On A Desert Breeze
~Curiosity Killed the Magi~
Wandering aimlessly in the desert, hoping for a sign of change...
Main characters:
Zulu (Phoenix)
Character name: Zulu (full name is Zulutrisno Lakti Arninsano)
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Appearance: Before the change, Zulu had dark, almost umber colored skin. He comes from the black sands desert, so has the strikingly white hair of his people. He prefers to keep his hair long to protect his neck from the sun, so that it falls over his shoulders and down to his shoulder blades. He has dark brown eyes, the color of chocolate- which are alert and watching at all times.
His features are angular and sharp- with broad cheeks and masculine lines. However, he is quiet and reserved- often spending his time reading and studying rather than socializing.
Though his features look masculine and powerful, he is actually a fairly poor fighter. His muscles are defined only in his chest and arms from years of mining stone.
He dresses in brown pants made of light fabric, and a white tunic with black cuffs and collar. When traveling through the desert, he uses his white robes- which are essentially a massive white cloth, more wide than tall, to wrap around himself and protect his skin from the sun.
Since the transformation, he has changed drastically in appearance. His dark skin has turned to white, peach-tinted short fur, black stripes covering his entire body from head to toe. His ears have elongated into longer, larger ears, making them look more horse-like than human. Around his eyes are two patches of black stripes, which angle down to the bridge of his nose.
His hair as turned to a light blue, and he has cuffs of blue hair on his wrists, and thicker cuffs on his ankles.
His legs have changed most of all- becoming more horse-like than human, the joints have changed to look animal-like, and ending in two large cloven hooves. He sports a tail as long as he is tall, striped as the rest of him, and a blue tuft of hair at the end of it.
He has a large horn protruding out of his forehead, by far his most embarrassing and also hard to conceal feature.
His eyes have turned to an ice blue- though with his same expression, they look piercing rather than thoughtful.
Magistream creatures: Dark Saebra Unicorn
personality: Zulu is reserved and calm- he usually is the one to figure out a situation and deal with it, rather than panic about it. He thrives on knowledge- and when he finds something else he can learn, he does all he can to soak up as much information as he can. Because of this, he has adept survival skills, especially in a desert. He may know martial arts skills, but because of his new appearance and general lack of grace, he is very feeble with his skills. This embarrasses him quite a bit, considering he is the youngest brother of a line of warriors.
History: From the Iksha tribe of the southern black deserts, Zulu is the youngest son of five brothers- all born to one of the more renowned warriors of the region. While his older brothers hunted and learned fighting skills, Zulu found himself capable of magic- a rare gift in the desert.
His magic is different than magi's- instead of a particular element, he can only do one thing- but he does it well. Zulu is what is known as an 'enchanter'- he can make spells and enchantments in gemstones he finds, each stone holding a particular talent he can work with. He was studying under the guiding hand of Greymark, and elderly enchanter who took Zulu as his last apprentice.
While Zulu was mining for stones to use in his studies, he came across an odd stone- one that was white, with black stripes on it. Picking it up to inspect it, he immediately experienced wracking pain that made him pass out.
When he awoke, he found himself changed. Confused and scared, he went back to Greymark to see him sick, and on his death bed. Greymark saw Zulu for what he had turned into- and told him to search for a sorcerer to turn him back. Not knowing what a sorcerer was, Zulu was only left confused by the man's words.
He sought out his life-lone friend to help him, and to have someone to talk to through his fear. Instead she rejected him cruelly, stating she'd rather see him dead than transformed into what he's become.
He ran from his home, knowing that the only way he can return is if he changed back to his original human form. He has since been traveling the Etain Desert, hoping to find a clue as to how to change back.
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Appearance: Before the change, Zulu had dark, almost umber colored skin. He comes from the black sands desert, so has the strikingly white hair of his people. He prefers to keep his hair long to protect his neck from the sun, so that it falls over his shoulders and down to his shoulder blades. He has dark brown eyes, the color of chocolate- which are alert and watching at all times.
His features are angular and sharp- with broad cheeks and masculine lines. However, he is quiet and reserved- often spending his time reading and studying rather than socializing.
Though his features look masculine and powerful, he is actually a fairly poor fighter. His muscles are defined only in his chest and arms from years of mining stone.
He dresses in brown pants made of light fabric, and a white tunic with black cuffs and collar. When traveling through the desert, he uses his white robes- which are essentially a massive white cloth, more wide than tall, to wrap around himself and protect his skin from the sun.
Since the transformation, he has changed drastically in appearance. His dark skin has turned to white, peach-tinted short fur, black stripes covering his entire body from head to toe. His ears have elongated into longer, larger ears, making them look more horse-like than human. Around his eyes are two patches of black stripes, which angle down to the bridge of his nose.
His hair as turned to a light blue, and he has cuffs of blue hair on his wrists, and thicker cuffs on his ankles.
His legs have changed most of all- becoming more horse-like than human, the joints have changed to look animal-like, and ending in two large cloven hooves. He sports a tail as long as he is tall, striped as the rest of him, and a blue tuft of hair at the end of it.
He has a large horn protruding out of his forehead, by far his most embarrassing and also hard to conceal feature.
His eyes have turned to an ice blue- though with his same expression, they look piercing rather than thoughtful.
Magistream creatures: Dark Saebra Unicorn
personality: Zulu is reserved and calm- he usually is the one to figure out a situation and deal with it, rather than panic about it. He thrives on knowledge- and when he finds something else he can learn, he does all he can to soak up as much information as he can. Because of this, he has adept survival skills, especially in a desert. He may know martial arts skills, but because of his new appearance and general lack of grace, he is very feeble with his skills. This embarrasses him quite a bit, considering he is the youngest brother of a line of warriors.
History: From the Iksha tribe of the southern black deserts, Zulu is the youngest son of five brothers- all born to one of the more renowned warriors of the region. While his older brothers hunted and learned fighting skills, Zulu found himself capable of magic- a rare gift in the desert.
His magic is different than magi's- instead of a particular element, he can only do one thing- but he does it well. Zulu is what is known as an 'enchanter'- he can make spells and enchantments in gemstones he finds, each stone holding a particular talent he can work with. He was studying under the guiding hand of Greymark, and elderly enchanter who took Zulu as his last apprentice.
