Nightingale (Vin Alt)
Jan 23, 2017 11:39:53 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2017 11:39:53 GMT -6
Name:Nightingale
Class:Manakete
Age:1154
Born in:Illia
Appearance:Human: Nightingale stands at 5ft 2 with ice blue eyes, and long black hair. Living for centuries in Illia her skin is very pale contrasting strongly with her hair. She typically wears her hair, tied with purple ribbons, in free flowing pigtails that fall to her hips with enough left over to cover her pointed ears. She has a slim build and the appearance of a woman who has only just come of age. Her common dress is a short blue dress with white fur lining and tights underneath to preserve modesty and aid in the idea of warmth. In truth she is unaffected by the cold.
Dragon: Though it has been many centuries since she had taken such a shape she has a long build but not a bulky one. If compared to a lizard she is more like a salamander than a horny-toad. Her wings are thin and very long. The membrane is slightly transparent to offer a look as though one were looking through ice. Her body is scaled but lacks the sharpness of many other dragons instead retaining a much more lithe body that more snakes than anything else. Her tail is as long as her body doubling her overall length. She stands 12M and is 25M long. Her wingspan is roughly 18M
Personality:Nightingale is a woman of many personas. She watches to see what she thinks the humans would like best from her and takes on the role. This has led her to often suppress her true self. She is full of held back aggression and often it comes out through snark and passive comments. Her opinions on humans has fluctuated through the years as she has witnessed both the best and the worst they had to offer. On average she will assume the worst of them until she has been proven otherwise, even then she tends to hold a bit of skepticism about herself. Though she is slow to trust people she will fiercely devote herself to those she does. This can often become suffocating to the receiver or endearing, it just depends on them. This behavior stems from outliving all those around her as she wants the best for the people closest to her.
Unfortunately she has never encountered another dragon, or at least been aware of any such meetings. If she were to meet one she would have many questions for them and become a chatterbox; wanting to know all about their life and experiences. To see how their paths had differed and overlapped. While many of her long lived kind have a tendency to pursue knowledge she has dedicated herself to studying new crafts. She is an excellent seamstress, chef, maid, and much more.
History:To understand Nightingale’s story one must know a portion of the Gall family history as well. Only two centuries had passed since the Scouring and mankind had not forgotten. A woman now known as the saintess Fein or the Lady Fein was a new inquisitor in the church. During her pilgrimage she heard tale of dragons living in Illia. Her investigation was long and thorough until the day she did find her targets. With her blade Eredil and a band of companions she smote the dragons that lived there taking their stones as trophies. It was here that her sole act of kindness was born. Finding a manakete child something struck her heart. Reminded of her own children she hesitated to kill. She instead stole the dragonstone from the child and left them to fend for themselves.
The two stones of the parents were presented to the church where she was praised for her martial skill, insight, and the blessings of Elimine that protected her through her ordeals. Her armor, and blade, now broken, would be enshrined in the village church of her birth and the third stone, the one of the child, became a symbol of her house. Due to her fame and wealth it became custom for the firstborn woman to inherit the stone and the fortune, though they would still take the name of the husband. The truth of the stone would never be revealed but its worth would grow immensely with each successive generation. At present it has found its way to the Lycian woman Elaina Gall whos uncle hunts her for the stone.
As one may infer the stone is that of Nightingale’s, who was the manakete child. Though she was young, even by manakete standards she was still far older than the inquisitor had guessed. Nightingale was devastated by all of the tragedy and loss. Losing her parents embittered her, and losing her stone was like losing a part of herself, never again to take dragon form.
Alone and not with a penny to her name, but far from helpless, she set out for somewhere far from the village of her youth. In a distant town she would meet an elderly woman looking for an assistant in her old age. Nightingale had found this would be the perfect time to rob the woman and take off better for it. The old lady, despite Nightingale’s lack of knowledge as a seamstress or cook allowed her to stay. The first few nights Nightingale had worked obediently taking care of the meanial chores and learning about the work she did. It was pleasant enough but she was still a human.
The last night of her third week she gathered up whatever valuables to sell, and food she could carry and prepared to leave only to notice the old woman still awake. Initially Nightingale cursed her luck until she realized the lady was sobbing and holding an old tearstained letter. Curiosity got the better of her and she investigated. It was a letter from her now deceased husband, apparently the last letter he wrote to her. Empathy overcame Nightingale and she stayed, returning everything to its rightful place, but if she were to stay she would have to reveal the truth eventually.
It came then time for a haircut. Nightingale and the old lady were now quite fond of each other, or at least as fond as Nightingale could allow herself to be. Despite her initial refusal Nightingale had to accept before it became too unmanageable. The old woman discovered the pointed ears and soon had a myriad of questions. Knowing the tales and word of dead dragons having spread fear took her initially. Nightingale was prepared to flee before the old lady simply continued striking up simple chat that acknowledged she knew the truth but was far too old to care, or perhaps too senile.
