Shira / Shendar / Macanti

[Shira]

Name: Shira
Gender: Female
Age: 26
Race: Human
Tribe: Shendar, of mixed Shen-Siuu and Stratanian heritage.
Languages: Tharian, Shendar
Birthplace: Strata
Occupation: Fire dancing, needlework
Title: Macanti

Overview: Shira is a Shen-Siuu Shendar who was born with an innate proclivity towards fire magic. She was given limited magical education on using her Gift by a macanti who passed himself off as a mage to exploit her talents. Beyond her magic, Shira is in a struggle to find her place in the world. Growing up with Shendar traditions in a Santharian city has left her torn between her desires for a secure and easy life and the pride and customs of her heritage. The conflict has left her looking to the heavens for answers, though she struggles to find them amongst gods as human as she is.

APPEARANCE
Height: 1.75 peds (1 ped, 2 fores, 8 nailsbreadths).
Weight: Thin, approximately a pygge and a hafeb.
Hair Colour: Nor'sidian.
Eye Colour: Eophran brown.

Physical Appearance
Shira is noticeably southern, with dark skin and eyes and wavy black hair that ends just past her shoulders. Her hair is sometimes described as a mess; it is thick and coarse and filled with tangles. Shira usually keeps her hair loose, though she occasionally will tuck back her locks with a headscarf or behind her somewhat large ears. She occasionally decorates a few strands with brightly colored beads.

Shira is pretty, though her curves are possibly better described as bony rather than slender. Her scrawny and sunken features give her somewhat prominent cheekbones and brow, and what little fat she has only thinly covers her hipbones. She does have some lean muscle in her, toned from her dancing which contributes as well in giving her good lung capacity and endurance in spite of her size.

Shira has hooded almond eyes, framed above by thick sloping eyebrows and below by dark circles. Her hooded eyes and frowny lips give her a weary appearance despite her youth. Between Shira's eyes sits a rounded aquiline nose.

Shira speaks softly, with a Truban accent.

Shira's hands are badly burnt from misuse of her magic, and so she often wraps them in bandages to hide them.

Clothing
Shira usually wears loose, light clothing, typically a simple short-sleeved white dress made from toccon seeds. Shira often goes barefoot, though she sometimes wears leather sandles which lace up around the calves. She only wears covering footwear in northern lands where the environment is colder, and in this case she also typically dons a white wool chemise and red kirtle over her toccon dress, along with her white chi'it cloak. Shira often wears a yellow sash over her dresses.

Shira regularly wears a belt of rock snake leather, which carries several bulging bags to hold whatever interesting things she's decided to hoard for the moment. Shira also likes to wear large round golden earrings and bangles. She occasionally wraps her hair up in headscarves of various colors, especially when travelling.

Shira rarely wears makeup, except for when obligated.

PERSONALITY & ABILITIES
Personality
Shira has a meek presence, something her mother frequently chided her on. In spite of her withdrawn and muted demeanor Shira does hold strong opinions, but her limited self-confidence means she only rarely voices them. Even more uncommon are public displays of emotion, which she tries instead to bury deep down in attempt to be less assuming, and more to prevent eruptions of her wild magic.

In public discourse Shira comes across as pleasant but quiet, and she often keeps her eyes lowered. She has indelible manners and rarely raises her voice, and she places high value on propriety in herself and others. This can make her detached in conversation and she struggles with making small-talk, preferring to only listen and leave conversation to those more socially capable than she is. However, in private with friends and family, Shira settles a bit and can at times become demanding, judgmental, and stubborn.

Overall though, Shira is a kind woman who believes in helping others. In this she feels like she has a purpose and so she is often more focused on what she can give rather than what she can get. This has unfortunately left her vulnerable to being taken advantage of, and it can at times place a significant amount of stress on her as she considers other's needs before her own.

Shira is quite intelligent and introspective; she is curious about the world and enjoys knowledge though she can be something of an eavesdropper. She is as well literate and likes to read.

Shira has a sweet-tooth, and enjoys good food as she rarely has the opportunity to partake. She is particularly fond of kao-kao and Krath chocolate, Lobrire's Delight, and all kinds of cheese.

Shira is very religious, and regularly makes prayers and offerings to the Twelvern. Though raised primarily in the worship of Baveras and Foiros, she nowadays tends towards Seyella and Nehtor. She wears a hollow medallion, reminiscent of that worn by the Dalorins, to ward off suffering. The human ascendance origin of the Twelvern has also lead her to express some sentiment towards the possibility of a higher originating divinity, though like most humans she does not venerate the elven high goddess Avá. In some sense she has as well begun pursuing ”Second Reality” as in Shendar custom, though her private nature makes this a more personal journey with little in common to the experiences of others. She herself is not even sure what exactly "Second Reality" is, only that she is searching for more than just what she can see. It is for this reason as well that she has drifted from the physical gods to the spiritual ones.