While Zulu was mining for stones to use in his studies, he came across an odd stone- one that was white, with black stripes on it. Picking it up to inspect it, he immediately experienced wracking pain that made him pass out.
When he awoke, he found himself changed. Confused and scared, he went back to Greymark to see him sick, and on his death bed. Greymark saw Zulu for what he had turned into- and told him to search for a sorcerer to turn him back. Not knowing what a sorcerer was, Zulu was only left confused by the man's words.
He sought out his life-lone friend to help him, and to have someone to talk to through his fear. Instead she rejected him cruelly, stating she'd rather see him dead than transformed into what he's become.
He ran from his home, knowing that the only way he can return is if he changed back to his original human form. He has since been traveling the Etain Desert, hoping to find a clue as to how to change back.
Anri (Feathers)
Character name: Anri (Anrianka) Aldel Kalright
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Appearance: Before her change, Anri was a striking girl with long, black-brown curls that hit at around her waist; she had pale skin and icy blue eyes, giving her the general appearance of a sort of porcelain doll. She had a thin frame, looking delicate and fragile, even if more of the opposite is true. Her features were more or less soft, a round chin and a heart-shaped face with wide, round eyes and an upturned nose, lips pink and shaped like a bow. Her eyelashes were very heavy, and between her pale skin and dark hair, her thin hands and short height of five feet and one inch, she generally exuded a damsel-ish, weak air. She dressed (and still dresses) in vibrant, sensible clothes and the same pair of worn, soft leather knee-high boots all the time (though she’s had to abandon those since her change), preferring short tunics and leggings to dresses. She wore/wears lots of bangles and jewelry, from little bells in her ears to pieces of tinkling metal for her wrists.
Ever since she found the stone that’s turned her life upside down, though, she’s looked a little different. Her dark curls have all fallen away, leaving behind a short duck-tail of tiny, delicate grayish brown feathers that sweep over her forehead in a semblance of bangs and behind her head to meet her collar. What used to be a cowlick is now a single little feather that stands up more or less straight from her head no matter what she does to it. These feathers cover her entire face down to her chin, then trail down the back of her neck in a line down her spine and across her back, ending at her tailbone. The rest of her torso is covered in a tan, furry down, velvety and soft; in strong lights, her skin can be seen beneath her fur, which is lightly spotted with darker patches of brown all over. Between her breasts, in the center of her chest, is a bright red splotch of scarlet red, spreading up to her breastbone and down to just above her belly button. Her height remained the same, five feet one inch, but two large, charcoal wings spread behind her, each one six feet long, making her seem even smaller when they tower over her head, emerging from between her shoulder blades and attached to her spine. Her arms, just after the elbow, turn scaly and end in half hands, half talons; from her tailbone emerges a long, thin tail, like a lion’s, tufted with darker brown fur the same color as her spots. Her legs have remained much the same, except for her feet, which have become two delicate paws. Her face, too, has remained much the same in its features and coloring, other than the feathers covering the skin. Her body type is much the same still, too.
Magistream creature: Bleeding Heart Gryphon
Personality: From her appearance, one would expect Anri to be much more…serious than she is. Though she’s got all the equipment to be an ice queen, Anri doesn’t know how to use it; she’s a friendly, outgoing, chatty girl who titters or giggles when she’s uncomfortable and hates to see others become uncomfortable themselves. She’s got slightly babyish tendencies, preferring to let others do the thinking and the work most of the time, but she’s adventurous and wants to try everything herself, at least once. Most of the time she’s quite upbeat and positive; not a lot can really set her back or depress her, but when she is made sad, it consumes her for a little while and takes a lot to pull her out of it.
History: Anri is one of fourteen children, a middle child with six sisters and seven brothers, her parents a part of a traveling troupe of merchants and “gypsies” who travel around the nation. Each of the fourteen children had some sort of “gimmick,” something they did for the family and for the group to bring in the money. Anri was the most magically inclined of her siblings, and her parents paid another member of the caravan, a retired Magi, to give her lessons in magic and the arts of being a Magi from the age of eight or nine. She’s an air Magi, attuned best to that kind of magic, and her task for her family’s welfare became to create charms and magic shows for the entertainment of gawkers. She also plays a thin reed flute, one she carved herself a few years back. She was happy with her huge family, if a little lost in the chaos sometimes.
A month ago, when her family was camped near Voltar, one person in particular came to Anri’s show who seemed to take a special interest in her. He left her a tip in her hat, a pretty little tan egg marked with red, a single gray wing emerging from it. When Anri touched it, though, she fainted, swept up in some great wind; when she awoke, she was miles from where her family had been camped and she looked as she does now. She was mortified and distraught to find herself so changed, trying all the spells she knew to try to fix it, to no avail. She’s been wandering around the desert since then, staying alive on the spells she knows and baking in the sun, more than a little heat-mad and panicked.
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Appearance: Before her change, Anri was a striking girl with long, black-brown curls that hit at around her waist; she had pale skin and icy blue eyes, giving her the general appearance of a sort of porcelain doll. She had a thin frame, looking delicate and fragile, even if more of the opposite is true. Her features were more or less soft, a round chin and a heart-shaped face with wide, round eyes and an upturned nose, lips pink and shaped like a bow. Her eyelashes were very heavy, and between her pale skin and dark hair, her thin hands and short height of five feet and one inch, she generally exuded a damsel-ish, weak air. She dressed (and still dresses) in vibrant, sensible clothes and the same pair of worn, soft leather knee-high boots all the time (though she’s had to abandon those since her change), preferring short tunics and leggings to dresses. She wore/wears lots of bangles and jewelry, from little bells in her ears to pieces of tinkling metal for her wrists.
Ever since she found the stone that’s turned her life upside down, though, she’s looked a little different. Her dark curls have all fallen away, leaving behind a short duck-tail of tiny, delicate grayish brown feathers that sweep over her forehead in a semblance of bangs and behind her head to meet her collar. What used to be a cowlick is now a single little feather that stands up more or less straight from her head no matter what she does to it. These feathers cover her entire face down to her chin, then trail down the back of her neck in a line down her spine and across her back, ending at her tailbone. The rest of her torso is covered in a tan, furry down, velvety and soft; in strong lights, her skin can be seen beneath her fur, which is lightly spotted with darker patches of brown all over. Between her breasts, in the center of her chest, is a bright red splotch of scarlet red, spreading up to her breastbone and down to just above her belly button. Her height remained the same, five feet one inch, but two large, charcoal wings spread behind her, each one six feet long, making her seem even smaller when they tower over her head, emerging from between her shoulder blades and attached to her spine. Her arms, just after the elbow, turn scaly and end in half hands, half talons; from her tailbone emerges a long, thin tail, like a lion’s, tufted with darker brown fur the same color as her spots. Her legs have remained much the same, except for her feet, which have become two delicate paws. Her face, too, has remained much the same in its features and coloring, other than the feathers covering the skin. Her body type is much the same still, too.