Nightingale lived as the rarely seen helper to the old lady for another ten years until age took the old lady. Nightingale inherited her shop and home and would go on to sew a number of quilts and clothes for the townspeople until they noticed her lack of aging. For two years it went dismissed at the third it was a mix of suspicion and jealousy over her youth, by the fourth she was forced to leave before her secret was ousted.
Nightingale travelled all over Illia staying in villages for only a few years at a time, learning new crafts or revisiting her old ones along the way. She lived this half-life for centuries until she had finally aged to appear as a young adult might. Her exceptional skills and fair beauty caught the eye of a noble lad and she was invited to work at the manor. She had assumed it would last as any of her other stays among the humans but she was very wrong.
Early days at the manor were simple enough, do the chores, enjoy time off in the afternoons, and even make money to do this. She was often praised for the quality of her work. She kept her heritage a secret and it was fine for the longest. It was when the noble saw her one evening and recalled his reason for inviting her to work for him in the first place. It started simple enough, a promotion to the noble’s personal servant. The two got along and Nightingale helped the man with his work where she could, centuries of experience lent her quite an array of expertise after all. The issues began when the gifts did. It was only a necklace she thought.
Despite friendship Nightingale did not reciprocate the feelings of the noble man. This caused him much grief and increasing frustration. As the demands for him to wed a proper noble grew so too did his frustration. The man eventually believed that if he came clean about his desires then everything could come to a close, and even if he must marry a noblewoman Nightingale could remain his, surely. This was not the case. Nightingale rejected his confession and was further appalled by his polygamous proposal.
Unable to tell him that she did not want him for him she instead tried to tell him it was because of her. That is was her own fault they could not be. She made the mistake of revealing her heritage as a manakete to the noble and everything happened so quickly. His terror and rage, the overturned furniture and broken glass. She ran, she ran from the manor ceaselessly having realized how foolish she was and how humans could not be trusted.
As she ran into the night she came across a cart, slowly moving along the road. She hopped in the back and road until morning, not caring where she ended up. She could not go home for quite some time. In the morning the kart’s owner woke her yelling about people like her and how she was going to ruin his valuable produce laying in it. Though it was not a pleasant first meeting she felt the need to correct the man on what he had purchased. It would seem the man was swindled.
Equal parts devastated by his likely poverty and impressed by Nightingale’s knowledge he asked her to partner with him. She refused. He was not too proud to beg, on his knees, and latching to her leg. So, she accepted begrudgingly. The two were actually a good pair and despite all of Nightingale’s snark the merchant, William, simply brushed it all off since things were turning around with her help.
Though it took time Nightingale did warm to William. When a deal was made that would bring the two all the way to Bern Nightingale felt a mixture of fear and excitement. This would be the first she left Illia’s borders. She had long abandoned the idea of finding her stone but travelling the world brought with it opportunity. But how would she ask William to help look for it without outing herself?
The initial journey was simple and Nightingale felt like a wide eyed child everytime they entered a new land. In markets she would find time to slip away and search for her stone, and if there was a church she made extra certain to look there but never to meet with success.
When the two made it to Bern the deal went over without a hitch. With money and time Nightingale continued her search as usual but something new happened. She met a man who had collected a number of stones. Implications aside she felt elated at the prospect but she got her hopes too high. There were a total of five, an impressive feat on the part of the seller but without hers there it did not matter.
That evening she would not even speak with William. On the road William began to pry believing he had done something to upset her. Despite insistence she was fine she was forced to reveal to him what she was upset about. Initially he tried to comfort her by telling her they are just stones, having believed she did not find one that looked good, he was a rather dense man. It was then Nightingale gave up and told him the truth.
William did not react, he did not do much of anything for that matter, he focused on the road and the day passed in silence. In the night when the two made camp Nightingale prepared to leave once more but William stopped her. He explained he did not mind what she was and would be loath to lose such a great business partner. In fact, he swore to help her search for her stone.
And so the two did just that for three years. The two met with varying successes and losses and despite leads ultimately never found her stone. That third year was when a romance began to bloom between the two. Initially Nightingale was happy but the truth of mortality reared its head. She would outlive William, they could not grow old together, and she would be alone again. So she hardened her heart and broke things off.
William would find love again, this time with a human woman. The two would never meet after she left but at his funeral she came. She paid her respects and mourned but none there knew her and she returned to Illia.
Now she simply weathered the storms of the changing world and got by as she had previously done. When merchants came through she would search for her stone but never find it. Now, with the invasion of Illia by Etruria she has been forced from her current home and begins to wander anew. She thinks to herself perhaps she should go somewhere less turbulent, like Bern.
