Special Feature Applications

RESUBMITTED

Name: Sarah C

Character name: Nikodim Balaur (Full Name: Duke Nikodim Pyotr Balaur Abkhazi von der Pahlen, Prince of Kardenakhi)

Feature you are applying for: zealot Incin/second affinity Madin

Description of the character:
Nikodim Balaur was born the bastard child of Russian Wizard nobility during the time of the czars. He grew up as a servant in his grandfather's house until it was discovered that he had magical talent. His grandfather adopted him as his heir, a "nephew" recently come to live with him. He was sent to Durmstrang like all men of the family before him, but he was miserable there. He could barely cast the most basic spells and he was routinely punished for his inability to perform. He made no friends and was constantly harassed by other students. As the Great War rolled over Russia, Nikodim ran away from the school and lied about his age to enlist in the Russian army. Barely 14, Nikodim was sent to the Eastern front, more fodder for the trenches. After a brutal charge, Nikodim was left for dead in the snow. His will to live caused flames to dance around him prone body, keeping him warm. It was in this state that Nikodim was found by another elemental and taken with all haste to Inverness.

Nikodim sees Inverness as the one place in the world where he feels normal. Like most fire elementals, Nikodim deals with anger issues, exacerbated by his traumatic time spent in the trenches. As a young zealot, his anger was almost uncontrollable. For a while, he sought to escape his elemental nature, submitting himself to his grandfather's world of wealth and Pureblood privilege. As the last scion of two noble Russian families and heir to the Phalen Mining Company, he was a sought-after dinner guest. He attended decadent parties and seduced witches with his titles and his passionate nature. But all of this still left him empty and angry. He found only falsehoods and shadows in that life, so he returned to Inverness, looking for peace and stability. At the advice of the Madin Harbinger (whom Nikodim was learning his second affinity from) he traveled to China to learn eastern-style meditation from some elementals there. It was a grueling training, pushing him physically and emotionally, but it was exactly what he needed. Even after mastering his emotions, Nikodim stayed in China, having fallen in love with the land and culture. He still belonged to the council, though, so when he was called back to Inverness, he came.

The assignment that the council had for him was a difficult one: retrieve a Pythia child and bring her to Inverness. The journey was particularly harrowing for Nikodim, since it involved a good amount of travel over water. Getting the child was also no easy task; her parents were not exactly cooperative and he sustained several heavy injuries protecting not only the council members, but taking a few hits meant for Magnus and Rozenn as well. The operation was successful, and Nikodim spent the trip back to Inverness being seen to by his friend Demeter Grey, having been reunited after several years of separation. He stayed at Inverness for a while, helping with Katell, the Pythia child: telling Russian folktales and making shapes in fire to amuse her. Once she had passed, he left Inverness, keeping in touch with Demeter and a few other friends through letters.

For the next few decades, Nikodim split his time between staying at Inverness, seeing to the family business, and taking extended vacations to China, Japan, and a few other Asian countries. Once Demeter set up the Ward, Nikodim stayed to assist, and he's remained at Inverness almost exclusively ever since. Something happened to Nikodim that he never expected: love. His loyalties are becoming more strained as he struggles with his duty to the council and his emotions for an earth elemental who would not return his affections even if she wanted to.

Application:
I am relatively new to MH, but I have been role-playing for several years. For me, the most important thing in any character interaction is the story. I want to work with the other characters that I'm interacting with to create a dynamic and interesting story. My characters might fail, they might get hurt, they might not accomplish what they wanted to but that's the fun of playing: making believable characters that have flaws and failings then seeing what they will do with that.

This is my second character, and I wanted to make him an elemental for the upcoming plot. I wanted to have someone close to the council who would be greatly impacted by the fall and who would have some very difficult decisions to make: protect the council or give in to his forbidden feelings?

Future plots: - All characters/plots mentioned have been discussed with their drivers
Forbidden Love Nikodim has been in love with Demeter Grey for a little over 40 years. They became friends as Niko trained under Harbinger Madin Gavin in his second affinity and Demeter was just entering council life. Throughout the hardships in Demeter's life, Niko has been a solid rock of support. Niko has been content to keep his love a secret, but once Inverness falls, he decides to confess his feelings and push for a change in the council's policy regarding inter-elemental relations. The Oncoming Storm and I will play out the change in their relationship after Niko's revelation and how Demeter will react to Niko's desire to face off against the council on this issue.

