame or remorse or even desire to hide it.
Really, though, Neeshka’s biggest fear is living with nothing and no one-- whether the “nothing” or the “no one” is a bigger fear is entirely debatable, and generally depends on how she feels at the time. She’s often talking about money and what she can get for things-- “What are we standing around for? We beat Garius and his wizards... come on, let’s search the bodies!”-- but at the same time her constant mentions of how often she’s run off from places and people lead one to believe that despite her general kleptomania, her dream is of acceptance rather than wealth. The fear of her former partner Leldon-- which she tries very hard to hide, but can’t quite manage either time she runs into him-- shows her fear of being betrayed and abandoned. Thus, she’s easy to win over and can in fact be extremely protective and possessive of anyone she’s grown attached to.
Given how helpful she is and how generally charismatic-- one of her standard phrases, in fact, is “how can I help?”-- it’s no surprise that she slowly wins over the rest of the party, right back. Even her bickering with the outspoken dwarf Khelgar turns from actual malice in the beginning, to something much more like playful banter, to the point where he will even stick up for her against other adversaries. And when her loyalty is won, it is solid: in the endgame, she actually manages to throw off a powerful magical blood-binding, if the party leader has been kind enough to her to win that loyalty.
In short, on a bad day Neeshka is whiny, greedy, jealous, and takes offense at every little thing. She doesn’t like being told she’s wrong, whether she is or not, and reacts badly to being reined in when it comes to her thievery. She reacts even worse when she’s challenged. The only thing that matters is beating that challenge, and she will sulk at you if you tell her you don’t care. And when a male party leader sides with another woman in the party, she is downright vicious. But on a good day, she’s cheerful, mischievous, loyal, and has an irrepressible sense of humor-- “Shhhh, we don’t want anyone else to figure out I’m a tiefling! I mean, other than the horns!” If you don’t mind breaking a law or two, she’s really pretty fun to have around.
POINT OF DEPARTURE:
Neeshka spent almost two years Traveling, picking up a handful of skills and making a couple of friends and even raised a gryphon. Then she spent almost a year in ambit-- not in a dungeon, but on a private walkabout bouncing through worlds, just her and the gryphon Monkey, and the occasional NPC who tagged along for whatever ride she was tossed on. She's not solved a lot of problems in that time, really, and when she did it was entirely accidental, but she's taken the uncertain and insecure place she had been in and gained a little confidence. More importantly, she's learned a little better how to live with herself, especially in worlds where nobody could see the horns and the tail. So coming back into the game she may be slightly less neurotic when it comes to needing other people's approval. Slightly. Maybe.
VETERAN?: Does a reclaim from the start of the game count as a veteran? :)
ABILITIES:
@Magical: Create darkness (a spell that lasts a few minutes at a time and can only be pierced with magical night-vision, not physical abilities), magical night-vision, sense magic (particularly holy or infernal magic), and invisibility to scrying (magical means of seeing cannot find her; this is not within in her control, and can also be a detriment). She can also use magical items, such as spell scrolls and wands.
@Physical: Picking pockets, picking locks, setting and disarming traps (which often includes figuring out machinery), climbing into second-story windows, hiding and moving without making a sound, dual-weilding with small weapons, running away from trouble, back-stabbing, and sneaking about.
@In-Game Acquired Skills: Over here.
INVENTORY;
@ Neeska's Sneaky Slicer: A small sickle enchanted against shapeshifters and to cause minor ice damage (it glows blue!)
@ Neeshka's Namarra Neversleep: A rapier enchanted to daze an enemy and cause minor acid damage (it glows green!)
@ Balhoderie's Softer Skin: Dark burgandy leather armor with a light protective enchantment and a tendency to turn aside piercing damage
@ Cloak of Elvenkind: Provides a bonus to her ability to hide
@ Gloves of the Rogue: Gives her fingers extra zing for stealing things
@ Amulet of of the Master: Boosts stealing-related stats and gives strong spell resistance
@ Ring of Caitlyn: Small magical armor protection, additional bonus against undead
@ Ring of Stone to Flesh: Can turn a statue into a living creature once per day
@ Neeshka's Lucky Coin: Increases her reflexes a little bit, and makes her feel better.