Shira tends towards superstition in general, and is quick to blame ill events on demons and other malevolent spirits. Aside from her Nehtor medallion, she also carries several other wards and charms. This superstition has left her convinced that her magical abilities were a curse upon her by Foiros or evil spirits, which she has at times made attempts to placate. This has also had the effect of making her wary of most forms of magic rather than just her own. In spite of this, she appreciates the feeling of possessing something unique and so her relationship with her magic is not entirely negative.

Strengths
Magic: Shira is Gifted with the innate ability to channel elemental fire. Her talents, while limited, lend to powerful potential.
Literate: Shira can read and write.
Domestic: Shira can cook. She also spins and sews, and makes the most adorable little dolls.
Multilingual: Shira speaks both Tharian and Shendar.
Shimmy: Shira can fire dance without implements, shaping fire in the air alongside her twists and spins. She is also able to play some instruments.
Slippery: Shira is agile, quick, and flexible, and her slender size enables her to squirm out of the occasional grapple or shackle.
Aj'nuvic: Aj'nuvic!

Weaknesses
Poor: Shira has limited income. Cue expected difficulties.
Calamitous: Shira has only poor control over her magic, and so can at times be more of a threat to herself and her friends than the enemy. Catastrophic Fizzles don't discriminate.
Scrawny: "Eat more," is not an uncommon comment.
Gutless: While Shira can defend herself, she prefers to avoid dangerous situations and is easily cowed when threatened. She has a weak will.
Gloom: Shira has major self-esteem issues which not only drag her down, but can cancel out her magical abilities. When the fire goes out, it really goes out.

Magic
Shira is Gifted with magic, but her limited formal training and her attempts to control her emotions has left her with only a small repertoire of abilities. She is principally capable of manipulating fire and heat.

Under Ximaxian explanation, Shira shows abilities in empowering and occasionally aligning the physical properties of fire ounía. This enables her to enhance the intensity of fire within cár'allía, raising the heat of a targeted entity similar to a Searing spell, or to "throw" or shape fire from one point to another through the animation property. When she was younger she was also able to make fire manifest out of thin air, but as she has learned to downplay her emotions she has mostly lost the ability to do this outside of very emotional situations. Shira is therefore usually reliant on pre-existing fire or combustible materials for her magic. Shira is likewise incapable of directly influencing the spiritual properties of fire.

Shira's poor control often results in feedback through the Xeuá links between her cár'áll and her Focus, causing an intensification of fire ounía within herself. This has the effect of raising her body temperature, risking heat stroke, and occasionally encouraging outbursts of fiery emotion like anger. The emotional buildup leads to more potent spells and even spontaneous generation of fire, but also a greater chance of something going horribly wrong. She has occasionally burned others and regularly burned herself, leaving large scars on her hands. There is a perpetual risk of Catastrophic Fizzle with every spell she casts.

To those with the gift of the Oh'mód'hál or who are using the spell Aura Sight, Shira's cár'áll radiates the transformative elements, both fire and water. Each seem to be clashing to be the Anar'oún and this reflects in Shira's personality as she struggles to restrain her emotions and bring herself down to a sober base. Shira's magic becomes weaker the more tranquil she is, and on the occasion that water achieves dominance Shira's magic ceases to work at all.

Shira can be roughly compared to 3rd level under the Ximaxian system, as her talents primarily act like first sphere and very rarely second sphere spells. She is however far more limited in what she can cast in comparison to any Ximaxian mage.

HISTORY
Early Life
Shira, filja of K'ouri, filja of Sey'zala, was born in the city of Strata to mixed Shendar and Stratanian heritage. Her mother, K'ouri, filja of Sey’zala, filja of Hilmi, was a former Shen'Siuu caravan guide and trader who had chosen to settle more-or-less permanently in the city. Besides trading, K'ouri helped set up merchant caravans with Shendar guides to cross the Ráhaz'Dáth.

K’ouri met Shira’s father during her guide years, a Stratanian caravan leader and trader named Calrin Dunerider. The two had traveled together for several years, becoming friends and eventually lovers. Though Calrin was of Strata it was in fact K’ouri who suggested leaving the nomadic life behind, shortly after her aj’nuvic passed away of illness. The two set up a shop near the outskirts of the city, where they worked as a contact between Shen'Siuu traders coming down from the Yar'Dangs and Stratanian customers living in the city. K'ouri and Calrin would stockpile and sell grain and other supplies to Shendar traders, and also purchase in turn products like salt, burning stones, toccon cotton, and jewels from the Yar'Dangs so that they could resell it to Strata residents from their shop. The shop was often filled with guests, both Stratanian and Shendar, and it was a regular thing for the families of K'ouri's mother and sisters to visit. Shira's oldest sister would stop by as well with them, as she had gone to live a traditional Shendar lifestyle in the desert with K'ouri's mother.