A Father Figure When Nikodim first arrived at Inverness, he was an angry young man. The first peron to take the time to see past his exterior to the hurt boy beneath would have been Lario. The older Incin would have helped him start to control himself. Nikodim trusts Lario implicitly and calls him "Ded Lario" in private (ded being the Russian word for grandfather). Lario has been looking at Niko as the next most likely candidate for Harbinger. Although he has not been prophesied as such, Lario holds out hope that Niko could make a suitable leader. It is Lario that Niko will turn to as a councilor when he decides he can no longer live his life denying his feelings for Demeter. The Song Faerie and I have already talked about Lario and Niko working on a new set of inter-elemental relationship guidlines while Lario feels out whether or not Nikodim would be a good Harbinger. Should Lario not survive the rogue plot-line, I would be more than willing to have Niko step up as Harbinger if no one else wants the position.

Friends in the Flame It would be an understatement to say that Niko and Cyprian can appear at first glance to have opposite personalities, but if you dig a little deeper you'd find that they have a lot of core values in common. It is these deeply-held beliefs that have kept the two men as good friends. But even good friendships can be tested and when Cyprian kills Niko's former student, the two men will have to find a way to deal with this huge issue. Baby Bae and I have talked about how Niko and Cyprian are going to get through this and also about Cyprian's willingness to help Niko take back the stolen children.

Making It Right Nikodim and Rozenn have a complicated relationship. They were friendly acquaintances when she was a child and a young elemental, as Nikodim was on good terms with her grandmother (who had Incin as her second affinity) and who moved in Pureblood circles with Nikodim's family. While he was one of the zealots responsible for taking Katell into the council, he never felt good about the council keeping Rozenn away from her child. To help the broken family and assuage his own guilt, he acted as a secret messenger, taking notes from Rozenn and giving them to Katell so the girl would know that she had not been abandoned.
When Rozenn gave birth to her second child, Nikodim was given another secret to keep: while Rozenn was told that her child had died shortly after being born, Nikodim was made privy to the truth by Rozenn's grandmother. The child lived, and would be given to another family to raise. Nikodim struggled with whether or not to tell Rozenn and anger the council but Rozenn's attack and subsequent disappearance hardened Niko towards her and he decided that he would never tell her that her son lived.

Fast-forward about 50 years. Rozenn's child is an ice elemental named Gaspard who believes his birth parents abandoned him. Niko befriended Gaspard when he saw how poorly the other elementals treated him because of his parents' rogue status. Now that Rozenn is back in the council's good graces, Niko has begun to feel guilt because of the secret he carries. Micheala, Sailor Pluto, and I will play out Niko finally breaking his silence and informing Rozenn that the child she thought dead is alive and a possible reunion for mother and son (which will most likely completely backfire).


Rogue Attack On Inverness Nikodim will fight for the council, leading a group of zealots against the invading rogues to give the Harbingers time to escape. While engaged in battle, he will see his (unofficial) godson Aias whom he thought was dead. This news shakes Nikodim, and while he is grateful that Aias is alive, he is none too pleased to find him fighting against the council. Once the council has established a new base of operations, Niko will organize a task force to find where the stolen Discipli were taken and to bring them back safely, most likely getting help fro Aias once he realizes that the stolen council members are not being treated in the way he had initially planned.


Saving Our FutureAs a Zealot Incin, Nikodim is in charge of teaching the young disciples. One of his biggest handfuls is Vitya, a former rogue who returned to the council after being abandoned by the other faction. Nikodim was chosen as teacher for him because unlike other elementals, he holds no grudge against the former rogue. \He's hoping that Vitya will begin to see in himself all the potential that there is, and when he's taken by the rogues again, Nikodim will not be merciful to those responsible. Few things can get him angrier than children being forced to fight someone else's wars. Sailor Pluto and I will have training sessions together both before and after the Inverness plot.

RP sample using the feature:

Nikodim was slowly waking from a strange dream. He had dreamed that he was the son of a wizard, and he had attended a school to teach him spells and magic. It had been more of a nightmare, really, for he was no wizard and everyone in the school could see it. But that dream was over, now. In a moment, Anatoly would hammer on his door, calling him to work. The hounds would be hungry and ready for exercise. Nikodim could hear his steps, booming like thunder. No, not thunder, Nikodim thought. Gunfire. Like distant cannons. Nikodim opened his eyes.