NPC fight:ALT
PC fight:ALT
Class:Manakete
Age:1154
Born in:Illia
Appearance:Human: Nightingale stands at 5ft 2 with ice blue eyes, and long black hair. Living for centuries in Illia her skin is very pale contrasting strongly with her hair. She typically wears her hair, tied with purple ribbons, in free flowing pigtails that fall to her hips with enough left over to cover her pointed ears. She has a slim build and the appearance of a woman who has only just come of age. Her common dress is a short blue dress with white fur lining and tights underneath to preserve modesty and aid in the idea of warmth. In truth she is unaffected by the cold.
Dragon: Though it has been many centuries since she had taken such a shape she has a long build but not a bulky one. If compared to a lizard she is more like a salamander than a horny-toad. Her wings are thin and very long. The membrane is slightly transparent to offer a look as though one were looking through ice. Her body is scaled but lacks the sharpness of many other dragons instead retaining a much more lithe body that more snakes than anything else. Her tail is as long as her body doubling her overall length. She stands 12M and is 25M long. Her wingspan is roughly 18M
Personality:Nightingale is a woman of many personas. She watches to see what she thinks the humans would like best from her and takes on the role. This has led her to often suppress her true self. She is full of held back aggression and often it comes out through snark and passive comments. Her opinions on humans has fluctuated through the years as she has witnessed both the best and the worst they had to offer. On average she will assume the worst of them until she has been proven otherwise, even then she tends to hold a bit of skepticism about herself. Though she is slow to trust people she will fiercely devote herself to those she does. This can often become suffocating to the receiver or endearing, it just depends on them. This behavior stems from outliving all those around her as she wants the best for the people closest to her.
Unfortunately she has never encountered another dragon, or at least been aware of any such meetings. If she were to meet one she would have many questions for them and become a chatterbox; wanting to know all about their life and experiences. To see how their paths had differed and overlapped. While many of her long lived kind have a tendency to pursue knowledge she has dedicated herself to studying new crafts. She is an excellent seamstress, chef, maid, and much more.
History:To understand Nightingale’s story one must know a portion of the Gall family history as well. Only two centuries had passed since the Scouring and mankind had not forgotten. A woman now known as the saintess Fein or the Lady Fein was a new inquisitor in the church. During her pilgrimage she heard tale of dragons living in Illia. Her investigation was long and thorough until the day she did find her targets. With her blade Eredil and a band of companions she smote the dragons that lived there taking their stones as trophies. It was here that her sole act of kindness was born. Finding a manakete child something struck her heart. Reminded of her own children she hesitated to kill. She instead stole the dragonstone from the child and left them to fend for themselves.
The two stones of the parents were presented to the church where she was praised for her martial skill, insight, and the blessings of Elimine that protected her through her ordeals. Her armor, and blade, now broken, would be enshrined in the village church of her birth and the third stone, the one of the child, became a symbol of her house. Due to her fame and wealth it became custom for the firstborn woman to inherit the stone and the fortune, though they would still take the name of the husband. The truth of the stone would never be revealed but its worth would grow immensely with each successive generation. At present it has found its way to the Lycian woman Elaina Gall whos uncle hunts her for the stone.
As one may infer the stone is that of Nightingale’s, who was the manakete child. Though she was young, even by manakete standards she was still far older than the inquisitor had guessed. Nightingale was devastated by all of the tragedy and loss. Losing her parents embittered her, and losing her stone was like losing a part of herself, never again to take dragon form.
Alone and not with a penny to her name, but far from helpless, she set out for somewhere far from the village of her youth. In a distant town she would meet an elderly woman looking for an assistant in her old age. Nightingale had found this would be the perfect time to rob the woman and take off better for it. The old lady, despite Nightingale’s lack of knowledge as a seamstress or cook allowed her to stay. The first few nights Nightingale had worked obediently taking care of the meanial chores and learning about the work she did. It was pleasant enough but she was still a human.
The last night of her third week she gathered up whatever valuables to sell, and food she could carry and prepared to leave only to notice the old woman still awake. Initially Nightingale cursed her luck until she realized the lady was sobbing and holding an old tearstained letter. Curiosity got the better of her and she investigated. It was a letter from her now deceased husband, apparently the last letter he wrote to her. Empathy overcame Nightingale and she stayed, returning everything to its rightful place, but if she were to stay she would have to reveal the truth eventually.
It came then time for a haircut. Nightingale and the old lady were now quite fond of each other, or at least as fond as Nightingale could allow herself to be. Despite her initial refusal Nightingale had to accept before it became too unmanageable. The old woman discovered the pointed ears and soon had a myriad of questions. Knowing the tales and word of dead dragons having spread fear took her initially. Nightingale was prepared to flee before the old lady simply continued striking up simple chat that acknowledged she knew the truth but was far too old to care, or perhaps too senile.
