Special Feature Applications

Name: Aisling
Character Name: Julia König
Feature you are applying for: ½ Nixie

h i s t o r y  o f  t h e  n i x i e

There is very little known about the German water sprites known as nixie. Elusive and secretive throughout the ages, what is known about the nixie is through old tales.

The nixies have appeared in German mythology and folklore in as early as the 12th century.  The most widely known appearance of nixies are in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, as the opera is based on the nixies of the myth, Nibelungenlied. Throughout the various German myths, nixies were said to be beautiful half human, half fish creatures, much resembling a mermaid. In the most recent tale of nixies, by English writier Jacob Grimm in the 19th century, they are said to be lovers and the most beautiful performers of music and dance. In this tale, it is revealed that due to the curious nature of the nixie, they often liked to go ashore to interact with humans. They are able to take the form of humans, but with an eerie resemblance to animals.

Nixies have been said to be great shape shifters. They can take the form of both human and animals, while using their mermaid-like apperance while in the rivers they call home. While in true nixie form, they appear like mermaids, beauitful from the waist up, but with a sparkling, scaly tale insted of legs.

In accordance with different sources, because nixies liked to venture on land, it is believed that they were able to mate with or marry a human, often still living near a body of water such as an ocean, lake or river. However, these unions were often short lived as the humans they married were soon able to see through their beauty and into their destructive behavior. Nixie and human marriages are able to produce human children, bearing characteristics of both the nixie and human species.

c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s

The personality of a nixie often comes off first as child-like—they are curious creatures who like to interact with others and often seem quite carefree. This veneer, however, is very deceptive. Their curiosity is often intentionally cruel leads to destruction. Such an example is in luring sailors or men to their deaths, much like that of a siren. Nixies, however, often have the intention of wanting to harm, drawing men in with her song and dance. The carelessness that was first thought to be innocent is actually a result of irresponsibility and selfishness. They do not like to be blamed or found to be the cause of a problem; often they find others to be source of a problem. It had been said that despite their protective behavior, they are unthinking of others and their protectiveness stems from their own greed or jealousy as opposed to from concern of what they are meant to protect.

Nixies are, much like a spoilt child, temperamental. They tend to be very moody—happy and calm one moment, followed by a sudden outburst of anger over the slightest of wrong doings. Nixies dislike change, finding happiness with stability and familiarity. Also being aesthetic beings, they are often more pleased with or curious the physical aspects of an object or human as opposed to the functionality or emotional aspects.

Even though their personality can come off as childlike, the nixie contradicts this by also being provocative and seductive in speech and action. While in human form, they are often able to draw humans toward them by just their looks alone. They tend to be quite fixated on the sexuality of relationships, finding pleasure in the exploration of it. Flirtatious in nature, humans are often able to find that they are put at ease in the initial presence of a nixie.

Their physical appearance is alluring and seductive. The nixie women are small and thin, but have womanly attributes such as an ample or round bust with well defined hips. They are fair as well—large light colored eyes in blues, greens or grays with long golden hair. Their faces, however, have been described as beautiful in a unique way. Their faces are not entirely human, but have animal-like and human features.

Despite their bad qualities, the nixies are also very loyal individuals. Once loyalty is won from them, they can be less cruel and are become loving toward the person. Their love is often misunderstood by humans, after the charm of their looks and flirtatious behavior has worn off. After the desire for intentional destruction has worn off, the nixie can still often find that their selfish and temperamental habits remain and their desire to protect becomes suffocating. Because of this, nixie and human relationships tend to be short lived in comparison to the average human relationship, resulting in the nixie returning to where they originally came from.

a p p l i c a t i o n

When I started the sheet for Julia, I always pictured her being the character that a Special Feature would be good for.  I believe that she’s one of my more complex characters as she is, but I thought about giving her a Special Feature to add another level to her. The more I thought about, the more I realized that I didn’t want a feature that would change who she is, but be something that is already a part of her and fits in seamlessly to her personality. As I read over the various Special Features offered at MH, I realized there was nothing that I truly saw Julia as being. It was then through my own wanderings through Google that I stumbled across a German mythological creature called the Nixie.

In all honestly, there isn’t one great source that gives minute details about the Nixie. After spending a lot of quality time with Google, I compiled history and characteristics of the creature into hopefully what is something that is interesting and understandable. I wanted something that would fit in with the MH world, while also not being something that was overdone or just seemed like an application done on a whim. I think that a part nixie character would fit in well with the MH world as the feature shares similarities with the veela and siren feature, while still remaining independent and unique from both of them.

Throughout my research, I found that I was becoming more in love with the idea of Julia being part nixie. Both the personality and physical features of the creatures fit her personality without changing who she already is at a character.

As read in the description, Julia is, like nixies, a volatile girl. She is curious and unpredictable, and she radiates sexuality. At times, Julia is intentionally cruel and, while never violent, she takes enjoyment out of verbally attacking people and causing emotional distress. Careless and irresponsible, she can be childish and often refuses to take blame for anything or believe that she is personally responsible. Just as the nixies dislike change, Julia longs for stability is her relationships and personal life. Julia tends to be temperamental and she is often misunderstood, but she also is fiercely loyal and very loving to the people she holds close. Even physically, Julia matches the description of nixies—large blue eyes, cat-like in appearance, with pale skin and bright blonde hair. Her frame is small and slender with curves that are mature for her age. She has never been described as traditionally beautiful, but her looks are enchanting in a unique, at times, eerie way. A dancer and singer, she is gifted in performing arts, which could be explained by the nixies ability to charm men with their song and dance.

This feature will add to Julia’s history, especially in the terms of her mother about which little is known to Julia, and add to who she already is. The most noticable of the abilities that come with being part nixie is, like a siren or veela, she will be able to seduce most people against their wills. Nixies are known for drawing people in with song and dance, causing a half nixie to be extraordinarily skilled in those talents. While the ability for Julia will not seduce people like it would for a full nixie, people would find, when hearing her sing or watching her dance that they are drawn to her and are in want of her attention. Being that nixies are destructive creatures, magic that is darker in nature will come easier to Julia, finding that she has an exceptional talent for it.

For a number of reason, I really feel that this Special Feature fits Julia perfectly as she is, without changing her or needing to alter anything except her history. If I get this feature, I'm excited to add some more depth to Julia and to her history. I think that dealing with the knowledge that her mother isn't human will create a personal challenge for her and allow for growth as a character.

f u t u r e  p l o t s

At the moment, I have two plots worked out involving this ability. The first is involving her father, which another member has agreed to NPC, from who Julia will find out about her mother. At this point, due to her mother's absence already, there is very little known about her to Julia. This will allow for some gaps to be filled and create a story line that leads into my second plot idea.

At Durmstrang, Julia already feels that she doesn't belong there and she thinks that she doesn't need the school to promise her a future.. With this ability, she will feel even further outcasted from her peers and, due to her already flighty nature, she will want to leave. The plot that I've been thinking of is for her to run away to, at the moment, London. She will use her abilities to seduce to get what she wants or needs. I think that this will be a fun way to develop into a deeper character while keeping an interesting plot line.

I've got a few other plot ideas brewing, one about her development into a dark witch due to her talent in and soon to be affinity for dark arts,but none sketched out enough to be considered solid yet, except for the two plots I have just mentioned.

s a m p l e

Biting down on her lower lip in a seductive cross between innocent and wicked, Julia’s bright eyes met with the shopkeeper’s muddy brown ones. He was an older man, nearing his 40s who, by just his looks alone, did not seem like the type of man who often got talked to by pretty girls. Reaching a small hand out, Julia brushed a fly away wisp of hair from the top of the man’s head, nearly making his knees shake. “Much better,” she lied, her voice flirty. “That really makes your eyes stand out.”

Leaning forward over the counter, the young blonde noticed the man’s eyes drift down to the bust of her shirt. An amused smile appeared on her face that she masked with a seductive gaze. This was almost too easy, she thought to herself, watching the less than handsome man beginning to sweat with desire. At times, Julia had some trouble trying to convince shopkeepers of things, the older ones were usually aware of the tricks people tried to pull to get a price lowered or even stealing, but this man was so weak willed to the sixteen year old’s unnatural charms.

“I really do love this dress,” she said softly, motioning to the dress in her hand. Nervously opening his mouth, the shopkeeper replied that he thought it would look lovely on her. “You have great taste in merchandise…oh my,” she let out a fake gasp when she looked at the price. The man looked concerned, Julia could feel that she almost had him. “I don’t think I can afford this, maybe I’ll try a different shop…” She trailed off, slowly setting the dress down.

“Wait,” the shopkeeper said, clearly not wanting to see Julia walk out the door so soon. Pale eyebrows raised in a puzzled expression. “Yes,” she asked in a light, airy voice, as though she wasn’t sure what he could be wanting. The man paused, then said he would lower the price by 20%. Looking doubtful, Julia said, “That’s very nice of you bu—” The man cut her off, offering a surprising 50% off. That would make the dress more than affordable for Julia, but she was curious to see how low he would go.  “Well,” she started, faking uncertainty. She bit down on her lower lip, as if still in deep thought about buying the dress, before looking up at the shopkeeper with a flirtatious look in blue eyes. As she opened her mouth, the shopkeeper suddenly said, “75%. 75% off.”

An almost wicked smile danced on Julia’s pale pink lips. Deciding that she had had enough fun tormenting this poor man, she nodded. “That’s fair,” she replied, the man looking pleased with himself. “You convinced me. Guess I can’t resist a man with a beautiful dress.” That didn’t even make sense and Julia knew it, but a large smile fell onto the man’s face, a dreamy look in his eyes as he accepted the money from Julia.

“Will you be back? We get in new styles at the start of each month,” he called out eagerly as Julia made her way to the door. Pausing, she looked back at him, a flirty smile playing on her face, which he returned with a mixed expression of desperation, hopefulness, and admiration. Deciding she was done here, Julia gave the man nothing more than cool, unfeeling shrug as she made her way to the door, her new purchase under her arm, leaving the man in a confused daze as she walked away.

Name: Carolyn
Character name: Dae Hun Kwon    
Feature you are applying for: Animagus - Black Kite (Marking: He is distinguishable by the red head that fades into dark brown)

Description of the character:Dae-Hun Kwon sees himself as a predator, one that is on the top of the food chain. He preys on individuals who show weakness, through their body language and speech patterns. Dae-Hun will analyze for signs such as slouched shoulders, eyes cast down, confidence in their speech to determine how easy it will be to take advantage of the individual. With a swagger in his step and confidence, he is able to sell himself to his prey before taking their belongings. Conning is an art that he has undertaken with ease.  It is a hobby that he enjoys immensely because it requires him to keep him on his feet, and is a welcome challenge as every con is different.

Conning is an art that emphasizes a trait of the kite; their opportunistic nature. Like the kite, Dae-Hun is always looking for the next big investment. He is particularly fond of shiny things because there is some monetary wealth that comes with those items.  Thus, he loves to collect galleons and sickles from unsuspecting fellows. Like the fanned out tail feathers that allows the bird to fly freely through the air without much effort, Dae-Hun has adapted himself to move as swiftly when searching for his next prey.

Dae-Hun’s love for dark arts was cultivated through his study in Durmstrung. He was a natural at wand-work and focused his studies on courses which allowed him the liberty to use the wand. As much as he excelled in the use of the wand, he excelled in the theory behind it. Learning the theory was not as easy for him to grasp, but he is persistent and enjoys the challenge. He knows practice makes perfect and problems won’t be solved if you refuse to try. Since Dae-Hun acknowledges that you can never stop learning, he continues to practice and refine his art in reading body language, wand theory and wand work.

Finally coming to the decision of pursing becoming an animagus was a huge decision for Dae-Hun. It was required for him to be studious and put forth more effort than he ever had to. Changing was very painful and he almost gave up trying but his will power overrode his fear of the pain. At first he had problems with the sensitive hearing, which made him avoid gatherings at the school. Dae-Hun could not lift off the ground as a kite, which furthers his disappointment in himself.  The challenges of his transformation and adaptions of his body made him realize he had to continue working hard or he would never meet the hardest challenge of his short life. With some persistence he was finally able to fly and interact with other birds of prey. Once he was finally able to fly properly, it became a means of freedom. Riding a broom did not give him the same adrenalin rush. He also found the creatures to be comforting, providing him with love and warmth he didn't get anywhere else in his life.

This, in turn opened Dae-Hun up to trying to make friends, although he held an exaggerated feared they’d leave him shortly.  However, the Kite's internal need to be with others and create flocks led to Dae-Hun willing to open up himself to others behind a covered shield. 

Dae-Hun works in the Kwon’s family casino as the head dealer. While he works, he tries to track those who are attempting to swindle the casino out of money and has trained his dealers to focus on reading facial expressions. Since practicing surface talk for several years, he has become quite proficient and charismatic on the outside. However, it makes him tired because there is little routine while working the floor. It’s impossible to predict everything that can happen and he only does it because it is asked from his family to do this line of work. Dae-Hun likes to feel stable and likes to be able to predict what will happen in the future. When a kite, he knows where his territory lines are and will often fly the same path when hunting. Dae-Hun is well aware that he is not the most flexible person, but he knows that some flexibility is important. He is wise enough to know that he cannot predict everything.   

The year Dae-Hun learned how to change into a kite; he dyed his hair an orangey-brown in a feeble attempt to stand out. He never intended for his marking to be so ‘distasteful’ but the red head of the kite was closely similar to his hair dye. He wasn’t exactly happy about the change, especially since he believed he'd become an owl, but there was nothing he could do. The kite chose him.

Application: I have been a member of Magical Hogwarts for almost a year and during this period I found the Special Features interesting. I was afraid at first to apply for it because I thought the task was daunting. Originally, Dae-Hun was not going to be an animagus, but as I developed his character more and more it began to fit. His paranoia develops early, in school, and he uses the wealth of his parents to learn how to become an animagus. This would be a couple years after he gets his first owl, and in his history, the owl would be his first real 'friend' outside of the family. With the amount of loneliness this character feels, it would make sense for him to latch on to the first thing that accepted him. He has been a work in progress for a couple months now, but I’m beginning to realize that he wasn’t a character I could simply churn out. It was like marinating beef. He needed to sit in there for a couple months/almost a year before I could put him on the stove.

Actually, he was going to be an owl, but it became a kite. I talked to Heather and she stated his characteristics did not exactly match the owl and that she imagined him as a bird of prey. Since vultures are not common it did not make sense to make Dae-Hun a vulture. Instead, she helped me find pictures of different birds until I came across a kite. Kites are like vultures in nature, and I'd made it a point to show that Dae-Hun likes to pick on people and be manipulative to get his way. An opportunistic guy. An owl is more known for their wisdom, and frankly Dae-Hun had little of that. When I found out about the kite I thought it rang truer to his character. He would still interact with his owl and still use the kite to spy but it wouldn't be as prominent. I can also use this animal to help push him into friendships that he normally wouldn't do on his own, if it weren't for the yearning of companionship.
   

Future plots: Dae-Hun Kwon could use his ability to change into a kitefor many purposes.  One of these would be blackmailing clients that have debts owed to the casino. This will allow him to utilize the stealth skills that he has begun to mastered through his short life.

Even if he is not using his animagus form, he could use the heightened sense of hearing to catch individuals who are causing a ruckus in the casino. It has also helped him to learn languages because he could listen to and break down pronunciations of words spoken in different languages. Learning different languages would be a big hobby of Dae-Hun and would allow him to speak with a variety of players.

Another big future plot would involve Jun Kwon.  Dae-Hun uses his ability to change into an animagus to keep watch of his brother throughout his training. He is supposed to make his brother miserable and after some time of them being played together, Dae-Hun will drive his brother to the edge. It would almost be like an extended torture and torment where his insurmountable paranoia will cause him to distrust Jun and his family. This would cause him to spend more time as an kite to communicate with the other predatory birds of the household. He also spends a lot of his free time with these solitary animals so he's picked up many mannerisms from the kite. 

I have talked to Nicole, who roleplays Leonid Kasyanov and we've come up with a plot for both of them. It's not totally figured out, yet, but they would be kidnapped (or something) and find themselves in a foreign country without their wands. They would be in a muggle town and would have to figure out how to navigate through. Dae-Hun would use the natural attributes of the kite that he gets from turning into one to help him, whereas Leonid would use his book knowledge of muggles to help Dae-Hun. This would force Dae-Hun to see that muggles are not all bad and help him break his prejudice against half-bloods and muggle-born wizards.

RP sample using the feature: Today he didn’t work. Today he was free. Free to do as he willed and free to disappear from the citizens of the city. This night he would spend with Soo Min, and they would spend a brief time socializing before going onto their way. Before he had a chance to change himself he cast a spell on the door to keep others out of his room and hid his wand. Shouting the spell in his mind, he was able to cast it without a wand. Soon his body began to change, and he had to admit that at one time it was painful but now the change was become quite simple. He liked knowing that this form was of his own and loved even more that it was hard to distinguish him from an average Black Kite. He liked knowing he didn’t stand out and he wasn’t forced to accommodate to anyone. Dae Hun was free.

Nudging Soo Min affectingly, he cooed softly. Restless, he watched as she jumped outside of the window and dropped before lifting herself into the air. Dae-Hun followed suit, but had to stretch his wings before he could start flying. Arching himself on the window still he jumped off and let the wind pass through his feathers. It was like he was given a new lease on life every time he flew in the air. There was nothing to restrain himself to the mortal world and it was as if money no longer mattered. He could hear a mouse and hunger pains soon caught him by surprise. A small critter was running and he wanted it!

His sight was exceptional and although he hated puking up pellets after he was able to digest the common mouse, the thrill of hunting was too much to bear.  He started to fly towards the sound, completely silent in the air. The predator flew around looking for something to eat. Flying over a lake that was not too far off, he flew close to the surface until he saw a silver glitter. A moment later his talons were out and he caught a squirming fish! Soo Min followed closely behind, a bit abnormal for kites, and he gave a little bit of the fish to her. 

It was about this time that the two split ways and Dae-Hun headed back into the city. Although a raptor, he still wanted to socialize with other animals. Dae-Hun flew to the town’s Owlery, where he noticed other birds stayed; not only the owls. The caretaker was an older man who took his job seriously and loved each bird as his own. Dae-Hun didn’t quite understand this interaction, but he liked being around the other birds. They were more entertaining than their human counterparts.  As a kite he was no more sympathetic, but free food always excited him, which the caretaker often provided.

Who could let that opportunity up?

Name: Sami
Character name: Noël Châtelain
Feature you are applying for: Discipulus Madin - Earth Elemental

Introduction: Okay, yes his description is very long. I deeply apologize for that; once I got going I found it hard to stop... obviously. (This was taken from his sheet.) His personality is the most thought out of any of my characters, sorted or not, even though he is truly the simplest. At first, he was just going to be just your typical hyperactive, in-your-face-24/7 teenager, and that was the end of it. I expected having him up for sorting relatively quickly, but then I felt something was missing - like I could not just stop there. I had originally planned to have him absolutely dreadful at wandwork, and that got me thinking. I've considered an elemental ever since I started role-playing here, but the thought of it is very intimidating. I had, and still have, my fears that I may not do this feature justice, which I believe to be understandable since it is so complex, but that only means I will try harder. After much consideration, I've come to the conclusion that this was worth putting effort into - especially for this particular character. I'm up for the challenge of playing an elemental character; he fits the description well, I'm an active member, and have plenty of people to wreak havoc plot with! 

I've read through the Elemental guide numerous times, before Noël came about, and after. I decided that if I'm ever going to make one, I wouldn't think of a character just for this feature; the feature would have to be for the character. This feature is definitely for him in many ways. Not even thinking about it, nearly everything about his personality weaves in perfectly with the characteristics that come with an earth elemental. Actually, reading through it I said aloud "Oh my god. This is too much like him". Though I realize not every character who fits this description automatically has to be an elemental, it helps with the feeling that something is missing from him. Though intimidating, I believe if given the opportunity, I could play out this feature at a satisfactory level. 

I realize I'm pretty new to the site, compared to others who have applied for this feature, and have never played one out before. This could probably cause problems when deciding whether or not to give this to my character. However, for as long as I have been here, I've been involved in a decent number of threads, all with, what I believe to be, a good post length, and I always reply within a reasonable amount of time, if not the same day. I would definitely play him enough for the feature to matter; that should be no problem. Since would it be such a large part of his life, I would of course have to use it as often as possible; it wouldn't be something I offhandedly mention every once in a while. This feature will be given the exercise it deserves, and I will definitely be plotting with the other drivers who have elemental characters. It should be easy to set up plots, since plenty of elementals attend the school in which he'll be attending once he's sorted. Of course, I would still put him up for sorting if not granted this feature, but he would be missing out on some fun, suitable plots that would help further his development; ones he is entirely suited for granted he is allowed to have this feature. I think the more plots I am able to involve him in, the easier it will be to mature him... which is something he really needs!

Description of the character: Noël would have to be one of the happiest, simplest creatures one could come across. Being raised in a gentle, loving home has done nothing to calm this boy down, but it has made him a very friendly person to be around, even if he can't seem to mind his manners all the time. He takes pleasure in bright colors, a lot of movement, and just about anything that would keep a toddler busy. His large eyes are very curious, reflecting his mind set. He wants to understand, look at, and strangely enough, smell damn near everything, and loves trying new things. Routine is not something he encircles his world around, so he surely doesn't expect to do the same thing day in and day out. He makes it a point to befriend everyone he meets, and just assumes everyone likes him and are his best friends ever. 
 
Kindness is something that comes naturally to him, and he shares this with everyone. He is doesn't discriminate when it comes to giving everyone their fair share of kindness, even if they blatantly dislike him. He doesn't notice when someone cannot stand him, and is totally surprised when the topic comes up. It's not that he's full of himself, but rather he doesn't comprehend dislike, really. He is of the firm belief that if someone is friendly, they get that right back, and when this backfires, it hits him hard. He gets very upset and does all he can to gain the favor of whomever possesses a dislike of him - even if the other party finds this highly annoying. Not knowing when he's being utterly intolerable is another one of his character flaws. When he says something that is a bit too honest, he doesn't even consider that it could hurt someone's feelings. He is more than willing to make up for it, however, when it is brought to his attention. 
 
It is hard for him to keep his head out of the clouds and see things for how they truly are. He does not have a firm grip on reality in the least; more like he's got his fingers tapping a beat against it. His own opinions cloud "true reality", and this leads him to being narrow-minded in his own way, even though he claims he cannot tolerate that sort of thinking. "Ridiculously optimistic" is one way to describe him. Always expecting everything to just "work out" wonderfully in the end. He lives in his own little world 100% of the time, which is evident due to his frequent daydreaming, and he honestly just cannot fit his feet into someone else's shoes. His naivety gets in the way of understanding another's actions, especially when they are mean or hurtful. He takes everything very personally, mostly because he easily takes things totally the wrong way, and has very brittle feelings that bruise like a banana. He has trouble keeping his emotions on a leash, which leads to outbursts of various kinds. When he's happy, he's uncontrollably ecstatic. He's never "sad", but rather an absolute state of distress. Angry? No, he's blindly furious! This doesn't happen without extreme provoking, however. He's been distressed more often than he's been furious. He does have topics that will set him off in an instant, though these are very few.   
 
His passionate temperament gets the very best of him a lot of the time. When he grows attached to someone, or an ideal, he clings for dear life and will fight to the death to defend it. His mind cannot be easily swayed a different way, making him quite stubborn. He knows his strong opinions could potentially cause problems with the right person, so he keeps them to himself as often as he can. When engaging in a conversation, he will rarely discuss himself, and try to keep the other person talking about his or her interests. If they have enough in common, he will enthusiastically step in with something. He typically cannot be found with a word to say when the conversation steers into intellectual territory. Serious, deep conversations are not his cup of tea (bleh, and neither is tea, for that matter!), so he tends to avoid them completely. They bore him, and push away his hyperactive attention span. Once he gets going, it's hard to get him to shut his mouth - which, by the way, is going 100 miles a minute. He has a habit of talking very fast, and frequently has to repeat himself when faced with someone who is not used to such swift speech. 
 
His enthusiasm about everything can sometimes overwhelm him and make him bite off more than he can chew. He gets involved in many sports, clubs, and other social events and really cannot keep up with it all. He wears himself out after a while, then gets a bit irritable. His love for physical activity pushes him to keep going, however, and he does not see him giving any of it up just because he gets "tired and cranky sometimes". Athleticism runs through his veins! He simply must keep moving. His movements are always quick; never drawn out or lazy. At times, he gets so full of energy, he gets a bit shaky. His rural upbringing may be to blame for this, since he was always given plenty of room to run around, scrape his knees, and do all the fun stuff little, energetic kids love to do. He was always on the move, and it has obviously stuck with him. 
 
He is an extremely social person, and also very loving. He must be around people to thrive, as they keep him in the best of moods. Friends receive frequent hugs, as well as strangers. Heck, he hugs everyone. People have to be one of his favorite things. He is very openly affectionate, and when he goes for a while without it, his irritability sets in once again. He has no qualms "rubbing up on" either gender, holding hands, hugging, the works. He doesn't see these acts as romantic, per say, but rather they soothe his craving for another's presence. On the topic of romance, however, he's heavily involved with anything love-soaked and mushy. He'll send flowers, candy, and poetry (of his own hand) to both people he is interested in and to friends. Many of his works, which are strictly writing (he cannot draw or play an instrument to save his life), are love oriented, but he does not like to share all of them. He finds it embarrassing to allow someone that deep into his world. Though, he does enjoy hearing or reading someone else's work just fine. 
 