Shira was the youngest of four children, three sisters and one brother. She grew up helping at the shop, where she would tend to the shelves, get water, deliver letters, mend clothes and make shirts and dresses out of toccon cotton, and feed and care for the animals outside, which included aka'pis that were for sale. At this time Shira was taught to speak both Shendar and Tharian. From her father Shira learned as well stories of the north, of Katya the Dragonseeker and the Rimrunner that Saved a Village, and of Master Tribell's Miraculous Narrations and her favorite The Princess and The White Bear. From her mother Shira learned the stories of the Shendar, of how Baveras wept to see the thirst of the young Ráhaz'Dáth and beckoned the other gods to help her bring water to the desert, and how Jeyriall made the brinn'si so that even children too weak for aj'nuvics could have a friend.

Though Shira tried to take her mother's culture to heart it was her father's stories that she enjoyed, and she felt out of place in Strata in her practical Shendar pants and tunic, preferring instead the skirts she saw other girls wear that flowed delicately and could be spun and twirled. She as well could not understand why she must only wear white and blue and silver, when there were so many other beautiful colors. Her mother berated her on tradition, and how easy it would be for Shira to forget that she was Shendar if she did not have enough pride in her culture to see value beyond the surface. "The desert is richer than it appears," said K'ouri. Little Shira was told that while she might be living in Strata, she was still Shendar and must remember where she came from.

Bonding
This took a literal turn after Shira's 13th birthday. At this time, Shira was told to pack supplies, as they would both be going on an extended trip with the dome of Shira's grandmother, Sey'zala, filja of Hilmi, filja of Numi. Shira knew already about the bonding and so she had been expecting this, though she was scared about the journey as she had not been far out of Strata beyond a few visits to her grandmother's dome when it was stopped at Kir'rii.

Shira spent the next year with the dome as it traveled through the Ráhaz'Dáth, being taught how to survive on her own in the desert for the weeks she would be with her aj'nuvic. She was taught how to find and dig up sand melons and how to use a sling at this time, which she had not had much opportunity to practice in Strata, as well as the bane whip.

Finally Shira was taken out to find a young aj'nuvic, though it cannot be said that she was very comfortable about the idea of being alone in the desert for two months and so she hoped that her aj would not be stubborn. Her mother and relatives told her to be strong, of course, and coralled a young aj'nuvic male into a fence before shortly after returning to the dome, leaving Shira to try and convince this aj that eating is a good thing.

Like most children Shira tried first to simply toss some leaves and grass into the pen. The aj was to no surprise unwilling to even consider the food, instead relying on what limited food it already had in the pen. He certainly wasn't yet happy with his human companion, and for quite some time after refused giving any kind of attention to Shira at all.

Shira's emotions over the weeks went initially from fear, to boredom, to loneliness, and finally to despair and anger. It had been over 50 days and the aj'nuvic still refused to have anything to do with her, and she was starving and out of most of her food.

One night Shira turned to screaming at it in frustration, saying how much she hated it and that she never wanted an aj'nuvic and it would never be useful in the city and that she just wanted to go home. It was at this point that her emotions triggered her first major eruption of magic, as she set fire to the brush she had been furiously throwing into the pen. To her luck Shira did not set the aj'nuvic aflame, but the animal began to cry and run around its pen in fear of the fire. Once Shira realized what was going on she panicked and scrambled to put out the fire, wasting most of what remained of her water supplies in her desperation. Both aj and girl were scared, and in this shared emotion they perhaps found some connection.

In the days following, the aj'nuvic would finally accept the offered food. By then both sides had been thoroughly broken down emotionally and neither wanted to spend any time longer in this situation. Both were happy to finally leave the pen once the other Shendar returned, though their relationship would remain somewhat confrontational for awhile longer still.

Sorcery
Shira did not directly mention the fire incident to her family, and tried to rationalize it to herself as a prank played on her by spirits. In the years to follow however she endured several similar incidents and could no longer deny that it was localized to her. Always she kept it to herself in fear of others calling her crazy or worse, possessed, and she soon came to regard herself as cursed. Her quiet demeanor allowed her to keep it a secret, though her family did develop suspicions that something was wrong.

It was some time in her second decade of life that she learned of a magic healer that had come to Strata. The city had of course seen many mages pass through it, offering various services from healing to shows, but Shira had always avoided them for she had come to fear magic. It was only after many prayers and supplications to Foiros had gone unanswered that she gathered finally the courage to approach this one.

