Post by illyana on Sept 28, 2009 22:38:41 GMT -6
Name:
Illyana Polina Dementyeva
Age:
55, looks early twenties
Gender:
Female
Race:
Witch
Hails From:
Everywhere, spent a great deal of her youth on the edge of Eiteria
Ranking:
Gypsy master
Weapons:
Poison tipped daggers, any blunt object she can find, vodka bottles (empty or full, sometimes broken), charm bags
Abilities:
Illyana wasn't a traditionally trained witch. She uses gypsy magic which comprises of more folk means of achieving spells. She uses her magick through herbal mixtures, potions, incantations, candles, smoke, cards, teas, bones, sewing, sacrifice, and other such things. Although, by and large in the mystical community, the gypsy arts are considered inferior, none would deny the fear that stems from the gypsy curses. A lot of her magick deals more in enchantments and subtler magicks than forceful power; however, other witches and wizards tend to have an edge against her, especially in a direct confrontation, due to that fact.
Her most dangerous curse is the werewolf curse, though, she's never used it. It's a family secret. It's used on humans who cross the family or in Illyana's case, cross her in a sincerely horrible way. Illyana takes a lock of their hair, goes into the woods underneath a full moon, finds the carcass of a wolf, and braids his/her hair with the hair of the wolf, dips it in the blood, then, in a silver bowl, holds it under the moonlight. She recites the incantation, and by the next full moon, he/she will become a werewolf until the curse is revoked. It can be revoked by exceptionally skilled witches or wizards learned in this type of curse, but usually, it requires Illyana herself to remove it.
There are different levels of the curse as well, depending on the offense. The most minor level is that the victim believes themselves to be a werewolf and hallucinates as such, and the most severe is that the human is permanently transformed into the beast-form, with or without the full moon, in which case, they are virtually damned to a life of rabid, senseless violence to appease an unending hunger.
It can be used on other witches/wizards, but it is rarely effective, unless done on the apprentice level or lower.
All other races are exempt from the curse.
Illyana is an exceptionally skilled fortune teller. She loses herself to trances, reads cards, palms, omens and tea leaves. Her readings vary, depending on the audience, and she has been known to provide nothing but utter nonsense for a copper. She's exceptional at reading others, partially thanks to her familiar, and depending on the querent, she will tell the truth or tell lies.
Companions:
Cat - A Russian Blue by the name of Ivan. He is special in that he can sense magick, see spirits, and bind lesser spirits. He is in tune with the emotions of others and underlying intentions, and he can communicate to Illyana through his eyes, which are a haze of gray. He is very protective of Illyana and has been known to bite the occasional customer he deems undesirable.
Occupation: Fortune-teller, Apothecary
Appearance:
Illyana is a beauty hailing from the North lands, and consequently, she is physically incapable of blending in with the crowd. Her cheekbones are high, contrasted by a smooth, slender jawline, creating a groove in the skin between them. Her skin is a gilded bronze, readily soaking the sun and rarely burning. Her eyes are a deep, mystical blue, filled with ocean swirls, fading from light and silvery to dark shades of azure around the black pupil, giving her eyes the appearance of a deep pool. She stands a statuesque height of 5' 9", slender in form, with carved, endless legs, and a firm, tapered waist. Her shoulders are broad yet sloping; they enhance the slimness of her waist and barely push past the full, span of her hips. She has "witch" hands, also known as "elegant, lady fingers;" they are delicate and lengthy, and by comparison, her palms are small. Her hair is waist-length, golden blonde, luxurious and thick, and she washes it daily with chamomile and rosemary, with hints of jasmine when she can afford it, giving the locks a very alluring, sweet scent when mingled with her own natural pheromones.
She sews her clothing on her own with the most lavish and beautiful fabrics she can find. She adorns herself in peasant blouses, usually rich cream colors, hanging from her sloping shoulders. Embroidered scarves, usually of a pale blue color speckled with golden stitches, hold her hair in loose ponytails, and she usually matches her billowy, knee or ankle length skirts with similar brocades and colors. She coats her wrists and ankles with bangles and anklets, and her ears are full of dangling earrings, hoops, thin chains, gilded ornaments, or whatever she can find to fill the numerous small holes in the lobes and cartilage of each ear. She has three lobe piercings, and five piercings through the cartilage on each ear. Almost every article of clothing she wears jingles, little ornaments, jewelry and charms sewn onto the edges of the fabrics. She wears dozens of necklaces of varying lengths, boasting rare jeweled pendants encrusted in brassy gold and various animal bones and feathers.
Personality:
Illyana is calm, collected and poised. The weather of her birth lands has effected her demeanor, and to most, she seems cold, distant and callous. She's to the point, down to earth, and has a tendency to blurt things she sees out, but only unimportant things. She keeps to herself and prefers the company of her cat to most "intelligible" beings. She interacts socially with others only when conducting business, and besides that, she prefers quiet, solitude.
