Rasellia Seraphaelis's page

In Ustalav, on the border of the blighted lands that surround the Gallowspire dread prison of the Whispering Tyrant, there was a town. In this town there was a castle, an enormous, black stone, Gothic affair. Within this castle the lord and lady of the town practiced their necromantic ways.

The necromantic magic of lord and lady Seraphaelis had always been an open secret in the town. The lord and lady did not seem malevolent, their magic did not hurt anyone, and they were kind nobles as compared to many others. The strangest thing they did was pay families for the corpses of their dearly departed. So the town ignored the lord and lady, and by and large, they were ignored in return.

Rasellia Seraphaelis was born in the, large, gothic castle with a mysterious illness. From the time she was a baby she was always ill with strange wasting sicknesses, burning fevers, and other ailments. Most strangely, divine magic could not seem to cure her. The town’s cleric suggested that her sickness could have something to do with her parent’s profession, and they worried that their magic had negatively affected their daughter. This was especially strange as her older brothers Alabrecht and Darduin had not suffered so, nor, when she was born, did her younger sister Evana. The lord and lady Seraphaelis were necromancers, but they were not bad people, and wanted to see their daughter healthy, so they put out a call for aid to any who would respond.

With the promise of vast amounts of magically created money on offer people came from all over to try and find a cure. Clerical magic had already failed and continued to do so, druidic herbs and cures did not find a solution nor could alchemists could not brew a tincture strong enough to help for any long period of time. Each time a cure was given, Rasellia felt better for a short amount for time, but ultimately nothing worked for long. During this long cycle of cures and illnesses, Rasellia was slowly growing up.

Due to her sickness she was not often well enough to go outside, so she spent most of her time inside the castle. There were not many people to talk to inside, with most of the servants being unintelligent undead, however she did always have her maid Vermillia to spend time with. Vermillia was a kind woman, and seeing how bored the young Rasellia was, brought her books, pamphlets and all manner of written works to keep her entertained. So for much of her young life, Rasellia spent most of her time in books. She read anything that came her way, but her favourite topic, and the only one that she voraciously sought out, was research and tales about the neighbouring country of Numeria. Stories of the strange and wondrous things that happened there fascinated her.

She also found some companionship in Vermillia’s son Silvester, although he was not only younger than her, but more of a friend to her older brother Darduin that her. He was a charming young boy and Rasellia would always be grateful to him from the time he had saved her from one of her guard skeletons that had gone berserk.

Finally, at age fourteen, a solution to her illness was found, and it came, surprisingly, from an entirely non magical source. A doctor, of entirely a scientific mindset, posited that due to her parent’s necromancy, Rasellia had been born as a conduit to the plane of negative energy. He also suggested that her body was simply too weak to handle these forces, and created a series of exercises and a diet for her to follow. He said that this would give her body the endurance it needed to properly channel her powers. This regimen was hard to follow at first, but over the years as Rasellia gained strength it quickly became easier, and at sixteen, her sickness had vanished. The doctor was rewarded handsomely and returned to Absalom whence he came. Along with her new found health, Rasellia also gained powers, her being a channel for the plane of negative energy allowing her to direct its power in a strange kind of magic unlike her parents.

With her sickness resolved Rasellia could finally safely leave the castle for the first time in her life, however she found that her interests still lay more in the library than the outside world. Her exercises and diet took up much of her time, but all that she did not spend running or lifting weights, she spent with her head buried in a book. Numeria continued to fascinate her alongside scholarship of all sorts. A few years passed like this, with her reading, staying in shape and not talking to anyone besides her parents, and occasionally Vermillia and Silvester. Despite now having the ability to warp space and use strange magic, her powers did not really interest her.

Eventually her parents grew worried that this path would lead to her ending up as nothing but a lonely scholar and decided to do something. They asked her if she would like to go to any of the places she had read about, perhaps to study it. She of course leapt at the opportunity, requesting to go to Numeria, to research and investigate its ancient ruins and marvelous technology. Her parents were happy to send her off and let her get some experience with the world although she would always have a place at home. In order to not stifle her freedom, they sent only one guard, her childhood friend and proven protector Silvester.

So with a healthy body, new found powers, and a friend, she set off for Numeria, starting in Torch where she would meet her long-time friend by mail, Ember Firesong.

Rasellia stands shorter than average at five foot four. Despite her short frame she is very fit and keeps herself well-toned, although her body is built for endurance rather than power.

She has a heart shaped face, large, light brown eyes, and long eyelashes. Her skin is extremely pale from her long childhood spent indoors out of the sun. Her thick, black, shoulder length hair is most often worn up in a bun to keep it out of her eyes. She often wears a pencil or pen stuck through the bun in case she needs it.

Rasellia most often wears a simple dark grey dress, with a lighter mantle, dark stockings and practical boots. In the simple leather satchel that she carries, are reference, note, and sketch books. Her hands usually hold one of these notebooks, which she always seems to be writing something down in, she has very neat, but somewhat cramped handwriting.

Rasellia is a woman defined by her interests. Due to her long childhood spent ill, and much of her more recent life spent exercising and studying, she has spent much of her life in her own head. Therefore, despite being intelligent and reasonably empathetic, she is not very good at communicating. She does not usually like to talk about her powers.

She is prone to either long silences or long-winded explanations of topics that she sometimes doesn’t realise the other person is not at all interested in. She is also bad with questions, her intense interest in anything intriguing or unique often leads her to ask questions that are too direct, too personal, or simply to strange for most people. However she is always terribly sorry for any social faux pas that she might make, and truly does not wish to offend anyone.

Rasellia is an incessant fiddler and she can almost always be found spinning a pen between her fingers, tapping a foot, or playing with a loose strand of hair - this when she is not making notes in her notebook, which she will do even when in the middle of a conversation.

Rasellia doesn’t know how to properly handle people, but she is an inquisitive and intelligent woman and determined to find out about the things that interest her. Once she has decided on a course of action or an interest she is hard to dissuade, but her love of learning and her ability to see the world’s wonder and mystery make her ever ready to try new things.