Tala - Loner
Jun 21, 2016 11:53:10 GMT -6
Post by kmin66 on Jun 21, 2016 11:53:10 GMT -6
Name: Tala
Gender: Female
Race: Wolf (well, vaguely pseudofox, if you want to be technical – maned wolves aren't actually wolves)
Sub-Race: N/A
Breed: Maned, Winged
Appearance: Tala is the leggiest wolf you've ever seen, and she puts it to good use. Her storklike gawkiness puts her at three and a half feet tall. She's thin, thanks to years of eating what she can find while traveling (and also pushing her body a little harder than she should). There is a small bend in her tail, like it broke a long time ago and didn't heal correctly. She claims that she doesn't remember how it happened.
Her general appearance could be categorized as "very slightly frazzled". With her red pelt and nearly-teal green eyes, Tala sticks out like a sore thumb. She's very aware of this, and has turned it to her advantage by becoming a wandering performer/storyteller.
Magic: Air, Light
Spells: (5/8)
Air:
[li] Northwesterly: Speeds her flight. She tends to use it in short bursts, so it's hard to define an upper limit. More than likely, if she tried to speed herself up constantly for five minutes, she would tire herself out.[/li][/ul]
Light: (note: for no known reason, Tala is only capable of producing teal light)
[li] Burst: Tala "roar-barks", emitting a sharply bright blast of light at an enemy. Eight consecutive small blasts or four consecutive large blasts (generated by longer "roar-barks") are enough to tire her out.[/li]
[/ul]
Combination:
[/li][li]Mirage: This spell allows Tala to make a teal hologram of something (whether it's another wolf, or a wall, or a place in her story). The larger the hologram is, the more difficult it is for her to keep it up; a small hologram (e.g. a mouse) wouldn't be too difficult to maintain, but a detailed, large one (e.g. the oasis mentioned in a certain story) could be kept for two minutes, tops.[/li][/ul]
Skills:
[li] Flight: Tala relies heavily on her wings. For her size (and leg length), she's an impressive endurance flier; with relatively little sleep and food, she can fly for up to two days (in good weather). The longest she has flown without stopping for more than water is four and a half days. She proceeded to regret this for the next two weeks.[/li]
[li] Tumbling/Acrobatics: Yes, tumbling. Her inability to sit still and her love for stories led very quickly to acting out those stories; soon enough, she found herself practicing somersaults and flips. It seemed to be the most natural course of action.
[/li][li]Scouting: Thanks to her large ears, Tala makes an excellent scout. She's also very good at squirreling out fruit and plants to eat (maned wolves are much more omnivorous than real wolves). Over the years, she's discovered that it's easier to find veggies than hunt meat, but she does like the taste of bird.[/li][/ul]
Personality: Friendly. She might as well be a dog, or a human; she'd fit in quite well as a golden retriever or something. She's almost forcefully friendly, actually; there's no escaping her once she decides she likes you. (Stubbornness is a strong factor here, as well.)
She's also easily distracted and tends to suddenly jump to tangents in conversation. It's boring to talk about the same thing all the time, after all.
Her impatience in all matters other than befriending others and storytelling is astounding. She can hardly even hold still to hunt (to compensate, she hunts aerially, eating mostly birds).
Most importantly, she's very free-spirited. Tala has tried pack life. She tried very hard. The regimented style of living, the rules and the order – she just couldn't do it.
She loves stories. Ever since she was little, she's soaked them up like a sponge.
Biography: Tala's not sure where she started. She does sort of remember a creek, and potentially being pushed into it. Since then, she's traveling wherever she pleases, making friends, telling stories, and helping wherever she can.
Early on, a certain legend about the "pool where magic dwells" led her to finding the lake at the very center of the Noctre lands. Two spirits bonded with her, and (although she did nearly blind herself and got badly stuck in a tree) she eventually learned how to use their magic to her advantage.
Tala did once attempt to join a pack. They found her with a broken wing thanks to bad storm, and took pity on her, helping her to heal. She stayed for a full winter, nearly becoming a member, but come spring, they found out very quickly that she would not listen to any of the rules. It was not her goal to drive the pack apart or cause discord; she just wasn't built for pack life. So she went on her way, several stories more knowledgeable, and has wandered in and out of the many territories ever since.
During her travels, naturally, she allegedly met all sorts of creatures. They may or may not have all existed (after all, without imagination, what's a performer but a puppet?). Of all her stories, however, there is one that seems to include more than just a grain of truth.
Sometimes, with prompting, Tala tells a tale of a she-wolf the color of the night. Burned once by by war, then by kindness, and finally by love, she encased first her mind, then her heart in ice. She thought this would protect her from the cruel flames of this world. Over time, her rhythms slowing to a crawl, the night wolf fell into a chilly despair. She journeyed through many lands, finding herself one day in a beautiful jungle filled with vigor and vitality. The night wolf saw none of this. What had been an icy shield against the cruelty of the world was now a cage; her frost-bitten heart had grown tired of this world. So, she laid down to sleep for what she thought would be the last time.
At this same time, there also was a day wolf. She flew on wings of cloud and zephyr, bringing light and laughter to any land she touched. As she flew across the night sky, it lit before her. These lights illuminated the form of the night wolf, and so the day wolf landed. The night wolf was in grave condition now. The ice with which she had protected herself was moving, if slowly, to take her life. The day wolf took pity on this fallen sister, though hers was pity of a strange sort; through story and poem, she raised first the night wolf's mind and, finally, her heart from their cold prisons.
In the time they spent together, they became dear friends. Sadly, the night wolf's heart had been too cold for too long. It could not yet be fully healed by the day wolf's light. So the day wolf offered to bring the night wolf with her on her travels, searching for a way to fully heal her heart. However, though the day wolf was blessed with wings, the night wolf had none. The day wolf vowed to walk the ground with the sun; during the night, however, she would sometimes fly up into the sky, leaving trails of light for her friend to follow.
Some claim to have seen the day wolf and the teal sky-lights she puts up to light the path of her friend; in fact, wolves now know of them as… the great Northern Lights.
Of course, it's just a story. Most everyone knows the gods are responsible for the Northern Lights, and plus, light doesn't melt ice. However, it has been said that after Tala finishes quieting a rambunctious group of pups with a story, or bargaining for shelter with a story, or apologizing for hunting in someone else's territory with – you guessed it – a story, she will leave the area for a while to talk with a shadow at the very edge of vision. The shadow, upon closer examination (a rarity), appears to be a she-wolf with a pelt the color of a nearly black night sky...