She's eccentric, and she's not constricted by social norms. She sees it as a liberation. If she feels like skipping, humming, dancing, or saying something considered inappropriate, she will without hesitation. Most see it as crazy, but she's far from it. She lives in reality, she simply doesn't care about those around her, the gawking faces, the dirty looks. She ignores them and moves on with her life. Women despise her, men find her fascinating, and she couldn't care either way.
Despite her loner ways, which shouldn't denote a negative connotation considering she enjoys it thoroughly, she does connect to certain people. If she finds someone interesting, good natured, or deserving of her talents during a reading, she doesn't hesitate to encourage a friendship or at the very least, give them sound advice on their inquiries. She's empathetic and feeling to those who deserve it, and she's stoic to those that do not. Fairly cut and dry.
History:
Her family was the caravan, and they raised her together, a moving community of nomads, thieves, hunters, brawlers, entertainers, traders, merchants, fortune tellers, witches. They were everything, and each and every one of them knew a little bit of everything. Her mother was a dancer, her father a fire-breather, and her grandmother, a witch, and they were all con-artists of the best sort.
They traveled all over the world of Yviex, and they hid on the outskirts of Eiteria, just below the reach of the dangers from the farther north, and just above the reaches of sensible pursuers. Every year, they made a long journey from their main, hidden camp on the rift of Eiteria to the city of Temarra, where they loaded up on the necessary tools for survival upon their return "home." They frequented other cities as well, but Temarra was the main target, always.
As a child, Temarra meant business, never a time for pleasure, and as soon as they made it through the gates, the children scattered through the streets, pick-pocketing. The men and women bartered, traded, entertained, and stole, and once they had taken enough, they left, easy come, easy go.
Illyana didn't have much motivation to steal. She found it futile and much preferred to sit on her grand mama's lap as she read the fortunes of hopeful young people or lost souls, wanting to know how their next encounter with the beautiful bar wench will go, or whether or not their next money making scheme will go through, whether they'll feed their family, etc. There was no age limit. And Illyana's Grandmother, Luda, read each and every fortune, sometimes accurate, sometimes nonsense, all depending on her perception of the questioning person.
As she grew older, she learned the ways of her family. She learned to dance, to sing, to steal, to trade, and most importantly, from her grandmother, she learned magic and foresight.
It was a rarity for one of the family to be born with blonde hair and blue eyes. Usually, they were more simple: brown-brown. Illyana was an oddity from the start and only felt more awkward as she grew older. She was revered, treated differently, and ostracized from the community in a special way. No one treated her poorly, no one ever said a dirty word toward her, but, no one said much to her at all. Save her grandmother, who was also, born with blonde hair and blue eyes. It was the mark of the witch. Illyana was to take her grandmother's place when she passed.
At the age of 13, she was no longer required to steal or entertain. She was strictly to learn the craft, and she did, quick and efficient. She studied under her grandmother's tutelage, memorized the herbs of the forest, of the plains, the mountains, etc. their properties, their mystical and healing value. She studied the incantations, both the foul and good. She learned to read the cards, tea leaves, and palms. She memorized the different omens, all the signs, both in the sky and on the earth. Illyana also met Ivan during this time. Somehow, he managed to wander into their camp, a mere kitten, and he immediately affixed himself to Illyana, refusing to be fed or pet by any other.
By 18, Illyana ran the fortune telling booth, with her grandmother at her side.
When in Eiteria, even on the outskirts, it was considered exceptionally dangerous. Luda kept them safe. She prepared spells and enchantments and placed them around the campsite, hiding it from prying eyes of creatures and sentient beings alike. Very few travelers in Eiteria ever found the camp, unless they were in dire need. Necromancers also saw through the veils, but in general, their undead weren't able to set foot past Luda's protections. Sometimes, they associated with the gypsies, and Illyana eyed them with curious fascination, but she never spoke to them.
When Illyana was 20, they returned from Temarra after the winter months had ended and headed back homeward in Eiteria for Spring and Summer, where the harsh cold would be less intense. Upon arrival, just as Luda was laying down the protective enchantments, evil approached. Living dead. They attacked the caravan, and very few of them survived, one of whom was Illyana. She never found out who else lived, as she did as she was told by her grandmother and took their wagon and fled and didn't stop until she reached Temarra.
After none of her kin showed up in the city, Illyana lived alone, surviving off fortune telling, casting spells for money, brewing love potions and elixirs, and occasionally, entertaining via dancing or body twisting.
She didn't stay in Temarra, even though it remains her most frequented city. She roams, from town to town, city to city, forest to mountains, etc., making ends meet, but never again will she set foot in Eiteria.