Beauty is very important to Noël. He tries to find it in everything he sees; even in himself. His looks matter to him quite a bit, though he has his own opinion on what looks good on himself. Crazy hair is something he finds most pleasing, so that's how he styles it. "Clean cut and plain" is not his style, and he finds it very boring. Colors, colors, colors are the meaning of life! Proper hygiene is high on his list, as well, and he is sure to keep his in check. Out of habit, he brushes his teeth three times a day, and uses the absolute best - in his opinion - shampoo/conditioner and face washing products. He likes to surround himself with beautiful people, things, and music at all times. He is not prissy, and will of course befriend someone lower on the metaphorical "attractiveness scale", but one will find that he has subconsciously pulled the prettier ones closer to him. 
 
He's anything but shy when it comes to trying new things, no matter how scary the situation may seem. This type of bravery may seem stupid, and sometimes it really is. He cannot turn down a dare, no matter what. It's not only his "stupidity" that labels him as brave, however. He would gladly stand up to anything that opposed what he found to be entirely good, and would fight for it with a healthy amount of determination. Though neutrality is really what he prefers, he has standards as to what qualifies as worth fighting for, and he will never back down from a fight that threatens what he finds worthy. His intentions are very nearly always good, and he strives to be an upstanding person in everything that he does.   
 
Full of such an abundance of energy and emotion, he can be very unpredictable. One moment, he could be screamingly happy and energetic, and in another, he could suddenly be insulted, resulting in a bad humor. This emotion is full of energy as well, unfortunately, and he is very loud about his state of distress. Just why would them say that? What is wrong with them?! He can be easily pulled away from this state with something happy and colorful, however, so it's not as if he'd tantrum the whole room down. A hug may even help. May? Of course it would! Someone could stroke his hair, say some pleasant words, and he'd most likely return to his happy self. Curiosity, as mentioned before, fills his very soul. Why is the sky blue? He doesn't much care for the scientific answer, but rather something like "blue makes people smile". Why did that make her smile? "Because she probably likes color, too! We should be friends." His curiosities usually lie in the behavior of others, rather than academics. He's not the brightest crayon in the box, but he  likes what color he's been given.

Discovery: Noël was born to unmarried parents, Noémi Châtelain, 18, and Grégoire Gauthier, 26. Grégoire, engaged to another woman at the time, kept his distance from the two for the most part. He would sneak quick visits with them from time to time, but that's all he could offer for the majority of Noël's early childhood. Though the man could not give little Noël all the attention he could possibly want, Grégoire, unknowingly, did give him something very special. Growing up, Noël loved helping his mother in their large garden. Unbeknownst to the both of them, his constant, excitable presence did the flowers a world of good; they grew faster, and larger. Occasionally, his sitting in the shade for a good amount of time (usually during an outdoor nap) caused something  unusual to occur. After he'd stand up and scamper off, a small cluster of tiny, wild flowers would have grown and bloomed around the place he had been resting. This, for a very long time, had gone unnoticed by the both of them, however, so suspicion was never risen.

When the time rolled around that he was to begin his first year of schooling at Beauxbatons, it had come to his attention that he could make flowers grow out of nowhere... somehow! It would be when he wasn't thinking about it, however, so he could never show anyone proof. Though a bit aggravating, it wasn't something that deeply concerned the boy, for he knew he would be studying magic for the next seven years, and that would surely take his mind off of it - especially when he was learning how to do all of the neat things his mother could do! There was one concern before his departure, despite the crippling anticipation that engulfed his very being the weeks prior. When shopping for the appropriate wand, instead of getting positive and negative responses, they just had to settle on whichever one would spark a little for him. From what he had heard, it was supposed to be blatantly obvious which wand was right for him. The sheer excitement of finally having a wand, however, was enough to yank his concerns away. Who cared if it was a little lazy? He finally had his very own wand! His mother, on the other hand, left the shop with a troubled look across her visage. Would her only child suffer from such incompetence for his entire life? 

His first day at Beauxbatons proved to be a fulfilling one. During the carriage ride, he struck up a conversation with an older boy named Volker Blauvelt. This conversation led to Noël confiding in him his concerns about his wand, and even the few instances concerning the spontaneous growth of flowers. This was all the doing of his highly talkative nature, and at that age, he really struggled to keep a thought to himself. He kept dreadfully close to this boy until he was sorted, then scooted off to his proper house. This upset him, but it wasn't hard for him to find company in his fellow housemates. As it turns out, Volker had felt something "strange" from him, and the story Noël had told him didn't make it any better. He revealed all of this in a conversation with Peter Alva Tannenbaum, who claimed the title Harbinger Garth. It wasn't long before Noël was paid a visit by this man, and the boy was discovered to be an earth elemental. The whole concept really flew over his head, as it was too bizarre and complicated for his mind to grasp at that time. Needless to say it was a strange surprise, and honestly, a disappointment. He absolutely despised the fact that he would never be good at wand magic like "everyone else" - which was really all that he understood about it - but he did not shun the path of Elementalism. Of course he wanted to be good at something, so he allowed his training to commence as soon as possible. 

Application: Now for a more in-depth explanation on how Noël would actually feel about all of this. As I touched on in his discovery, he was absolutely heartbroken when he was told exactly why his wand would not work too well for him, and at first, just couldn't stand the thought of never being able to use it. That was his biggest problem upon this discovery, but as the years progress, he would become more accustomed to using runes instead, and would eventually let go of his childish disappointment and stop pouting. On the topic of being an elemental, once he got past his grief, he would learn to accept it, and actually love what he could do. Growing up around plants, he would become very proud of his abilities and feel even more in tune with nature - something he holds very close to his heart.

Keeping it a secret would have been a struggle while he was younger, due to his inability to keep his mouth shut. As he grew older, however, he became a bit more introverted when it came to matters concerning himself, so it became much easier to keep it hush-hush. He wouldn't have minded people knowing, but out of respect for the Council, he would keep his vow of silence. That is, until the rogue outbreak during his fourth year at Beauxbatons. Due to the nature of the attack, he - along with the other Elementals students - were forced to reveal themselves, which he really had no qualms doing; he wasn't ashamed of it. However, he didn't expect the harsh judgment and ridicule to follow this outing, and eventually he refused ever to mention it, aside from the inside the circle of his closest friends. He does not understand why it is something worth picking at, and will flare up if it is flung at him as a weapon by a fellow student.     

Lastly, but most importantly, I would like to take a few key points from the earth elemental description, and show how they tie in with Noël:

Earth elementals are often very rural, very down-to-earth characters. He grew up in a more rural part of France, and was always exposed to plants due to his mother's landscaping business and general love of nature. He helped her out with gardening, and even a little bit while she worked on a job. He found himself most comfortable in a warm, outdoor environment, and spent most of his summer days soaking up as much sun as possible. His head was filled with simple, wholesome ideas, and kept him innocently naive about the way the world works. Down-to-earth isn't necessarily the best way to describe him, so that doesn't not fit as well as "rural", but that's why that little word "often" is there! He may have inherited his head-in-the-clouds way of thinking from his father, and unfortunately cannot not be yanked back down to earth.
   
Earth elementals love all living beings and are very protective of their beloved. He is a humanitarian through and through, and the only thing that will really make him angry is when someone threatens someone or something he holds dear. Both this, tied in with his love of nature, means he finds beauty in every living thing, and it happens that this is a frequent topic in his writing - though admittedly, it's not the best. Flowers are a great pleasure of his, thanks to his mother. When he sees them abused, he takes it as an insult and immediately flares up as if you had just slapped a loved one in the face. That being said, he excels at Care of Magical Creatures class, and becomes very annoyed when someone does not take it seriously; for whatever reason, he's pretty defensive about the class.   
 
Earth elementals are very simple, very practical people that would rather use their hands to do something then use their minds. He realizes his mind isn't necessarily his greatest asset, but he takes this opportunity to become better physically. He's quite skilled with work that requires labor, and a very good athlete. He does, however, have a soft spot for poetry, and works very hard at it. He will never become famous for his written works, but he with a bit of effort, he could make a living out of being some sort of athletic trainer, or following his mother's footsteps and taking on the landscaping business. He's very good at any class that involves handy work, but not too well at ones that involve a lot of thinking, and definitely lagging behind in classes that involve wand magic. As stated before, he's wonderful at Care of Magical Creatures, which is right up his alley. He also breezes through Herbology, one of his favorite classes, and is very good at flying.   
 
An earth elemental is a friend to steal horses with, but no one you should ask a deeply intellectual question. He's up for any physical challenge, but an academic one is something he typically avoids. He's found that he just can't wrap his mind around some things, and it irritates him if he's forced to think deeper than he's comfortable digging. This means that even though he must take plenty of theoretical classes to have a chance at passing year after year, he usually ends up hating them. He's not the person to come to when one wants to discuss politics, but he's definitely up for some wreaking some havoc! When faced with a seriously deep question, he'll take on a very confused, almost pained look, then laugh it off as if it were some sort of joke. Do you really expect him to know that? Come on now.

However, earth elementals can be easily deceived by written evidence or things they don't understand. Complex intellectual matters confuse them profoundly. As mentioned before, he's not the brightest student to grace the halls of Beauxbatons. He's cursed with naivety, and can be easily fooled. He just assumes someone is telling him the truth, because in his mind, why on earth would they lie to him? This natural assumption can be very dangerous, and may some day get him in deep trouble, or possibly even killed. And also stated previously, intellectual matters do not interest him in the least. If faced with this, his attention will lead him elsewhere, and he will most likely change the subject without warning. He will never raise his hand in a class that does not fall under his short list of subjects he's actually great at, but he'll participate in plenty of discussions in class that do not pertain to the class at hand!   

Earth elementals are prone to rash emotional reactions and wrath if they find something is going absolutely wrong. He is very, very sensitive, and is prone to misunderstanding, and will lash out when this happens. He can be very defensive, most often when it comes to a friend or another loved one. Losing an argument does not sit well with him, and the only thing that will calm him down is getting is mind on something else. Strangely enough, however, he's very forgiving, and will apologize, or accept an apology, once he has calmed down, and it's as if nothing happened. He does not hold grudges.

They also tend to work too much and too hard, often feeling exhausted and tired. As I mentioned in his description, he does not realize when he is doing too much until he is already utterly exhausted. His unquenchable enthusiasm leads him to involve himself in many physical activities, and it is rare to see him at rest for too long. He legs simply must be moving, as well as his hands. He doesn't like being left to do nothing but think, so when there is absolutely nothing left to do, he'll try to strike up a conversation with the nearest person so at least his mouth would do some moving. On another note, he just cannot stand laziness. He doesn't comprehend how some people can sit around all day, doing absolutely nothing.   

Future plots: It won't be a problem getting threads for him. I've spoken to Lena (Volker Blauvelt) and Ashton (Melusine Musel) already, and they've agreed to connections. He would have befriended Melusine early on in their school years, mainly due to being friendly elements. She would have been one of the few of which he had told of his elementalism, and they would have found comfort in each other since both carried such a secret, and went through some of the same burdens daily - such as failing in classes that relied heavily on wandwork, feeling very different from their peers, et cetera. Noël would look up to Volker, even though they are counter elements, and they would have developed a friendship. He would even receive assistance in training from the older boy.

I plan on including him in any other plots involving elementals that may arise. I even have a plot set up that would involve the consequences of everyone knowing of his elementalism. While speaking to Lena, she also offered a sort of rivalry with her character Chantal Garnier. This girl takes a fancy in throwing insults at elementals, and this would greatly offend Noël, of course. Being sensitive and not one to hold back emotions, this would result in his defenses being thrown up and a fight would be very probable. As it would be wise, I will talk to the other drivers of elemental characters if this application is accepted in order to set up more plots. Not only have I set up things with other elementals, but with "regular" students, as well. He will become a penpal of Reagan Baisley, to whom he would become a very good friend, since they are so alike. Neko-chan has offered Zoé Deveaux, Heather has offered her Diederik van Dijk, as well as Tori with Antoinette Amoretti. He will definitely be interacting with many different characters, some of which with the help of being an elemental. How he interacts with fellow elementals, and non-elementals alike will be fun to play out, as will maturing him along the way. He will need plenty of maturing, for depending on the paths he chooses to take in life, I can see him pursuing a career in setting up his own landscaping business. As he is now, it is strange to imagine him taking on a responsibility such as that due to his immaturity, but with the help of this feature, and the plots it allows me to set up, I'm sure I could mature him up to standards. Unless, of course, he decides to take a different path completely! 

RP sample using the feature: He would love to say that this didn't scare him one bit. Yes, Noël would love to reach inside himself, feel around, and come out with a hand clean of a single drop of fear. Alas, had he been able to do such a thing, he'd have to wash his hands multiple times in order to rid his hand completely of the thick, gunky stuff! (Yes, this was indeed how he had always imagined fear to look.) In short, morphing terrified the young elemental. It was true that he had practiced until he was absolutely sick; he had become reasonably good at this particular skill. However, the danger of something going terribly wrong sat its bulbous rump right on the front of his mind, and boy did it hurt. In fact, as the wiry, fawn-haired boy made his merry way to the forest, he found himself rubbing at his temples profusely. There it was once again, unfailing and relentless: the fear. Gosh, did feelings really hurt sometimes!   
 
The late afternoon sun greeted his cheeks with gentle, tingly kisses and warmed his veins. To him, it felt as if it were replenishing his very soul; caressing and nourishing his body the way a mother did to her precious child. Granted, this is not how it pranced across his mind exactly, but it was something along those lines! He could not rip the large grin off of his face - not that he would think of such a thing. Rip? What a terrible thought, indeed. No, he let the happiness come to attempt to bury the slimy fear that nipped at his ankles. Though there was an uncomfortable bubbling deep in his stomach, he did not allow this to put him in a foul mood. He could do this; he kept this faith dangled in front of the ghastly emotion as one would a bell to a crouching cat. Distract it, and it will pay you no mind. Such a primitive thing, fear. He found comfort in knowing that with enough joy, he could blind this beast... temporarily at the very least.   
 
With that in mind, he penetrated the quiet forest in which he so diligently practiced mastering his element. He paid careful mind not to step on any small critters, creepy crawlies, or plants. As his arms swayed in tune with his strides, he took a small pleasure in the patterns the sun made on his flesh through the gaps in the leaves. A small voice somewhere in his mind expressed that it would not mind looking like that all of the time. He quietly, quickly acknowledged this thought as he continued to search the ground, carefully planting each step. Yes, he'd definitely have to invest more time in that thought some other time! But not now. Ooh, watch out for that little guy. "You're lucky it was me walking this time", he softly, playfully chastised a particularly slow centipede as he stepped over it. He snickered; he was actually talking to them now? A light blush tinted his cheeks as he reveled in the fact that no one was around to hear. Well, no one with sense enough to laugh at him anyway. He eyed a tarantula that happened to be staring at him, and if he didn't know any better, he'd label this stare as an accusation of some sort. "...Don't look at me like that", he mumbled as he passed her. 
 
His feet had finally reached their destination: a sun-drenched clearing. He swallowed loudly as long, bony fingers danced across his nerves. This required deep concentration, and a sturdy sense of relaxation. He could not accomplish this with fear perched on his shoulders like some heavy, hideous bird. He'd have to shoo it away, and keep it away. He'd done it before, so it should prove to be little more than a vicious, nerve-wracking struggle! Oh, now he was being over-dramatic. He shook his hands, aired out his robes by shaking those as well, then with a deep breath, settled himself onto the ground. Deep breaths. One... two... breathe... He repeated this mantra, all while thinking of his chosen form, a Rose Daphne shrub, and resting his fingers upon his ritual-obtained scar; the pale tissue gracing the flesh on his right ankle. His pulse met these nervous fingers; dancing up them in quick, excited beats. That would not do. Absolutely not. Breathe.   
 
His eyelids twitched as his eyes tried to relax. Everything must be limp, still, comfortable. Tranquil. He felt the stillness of the forest; it was quiet, yet full of vibrant, warm life. He could feel this place, and every life in it - from the pulses of the creatures, to the nutrients traveling through the dainty veins of the plants. He could feel the age of the trees; their silent existences. His movement became restricted; the ground clung to him desperately, welcoming him to become a part of it... to become a beautiful, quiet piece of this rampant haven. It was all right to let go of everything - breathing was no longer necessary. Soon, his thoughts were swallowed by a warm darkness, and in his place, rested a lush shrub, freckled with tiny, fragrant pink flowers. Noël was now experiencing the deepest sleep he could possibly reach; he was now, quite literally, in his element.

[dec]~ approved[/dec]

Name: Nik
Character name: Emmi Essbjörn
Feature you are applying for: Colour Madin Discipulus Madin
Description of the character:
(written as if she has the feature)
Upon first meeting Emmi, one is sure to note her rather distant nature. She’s quite standoffish and isn’t one who typically jumps right in to a conversation. She instead wades on the rippling outskirts of the conversation until she feels comfortable enough around those surrounding her, therefore making her appear as an antisocial type of person.

Not helping her case, on a first meeting, Emmi will likely not say much. Instead, she’ll keep to her mental judging of the new acquaintance, welcomed or not. Usually the girl forms her opinion of a person during their initial meeting; she has her own method of deducing whether or not she’d actually enjoy the person’s company. And being perfectly honest, Emmi doesn’t end up liking a lot of the people that she meets.

She is, however, a very polite girl with defined manners that have been molded in to her very being from a young age thanks to the wise old witches who worked at her father’s inn. Also, thanks to these witches and their countless rules to abide by, Emmi has developed a rather rebellious side. This side of her is all too present when layers of rules and regulations are set in place, as well as when others are trying to one-up her achievements.

She’s a driven individual, especially when it comes to perfecting her art and areas where she has a natural skill that is above average. Emmi isn’t necessarily a well-rounded girl thanks to this slight narrow-mindedness. She only wants to improve that which she is already exceedingly good at. As such, she isn’t the most studious person in the world. Theory doesn’t tickle her fancy and she would much rather have something physically proven to her or shown to her as opposed to listening to someone prattle on about what should happen, what could happen, or what did happen. Emmi would much rather see it happen.

Due to her drive, Emmi is a very power hungry individual, especially when it comes to the art of mastering her element, Earth. Ever since her Uncle took her under his wing, as well as Delano during their corresponding years at Durmstrang, Emmi has had her heart and mind set on absorbing as much knowledge and control of her element as she can. She is rather stubborn, which can easily end up being a fault or even a benefit for the girl. Emmi isn’t easily swayed into new beliefs, and she holds the ones already established in her very close to her.

Through her elemental capabilities, Emmi has been able to make many allies; most of those allies have ended up being people society would classify as “friends” to the girl. She is oddly very possessive of those who are her “friends” and doesn’t much like others butting in to her relationships with them. Along the same lines, if she feels one of her “friends” is being threatened, Emmi won’t have any reservations when it comes to her protective nature and unleashing what powers she does have against the foe. Surprisingly, the girl is someone who rather fancies the art of meditation and can often be found, in the warmer months and cooler months now that her skills are widening, outside on her own in a hideaway all to herself. It is her means of relieving everyday stress.

Being a girl at Durmstrang, Emmi clashes against the sexually driven population that so stereotypically inhabits the walls of Durmstrang. She doesn’t understand the purpose of flirting and she sees that there are far more important things in life than exchanging hugs and saliva. Also, all the gossip that occurs within Durmstrang’s walls are enough to drive the poor Earth elemental mad. This is when the meditation techniques come in to play.

Application:
I know that this is the part where I'm supposed to write down why this feature is so perfect and humble for Emmi, why she deserves it and why it's totally and completely her! And I know I could write about it from an outsider's view, but I would like to opt for a different approach.

Seeing that Emmi is clearly in to the art of meditation, I see the girl as being capable of expressing herself in the form of writing as another form of escape. What better way to see a person grow! Emmi and I have not only raided through her sheets of journals for those moments that stood out clearly to us, but we've also managed to snag an important excerpt from her Uncle Edvard's journal that was all about Emmi.

Discussing this with Emmi, as well a few actual non-fictional folk, this elemental and I have decided that this approach would be easiest in showing her growth with this particular "feature". We also think that these will help show her personal thought processes on matters that are rather large in her small world, as far as elemental decisions go. We think that in the chosen pages, Emmi's personality is able to shine through, backing just how non-"stereotypical" of an Earth elemental she truly is.

Excerpt From Uncle Edvard’s Journal
     June 13th, 1991
Such a sweet girl, dangerous at times with that temper of hers, but I know one day it will come in handy. I still can’t believe it. I felt her so strongly that I cannot fathom why I never noticed before. Suppose I haven’t really ever put much thought in to it, considering Elias’ lack of the family gift. I wouldn’t have been so surprised if my own offspring showed signs of it, but seeing her today, feeling her today was remarkable!

It was so unexpected, I had only stopped by the farm having heard Emmi had run off again from Elias and his innkeepers. It’s always been known that she seeks refuge at the family farm, but it never really made sense until this afternoon.

She was alone, but it was obvious that something was upsetting her. I didn’t make my presence known until I saw what I wanted to see. Her emotions were heightened, triggering that initial draw. Emmi’s small feet were stomping themselves into the Earth, like any other pre-pubescent child throwing a tantrum. That is until I looked closer and watched as Earth shook and formed itself around her small feet. No ordinary child could control that amount of Earth without having some kind of elemental pull.

Then she saw me, I stepped out from behind the door to the stables and she had to have seen something of awe in my eyes, something of understanding or just something because she suddenly smiled, a wicked smile, but a knowing smile all the same. We sat down together and over the next passing minutes she slowly confided in me. The emotional dumping seemed to be the next trigger and little Emmi’s hands clenched themselves into themselves tightly as she lashed out about the inn-ladies, about her constant supervision, about her suffocating under their constant questioning eyes and rules and nonsense.

My eyes, however, never left her hands. The tighter they got, the more flecks of dirt fell to the ground. Her breaking point lead to another mild physical expression in that of flailing arms where a soft stream of dirt followed her hands’ paths. I took her hands in mine at that moment, brushed them off and they were perfectly clean. I said simply, “Today, your life changes, sweet Emmi.” And I told her I would see her shortly.

She will be a master of her element. She will be far more advanced than anyone in the Council is prepared for, and I will personally make sure of it. Grandfather will make sure of it, as well as all of the others.

Random Excerpts From Emmi’s Journal
      March 20th, 1994
Edvard is still insisting I journal while I’m at school so that he can read what Delano has taken to teaching me. It’s not much, honestly. He doesn’t understand that I’m ready for more, that I want to do more! I know how to make mounds of dirt. I know how to make mud balls. I know control! Apparently Initialization must wait. I’m so annoyed by all of this. Wasting my time in this school with these imbeciles learning subjects that mean nothing to me outside of Necromancy and the brief points of Alchemy. The wand magic is useless if I’m not to be able to use it later.

Oh well. I have no say, once more.
One day I will. One day people will listen.

     June 2nd, 1994
Initialization with Vitya is complete. My hip still hurts, but it should scar beautifully.

Delano promised we’d start early this year, and apparently he has a few surprises for me if I fair well for the first few! I hope that means more Rogue incantations. Or perhaps even some of the older incantations! He’s gotten my hopes up quite high, I hope he delivers.

     November 2nd, 1995
I’ve found a small hideaway a distance from the castle to morph in. Somewhere secluded where I can be left alone to my thoughts, to clear my head, to be one with Earth. Better than a flowerpot in my dormroom.

     February 10th, 1996
Vitya and I have decided that if we are to ever go camping or else get lost in some wooded area that we would most definitely be able to survive. I think if we mock-duel Lyosha and Delano again we might actually have a chance at winning. Age doesn’t mean a thing, it’s just a number.

     May 17th, 1996
They left us.
Lyosha and Delano and Saskia and Zygmunt left us.
How could they?
We don’t need them. We are strong enough. We always have been.

     October 1st, 1997
Durmstrang moved! It’s completely absurd! And it’s ruined everything! Now I have to scout the land for somewhere secluded, foreign land! I guess that means more time meditating and connecting to this new Earth. It will guide me.

     January 14th, 1998
The Dark Lord’s rise seems to be nearly at its peak. Funny that Vitya’s persuasion to convert me over to The Council should be happening now as well. Funny that I’ve accepted, so far as anyone else is concerned. I want to learn what The Council has to offer. What do they have that Rogues don’t? What do Rogues have that they don’t? That, and I’m completely alone without Vitya. I’ll play nice for as long as I need to. I will learn their ways, and perfect them.

     April 26th, 1998
The Council members are odd. There are too many rules. There is no freedom. I keep convincing myself that it’s worth it, that I’m learning that which is behind the curtain to the Rogues who haven’t converted. I just don’t know how long I can keep this front up.

Future plots:
I know of a select few plots circulating around Durmstrang as far as pertaining to elemental characters go. I’ve spoken with Sunset Angel and Fee mostly about plots with Emmi and their chars. It is understood through reading Emmi's sheet that she is very pro-Rogue. She, of course, manages to put on a good front and has so far kept others involved in The Council convinced that she is truly adapting to their ways.

Over the next term, Emmi will likely take to mirroring Vitya's consistency with The Council, both against her will and for her need to learn every means of controlling her element. Of course, once Nolan is in the picture, it won't take Nolan much to recruit Emmi to his side. The draw being a different person that Emmi can learn from, and hopefully more ways to control and master her element.

As far as Motya and Emmi interactions go, there were near none over previous years. It is almost as if they have agreed to stay away from each other. It helps that Emmi is in a different year as well as house, seeing that through her GCTs and S&Ws she meshes more with Klyk Vampira to me than Drakonya Krov. Future plots will come as they come when it pertains to those two. Both defensive beings, neither would trigger the other to react unless acted upon.

Niko is likely Emmi's best frenemy. Niko being a die-hard Council member and Emmi being a die-hard Rogue follower, the two would most certainly clash. It would be one of those "I dislike you because we're on opposing sides, but I like you because you're fun to argue with" relationships. Niko will tolerate Emmi's conversion to the Council, but we've established that, similar to Niko's feelings toward Vitya, Niko would never completely trust Emmi's loyalty to the Council.