Magistream creature: Bleeding Heart Gryphon
Personality: From her appearance, one would expect Anri to be much more…serious than she is. Though she’s got all the equipment to be an ice queen, Anri doesn’t know how to use it; she’s a friendly, outgoing, chatty girl who titters or giggles when she’s uncomfortable and hates to see others become uncomfortable themselves. She’s got slightly babyish tendencies, preferring to let others do the thinking and the work most of the time, but she’s adventurous and wants to try everything herself, at least once. Most of the time she’s quite upbeat and positive; not a lot can really set her back or depress her, but when she is made sad, it consumes her for a little while and takes a lot to pull her out of it.
History: Anri is one of fourteen children, a middle child with six sisters and seven brothers, her parents a part of a traveling troupe of merchants and “gypsies” who travel around the nation. Each of the fourteen children had some sort of “gimmick,” something they did for the family and for the group to bring in the money. Anri was the most magically inclined of her siblings, and her parents paid another member of the caravan, a retired Magi, to give her lessons in magic and the arts of being a Magi from the age of eight or nine. She’s an air Magi, attuned best to that kind of magic, and her task for her family’s welfare became to create charms and magic shows for the entertainment of gawkers. She also plays a thin reed flute, one she carved herself a few years back. She was happy with her huge family, if a little lost in the chaos sometimes.
A month ago, when her family was camped near Voltar, one person in particular came to Anri’s show who seemed to take a special interest in her. He left her a tip in her hat, a pretty little tan egg marked with red, a single gray wing emerging from it. When Anri touched it, though, she fainted, swept up in some great wind; when she awoke, she was miles from where her family had been camped and she looked as she does now. She was mortified and distraught to find herself so changed, trying all the spells she knew to try to fix it, to no avail. She’s been wandering around the desert since then, staying alive on the spells she knows and baking in the sun, more than a little heat-mad and panicked.
Koralov (Phoenix)
Vosayra (Feathers)
Name: Vosayra Latombik. Do not call her Sayra. She hates it.
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Appearance: Before her shift, Vosayra was a fairly normal looking girl, not much to stand out about her. She had short, coppery-red hair that she kept at her chin at its longest and bright, hazel eyes. Her skin was tannish, like someone who used to be pale but has needed to adapt to the sun, and she had an athletic, toned but slim build.
She looks a bit different now. Her skin is slightly rubbery and a metallic copper in color, creating a strange contrast with her eyes and hair, which have stayed the same color. She has a long, thin tail lined with coppery pearls, a trail of which continues up her spine, dwindling to very small pearls at the base of her neck. She has two small horns curling from her temples, and her fingers are tipped with dangerous claws.
Magistream creature: Copper Pearl Wyrm
Personality: Vosayra is...spunky and loud. She's an incredible tomboy, disdaining all things girly. She's a bit grumpy sometimes but generally a good person, though if you annoy her, she's likely to say something. She's very honest and very blunt, and to many people, that makes her seem rude. She has few friends because...well, if yoyu don't know her, she seems mean-spirited sometimes. But really she's a nice person, even if a few layers have to be scraped off to show it.
History: Vosayra has seven older brothers and is the only daughter of her family. Her parents are Capricorn breeders, though they used to deal in Ibex when the family lived in the Alasre mountains. Contrary to her parents' wishes, being the only daughter made her rough-and-tumble, not pampered and delicate, and they despair of her ever finding a husband with how tomboyish she is.
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Appearance: Before her shift, Vosayra was a fairly normal looking girl, not much to stand out about her. She had short, coppery-red hair that she kept at her chin at its longest and bright, hazel eyes. Her skin was tannish, like someone who used to be pale but has needed to adapt to the sun, and she had an athletic, toned but slim build.
She looks a bit different now. Her skin is slightly rubbery and a metallic copper in color, creating a strange contrast with her eyes and hair, which have stayed the same color. She has a long, thin tail lined with coppery pearls, a trail of which continues up her spine, dwindling to very small pearls at the base of her neck. She has two small horns curling from her temples, and her fingers are tipped with dangerous claws.
Magistream creature: Copper Pearl Wyrm
Personality: Vosayra is...spunky and loud. She's an incredible tomboy, disdaining all things girly. She's a bit grumpy sometimes but generally a good person, though if you annoy her, she's likely to say something. She's very honest and very blunt, and to many people, that makes her seem rude. She has few friends because...well, if yoyu don't know her, she seems mean-spirited sometimes. But really she's a nice person, even if a few layers have to be scraped off to show it.
History: Vosayra has seven older brothers and is the only daughter of her family. Her parents are Capricorn breeders, though they used to deal in Ibex when the family lived in the Alasre mountains. Contrary to her parents' wishes, being the only daughter made her rough-and-tumble, not pampered and delicate, and they despair of her ever finding a husband with how tomboyish she is.
Secondary characters:
(Blue = active
Red = finished)
Markus (Phoenix)
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Appearance: Markus used to be a handsome man of tan skin and ebony shining hair- he is tall and muscular, coming from years of training with various weapons.
After the transformation- much to his horror- his hair lengthened and turned into a riot of pastel rainbow, falling down his shoulders and changing colors as he moves in the sun. His eyes turned from a deep mesmerizing blue to a shocking rainbow effect. Two large wings sprouted from his back- large enough to be capable of flight, and a small tail to guide him through the air.
Otherwise he managed to keep much of his human appearance, except for the strange opalescent effect his skin has acquired.
Magistream creature: Puvia
Personality: Markus is a good 'ol reliable hard working guy with a lot of bad luck. Born and raised on an ariessa farm, he's never shied away from a good work out of lifting hay and shuffling the flowered sheep across a pasture.