The mage, Antasean of Ximax, was in truth a macanti and possessed no real power of his own. He knew just enough to be able to befuddle the unlearned skeptic with verbose diatribes on Cáráll, of Ahm and Soór and Xeuá and Ecuá, and of the great Úarná'ésh-dél at Ximax. His keen understanding of engineering as well allowed him to pull off tricks of light and sound, and with his assistants feigning injury to be healed made him in every which way appear the mage he claimed to be.

Shira was drawn in by Antasean's displays, and she approached him in the hours after his public showings in spite of some manner of complaint from her aj'nuvic. With what coin she had to spare she recounted about her curse to him and begged him to cure her. Antasean was not convinced until Shira displayed to him her hands, an injury she had explained previously to her parents as the result of touching a hot cooking pot but which truly had been burned by her magic. This still did not entirely persuade Antasean, being a man learned in the ways of deception, but he offered her weekly appointments, for a price, during which he would attempt to cure her. Shira agreed. Knowledgeable enough about magical theories to suspect a gifted individual, Antasean orchestrated emotionally-charged encounters during his meetings in attempt to witness Shira's abilities. Once Antasean had verified that what she was saying was true he concluded the meetings with the sorrowful diagnosis that the curse could not be fully cured. Instead he offered an alternative: Learn how to control it, with his guidance.

Macanti
Antasean was good for his word, in spite of things. He had enough knowledge on magic, and far more knowledge on how to influence people, to introduce Shira to her natural power. Shira's talents left the hard work all but done for Antasean, and it was simple enough for him to convince her that progress was being made by teaching her such simple ideas as the power of her emotions and the need to have focus and imagination. With pointed injection of fancy Ximaxian wording (which has always been known to leave the uninitiated bewildered), Antasean made it easy to believe that he was providing a true magician's education.

That was not all he taught her. His lessons had a fee, of course, which Shira was hardpressed to pay. In a supposed gesture of compassion, he introduced Shira to a friend (in fact an assistant) who would bring her into a dance troupe and use her magical talents to entertain wide-eyed audiences for coin, of which Shira's cut would be set aside for her education. How generous! Shira was not especially fond of dancing and was scared of crowds, but she learned to perform and became rather skilled.

It was of course by this time that Shira could no longer keep her secrets from her family. Though Shira had always feared their response to her magic, it was in fact her regular outings with the macanti that were truly unwelcomed by them. They had no such illusions as to Antasean's "abilities" or his intentions, and Shira's mother was especially furious and chided her daughter's blindness. "You prayed for fortune upon a Drake Egg," she said, citing a Shendar proverb against carelessness, "But you found only the venom of the rock snake."

Shira apologized and withdrew inward, but she did not stop seeing Antasean even in spite of recognizing him now as the fake that he was. As the youngest child in a large family that practiced customs she was obligated to follow regardless of her desires, Shira had for a long time felt neglected and out of place. This feeling of disconnection had only grown after learning of her abilities. To Antasean Shira believed that she could be something valued and special, and she felt more towards him than she should have in such a situation.

Shira's ties to her family would from then on remain strained. Though there was still the love of family the chasm between them had enlarged, and Shira felt that she had disappointed them. She began to spend more and more time with Antasean and the dance troupe, and less at home. It was during this time that Shira began to pray to greater extent to Nehtor and Eyasha and Seyella as she began to ponder where her life was going.

Accident
Though Antasean had been wearing out his welcome in Strata, the macanti's frauds earning the enmity of many citizens, his company of charlatans had continued to turn a small profit. In spite of that, he felt that it was soon coming time for him and his company to take their leave for more exploitable grounds. Before they could set out, however, an unfortunate incident occurred. An argument between Shira and another member of her troupe caused her to lose control of her magic. She severely injured several individuals--including Antasean--and though there were no fatalities Shira fled the city in fear, riding as far as Kir'rii on her aj'nuvic. There she hid, with friends of her family, and by the time she found the courage to return to Strata the macanti and his company had left the city.

In spite of the events, Shira's uncertainty and feeling of being lost led her to ultimately disappoint her family again by searching for Antasean. With little coin to her name (the majority of her earnings having gone to the company) she was unable to afford a ship to Varcopas, where the company had supposedly sailed to, and so she instead persuaded one of her aunts' families to allowing Shira to join them when they next headed north.

Shira stayed with her family for the remaining weeks, and during this time some of the rifts were mended. Shira's choices remained a disappointment, but she was old enough now that her choices were her own. They believed that perhaps in her time away from family she would learn just how important it was. The last thing Shira's mother told her when she left was that she hoped Shira would one day be able to see the richness of the desert, just as she had told her when she was a little girl.