Kanat would be wary of Emmi as well. We've also established that he would likely sense the Rogue at her core, if that makes sense. He'd be tolerant and willing to work with Emmi due to compatible elements, but Kanat would likely never really trust Emmi.

Then there's a plot I've drafted in my head for much further along in Emmi's future. And one that likely wouldn't be played out unless her Uncle Edvard were to be adopted by another driver. Once Emmi masters her element, I foresee a standoff between her Uncle and herself. She thrives for freedom and to not be controlled, and while over her younger years she is oddly very controlled by her Uncle, she tolerates it in order to learn as much as she can. Eventually, Emmi will hit a breaking point in which there will be a stand-off between herself and her Uncle. One that would likely end fatally for Uncle Edvard, or at the very least... he'd be very harmed.

RP sample using the feature:
It was oddly muggy today, and Emmi wanted to get as far away from the prattling Durmstrang students as possible. It seemed like ages since she took time for herself to just think, away from everyone. What with this Council business, it was a constant weight on her chest to keep a straight face. A benefit was what she was learning, but a downside was that she had inadvertently cut ties with the Rogue faction whilst she put on her front.

Adjusting her bag, she took a step forward and nearly face planted into the Earth. Her arms flew out to her sides, eyes widened, and other foot swinging forward and clumsily reaching out to catch her fall. Not a normal fall, a planned fall by someone. Emmi's flailing arms reached out and caught hold of a nearby branch, leaves slowly forming, but bare enough to suit as a pseudo-handlebar.

Her head snapped to the side, seeing trees surrounding her but Earth telling her that someone was there, someone she wasn't completely partial towards. "Nikolaj..." Emmi started, her eyes falling to the rock that was not there a split second before she stepped there. The toe of her boot clicked against the stone and sent it sailing away from her.

"You're so clever, Demin." She commented dryly, her blue eyes finding the boy and watching him, unblinkingly. Her arms were at her sides, fingers curling ever so minutely, readying themselves for that just-in-case moment. She could never read this boy very well, but she knew he wouldn't hesitate to irk the snot out of her.

"There's really nothing better for you to do?" Her left hand propped itself on her hip and she arched her brow. Feeling her free hand tensing and curling up, she brushed it against her cloak to relieve the stress being held there, flecks of dirt appearing and falling lightly to the ground.

[dec]~ approved[/dec]

Name: Carolyn
Character name: Dae Hun Kwon    
Feature you are applying for: Animagus - Black Kite (Marking: He is distinguishable by the red head that fades into dark brown)

Description of the character:Dae-Hun Kwon sees himself as a predator, one that is on the top of the food chain. He preys on individuals who show weakness, through their body language and speech patterns. Dae-Hun will analyze for signs such as slouched shoulders, eyes cast down, confidence in their speech to determine how easy it will be to take advantage of the individual. With a swagger in his step and confidence, he is able to sell himself to his prey before taking their belongings. Conning is an art that he has undertaken with ease.  It is a hobby that he enjoys immensely because it requires him to keep him on his feet, and is a welcome challenge as every con is different.

Conning is an art that emphasizes a trait of the kite; their opportunistic nature. Like the kite, Dae-Hun is always looking for the next big investment. He is particularly fond of shiny things because there is some monetary wealth that comes with those items.  Thus, he loves to collect galleons and sickles from unsuspecting fellows. Like the fanned out tail feathers that allows the bird to fly freely through the air without much effort, Dae-Hun has adapted himself to move as swiftly when searching for his next prey.

Dae-Hun’s love for dark arts was cultivated through his study in Durmstrung. He was a natural at wand-work and focused his studies on courses which allowed him the liberty to use the wand. As much as he excelled in the use of the wand, he excelled in the theory behind it. Learning the theory was not as easy for him to grasp, but he is persistent and enjoys the challenge. He knows practice makes perfect and problems won’t be solved if you refuse to try. Since Dae-Hun acknowledges that you can never stop learning, he continues to practice and refine his art in reading body language, wand theory and wand work.

Finally coming to the decision of pursing becoming an animagus was a huge decision for Dae-Hun. It was required for him to be studious and put forth more effort than he ever had to. Changing was very painful and he almost gave up trying but his will power overrode his fear of the pain. At first he had problems with the sensitive hearing, which made him avoid gatherings at the school. Dae-Hun could not lift off the ground as a kite, which furthers his disappointment in himself.  The challenges of his transformation and adaptions of his body made him realize he had to continue working hard or he would never meet the hardest challenge of his short life. With some persistence he was finally able to fly and interact with other birds of prey. Once he was finally able to fly properly, it became a means of freedom. Riding a broom did not give him the same adrenalin rush. He also found the creatures to be comforting, providing him with love and warmth he didn't get anywhere else in his life.

This, in turn opened Dae-Hun up to trying to make friends, although he held an exaggerated feared they’d leave him shortly.  However, the Kite's internal need to be with others and create flocks led to Dae-Hun willing to open up himself to others behind a covered shield. 

Dae-Hun works in the Kwon’s family casino as the head dealer. While he works, he tries to track those who are attempting to swindle the casino out of money and has trained his dealers to focus on reading facial expressions. Since practicing surface talk for several years, he has become quite proficient and charismatic on the outside. However, it makes him tired because there is little routine while working the floor. It’s impossible to predict everything that can happen and he only does it because it is asked from his family to do this line of work. Dae-Hun likes to feel stable and likes to be able to predict what will happen in the future. When a kite, he knows where his territory lines are and will often fly the same path when hunting. Dae-Hun is well aware that he is not the most flexible person, but he knows that some flexibility is important. He is wise enough to know that he cannot predict everything.   

The year Dae-Hun learned how to change into a kite; he dyed his hair an orangey-brown in a feeble attempt to stand out. He never intended for his marking to be so ‘distasteful’ but the red head of the kite was closely similar to his hair dye. He wasn’t exactly happy about the change, especially since he believed he'd become an owl, but there was nothing he could do. The kite chose him.

Application: I have been a member of Magical Hogwarts for almost a year and during this period I found the Special Features interesting. I was afraid at first to apply for it because I thought the task was daunting. Originally, Dae-Hun was not going to be an animagus, but as I developed his character more and more it began to fit. His paranoia develops early, in school, and he uses the wealth of his parents to learn how to become an animagus. This would be a couple years after he gets his first owl, and in his history, the owl would be his first real 'friend' outside of the family. With the amount of loneliness this character feels, it would make sense for him to latch on to the first thing that accepted him. He has been a work in progress for a couple months now, but I’m beginning to realize that he wasn’t a character I could simply churn out. It was like marinating beef. He needed to sit in there for a couple months/almost a year before I could put him on the stove.

Actually, he was going to be an owl, but it became a kite. I talked to Heather and she stated his characteristics did not exactly match the owl and that she imagined him as a bird of prey. Since vultures are not common it did not make sense to make Dae-Hun a vulture. Instead, she helped me find pictures of different birds until I came across a kite. Kites are like vultures in nature, and I'd made it a point to show that Dae-Hun likes to pick on people and be manipulative to get his way. An opportunistic guy. An owl is more known for their wisdom, and frankly Dae-Hun had little of that. When I found out about the kite I thought it rang truer to his character. He would still interact with his owl and still use the kite to spy but it wouldn't be as prominent. I can also use this animal to help push him into friendships that he normally wouldn't do on his own, if it weren't for the yearning of companionship.
   

Future plots: Dae-Hun Kwon could use his ability to change into a kitefor many purposes.  One of these would be blackmailing clients that have debts owed to the casino. This will allow him to utilize the stealth skills that he has begun to mastered through his short life.

Even if he is not using his animagus form, he could use the heightened sense of hearing to catch individuals who are causing a ruckus in the casino. It has also helped him to learn languages because he could listen to and break down pronunciations of words spoken in different languages. Learning different languages would be a big hobby of Dae-Hun and would allow him to speak with a variety of players.

Another big future plot would involve Jun Kwon.  Dae-Hun uses his ability to change into an animagus to keep watch of his brother throughout his training. He is supposed to make his brother miserable and after some time of them being played together, Dae-Hun will drive his brother to the edge. It would almost be like an extended torture and torment where his insurmountable paranoia will cause him to distrust Jun and his family. This would cause him to spend more time as an kite to communicate with the other predatory birds of the household. He also spends a lot of his free time with these solitary animals so he's picked up many mannerisms from the kite. 

I have talked to Nicole, who roleplays Leonid Kasyanov and we've come up with a plot for both of them. It's not totally figured out, yet, but they would be kidnapped (or something) and find themselves in a foreign country without their wands. They would be in a muggle town and would have to figure out how to navigate through. Dae-Hun would use the natural attributes of the kite that he gets from turning into one to help him, whereas Leonid would use his book knowledge of muggles to help Dae-Hun. This would force Dae-Hun to see that muggles are not all bad and help him break his prejudice against half-bloods and muggle-born wizards.

RP sample using the feature: Today he didn’t work. Today he was free. Free to do as he willed and free to disappear from the citizens of the city. This night he would spend with Soo Min, and they would spend a brief time socializing before going onto their way. Before he had a chance to change himself he cast a spell on the door to keep others out of his room and hid his wand. Shouting the spell in his mind, he was able to cast it without a wand. Soon his body began to change, and he had to admit that at one time it was painful but now the change was become quite simple. He liked knowing that this form was of his own and loved even more that it was hard to distinguish him from an average Black Kite. He liked knowing he didn’t stand out and he wasn’t forced to accommodate to anyone. Dae Hun was free.

Nudging Soo Min affectingly, he cooed softly. Restless, he watched as she jumped outside of the window and dropped before lifting herself into the air. Dae-Hun followed suit, but had to stretch his wings before he could start flying. Arching himself on the window still he jumped off and let the wind pass through his feathers. It was like he was given a new lease on life every time he flew in the air. There was nothing to restrain himself to the mortal world and it was as if money no longer mattered. He could hear a mouse and hunger pains soon caught him by surprise. A small critter was running and he wanted it!

His sight was exceptional and although he hated puking up pellets after he was able to digest the common mouse, the thrill of hunting was too much to bear.  He started to fly towards the sound, completely silent in the air. The predator flew around looking for something to eat. Flying over a lake that was not too far off, he flew close to the surface until he saw a silver glitter. A moment later his talons were out and he caught a squirming fish! Soo Min followed closely behind, a bit abnormal for kites, and he gave a little bit of the fish to her. 

It was about this time that the two split ways and Dae-Hun headed back into the city. Although a raptor, he still wanted to socialize with other animals. Dae-Hun flew to the town’s Owlery, where he noticed other birds stayed; not only the owls. The caretaker was an older man who took his job seriously and loved each bird as his own. Dae-Hun didn’t quite understand this interaction, but he liked being around the other birds. They were more entertaining than their human counterparts.  As a kite he was no more sympathetic, but free food always excited him, which the caretaker often provided.

Who could let that opportunity up?

[dec]declined - please check your PM box[/dec]

Name: Michael
Character you are applying for:  Kyle Gibbes
Feature you are applying for:  Dicipulus Madin; Earth Elemental
Application:

Since I first joined MH all those many years ago, I always thought it would be fun to play a special feature out. While I still think this is true, I now see how much more a special feature really is. A special feature is a huge responsibility and one that I think I am now ready to handle. I have improved my role-playing immensely since I joined the site many years ago. I thought of applying for a special feature before but never found anything that was a good fit for any of my characters.

I have always tried to be involved in different elemental plots as they are available. I was on hiatus during the Zhyadad procession some years back at Christmas time, but participated in the Rogue attack on Beauxbatons during that plot. I really enjoyed the freedom of the dueling that elementals had and had a great time working with the elemental players as well as creating the duel between my Beauxbatons character and the rogue he was fighting.

Being a feature unique to MH, elementals can be a challenging piece to play in the overall role-playing experience, but I feel as though I can handle the challenge of playing a more complex character with extra facets to his magical development. I believe that by having Kyle as an elemental will allow for not only more depth for my own character, but also allow more openings at Hogwarts as there are several other elementals already at Hogwarts. Elemental plots are always enjoyable and I hope that by having another at Hogwarts, we can open the door to having an elemental plot at Hogwarts.

None of my characters have been created with a feature in mind or even to have a feature necessary for their development at all, but Kyle fits the mold of an Earth elemental very well. He is a hard worker who loves nature and animals. He excels in areas of magic such as Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures while struggling with Charms and Transfiguration. He is simple and loyal and loves to be surrounded by friends and family. There are other Hogwarts elementals around and even one that was on staff while Kyle was a student at Hogwarts. As such it would be possible for him to have been discovered and learn of his powers.

Kyle is a warm and caring person. He is an easy person to get to know and once you know him, you have a friend for life. Kyle makes meaningful bonds with people easily and quickly and develops a strong loyalty to those he considers his friends. Kyle cares very little for blood status or family standing when making friends and has many friends across all houses of Hogwarts as well as many who fled the country when the Muggle registration was taking place. His loyalty makes him a good friend and because he is so unwilling to turn against his friends, he is able to be trusted with people’s most intimate secrets without fear that they will be divulged.

Kyle is both emotional and protective. He has been in numerous fights both before and after leaving his home for Hogwarts. Kyle becomes easily worked up in situations where emotions run high and his decision making often suffers for it. His emotional trigger is slow to click, but extremely dangerous when it does, almost volcanic in nature. Because he understands this and wishes not to have that occur, when Kyle finds himself moving in that direction, he separates himself from the stimulus and attempts to calm himself through some quiet time and meditation as he learned in his elemental training.

Following the Battle of Hogwarts, Kyle became more unstable  and less in control of his elemental powers. Being meerly 14 years old and in his second year of training, the boy is still a very junior elemental and as such is still learning to control the basics of his power. The impact of seeing the death of Colin has made Kyle a much more introverted person than normal. He is more prone to fly off the handle now than he ever was. With that being said, he is still the kind and caring person he was before, that person is just not at the surface as he once was.

Kyle has always been a hard worker, never afraid to pour himself into a task or training situation. This keeps him trying even though he often makes mistakes during his training, especially at first. Kyle will continue to try over and over again until he has either reached the point where he can succeed with his runes or is stopped by his teacher. He rarely stops work on his own to give up. Rune carving was one particular area that Kyle struggled in at first, having a hard time with the precision required to make a usable rune. After months of relentless practice, he finally became decent at carving the symbol without spending hours to get it right.

Kyle is a very active and “outdoorsy” boy, loving to hike and climb through the woods near his home. Kyle loves to be anywhere outdoors during the season of autumn. The colors and the beauty astound him each and every day when he is out and around. There is little that is more relaxing to Kyle than walking or even just sitting under a tree in the woods listening to the sounds of the animals and birds as they live their simple life, constantly envying them for it.

Kyle’s first and second years at Hogwarts were as normal as any other young wizards first two years at a magical school could be. He spent time making friends studying and attempting to learn magic, much to no avail. Kyle had found his weakness and it was about 14 inches long and made of wood. He was a third year who was unable to cast even the most remedial of spells. Frustrated with his inability to complete such a menial task, Kyle spent more and more time practicing, which led him to become more frustrated. In his fit of frustration, Kyle moved out to the greenhouse to spend some time relaxing with the only pieces of the magical world where he fit well, the plants.

While on his way down to the greenhouse, Kyle saw a baby bird, apparently unable to fly, hopping at the bottom of a rather steep hill. As he was heading over to see if there was anything he could do to help the bird find its way back to the next, some rocks from just up the hill jostled loose and began falling toward the baby bird. Fearful for the bird’s life, Kyle broke into a run and dove to catch the small bird. Expecting to feel the impact of the rocks on his arms and back which he had thrown towards them to protect the bird, he was surprised when he stood up a few moments later to see a small barrier of earth had risen out of the ground almost as a shield around him and the small bird. Astounded at himself, Kyle stood fascinated at the wall of dirt, which promptly fell back to the ground when he stood to examine it.

Deciding that it was just due to his continued practice of shield charms, Kyle continued on his way to the greenhouse to work with the plants. It wasn’t until a few days later when he was approached by a girl a year younger than himself asking if he has always been able to make mounds like that. Surprised that anyone had seen him, he casually responded that he had not always been able to do it but that it was nothing special, it was just a simple shield charm. The girl smiled and thanked Kyle for his time. 

A few weeks later, he was approached by a man in his later thirties who introduced himself as Stephen, a “council elemental”, who began to speak of an ancient form of magic involving the elements of fire, water, air, stone, ice and the one he focused on- earth. He explained that certain wizards are able to control these, and explained his suspicions that Kyle was one of these wizards. He explained that the council was a very old group of elementals who strove to keep the balance of the elements and ultimately between good and evil, a group that included almost all the elementals in the world.

Kyle was not sure what to make of this, but after some time spent learning more about the elementals he embraced what it was that Stephen had told him. Stephen told him that after a short time that Kyle would be able to begin his training under him. He explained that this was now his life; he was an elemental and would become a trained one soon, once Stephen had been able to work a few more things out with the elders of the council.

After a few weeks of waiting, Kyle received a letter from Stephen that he was to begin training as an elemental. Words like Discipuli and Advocate were used, but Kyle didn’t really worry much about that, he finally had a place that he belonged. He fit in with what had been explained to him about the elementals. They had the same cares and concerns for nature that he did as well as they explained why he was having problems with wand magic. Kyle was much more receptive and accepting of his power than one may necessarily have thought, but it was simply now that he felt at home in the magical world.

After receiving this letter and beginning his training at the end of his first year of training, Kyle wrote home to explain what was going on during this trying time in his life. Kyle hoped his parents would be as supportive and accepting of this as he was, unfortunately he was met with some resistance from his father when he revealed what he was. His father was convinced that he was a normal wizard struggling with school work, nothing more. After many angry letters from his father and many calm responses , Kyle finally gained his father’s blessing to begin his training in the elemental arts.

I have already spoken with Lady Jedi about a possible double training session with her and her elemental student she trains IC. This would allow me to play out the elemental training that he would get from Iuliana Keane during these sessions and allow him to practice with Alanna. These would be useful to show Kyle practicing the spells rather than just assuming that he became good at them through non played out practicing, which he will do some of as it is already.

I have also spoken with Lady Jedi and she said that was going to work on a plot to do some restoration of a forest damaged by battles. This would be a good opportunity to have a test of his skills and how far he has come in his 2-3 years of training. He would be supervised by Iuliana and would be in little danger from it but it would allow for some plotting about the exertion of such work and trying to do some good. Since Kyle is so much of a nature lover this would be great for him and he would feel as though he were doing a much greater good by working to restore the forest with some other elementals.

Juliet’s new character, Vance, who is a Discipuli Hor would be a good connection for Kyle in the basic stages of his training and she said that she was ok with a few threads betweek Kyle and Vance working on his concentration and meditation. They could also work on carving of runes, and working on his Gaelic. This would allow me to show Kyle’s development from a more basic elemental state up to a more advanced state, learning the ways of the elementals and have a partner in his training. I could use this to play out much more of his training and practice that would normall just fall by the wayside and be non played.

To work on his connections at Inverness, I have spoken with Em about a possible thread with while Kyle was in his training phase. This would again allow for more connections with Kyle to other elementals and help him to feel his way into his place as a part of the elemental community as well as an opportunity to hone some more of his skills such as the spoken language of the council, Gaelic. This could also open the door to more opportunities in the future, should a larger elemental plot arise, Kyle will know many of the other elementals and would be more likely to be involved with whatever should arise.

Carys agreed to a possible thread with Linnet once she and Kyle are back in school together. His discovery would take place right after she left and his basic training was while she was gone. Since his training was conducted mostly locally due to his schooling, they wouldn’t have met yet as elementals. Once they do meet it could allow some calming between the two of them knowing they share a bond and aren’t alone in this.

Inga’s elemental Nolan, a stone elemental who’s second affinity is earth, would give Kyle an older figure to interact with as almost a devil on the shoulder type. This would present a different idea for Kyle seeing an older elemental who has an affinity for his element but is also not 100% in step with the Grey Council’s line on how things should be done. Even though he cannot possibly go rogue while still in school because of the dangers associated with it as well as his lack of training, this opens future options for Kyle. This could lay the eventaul framework for Kyle to go rogue after he is done with his schooling if he still feels Nolan is right.

Although Ty is in the process of getting Demeter approved, I have talked to him and if his character is approved for the Harbinger of Madin SF then he is willing to work with me and make some plots with Kyle. These threads can be instruction time or practical work that they could do as a group of elementals. This would also give him someone to actually play out training with since many of the other elementals are not of his affinity. This would give Kyle more contacts in the elemental ranks and have someone for him to study under as a young elemental.

Julie is ok with Peter Alva having a possible thread with Kyle when he makes a trip to Inverness during holiday one of his years. Because they are counter elements the meeting has the opportunity to go poorly. It could happen that both or either of the two of them would be able to cook off some steam by this meeting, but it would give a good opportunity for Kyle to interact with older council ementals, if he is able to keep his head about him.

Kyle was tired. It had been a long week of school and elemental training and he was worn out. As an elemental, classes were hard enough as the boy struggled with wand-work. His struggles kept him from completing even the most elementary of spells. He had continued his exceptional marks in Herbology and had now seen his marks rise in Care of Magical Creatures. This course offered him another opportunity to commune with nature and be outdoors, a place he had grown more and more at home with through his constant studies outdoors and his elemental training. As he sat under the shade of a tall tree near the lake, he spun a small rune in his hands. Carving was now the most important skill for Kyle to master. It was one he would use to build upon for the rest of his life, without these runes, he was as useless as a wizard without a wand.

These runes had become his life, as a wizard to his wand so Kyle now knew the connection to the magic that existed all around him. He had never felt the full power of magic running through his veins while he carried around only a wand, but now, as he sat beneath the tree spinning the stone in his hands he knew what it was to be powerful, to have a fuller use of his magic. The early fall weather was calming for Kyle. Trees were hanging on for life as they neared their yearly demise as winter crept slowly closer.

Gathering up his rune and bag, he moved over to a small patch of ground hidden from view by some over growth and vines where he had been doing some training further from the castle walls, secluded from the majority of the student’s wandering eyes. This enclave of elemental magic created for him by his teacher was an opportunity for him to continue his practice while not attracting large amounts of attention to himself. Especially in this current state of the wizarding world, it was unclear as to how some of the students at Hogwarts would view his unconventional and ancient forms of magic, regardless of how little they knew of it. Entering the enclave, Kyle moved over to a patch of soil that he had summoned a few days before, which still remained entirely fertile.

Smoothing out a patch of this soil, Kyle leaned in and placed a few seeds from his back into the freshly summoned earth. After a few days of continued help and some incantations, Kyle would see the beginnings of the fruits of his labour. Kyle saw other attempts of his earlier work, some of which were blooming in patterns or shapes that he had attempted to control. These newly planted seeds however he just left to grow as they would. Blossoms would slowly give way to small berries. Returning to an older plant, Kyle picked a few berries and left to return to his tree. As he left the enclosure, he kneeled down once more and conjured a medium sized bush to block the entry to his practice enclave. As the bush grew to close the enclave, the rune he had formerly been playing with by the lake crumbled into powder in his hand. When he got to the tree, he sat once more and ate the ripened berries. His momentary hunger satisfied and his practice for the day done, Kyle set his mind to returning to the castle to prepare for an unproductive evening of practicing theory of charms, after all it was the only way the boy would ever pass such a class.

Name: Michael
Character you are applying for:  Kyle Gibbes
Feature you are applying for:  Dicipulus Madin; Earth Elemental
Application:

Since I first joined MH all those many years ago, I always thought it would be fun to play a special feature out. While I still think this is true, I now see how much more a special feature really is. A special feature is a huge responsibility and one that I think I am now ready to handle. I have improved my role-playing immensely since I joined the site many years ago. I thought of applying for a special feature before but never found anything that was a good fit for any of my characters.

I have always tried to be involved in different elemental plots as they are available. I was on hiatus during the Zhyadad procession some years back at Christmas time, but participated in the Rogue attack on Beauxbatons during that plot. I really enjoyed the freedom of the dueling that elementals had and had a great time working with the elemental players as well as creating the duel between my Beauxbatons character and the rogue he was fighting.

Being a feature unique to MH, elementals can be a challenging piece to play in the overall role-playing experience, but I feel as though I can handle the challenge of playing a more complex character with extra facets to his magical development. I believe that by having Kyle as an elemental will allow for not only more depth for my own character, but also allow more openings at Hogwarts as there are several other elementals already at Hogwarts. Elemental plots are always enjoyable and I hope that by having another at Hogwarts, we can open the door to having an elemental plot at Hogwarts.

None of my characters have been created with a feature in mind or even to have a feature necessary for their development at all, but Kyle fits the mold of an Earth elemental very well. He is a hard worker who loves nature and animals. He excels in areas of magic such as Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures while struggling with Charms and Transfiguration. He is simple and loyal and loves to be surrounded by friends and family. There are other Hogwarts elementals around and even one that was on staff while Kyle was a student at Hogwarts. As such it would be possible for him to have been discovered and learn of his powers.

Kyle is a warm and caring person. He is an easy person to get to know and once you know him, you have a friend for life. Kyle makes meaningful bonds with people easily and quickly and develops a strong loyalty to those he considers his friends. Kyle cares very little for blood status or family standing when making friends and has many friends across all houses of Hogwarts as well as many who fled the country when the Muggle registration was taking place. His loyalty makes him a good friend and because he is so unwilling to turn against his friends, he is able to be trusted with people’s most intimate secrets without fear that they will be divulged.