That being said, during a trip to market with his wool and socks, a certain mishap has caused a run in with the law- and he's held 'captive' by the paladins, forced to either rise in the ranks up to first tier paladin or be executed for murder. He is in the Gods' hands, and he hates every minute of it. All he wants to do is go back to his farm, take care of his incapacitated father, and raise his sheep.
Gender: Male
Appearance: Markus used to be a handsome man of tan skin and ebony shining hair- he is tall and muscular, coming from years of training with various weapons.
After the transformation- much to his horror- his hair lengthened and turned into a riot of pastel rainbow, falling down his shoulders and changing colors as he moves in the sun. His eyes turned from a deep mesmerizing blue to a shocking rainbow effect. Two large wings sprouted from his back- large enough to be capable of flight, and a small tail to guide him through the air.
Otherwise he managed to keep much of his human appearance, except for the strange opalescent effect his skin has acquired.
Magistream creature: Puvia
Personality: Markus is a good 'ol reliable hard working guy with a lot of bad luck. Born and raised on an ariessa farm, he's never shied away from a good work out of lifting hay and shuffling the flowered sheep across a pasture.
That being said, during a trip to market with his wool and socks, a certain mishap has caused a run in with the law- and he's held 'captive' by the paladins, forced to either rise in the ranks up to first tier paladin or be executed for murder. He is in the Gods' hands, and he hates every minute of it. All he wants to do is go back to his farm, take care of his incapacitated father, and raise his sheep.
Ilara (Feathers)
Name: Ilara Roane
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Appearance: Ilara was once a slim, tall girl of about five feet and eight inches in her bare feet. She had dark reddish-brown wavy hair, falling to about to her shoulder blades. Her skin was naturally tanned most of the time, a golden-brown, and she developed freckles easily across her shoulders and the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were nearly black brown with very heavy eyelashes, and she had sharp, arching eyebrows that always made her look a little skeptical. Her mouth was broad but full, and her chin was softly pointed.
These days, she looks a bit different. She shrunk several inches in height down to a mere five feet, though she kept her slim, reedy figure. Her hair changed to a strange pale blue color and though it remains wavy and to her shoulders, it's much thinner now and tosses in the slightest of breezes. At least it doesn't get very tangled; she keeps it braided to avoid too much craziness, though. Her eyes have remained much the same, but her ears have grown smaller, more pointed and closer to her head. Two long blue antennae sprout from her temples, each tipped with a tuft of blue hair. Her skin is covered in a purple-gray fur, and her nose and facial structure has become distinctly feline, although two darker strips of fur act as her eyebrows. A long, thin, flat tail protrudes from the end of her spine, as long as one of her legs, and it's finned with delicate blue webbing the same color as her hair.
Magistream creature: Adremeri
Personality: Ilara is, to those who know her, an interesting character. She has a distinct tendency to make people uncomfortable, turning everything into a joke or a flirty comment, and her mind is perhaps far too filthy for someone who claims to have good manners. She's subtle and coy, often seeming more calculating than she is; while it's true she doesn't act without forethought most of the time, she can have her carefree moments. Usually, though, she doesn't have much malice in her, although she teases anyone she feels remotely comfortable with. Clever and quick, she looks out for number one, although she doesn't cross any of her own inner rules of morality, even if they're not the same rules others recognize. She's got a soft heart, but masks it with bravado and seeming imperviousness to those around her.
History: Ilara was born to a fisherman and his wife, the last child and the only daughter with seven older brothers. She was spoiled as rotten as she could get, but when her father died at sea when she was fourteen, his boat sunk with him, her family found themselves on hard times. Ilara was sent to be an apprentice to the local Magi woman, who taught her to care for the Koi she tended. Ilara mastered the care of these fish relatively quickly and so grew bored, often wandering the beach nearby when she should have been doing tasks for her mistress. In this way, she grew up into a young woman many of the local boys admired, petting her ego all the more, although she boasted that she was destined for far greater things than a fisherman's son. It was meant in good humor and she didn't say it to sting, but in her heart of hearts, she meant it: she didn't think life for her was the care of Koi or the arms of one of the local boys. She wanted something else, something grander, either for her ego or for a sense of purpose and sense in the world. A few years ago, when she was twenty, she was on one of her regular jaunts to the beach when she decided she'd go swimming; her mistress wouldn't miss her for another hour or two and she loved to swim. So, stripping to her underclothes, she slid into the water and dove for pretty stones to make charms with. She had been swimming all her life, and so was an excellent swimmer, capable of holding her breath for long periods of time. On about the third or fourth dive, she saw a particularly lovely stone, a purplish-gray, smooth rock sparkling with blue highlights and veins. She grabbed it and instantly felt the change come over her. Alarmed and frightened, she shot to the surface far faster than she should have been able and found a small, calm tidal pool. Seeing what had become of her, she shrieked and raced back to her mistress' house, still in her underclothes and still clutching the stone in her fist. When her mistress saw her, recognizing her for Ilara by the high-pitched stream of panicked words coming from her mouth, she tried to soothe her, to no avail. Trying to turn her back didn't work; the old lady didn't have the type of knowledge necessary, having only ever been a wisewoman for this small town. So, she told Ilara she would need to journey to find a way back to her own skin; Ilara thus packed a small amount of her things and charms and set off, too ashamed to let her family see what had become of her. She's been journeying around ever since.
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Appearance: Ilara was once a slim, tall girl of about five feet and eight inches in her bare feet. She had dark reddish-brown wavy hair, falling to about to her shoulder blades. Her skin was naturally tanned most of the time, a golden-brown, and she developed freckles easily across her shoulders and the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were nearly black brown with very heavy eyelashes, and she had sharp, arching eyebrows that always made her look a little skeptical. Her mouth was broad but full, and her chin was softly pointed.
These days, she looks a bit different. She shrunk several inches in height down to a mere five feet, though she kept her slim, reedy figure. Her hair changed to a strange pale blue color and though it remains wavy and to her shoulders, it's much thinner now and tosses in the slightest of breezes. At least it doesn't get very tangled; she keeps it braided to avoid too much craziness, though. Her eyes have remained much the same, but her ears have grown smaller, more pointed and closer to her head. Two long blue antennae sprout from her temples, each tipped with a tuft of blue hair. Her skin is covered in a purple-gray fur, and her nose and facial structure has become distinctly feline, although two darker strips of fur act as her eyebrows. A long, thin, flat tail protrudes from the end of her spine, as long as one of her legs, and it's finned with delicate blue webbing the same color as her hair.