It is of course the case that she will not find Antasean, because that story must end for others to begin.

ACCESSORIES
Weapons
- Dagger.
- Sling.
- Burning stones.
- Bane whip.

Belongings
- Nehtor amulet and various other wards and charms.
- Aka'pi doll.
- Needlework and cooking tools and materials.
- Many handmade blankets and headscarves of bright colors and fine embroidery.
- Some jewelry.
- Some instruments and reading material.

Familiars
Aki: Aki is Shira's aj'nuvic. His name is inspired by the aj'nuvic's smaller cousin, the aka'pi, which Shira thought is a much cuter name. Aki is burned in some places, though this is not easily noticed under his wool coat, which is decorated on his underside with brightly-colored beads and knots and over his back with a red and gold embroidered blanket. Aki is Shira's only real friend, and so she is quite reliant on him. The aj'nuvic himself is a bit more standoffish, and can be difficult to control even for his partner.

[Fox]

Above is my new char, so a magic expert shouldn't be needed.

Also, hi. Decided to try out Santharia again and so as I often do I wrote up a new char. This one combines a few things I did on a few older characters, but into a harmonious and hopefully much superior whole compared to previous attempts as I'm a much better writer now than I used to be.

[Roy Tmofl]

Hello Fox! I love seeing new faces around the board. I shall be very happy to look through this very soon and to review the magic section. 

[Roy Tmofl]

Magic
Shira is Gifted with magic, but her limited formal training and her attempts to control her emotions has left her with only a small repertoire of abilities. She is principally capable of manipulating fire and heat.

Heat goes along with fire, as does light, animation, passion and etc. If you can manipulate fire you normally have all of those down. As they are properties of fire. In fact it is essentially impossible for an Ximaxian mage to manipulate fire directly. They need to work through the properties of fire, thus if I wanted to start a fire on something. I would increase it's dominance in the Car'all if need be, and increase it's properties of heat. (This is done through the strengthening of Xeua links which bond all ounia together in some form or another, though the strength of that ranges from strong, to almost imperceptible. When you strengthen a Xeua link between two ounia in a car'all that increases the influence that the element of your choice has over that car'all and thus over the physical world. Now while you do this you can specifically "target" certain properties, like heat. Thus if I wanted a very calm fire, but a hot one, I would strengthen their Xeua links in order to increase their properties of heat if you will.) That small sentence did not warrant this massive explanation don't worry, I'm just covering a large aspect of fire magic in this paragraph so I may not have to later .


Under Ximaxian explanation, Shira shows abilities in empowering and propelling the physical properties of fire ounía. (This is completely fine, if it's meaning is as I take it. She is very good at increasing the properties within the physical aspect of fire ounia? Meaning she is good at starting fire per say but bad at putting them out? If so that is a wonderful balancing tool!) This enables her to enhance the intensity of fire within cár'allía, raising the heat of a targeted entity similar to a Searing spell, and to focus aggressive fire ounía in one entity (such as a torch) in the direction of an intended Focus, in essence "throwing" or shaping fire from one point to another through the animation property. ( This Checks out.) When she was younger she was also able to make fire manifest out of thin air, but as she has learned to downplay her emotions she has mostly lost the ability to do this outside of very emotional situations. (Ximaxian magic doesn't normally work through emotions all that much, it focuses more on pure concentration of the force of will over an object. It is very structured and very methodical. But, that being said each mage is unique and it is very possible that her emotions could affect her casting ability. Which would once more but a wonderful tool for balance.) Shira is therefore usually reliant on pre-existing fire or combustible materials for her magic. Shira is likewise incapable of directly influencing the spiritual properties of fire. (Good balance I like it, and the way she is shaping up I'd say if you have a reagent with a high percentage of fire ounia, like a burning stone or sulphur that would probably do the trick for you. Just do as you describe, increasing it's heat and animation properties.)

Shira's poor control often results in feedback through the Xeuá links between her cár'áll and her Focus, causing an intensification of fire ounía within herself. This has the effect of raising her body temperature, risking heat stroke, and occasionally encouraging outbursts of fiery emotion like anger. The emotional buildup leads to more potent spells and even spontaneous generation of fire, but also a greater chance of something going horribly wrong. She has occasionally burned others and regularly burned herself, leaving large scars on her hands. There is a perpetual risk of Catastrophic Fizzle with every spell she casts. (Significantly amazing balance! Already I can see I probably gave you to much of an explanation above, you prove to have quite the understanding of not only ounia and ca'rallia but Xeua as well. This weakness is not impossible either, it seems to me that your character has trouble while in a fit of rage concentrating on the right car'all to work with, and as a draw back you personally get a little bit of the effects you were trying to place on something else yes? Also know that Car'all generally does not want to change, it is stubborn if you will, and the natural will of your body would be for you to be in balance, though slightly off balance as mages generally take after their element a bit after so many years of magically affecting it. Basically what I mean to say by this is that you could do more an outside object than you would have to do to yourself in that situation. Though I have my doubts that you did not already know this.  )

