About Liera MvashtiLiera Mvashti
Familiar - Speckle:
Speckle
Backstory:
Fiendish blood, in rare cases, can lie dormant. Several generations can pass before it makes itself evident. Such was the case with Liera. Born in Sandpoint to Chelaxian parents, Liera had a relatively normal childhood, even if she wasn’t quite a normal child. She was outgoing, friendly, eager to please. She looked just like her parents – smooth pale skin, straight black hair, a cunning smile. She seemed to lack empathy, but her parents decided that would develop in time. As Liera grew older, her parents grew more and more worried. She would spend hours in the dark, saying she could ‘see better’ and ‘felt more comfortable’. She frightened small animals – not through any ill intent, but simply with her presence, as if they smelled something foul on her. And as she grew older, other children grew frightened – she ‘gave them the creeps’. Liera still tried to be a normal child – it was just difficult when the others played in sunlight, while the shadows felt safer to her. And when not everybody had imaginary friends lurking in the darkness. When she shifted from childhood to adolescence, it began to make more sense. When two small bumps formed on her forehead, and her spine began to lengthen into a tail, her parents started to panic. When they couldn’t keep the shameful truth hidden any longer, they abandoned their tiefling child in the nearby woods, and left Sandpoint for good. Lost and alone, Liera wandered through the woods for days, following only the whispering in her mind. She ate roots and berries whenever she could find them, and stayed hungry when she couldn’t. She fell into a crude trap left (and presumably forgotten) by goblins, broke her arm, and kept wandering in pain. She found a rabbit, and would have eaten it in desperation, had it not stayed put as she approached. It was the first animal in her entire life to not flee as she approached. As she cautiously picked it up, she felt a strange stirring in the back of her mind, as if something had awakened – and it was then that she passed out. When she came to, she was inside. A woman was leaning over her, tending her broken arm. Something soft and warm was at her side, and when she turned her head, she could just make out the rabbit she’d picked up. Healing magic was flowing through her body, and she let herself drift off again, not into unconsciousness, but restful sleep. The woman, she learned next time she awoke, was Koya Vhiski, a local cleric. She’d passed out not far from Sandpoint, as it turned out, and Koya found her while gathering herbs. The rabbit had stayed with her, refusing to leave, even when the old woman tried shooing it away. She’d been out for three days, but would be fine in a couple more. All alone in the world, Liera begged Koya to let her stay. After much begging and pleading (and a bit of encouragement from her adopted son, Sandru), Koya agreed. But the girl would have to earn her keep (Liera eagerly accepted). And the rabbit would be her own responsibility (she agreed immediately). Finding a job was hard, but eventually, Liera found work at the Rusty Dragon, helping Ameiko serve meals and drinks. She got on well enough with Ameiko – she wouldn’t consider her a close friend, but she was a kind employer, and didn’t judge Liera based on her fiendish appearance. And she enjoyed living with Koya – the old woman was sweet and kind, and helped her develop her own magic power, which had awakened in the woods. While it was of a more sinister nature than her own, she taught the young tiefling to use it to her advantage, and to avoid the whispered temptations it brought with it. When Koya was travelling with Sandru and his caravan, Liera would sometimes join them, eager to get away from Sandpoint – especially when the stares and whispers would grow too much for her. Other times, she would stay behind, looking after the house and garden, caring for her rabbit and honing her magic. Sometimes she was all too eager to travel, for a chance at winning Sandru’s affection; other times, her own insecurity and shyness would prompt her to stay, as if hiding from him – or herself. It’s been that way for some years now. Liera has grown from an awkward teen to an awkward young adult, and her fiendish features are stronger than ever. She’s eager to leave Sandpoint, and though she hasn’t told anyone, next time she travels with the Caravan, she won’t be coming back. Appearance:
Liera is a small human woman. Her human blood just happens to be mixed with that of a fiend. She doesn’t know what kind – it could be a demon, a devil, or even a rakshasa for all she knows. Her features are certainly ambiguous enough to be anything, and her parents aren’t exactly around to tell her. She is short and slender – standing just shy of five and a half feet, and though not without feminine curves, she knows comparing her own figure to that of her employer, Ameiko, will only upset her. Her hair is straight and black, and her skin is smooth and pale – signs of her Chelaxian parentage. However, she isn’t easy to mistake for completely human. Horns grow from her hairline, curving back on themselves like those of a ram, sitting at the sides of her head. Her eyes are slanted and angular, arcing up sharply at the outer corners, and without whites – only a dull golden colour with a slitted pupil, almost catlike. Her nostrils are prominently flared, and her mouth seems a little too wide, her canine teeth fanglike. Her ears, like her eyes, rise to sharp points at the corners. Between her neck and her waist, she seems mostly human, though her hands are vaguely clawlike – long, bony, sharp fingernails. Not too unusual, though slightly unsettling. What is unsettling, though, is her extraordinarily long and flexible tail – slender and whiplike, darkening to black at the tip – and her inhumanly-bent legs, ending in delicate, deerlike hooves that look as though they shouldn’t support her weight. Of course, a decade of fiendish features has taught her a few tricks to conceal them. She keeps her eyes downcast most of the time, avoiding eye contact when she can. Letting her hair hang in her face helps somewhat, and she often lets it cover her ears as well. It takes a little more effort to conceal her horns, but since they sit relatively close to the skull, she can usually wrap her hair aound them, passing it off as simply an unusual style. She is prone to fiddling with her hair, giving the impression of coy flirting when all she really wants is to make sure nobody sees her ears and horns. Her hands aren’t much of an issue – though somewhat unsettling, they still look human, and painting her “claws” gives the impression that she has filed her fingernails to that shape. For her legs and tail, she tries to disguise them with the simplest, most mundane method of all – clothing. She wears long skirts, all the time. Her tail is long enough that she can wrap it around herself under her skirt to keep it hidden, but still use it to manipulate objects within arm’s reach and preserve her modesty. After years of struggling to hide her hooves with uncomfortably long skirts, she managed to cobble odd shoes that look normal – when all one can see is the sole, that is; in reality, they’re more of a cradle and loose cover for the hooves. Needless to say, this deception is uncomfortable, and she prefers to remain barefoot wherever possible. Her clothes are usually loose and simple – a loose blouse, cinched with a bustier, and a long skirt, usually in several heavy layers. If she can wear a long woollen coat in the weather and not look out of place, even better. A wide-brimmed hat, well, that’s better still. Her desire to hide her features as much as possible leads her to almost be conspicuous in her pained efforts to hide. Personality:
Liera’s most distinguishing personality feature is her shyness. Her years of trying to hide her features have developed into an almost crippling meekness – she avoids eye contact, she doesn’t speak much (and when she does, it’s quietly, without opening her mouth wide), she keeps her arms folded in, and tries not to draw much attention to herself. After all, she’s learned that attention she receives is usually of the negative sort, so she risks avoiding positive attention along with the bad. She feels at home in shadows, and tends to shrink away from bright light, out of habit more than anything else. In darkness, she relaxes a little more. Her movements when walking are awkward, due to her “shoes”, but when barefoot (or hooved, as the case may be), she moves with an uncanny grace. She has a tendency to absent-mindedly stroke Speckle, even in the middle of conversation, as if without realizing what she’s doing, and the rabbit is her closest friend. 20 Questions:
What is your character’s name?
How old is your character?
What would somebody see at first glance (i.e. height, weight, skin color, eye color, hair color, physique, race, and visible equipment)?
What additional attributes would be noticed upon meeting the character (i.e. Speech, mannerisms)?
Where was your character born?
Where were you raised?
By who?
Who are your parents?
Are they alive?
What do they do for a living?
Do you have any other family or friends?
What is your character’s marital status?
Kids?
What is your character’s alignment?
What is your character’s moral code?
Does your character have goals?
Is your character religious?
What are your character’s personal beliefs?
Does your character have any personality quirks (i.e. anti-social, arrogant, optimistic, paranoid)?
Why does your character adventure?
How does your character view his/her role as an adventurer?
Does your character have any distinguishing marks (birth-marks, scars, deformities)?
How does your character get along with others?
Is there anything that your character hates?
Is there anything that your character fears?
GM Questions:
Who are you and how are you doing?
How often do you tend to post?
What kind of tone are you looking for in this game?
What do you expect out of your fellow players?
What do you expect out of me (the GM)?
What is your comfort zone? Where's the line for you in RP terms?
How do you see your character progressing as a character?
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