Kyle is both emotional and protective. He has been in numerous fights both before and after leaving his home for Hogwarts. Kyle becomes easily worked up in situations where emotions run high and his decision making often suffers for it. His emotional trigger is slow to click, but extremely dangerous when it does, almost volcanic in nature. Because he understands this and wishes not to have that occur, when Kyle finds himself moving in that direction, he separates himself from the stimulus and attempts to calm himself through some quiet time and meditation as he learned in his elemental training.

Following the Battle of Hogwarts, Kyle became more unstable  and less in control of his elemental powers. Being meerly 14 years old and in his second year of training, the boy is still a very junior elemental and as such is still learning to control the basics of his power. The impact of seeing the death of Colin has made Kyle a much more introverted person than normal. He is more prone to fly off the handle now than he ever was. With that being said, he is still the kind and caring person he was before, that person is just not at the surface as he once was.

Kyle has always been a hard worker, never afraid to pour himself into a task or training situation. This keeps him trying even though he often makes mistakes during his training, especially at first. Kyle will continue to try over and over again until he has either reached the point where he can succeed with his runes or is stopped by his teacher. He rarely stops work on his own to give up. Rune carving was one particular area that Kyle struggled in at first, having a hard time with the precision required to make a usable rune. After months of relentless practice, he finally became decent at carving the symbol without spending hours to get it right.

Kyle is a very active and “outdoorsy” boy, loving to hike and climb through the woods near his home. Kyle loves to be anywhere outdoors during the season of autumn. The colors and the beauty astound him each and every day when he is out and around. There is little that is more relaxing to Kyle than walking or even just sitting under a tree in the woods listening to the sounds of the animals and birds as they live their simple life, constantly envying them for it.

Kyle’s first and second years at Hogwarts were as normal as any other young wizards first two years at a magical school could be. He spent time making friends studying and attempting to learn magic, much to no avail. Kyle had found his weakness and it was about 14 inches long and made of wood. He was a third year who was unable to cast even the most remedial of spells. Frustrated with his inability to complete such a menial task, Kyle spent more and more time practicing, which led him to become more frustrated. In his fit of frustration, Kyle moved out to the greenhouse to spend some time relaxing with the only pieces of the magical world where he fit well, the plants.

While on his way down to the greenhouse, Kyle saw a baby bird, apparently unable to fly, hopping at the bottom of a rather steep hill. As he was heading over to see if there was anything he could do to help the bird find its way back to the next, some rocks from just up the hill jostled loose and began falling toward the baby bird. Fearful for the bird’s life, Kyle broke into a run and dove to catch the small bird. Expecting to feel the impact of the rocks on his arms and back which he had thrown towards them to protect the bird, he was surprised when he stood up a few moments later to see a small barrier of earth had risen out of the ground almost as a shield around him and the small bird. Astounded at himself, Kyle stood fascinated at the wall of dirt, which promptly fell back to the ground when he stood to examine it.

Deciding that it was just due to his continued practice of shield charms, Kyle continued on his way to the greenhouse to work with the plants. It wasn’t until a few days later when he was approached by a girl a year younger than himself asking if he has always been able to make mounds like that. Surprised that anyone had seen him, he casually responded that he had not always been able to do it but that it was nothing special, it was just a simple shield charm. The girl smiled and thanked Kyle for his time. 

A few weeks later, he was approached by a man in his later thirties who introduced himself as Stephen, a “council elemental”, who began to speak of an ancient form of magic involving the elements of fire, water, air, stone, ice and the one he focused on- earth. He explained that certain wizards are able to control these, and explained his suspicions that Kyle was one of these wizards. He explained that the council was a very old group of elementals who strove to keep the balance of the elements and ultimately between good and evil, a group that included almost all the elementals in the world.

Kyle was not sure what to make of this, but after some time spent learning more about the elementals he embraced what it was that Stephen had told him. Stephen told him that after a short time that Kyle would be able to begin his training under him. He explained that this was now his life; he was an elemental and would become a trained one soon, once Stephen had been able to work a few more things out with the elders of the council.

After a few weeks of waiting, Kyle received a letter from Stephen that he was to begin training as an elemental. Words like Discipuli and Advocate were used, but Kyle didn’t really worry much about that, he finally had a place that he belonged. He fit in with what had been explained to him about the elementals. They had the same cares and concerns for nature that he did as well as they explained why he was having problems with wand magic. Kyle was much more receptive and accepting of his power than one may necessarily have thought, but it was simply now that he felt at home in the magical world.

After receiving this letter and beginning his training at the end of his first year of training, Kyle wrote home to explain what was going on during this trying time in his life. Kyle hoped his parents would be as supportive and accepting of this as he was, unfortunately he was met with some resistance from his father when he revealed what he was. His father was convinced that he was a normal wizard struggling with school work, nothing more. After many angry letters from his father and many calm responses , Kyle finally gained his father’s blessing to begin his training in the elemental arts.

I have already spoken with Lady Jedi about a possible double training session with her and her elemental student she trains IC. This would allow me to play out the elemental training that he would get from Iuliana Keane during these sessions and allow him to practice with Alanna. These would be useful to show Kyle practicing the spells rather than just assuming that he became good at them through non played out practicing, which he will do some of as it is already.

I have also spoken with Lady Jedi and she said that was going to work on a plot to do some restoration of a forest damaged by battles. This would be a good opportunity to have a test of his skills and how far he has come in his 2-3 years of training. He would be supervised by Iuliana and would be in little danger from it but it would allow for some plotting about the exertion of such work and trying to do some good. Since Kyle is so much of a nature lover this would be great for him and he would feel as though he were doing a much greater good by working to restore the forest with some other elementals.

Juliet’s new character, Vance, who is a Discipuli Hor would be a good connection for Kyle in the basic stages of his training and she said that she was ok with a few threads betweek Kyle and Vance working on his concentration and meditation. They could also work on carving of runes, and working on his Gaelic. This would allow me to show Kyle’s development from a more basic elemental state up to a more advanced state, learning the ways of the elementals and have a partner in his training. I could use this to play out much more of his training and practice that would normall just fall by the wayside and be non played.

To work on his connections at Inverness, I have spoken with Em about a possible thread with while Kyle was in his training phase. This would again allow for more connections with Kyle to other elementals and help him to feel his way into his place as a part of the elemental community as well as an opportunity to hone some more of his skills such as the spoken language of the council, Gaelic. This could also open the door to more opportunities in the future, should a larger elemental plot arise, Kyle will know many of the other elementals and would be more likely to be involved with whatever should arise.

The Song Faerie agreed to a possible thread with Linnet once she and Kyle are back in school together. His discovery would take place right after she left and his basic training was while she was gone. Since his training was conducted mostly locally due to his schooling, they wouldn’t have met yet as elementals. Once they do meet it could allow some calming between the two of them knowing they share a bond and aren’t alone in this.

Sunset Angel’s elemental Nolan, a stone elemental who’s second affinity is earth, would give Kyle an older figure to interact with as almost a devil on the shoulder type. This would present a different idea for Kyle seeing an older elemental who has an affinity for his element but is also not 100% in step with the Grey Council’s line on how things should be done. Even though he cannot possibly go rogue while still in school because of the dangers associated with it as well as his lack of training, this opens future options for Kyle. This could lay the eventaul framework for Kyle to go rogue after he is done with his schooling if he still feels Nolan is right.

Although Ty is in the process of getting Demeter approved, I have talked to him and if his character is approved for the Harbinger of Madin SF then he is willing to work with me and make some plots with Kyle. These threads can be instruction time or practical work that they could do as a group of elementals. This would also give him someone to actually play out training with since many of the other elementals are not of his affinity. This would give Kyle more contacts in the elemental ranks and have someone for him to study under as a young elemental.

The Goblin Queen is ok with Peter Alva having a possible thread with Kyle when he makes a trip to Inverness during holiday one of his years. Because they are counter elements the meeting has the opportunity to go poorly. It could happen that both or either of the two of them would be able to cook off some steam by this meeting, but it would give a good opportunity for Kyle to interact with older council ementals, if he is able to keep his head about him.

Kyle was tired. It had been a long week of school and elemental training and he was worn out. As an elemental, classes were hard enough as the boy struggled with wand-work. His struggles kept him from completing even the most elementary of spells. He had continued his exceptional marks in Herbology and had now seen his marks rise in Care of Magical Creatures. This course offered him another opportunity to commune with nature and be outdoors, a place he had grown more and more at home with through his constant studies outdoors and his elemental training. As he sat under the shade of a tall tree near the lake, he spun a small rune in his hands. Carving was now the most important skill for Kyle to master. It was one he would use to build upon for the rest of his life, without these runes, he was as useless as a wizard without a wand.

These runes had become his life, as a wizard to his wand so Kyle now knew the connection to the magic that existed all around him. He had never felt the full power of magic running through his veins while he carried around only a wand, but now, as he sat beneath the tree spinning the stone in his hands he knew what it was to be powerful, to have a fuller use of his magic. The early fall weather was calming for Kyle. Trees were hanging on for life as they neared their yearly demise as winter crept slowly closer.

Gathering up his rune and bag, he moved over to a small patch of ground hidden from view by some over growth and vines where he had been doing some training further from the castle walls, secluded from the majority of the student’s wandering eyes. This enclave of elemental magic created for him by his teacher was an opportunity for him to continue his practice while not attracting large amounts of attention to himself. Especially in this current state of the wizarding world, it was unclear as to how some of the students at Hogwarts would view his unconventional and ancient forms of magic, regardless of how little they knew of it. Entering the enclave, Kyle moved over to a patch of soil that he had summoned a few days before, which still remained entirely fertile.

Smoothing out a patch of this soil, Kyle leaned in and placed a few seeds from his back into the freshly summoned earth. After a few days of continued help and some incantations, Kyle would see the beginnings of the fruits of his labour. Kyle saw other attempts of his earlier work, some of which were blooming in patterns or shapes that he had attempted to control. These newly planted seeds however he just left to grow as they would. Blossoms would slowly give way to small berries. Returning to an older plant, Kyle picked a few berries and left to return to his tree. As he left the enclosure, he kneeled down once more and conjured a medium sized bush to block the entry to his practice enclave. As the bush grew to close the enclave, the rune he had formerly been playing with by the lake crumbled into powder in his hand. When he got to the tree, he sat once more and ate the ripened berries. His momentary hunger satisfied and his practice for the day done, Kyle set his mind to returning to the castle to prepare for an unproductive evening of practicing theory of charms, after all it was the only way the boy would ever pass such a class.

[lau]~approved[/lau]

 
Name: Sami 
Character name: Kari Kortesmäki 
Feature you are applying for: Metamorphmagus 
Description of the character: His most prominent asset would be his large, rampant imagination. He spends most of his free time playing out little adventures with people who will go along with him - his favorite involves he and the participant being pirates. He can come up with a setting and entire plot of a "game" in a matter of moments, and he gets pretty serious about them. He makes them as intricate as possible and gets into character as much as possible. He daydreams often of many adventures he'd like to play out, and dreams up his own characters -- by now, he has hundreds. He takes on different personas very often, and is only really "himself" when he absolutely must be; even then, he's secretly someone else just inside in his mind. Not only does he act out these plots, but he enjoys writing them down as stories, as well. These stories range from practical, realistic tales, to ones larger than life and entirely impossible. He has many of his written works scattered about in his room. He loves acting out these stories more than anything, and hopes to pursue a career out of it some day.   
 
Kari is friendly to those he likes, and is  willing to aid others, as long as he gets something in return. Without gaining something himself, he doesn't usually bother with the problems of others. He enjoys friends, but really only wants someone to go along with his adventures. He doesn't see long-term relationships as necessary, seeing as they usually come with attachments such as comforting someone when they're sad, and he's just not too interested in that. This may make him seem cold, but he doesn't seem to mind much. He's still social, despite not being dependent on friends, and really does enjoy the company of others. He typically feels most comfortable around a medium-sized group of people, with a lot of talking and laughing going on.       
 
He doesn't "beat around the bush" when he wants to say or do something. He doesn't much care for someone else's reaction to something, so it doesn't bother him to say whatever he'd like. He knows how to watch his tongue around those who have the authority to discipline him, however. He doesn't dumbly run his mouth when he knows of the consequences. He does have an issue with lying though. He will spout off a lie, or even a string of them, without thinking twice about it. This may be due to his over-active imagination, and his need to turn things into larger than what they really are. If something happened to him, and he wants to tell someone about it, he'll spice it up with a few lies. He tries to make life as exciting as possible, and is always craving a larger adventure. He tries to make these lies as believable as possible, not trying to extend the story so much that it is entirely preposterous. He fancies himself a decent liar, and has done it so often that, as stated earlier, it's become a habit.   
 
He knows how to defend himself, both physically and with words, and will not hesitate to do so when provoked harshly enough. Growing up with two older brothers has taught him how to fight back, especially since they aren't the nicest, most wonderful siblings he could ever ask for. When he hits, he hits hard, and when he spits out an insult, he goes for what will hurt the most. He can go for subtle when it comes to being mean, but that isn't always the "most fun" way to go about it. He wants to make sure his point hits home, and he doesn't trust others to take the hint if he's not absolutely blunt. Fighting and arguing aren't on his list of fun things to do, but it's not as if he can always avoid them. He isn't one to suddenly become outrageously angry or overreact; it takes either a hard blow to the right place, or constant prodding over time to get him to react. 
 
Kari is an independent young boy; bright, too. He can weave together a colorful story very quickly, and he can be very mature if need be. He doesn't really like having to exercise this maturity too often, however, as it gets in the way of playing and being a child. He doesn't focus his intelligence on many things: usually during his playtime and trying to get what he wants from his parents or otherwise. He doesn't like enlisting the help of others, but he will if the situation calls for it, and the situation, more often than not, calls for it at his age. If he has a problem, he'd much rather work it out by himself, and it's just dreadful even asking his own parents. He doesn't need other children to play with; he is more than happy entertaining himself, though that isn't to say he'd ever turn down a playmate. Sometimes he gets so focused that he doesn't even noticed he is by himself. There are times where he prefers this time alone, as he can get overwhelmed by others' emotions if they are fluctuating too often around him. He finds it much easier simply dealing with himself for a while, as he's in control of his emotions. 
 
He will automatically try to assume leadership in a group of his peers. He finds himself suited for the role, and will try as hard as possible to achieve it; usually by means of carefully worded persuasion. He's quick to speak up or act at any time, and tries to have an answer for everything. He likes taking new routes when doing things, as he finds doing something one way over and over again very boring and distasteful. A fresh start is always nice. Goals are a big part of his life, as he sets little and big ones every day. He's very serious about things he sets out to do, and is not above outright lying to get where or what he wants. He will make himself appear as weak or as strong as possible, according to what is most needed. It wouldn't matter to him if something was illegal; if it was all right and fun according to him, he'd find a way to do it anyway. Being a child, along with his relatively safe upbringing, however, haven't really made him face illegal actions just yet, so he hasn't yet had the opportunity to get into trouble to that degree. Though if ever faced with such a challenge: with careful planning, he would do all he could to get away with whatever he wanted; he wouldn't allow himself to be caught so easily.  
   

 
 
Application: I figured I would submit this now, so I'll have plenty of time to work on his history before he goes off to school. I would have waited, but I wanted to know whether or not I could incorporate this into his history well beforehand. Anyway: I believe Kari is an excellent candidate for this feature for many reasons. As his description revealed, he's a very creative boy who is always stuck in his own little world, which he's weaved over years of trying to escape boredom. His intellect has lead him to develop stories and characters around worlds of both ancient and modern history, as he seems to be very partial to the lives of others, rather than himself, and in worlds other than his own. As he's yet to start his schooling at Durmstrang, he is stuck at home for the majority of his days. Being an active, creative young boy, he has desperately searched for a way to escape the mundane world of home schooling and relatively average life -- when concerning a wizarding family, anyway. Both around the house, and the outdoors have provided him a stage to preform his own adventures, usually all by himself. He uses his room and small backyard as a pirate's ship, a castle, or anything he would need at the moment for his story. Being able to change his appearance to fit the many roles he gives himself would only be an advantage, and something he could use very often.   
 
As mentioned before, he had a tendency to lie much more often than he produces the truth. Therefore, lying about his appearance would be no problem for him and would be something he uses to his advantage. He would have many different "forms" in which he takes on to not only play the main role he gives himself, but to play multiple characters at once when he has no one else to play with, which at this point in his life, is very often. Most children would just put on different clothes to solve this problem, but I think it would be both interesting and fitting to give him this feature instead, as that would be much more fun to play out. As he's becoming somewhat of a trouble maker, this will enhance his ability to get away with more things, such as perhaps getting away with shop lifting or something similar, which would be some of the plots I intend to play out. He plans to become an actor when he is of age and given the opportunity, and surely he will be able to achieve this so much easier with this ability, as he really is very talented -- this will just make him open for more roles.   
 
Now to delve deeper into his different forms: first of all, he has many. Not all of them are used too often, however. I've drafted a few which I call his "main" forms, and honestly have had a blast doing so. He typically doesn't give these forms proper names, but rather places their occupation, or some other feature about them, in front of his own name, e.g. Pirate Kari, Sea Kari, etc. His main ones would have to be, of course, his original self, but funnily enough he hates this one the most. He truly dislikes the way he looks, as he finds himself very plain. This would be why he tends to give him other forms pretty "colorful" features. Though, there are still a few that could be considered fairly normal. His favorite for the moment would have to be what he calls his "pirate" form; this is featured in the role play sample below. This one is a mean, ratty boy who likes to play in the dirt, use foul language, and bite everything and everyone. He always dresses in what Kari considers "pirate" attire, and has frizzy, long red hair, paired with dark skin. His teeth appear in poor health, and his eyes are a filthy grey. Darker skin tone is a popular trend in Kari's many forms; he seems to have a deep interest in it.   
 
When his family takes a trip to the nearby sea, he takes on what he calls his "sea" form. His skin is, again, darker. His hair possesses many shades of green and blue, and his ears take on a different shape, somewhat resembling fins. His eyes go from the usual dark brown to a color that closer resembles the calm waters. His parents find this one very creepy, and really hate it when he uses it, but it lingers near top of his list of favorites. Another 'character' he likes is one he calls Ghost Kari. Basically, everything about him is white in color, including his clothes. This one developed after a ghost story phase he went through, swallowing book after book of stories that involved things that go bump in the night. He had a dream that he was a ghost, and since then he's played one with this form, "floating" around his backyard and wooooing at the people he hears passing his fenced yard -- his family resides in an apartment above his father's clock/antique shop, so that's usually quite a lot of people to "freak out".   
 
Due to his lack of playmates (he only has them during family outings and when they go visit other members of the family), and his fascination with stories about royalty from long ago, he's had to play the feminine role in a few of his games. This has lead to the development of two "princess" forms, and yes, he does get a lot of teasing for this. One is the typical damsel in distress, resembling his original form quite a bit, with longer hair and lighter eyes. She is a very picky girl, and wishes to be let out into the real world, but he's given her mean parents that won't let her do anything. When he plays in her "world" he plays both her, and the king -- an evil ruler that oversees a very poor land, but with an excellent military. His kingdom begs for money, but he laughs! He doesn't care; they shouldn't be so poor, after all. Another princess is the opposite of the previous one in looks. She has short, sleek black hair and bright green eyes, though she possesses the same thirst for adventure. She sneaks out of her castle to go looting with pirates; she often accompanies Kari's pirate form on these make believe outings. He doesn't play these female roles nearly as much as his male ones, of course, but he still worries his parents with it. He doesn't get why they are so worried, as it's only pretend! These are not by far the only "characters" he has, but are merely the ones that stand out in my head at the moment.   
 
As far as I know, there aren't any male metamorphmagi, and I find would like to remedy this. I would love to play out this feature as only a young boy would: using it to delve into ridiculous made up adventures and perhaps getting a kick out of scaring the local children. He would also be the only metamorphmagus attending Durmstrang, so the rarity would still be there. As he's both male and attending a school that is without one possessing this feature, I think it could bring up many interesting plots as he grows up and goes through schooling. He wouldn't have anyone to really relate to, so this may cause a sense of loneliness on his part; even though he doesn't feel the need to befriend the other students, I can see him eventually wanting to fit in a bit, and this could be an obstacle he'll have to overcome. One of my characters has been granted a special feature lately, and I have already involved him in a plot concerning his feature, as well as anything else I could squeeze him into, which has become a lot easier since the school term has started for him. So it's no question as to whether or not I'll actually use a feature I've been granted. I'm very excited to use my most recent one, just as I would be if granted this one for Kari. Once I get Kari actually involved in schooling, I'll be able to actually start using this feature like it deserves; I believe I have the ability to do this, as I'm an active role player here and intend to be for as long as possible. I know I can be trusted to not allow this to be a dead appendage added onto my character; some aspects of his personality and history were shaped because of this, so of course it will be exercised as much as possible. Without it, I could still play him, but I can't see him being quite the same person.   
 
 

   
 
Future plots: The thing that comes to mind first is his future as an adult. I'm very sure he'll take the drama route and become an actor in theatres, which could take him to many different places in the world -- something that would be very fun once that time comes. I know this is a while ahead, but I could always age him up once I've had my fun playing him as an adventurous child. Where he is now, it would mostly be be used as an aid to take on the roles of the characters he has created. I've drafted out a few of the "forms" he takes on most often, but I'm sure he has more than I'd like to completely describe. Each one of these forms would have different personalities and such, so that would keep me busy with getting into the different minds, and also allowing him to interact with a variety of different characters once I've gotten him in school -- if he's able to have enough creative flow during a stressful time such as school, that is. He takes these different forms pretty seriously, so when he's in a certain mind set, it's hard to shake him from it. I will probably give him a main form or two other than his natural one as to not over load either one of us. As far as I know, there aren't very many younger Durmstrang students, so my threads with have to expand out from his peers. He'll be interacting with the older students as well, so I'll have plenty to do with him. I can never see him actually seeing this ability as a curse, since it would have provided him with entertainment and many different identities which he used to escape reality. He would continue to do so in the future if he takes the road of acting, which I see is very likely.   
 
Basically, my main plot as of now involves his interaction with other students, as he is very young at the moment. Had I made him an adult, he would be more involved with the community, going through more obstacles, and using his ability as an asset to his career. This will come, but just not yet. This isn't to say that his feature won't be used as often; it will just be used more childishly. Once in school, he will want to bring all these personalities with him, but will most likely be unable to go to such extravagant lengths to change his form due to how busy and pressured he will be at Durmstrang. This will be very upsetting for him indeed. Also, as the youngest raised in a predominately male household, he gets his share of rough treatment from his siblings. I have it to where, if this is accepted, his morphing abilities have instilled a bit of hard feelings toward the "freak" of the family, and causing him to receive harsher treatment, therefore, making him have to toughen up and harden his shell; learn how to fight back. This has certainly had an affect on his personality as it is currently. This isn't meant to add drama into his life, but rather provide a back-up story as to why he is the way he is: pushy, bossy, and harsh when he needs to be. He doesn't cry about it, just as he doesn't really cry about anything; ridicule for showing tears has made him not one to react so outwardly. He is much more action-oriented because of this, and the many insults thrown at him would have quickened his wit, as he would have to have something clever to throw back, wouldn't he? To sum it up, this feature has caused him to go through some home troubles, and he will continue to get this treatment through out his school life, or at least until he is the only sibling living at home. As I intend to have at least one of his siblings adopted by another driver, I can actually have this played out, making it not only a current plot, but one that continues into his future.   
 
   
 

 
 
RP sample using the feature: A bright, salty-aired day meant a healthy dose of outdoors playtime for young Kari. From the bare, open window, sunlight poured into the small room, shining directly on the sleeping boy. The light jabbing him in the eyes until he was awake wasn't the most pleasant experience, but he couldn't put himself in a bad humor that morning for anything. He'd had an absolutely amazing dream the night before, and he was ready to play it out. A dream filled with the sea, mean, smelly pirates, and a princess that just loved getting into trouble; just like in one of the stories he'd written not too long ago. That day was going to be one of his best yet, once he got this adventure started. After he took in a large gulp of tangy air, his feet met the sun-warmed, beige carpet that covered his floor as he slid out of bed; it creaked and groaned under him. It was an old, thin thing, but it had been his bed for so long he'd come to get used its complaints. He tore through his dresser drawers in a frantic, excited search for the appropriate attire for that afternoon. He grabbed his most pirate-esque outfit, then something to go with the rogue princess of his dreams. He would take on both roles this time, as he had no one willing to accompany him; his brothers wouldn't do it, and he had no other relatives over at the time. It didn't bother him too much to play both roles, as it allotted him much more room for practicing different personalities and voices.   
 
He changed into his pirate clothing, and with the aid of his full-length mirror, he made himself look more ragged and mean. His other forms usually had darker skin than he, so his milky complexion was bronzed until it was a more cocoa hue. He added a few sprinkles of freckles to his nose, then hooked it a bit. His eyes melted from their original warm coffee pools to a dirty, dull grey. He went on to narrow these eyes, sharpen his chin, and raised his cheekbones as to make himself appear as pointy as possible. He opened his mouth, pulling back a cheek with his finger to get a good look at his teeth. He gave them crookedness that only a mother could love, then gave his previously dull upper and lower canines sharper points. His hair grew a foot in length and reddened, making it a frizzy, maroon waterfall. He braided this, leaving the disheveled front section to fall where it would. After slipping on a pair of worn, brown leather gloves, he pronounced himself ready to play.   
 
He danced down the stairs that lead from their living quarters to his father's clock shop, clutching the more feminine clothes close to him, as to lesson any attention they might have drawn from other family members. His father hated it when he took on female roles, no matter what reason Kari would give him. It's not like he wanted to be a girl all the time! And even worse was when his older brothers would catch him and unleash their brutal teasing and laughing. If they would just play with him, he wouldn't have to do this! No one seemed to understand him one bit. But he couldn't let this bother him. Once he started school, he'd find someone who would play with him. Even if he had to force them somehow. With a musing grin, he gave his father a small wave, and exited the creaky back door to their small, meager excuse for a backyard.   
 