Illyana Polina Dementyeva
Age:
55, looks early twenties
Gender:
Female
Race:
Witch
Hails From:
Everywhere, spent a great deal of her youth on the edge of Eiteria
Ranking:
Gypsy master
Weapons:
Poison tipped daggers, any blunt object she can find, vodka bottles (empty or full, sometimes broken), charm bags
Abilities:
Illyana wasn't a traditionally trained witch. She uses gypsy magic which comprises of more folk means of achieving spells. She uses her magick through herbal mixtures, potions, incantations, candles, smoke, cards, teas, bones, sewing, sacrifice, and other such things. Although, by and large in the mystical community, the gypsy arts are considered inferior, none would deny the fear that stems from the gypsy curses. A lot of her magick deals more in enchantments and subtler magicks than forceful power; however, other witches and wizards tend to have an edge against her, especially in a direct confrontation, due to that fact.
Her most dangerous curse is the werewolf curse, though, she's never used it. It's a family secret. It's used on humans who cross the family or in Illyana's case, cross her in a sincerely horrible way. Illyana takes a lock of their hair, goes into the woods underneath a full moon, finds the carcass of a wolf, and braids his/her hair with the hair of the wolf, dips it in the blood, then, in a silver bowl, holds it under the moonlight. She recites the incantation, and by the next full moon, he/she will become a werewolf until the curse is revoked. It can be revoked by exceptionally skilled witches or wizards learned in this type of curse, but usually, it requires Illyana herself to remove it.
There are different levels of the curse as well, depending on the offense. The most minor level is that the victim believes themselves to be a werewolf and hallucinates as such, and the most severe is that the human is permanently transformed into the beast-form, with or without the full moon, in which case, they are virtually damned to a life of rabid, senseless violence to appease an unending hunger.
It can be used on other witches/wizards, but it is rarely effective, unless done on the apprentice level or lower.
All other races are exempt from the curse.
Illyana is an exceptionally skilled fortune teller. She loses herself to trances, reads cards, palms, omens and tea leaves. Her readings vary, depending on the audience, and she has been known to provide nothing but utter nonsense for a copper. She's exceptional at reading others, partially thanks to her familiar, and depending on the querent, she will tell the truth or tell lies.
Companions:
Cat - A Russian Blue by the name of Ivan. He is special in that he can sense magick, see spirits, and bind lesser spirits. He is in tune with the emotions of others and underlying intentions, and he can communicate to Illyana through his eyes, which are a haze of gray. He is very protective of Illyana and has been known to bite the occasional customer he deems undesirable.
Occupation: Fortune-teller, Apothecary
Appearance:
Illyana is a beauty hailing from the North lands, and consequently, she is physically incapable of blending in with the crowd. Her cheekbones are high, contrasted by a smooth, slender jawline, creating a groove in the skin between them. Her skin is a gilded bronze, readily soaking the sun and rarely burning. Her eyes are a deep, mystical blue, filled with ocean swirls, fading from light and silvery to dark shades of azure around the black pupil, giving her eyes the appearance of a deep pool. She stands a statuesque height of 5' 9", slender in form, with carved, endless legs, and a firm, tapered waist. Her shoulders are broad yet sloping; they enhance the slimness of her waist and barely push past the full, span of her hips. She has "witch" hands, also known as "elegant, lady fingers;" they are delicate and lengthy, and by comparison, her palms are small. Her hair is waist-length, golden blonde, luxurious and thick, and she washes it daily with chamomile and rosemary, with hints of jasmine when she can afford it, giving the locks a very alluring, sweet scent when mingled with her own natural pheromones.
She sews her clothing on her own with the most lavish and beautiful fabrics she can find. She adorns herself in peasant blouses, usually rich cream colors, hanging from her sloping shoulders. Embroidered scarves, usually of a pale blue color speckled with golden stitches, hold her hair in loose ponytails, and she usually matches her billowy, knee or ankle length skirts with similar brocades and colors. She coats her wrists and ankles with bangles and anklets, and her ears are full of dangling earrings, hoops, thin chains, gilded ornaments, or whatever she can find to fill the numerous small holes in the lobes and cartilage of each ear. She has three lobe piercings, and five piercings through the cartilage on each ear. Almost every article of clothing she wears jingles, little ornaments, jewelry and charms sewn onto the edges of the fabrics. She wears dozens of necklaces of varying lengths, boasting rare jeweled pendants encrusted in brassy gold and various animal bones and feathers.
Personality:
Illyana is calm, collected and poised. The weather of her birth lands has effected her demeanor, and to most, she seems cold, distant and callous. She's to the point, down to earth, and has a tendency to blurt things she sees out, but only unimportant things. She keeps to herself and prefers the company of her cat to most "intelligible" beings. She interacts socially with others only when conducting business, and besides that, she prefers quiet, solitude.
