[Character Application] - Niamh Windwalker

Race, Looks & Personality
Name: Niamh Windwalker
Gender: Female
Place of Birth: Ursa Etheria, Isle of the Earth Mother
Looks: Narrow, elongated features and a prominent nose. While not beautiful by human standards, there is something striking to her features that leaves a mark in the memories of those she interacts with. Her sun-dappled brown hair is kept short-cropped with a natural wave. This is not a woman who would blend easily within a crowd... once she was noticed.

Though her garments appear local, she has made some additions of her own, utilizing leather and bits of bone to fashion a garment that looks a bit more piecemeal, and a bit different than the average farmer might wear. Her hunting knives are of bone, but carefully etched to approximate the size and shape of metal. She doesn’t always carry it with her, but the one item she did trade for was a bow and arrow.

Large black pupils are rimmed by a fierce golden-yellow iris, and her expressive features generally reflect her moods. Artifice does not come naturally to her. Her voice is rich and melodic, suited to music and stories. Stories, music and tales will quickly engage her interest, as the oral traditions of her people are passed along via such methodologies.

Age: 29
Height: 5'3"
Race: Kanthrop
Religion: Ursa

General Information
Why are you in the Great Frozen Beyond/(Port Town)?
Niamh arrived on the isle the prior Yahren and has been living in the Great Frozen Beyond as she reorients herself. Having been captured in her Kanthrop form, and lost for a time to her inner Falcon Spirit, it has taken her a long time to regain her full reason since she broke free of those bonds. Used to living simply, and no stranger to hard work, she was initially slow to integrate into the local community, initially more comfortable with living in the wilds.

Now having regained her strength, both mental and physical, she seeks information regarding the merchant who kept her captive, who believed her to be something more than just a falcon, but could never prove or profit from that suspicion. The initial lapse that led to her capture has left her feeling she has betrayed her kind, and that guilt has provided her a temporary goal in exacting punishment and achieving an absolution of sorts for her errors. Yet she doesn’t know if his passage through the Isles was one of permanent intent, or merely en route to elsewhere. For all she knows, the man may be far beyond her reach. Her memories of that time are hazy, as she had lapsed into animal instinct, the better to not betray herself, relying on her Falcon Spirit’s senses and instincts. But she has the merchant's name, the token stolen from her that is now in his possession, and a vivid memory of a face and voice that will not fade.

Shame has kept her adrift from her people. While she yearns to return home to the safety and familiarity of the clan, she has been gone so long, her path distorted beyond recognition, that she fears the reactions of those she Honors most. Life beyond Ursa Etheria has honed her skills and strengthened her in some ways, and yet in others it has cast her into a sea of self-doubt. Her self-imposed isolation has worn heavy on her, being a social creature at heart. Fear and longing make the necessary reintegration into the nearby populace a complicated venture, but a necessary one, as the deep cold of winter sets in.

What is your wealth level? Basic (Possibly 'unskilled'?, recommendations welcome. She's not unskilled, but is a hunter/gatherer/occasional laborer)
Describe your current circumstances.
Niamh has provided for herself by hunting and fishing, utilizing the skills taught to every Kit from Ursa Etheria. The lack of metal tools or much in the way of supplies has not hindered her Survival much, as she knows how to make the most of what she has, utilizing everything natural she can find to be as self-sufficient as possible.

For the things she cannot easily provide herself, she has amassed skins and furs for trade. Her tendency at first was to trade more with the Gnomes, who tend not to pry, though she has grown confident enough since the past spring to begin trading within the city and to certain farmsteads. A spark of her mischief-making has returned, and she sometimes has amused herself by finding ways to play with the local children in both her animal and human form. Though undeniably strange, according to human standards, and a little flighty, she may not come across as overtly threatening to those of open minds.

In mannerisms, she doesn’t always recognize personal space unless she makes conscious note of it, and her perception of ‘ownership’ is sometimes a little gray, having grown up in a culture where everyone took care of one another, and beyond a few special tokens, shared much of their belongings. If she made use of a farmer’s supplies and stocks, however, they often found an offering in kind of fresh game or a bit of leather or tanned hide. These missteps caused her some issues in her first interactions with those upon the Isle, and while some regard her with wary animosity, others may find themselves charmed and amused by her oddities. She has since made more of a habit of making sure others are willing to trade, but every so often she still sees no issue with borrowing things now and then. They'll get returned. Eventually.

She prefers to trade in barter, rather than coin, and yet exhibits a curiosity and interest in simple trinkets, pendants and other local wearables.

Her abilities lend themselves more to agility than strength.

Skills
((3 skills at Basic, 2 at Apprentice and one at Journeyman, plus the skills your starting position allows at Journeyman.))