After stepping outside, he gave his muscles a good stretch, letting his joints air out and finding their little pops very amusing. He always got a kick out of that noise; it was so gross and wonderful. The best part about it was his brother Valtteri couldn't stand it, so he had a reason to force this noise from his body as much as possible, and get absolutely thrilling reactions for it. A good punch or two to the face, too, but he could always overlook that. Now! It was time to bring to life the story that played over and over like a popular play in his head. He knew the characters inside and out, as well as the setting and just how the story went. He'd made a make-shift ship in his backyard out of left over fencing, and this would be his chosen setting. Soon, it became a huge, grand ship at sea, and he was the captain surrounded by the best crew in the world, and tons of treasure of course.   
 
Eventually, it came time for the princess to enter the scene. He took the time to hide behind the old tree that shaded the yard and change into the primarily green, loose outfit. Luckily, he kept a mirror near by just for these occasions. He grabbed it -- it was a twin to the full-length one that resided in his bedroom -- and propped it up onto the tree. He unraveled his braid so that the frizzy, maroon locks could shorten into straight, shiny black ones; he cropped it to just beneath his earlobes. His eyebrows curved and thinned, and his eyes slipped into a vibrant emerald hue. He elongated and darkened his eyelashes, then gave his lips a touch of color. The freckles vanished as his nose went from hooked to a bit pug-like. Mocking his previous performance with getting a good look at his teeth, he straightened them tremendously, but dulled the canines. He couldn't stop at his face of course, so he morphed his body just a bit, giving it smaller shoulders and more prominent curves, just as he had read princesses were supposed to appear in so many stories. 
 
He stepped back to observe his handy work. He looked like a mean young girl who'd gotten into her mother's clothes, and that was fine with him. But he needed one last touch. He bent down, grabbed a handful of dirt, then patted it onto his, now rounder, cheeks. After smearing some onto his forehead, he was now ready to play the role of a princess who craved a life with rotten pirates. He exited the safety of the tree, dusting off his hands and clearing his throat. It was then that he locked eyes with a stray kitten; hungry and the color of a crow. Oh, he must have it! More correctly, the princess must have it! He clicked his tongue and called to it, but that just scared it. It ducked under the fence and seemed to be making its way to the street. He couldn't let it do that! Didn't it know it had a very important part to play?   
 
He couldn't let it just get away, so he went after it. He dashed to the fence, then climbed over it, landing on the other side with a hard oomph! Of course he could have used the door, but where's the adventure in that? He locked eyes with it once again, and sped off after it, small legs pumping as hard as they could go. It had made its way all the way across the street, so he had to as well. He dodged the shopping locals, weaving through the crowd of usuals, then zipped across the street when it was clear, calling to it the entire time. Why wouldn't it just stop running? He couldn't have been that scary! Dirty, maybe, but not this terrifying. By the time he reached the other side, the cat was nowhere to be found. He searched through the building from where he was standing, hand becoming an umbrella over his eyes, but it was indeed gone. He stopped his foot in defeat, giving his fingers a snap, before quickly turning around to run back home. Bam! He'd collided with someone, and hard. He groaned, covering his nose as he took a good look at just who'd gotten in his way.   
 
"Hey! It's you... Why did you run into me?" he inquired, using this as a greeting. Suddenly, he realized he wouldn't be recognized, as he hadn't changed himself back! He was still the raven haired, green eyed, dirty princess from his story. Woops.

Name: Dylan
Character Name: Kanat Zhanalin
Feature you are applying for: Discipulus Hor ~ Water Elemental

Kanat Zhanalin is a good-natured individual. He likes to think things through himself, rather than following what others tell him, but has a strong set of morals which he clings to unwaveringly. He focuses a lot of his time, attention, and energy into disciplining himself to function the way that he believes men should. He pushes himself to be calm, passive, and stoic. He pushes himself to follow his intuition, even when he feels strained or stressed, and works hard to keep control of how he feels at all times.

Kanat wants to be balanced in all aspects of his life. He wants to be both physically and mentally fit and focused, and frequently puts effort into exercising his body and testing his mind with complicated puzzles. He wants to be open and honest without being overbearing or gullible. He wants to be efficient and logical while not neglecting humanity and empathy. In short, Kanat puts all of his effort into creating a delicate balance within himself. This, he feels, is the way to true happiness.

Kanat is a pacifist, and does what he can to avoid conflict. He would much rather use wit and reason to talk and negotiate his way out of a situation than use force. Kanat believes that the use of force is always unnecessary, and that physical strength will always be overcome by a sharp mind and strategy. While he tries to avoid conflicts and fighting, and while he is generally willing to let things run their natural course without intervention, Kanat knows that there is no way to make it through life without conflict. This is part of why he puts so much effort and focus into sharpening his wit. Strategy, like logic puzzles and classification, is his forte. Kanat enjoys thinking many steps ahead.

Kanat can be very adapting, able to change his thought process quickly to deal with new information and ideas, and enjoys the restructuring process of getting his thoughts in order. He likes to use organizational tools such as flow charts and maps to assist him in finding a more logical, more efficient, and a smarter way to do things. Everything  is easier to process if it is written down.

However, despite his focus on logic and intellect, Kanat primarily makes decisions and plans actions based on his intuition. This is different from impulse or emotional whims in that his intuition runs much deeper. It follows almost a sort of faith in himself and his feelings of right and wrong. He finds that the times he trusts himself most, are the times which he succeeds. Doubting himself is when he fails. Kanat uses this in conjunction with his logical strategy—not in opposition to it. This, he believes, brings his moves, when he chooses to make them, to a higher level. Purely logical or purely emotional concepts and ideas have major pitfalls that can be lessened  or even eliminated, when they are combined.

Though Kanat puts much effort into discipline and practice and logic, he does occasionally show a few major flaws. His desires and natural instinct to classify people and things and thoughts into order, effect the real world as well. He finds it easy to stereotype people of certain backgrounds, houses, people who dress in particular ways and do particular activities. He is also rather judgmental against those who, he believes, are not disciplined, or are lacking in either mental or physical ability, despite knowing that these characteristics do not make one more or less of a person.

He finds it easy to disregard feelings and opinions that are not his own—especially when morals come into play. Kanat operates under a Kantian train of ethical thought. There are certain things which are always right, and certain things which are always wrong. He cannot understand flexible morals, and judges those who hold them. He is quick to dismiss a contrasting thought and opinion as coming from a lower intellectual level. Kanat is quick to think that others believe differently than he does simply because “they don’t understand.” Also, frequently, he will call their personal integrity and responsibility into question.

Kanat almost never confronts anyone with his personal judgments and prejudices. Instead, he holds it in because he is consciously ashamed of his subconscious disrespect of other’s feelings.  Kanat works hard to be open-minded and receptive to new ideas. Two heads are better than one, he believes, and is sure that others can always come up with new ideas that he would never have thought of otherwise.

The closest he gets to vocalizing his annoyance comes with his knack for using sarcasm. This is his main line of defense when he feels cornered or threatened, even though he tries desperately to hold back. Sometimes, the satisfaction of watching his words on someone else’s face is too great for him. As a way of combating this and attempting to let it out while holding it in, Kanat likes to take notes about situations and people, as they pass. His judgmental nature makes it easy for him to lose faith in humanity and to become bitter and pessimistic about the world and where it’s going.

All in all, Kanat works very hard to perfect himself. He wants to be open-minded and accepting, calm, stoic, and passive. Kanat wants to be well-rounded and works very hard to discipline his body, but especially his mind. He meditates often and focuses on combating his natural inclination to become cynical and discouraged when things do not go the way he expects, and trying to see the positives, rather than the negatives in what others say and feel.

Kanat is a pacifist, and does not believe in fighting. Instead, he believes in negotiation and compromise, and can be an effective mediator, as he is often able to hold back his own personal desires  in favor of harmony and peace. He is a strong strategist who thinks many steps ahead, and is able to adapt to many things. Intellectually sharp, Kanat enjoys using logic to solve problems, but feels as though all of the logic in the world would be useless without some humanistic emotion and intention.

Elementalism is something new, creative, and different that this site has to offer, and because of this, it is an alluring feature that grabs the attention of many drivers. It has reached the point now where many people either have an elemental or are applying for one. While I understand the feature is meant to be a rarity, I must admit that I have always been drawn to it as well, by the interesting concepts, plot development and opportunities for both character growth, and growth as a writer.

I have been pursuing this feature for  several years now, albeit for a different character. I was convinced that because of his general disposition Marat would make an amazing elemental. The concept married perfectly with his free-spirit character, but there were several hindrances to this idea, the first being his presence at Beauxbatons. Marat would never work with the council. It is against his beliefs, and at the end of the day, characters change. By the time I got to know him as a full-developed character, he no-longer fit his element—any element, for that matter. So, Operation Fireball officially came to an end near the end of 2010.

However, the idea of playing an elemental never died, and I still want to just as much, if not more than I had wanted to play one before. This is why I am here with a new character, a new element, and am looking for a new chance.

Admittedly, when I first conceptualized Kanat, he was not an elemental. I didn’t create him with the feature in mind, rather I just created him out of what inspired me. I knew that I would only have Silje at Durmstrang at the end of this term, and wanted to remedy the graduated-character blues, while also giving me a fresh new start on the site after my absence.

I wanted to make myself work work hard on Kanat (by doing a lot of research to supplement his sheet, etc.) to keep myself focused on creating a high-quality character that I will want to play rather than one I will let sit. Honestly, it was my thought process that if I had to work for him, I would quit before I made him. This would allow me to work on him and get him out of my mind without the guilt of creating another character I let sit. I also believe that, if I did manage to push through, all of the attention to detail I would be putting into Kanat would cause him to be a stronger and more realistic character with more depth than any of my others.

I knew I had my work cut out for me, but everything I added, anything I felt the need to explain, just made him more and more interesting for me to write. I lost myself in his mind. Then, one day, it hit me. Why hadn’t I seen this before? Never have I seen a character better suited to be a part of a council. Emotionally disciplined, Kanat is  primarily concerned with a balance in life and in good and evil.

I jumped at the opportunity to, not only enrich my character’s personality in this way, but also to play this feature I had always dreamed of.

I believe that his elementalism will be a primary part of his personality. Kanat spends much of his time seeking peace of mind and a feeling of truth and serenity through meditation. He is a very internally-focused individual, who also wishes to help others reach these same feelings of peace and contentment. As an elemental, this will fit without much of a change. Elementals are known to meditate, to attempt to reach this sort of calmness within themselves as well. I believe morphing will be a natural part of Kanat’s life. It is a logical progression from becoming one with the world spiritually, and  becoming one with the world physically.

Kanat’s element is water. He is unimpassioned, emotionally-disciplined, and a very calm, peaceful person. By no-means “cold,” Kanat is a good-natured individual who wishes to help others without thoughts of personal gain. He is a pacifist, and does not fight unless there is no alternative. However, one difference between Kanat and typical water elementals is his tendency to use his intuition (as opposed to strictly his analytical mind or an emotional whim) in conflict. He is a logical person, but he believes that being entirely emotionless is just as dangerous as being emotionally unfettered. They both lead to problems in different ways. Balance, he says, is key, and he as trained himself to hear the way he really feels. Well, most of the time.

Kanat is, after-all, a teenager. No teenagers are perfectly calm, perfectly disciplined. This is something I will really be exploring in his character sheet. Kanat’s allure to me is the fight of what he feels is right, what he feels he should do and some of the emotional bursts he feels as an imperfect individual. It is precisely his faults, his prejudices and his hypocrisies that I feel is the interesting part, and this will spill over to his elemental career as well. While I do believe that he certainly fits the water element, I believe there will be a lot of opportunity for him to struggle, making his particular plot opportunities interesting ones.

In conclusion, Kanat’s personality is far more like an elemental’s would be than I would have ever expected. I believe that this will be great for both him and I, and I promise to play the feature as an integral part of his character design. His element, water, fits him very well. I believe that he is just one of those characters who are meant to have a feature like this, and I would be honored to have the opportunity to finally work with a concept as interesting and original as this one.

Kanat Zhanalin never liked conflict, and was not much of a fighter. He was an observer, a diplomat. He was never one to yell and scream and throw things. However, something about Vitaliy Malenkov made his stomach churn. Of all of the people to be stuck in a dorm room with for seven years… this was the one? Kanat could not explain why he hated the boy as much as he did, but he was always on edge when the boy was around. Irritable. Cranky. He was saying things far too bitter and sarcastic. Things he didn’t need to say. He was involved in the drama, and it even confused him after-the-fact.

Thinking about the way he acted in the dormitory actually made Kanat feel ashamed. He made plans more than once to apologize to Vitya for the way he treated him—even when the arguments were mutual—but every time he got near him again, the shame was replaced by a much stronger and more overpowering emotion of uncontrollable dislike. Repulsion. It was out of character for him.

Kanat had always taken a deep pride in controlling his emotions and spent a lot of time that year meditating, trying to calm down, reel in the reins on his life. He wondered if it was part of adjusting to a new school, a new life. He did not understand why he was feeling the way he was, and when the summer came around, Kanat was happy to leave the confusion and tension behind him.

During the summer before Kanat’s second year, one of Temir’s best friends from his old school, Shui, a council fire elemental, came to visit the Zhanalin family for a week.  The entire family was putting effort into cleaning up the house, into being hospitable, and when Shui finally arrived, everyone seemed to like him a lot—everyone except Kanat. There was something about the man that made Kanat feel uncomfortable. His stomach churned, he felt a little ill. Unsafe. Uneasy.

It was for this reason Kanat avoided him as much as possible for the first few days of the trip. Alia and Sofiya and Temir were all so happy to see him. Kanat was almost certain that his sister had a little bit of a crush on him with the way she spoke about him when they were alone. Kanat tried to pretend, but he could not describe or even understand why he needed to be so far away from him.

However, Shui recognized the feeling almost immediately. Shui, too, felt an aversion to the boy and had not wanted to believe it at first. He had felt it to be rather unlikely. He was sure he was wrong. Still, whenever they were in a room together there was almost a magnetic repulsion between them. One of them, usually Kanat, left. After the third day, Shui knew there was no other possibility. Kanat was an elemental—his counter—a water elemental.

Although it was difficult for him to be around the boy, Shui knew that it wasn’t right to simply abandon him. He couldn’t take him under his wing or train him, there was no way. Still, he could connect him with someone who could.  He owed his best friend’s son that much, at least.

Shui spoke to Temir first. Of course the man did not fully understand, but he was open to the idea, and willing to give Shui his faith and support. The fire elemental and Kanat’s father told him together.

While Kanat did not consciously understand what he was being told, even as it was being explained, he could feel in his heart that they were telling the truth. Subconsciously, perhaps, he had always known. That summer he was taken to the council and introduced to the customs. He was also connected to a fellow water elemental who could help him adjust and learn—someone to be his mentor. Serik was a young Zealot, old enough to know what he was doing, but young enough to not be intimidating to the eleven-year-old.

He introduced Kanat to the council’s way of life, their standings and affiliations. Their rules and traditions. He explained what it meant to be an elemental, and Kanat sucked it in greedily, eager to learn more and beginning to feel as though he was destined for something.

Using runes to assist him, Kanat cast his first spell this summer, Hor. It only produced a few raindrops, but it felt like real progress in the grand scheme of things. He had already learned so much.

As he went back to school for term, Kanat couldn’t help but wonder if his schooling was as important as his new life. Even so, he put effort into his work and made progress in his subjects. He spent a good deal of time meditating, the way he had always done it, but instead of clearing his mind for simply emotional guidance, he used it also as a way of feeling closer to his element. Serik had mirrored much of what his father had always taught him about learning how to control his mind before being able to do much with his body.

Kanat exchanged letters regularly with his mentor and was often sent lengthy ‘lessons’ from the man that included tasks for him to do and, occasionally, new spells. Things were good with Kanat at school, everything except his problems with Vitya. These seemed to get stronger as time wore along, and Kanat began to wonder, almost, if Vitya was an elemental as well. He had not seen him or, indeed, heard of him at the council… perhaps he had yet to be discovered, or maybe Kanat was imagining things. The tension, however, seemed oddly like his tension with Shui had been.

He was not in the dark for long about this. Living in such close quarters with someone for as long as he had, allowed him the luxury of finding out that not only was Vitya, indeed, a fire elemental, he was also a rogue. Kanat had head of the colours, of course, but it had never been one of his options. He had been taken to the council immediately. He had been told that the colours were untrustworthy people, even cruel and heartless. He was told they were working towards and imbalance of power. That they were corrupt, and Kanat believed them. He hated the rogues for what they stood for. However, he found that it was easier to hate a concept—especially when only one side of the concept had ever been presented—than it was to hate a person. While he was often disgusted by Vitya, while he did not like to be around him… very little of it was personal. He didn’t believe the Klyk to be a bad person. So, instead of turning him in right away, he held off. He listened to his heart and kept his eyes open.

Kanat was certain that Vitya knew about his elementalism and affiliation as well, and something about knowing made things a little easier for them mentally. However, as they both began practicing more, and the element grew stronger in each of them, it was almost completely impossible for them to be in the room at the same time. They were both losing sleep, they were cranky, they were ill and uncomfortable. They knew something had to be done.

Eventually, Vitya approached Kanat. He asked the boy to not expose him as a rogue, and that he wanted to move out. Kanat, who had some faith that Vitya had good intentions despite it all, agreed, though he still kept an eye on him. The fire elemental transferred to a different room, and things improved dramatically for Kanat as both a student and an elemental.

The next year, with Vitya’s gift no-longer the central focus of Kanat’s worry and stress, he began to realize other things about the school—chiefly the presence of other elementals. It seemed the place was crawling with rogues, and to some degree Kanat worried about his own safety and the safety of the council, but he felt his hands were tied. These rogues, many of them, at least, had all been tied to the same faction as Vitaliy. While he had faith that Vitya did not have ill-intentions, he did not have the same feelings against the other rogues.

Unsure, he looked to the other council elementals for guidance. None of them seemed to want to turn them in, and so Kanat held off. Perhaps there was a bigger picture to consider here. As biased as he was against them, maybe it was good there was a rogue force for them to fight. He tried to not let his fear rule his head and took, once more to observation. It was one thing to hold off action, but it was quite another to neglect the problem entirely. He needed to wait until action was necessary and unavoidable.

The overwhelming rogue control of the school led Kanat to some strange bedfellows. There were only two council elementals in the school he was aware of at this time. 4th year students, Matvey Zapashny and Nikolaj Valerius—a fire elemental and a stone elemental, respectively. With neither element was Kanat particularly friendly—Motya was even his counter-element—but at the same time, Kanat felt forced to interact with the two of them. They reassured his worries and made him less afraid and prone to cynicism concerning the rogue intentions.

Kanat tread softly around his interactions with Motya. While Kanat found it easy to trust him, he found that, even as people, the two of them had very little in common. Also, the stress put on him by their elemental strain made it almost impossible for them to be civil to each other. Kanat’s biting sarcasm was frequently unleashed in Matvey’s presence in a way that it was not in the general public—not that that was a necessarily rare occurrence in and of itself. There were only a few encounters between the two of them before Kanat decided it would be best to actively avoid contact.

With Nikolaj, it was just a bit more complicated. There was no burning internal force pushing them apart, and this somehow meant, to Kanat, anyway, that the two of them were friends. Friends of necessity. Nikolaj did not appear to feel the same way, and this led to some unnecessary tension. Kanat was so desperate for some sort of guidance, someone to speak to in a real-world setting, that he ignored as many signals as he could.

This quasi-friendship continued through Kanat’s fourth year. During his third year, most of Kanat’s time and effort had been poured into learning about runes, how to use them and how to make them. This year, however was when his training really began. Serik had spoken to Kanat about his Initialization ritus as being the first day of the rest of his life, and the boy had really felt this to be true.

With the elemental now a part of his body, Kanat tried very hard to master it. Much of his time and effort was focused on either meditation or practice, usually the former. Kanat was a firm believer, as his father was, that mental power was stronger than physical power. That to adequately focus his body, he must focus his mind. He felt as though he was making real progress. It was apparent to him in his performance when he had not spent enough time disciplining himself.

It was his fifth year at Durmstrang when Kanat’s friendship with Nikolaj showed itself to be a farce. Neither of them would have pretended to have much in common, but Kanat was convinced that that did not mean much in the grand scheme of things. However, to Nikolaj, it did. Not only did their personalities differ, their training methods differed as well. Nikolaj was a much more hands-on learner, spending a lot of time training his body and working with the physical aspect of his element. He looked down on Kanat as a fool for his alternate priorities in training, and this led the two of them to a conflict, in which Nikolaj poked and prodded Kanat into a fight.

Of course Nikolaj came out on top, having at least one more year of elemental training, and the two of them sloppily covered up their conflict, though the wounds in their relationship did not heal. Kanat was alone at school. That much he knew for certain, and it made him a little bitter and pessimistic.

Something good did come of their fight, however, and that was Kanat’s first time morphing. The danger of Nikolaj’s attack had frightened the boy into his elemental form, and as he put himself back together, he felt a strange sense of accomplishment in crossing this barrier. Now that he knew how it felt to morph, he thought it would be easier to do so at will. He practiced hard, and worked hard, and felt rather successful in his endeavors. He continued to write to Serik about his progress, and his mentor was supportive and proud of all of his hard work.

At the very end of his fourth year at Durmstrang, many of the rogues had fled from the school. Lyosha and his crew of rogues had skipped out to…. no-one really knew where, and this left Vitya as one of only a few lone rogues in the school. The balance had shifted. Alone, Kanat watched with skepticism as Vitya tried to join the council. While a part of him was glad to see this happen, a larger part did not fully trust this. Why change over so late in life? Was it a move of desperation? A trick?

He had almost talked himself down to quiet acceptance when another rogue decided to “go council.” He could not deny that he hoped that she was legitimate. Emmi Essbjörn was an earth elemental, and despite all of his negative experiences,  Kanat still longed for an elemental companion to share his struggles and his journey with. Earth and water were generally friendly, right? However, he did not feel her to be a very honest person, and had difficulty trusting her, even though he wanted to. He was almost desperate enough to ignore his intuition, but not quite. He kept away from her, and from Vitaliy.

There was only so much leeway he could give a person. Both of them would need to earn his trust.

Kanat’s future will, undoubtedly, involve more contact with fire elementals. I fully intend to have Kanat join the Quidditch team, of which a fire elemental is a captain. I think this will be an interesting dynamic between them. I truly believe Kanat to be a Klyk Vampira, which means Vitaliy would be his captain. With Vitya’s recent turn to the council,  he has been trying to “prove himself,”  this will manifest, as implied in Vitya's application, into him trying hard to get along with the other council elementals, including Kanat.

Their struggle to be civil will be fun to play out, in my personal opinion, and could set a foundation for the way they will interact in any larger plot in the future. Even if Kanat is a Drakonya Krov, he would still have to interact with Motya, giving almost the same result.

However, I do not believe his elementalism will be contained within in the walls of Durmstrang. Having almost no friendly elementals in the Durmstrang area, Kanat, desperate for positive elemental interaction, will be turning to the council to help expand his horizons. This upcoming summer, he will be meeting up with Vance McLaren, Melusine Musel, and Iuliana Keane at the council at Inverness.

He will train with them, get to know then, and perhaps some of Kanat’s cynicism and pessimism about the other elementals in the world will fade as he has more and more positive experiences. It will reaffirm his faith in the council, and, of course, help to make him a little stronger. This summer he will improve his Gaelic and grow into the ability to morph almost entirely at will, with Iuliana and Serik’s help, leaving a whole new form of mediation open to him. Also, the peaceful atmosphere at the council itself will do a lot to help him grow as an elemental.

These plots are not exclusive, however, and if approved, I plan on working out an array of even more detailed plots between Kanat and the other Durmstrang elementals. I have spoken with Ella and Nik specifically about some possible plot opportunities between Kanat and Nikolaj, and Kanat and Emmi.

It seemed that the world was warping around him. The same school that had once been all but controlled by the colours, where he felt isolated, alone, was beginning to turn. The rogue forces had left, leaving only a handful behind, and it felt like the council was winning out after-all. All of the new converts were being put to the test. It seemed as though the air had changed—but had it really? Kanat felt something in his gut he disagreed with. The wizarding world lay in tatters in the aftermath of the war in England, the atmosphere was ripe for rebellion and reordering of the power. While Kanat liked to maintain faith that the council would win out, the truth was that they were too accepting. He didn’t buy into it. Maybe the colours were getting a new idea. Maybe pretending to convert gave them plenty of ammunition to pass along to the others.

Maybe Kanat was just pessimistic and judgmental by nature. The boy took a deep breath, and looked back down at the black water of the Port. Just being near it calmed his tension, soothed his fears. He shouldn’t be so pessimistic, cynical. That level of distrust required passion and feeling. Kanat knew that it was better to not be involved. To simply observe. There was nothing good to come out of picking fights. It would be better to deal with the colours when they made their move.

He would be ready, then, mentally and physically prepared to make the best choice. The right choice. Kanat swallowed, breathing deep. He closed his eyes, cleared his mind, and began to concentrate on mastering that negativity. He breathed in, out, in… He felt like his feet were being pulled down, down, down into the water under the dock, and Kanat wondered if, perhaps, he was. Was the water pulling him down? Sensing him?