@A Lesser Bag of Holding In Hammerspace: Magical currently consists of: a spike trap, fireball trap, and tangle trap; potions of heal (x3); spell scroll of fire arrow (x1) and invisibility (x2); several books on how to create magical arms and armor; and one almost-used-up Wand of Missiles (casts the spell magic missile, 2 charges). Non-magical inventory consists of: nail polish in various colors, snacks of dubious provenance, and an extra change of clothes that are less magical-armor-y and more casual-slash-modern. Can also produce random crap that is occasionally useful, due to her S. Tech skill, Rummage.
@ An Unnamed Ring: A gift from Sabetha when she was a demon, also at one point was used as her Dreamcatcher for her Champion Magic.
ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW?
Nah, you guys know this kid.
M A R K S;
JUSTIFICATION: Neeshka was chosen by Fool/Don Orlea the first time around!
VETO: NA, she's already snatched up.
S A M P L E S;
ACTIONSPAM SAMPLE: Here she is laughing at Jules for freaking out at everything.
PROSE SAMPLE: Here she is getting into a fight with Sabetha over their opinions on Traveling.
NAME: Gail
AGE: 35
PLAYER JOURNAL:
tailforbrainsTIMEZONE: PST
CONTACT: cacopheny on plurk
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: Riddick, Lyall, Jolie
C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Neeshka
CANON: Neverwinter Nights 2
POINT IN CANON: Chapter Three, start of Vale of Merdelain. She’s being pulled from a game path with a male-led party, since that shows a lot more depth of character (and the fact the she was originally slated to be a romance option) than a game with a female-led party.
AGE: Early 20s, or thereabouts. Even she’s not entirely sure.
APPEARANCE:
If she were a normal human being, Neeshka wouldn’t really stand out much: she’s not tall, nor particularly short; her build is neither sturdy nor lithe; her hair is an auburn brown, cut short out of convenience and sticking up in the back; and her eyes are a muddy sort of brown. Her clothes are nondescript and well-used leather by necessity rather than out of a sense of fashion, moderately protective and not particularly pretty, and even given the choice, she prefers things that are easy to move in and not eye-catching in any way. She moves, perhaps, with more careful grace and skill than one might expect, and she’s more likely to position herself behind you than most other people, but otherwise, she’d be perfectly unremarkable.
However, since her good ole grandfather was a Fiend, a kind of lower-plane demon, she has a few... non-standard traits. Her hair is swept back from a pair of small, slightly curly horns of gold-tinged gray and her ears are long, pointed, and unusually flexible, rather like a cat’s. Her triangular face is mottled along the hairline with red markings, and, probably most noticeable of all, she has a long, prehensile tail with a spade at the end. Those muddy brown eyes tend to be either full of mischievous good humor, or badly-concealed uncertainty.
CANON HISTORY:
@The campaign plot
Though Neeshka doesn’t know who her mother or father might be, it’s obvious that her grandfather (or -mother, but she assumes grandfather) on one side or the other is a demon. After all, she has the horns and tail and sensitivity to magic that came with it. She’s even been told he was, specifically, a Fiend, and she thinks it’s possible-- from what other demons said to her over the course of her adventures since-- that he was an important one of some sort. She has yet to get sufficient explanation for that one, though.
Without parents-- she was abandoned as a baby-- she was taken in by the priests of Helm (“The Watcher, the Vigilant One, Kind to Children”, as she says, somewhat sarcastically), where she grew up to be something of a troublemaker, constantly trying the patience of the priests by lying, cheating, stealing, and otherwise being unable to resist her own impulsive nature. She finally helped herself to a particularly generous offering plate and fled, once she was old enough and had tried their patience enough, and started life in the city of Neverwinter, a large metropolis on the Sword Coast. Her inherited abilities lent well to the life of a thief, and she eventually took up with a partner, Leldon, who she worked with for a couple years before one job went south and he claimed far more than his share of the takings. When she protested-- she, after all, had done all of the work!-- he took everything she had, up to and including precious personal belongings-- such as a “lucky” coin she frets herself to pieces without-- and turned her out. She got him back by sneaking in and stealing some of it back... but not that coin.