To those with the gift of the Oh'mód'hál or who are using the spell Aura Sight, Shira's cár'áll radiates the transformative elements, both fire and water. Each seem to be clashing to be the Anar'oún and this reflects in Shira's personality as she struggles to restrain her emotions and bring herself down to a sober base. Shira's magic becomes weaker the more tranquil she is, and on the occasion that water achieves dominance Shira's magic ceases to work at all. (Quick note, the spells listed on the site are quite terrible for reference on the RP boards, though luckily for you you demonstrate knowledge far beyond that. And there is nothing wrong with name dropping spells here and there, as I already mentioned the Ximaxian mages love order and structure so they would definitely have these. Now it seems to me that the oppressive nature of these elements in your car'all is possible, I would allow it. It is no different than a physical anomaly in a person yes? And as Car'all mirrors the physical world it should indeed be possible for their to be a spiritual anomaly. Especially a detrimental one! As I said earlier mages normally change towards their element of choice, their car'all aligns to that over time. But as that has already happened here and the dominance of water is an anomaly this weakness actually fits quite well.)

In short, I rambled much more than I should have. The only thing I would ask of you is that you give us a level of your magical abilities, as they are Ximaxian based and influenced. You are 26, so I believe that maximum level is three, which is not a problem. Technically you do not even need my approval to play a magic user of third level or less. But the way things are I'd say that you could probably go into a higher level if you wished. So long as you change the age of course. That is not a recommendation merely a possibility. I love the strength of your magic and the unique drawbacks you've taken to counter it. It's a bold move, and one that I know I probably would not have been willing to take. This should be a fun character to play.


I will review the other sections later but I really wanted to get this part up.

[Fox]

Well I wouldn't say I'm a new face. Afterall, I made the elemental frame border that you've been using.

Also, I think you should focus on Geirnils' bio first. He's been waiting longer and needs some CD mods to look at his. Mine can wait.

Heat goes along with fire, as does light, animation, passion and etc. If you can manipulate fire you normally have all of those down. As they are properties of fire. In fact it is essentially impossible for an Ximaxian mage to manipulate fire directly. They need to work through the properties of fire, thus if I wanted to start a fire on something. I would increase it's dominance in the Car'all if need be, and increase it's properties of heat. (This is done through the strengthening of Xeua links which bond all ounia together in some form or another, though the strength of that ranges from strong, to almost imperceptible. When you strengthen a Xeua link between two ounia in a car'all that increases the influence that the element of your choice has over that car'all and thus over the physical world. Now while you do this you can specifically "target" certain properties, like heat. Thus if I wanted a very calm fire, but a hot one, I would strengthen their Xeua links in order to increase their properties of heat if you will.) That small sentence did not warrant this massive explanation don't worry, I'm just covering a large aspect of fire magic in this paragraph so I may not have to later .

Heh. You don't need to explain the system to me. I'm quite versed in it.

It should be noted that the character is not a Ximaxian mage. I specify heat and fire not as properties in this first sentence but as a description of what she does at a general level. The first sentence was intended as an overview, with the specifics left to subsequent paragraphs.

(This is completely fine, if it's meaning is as I take it. She is very good at increasing the properties within the physical aspect of fire ounia? Meaning she is good at starting fire per say but bad at putting them out? If so that is a wonderful balancing tool!)

Rather, that she is good at the physical properties but not the spiritual ones. Heat, animation, those she can do. Passion, love, hate? Not so much. She would never be able to cast spells with effects like Demoralize or Entice.

(Ximaxian magic doesn't normally work through emotions all that much, it focuses more on pure concentration of the force of will over an object. It is very structured and very methodical. But, that being said each mage is unique and it is very possible that her emotions could affect her casting ability. Which would once more but a wonderful tool for balance.)

For a Ximaxian mage this is true. Shira however is not a Ximaxian mage, she is a Gifted. I was working off of Rayne's not-yet-on-site entry on raw magic when I wrote this, and in fact that entry is what inspired me to go with a Gifted char. As described in that entry, Gifted talents are inspired by emotion, and based principally on desire and will (which is ultimately the crux of all magic). Logic and reason actually place barriers on it, hence why as I wrote here she actually loses her magical abilities the more she tries to limit herself.