He wanted to join it. A very large part of him wanted to morph, to concentrate, join the water, and just be. Be everything, everywhere at once. He was afraid, though. He was not practiced enough to separate himself from the element in that form. He would be lost there, forever.  Kanat descended to his knees anyway, unable to stop himself from reaching over, running his fingers against the surface of the water. He knew what lay below the surface. It was the only reason he had not submerged himself. He thought to his studies, and could identify the spell he would need to clear the area. A protective bubble… But he could never cast it, and anyone else who could would never truly understand why he needed her to do it for him, or why he would want to take a swim there in the first place.

Losing his wand magic was the only thing about this new life, that Kanat still struggled with. Magic was a big part of his family and his daily life. He was required to learn it, expected to perform it… and despite his intelligence, his prowess… he was simply unable to do it as well as he wished. There was no use in perfecting it, when it would fade away to nothing in a few years. How long did he have left? Kanat constantly reminded himself that there was a consequence for everything, that there was always good with a bad, and bad with a good. That life was balanced. It barely helped the boy feel anything other than shame at being imperfect. At wanting to complain. At worrying over something he had no control of.

Footsteps came from the other edge of the dock, and Kanat’s eyes immediately turned to face the new presence. He withdrew his hand, the droplets of water disappearing into his fingers as if sucked into a sponge. One step, two, three. Kanat moved closer to the figure, wondering who else would have anything to do here in the port so close to curfew.

Name: Dylan
Character Name: Kanat Zhanalin
Feature you are applying for: Discipulus Hor ~ Water Elemental

Kanat Zhanalin is a good-natured individual. He likes to think things through himself, rather than following what others tell him, but has a strong set of morals which he clings to unwaveringly. He focuses a lot of his time, attention, and energy into disciplining himself to function the way that he believes men should. He pushes himself to be calm, passive, and stoic. He pushes himself to follow his intuition, even when he feels strained or stressed, and works hard to keep control of how he feels at all times.

Kanat wants to be balanced in all aspects of his life. He wants to be both physically and mentally fit and focused, and frequently puts effort into exercising his body and testing his mind with complicated puzzles. He wants to be open and honest without being overbearing or gullible. He wants to be efficient and logical while not neglecting humanity and empathy. In short, Kanat puts all of his effort into creating a delicate balance within himself. This, he feels, is the way to true happiness.

Kanat is a pacifist, and does what he can to avoid conflict. He would much rather use wit and reason to talk and negotiate his way out of a situation than use force. Kanat believes that the use of force is always unnecessary, and that physical strength will always be overcome by a sharp mind and strategy. While he tries to avoid conflicts and fighting, and while he is generally willing to let things run their natural course without intervention, Kanat knows that there is no way to make it through life without conflict. This is part of why he puts so much effort and focus into sharpening his wit. Strategy, like logic puzzles and classification, is his forte. Kanat enjoys thinking many steps ahead.

Kanat can be very adapting, able to change his thought process quickly to deal with new information and ideas, and enjoys the restructuring process of getting his thoughts in order. He likes to use organizational tools such as flow charts and maps to assist him in finding a more logical, more efficient, and a smarter way to do things. Everything  is easier to process if it is written down.

However, despite his focus on logic and intellect, Kanat primarily makes decisions and plans actions based on his intuition. This is different from impulse or emotional whims in that his intuition runs much deeper. It follows almost a sort of faith in himself and his feelings of right and wrong. He finds that the times he trusts himself most, are the times which he succeeds. Doubting himself is when he fails. Kanat uses this in conjunction with his logical strategy—not in opposition to it. This, he believes, brings his moves, when he chooses to make them, to a higher level. Purely logical or purely emotional concepts and ideas have major pitfalls that can be lessened  or even eliminated, when they are combined.

Though Kanat puts much effort into discipline and practice and logic, he does occasionally show a few major flaws. His desires and natural instinct to classify people and things and thoughts into order, effect the real world as well. He finds it easy to stereotype people of certain backgrounds, houses, people who dress in particular ways and do particular activities. He is also rather judgmental against those who, he believes, are not disciplined, or are lacking in either mental or physical ability, despite knowing that these characteristics do not make one more or less of a person.

He finds it easy to disregard feelings and opinions that are not his own—especially when morals come into play. Kanat operates under a Kantian train of ethical thought. There are certain things which are always right, and certain things which are always wrong. He cannot understand flexible morals, and judges those who hold them. He is quick to dismiss a contrasting thought and opinion as coming from a lower intellectual level. Kanat is quick to think that others believe differently than he does simply because “they don’t understand.” Also, frequently, he will call their personal integrity and responsibility into question.

Kanat almost never confronts anyone with his personal judgments and prejudices. Instead, he holds it in because he is consciously ashamed of his subconscious disrespect of other’s feelings.  Kanat works hard to be open-minded and receptive to new ideas. Two heads are better than one, he believes, and is sure that others can always come up with new ideas that he would never have thought of otherwise.

The closest he gets to vocalizing his annoyance comes with his knack for using sarcasm. This is his main line of defense when he feels cornered or threatened, even though he tries desperately to hold back. Sometimes, the satisfaction of watching his words on someone else’s face is too great for him. As a way of combating this and attempting to let it out while holding it in, Kanat likes to take notes about situations and people, as they pass. His judgmental nature makes it easy for him to lose faith in humanity and to become bitter and pessimistic about the world and where it’s going.

All in all, Kanat works very hard to perfect himself. He wants to be open-minded and accepting, calm, stoic, and passive. Kanat wants to be well-rounded and works very hard to discipline his body, but especially his mind. He meditates often and focuses on combating his natural inclination to become cynical and discouraged when things do not go the way he expects, and trying to see the positives, rather than the negatives in what others say and feel.

Kanat is a pacifist, and does not believe in fighting. Instead, he believes in negotiation and compromise, and can be an effective mediator, as he is often able to hold back his own personal desires  in favor of harmony and peace. He is a strong strategist who thinks many steps ahead, and is able to adapt to many things. Intellectually sharp, Kanat enjoys using logic to solve problems, but feels as though all of the logic in the world would be useless without some humanistic emotion and intention.

Elementalism is something new, creative, and different that this site has to offer, and because of this, it is an alluring feature that grabs the attention of many drivers. It has reached the point now where many people either have an elemental or are applying for one. While I understand the feature is meant to be a rarity, I must admit that I have always been drawn to it as well, by the interesting concepts, plot development and opportunities for both character growth, and growth as a writer.

I have been pursuing this feature for  several years now, albeit for a different character. I was convinced that because of his general disposition Marat would make an amazing elemental. The concept married perfectly with his free-spirit character, but there were several hindrances to this idea, the first being his presence at Beauxbatons. Marat would never work with the council. It is against his beliefs, and at the end of the day, characters change. By the time I got to know him as a full-developed character, he no-longer fit his element—any element, for that matter. So, Operation Fireball officially came to an end near the end of 2010.

However, the idea of playing an elemental never died, and I still want to just as much, if not more than I had wanted to play one before. This is why I am here with a new character, a new element, and am looking for a new chance.

Admittedly, when I first conceptualized Kanat, he was not an elemental. I didn’t create him with the feature in mind, rather I just created him out of what inspired me. I knew that I would only have Silje at Durmstrang at the end of this term, and wanted to remedy the graduated-character blues, while also giving me a fresh new start on the site after my absence.

I wanted to make myself work work hard on Kanat (by doing a lot of research to supplement his sheet, etc.) to keep myself focused on creating a high-quality character that I will want to play rather than one I will let sit. Honestly, it was my thought process that if I had to work for him, I would quit before I made him. This would allow me to work on him and get him out of my mind without the guilt of creating another character I let sit. I also believe that, if I did manage to push through, all of the attention to detail I would be putting into Kanat would cause him to be a stronger and more realistic character with more depth than any of my others.

I knew I had my work cut out for me, but everything I added, anything I felt the need to explain, just made him more and more interesting for me to write. I lost myself in his mind. Then, one day, it hit me. Why hadn’t I seen this before? Never have I seen a character better suited to be a part of a council. Emotionally disciplined, Kanat is  primarily concerned with a balance in life and in good and evil.

I jumped at the opportunity to, not only enrich my character’s personality in this way, but also to play this feature I had always dreamed of.

I believe that his elementalism will be a primary part of his personality. Kanat spends much of his time seeking peace of mind and a feeling of truth and serenity through meditation. He is a very internally-focused individual, who also wishes to help others reach these same feelings of peace and contentment. As an elemental, this will fit without much of a change. Elementals are known to meditate, to attempt to reach this sort of calmness within themselves as well. I believe morphing will be a natural part of Kanat’s life. It is a logical progression from becoming one with the world spiritually, and  becoming one with the world physically.

Kanat’s element is water. He is unimpassioned, emotionally-disciplined, and a very calm, peaceful person. By no-means “cold,” Kanat is a good-natured individual who wishes to help others without thoughts of personal gain. He is a pacifist, and does not fight unless there is no alternative. However, one difference between Kanat and typical water elementals is his tendency to use his intuition (as opposed to strictly his analytical mind or an emotional whim) in conflict. He is a logical person, but he believes that being entirely emotionless is just as dangerous as being emotionally unfettered. They both lead to problems in different ways. Balance, he says, is key, and he as trained himself to hear the way he really feels. Well, most of the time.

Kanat is, after-all, a teenager. No teenagers are perfectly calm, perfectly disciplined. This is something I will really be exploring in his character sheet. Kanat’s allure to me is the fight of what he feels is right, what he feels he should do and some of the emotional bursts he feels as an imperfect individual. It is precisely his faults, his prejudices and his hypocrisies that I feel is the interesting part, and this will spill over to his elemental career as well. While I do believe that he certainly fits the water element, I believe there will be a lot of opportunity for him to struggle, making his particular plot opportunities interesting ones.

In conclusion, Kanat’s personality is far more like an elemental’s would be than I would have ever expected. I believe that this will be great for both him and I, and I promise to play the feature as an integral part of his character design. His element, water, fits him very well. I believe that he is just one of those characters who are meant to have a feature like this, and I would be honored to have the opportunity to finally work with a concept as interesting and original as this one.

Kanat Zhanalin never liked conflict, and was not much of a fighter. He was an observer, a diplomat. He was never one to yell and scream and throw things. However, something about Vitaliy Malenkov made his stomach churn. Of all of the people to be stuck in a dorm room with for seven years… this was the one? Kanat could not explain why he hated the boy as much as he did, but he was always on edge when the boy was around. Irritable. Cranky. He was saying things far too bitter and sarcastic. Things he didn’t need to say. He was involved in the drama, and it even confused him after-the-fact.

Thinking about the way he acted in the dormitory actually made Kanat feel ashamed. He made plans more than once to apologize to Vitya for the way he treated him—even when the arguments were mutual—but every time he got near him again, the shame was replaced by a much stronger and more overpowering emotion of uncontrollable dislike. Repulsion. It was out of character for him.

Kanat had always taken a deep pride in controlling his emotions and spent a lot of time that year meditating, trying to calm down, reel in the reins on his life. He wondered if it was part of adjusting to a new school, a new life. He did not understand why he was feeling the way he was, and when the summer came around, Kanat was happy to leave the confusion and tension behind him.

During the summer before Kanat’s second year, one of Temir’s best friends from his old school, Shui, a council fire elemental, came to visit the Zhanalin family for a week.  The entire family was putting effort into cleaning up the house, into being hospitable, and when Shui finally arrived, everyone seemed to like him a lot—everyone except Kanat. There was something about the man that made Kanat feel uncomfortable. His stomach churned, he felt a little ill. Unsafe. Uneasy.

It was for this reason Kanat avoided him as much as possible for the first few days of the trip. Alia and Sofiya and Temir were all so happy to see him. Kanat was almost certain that his sister had a little bit of a crush on him with the way she spoke about him when they were alone. Kanat tried to pretend, but he could not describe or even understand why he needed to be so far away from him.

However, Shui recognized the feeling almost immediately. Shui, too, felt an aversion to the boy and had not wanted to believe it at first. He had felt it to be rather unlikely. He was sure he was wrong. Still, whenever they were in a room together there was almost a magnetic repulsion between them. One of them, usually Kanat, left. After the third day, Shui knew there was no other possibility. Kanat was an elemental—his counter—a water elemental.

Although it was difficult for him to be around the boy, Shui knew that it wasn’t right to simply abandon him. He couldn’t take him under his wing or train him, there was no way. Still, he could connect him with someone who could.  He owed his best friend’s son that much, at least.

Shui spoke to Temir first. Of course the man did not fully understand, but he was open to the idea, and willing to give Shui his faith and support. The fire elemental and Kanat’s father told him together.

While Kanat did not consciously understand what he was being told, even as it was being explained, he could feel in his heart that they were telling the truth. Subconsciously, perhaps, he had always known. That summer he was taken to the council and introduced to the customs. He was also connected to a fellow water elemental who could help him adjust and learn—someone to be his mentor. Serik was a young Zealot, old enough to know what he was doing, but young enough to not be intimidating to the eleven-year-old.

He introduced Kanat to the council’s way of life, their standings and affiliations. Their rules and traditions. He explained what it meant to be an elemental, and Kanat sucked it in greedily, eager to learn more and beginning to feel as though he was destined for something.

Using runes to assist him, Kanat cast his first spell this summer, Hor. It only produced a few raindrops, but it felt like real progress in the grand scheme of things. He had already learned so much.

As he went back to school for term, Kanat couldn’t help but wonder if his schooling was as important as his new life. Even so, he put effort into his work and made progress in his subjects. He spent a good deal of time meditating, the way he had always done it, but instead of clearing his mind for simply emotional guidance, he used it also as a way of feeling closer to his element. Serik had mirrored much of what his father had always taught him about learning how to control his mind before being able to do much with his body.

Kanat exchanged letters regularly with his mentor and was often sent lengthy ‘lessons’ from the man that included tasks for him to do and, occasionally, new spells. Things were good with Kanat at school, everything except his problems with Vitya. These seemed to get stronger as time wore along, and Kanat began to wonder, almost, if Vitya was an elemental as well. He had not seen him or, indeed, heard of him at the council… perhaps he had yet to be discovered, or maybe Kanat was imagining things. The tension, however, seemed oddly like his tension with Shui had been.

He was not in the dark for long about this. Living in such close quarters with someone for as long as he had, allowed him the luxury of finding out that not only was Vitya, indeed, a fire elemental, he was also a rogue. Kanat had head of the colours, of course, but it had never been one of his options. He had been taken to the council immediately. He had been told that the colours were untrustworthy people, even cruel and heartless. He was told they were working towards and imbalance of power. That they were corrupt, and Kanat believed them. He hated the rogues for what they stood for. However, he found that it was easier to hate a concept—especially when only one side of the concept had ever been presented—than it was to hate a person. While he was often disgusted by Vitya, while he did not like to be around him… very little of it was personal. He didn’t believe the Klyk to be a bad person. So, instead of turning him in right away, he held off. He listened to his heart and kept his eyes open.

Kanat was certain that Vitya knew about his elementalism and affiliation as well, and something about knowing made things a little easier for them mentally. However, as they both began practicing more, and the element grew stronger in each of them, it was almost completely impossible for them to be in the room at the same time. They were both losing sleep, they were cranky, they were ill and uncomfortable. They knew something had to be done.

Eventually, Vitya approached Kanat. He asked the boy to not expose him as a rogue, and that he wanted to move out. Kanat, who had some faith that Vitya had good intentions despite it all, agreed, though he still kept an eye on him. The fire elemental transferred to a different room, and things improved dramatically for Kanat as both a student and an elemental.

The next year, with Vitya’s gift no-longer the central focus of Kanat’s worry and stress, he began to realize other things about the school—chiefly the presence of other elementals. It seemed the place was crawling with rogues, and to some degree Kanat worried about his own safety and the safety of the council, but he felt his hands were tied. These rogues, many of them, at least, had all been tied to the same faction as Vitaliy. While he had faith that Vitya did not have ill-intentions, he did not have the same feelings against the other rogues.

Unsure, he looked to the other council elementals for guidance. None of them seemed to want to turn them in, and so Kanat held off. Perhaps there was a bigger picture to consider here. As biased as he was against them, maybe it was good there was a rogue force for them to fight. He tried to not let his fear rule his head and took, once more to observation. It was one thing to hold off action, but it was quite another to neglect the problem entirely. He needed to wait until action was necessary and unavoidable.

The overwhelming rogue control of the school led Kanat to some strange bedfellows. There were only two council elementals in the school he was aware of at this time. 4th year students, Matvey Zapashny and Nikolaj Valerius—a fire elemental and a stone elemental, respectively. With neither element was Kanat particularly friendly—Motya was even his counter-element—but at the same time, Kanat felt forced to interact with the two of them. They reassured his worries and made him less afraid and prone to cynicism concerning the rogue intentions.

Kanat tread softly around his interactions with Motya. While Kanat found it easy to trust him, he found that, even as people, the two of them had very little in common. Also, the stress put on him by their elemental strain made it almost impossible for them to be civil to each other. Kanat’s biting sarcasm was frequently unleashed in Matvey’s presence in a way that it was not in the general public—not that that was a necessarily rare occurrence in and of itself. There were only a few encounters between the two of them before Kanat decided it would be best to actively avoid contact.

With Nikolaj, it was just a bit more complicated. There was no burning internal force pushing them apart, and this somehow meant, to Kanat, anyway, that the two of them were friends. Friends of necessity. Nikolaj did not appear to feel the same way, and this led to some unnecessary tension. Kanat was so desperate for some sort of guidance, someone to speak to in a real-world setting, that he ignored as many signals as he could.

This quasi-friendship continued through Kanat’s fourth year. During his third year, most of Kanat’s time and effort had been poured into learning about runes, how to use them and how to make them. This year, however was when his training really began. Serik had spoken to Kanat about his Initialization ritus as being the first day of the rest of his life, and the boy had really felt this to be true.

With the elemental now a part of his body, Kanat tried very hard to master it. Much of his time and effort was focused on either meditation or practice, usually the former. Kanat was a firm believer, as his father was, that mental power was stronger than physical power. That to adequately focus his body, he must focus his mind. He felt as though he was making real progress. It was apparent to him in his performance when he had not spent enough time disciplining himself.

It was his fifth year at Durmstrang when Kanat’s friendship with Nikolaj showed itself to be a farce. Neither of them would have pretended to have much in common, but Kanat was convinced that that did not mean much in the grand scheme of things. However, to Nikolaj, it did. Not only did their personalities differ, their training methods differed as well. Nikolaj was a much more hands-on learner, spending a lot of time training his body and working with the physical aspect of his element. He looked down on Kanat as a fool for his alternate priorities in training, and this led the two of them to a conflict, in which Nikolaj poked and prodded Kanat into a fight.

Of course Nikolaj came out on top, having at least one more year of elemental training, and the two of them sloppily covered up their conflict, though the wounds in their relationship did not heal. Kanat was alone at school. That much he knew for certain, and it made him a little bitter and pessimistic.

Something good did come of their fight, however, and that was Kanat’s first time morphing. The danger of Nikolaj’s attack had frightened the boy into his elemental form, and as he put himself back together, he felt a strange sense of accomplishment in crossing this barrier. Now that he knew how it felt to morph, he thought it would be easier to do so at will. He practiced hard, and worked hard, and felt rather successful in his endeavors. He continued to write to Serik about his progress, and his mentor was supportive and proud of all of his hard work.

At the very end of his fourth year at Durmstrang, many of the rogues had fled from the school. Lyosha and his crew of rogues had skipped out to…. no-one really knew where, and this left Vitya as one of only a few lone rogues in the school. The balance had shifted. Alone, Kanat watched with skepticism as Vitya tried to join the council. While a part of him was glad to see this happen, a larger part did not fully trust this. Why change over so late in life? Was it a move of desperation? A trick?

He had almost talked himself down to quiet acceptance when another rogue decided to “go council.” He could not deny that he hoped that she was legitimate. Emmi Essbjörn was an earth elemental, and despite all of his negative experiences,  Kanat still longed for an elemental companion to share his struggles and his journey with. Earth and water were generally friendly, right? However, he did not feel her to be a very honest person, and had difficulty trusting her, even though he wanted to. He was almost desperate enough to ignore his intuition, but not quite. He kept away from her, and from Vitaliy.

There was only so much leeway he could give a person. Both of them would need to earn his trust.

Kanat’s future will, undoubtedly, involve more contact with fire elementals. I fully intend to have Kanat join the Quidditch team, of which a fire elemental is a captain. I think this will be an interesting dynamic between them. I truly believe Kanat to be a Klyk Vampira, which means Vitaliy would be his captain. With Vitya’s recent turn to the council,  he has been trying to “prove himself,”  this will manifest, as implied in Vitya's application, into him trying hard to get along with the other council elementals, including Kanat.

Their struggle to be civil will be fun to play out, in my personal opinion, and could set a foundation for the way they will interact in any larger plot in the future. Even if Kanat is a Drakonya Krov, he would still have to interact with Motya, giving almost the same result.

However, I do not believe his elementalism will be contained within in the walls of Durmstrang. Having almost no friendly elementals in the Durmstrang area, Kanat, desperate for positive elemental interaction, will be turning to the council to help expand his horizons. This upcoming summer, he will be meeting up with Vance McLaren, Melusine Musel, and Iuliana Keane at the council at Inverness.

He will train with them, get to know then, and perhaps some of Kanat’s cynicism and pessimism about the other elementals in the world will fade as he has more and more positive experiences. It will reaffirm his faith in the council, and, of course, help to make him a little stronger. This summer he will improve his Gaelic and grow into the ability to morph almost entirely at will, with Iuliana and Serik’s help, leaving a whole new form of mediation open to him. Also, the peaceful atmosphere at the council itself will do a lot to help him grow as an elemental.

These plots are not exclusive, however, and if approved, I plan on working out an array of even more detailed plots between Kanat and the other Durmstrang elementals. I have spoken with Ella and Nik specifically about some possible plot opportunities between Kanat and Nikolaj, and Kanat and Emmi.

It seemed that the world was warping around him. The same school that had once been all but controlled by the colours, where he felt isolated, alone, was beginning to turn. The rogue forces had left, leaving only a handful behind, and it felt like the council was winning out after-all. All of the new converts were being put to the test. It seemed as though the air had changed—but had it really? Kanat felt something in his gut he disagreed with. The wizarding world lay in tatters in the aftermath of the war in England, the atmosphere was ripe for rebellion and reordering of the power. While Kanat liked to maintain faith that the council would win out, the truth was that they were too accepting. He didn’t buy into it. Maybe the colours were getting a new idea. Maybe pretending to convert gave them plenty of ammunition to pass along to the others.

Maybe Kanat was just pessimistic and judgmental by nature. The boy took a deep breath, and looked back down at the black water of the Port. Just being near it calmed his tension, soothed his fears. He shouldn’t be so pessimistic, cynical. That level of distrust required passion and feeling. Kanat knew that it was better to not be involved. To simply observe. There was nothing good to come out of picking fights. It would be better to deal with the colours when they made their move.

He would be ready, then, mentally and physically prepared to make the best choice. The right choice. Kanat swallowed, breathing deep. He closed his eyes, cleared his mind, and began to concentrate on mastering that negativity. He breathed in, out, in… He felt like his feet were being pulled down, down, down into the water under the dock, and Kanat wondered if, perhaps, he was. Was the water pulling him down? Sensing him?

He wanted to join it. A very large part of him wanted to morph, to concentrate, join the water, and just be. Be everything, everywhere at once. He was afraid, though. He was not practiced enough to separate himself from the element in that form. He would be lost there, forever.  Kanat descended to his knees anyway, unable to stop himself from reaching over, running his fingers against the surface of the water. He knew what lay below the surface. It was the only reason he had not submerged himself. He thought to his studies, and could identify the spell he would need to clear the area. A protective bubble… But he could never cast it, and anyone else who could would never truly understand why he needed her to do it for him, or why he would want to take a swim there in the first place.

Losing his wand magic was the only thing about this new life, that Kanat still struggled with. Magic was a big part of his family and his daily life. He was required to learn it, expected to perform it… and despite his intelligence, his prowess… he was simply unable to do it as well as he wished. There was no use in perfecting it, when it would fade away to nothing in a few years. How long did he have left? Kanat constantly reminded himself that there was a consequence for everything, that there was always good with a bad, and bad with a good. That life was balanced. It barely helped the boy feel anything other than shame at being imperfect. At wanting to complain. At worrying over something he had no control of.

Footsteps came from the other edge of the dock, and Kanat’s eyes immediately turned to face the new presence. He withdrew his hand, the droplets of water disappearing into his fingers as if sucked into a sponge. One step, two, three. Kanat moved closer to the figure, wondering who else would have anything to do here in the port so close to curfew.

[dec]~ approved[/dec]

Name: Cam S
Character name: Luciano Liboretti
Feature you are applying for:Registered Animagus – European Pine Marten
Description of the character: Luciano is a highly intelligent but somewhat reclusive individual, preferring to be an observer rather than a partaker in events. Crowds and loud people often make him uncomfortable, and he will often seek to extricate himself from such situations as quickly and quietly as possible. He doesn’t mind people, but would much prefer the company of his books and research. He has a problem with low self-esteem, often preferring to hide from his antagonists rather than face them directly, though he will take up for others if the need arises. To those who earn his trust, Luca is incredibly loyal and reliable, always willing to put his friends’ needs before his own.

