About Touch, the Mesmerizing DancerTouch Female elf (primitive) mesmerist 1 (Pathfinder RPG Occult Adventures 38)
She was born in - and grew up in - the town of Wicken. where her parents act as shephers tending various flocks of sheep. It was her parents who taught her worship of The Ash Queen - and the secrets behind the queen's true identity. Touch has even helped with the occasional animal sacrifice for rituals, as well as other aspects of the faith that would be considered shocking and head-turning anywhere but Castorhage (where, frankly, most people would barely bat an eye - sure, it's wild, but it's far from the most scandalous thing most people have heard of). As a member in good standing within the cult - although not a leader in any sense of the term - Touch is familiar with the rituals and processes of both the Ash Queen and Shupnikkurat and can generally get along with other followers. To a lesser extent, Touch is fond of Papyri, a goddess of the written word. While not a worshiper, per se, Touch occasionally makes books of her own to sell and generally gets along with those in the bookbinding trade. As an artist, Touch is particularly fond of song and dance, both of which lean towards the sensual. As a primitive elf, she's often happiest when she's expressing herself through the arts, and she's as good at creating new dance routines as she is at performing them. She's also been known to charm or bluff her way through situations when called for. The influence of Castorhage seeps into its residents, and in Touch, they've manifested in the powers of a mesmerist. Just by looking at someone, she can weaken their mind and make them more open to new things - like her penchant for discreetly casting Unnatural Lust and watching the entertainment from a safe place. She's best described as someone with an impish sense of humor - she's willing to trick people for fun, but rarely wants to make them suffer. As a result of her focus on the performing arts, Touch is more affable and friendly to people besides primitive elves than most of her kind - though this is better understood as tolerance and a desire for attention more than liking them. To her, most people are a crowd waiting to give her adulation - the few she calls her friends are much dearer to her heart, however, and she often goes out of her way to help and support them (ranging from satisfying their desires to giving them a place to sleep to going on adventures and escapades - both of which, incidentally, are often used as material for her songs and dances). Her main goals in life are twofold. First, like much of the city, Touch wants to be wealthier. Artists are difficult to classify in the city's caste system, but at the very least, many of them can earn enough to maintain an opulent life in the artist's quarter. Second, she wants to produce more (and better) art. Touch gets along well with the Triad, a Xi'en gang with multiple facets that maintains a significant influence in the Artist's Quarter's Little Xi'en district. While not Xi'en herself - indeed, Touch is not even human - her interest in their songs and dances eventually won them over, and she's now welcome throughout most of the district. They also taught her Xaon (the language of the local Xi'en and Gtsang groups) to help her maintain the connection - and later Tli'liik, their thieves' cant. Over the years, she's become quite fluent in Xaon, and her obvious mastery of the tongue means both groups tend to treat her as a friend instead of an outsider when she uses it around them (and the thieves and pickpockets likewise when she uses Tli'liik - indeed, one bit of her clothing is actually a message in Tli'liik marking her as someone to leave alone). She's not a true insider because she's not a member of the Triad (or even just a member of their ethnic groups), but she's treated much better than the tourists, and more than once she's put on performances (or helped design them) at no charge when they needed a bit of help. In turn, they've occasionally turned up at her official performances to give an air of popularity to her, helping her reach greater heights and wider audiences. While she spends most of her time in the city in the Artist's Quarter, Touch has also spent a bit of time in the Booktown area across the Town Bridge, plying her trade. She's actually released several books of her own - mostly books on choreography (a major focus of her artistic obsession) sold both within Booktown and in the Artist's Quarter. |
