Islyn's page

Apparent Backstory:
Islyn was born 15 years ago, to a family in the academic quarter. While she proved smart enough to become, at the very least, a magi, she never had much interest in the arcane. Instead, she was always far more interested in exploring the city, with a charm that allowed her to get away with almost anything with her parents. At the age of nine, she contracted a terrible illness, which proved oddly resistant to magic. It left her bedridden for weeks, and unable to run for months, in which time her parents finally managed to get Islyn to work on her magic. She proved inept at classical wizardry, and showed no signs of having sorcerous talent, until one day when the (now ten year old) girl accidentally conjured a small fire in her hands to warm her. After this, her magical talent blossomed forth. She held a different form of magic. Instead of the rigid, well-structured magic most practiced, she held a flexible relationship with the arcane, molding it to her will and shaping it into a unique form of highly flexible magic. She has spent the last few years slowly developing her abilities and feeling a pull from deep inside calling her to explore, to be set free, and maybe, just maybe, warm up. (The chills never left her after her sickness)

'Secret' Backstory (i.e. what Islyn doesn't know):
Islyn's bloodlines come from a planar anomaly, having accidentally wandered into a convergence of magic at a young age (specifically, she was climbing on the roof of the Academy [she was a better climber back then] when a summoning went wrong). In it, a mass of elemental ice managed to infuse itself within her and slowly grow, causing her to, a few months later, get 'sick,' which was, of course, simply her new sorcerous nature revealing itself. Her dragon side comes from an ancient dragon ancestor… somehow. Do dragons live in Axiom? Do the citizens know what they are? The fact she doesn't know any ice spells has to do with the fact she's always cold, and her offensive magics come primarily from her desire to be warm. Her growing desire to go and explore the world comes

Islyn is a nice girl, rather well-known as being kindhearted, if a bit quiet. She's charming, though soft-spoken, clever and quick-witted. She loves adventure, though, and frequently explores far reaches of the city, even venturing out on top of the wall a few times (though never over). She will frequently complain about how cold it is, though, even if it is actually scorching hot out (which is, of course, because of her sorcerous nature). Unknown to almost everyone is that she's also an excellent liar, though most of the time she stays honest.

Islyn is an ordinary, though beautiful, young girl. She has medium-length brown hair, brown eyes, and is slightly on the short side. Slender, she is quite nimble, though is far from acrobatic. She wears a plain dress with a short skirt, all the better for running, and *usually* being decently modest.

As she expands her sorcerous power, however, her appearance will change, with her eyes gradually lightening to two colors; one blue, the other silver. Her hair will also change, turning silver and eventually white over time, and growing tall unnaturally fast.

Islyn was primarily selected because of her enthusiasm, partly because of her unique form of magic seemed useful for the journey, and partly because of her natural charm lending itself to the likelihood of her being a skilled diplomat (and skilled at convincing others to let her out of the city).
She wanted to go because she wants to see the world. On clear days, when mountains can be seen far off in the distance, it awakens a deep-seated need for exploring.

This is just a little section I frequently include with my submitted characters. It goes over some of my thought process while making Islyn, including explanations for choices that might not be immediately apparent, and some of the many references and nods I bury within my characters. (There's always a ton, though rarely obvious):

Islyn is something of a departure from my normal pattern. She's just a normal girl, relatively speaking, who is filled with awe for the world. As time goes on, she'll step more fully into the shoes of a mighty sorceress, but for now, she's just a kind-hearted girl that wants to meet somebody new. Most of my characters are the strange and wonderful, fundamentally different from you or I, but I wanted to try something different. Granted, she is the inheritor of mighty power, but she doesn't know that yet. I tried to have that reflect in my build.

So I suppose one thing that really needs an explanation is why the ice sorceress knows only fire spells. From a mechanical standpoint, I don't suffer too much (I lose out on an average of 1 point of damage by using Flame Jet instead of Cold Snap). In a few levels, she'll focus more on the ice, but for now, fire seems fun character-wise.