She's eccentric, and she's not constricted by social norms. She sees it as a liberation. If she feels like skipping, humming, dancing, or saying something considered inappropriate, she will without hesitation. Most see it as crazy, but she's far from it. She lives in reality, she simply doesn't care about those around her, the gawking faces, the dirty looks. She ignores them and moves on with her life. Women despise her, men find her fascinating, and she couldn't care either way.
Despite her loner ways, which shouldn't denote a negative connotation considering she enjoys it thoroughly, she does connect to certain people. If she finds someone interesting, good natured, or deserving of her talents during a reading, she doesn't hesitate to encourage a friendship or at the very least, give them sound advice on their inquiries. She's empathetic and feeling to those who deserve it, and she's stoic to those that do not. Fairly cut and dry.
History:
Her family was the caravan, and they raised her together, a moving community of nomads, thieves, hunters, brawlers, entertainers, traders, merchants, fortune tellers, witches. They were everything, and each and every one of them knew a little bit of everything. Her mother was a dancer, her father a fire-breather, and her grandmother, a witch, and they were all con-artists of the best sort.
They traveled all over the world of Yviex, and they hid on the outskirts of Eiteria, just below the reach of the dangers from the farther north, and just above the reaches of sensible pursuers. Every year, they made a long journey from their main, hidden camp on the rift of Eiteria to the city of Temarra, where they loaded up on the necessary tools for survival upon their return "home." They frequented other cities as well, but Temarra was the main target, always.
As a child, Temarra meant business, never a time for pleasure, and as soon as they made it through the gates, the children scattered through the streets, pick-pocketing. The men and women bartered, traded, entertained, and stole, and once they had taken enough, they left, easy come, easy go.
Illyana didn't have much motivation to steal. She found it futile and much preferred to sit on her grand mama's lap as she read the fortunes of hopeful young people or lost souls, wanting to know how their next encounter with the beautiful bar wench will go, or whether or not their next money making scheme will go through, whether they'll feed their family, etc. There was no age limit. And Illyana's Grandmother, Luda, read each and every fortune, sometimes accurate, sometimes nonsense, all depending on her perception of the questioning person.
As she grew older, she learned the ways of her family. She learned to dance, to sing, to steal, to trade, and most importantly, from her grandmother, she learned magic and foresight.
It was a rarity for one of the family to be born with blonde hair and blue eyes. Usually, they were more simple: brown-brown. Illyana was an oddity from the start and only felt more awkward as she grew older. She was revered, treated differently, and ostracized from the community in a special way. No one treated her poorly, no one ever said a dirty word toward her, but, no one said much to her at all. Save her grandmother, who was also, born with blonde hair and blue eyes. It was the mark of the witch. Illyana was to take her grandmother's place when she passed.
At the age of 13, she was no longer required to steal or entertain. She was strictly to learn the craft, and she did, quick and efficient. She studied under her grandmother's tutelage, memorized the herbs of the forest, of the plains, the mountains, etc. their properties, their mystical and healing value. She studied the incantations, both the foul and good. She learned to read the cards, tea leaves, and palms. She memorized the different omens, all the signs, both in the sky and on the earth. Illyana also met Ivan during this time. Somehow, he managed to wander into their camp, a mere kitten, and he immediately affixed himself to Illyana, refusing to be fed or pet by any other.
By 18, Illyana ran the fortune telling booth, with her grandmother at her side.
When in Eiteria, even on the outskirts, it was considered exceptionally dangerous. Luda kept them safe. She prepared spells and enchantments and placed them around the campsite, hiding it from prying eyes of creatures and sentient beings alike. Very few travelers in Eiteria ever found the camp, unless they were in dire need. Necromancers also saw through the veils, but in general, their undead weren't able to set foot past Luda's protections. Sometimes, they associated with the gypsies, and Illyana eyed them with curious fascination, but she never spoke to them.
When Illyana was 20, they returned from Temarra after the winter months had ended and headed back homeward in Eiteria for Spring and Summer, where the harsh cold would be less intense. Upon arrival, just as Luda was laying down the protective enchantments, evil approached. Living dead. They attacked the caravan, and very few of them survived, one of whom was Illyana. She never found out who else lived, as she did as she was told by her grandmother and took their wagon and fled and didn't stop until she reached Temarra.
After none of her kin showed up in the city, Illyana lived alone, surviving off fortune telling, casting spells for money, brewing love potions and elixirs, and occasionally, entertaining via dancing or body twisting.
She didn't stay in Temarra, even though it remains her most frequented city. She roams, from town to town, city to city, forest to mountains, etc., making ends meet, but never again will she set foot in Eiteria.