Above him was a white winter's sky, devoid of color. If he turned his head, he could see bodies lying on the frozen ground, like broken toy soldiers. Real soldiers, real men, real bodies. He had to remind himself of reality. He was cold from exposure and blood loss. Now that he was conscious again, he could feel the low throb of his injuries: a gunshot wound in his left shoulder and thigh. Since he wasn't dead yet, the bullets must have missed anything vital. That wasn't particularly comforting, since now Nikodim could look forward to a slow death in the snow. Once the fighting had settled down, other soldiers would be out looking for their wounded, but Nikodim had a feeling he might already be dead, or too injured to waste time on, by the time they found him.

To take his mind off the pain, he retraced the steps that had led to his impending death. He was a wizard, the only heir of a long line of wizards which traced its lineage back to Russian royalty. He had been sent to Durmstrang to be taught, but he was no good at magic and could barely perform the most basic of spells. He was punished and was socially ostracized. So he fled, lying about his age to join the Russian army. Not that anyone was looking too closely at any warm bodies willing to hold a rifle. Russia was desperate, and the Great War was taking a toll on the country. So Nikodim had been sent to the trenches. This morning, he had been in a charge. He would most likely be dead by nightfall.

I don't want to die, he thought. Then, spoken out loud, "I don't want to die." As the words left his mouth, Nikodim felt something stir in him. It was anger. Anger at his grandfather, for sending him away to a place full of strangers. Anger at the school, for failing to help him when he needed it and for punishing him for things he could not control. Anger at his country, for sending men to water the trenches with their blood. But mostly, it was anger at himself, for thinking that he could find a life that offered more than waking every day to care for a noble's hunting hounds. As the anger built, Nikodim felt strangely warm. He held up his right hand, and watched as ghostly flames danced along it, down his arm, and onto his chest. They warmed, but did not burn. Hallucinations, he thought, strangely calm. He dropped his hand, enjoying the warmth of his anger.

zealot incin

Name: Mickie
Character name: Cyprian Cygan
Feature you are applying for: Elementalism ~ Zealot Incin
     First Affinity: Fire
     Second Affinity: Stone

description of character

Personality: Someone who doesn’t truly know Cyprian and only sees him might describe him as ‘too laid back’ or simply ‘lazy’, for when time allows it, he can usually be found reclining on a surface with a cigarette in his mouth and a look of extreme disinterest on his face. In truth, when duty calls, Cyprian is nothing but diligent. He works hard to achieve the results he desires.  This shines through especially in his teaching; when he trains his Discipuli and Advocates, he pushes them relentlessly to bring out the best in them. Cyprian is tough as a teacher and as a person in general. He can take most things thrown at him without a flinch.

Despite this rough exterior, Cyprian has a large capacity for love and once a person grows on him, he begins to care for them deeply. His students are usually the ones to have this affect on him, most likely because they fill the void a lack of children has created.  Cyprian holds a special place in his heart for all that he has taught, even if he is not keen to admit this aloud. It is always heart breaking for him to see current and former students go rogue, and this can send him into long periods of anger.  His anger is, perhaps, his biggest problem. It is hot and fiery and when it hits, it seems to be endless.

Cyprian is also stubborn, though not incredibly so. While he has his own thoughts and opinions which he believes to be truer than true, in the face of an authoritative figure who may not share the same beliefs, he remains quiet unless challenged. Cyprian is respectful to those higher in rank than him at the Council, save for a few whose main crime is rubbing him the wrong way. It is possible, however, that he may snap at a Harbinger for insulting his style of training, as that is the one thing belonging to him that Cyprian will not allowed to be changed or criticised.

Two of his greatest traits are his reliability and loyalty.   Cyprian sticks to his ideals and never betrays those he respects or considers himself to be close to. He does not compromise his beliefs for anyone, and he is responsible. The man is also extremely determined, and if there is an outcome he desires, he will bend over backwards to achieve it. He is a serious man, rarely speaking with the intention of being comedic, but some may find his blunt, candid way of speaking to be funny.  Cyprian is, lastly, trustworthy and responsible. Any secret is safe with him.

application

How Cyprian Came to Be: In all honesty, if one had asked me a few months ago if I thought I would ever make an Elemental, I probably would have swiftly replied with a “never in my life.” While I found Elementalism to be extremely interesting, I always thought it was just as intimidating and I honestly did not have the courage to give it a try, as I was afraid of messing everything up, of forgetting titles, and of misusing spells. Furthermore, Elementalism suited none of my characters, and no ideas ever came into my head while reading the guide. I figured it was a feature I was meant to admire more than I was meant to play.