Magistream creature: Adremeri
Personality: Ilara is, to those who know her, an interesting character. She has a distinct tendency to make people uncomfortable, turning everything into a joke or a flirty comment, and her mind is perhaps far too filthy for someone who claims to have good manners. She's subtle and coy, often seeming more calculating than she is; while it's true she doesn't act without forethought most of the time, she can have her carefree moments. Usually, though, she doesn't have much malice in her, although she teases anyone she feels remotely comfortable with. Clever and quick, she looks out for number one, although she doesn't cross any of her own inner rules of morality, even if they're not the same rules others recognize. She's got a soft heart, but masks it with bravado and seeming imperviousness to those around her.
History: Ilara was born to a fisherman and his wife, the last child and the only daughter with seven older brothers. She was spoiled as rotten as she could get, but when her father died at sea when she was fourteen, his boat sunk with him, her family found themselves on hard times. Ilara was sent to be an apprentice to the local Magi woman, who taught her to care for the Koi she tended. Ilara mastered the care of these fish relatively quickly and so grew bored, often wandering the beach nearby when she should have been doing tasks for her mistress. In this way, she grew up into a young woman many of the local boys admired, petting her ego all the more, although she boasted that she was destined for far greater things than a fisherman's son. It was meant in good humor and she didn't say it to sting, but in her heart of hearts, she meant it: she didn't think life for her was the care of Koi or the arms of one of the local boys. She wanted something else, something grander, either for her ego or for a sense of purpose and sense in the world. A few years ago, when she was twenty, she was on one of her regular jaunts to the beach when she decided she'd go swimming; her mistress wouldn't miss her for another hour or two and she loved to swim. So, stripping to her underclothes, she slid into the water and dove for pretty stones to make charms with. She had been swimming all her life, and so was an excellent swimmer, capable of holding her breath for long periods of time. On about the third or fourth dive, she saw a particularly lovely stone, a purplish-gray, smooth rock sparkling with blue highlights and veins. She grabbed it and instantly felt the change come over her. Alarmed and frightened, she shot to the surface far faster than she should have been able and found a small, calm tidal pool. Seeing what had become of her, she shrieked and raced back to her mistress' house, still in her underclothes and still clutching the stone in her fist. When her mistress saw her, recognizing her for Ilara by the high-pitched stream of panicked words coming from her mouth, she tried to soothe her, to no avail. Trying to turn her back didn't work; the old lady didn't have the type of knowledge necessary, having only ever been a wisewoman for this small town. So, she told Ilara she would need to journey to find a way back to her own skin; Ilara thus packed a small amount of her things and charms and set off, too ashamed to let her family see what had become of her. She's been journeying around ever since.
Ren (Feathers)
Name: Rendunal L'Enk. He goes by Ren.
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Appearance: Ren was never a very "pretty" person before his change, average at best. Though his eyes were a bright, clear blue, his nose was crooked from a break long ago, and while his chin was strong and dimpled, he had shaggy eyebrows and half-lidded eyes that made him look consistently irritable and/or sleepy. He wasn't particularly tall and had a small potbelly, along with shaggy black hair he never combed. His skin tone was, and remains, a dark olive-tan.
These days, Ren looks a lot more...interesting. As if his body was stretched by his ears and toes, he's much, much taller, nearly seven feet tall, and far, far thinner, looking absolutely skeletal, the skin pressed far too close to his bones so that he seems to be made all of angles and points. His eyes are sunken and blaze a bright, unnatural orange where once they were white, and his pupils and irises are completely black. Two huge, bony wings, webbed with thick, skin-like orange membranes, arch over his head and down to his knees at their length. Though they look as though they should be too thin to lift him, now that his body weight is only 100 pounds, they're actually functional, jutting from his shoulder blades (which means that when he flaps them, his arms reflexively wave/jerk out sideways, which looks a bit ridiculous). His facial structure is much the same, other than his eyes, a mouth full of very sharp teeth, a nose that looks distinctly beaky, and two curved, ram-like horns of bone that emerge from his temples, curling just above his ears before they shoot up into dangerous points. More than once, he's tried to scratch his head only to accidentally impale his hand on one of his horns. There is precious little flesh on his body; even his torso, below his breastbone, is hollow and sunken-in, as if he's never had anything to eat in his life. He has a tail, about eight feet long and two inches thick, tipped with an ever-burning little flame. He can't really do anything about the fire, unable to control it in the slightest; he's accidentally set things on fire before, so he tries to keep his tail out of the way by tucking it into his elbow and wrapping the excess around his forearm. Which means he accidentally tugs on his tail a lot, but he's learned to bear it. His hands have become huge and clawed, though he's gotten better lately at delicately handling things with the sharp talons.
Magistream creature: Molten Bone Dragon
Personality: Ren is one of those people who seems to fumble through life. If he touches something breakable, it shatters as if by magic, and if he plays a game of luck, you can bet he's going to lose. Still, he's a happy, unflappable person, perhaps because if he got upset every time he lost or got beaten, he'd be upset all the time. He takes his many failures in stride, letting the scorn and disdain of others mostly roll off his shoulders; still, when someone DOES anger him, there are few worse enemies to have. He's described it, in moments of calm, as a fever of insanity: he doesn't lose his temper often, but when he DOES indulge in anger, he loses himself to the fight, too, blacking out entirely. It's a good thing his sense of humor and self-deprecation is too good for these flights of anger to be common.
History: Ren's family consisted of himself and his parents, living in the foothills of the Alasremountains. His parents were, as many of their caravan were, a pair of superstitious people, saying from an early age that Ren had been born under an unlucky moon, which naturally accounted for his clumsiness and lack of fortune. Still, they loved him and they were a close family, traveling with their caravan, which made its living by leading strangers over and around and up the mountains for a fee. Last year, he was escorting a pair of Magi up the mountain in search of a particular family of Ibex, researching them in their natural habitat, when he saw a small trail of smoke coming from a crag. Curious, he peered inside to see a white-orange rock, like burning stone, lying there in the mountain. He thought it interesting and that his father, who was a healer, might like to see it, and so reached in to grab it. When he touched it, the change came over him and he yelled, summoning the pair he'd been leading, who had wandered in a different direction. When they saw him, they assumed he was not Ren, but a monster that had killed their friendly guide and ran screaming back to the caravan. He didn't realize at first what had happened to him and, alarmed, ran after them. When he reached the caravan and found not safety or allies but a camp of people trying to shoot him with arrows, he fled. When he realized what had happened to him, he decided that this was his great life's challenge (as his parents had raised him with the value that everyone has a great challenge in his/her life to face, whether a magical quest or a phobia to face) and set off to seek his fortune. Which would hopefully be better than his luck so far.