Luciano has an analytical and compartmentalized mind; he can process large amounts of information quickly, and make an informed decision, though he much prefers drawn-out research to split decisions. Luca tends to look at a problem from all possible angles before coming up with a solution. This slowness could be perceived as stupidity, when in fact the opposite is true. Luca is a highly intelligent individual, though he does have problems putting his thoughts into words. When he puts his mind to a problem, whether it be real or theoretical, Luciano is highly focused an intense, and often puts aside anything that would resemble a distraction until he’s come up with a satisfactory solution.
Application: The idea of having Luca as an Animagus popped into my head when I was initially writing his sheet. He is highly skilled in Transfiguration; indeed it’s his best and favorite subject in school. Luciano has been intrigued by Animagi ever sense stumbling across a book about them while he was allowing his research to go off on a tangent when he was supposed to be doing his Potions homework. This fascination would stem from the fact that Luciano doesn’t have a whole lot of self-confidence, and often imagines or dreams up possible ways to change certain aspects of himself (namely his over-sized schnozzle) with magic. To him, becoming an Animagus would be the perfect way to do that, as it changes literally everything about a person’s appearance into an entirely different creature, while retaining his mental faculties. More than anything else, Luciano would likely see becoming an Animagus as a way to escape the pressures of school and the world in general.

I'm seeing Luciano picking up the book towards the middle-end of his second year and becoming fascinated, again for the reasons stated above. He would devote hours of study poring over the books both at school, and also at home with the resources of his family's library open to him. The more he reads, the more entranced he becomes with the thought of becoming an animal. Ever the pragmatist, Luca would be slightly put off by the fact that he wouldn't be able to become just any animal he chose, but decided that was a small price to pay. Around the middle of his third year, possibly right after Christmas holidays, he would have approached the current Metamorphose professor and explained his desire to become an Animagus. The professor agreed, basing his decision on Luca's consistently high marks in Transfiguration, along with the caveat that they would not actually start self-transfigurations until much later.

Luca, of course, agreed enthusiastically, and from there out he met with the professor for hour sessions hosted in the professor's office after classes had let out for the day, practicing more advanced Transfiguration spells on different and varied objects, with an extra double session on Wednesdays. They started off with more simple things, to make sure Luciano kept his grip on the basics. "If you don't master the basics," his professor often told him, "you can never hope to master the more advanced concepts of Transfiguration, such as Animagi." Changing inanimate objects to animate ones and back again. Multiplying already existing objects. Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. All these and more were covered, in far more depth than Luca had ever been required to in his normal third-year classes. For once, he was forced to study and work hard to keep up, rather than just out of habit.

During his fourth year, things would intensify. He and his instructor began working on Switching and Vanishing spells, always taking time to go back and revisit the basics, either as a relief after a particularly challenging session, or merely for review in preparation for an extension to that concept. Later in his fourth year, Luciano began working on human transfigurations, starting with partial transformations. Giving his instructor rabbit's ears or a dog's tail. Eagle eyes or literal crow's feet. Shark teeth or lion's paws. The combinations were ridiculous at times, such as Transfiguring his professor's arms into wings while giving him a dog's tail at the same time. This was to get him used to the concept that the human shape was as malleable as anything else with the right spell.

Luciano was more than eager to begin his fifth year of schooling, his third year of advanced Transfiguration studies. The first half of the term was spent reviewing partial Transfigurations on others. After proving that he maintained his ability and skill in that spell set, they moved on to full-body transformations on another human. Ferret. Stoat. Dog. Cat. Falcon. Pigeon. Under Luca's wand, his instructor became all these things, sometimes to great amusement if Luciano was feeling mischievous and declined to change the professor back right away. In the second half of his fifth year though, that was when the real fun began. Now Luca's magic was directed at himself, again going back to partial transformations, but this time rather than wand-waving and incantations, Luciano did so with the techniques of the Animagus, as taught by his professor.

While Luca never did complete a full transformation, the numerous partials he did perform gave him a good idea of what he might become when fully changed. The technique was not easy, combining both wandless and nonverbal magic, neither of which Luca had been taught just yet, and sometimes his body didn't always want to change back to normal immediately. In one memorable incident, Luciano was forced to wear a cap that covered his ears for a week when he managed to turn them proportionally huge and furry. As the year came to an end, Luciano had Transfigured almost every part of his body individually, and even a few at the same time. Unfortunately, his instructor went into retirement at the end of that same year, leaving Luca to wonder if the new Metamorphose professor would be as receptive to his requests, or if he would simply be stuck as some kind of half-Animagus until he graduated and could find another suitable teacher.

As to the animal itself, I chose the European pine marten because it is a largely inconspicuous animal and is common throughout Europe. Their wide ranges, combined with the fact that it is nimble and naturally inclined towards stealth lend the pine marten extra weight towards Luca’s personality, who often wishes he could just disappear and get away from everything. As a predator, the pine marten is also a naturally intelligent and clever animal, stalking and observing its prey of small rodents before pouncing. While Luca is certainly no predator, this does reflect his own attitude of observing people from a distance before choosing to approach them, if he approaches them at all. Luciano doesn’t make close friends easily, indeed while he does have many he calls friend at Beauxbatons, the only one of them he considers truly close is his girlfriend, Marisol Ramirez. He is also highly intelligent; he is highly skilled at most subjects involving wandwork, though he does tend to fall short in Potions and Herbology.

Luca's animal shape, the European Pine Marten, would have a dark cast to its fur to match his hair, and as a registered Animagus, Luciano’s distinguishing mark would be this: on the cream-colored bib of the pine marten, he would have a vertical stripe of black fur from the top to about mid way, with another horizontal stripe jutting off to his left, the viewer’s right. These stripes would, of course, form the letter ‘L,’ which as much significance to Luciano beyond his simple initials (LLL). In the romance languages of French, Italian and Spanish (the first two of which, Luciano speaks fluently, the third he is learning from Marisol), the word for ‘book’ starts with the letter ‘L’ (livre, libro, libro). Books have always had an importance to Luciano, having grown up around them working both in his father’s bookstores and the family library in Neroli.

Future plots:
Pepijn - The First Steps: This would be an early plot starting in the current playtime at time of approval, where Luca initially approaches Pepijn about continuing his Animagus studies where his previous instructor left off. The Metamorphose professor is more than happy to oblige the boy, and they begin practicing on a consistent schedule, usually on Wednesdays or Saturday afternoons, so that there is plenty of time for them to work. After months of practice, Luciano finally completes his first full transformation and becomes an official Animagus.

Joelle Porche - And I will Love Him and Squeeze Him and Call Him: After Luca starts to get the hang of transfiguring himself in and out of his shape, he begins to practice actually moving the way a Pine Marten should, and the library provides the perfect place to do just that. Unfortunately, he didn't count on little Joelle stumbling her way to his private little paradise, much less thinking he would make the perfect little pet. Still clumsy and awkward in his new shape, Luca is unable to escape the initial capture by fleeing the scene, while the stress from the situation prevents him from changing back. This would be a long term plot with Luca balancing the role that's been thrust upon him, that of a young girl's pet, with his academic work, especially with O.W.L.s just around the corner, tempered by his desire not to hurt little Joelle, who he's come to regard as the younger sister he never had.

A Simple Game of Cat and...Luca?: Short of the library, Luca can think of no safer place to practice moving around in his new form than the Bellefeuille Common Room. Most of the other students are, after all, focused on talking about Quidditch or getting their homework done, who would ever miss a single pine marten slinking around in the shadows? Unfortunately, he didn't count on young Remy Marat, who comes to the conclusion that any animal that can magically appear in the Common Room must, in itself, be magical, and gets into his head that Luca is some sort of guide or guardian for the Common Room. When Luca tries to escape the young boy's notice by fleeing the room, Remy takes it upon himself to return the Common Room Guardian to its rightful place. While Luca successfully evades the boy for a while, no sooner does he begin to change back than Remy round the corner and sees it all. Now Luca is stuck with the task of dealing with the young boy's admiration of the Shape-shifting Common Room Guardian: Luciano Liboretti.

RP sample using the feature: Luciano’s heart was thumping along at easily a hundred kilometers an hour as he eased himself out of bed. It was dark outside, and the cold air drew goose bumps from his bare flesh, his breath catching suddenly as he touched his bare feet to the cold stone of the dormitory. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes with a stifled yawn, Luca wondered again why he didn’t allow himself more time to sleep. Pine martens were diurnal after all, it’s not like he’d be any more out of place during the day time than at night.  But there are less people to see at night, he told himself, and I have classes during the day anyway. All that did little to reassure him as he stood up from his bed, every move carefully paced and measured to avoid any unnecessary noise. Slowly, carefully he dressed himself, pulling on his loose trousers and robes before slipping into his night shoes. While he planned on spending most of the next several hours as a pine marten and not a human, Luciano always wanted to be prepared for the worst. As in, if he should happen to be caught and forced to change back, he’d much prefer if he didn’t appear wearing nothing but his boxer shorts.

Treading carefully so as not to wake his roommates, Luciano made his way down to the Bellefeuille Common Room. It was late, the fire had already burned down to mere embers, but Luca would soon have warmth enough. Looking around to make sure he was alone, Luciano took a deep breath. “Come on Luca, you can do this,” he said to himself in a husky whisper. And he could, he’d done it in Professor van Garet’s office just last week, but for some reason he simply couldn’t get the focus right when he was alone, without the Professor’s voice to walk him through it. I have to get over that, Luca thought. He’d never be a proper animagus if he had to have his Metamorphose professor with him every time he transformed after all! Taking two more deep, slow breaths, Luciano closed his eyes tight and began to focus inward, pushing all of his willpower towards a transformation.

He began shrinking, slowly at first, oh so slowly, though he gradually picked up speed, the sinking feeling of vertigo in his stomach forced him to open his eyes to make sure the ground wasn’t really rushing up to hit him in the face. Unfortunately, it was. Luca just managed to put his hands out in front of him, though by now they were more paws than anything as his fingertips began to tingle and bristle with silky black fur that spread across his hands and up his arms. He could feel a similar sensation starting in his toes, and all the while his body shrunk and shifted. Nobody had ever told him it would be this unsettling; the Italian boy could feel his organs being squished and rearranged or even disappearing entirely. I’ll never get used to this, he thought in dismay as his bones rearranged themselves. The soles of his feet and palms of his hand puffed out and hardened into pads as his fingers and toes shortened and melted into one another. His ears grew more rounded and slid up closer to the top of his head, where his shaggy mop of hair had shortened and spread into another coat of silky fur. His nose lengthened and turned pink, and Luca could see in detail as the whiskers popped out one by one.

The worst part was coming, and he knew it. Closing his small, beady eyes, Luca cringed internally as, right on cue, his spine shot out of him backwards, already bearing the dark coat of his new form. Finally, after what had seemed an eternity but was, in all actuality only a few short seconds, Luciano was a pine marten, completely and totally. Looking around quickly, Luca was once again amazed at how big everything had gotten. Although really, he had just gotten smaller; Luciano was now roughly the same size as your average housecat. Now, where do I want to go tonight, Luca wondered as he stood up on his hind legs and tried to toddle off to where he knew the Common Room’s exit was.

Of course, the thing about pine martens is that they aren’t meant to walk on two legs. Luciano managed three whole steps before crashing face first into the stone floor with a mild squeal of dismay. Picking himself up indignantly, Luciano snorted. Four legs you idiot, four! Not two! Why did he have to remind himself of that constantly. He took a deep breath, flattening his ears back in concentration. Left forepaw up, forward, down. Left back leg up, forward, down. Right forepaw up, forward, down. Right back leg up, forward, down. And repeat. This is going to take some getting used to, Luca thought as he methodically picked his way across the floor.

Pausing for a moment, Luca sat back on his haunches and scratched at his ear with one of his forepaws, trying to remember how pine martens normally walked. It was sort of a hopping motion, if he remembered right. Let’s try that then, he said to himself, no hesitation, just go. And for a moment, it seemed as if it worked. He pushed off with his rear legs, hopping a short distance to land on his front legs, and then repeating the motion. But of course, it was too good to be true. After two feet, Luca’s back paws tangled into his fore paws, and he went down in a hissing, chattering ball of black and cream fur. For the moment, he simply laid there on his side, panting. This is going to take some getting used to, he thought. Thankfully, he had the rest of the night.

Name: Nicole (Frago)
Character name: Allana Parker
Feature you are applying for: Discipulus Madin : Earth Elemental

Description of the character: Allana is a shy girl, a listener through and through. She is easily embarrassed, and prefers to let others take action because it is easier than making a fool of herself. In addition, she doesn't feel the need to talk just to fill space, so even with friends she tends to be very quiet and introverted. That's not to say that she never speaks. Allana can go on for hours on subjects that she really enjoys, and always speaks when spoken to due to manners. It's only when she's in the presence of strangers she finds intimidating that she stays near dead silent, and any words she manages to eek out are spoken with a slight stutter.

In addition to that, Allana is a hard worker. She doesn't always initiate the work, but if someone asks for help they will get it. She is patient, and willing to take the time needed to get a job done right.  Allana does enjoy doing things, but she finds no need to rush. There are moments, though, where she gets a burst of energy. Sometimes this burst can be channeled into making new friends, but it is more often than not used to do something she finds productive such as dancing, writing, or even practicing various elemental spells.

As much as Allana likes to plan and participate in elaborate schemes, she is really a simple person at heart. She enjoys the simple pleasures of life, like spending time with friends or just seeing a nice sun set. Her idea of a good night out tends to be just relaxing with a few close friends and enjoying their company. It's fairly easy to please her. That's not to say she doesn't set the bar high. Sometimes she expects more of herself than she should. But when it comes to her friends, she loves almost anything they do because she loves them for who they are.

The saying "what you see is what you get" applies when it comes to Allana. She rarely acts with ulterior motives, partially because she just isn't like that. She can be ditsy at times, but it's never an act. She really just says whatever comes to mind when she speaks. The problem tends to be getting her to speak. If a stranger can get her to utter more than a simple "hello" then they have succeeded in making a friend of her. Even the few people Allana could consider to be on her bad side are treated with respect. It takes a lot to anger the girl, and she considers herself a pacifist.

Application: I am applying for this feature for a few different reasons. The first two are quite shallow: I adopted this character from Lady Jedi and she had this feature attached to it. I've been considering applying for a Special Feature, although I always imagined it would be for another character, and probably not an elemental. That being said, it fits. That actually leads into my second reason. I've had a character like Allana in my head for some time, a shy, slightly ditsy girl who struggles with school but loves interacting with people. It was a good foil to my other Hogwarts character who is smart, but isn't the best when it comes to social interactions outside of the classroom. The Madin element just seemed to be the icing on the cake when Lady Jedi told me about it. Then I started really reading about the feature.

I'd like to say it was a wham moment, that I realized how awesome it was. It is awesome, but it didn't just hit me. It came in slow trickles. I studied up and realized just how fitting it was for the character. I learned about the council and rogue elementals, and slowly came to the conclusion that if I were to apply, I'd not only have to make sure I got things right, but that I really paid attention to the little details. I didn't (and still don't) want to play something just to have it. I want it to feel right, and I feel like Allana fits perfectly as a Madin elemental. Exactly why is in the above section, so I don't think you want another four paragraphs on her personality. Instead of constructing a character around the idea of being an elemental (although Lady Jedi did tell me in advance that Allana was one), I made the character first, got an idea of her personality as I wanted to play her, then looked to see if it still fit. As I said before, I don't want to have this SF just to have it, and I didn't want it to be the defining characteristic of her either. It's just another part of her, just like her shyness is just one part of her, or her family.


Future plots: I have talked to Lady Jedi and we've got ideas for threads between Iuliana and Allana. In addition, I've talked to The Song Faerie and it would be interesting for Allana and Linnet to talk about being elementals. Allana only recently found out about Linnet being a fellow Madin, so there's a lot to discuss. I've thrown ideas around with Juliet as well. Finally, I've talked to Michael about things going on between Kyle and Allana since Lady Jedi informed me that Allana was the one who discovered Kyle to be an elemental.

As far as long term plots go, I've been playing Allana as an NPC and she has been involved with helping other elementals fix the grounds. There is also something I'm planning with Juliet where one of her characters stumbles upon Allana while morphed. The details are being worked out, but Allana goes from her morphed form back to normal without knowing that anyone else is there is the bare bones of it. It'll be interesting to see how that changes the relationship she has with that character, and it's something that will play out over some time. In addition, OWLs are just around the corner, and Allana needs to figure out what she's going to do. Iuliana will probably guide her as she tries to figure something out, and I've talked to Lady Jedi about playing this out with her.

RP sample using the feature:  As the plans were laid out by Iuliana, the young Hufflepuff found herself looking forward to helping out. She had felt so useless when everything had started, and this was her chance to do something. Allana was glad that she would be working with her mentor and her friend. Had Linnet gotten much training while she was away? How had Allana not realized that one of her closest friends was an elemental as well? The simplest answer seemed to be the right one: there had never been any reason to talk about it, and it just never came up. As she thought about this, she watched Iuliana demonstrate what they were supposed to do. The first part would be easy enough, and Allana was certain that she could do it with no trouble.

The bag that Allana carried was still slung across her shoulder, and it was only when she went to stand up that she remembered it was there. It tilted her as she stood, causing her to wobble a bit before regaining balance. As she did so, Allana grabbed a few runes out of the bag and stuck them in her pocket. Even though the spells weren’t that hard (she had learned them some time ago), it was better safe than sorry. Plus they acted as a good safety blanket, a sort of good luck charm. The group moved to the giant footprint, and Allana looked at it for a second. It wasn't too deep, and it didn't seem like they would need to put much effort into leveling it out. She had been so lost in thought that she almost missed it when Linnet spoke, explaining that she didn't know the spells that Iuliana had asked them to cast. Allana moved over to her friend, dropping the bag at her feet as she did so. "If you need help, you can always ask," she said, casting a friendly smile to her friend as she did so. "I have a lot of runes too, so we have those."

Allana knelt down by the footprint, the barest hints of her smile remaining on her face as she concentrated. She hardly muttered the incantation, running her hand along the inside of the print. As the impression started to fill, Allana made sure to stop it just before it was finished. Normally she'd just let it fill up and level it out, but this time she wanted to do something new. There wasn't a lot left to fill, but there was a small enough gap that she could show her friend that it wasn't really too hard. She knew that Linnet was more of a book person, which worked well enough it seemed. But Allana knew there was a difference between reading about something, seeing words on the paper, and actually doing it, feeling the earth being summoned and controlling its shape and texture. There was just a jolt of energy, the thrill of casting that could never be portrayed in books. It didn't help that Allana didn't really understand what books were saying half the time. "See, it's not so bad. It takes a little more than the normal Madin, but it's not too hard. And neither is Madin Minimo," she explained in English, casting the spell right after. Her normally quiet voice seemed so loud compared to the near silence there had been earlier, and it was all she could do to keep looking at Linnet and not at the ground. "Do you want to try on the next one? It's not that hard, and there are more than enough runes that we could practice a few times after finishing this one." She offered a small smile to her friend before moving on to the second half of what needed to be done. Grabbing one of the rune stones from her pocket, Allana forced herself to take a deep breath before starting.

Even though Allana had done these spells quite a few times, there was something about having to cast them in front of her friend that made her anxious. It was making her a little nervous even though she knew that it shouldn't. She highly doubted that Linnet would judge her because of something like this, and the other girl must have known that Allana wasn’t trying to show off. She shook her head to clear herself of those thoughts before speaking the incantation. Small sprigs of grass appeared, and Allana mentally urged them to keep growing. It took her a little bit of time, but soon enough there was quite a bit of grass growing in the once barren earth. It never ceased to amaze her, the ability to make things grow like that. She had done something, made an impact in this part of the land. A grin threatened to split Allana's face in two as she looked at her handiwork. "How was that, Iuliana?" The switch from English to Gaelic came naturally, and she felt bad for a second as she remembered that Linnet wasn't quite as adept yet as the others were. The feeling was quickly shoved out of her head. If they never spoke or listened, how were they supposed to learn?

Name: Daphne
Character name: Vitaliy Malenkov
Feature you are applying for: Colour Incin Discipulus Incin
Description of the character: Vitaliy is a very hardworking and passionate person. He puts his all into everything he tries to achieve and does not back down to those to try and make him fail. Once he sets his mind to something, he does all he can to succeed. He is extremely loyal and has a sense of pride for himself, his house, and his heritage, which isn't always seen when compared to a stereotypical Klyk Vampira, however this might be due to the fact that Vitya was originally intended to be a Drakonya Krov once upon a time and still exhibits many of their personality traits. He will always stand up for what he believes in and for what he feels is right in his heart. He won't let his friends be bullied and will stand up for them as well. This particular trait has been played out before - many years ago, he once stood up to an older student even though he knew deep down that he was putting himself in danger. However, he cannot stand for letting people take advantage of those he holds dear and will go to great lengths to make this known, which isn't hard as he's often times a "hot head" and angers quickly.

He isn't the most colorful crayon in the box and knows this, however what he lacks in intelligence he makes up for in a caring nature and a spunky attitude that was compared to the term "little firecracker," which was eventually given to him as a custom title years ago. Despite everything that has happened to him in his short life, from his parents sending him to live with his grandparents to his brother dying at a young age, he has remained a positive individual.. and a curious one at that, as he has been known to question everyone and everything in his path. Everything that Vitaliy does is met with utmost attention and determination. He's not a fan of arguments or fighting, but he will put his all into it if he's provoked. Much like a flame, he is harmless until angered, and then shows just how ruthless he can be until he's finally put out.

As much as I dislike following the list of traits in the Elemental Guide word for word, I feel quoting this statement really sums up how Vitaliy is: "They will not enjoy sophisticated conversations or intellectual events, but would like a Quidditch match way more." Anyone who knows Vitaliy as a character knows that he's not sophisticated or intellectual and truly would enjoy a Quidditch match more than anything. He's never prided himself on being something that he isn't, and he definitely knows that he's incapable of being anything other than himself. He would rather save intellectual conversation and philosophical pondering to others while he enjoys the simple things that he loves.

Despite being taught by Rogues, Vitya is very neutral. As he doesn't care to get into many fights, he's often sided with the Rogues because that is what he knows. Before he went over to the Council, he was aware of what the Council was, but didn't see a reason to change sides. He's often content when he's found somewhere he feels safe. Even now that he is with the Council, he doesn't feel the need to leave. He doesn't understand the politics within the ranks and while he does understand that there's a chain of command, he doesn't ever try to judge it or rebel against it. He just lets it be, however I have planned to have him faced by such power plays that question his loyalty.

Application:

    Discovery;

For as long as he could remember, Vitaliy has always wanted to be like his brother Aleksei. Whether it was the way he dressed or spoke or just his personality, Aleksei was his hero and a role model in a way, albeit a rather unconventional and interesting one at times. All in all, Aleksei was a big influence in Vitya's life. However, there were many times growing up that Aleksei often picked friends over Vitya and didn't spend enough time with the boy. In the summer before his first year, Vitya was identified as an Elemental.

Due to the amount of time Aleksei spent with his friend Delano, a Rogue Earth Elemental, Vitya was never able to get close enough to his brother for him to be identified sooner, especially as Aleksei was also an Elemental and had been identified when Vitya was ten. However, one day when his grandparents made Aleksei watch Vitya, Aleksei felt the same connection he felt with other Fire Elementals he'd come across. Still unsure, Aleksei asked Delano and his uncle, the leader of their Rogue camp, to visit and confirm it. When they met Vitya, there was no doubt in their minds that the young redhead was an Elemental and soon Vitya began to learn. He learned about the Rogues and their beliefs, as well as began learning about his element.   

    History;

When I originally began writing this application years ago, there were no other Elementals at Durmstrang except the Rogues, however now that there are three approved Council Elementals and a Rogue Elemental, a lot of tweaking to what would have been an easy fix has been created. As such, I've had to fiddle around with Vitya's history and discuss ways to make Vitya's presence as a Rogue more believable to fit with the other characters.

Vitya's first interaction with another Rogue outside of his brother and Delano was Emmi Esbjorn. An Earth Elemental and a girl in his year and house, the two became very close during their first year. Out of all the Rogues, Vitya was and is most loyal to her, however with friendships comes enemies. Vitya's first enemy, though not so much an enemy at all, was a classmate named Kanat Zhanalin. Both boys found each other unsettling, which often resulted in arguments and screaming matches. Once Kanat was discovered as a Water Elemental, everything started making sense. However, as Kanat is a Council Elemental, this still caused a problem between the two. Vitya approached Kanat and asked that he not reveal Vitya to the Council as the redhead had been told that the Council hunted all Rogue Elementals, regardless of the circumstances regarding them becoming Rogue. It was a selfish plot to protect himself more than anything, but somehow it worked. The only stipulation was that Vitya had to request a room change, which he was barely allowed. 

His next interaction was with Motya Zapashny, a Drakonya Krov and fellow Fire Elemental. Both were around the same age and had some of the same classes with each other. Vitya began trying to sneak around the boy, as he had learned that those of the same element and opposite element were able to "feel" one another better than those of the other elements. However, he found this impossible so like with Kanat he approached Motya in peace and promised not to be of any trouble if he kept the secret. As Vitya is someone who tries to stay out of trouble, this was easy to do. The last interaction was with Nikolaj Valerius, a Stone Elemental, in the year above him. This interaction was a little different than the previous two as Vitya was not the one to seek out Nikolaj. Upon sensing that he was also an Elemental, Ella and I agreed that Nikolaj sought out Vitya, assuming that he wasn't with the Council, and confronted him. However, as Vitya and Nikolaj were of different elements, Nikolaj agreed to keeping Vitya a secret, however Nikolaj and the other two Council Elementals watched Vitya like a hawk.

Later during his third year, Vitya was initialized. The ritual was sloppy and wasn't as grand as Vitya had assumed it would be, but he was proud of his accomplishments nonetheless. The rune was placed in Vitya's forearm and masked by a large scar that he kept covered up almost all the time.