Fleeing the city to avoid Leldon’s retribution, she just missed being trapped within quarantine when the Wailing Death-- a terrible wasting illness caused by magical means-- hit, Neeshka wandered the countryside living off what she could steal for a few years while a war with Luskan raged and Neverwinter burned. She somehow managed to stay out of any major trouble-- though she mentions being run out of villages and threats of being burned at the stake, presumably from this period-- until peace finally prevailed. And then, of course, she was caught doing absolutely nothing wrong, at all. She was just trying to sneak past the guards at Fort Locke when her invisibility potion wore off, and they trapped her, assumed she was one of the local bandits, and planned to kill her for a reward.
Neeshka escaped being tortured and killed for her horns by the lucky passing by of a young harborman and his foul-mouthed dwarven friend, Khelgar. With their help, she not only avoided a terrible death, she got to join up with them to have adventures, to her delight. The harborman was not only “nice-looking people”, as she shyly told him when they first met, he was actually nice, wanting to know about her past and valuing her contributions to the little group. What she didn’t expect after that was joining up with him on a quest to save the world, that took her not only back to her home city of Neverwinter, she got her lucky coin back and actually made a group of people who might possibly sort of be friends.
CANON PERSONALITY:
@Influence chart and quotes that help display her character
Central to Neeshka’s character is her demonic heritage: it greatly shaped not only how she acts-- her impulsive nature, her selfish tendencies, and her constant attempts at being independent, brave, and carefree-- but also affected how she was shaped by others-- constantly being expected to be evil and conniving, never having friends of the upright nature, and generally being mistrusted by all, for the mere presence of her horns and tail. In reaction, Neeshka perversely tries to show pride in what she is, trying to make an asset-- or at least a personal badge of honor-- out of her demonic nature. She turns insults into compliments in casual conversation, and she reacts to surprise at her cavalier attitude at being insulted with a shrug and the comment, “well, they’re all true”. She also makes frequent references to her horns and tail in conversation. Just in case you forgot they were there.
As a result of all the abuse, she trusts no one at first, expecting insults and persecution, and is actually surprised when people (such as the main character of the game) actually want to know about her. She is extremely vulnerable to praise, gratitude, and being treated like a normal and even valuable being. Tell her she’s done well and thank her for standing by you, and you make her smile. Value her company and her skills, and you’ve made a friend for life.
Of course, as soon as you tell her she should stop being so impulsive and needs to straighten out her life, you’ve lost her again. Being a thief is something that she’s good at, even if half of the time she doesn’t even think about doing it. Between the impulsive nature, a tendency to speak before she thinks, and endless curiosity, she often spouts things like “I know you didn’t bring anything back, I already searched your bags” and “you know, apples might sell really well with the soldiers”. She’s something of a kleptomaniac, stealing out of compulsion as much as profession and to eat, and shows no shame or remorse or even desire to hide it.
Really, though, Neeshka’s biggest fear is living with nothing and no one-- whether the “nothing” or the “no one” is a bigger fear is entirely debatable, and generally depends on how she feels at the time. She’s often talking about money and what she can get for things-- “What are we standing around for? We beat Garius and his wizards... come on, let’s search the bodies!”-- but at the same time her constant mentions of how often she’s run off from places and people lead one to believe that despite her general kleptomania, her dream is of acceptance rather than wealth. The fear of her former partner Leldon-- which she tries very hard to hide, but can’t quite manage either time she runs into him-- shows her fear of being betrayed and abandoned. Thus, she’s easy to win over and can in fact be extremely protective and possessive of anyone she’s grown attached to.