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Appearance: Ren was never a very "pretty" person before his change, average at best. Though his eyes were a bright, clear blue, his nose was crooked from a break long ago, and while his chin was strong and dimpled, he had shaggy eyebrows and half-lidded eyes that made him look consistently irritable and/or sleepy. He wasn't particularly tall and had a small potbelly, along with shaggy black hair he never combed. His skin tone was, and remains, a dark olive-tan.
These days, Ren looks a lot more...interesting. As if his body was stretched by his ears and toes, he's much, much taller, nearly seven feet tall, and far, far thinner, looking absolutely skeletal, the skin pressed far too close to his bones so that he seems to be made all of angles and points. His eyes are sunken and blaze a bright, unnatural orange where once they were white, and his pupils and irises are completely black. Two huge, bony wings, webbed with thick, skin-like orange membranes, arch over his head and down to his knees at their length. Though they look as though they should be too thin to lift him, now that his body weight is only 100 pounds, they're actually functional, jutting from his shoulder blades (which means that when he flaps them, his arms reflexively wave/jerk out sideways, which looks a bit ridiculous). His facial structure is much the same, other than his eyes, a mouth full of very sharp teeth, a nose that looks distinctly beaky, and two curved, ram-like horns of bone that emerge from his temples, curling just above his ears before they shoot up into dangerous points. More than once, he's tried to scratch his head only to accidentally impale his hand on one of his horns. There is precious little flesh on his body; even his torso, below his breastbone, is hollow and sunken-in, as if he's never had anything to eat in his life. He has a tail, about eight feet long and two inches thick, tipped with an ever-burning little flame. He can't really do anything about the fire, unable to control it in the slightest; he's accidentally set things on fire before, so he tries to keep his tail out of the way by tucking it into his elbow and wrapping the excess around his forearm. Which means he accidentally tugs on his tail a lot, but he's learned to bear it. His hands have become huge and clawed, though he's gotten better lately at delicately handling things with the sharp talons.
Magistream creature: Molten Bone Dragon
Personality: Ren is one of those people who seems to fumble through life. If he touches something breakable, it shatters as if by magic, and if he plays a game of luck, you can bet he's going to lose. Still, he's a happy, unflappable person, perhaps because if he got upset every time he lost or got beaten, he'd be upset all the time. He takes his many failures in stride, letting the scorn and disdain of others mostly roll off his shoulders; still, when someone DOES anger him, there are few worse enemies to have. He's described it, in moments of calm, as a fever of insanity: he doesn't lose his temper often, but when he DOES indulge in anger, he loses himself to the fight, too, blacking out entirely. It's a good thing his sense of humor and self-deprecation is too good for these flights of anger to be common.
History: Ren's family consisted of himself and his parents, living in the foothills of the Alasremountains. His parents were, as many of their caravan were, a pair of superstitious people, saying from an early age that Ren had been born under an unlucky moon, which naturally accounted for his clumsiness and lack of fortune. Still, they loved him and they were a close family, traveling with their caravan, which made its living by leading strangers over and around and up the mountains for a fee. Last year, he was escorting a pair of Magi up the mountain in search of a particular family of Ibex, researching them in their natural habitat, when he saw a small trail of smoke coming from a crag. Curious, he peered inside to see a white-orange rock, like burning stone, lying there in the mountain. He thought it interesting and that his father, who was a healer, might like to see it, and so reached in to grab it. When he touched it, the change came over him and he yelled, summoning the pair he'd been leading, who had wandered in a different direction. When they saw him, they assumed he was not Ren, but a monster that had killed their friendly guide and ran screaming back to the caravan. He didn't realize at first what had happened to him and, alarmed, ran after them. When he reached the caravan and found not safety or allies but a camp of people trying to shoot him with arrows, he fled. When he realized what had happened to him, he decided that this was his great life's challenge (as his parents had raised him with the value that everyone has a great challenge in his/her life to face, whether a magical quest or a phobia to face) and set off to seek his fortune. Which would hopefully be better than his luck so far.
Lena (Phoenix)
Vesrisath (Feathers)
Name: Vesrisath...currently. >.>
Age: 23
Gender: Male
Appearance: Before his curse, Vesrisath was an attractive man, all height and muscles and tanned skin. He had thick, wavy dark gold hair and very dark brown eyes, not to mention a killer smile. He just looked like the sort of person who good things happened to, whether he worked for them or not, and he had a lazy grace to him.
Now, though, his hair has changed to a bright, unnatural red, the same color as the huge wings that burst from his back between his shoulder blades. His body type and face have stayed the same, though his lower half is dusted in light, soft, snow leopard-patterned fur, and he has a long, fluffy snow-leopard tail. Overall, the curse was rather kind to him, keeping him handsome and really mostly just adding to his appearance, some might say.
Magistream creature: Cardinal Gryphon
Personality: His personality before being trapped by Syra is anyone's guess, but these days, he's a serious, thoughtful man, honest and straightforward. He's not great with words, but when he speaks, he says what he means, and usually, it's something he's thought about carefully before speaking. He's got a secretly boyish side to him, though, and when he's comfortable, he's playful and sweet. He can be on the macho side, preferring to muscle out of the way anyone who bothers him or, gods forbid, someone he loves... He's a VERY bad enemy to have, especially since he's strong enough to back up his warnings with ass-kickings.
History: Though he doesn't know it, he wasn't always the silent man with no voice attached to the magi named Syra... As far as he knows, his life began when she took him in as her 'Ally,' though she doesn't treat him as such. Since he can't speak, he can't express how he feels about how she treats him...which is like her personal slave. He has to obey any command she gives him, with no choice, and he lives an existence of dread and unhappiness. His only reprieve comes when Syra has business at the Keep, when she leaves him at home alone for a few days... He stays out in the woods by her cottage, where he's built a little nest up in the tree, out of view, where he keeps the few things he's scavenged that he actually likes. It's the one vestige of him having his own personality and his own will, the only thing he has that's his.