When Aleksei and Delano's drivers left the site, we arranged for an in-character plot change to occur. At the time, there was a site-wide plot at Durmstrang that focused around the Russian Ministry of Magic invading the school after several complaints. Near the end of this plot, Delano and Aleksei fled the school, seeking warmer climate and planning out the remainder of the plans the now-defunct Rogue faction had cooked up. After an incident in a quidditch match where a bludger was close to hitting Aleksei, he morphed into his fire form and fell out of the sky. When Vitya went to see him in the hospital wing, he discovered him gone. The two remaining older Rogue Elementals refused to answer his questions and as school ended for the summer, they disappeared as well. This caused Vitya to begin to hate his brother and the other Rogues. Hatred turned into resentment, which often caused Vitya to lash out in anger which severely hindered his abilities.

After this occurred, Motya approached Vitaliy and tried to persuade him over to the Council's side to "save" him, however in anger Vitaliy declined his offer and claimed that he would continue to train on his own. However, after some thought and discussions with Emmi, he sought out Motya during the summer holidays in St. Petersburg at his family's circus and asked for help. From there, Vitya was introduced to the Council and viewed as very suspicious.   

This past term, Vitya's fifth, was his first year with the Council. During this time, he learned to meditate and control his element the "Council way" and tried to forge friendships with the other Elementals at Durmstrang as a way of proving his loyalty. He also managed to convince Emmi to join the Council as well, but his reasons behind that weren't so pure.

Future plots: I've spoken to some of the Elemental drivers on the site and they've agreed to thread and plot with Vitya if he's approved. Mainly, the focus of these threads will be learning the ways of the Council and trying to control himself as much as possibe, as he's pretty much starting out fresh. With the Durmstrang Elementals, one of the plot ideas will be trying to work and band together. As for Kanat and Vitaliy, Dylan and I have agreed that they will try and put away their differences in order to work together, and Vitya will see this as a way of proving himself to the Council.

Vitya will be continued to be watched like a hawk, undoubtedly, since he's only approaching his first year with the Council. I have no doubt in my mind that Vitya will share some of his experiences as a Rogue and might even spill some of their secrets out of spite, which I think would be interesting to see some of the Council Elementals question whether or not Vitya would do the same to them, however I will leave this plot up to the other Elemental drivers on the site. Vitya will also continue to study some Rogue magic with Emmi so that they can continue learning the spells that the Rogues had taught them.

I spoke with The Goblin Queen a month or two ago and we spoke of a possible thread between Vitya and Peter Alva Tannenbaum, who would pretend to be a brainy Fire Zealot. It would be both interesting and comical because Vitya does not know Peter Alva's face and wouldn't recognize him as the Ice Harbinger. Another plot I've discussed with Sunset Angel, and began playing, was the inclusion of Vitya in Nolan Cairns plot to leave the Council. If Vitya's approved, Nolan will try to contact Vitya about siding with him. While appearing to be a Council convert, it will come out that the only reason Vitya went to the Council was to learn their magic before splitting away from them once more. Outwardly, Vitya appears to be in a place emotionally where he's not certain about anything, and he will think about leaving the Council to follow Nolan. As Vitya will possibly pursue Stone as a second affinity once he's mastered his first, he sees this a good opportunity.

The last plot idea that I've discussed was with Lena. She's in the process of applying for Pandora Preda to be a Rogue Water Elemental and while we've worked up a history for that, I'm not going to include it in his sheet until they are both approved. However, for the sake of plotting, I'll mention it here. During fourth year, Vitya suspected that Pandora might be an Elemental however due to everything that was happening at Durmstrang he didn't dare share this her. As it turns out, Pandora was not aware of it and hadn't been identified at that time. The other details have yet to be discussed.   

As I've not spoken with all the Elementals on the site, I do plan to if he's approved. It would be fun to have him meet the various Elementals at Hogwarts and Beauxbatons, and have him face scrutiny and distrust for being a Council convert, as well as encounter the Water Harbinger (once she's sorted).

RP sample using the feature: "Incin," he whispered, eyes lighting up as the small flames became visible. Looking down at his hands, he smiled softly and then tilted his head to the side. "Incin maximo." As the flames grew, the smile on his face grew and he began to feel calm once more. After several minutes of maintaining the flame and making it increase and decrease, he put it out and sat in the empty classroom in silence. If he had asked himself whether or not he would be able to do this a year ago, he would've commented that there was no way in hell, but now that he was learning control, it seemed that anything was possible.

The past year had been an adventure for Vitaliy Maksimovich, and an interesting one at that. Having been abandoned by his brother and those he'd learned from, Vitaliy had morphed from a happy individual to one that was full of hatred and resentment. Resentment at the ones who had shown him this world and had taught him what to believe. A year later, he still didn't understand why they'd left or why they hadn't tried to contact him, but the choice he'd made as a result had helped calm the uncontrollable fire within. Leaving his life as a rogue and joining the Council had seemed to be the only thing that was putting his mind, and heart, at ease these days.

Sitting up, he cracked his neck from side to side and closed his eyes. Letting himself relax, he let all thoughts leave his mind as he eased himself into a meditative state. Meditation was new to the young Russian, as it was not something that was practiced often in his rogue camp. Most of their Elemental magic was stemmed from hatred and jealousy, power and corruption, and the desire to obtain anything and everything they wanted. Once upon a time, Vitya had been able to harness the power of fire with such a concept, but it had all changed when Lyosha left. Now he was starting all over again, something he was not fond of, but he'd been reminded by a few of the other discipuli and advocates that he'd met that it was for the better. He would be stronger in the end, more in control, better than he ever could have been had he stayed with the Rogues.

And sometimes Vitaliy questioned whether or not this was true. It had never been a proven fact, but as intrigued and curious that the redhead was, he understood that he needed to do it. After meditating for several minutes, he opened his eyes and looked around him. He was still alone. Good. Slowly standing up, he walked to the door and peered out into the corridor before closing it once more and moving towards the center of the classroom where he'd pushed the desks out of the way. Taking a deep breath, he let his body relax once more. "Incin..." The flames were visible once more and he began to increase the temperature and size of the flame. However, his concentration broke when he heard the sounds of footsteps in the corridor. "Oh crap!" Running towards the back of the classroom, he hid behind a table.

Name: Nicole (Frago)
Character name: Allana Parker
Feature you are applying for: Discipulus Madin : Earth Elemental

Description of the character: Allana is a shy girl, a listener through and through. She is easily embarrassed, and prefers to let others take action because it is easier than making a fool of herself. In addition, she doesn't feel the need to talk just to fill space, so even with friends she tends to be very quiet and introverted. That's not to say that she never speaks. Allana can go on for hours on subjects that she really enjoys, and always speaks when spoken to due to manners. It's only when she's in the presence of strangers she finds intimidating that she stays near dead silent, and any words she manages to eek out are spoken with a slight stutter.

In addition to that, Allana is a hard worker. She doesn't always initiate the work, but if someone asks for help they will get it. She is patient, and willing to take the time needed to get a job done right.  Allana does enjoy doing things, but she finds no need to rush. There are moments, though, where she gets a burst of energy. Sometimes this burst can be channeled into making new friends, but it is more often than not used to do something she finds productive such as dancing, writing, or even practicing various elemental spells.

As much as Allana likes to plan and participate in elaborate schemes, she is really a simple person at heart. She enjoys the simple pleasures of life, like spending time with friends or just seeing a nice sun set. Her idea of a good night out tends to be just relaxing with a few close friends and enjoying their company. It's fairly easy to please her. That's not to say she doesn't set the bar high. Sometimes she expects more of herself than she should. But when it comes to her friends, she loves almost anything they do because she loves them for who they are.

The saying "what you see is what you get" applies when it comes to Allana. She rarely acts with ulterior motives, partially because she just isn't like that. She can be ditsy at times, but it's never an act. She really just says whatever comes to mind when she speaks. The problem tends to be getting her to speak. If a stranger can get her to utter more than a simple "hello" then they have succeeded in making a friend of her. Even the few people Allana could consider to be on her bad side are treated with respect. It takes a lot to anger the girl, and she considers herself a pacifist.

Application: I am applying for this feature for a few different reasons. The first two are quite shallow: I adopted this character from Lady Jedi and she had this feature attached to it. I've been considering applying for a Special Feature, although I always imagined it would be for another character, and probably not an elemental. That being said, it fits. That actually leads into my second reason. I've had a character like Allana in my head for some time, a shy, slightly ditsy girl who struggles with school but loves interacting with people. It was a good foil to my other Hogwarts character who is smart, but isn't the best when it comes to social interactions outside of the classroom. The Madin element just seemed to be the icing on the cake when Lady Jedi told me about it. Then I started really reading about the feature.

I'd like to say it was a wham moment, that I realized how awesome it was. It is awesome, but it didn't just hit me. It came in slow trickles. I studied up and realized just how fitting it was for the character. I learned about the council and rogue elementals, and slowly came to the conclusion that if I were to apply, I'd not only have to make sure I got things right, but that I really paid attention to the little details. I didn't (and still don't) want to play something just to have it. I want it to feel right, and I feel like Allana fits perfectly as a Madin elemental. Exactly why is in the above section, so I don't think you want another four paragraphs on her personality. Instead of constructing a character around the idea of being an elemental (although Lady Jedi did tell me in advance that Allana was one), I made the character first, got an idea of her personality as I wanted to play her, then looked to see if it still fit. As I said before, I don't want to have this SF just to have it, and I didn't want it to be the defining characteristic of her either. It's just another part of her, just like her shyness is just one part of her, or her family.


Future plots: I have talked to Lady Jedi and we've got ideas for threads between Iuliana and Allana. In addition, I've talked to The Song Faerie and it would be interesting for Allana and Linnet to talk about being elementals. Allana only recently found out about Linnet being a fellow Madin, so there's a lot to discuss. I've thrown ideas around with Juliet as well. Finally, I've talked to Michael about things going on between Kyle and Allana since Lady Jedi informed me that Allana was the one who discovered Kyle to be an elemental.

As far as long term plots go, I've been playing Allana as an NPC and she has been involved with helping other elementals fix the grounds. There is also something I'm planning with Juliet where one of her characters stumbles upon Allana while morphed. The details are being worked out, but Allana goes from her morphed form back to normal without knowing that anyone else is there is the bare bones of it. It'll be interesting to see how that changes the relationship she has with that character, and it's something that will play out over some time. In addition, OWLs are just around the corner, and Allana needs to figure out what she's going to do. Iuliana will probably guide her as she tries to figure something out, and I've talked to Lady Jedi about playing this out with her.

RP sample using the feature:  As the plans were laid out by Iuliana, the young Hufflepuff found herself looking forward to helping out. She had felt so useless when everything had started, and this was her chance to do something. Allana was glad that she would be working with her mentor and her friend. Had Linnet gotten much training while she was away? How had Allana not realized that one of her closest friends was an elemental as well? The simplest answer seemed to be the right one: there had never been any reason to talk about it, and it just never came up. As she thought about this, she watched Iuliana demonstrate what they were supposed to do. The first part would be easy enough, and Allana was certain that she could do it with no trouble.

The bag that Allana carried was still slung across her shoulder, and it was only when she went to stand up that she remembered it was there. It tilted her as she stood, causing her to wobble a bit before regaining balance. As she did so, Allana grabbed a few runes out of the bag and stuck them in her pocket. Even though the spells weren’t that hard (she had learned them some time ago), it was better safe than sorry. Plus they acted as a good safety blanket, a sort of good luck charm. The group moved to the giant footprint, and Allana looked at it for a second. It wasn't too deep, and it didn't seem like they would need to put much effort into leveling it out. She had been so lost in thought that she almost missed it when Linnet spoke, explaining that she didn't know the spells that Iuliana had asked them to cast. Allana moved over to her friend, dropping the bag at her feet as she did so. "If you need help, you can always ask," she said, casting a friendly smile to her friend as she did so. "I have a lot of runes too, so we have those."

Allana knelt down by the footprint, the barest hints of her smile remaining on her face as she concentrated. She hardly muttered the incantation, running her hand along the inside of the print. As the impression started to fill, Allana made sure to stop it just before it was finished. Normally she'd just let it fill up and level it out, but this time she wanted to do something new. There wasn't a lot left to fill, but there was a small enough gap that she could show her friend that it wasn't really too hard. She knew that Linnet was more of a book person, which worked well enough it seemed. But Allana knew there was a difference between reading about something, seeing words on the paper, and actually doing it, feeling the earth being summoned and controlling its shape and texture. There was just a jolt of energy, the thrill of casting that could never be portrayed in books. It didn't help that Allana didn't really understand what books were saying half the time. "See, it's not so bad. It takes a little more than the normal Madin, but it's not too hard. And neither is Madin Minimo," she explained in English, casting the spell right after. Her normally quiet voice seemed so loud compared to the near silence there had been earlier, and it was all she could do to keep looking at Linnet and not at the ground. "Do you want to try on the next one? It's not that hard, and there are more than enough runes that we could practice a few times after finishing this one." She offered a small smile to her friend before moving on to the second half of what needed to be done. Grabbing one of the rune stones from her pocket, Allana forced herself to take a deep breath before starting.

Even though Allana had done these spells quite a few times, there was something about having to cast them in front of her friend that made her anxious. It was making her a little nervous even though she knew that it shouldn't. She highly doubted that Linnet would judge her because of something like this, and the other girl must have known that Allana wasn’t trying to show off. She shook her head to clear herself of those thoughts before speaking the incantation. Small sprigs of grass appeared, and Allana mentally urged them to keep growing. It took her a little bit of time, but soon enough there was quite a bit of grass growing in the once barren earth. It never ceased to amaze her, the ability to make things grow like that. She had done something, made an impact in this part of the land. A grin threatened to split Allana's face in two as she looked at her handiwork. "How was that, Iuliana?" The switch from English to Gaelic came naturally, and she felt bad for a second as she remembered that Linnet wasn't quite as adept yet as the others were. The feeling was quickly shoved out of her head. If they never spoke or listened, how were they supposed to learn?

[lau]~Approved[/lau]

Name: Daphne
Character name: Vitaliy Malenkov
Feature you are applying for: Colour Incin Discipulus Incin
Description of the character: Vitaliy is a very hardworking and passionate person. He puts his all into everything he tries to achieve and does not back down to those to try and make him fail. Once he sets his mind to something, he does all he can to succeed. He is extremely loyal and has a sense of pride for himself, his house, and his heritage, which isn't always seen when compared to a stereotypical Klyk Vampira, however this might be due to the fact that Vitya was originally intended to be a Drakonya Krov once upon a time and still exhibits many of their personality traits. He will always stand up for what he believes in and for what he feels is right in his heart. He won't let his friends be bullied and will stand up for them as well. This particular trait has been played out before - many years ago, he once stood up to an older student even though he knew deep down that he was putting himself in danger. However, he cannot stand for letting people take advantage of those he holds dear and will go to great lengths to make this known, which isn't hard as he's often times a "hot head" and angers quickly.

He isn't the most colorful crayon in the box and knows this, however what he lacks in intelligence he makes up for in a caring nature and a spunky attitude that was compared to the term "little firecracker," which was eventually given to him as a custom title years ago. Despite everything that has happened to him in his short life, from his parents sending him to live with his grandparents to his brother dying at a young age, he has remained a positive individual.. and a curious one at that, as he has been known to question everyone and everything in his path. Everything that Vitaliy does is met with utmost attention and determination. He's not a fan of arguments or fighting, but he will put his all into it if he's provoked. Much like a flame, he is harmless until angered, and then shows just how ruthless he can be until he's finally put out.

As much as I dislike following the list of traits in the Elemental Guide word for word, I feel quoting this statement really sums up how Vitaliy is: "They will not enjoy sophisticated conversations or intellectual events, but would like a Quidditch match way more." Anyone who knows Vitaliy as a character knows that he's not sophisticated or intellectual and truly would enjoy a Quidditch match more than anything. He's never prided himself on being something that he isn't, and he definitely knows that he's incapable of being anything other than himself. He would rather save intellectual conversation and philosophical pondering to others while he enjoys the simple things that he loves.

Despite being taught by Rogues, Vitya is very neutral. As he doesn't care to get into many fights, he's often sided with the Rogues because that is what he knows. Before he went over to the Council, he was aware of what the Council was, but didn't see a reason to change sides. He's often content when he's found somewhere he feels safe. Even now that he is with the Council, he doesn't feel the need to leave. He doesn't understand the politics within the ranks and while he does understand that there's a chain of command, he doesn't ever try to judge it or rebel against it. He just lets it be, however I have planned to have him faced by such power plays that question his loyalty.

Application:

    Discovery;

For as long as he could remember, Vitaliy has always wanted to be like his brother Aleksei. Whether it was the way he dressed or spoke or just his personality, Aleksei was his hero and a role model in a way, albeit a rather unconventional and interesting one at times. All in all, Aleksei was a big influence in Vitya's life. However, there were many times growing up that Aleksei often picked friends over Vitya and didn't spend enough time with the boy. In the summer before his first year, Vitya was identified as an Elemental.

Due to the amount of time Aleksei spent with his friend Delano, a Rogue Earth Elemental, Vitya was never able to get close enough to his brother for him to be identified sooner, especially as Aleksei was also an Elemental and had been identified when Vitya was ten. However, one day when his grandparents made Aleksei watch Vitya, Aleksei felt the same connection he felt with other Fire Elementals he'd come across. Still unsure, Aleksei asked Delano and his uncle, the leader of their Rogue camp, to visit and confirm it. When they met Vitya, there was no doubt in their minds that the young redhead was an Elemental and soon Vitya began to learn. He learned about the Rogues and their beliefs, as well as began learning about his element.   

    History;

When I originally began writing this application years ago, there were no other Elementals at Durmstrang except the Rogues, however now that there are three approved Council Elementals and a Rogue Elemental, a lot of tweaking to what would have been an easy fix has been created. As such, I've had to fiddle around with Vitya's history and discuss ways to make Vitya's presence as a Rogue more believable to fit with the other characters.

Vitya's first interaction with another Rogue outside of his brother and Delano was Emmi Esbjorn. An Earth Elemental and a girl in his year and house, the two became very close during their first year. Out of all the Rogues, Vitya was and is most loyal to her, however with friendships comes enemies. Vitya's first enemy, though not so much an enemy at all, was a classmate named Kanat Zhanalin. Both boys found each other unsettling, which often resulted in arguments and screaming matches. Once Kanat was discovered as a Water Elemental, everything started making sense. However, as Kanat is a Council Elemental, this still caused a problem between the two. Vitya approached Kanat and asked that he not reveal Vitya to the Council as the redhead had been told that the Council hunted all Rogue Elementals, regardless of the circumstances regarding them becoming Rogue. It was a selfish plot to protect himself more than anything, but somehow it worked. The only stipulation was that Vitya had to request a room change, which he was barely allowed. 

His next interaction was with Motya Zapashny, a Drakonya Krov and fellow Fire Elemental. Both were around the same age and had some of the same classes with each other. Vitya began trying to sneak around the boy, as he had learned that those of the same element and opposite element were able to "feel" one another better than those of the other elements. However, he found this impossible so like with Kanat he approached Motya in peace and promised not to be of any trouble if he kept the secret. As Vitya is someone who tries to stay out of trouble, this was easy to do. The last interaction was with Nikolaj Valerius, a Stone Elemental, in the year above him. This interaction was a little different than the previous two as Vitya was not the one to seek out Nikolaj. Upon sensing that he was also an Elemental, Ella and I agreed that Nikolaj sought out Vitya, assuming that he wasn't with the Council, and confronted him. However, as Vitya and Nikolaj were of different elements, Nikolaj agreed to keeping Vitya a secret, however Nikolaj and the other two Council Elementals watched Vitya like a hawk.

Later during his third year, Vitya was initialized. The ritual was sloppy and wasn't as grand as Vitya had assumed it would be, but he was proud of his accomplishments nonetheless. The rune was placed in Vitya's forearm and masked by a large scar that he kept covered up almost all the time.

When Aleksei and Delano's drivers left the site, we arranged for an in-character plot change to occur. At the time, there was a site-wide plot at Durmstrang that focused around the Russian Ministry of Magic invading the school after several complaints. Near the end of this plot, Delano and Aleksei fled the school, seeking warmer climate and planning out the remainder of the plans the now-defunct Rogue faction had cooked up. After an incident in a quidditch match where a bludger was close to hitting Aleksei, he morphed into his fire form and fell out of the sky. When Vitya went to see him in the hospital wing, he discovered him gone. The two remaining older Rogue Elementals refused to answer his questions and as school ended for the summer, they disappeared as well. This caused Vitya to begin to hate his brother and the other Rogues. Hatred turned into resentment, which often caused Vitya to lash out in anger which severely hindered his abilities.

After this occurred, Motya approached Vitaliy and tried to persuade him over to the Council's side to "save" him, however in anger Vitaliy declined his offer and claimed that he would continue to train on his own. However, after some thought and discussions with Emmi, he sought out Motya during the summer holidays in St. Petersburg at his family's circus and asked for help. From there, Vitya was introduced to the Council and viewed as very suspicious.   

This past term, Vitya's fifth, was his first year with the Council. During this time, he learned to meditate and control his element the "Council way" and tried to forge friendships with the other Elementals at Durmstrang as a way of proving his loyalty. He also managed to convince Emmi to join the Council as well, but his reasons behind that weren't so pure.

Future plots: I've spoken to some of the Elemental drivers on the site and they've agreed to thread and plot with Vitya if he's approved. Mainly, the focus of these threads will be learning the ways of the Council and trying to control himself as much as possibe, as he's pretty much starting out fresh. With the Durmstrang Elementals, one of the plot ideas will be trying to work and band together. As for Kanat and Vitaliy, Dylan and I have agreed that they will try and put away their differences in order to work together, and Vitya will see this as a way of proving himself to the Council.

Vitya will be continued to be watched like a hawk, undoubtedly, since he's only approaching his first year with the Council. I have no doubt in my mind that Vitya will share some of his experiences as a Rogue and might even spill some of their secrets out of spite, which I think would be interesting to see some of the Council Elementals question whether or not Vitya would do the same to them, however I will leave this plot up to the other Elemental drivers on the site. Vitya will also continue to study some Rogue magic with Emmi so that they can continue learning the spells that the Rogues had taught them.

I spoke with The Goblin Queen a month or two ago and we spoke of a possible thread between Vitya and Peter Alva Tannenbaum, who would pretend to be a brainy Fire Zealot. It would be both interesting and comical because Vitya does not know Peter Alva's face and wouldn't recognize him as the Ice Harbinger. Another plot I've discussed with Sunset Angel, and began playing, was the inclusion of Vitya in Nolan Cairns plot to leave the Council. If Vitya's approved, Nolan will try to contact Vitya about siding with him. While appearing to be a Council convert, it will come out that the only reason Vitya went to the Council was to learn their magic before splitting away from them once more. Outwardly, Vitya appears to be in a place emotionally where he's not certain about anything, and he will think about leaving the Council to follow Nolan. As Vitya will possibly pursue Stone as a second affinity once he's mastered his first, he sees this a good opportunity.

The last plot idea that I've discussed was with Lena. She's in the process of applying for Pandora Preda to be a Rogue Water Elemental and while we've worked up a history for that, I'm not going to include it in his sheet until they are both approved. However, for the sake of plotting, I'll mention it here. During fourth year, Vitya suspected that Pandora might be an Elemental however due to everything that was happening at Durmstrang he didn't dare share this her. As it turns out, Pandora was not aware of it and hadn't been identified at that time. The other details have yet to be discussed.   

As I've not spoken with all the Elementals on the site, I do plan to if he's approved. It would be fun to have him meet the various Elementals at Hogwarts and Beauxbatons, and have him face scrutiny and distrust for being a Council convert, as well as encounter the Water Harbinger (once she's sorted).

RP sample using the feature: "Incin," he whispered, eyes lighting up as the small flames became visible. Looking down at his hands, he smiled softly and then tilted his head to the side. "Incin maximo." As the flames grew, the smile on his face grew and he began to feel calm once more. After several minutes of maintaining the flame and making it increase and decrease, he put it out and sat in the empty classroom in silence. If he had asked himself whether or not he would be able to do this a year ago, he would've commented that there was no way in hell, but now that he was learning control, it seemed that anything was possible.

The past year had been an adventure for Vitaliy Maksimovich, and an interesting one at that. Having been abandoned by his brother and those he'd learned from, Vitaliy had morphed from a happy individual to one that was full of hatred and resentment. Resentment at the ones who had shown him this world and had taught him what to believe. A year later, he still didn't understand why they'd left or why they hadn't tried to contact him, but the choice he'd made as a result had helped calm the uncontrollable fire within. Leaving his life as a rogue and joining the Council had seemed to be the only thing that was putting his mind, and heart, at ease these days.

Sitting up, he cracked his neck from side to side and closed his eyes. Letting himself relax, he let all thoughts leave his mind as he eased himself into a meditative state. Meditation was new to the young Russian, as it was not something that was practiced often in his rogue camp. Most of their Elemental magic was stemmed from hatred and jealousy, power and corruption, and the desire to obtain anything and everything they wanted. Once upon a time, Vitya had been able to harness the power of fire with such a concept, but it had all changed when Lyosha left. Now he was starting all over again, something he was not fond of, but he'd been reminded by a few of the other discipuli and advocates that he'd met that it was for the better. He would be stronger in the end, more in control, better than he ever could have been had he stayed with the Rogues.

And sometimes Vitaliy questioned whether or not this was true. It had never been a proven fact, but as intrigued and curious that the redhead was, he understood that he needed to do it. After meditating for several minutes, he opened his eyes and looked around him. He was still alone. Good. Slowly standing up, he walked to the door and peered out into the corridor before closing it once more and moving towards the center of the classroom where he'd pushed the desks out of the way. Taking a deep breath, he let his body relax once more. "Incin..." The flames were visible once more and he began to increase the temperature and size of the flame. However, his concentration broke when he heard the sounds of footsteps in the corridor. "Oh crap!" Running towards the back of the classroom, he hid behind a table.

[lau]~approved![/lau]