I wrote the magic section in this bio by Ximaxian terms mainly just to give a detailed accounting to the reader about what the exact effect of her spells are, but the character herself has no understanding of Ximaxian principles and performs her casting by natural instinct. Essentially, consider the magic section here as 'Shira's magic as described by a Ximaxian' (me the writer in this case). Ask Shira the character how she does her magic and she will have no idea, and would be sooner attribute it to gods or spirits.

This weakness is not impossible either, it seems to me that your character has trouble while in a fit of rage concentrating on the right car'all to work with, and as a draw back you personally get a little bit of the effects you were trying to place on something else yes?

More or less, yes.

(Quick note, the spells listed on the site are quite terrible for reference on the RP boards, though luckily for you you demonstrate knowledge far beyond that. And there is nothing wrong with name dropping spells here and there, as I already mentioned the Ximaxian mages love order and structure so they would definitely have these. Now it seems to me that the oppressive nature of these elements in your car'all is possible, I would allow it. It is no different than a physical anomaly in a person yes? And as Car'all mirrors the physical world it should indeed be possible for their to be a spiritual anomaly. Especially a detrimental one! As I said earlier mages normally change towards their element of choice, their car'all aligns to that over time. But as that has already happened here and the dominance of water is an anomaly this weakness actually fits quite well.)

Yes, most of the spells are very outdated. We were trying to go through them and get them updated a few years back but that effort stalled.

And yes, every element has their affect on a person, and the way in which the spiritual properties of these elements interact is what determines personality and character. A person is balanced between all elements yes, though even in non-mages they are not perfectly equal. Humans are afterall generally aligned towards the element of water, while orcs are fire, elves wind, and dwarves earth, and these elements represent respectively in the traits of change and adaptation, passion and emotion, serenity and imagination, and stubbornness and rigidity. All people exemplify all of these traits and how strongly they align to an element determines how strong these traits manifest in them. This is of course why spells that target the spiritual aspects can create corresponding changes in a person's mental state, such as using fire to incite love or hate or using earth to strengthen someone's resolve.

For Shira this applies as well to her magic. When her anar'oún (central oún, dominating element) is fire, her talents manifest, as this is where the greatest emotion appears and emotion is what triggers Gifted magic. When aligning closer to the other elements, which are calmer, her abilities fail. For Shira the order of influence goes fire-water-earth-wind. This displays as well in her background and personality, she characteristically follows the orientation of fire as 'earth trying to become wind' and is engaged in quite a bit of soul-searching.

In short, I rambled much more than I should have. The only thing I would ask of you is that you give us a level of your magical abilities, as they are Ximaxian based and influenced. You are 26, so I believe that maximum level is three, which is not a problem. Technically you do not even need my approval to play a magic user of third level or less. But the way things are I'd say that you could probably go into a higher level if you wished. So long as you change the age of course. That is not a recommendation merely a possibility.

A level is something I can't really give as again this character is not a Ximaxian-trained mage and so her abilities can't really be defined by that. What I've instead tried to explain is precisely what she can and can't do with her abilities. I can say that she does make use of mostly sphere I but also some sphere II techniques, though in this there is no conscious understanding of spheres as her magic is a manifestation of raw will and desire. She is certainly more limited than any Ximaxian mage by merit of not understanding what she is doing, and while some of her effects occasionally do employ sphere II principles, which is taught in Ximaxian levels 3-6, she has far more limited range of effects than any mage of that level. A Ximaxian mage between levels 3 through 6 could accomplish a much larger amount of various effects through exploiting their superior knowledge, with far more ease and control.

Essentially, Shira is capable of the following:
- Raising heat (sphere I, physical representation, heat property)
Directly raises the heat and burns something/someone. She often has to touch something to do this, and due to her lack of control she does not have the protection that this effect normally affords trained mages. So if she touches iron and melts it, it's going to be like she is actually touching melted iron and will have a similar effect on her own skin.

- Shaping fire (sphere I/II, physical representation, animation and heat properties)
Requires a nearby fire. In essence she can take a campfire and throw it across a short expanse, or make it dance in the air.

- Fire attunement (sphere I)
Attuning to the element, aligning one's cár'áll more towards fire. Shira doesn't do this consciously, it is just something that happens as she casts due to her emotional state. The equivalent of Flame Control (which is a more up-to-date spell as that was one the ones I updated a few years ago).

And that's it. Anything that is not one of the above, she cannot do.

Though on very rare occasions she can also do one other thing:
- Generating fire (sphere II, physical representation, heat property)
Would be the absolute most powerful thing she could cast, would require an extremely elevated emotional level, and would probably nearly kill her.


Essentially, Shira has a maximum of 3 "spells". 4 if you count the final one which is only very rare and not something she can perform at will. This is a better representation of her abilities than a Ximaxian level, as Ximaxian levels tend to indicate a far broader range of possibilities. If a level must be given then 3 is fine, as the majority of her magic is just sphere I.