1) Lore [Storytelling] - Basic
2) Nature Lore - Basic
3) Weapon - Piercing weapons long distance - Basic
4) Leather Working - Apprentice
5) Survival - Apprentice
6) Inner Spirit - Kanthrop - Journeyman -Edit-
7) Polymorph - Kanthrop - Journeyman -Edit-
Location Starting Skills:
SP) Fighting - Basic? -Edit-
SP) Scouting - Basic? -Edit-
SP) Hunting [Bow] - Basic? -Edit-
SP)Geography [Shorewich] -Edit-

Background
(Incl. References to prior play in Tazlure)
Background
As most Kanthrop, she arrived in Ursa Etheria when she was a kit five yahren of age. Her life did not vary greatly from day to day, their tribal life pleasant, simple and straightforward. Her temperament was of a mischievous bent and, coupled with her innate inquisitiveness, meant that she spent a substantial time before the clan Kanthan (elders).

This all changed the yahren of her Awakening, when her homeland fell from its perch among the clouds thus definitively ending the seclusion of the Kanthrop from the rest of the world. A darkness arose to stalk the night, held at bay only by light, and unable to be fought by any usual means. Blade could not touch them, nor bow. The Kanthrop named these Cryers, for the way the creatures voices crawled into the minds of those they sought.

Not long after these events, an expedition arrived from regions beyond Ursa Etheria, and they trundled into this conflict, to much dismay, consternation and injury on all sides. When the expedition left, days later and many bodies lighter, Niamh was one of a handful of Kanthrop who went with it, seeking adventure, learning, or better weapons that might fight the enemy of their homeland.

Veteran: http://tazlure.nl/board/viewtopic.php?f=240&t=14840&sid=1715a65d41eeb215689127853c29f0b7

Niamh left the confines of Ursa Etheria in search of knowledge to aid their fight against the dark entities, called Cryers, which threatened her home. Naive and inexperienced, she spent a great deal of time observing, trying to blend in (often unsuccessfully), and encountering her own little adventures. Her own lack of knowledge of the outside word raised somewhat of a barrier to gaining new information, it was not that she lacked intelligence, more that she struggled with the social mores and customs that seemed so alien to her. The War of the One lent itself to a chaos that didn’t appeal to her, and she sought to stay as far from its struggles as possible, this rather limited her opportunities.

Some time after leaving, she crossed paths with another of her kind, hearing that the problems at home had been resolved. She set her sights on returning to settle in the home of her parents, and make a new place for herself among the Wavetalon Tribe. She spent a few yahren there, before embarking on another restless walkabout, due mainly to a defunct romantic relationship.

En route, a series of poor choices led a merchant to observe the final moments of her warp between forms. Thinking to cater to those wealthy collectors of oddities, both inanimate and also living, the merchant managed to set a trap to capture her. Much to his dismay, however, the Falcon he caught remained a Falcon, no matter what inducements he sought to provide. Over time, those who heard his story accused him of shamming so that even he began to doubt what he had first seen. Time grew hazy for her, during this period, and unable to revert to her human form, she retreated deep within herself, allowing the Peregrine’s instincts to protect her.

A yahren prior to this Yuletide, she escaped while the Merchant’s ship was in port. In a transaction gone awry, a false sense of complacency between buyer and seller granted her an avenue of escape. Since then, she has slowly regained some grasp of her own being, and regained more control over the Inner Spirit that had been allowed control for so long. (See above)

Belongings
Niamh has very little to her name that she could not find in the wilds or make for herself. Exceptions are:
*Bow / arrows.
*Flint and Steel (The steel has a not-metallic grip)
*Dark Gray Cloak, she has added fur lining to the opening and hood.
*Thread
*Gloves
*Boots

Items she has made for herself:
*Bone Needle
*Bone knives - used mostly for skinning and other tasks, not well-suited for fighting.
*Several small leather pouches on a belt (belt is tied, not buckled) - individual pouches small enough she could transport them short distances in Falcon form if full, medium distances if not very full.
*Little coin, but a number of animal skins/leather to trade (amount as a mod deems appropriate)

Potential Story Hooks for other players:
Is your character...
*Located in Frozen Great Beyond?
*Farmer she might have interacted with?
*Storyteller? (Might have encountered in inn/pub setting).
*Were you the Merchant interested in buying the hawk from the Merchant who was selling her?

Does your character...
*Trade in leather/furs/fresh game? (In city or elsewhere on Shorewich)

PM with any ideas.

This is a lovely sheet, and I can work that into the story quite well. I've not yet read your PM, but please be sure to give me information about the merchant so I can incorperate that.

Basic level is good for wealth. As for skills for being a Kanthrop, and your veteran status, lets assume she's a journeyman in all that it requires to be fully functional as one (polymorph, inner spirit etc.), but no more.
Yes, go for Geography Shorewich.

Feel free to contact other PCs before we start to establish prior relationships, but be sure to announce them for approval.

Oh, forgot to mention: next week I'm putting all sheets that have been approved in the appropriate forum, and will also add you to player user group.

Thank you for your PM. Will reply next week including notes on things Niamh might know beforehand.

Associations with Wigmore "Eyes" - farmer/trading/source of 'shrooms. Amenable acquaintances, don't share history. Niamh relates a bit more readily to those in the Frozen Great Beyond than city types.
Associations with Hex - encounters in the Frozen Beyond, shared 'other'ness.