Given how helpful she is and how generally charismatic-- one of her standard phrases, in fact, is “how can I help?”-- it’s no surprise that she slowly wins over the rest of the party, right back. Even her bickering with the outspoken dwarf Khelgar turns from actual malice in the beginning, to something much more like playful banter, to the point where he will even stick up for her against other adversaries. And when her loyalty is won, it is solid: in the endgame, she actually manages to throw off a powerful magical blood-binding, if the party leader has been kind enough to her to win that loyalty.
In short, on a bad day Neeshka is whiny, greedy, jealous, and takes offense at every little thing. She doesn’t like being told she’s wrong, whether she is or not, and reacts badly to being reined in when it comes to her thievery. She reacts even worse when she’s challenged. The only thing that matters is beating that challenge, and she will sulk at you if you tell her you don’t care. And when a male party leader sides with another woman in the party, she is downright vicious. But on a good day, she’s cheerful, mischievous, loyal, and has an irrepressible sense of humor-- “Shhhh, we don’t want anyone else to figure out I’m a tiefling! I mean, other than the horns!” If you don’t mind breaking a law or two, she’s really pretty fun to have around.
POINT OF DEPARTURE:
Neeshka spent almost two years Traveling, picking up a handful of skills and making a couple of friends and even raised a gryphon. Then she spent almost a year in ambit-- not in a dungeon, but on a private walkabout bouncing through worlds, just her and the gryphon Monkey, and the occasional NPC who tagged along for whatever ride she was tossed on. She's not solved a lot of problems in that time, really, and when she did it was entirely accidental, but she's taken the uncertain and insecure place she had been in and gained a little confidence. More importantly, she's learned a little better how to live with herself, especially in worlds where nobody could see the horns and the tail. So coming back into the game she may be slightly less neurotic when it comes to needing other people's approval. Slightly. Maybe.
VETERAN?: Does a reclaim from the start of the game count as a veteran? :)
ABILITIES:
@Magical: Create darkness (a spell that lasts a few minutes at a time and can only be pierced with magical night-vision, not physical abilities), magical night-vision, sense magic (particularly holy or infernal magic), and invisibility to scrying (magical means of seeing cannot find her; this is not within in her control, and can also be a detriment). She can also use magical items, such as spell scrolls and wands.
@Physical: Picking pockets, picking locks, setting and disarming traps (which often includes figuring out machinery), climbing into second-story windows, hiding and moving without making a sound, dual-weilding with small weapons, running away from trouble, back-stabbing, and sneaking about.
@In-Game Acquired Skills: Over here.
INVENTORY;
@ Neeska's Sneaky Slicer: A small sickle enchanted against shapeshifters and to cause minor ice damage (it glows blue!)
@ Neeshka's Namarra Neversleep: A rapier enchanted to daze an enemy and cause minor acid damage (it glows green!)
@ Balhoderie's Softer Skin: Dark burgandy leather armor with a light protective enchantment and a tendency to turn aside piercing damage
@ Cloak of Elvenkind: Provides a bonus to her ability to hide
@ Gloves of the Rogue: Gives her fingers extra zing for stealing things
@ Amulet of of the Master: Boosts stealing-related stats and gives strong spell resistance
@ Ring of Caitlyn: Small magical armor protection, additional bonus against undead
@ Ring of Stone to Flesh: Can turn a statue into a living creature once per day
@ Neeshka's Lucky Coin: Increases her reflexes a little bit, and makes her feel better.
@
@ An Unnamed Ring: A gift from Sabetha when she was a demon, also at one point was used as her Dreamcatcher for her Champion Magic.
ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW?
Nah, you guys know this kid.
M A R K S;
JUSTIFICATION: Neeshka was chosen by Fool/Don Orlea the first time around!
VETO: NA, she's already snatched up.
S A M P L E S;
ACTIONSPAM SAMPLE: Here she is laughing at Jules for freaking out at everything.
PROSE SAMPLE: Here she is getting into a fight with Sabetha over their opinions on Traveling.