Nightingale lived as the rarely seen helper to the old lady for another ten years until age took the old lady. Nightingale inherited her shop and home and would go on to sew a number of quilts and clothes for the townspeople until they noticed her lack of aging. For two years it went dismissed at the third it was a mix of suspicion and jealousy over her youth, by the fourth she was forced to leave before her secret was ousted.
Nightingale travelled all over Illia staying in villages for only a few years at a time, learning new crafts or revisiting her old ones along the way. She lived this half-life for centuries until she had finally aged to appear as a young adult might. Her exceptional skills and fair beauty caught the eye of a noble lad and she was invited to work at the manor. She had assumed it would last as any of her other stays among the humans but she was very wrong.
Early days at the manor were simple enough, do the chores, enjoy time off in the afternoons, and even make money to do this. She was often praised for the quality of her work. She kept her heritage a secret and it was fine for the longest. It was when the noble saw her one evening and recalled his reason for inviting her to work for him in the first place. It started simple enough, a promotion to the noble’s personal servant. The two got along and Nightingale helped the man with his work where she could, centuries of experience lent her quite an array of expertise after all. The issues began when the gifts did. It was only a necklace she thought.
Despite friendship Nightingale did not reciprocate the feelings of the noble man. This caused him much grief and increasing frustration. As the demands for him to wed a proper noble grew so too did his frustration. The man eventually believed that if he came clean about his desires then everything could come to a close, and even if he must marry a noblewoman Nightingale could remain his, surely. This was not the case. Nightingale rejected his confession and was further appalled by his polygamous proposal.
Unable to tell him that she did not want him for him she instead tried to tell him it was because of her. That is was her own fault they could not be. She made the mistake of revealing her heritage as a manakete to the noble and everything happened so quickly. His terror and rage, the overturned furniture and broken glass. She ran, she ran from the manor ceaselessly having realized how foolish she was and how humans could not be trusted.
As she ran into the night she came across a cart, slowly moving along the road. She hopped in the back and road until morning, not caring where she ended up. She could not go home for quite some time. In the morning the kart’s owner woke her yelling about people like her and how she was going to ruin his valuable produce laying in it. Though it was not a pleasant first meeting she felt the need to correct the man on what he had purchased. It would seem the man was swindled.
Equal parts devastated by his likely poverty and impressed by Nightingale’s knowledge he asked her to partner with him. She refused. He was not too proud to beg, on his knees, and latching to her leg. So, she accepted begrudgingly. The two were actually a good pair and despite all of Nightingale’s snark the merchant, William, simply brushed it all off since things were turning around with her help.
Though it took time Nightingale did warm to William. When a deal was made that would bring the two all the way to Bern Nightingale felt a mixture of fear and excitement. This would be the first she left Illia’s borders. She had long abandoned the idea of finding her stone but travelling the world brought with it opportunity. But how would she ask William to help look for it without outing herself?
The initial journey was simple and Nightingale felt like a wide eyed child everytime they entered a new land. In markets she would find time to slip away and search for her stone, and if there was a church she made extra certain to look there but never to meet with success.
When the two made it to Bern the deal went over without a hitch. With money and time Nightingale continued her search as usual but something new happened. She met a man who had collected a number of stones. Implications aside she felt elated at the prospect but she got her hopes too high. There were a total of five, an impressive feat on the part of the seller but without hers there it did not matter.
That evening she would not even speak with William. On the road William began to pry believing he had done something to upset her. Despite insistence she was fine she was forced to reveal to him what she was upset about. Initially he tried to comfort her by telling her they are just stones, having believed she did not find one that looked good, he was a rather dense man. It was then Nightingale gave up and told him the truth.
William did not react, he did not do much of anything for that matter, he focused on the road and the day passed in silence. In the night when the two made camp Nightingale prepared to leave once more but William stopped her. He explained he did not mind what she was and would be loath to lose such a great business partner. In fact, he swore to help her search for her stone.
And so the two did just that for three years. The two met with varying successes and losses and despite leads ultimately never found her stone. That third year was when a romance began to bloom between the two. Initially Nightingale was happy but the truth of mortality reared its head. She would outlive William, they could not grow old together, and she would be alone again. So she hardened her heart and broke things off.
William would find love again, this time with a human woman. The two would never meet after she left but at his funeral she came. She paid her respects and mourned but none there knew her and she returned to Illia.
Now she simply weathered the storms of the changing world and got by as she had previously done. When merchants came through she would search for her stone but never find it. Now, with the invasion of Illia by Etruria she has been forced from her current home and begins to wander anew. She thinks to herself perhaps she should go somewhere less turbulent, like Bern.
NPC fight:ALT
PC fight:ALT
Kirala-Daughter