Age: 23
Gender: Male
Appearance: Before his curse, Vesrisath was an attractive man, all height and muscles and tanned skin. He had thick, wavy dark gold hair and very dark brown eyes, not to mention a killer smile. He just looked like the sort of person who good things happened to, whether he worked for them or not, and he had a lazy grace to him.
Now, though, his hair has changed to a bright, unnatural red, the same color as the huge wings that burst from his back between his shoulder blades. His body type and face have stayed the same, though his lower half is dusted in light, soft, snow leopard-patterned fur, and he has a long, fluffy snow-leopard tail. Overall, the curse was rather kind to him, keeping him handsome and really mostly just adding to his appearance, some might say.
Magistream creature: Cardinal Gryphon
Personality: His personality before being trapped by Syra is anyone's guess, but these days, he's a serious, thoughtful man, honest and straightforward. He's not great with words, but when he speaks, he says what he means, and usually, it's something he's thought about carefully before speaking. He's got a secretly boyish side to him, though, and when he's comfortable, he's playful and sweet. He can be on the macho side, preferring to muscle out of the way anyone who bothers him or, gods forbid, someone he loves... He's a VERY bad enemy to have, especially since he's strong enough to back up his warnings with ass-kickings.
History: Though he doesn't know it, he wasn't always the silent man with no voice attached to the magi named Syra... As far as he knows, his life began when she took him in as her 'Ally,' though she doesn't treat him as such. Since he can't speak, he can't express how he feels about how she treats him...which is like her personal slave. He has to obey any command she gives him, with no choice, and he lives an existence of dread and unhappiness. His only reprieve comes when Syra has business at the Keep, when she leaves him at home alone for a few days... He stays out in the woods by her cottage, where he's built a little nest up in the tree, out of view, where he keeps the few things he's scavenged that he actually likes. It's the one vestige of him having his own personality and his own will, the only thing he has that's his.
Katelyn (Phoenix)
Luke (Feathers)
Name: Lukandin Malir. He goes by Luke.
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Appearance: Before he was cursed, Luke was a relatively normal-looking guy, about six feet tall and of medium build, not really muscled but not flabby, either. He was really pretty average-looking, with shaggy dark brown hair and a generally tan complexion; he had a "strong" jaw with a dimpled chin and a wide, full-lipped mouth. He'd probably look more attractive if he'd be willing to stop making snarky remarks and shut up for a minute, but ever since he perfected the art of raising one eyebrow, he always looked sarcastic, mischievous, and wickedly clever. His eyes were his most distinctive feature, a strange dark charcoal color with heavy eyelashes; in some lights, they looked black and one couldn't see his pupils. Since he doesn't like shaving very much, he often has some stubble or five o'clock shadow on his cheeks, and combined with the aforementioned cleverness and the fact that the left side of his mouth has a dimple and turns up than the right side a bit more when he grins...he just exudes the air of a trickster.
A lot of that hasn't changed. His face looks the same, and his eyes, but the rest of him... He was scrawny already but he's much more so now, a sort of wiry body, and his hair has turned bright pink. His body is covered in soft little feathers of the same color as his hair, except for his legs, which are scaly and gray. His arms have extra long feathers on the undersides, long enough that he can flap his arms hard enough to actually fly, though it's a bit of a strain.
Magistream creature: Lucinas Bird
Personality: Luke is a well-meaning, clever guy with a quick attention span and a sharp tongue. He likes to play pranks, tell jokes, and even push other people's buttons just to see what will happen. He doesn't usually mean any harm by it, and it's surprisingly difficult to get under his skin; typically he can brush even the most personal, deep barb aside and not even consider it. As a result, when he actually does get his feelings hurt or get upset about something, he doesn't always know what to do with the emotion and often sulks uncharacteristically for days to recover. Usually, though, he's a chipper, mildly hyperactive guy with the best, if questionable, intentions. He is a quite romantic soul, but his general demeanor and selected attitude mean that he's not really seen as desirable by the fairer sex...which just amuses him. So if he has a crush on a girl, he tends to just irritate her and bug her constantly, operating on the notion that if he endears himself to her, she'll just get used to him. Predictably, this has never worked, but he's only had a few brief crushes anyway, so he figures it'll work one of these times. He's actually very sweet sometimes when it comes to girls.
History: Luke lived a fairly laidback life before he was cursed, and he's tried to keep it that way even since he found that stone. He's the second of two sons of a pair of Magi at the Keep, both of whom are very respected in their fields. His father is an Earth Magi and his mother a Fire, and his older brother is also an Earth Magi... Technically Luke has the magic to be an Air Magi, but he never puts any effort into it, never studying more than he has to, so he's not been trusted to actually care fo any creatures... Really, he knows a few basic spells, and after that he stopped paying attention. He's a bit of an embarrassment to his family for his lack of drive, and even before finding that strange, pink stone that sent him wandering for a remedy, he was itching to get away from home and travel, exploring the world.
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Appearance: Before he was cursed, Luke was a relatively normal-looking guy, about six feet tall and of medium build, not really muscled but not flabby, either. He was really pretty average-looking, with shaggy dark brown hair and a generally tan complexion; he had a "strong" jaw with a dimpled chin and a wide, full-lipped mouth. He'd probably look more attractive if he'd be willing to stop making snarky remarks and shut up for a minute, but ever since he perfected the art of raising one eyebrow, he always looked sarcastic, mischievous, and wickedly clever. His eyes were his most distinctive feature, a strange dark charcoal color with heavy eyelashes; in some lights, they looked black and one couldn't see his pupils. Since he doesn't like shaving very much, he often has some stubble or five o'clock shadow on his cheeks, and combined with the aforementioned cleverness and the fact that the left side of his mouth has a dimple and turns up than the right side a bit more when he grins...he just exudes the air of a trickster.
A lot of that hasn't changed. His face looks the same, and his eyes, but the rest of him... He was scrawny already but he's much more so now, a sort of wiry body, and his hair has turned bright pink. His body is covered in soft little feathers of the same color as his hair, except for his legs, which are scaly and gray. His arms have extra long feathers on the undersides, long enough that he can flap his arms hard enough to actually fly, though it's a bit of a strain.