I love the strength of your magic and the unique drawbacks you've taken to counter it. It's a bold move, and one that I know I probably would not have been willing to take. This should be a fun character to play.

Thank you, and thank you for your comments!

[Altario Shialt-eck-Gorrin]

   Careful, Roy.  You are up against a Jedi Master here.  Fox is one of the most knowledgeable Magic Experts on site, having helped develop much of it.  Teehee, she may just turn you into a Ximax Rat. 

[Fox]

I wouldn't go that far, Alt. I was always several steps behind people like Rayne and Coren.

Roy's comments did help remind me though that I was making a newbie mistake. Sphere II is alignment of ounía rather than physical motion, so shaping fire would still usually be sphere I (via Will and intensifying animation property). I've gone ahead and edited the magic section a bit (changes in yellow). I as well added the level thing, as I guess it can be said that Shira does roughly compare to a Ximaxian of 3rd level when considering that most of her abilities correspond to the first sphere.

[Roy Tmofl]

Haha, who isn't behind them eh? And I certainly did walk into something didn't I Alt  

You'll have to forgive my lack of knowledge on your identity however, though I consider myself a long standing member I have only been around five years or so. So many of the ancient greats remain unknown to me Luckily their posts and their legend remains so I have seen a few of their stories.

I do not believe that Macanti are normally allowed, but even disregarding the fact that you were here to create the system. The drawbacks and the way you have actually made the character are alone in my opinion, enough to warrant an exception to this area. If asked on the matter I would recommend it be allowed. (Wink wink Alt!)

As to her being third level I'm not sure if Macanti have levels as you say, but, it seems like it does fit well enough no? I wouldn't require it but I'd recommend it.

[Fox]

Heh, no problem about the identity. I have been gone for about three years (and I was under a different name then), and I don't think we ever RPed in the same story. And God that does feel like a long time doesn't it? I first joined Santh back well... about 14 years ago. But I've vanished quite a few times. Always get the itch again eventually though.

Anyway, macanti and Gifted have been allowed in the past, and they are not on the restricted list. So as far as I know, it's allowed.

Thank you again for the comments so far. I'll again recommend taking a look at Geirnils's bio before doing anything more with mine, he's the new guy so should get first dibs on the CD mods.

[Roy Tmofl]

Of course, of course Have no fear. I shall give him my full attention now. Welcome back Fox.

[Altario Shialt-eck-Gorrin]

Shira's has small, almond-shaped eyes, framed above by thick sloping eyebrows and below by dark circles.

Seeing as I know NOTHING about magic, and plan on staying that way forever, I can only comment on everything else.  And everything else looks good except for this petty little grammer mistake that I shall point out  just so I look all Administratery and stuff.  So, yeah, fix this and you can have my first approval, with a second approval from Roy when he is happy.

[Kareesh Valendar]

I plan on coming back and reading this when I'm not so tired. But I did want to say welcome back, Fox. I love seeing people from the past pop back up. It seems like we first joined Santharia about the same time.

And, Roy, "ancient"? Thanks for the compliment.

[Fox]

Fixed, Alt, thank you.

Do wait a bit though. I've asked Talia to take a look because Shendar, so would like her to see it before titling/archival.


And thank you, Kareesh! And yeah, I believe we did join at around the same time. I was under the name Dasson back then, though I've long since disassociated from that identity. Though on this board I've mostly gone by char names, so this account was under the name Josephine Frostwhisper for awhile. Since I decided to scrap that character (Shira is the improved replacement), I decided to just change this account name to the one I've been using on the dev board and stick with using it as an OOC account. Though Josie is my RL name so people can still use that if they want.

[Kareesh Valendar]

Yup, I remember all those names, though I'm not sure if I had completely remember that they all belonged to you.

I'll pop by Monday to take a look at your CD.

[Ta'lia of the Seven Jewels]

Hello Fox!

As I'm quite busy building... ahem, well, some short comments to your CD  (It is getting better though)

OK, this CD is marvelous, a char so 'normal' and because of that exceptional. With all the trouble a young adolescent can have, the love of the family and the conflicts too. The bonding of the ai'nuvic as an not so easy affair, splendid.

I didn't find any problems wit the Shendar stuff, I might have forgotten myself details, that doesn't matter. Normally I use three names (the grandmothers also fiija...), but two is enough also. This is now the second time that somebody introduces Shendar  as an own language where I always thought it is close enough to Tharian, but probably the Shendar language has really developed away from the languages of Northern Santharia, that understanding each other is difficult. So, I need to finally add that part. I don't want to write it though, I have no fable for describing a language.

Fox, go ahead, you have enriched my tribe  

Talia

PS:  And tell Altario that I'm not entirely gone...

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