Magistream creature: Lucinas Bird
Personality: Luke is a well-meaning, clever guy with a quick attention span and a sharp tongue. He likes to play pranks, tell jokes, and even push other people's buttons just to see what will happen. He doesn't usually mean any harm by it, and it's surprisingly difficult to get under his skin; typically he can brush even the most personal, deep barb aside and not even consider it. As a result, when he actually does get his feelings hurt or get upset about something, he doesn't always know what to do with the emotion and often sulks uncharacteristically for days to recover. Usually, though, he's a chipper, mildly hyperactive guy with the best, if questionable, intentions. He is a quite romantic soul, but his general demeanor and selected attitude mean that he's not really seen as desirable by the fairer sex...which just amuses him. So if he has a crush on a girl, he tends to just irritate her and bug her constantly, operating on the notion that if he endears himself to her, she'll just get used to him. Predictably, this has never worked, but he's only had a few brief crushes anyway, so he figures it'll work one of these times. He's actually very sweet sometimes when it comes to girls.
History: Luke lived a fairly laidback life before he was cursed, and he's tried to keep it that way even since he found that stone. He's the second of two sons of a pair of Magi at the Keep, both of whom are very respected in their fields. His father is an Earth Magi and his mother a Fire, and his older brother is also an Earth Magi... Technically Luke has the magic to be an Air Magi, but he never puts any effort into it, never studying more than he has to, so he's not been trusted to actually care fo any creatures... Really, he knows a few basic spells, and after that he stopped paying attention. He's a bit of an embarrassment to his family for his lack of drive, and even before finding that strange, pink stone that sent him wandering for a remedy, he was itching to get away from home and travel, exploring the world.
Eva (Phoenix)
Name: Evalyn of Pilkasta (Eva)
Age: 146
Original species: Elven (Iktasha)
Appearance: Eva was once tall and slender, pale skinned and with long golden hair that fell in waves down her back, or was tied into a tight braid behind her while hunting and scavenging. She had pale purple eyes, a common thing among her people, but a shock to see most anywhere else in the world.
Now she's covered head to tail in her transformation, her ears turned furred and scaled, the front half of her body covered in a thick coat of soft fur, the back covered in rough purple and blue scales. Her legs no longer look human, but more creature-like so that she has a hard time moving, sometimes. A long 15 foot tail has grown out of her backside, and she sometimes knocks things over because she forgets its there and moves with a will of its own. Thick spines of crystal protrude from her back, glowing whenever she's feeling emotional.
Her purple eyes have stayed the same- but her hair is now short cropped and the same color as the gray fur that covers her. Her facial features are still angular and long, with eyes that are slightly larger than usual. Little has changed in her facial region from her previous form, but unfortunately the curse was not kind to her and has altered her drastically everywhere else.
Magistream Creature: Verikan
Personality: Eva is a woman of action- she was never one for talking about something, but would much rather do it. It was why she was chosen for this mission, because her people trusted her to be able to get it done in a timely manner without distractions. Unfortunately she was distracted by the curse, because it's altered her mind so that her intelligence is greatly diminished and she is sometimes more animal than human. It seems that the more human contact she has, the more humanity comes back in her- as if it's being coaxed out. She doesn't remember a lot of things about herself, which is very frustrating for her, because she's in a place that is completely foreign to her. It is the first time she's been in this country, the first time any of her kind have ventured out of the forests and into the realm of the magi. She is quite scared of what may happen, and is even a bit afraid of meeting anyone. She doesn't know what will happen when they find out who she is, but when the time comes she'll do her best to defend herself if need be.
She of course must be very proper about such things. She has learned from her elder what the few magi act like who had ventured into the Silva forest while her people had been on long hunting trips. So she has a bit of an idea, but is still apprehensive.
History: All she knows is she is from a forest not called Silva, her name is Eva, and she has a mission. All else is revealed in short bursts to her, her memory working past the animal part of her mind to bring herself back.
Elven translation-ator:
Mogdul = sorcerer
Pilkasta = home wood
Iktasha = elf
Age: 146
Original species: Elven (Iktasha)
Appearance: Eva was once tall and slender, pale skinned and with long golden hair that fell in waves down her back, or was tied into a tight braid behind her while hunting and scavenging. She had pale purple eyes, a common thing among her people, but a shock to see most anywhere else in the world.
Now she's covered head to tail in her transformation, her ears turned furred and scaled, the front half of her body covered in a thick coat of soft fur, the back covered in rough purple and blue scales. Her legs no longer look human, but more creature-like so that she has a hard time moving, sometimes. A long 15 foot tail has grown out of her backside, and she sometimes knocks things over because she forgets its there and moves with a will of its own. Thick spines of crystal protrude from her back, glowing whenever she's feeling emotional.
Her purple eyes have stayed the same- but her hair is now short cropped and the same color as the gray fur that covers her. Her facial features are still angular and long, with eyes that are slightly larger than usual. Little has changed in her facial region from her previous form, but unfortunately the curse was not kind to her and has altered her drastically everywhere else.
Magistream Creature: Verikan
Personality: Eva is a woman of action- she was never one for talking about something, but would much rather do it. It was why she was chosen for this mission, because her people trusted her to be able to get it done in a timely manner without distractions. Unfortunately she was distracted by the curse, because it's altered her mind so that her intelligence is greatly diminished and she is sometimes more animal than human. It seems that the more human contact she has, the more humanity comes back in her- as if it's being coaxed out. She doesn't remember a lot of things about herself, which is very frustrating for her, because she's in a place that is completely foreign to her. It is the first time she's been in this country, the first time any of her kind have ventured out of the forests and into the realm of the magi. She is quite scared of what may happen, and is even a bit afraid of meeting anyone. She doesn't know what will happen when they find out who she is, but when the time comes she'll do her best to defend herself if need be.
She of course must be very proper about such things. She has learned from her elder what the few magi act like who had ventured into the Silva forest while her people had been on long hunting trips. So she has a bit of an idea, but is still apprehensive.
History: All she knows is she is from a forest not called Silva, her name is Eva, and she has a mission. All else is revealed in short bursts to her, her memory working past the animal part of her mind to bring herself back.
Elven translation-ator:
Mogdul = sorcerer
Pilkasta = home wood
Iktasha = elf