Soon, a discussion of elemental-related plots began in the Dev Pool and my interest was piqued.  I was still slightly afraid of pursuing the feature, but so captivated by the plots and ideas surrounding it, that I eventually began to seriously consider going after it. Once again, I read the guide. And once again, I was met with nothing – no ideas, no strokes of inspiration, zilch. So, instead, I decided to begin working on a character whom I actually had ideas for, and who came with a different feature that I had actually wanted to play since I first joined MH.

At this point, I had begun to believe that I seriously would never have an Elemental character, and that was no big deal to me. I would just support the drivers partaking in the new plot. Then, lo and behold, days after I accepted this thought, not one, but two potential Elemental ideas made their presence known, shoving aside the aforementioned new character I had started working on. Unsure of whether they were here to stay, I tried to ignore them at first, but they were persistent and insistent. So, after sitting down and really giving it some thought, Cyprian, who had the stronger presence of the two, officially came to light.

Cyprian and Fire: Cyprian’s mother is one of the Dąbrowskis – a Polish family with a fair amount of Fire Elementals in its line. As such, his Elementalism, if approved, would be gained by inheritance. He would have been discovered by his great-grandfather, a Council Zealot turned rogue who is now deceased.

While he may not fit the idea of the typical Fire Elemental completely, and I was admittedly a little torn between two elements for him originally, I am now certain that it is the best fit for him.  His passion for teaching all he can about his element, his dedication and unwavering loyalty to the Council, his disinterest in long meetings, his temper – his strengths and flaws – all solidify his place as an Incin to me, and these were traits he possessed long before the final decision was made.

Being a Fire Elemental affects Cyprian in many different ways. As mentioned many times, his element also affects his teaching style; he is stoic but possesses a burning desire to see his students do well, and as a result, he is pushy. Even the little things he enjoys in his daily routine are somewhat resultant of his element, for Cyprian likes hot drinks, steaming showers, and the summer months. His element influences his fighting style; he becomes tremendously spirited and occasionally near chaotic when involved in a fight of any kind – brains or brawn. His debates become heated rather quickly and whether he is truly angry or not, he usually begins yelling to get his point across. In these situations, his opinionated nature easily shines through.

Furthermore, as the guide states, Fire Elementals are “passionate about everyone and everything in their lives”, and Cyprian is nothing if not passionate. Despite the hard exterior that he has crafted for himself, he is ultimately extremely caring - especially of his students. He grows attached to Discipuli and Advocates fairly quickly, and wants to make them tap into their potential and grow as Elementals.

Why I Want This Feature: As already stated, Cyprian was conceived as an Elemental as opposed to being a brand new character who the feature just seemed to suit after a while. I will not deny this. I think this still shows, though, that the feature is fitting for him. As Elementalism is meant to be, it is inherent – naturally apart of him, without much interference or over-thinking on my part. I can see him with no other feature.

It is also probably apparent that one of the main reasons I want this feature is to ensure that he can be apart of and contribute to the large plot ahead. I’ve done my best to make sure that his feature would be well utilised, and that there would be many opportunities where it could have a direct or indirect effect on those largely involved in the plot, which hopefully shows in the Future Plots section of this application.

I also honestly believe that being given the chance to play out a feature like this will help me to grow as a writer. As it is something outside my comfort zone - something I once thought I would never play - I believe it will be a bit of a challenge for me. But it is a challenge I would like to face head on.

Extra / Other Things to Consider: Admittedly, despite how sold I may seem on this feature, Cyprian the character has become deeply important to me, even more than Cyprian the Elemental. I have already given thought to which direction he will be taken in if not approved. So, as much as I like the idea of him being an elemental, should my application be refused, I would still play this character and simply find another way to bring him to life.

future plots

I have spoken to many drivers to obtain future plots for Cyprian. Should my application be approved, I have every intention of playing out all of these and any consequences or after-effects they might bring, as I’m very excited about every single one of them.

General Elemental Plot: Cyprian has always been on the council’s side because as far as he is concerned it is the only side to be on. He’s seen what has become of several elementals – including relatives – who have chosen to stray from the council, and personally believes that the strife one endures once going rogue is not worth it. Furthermore, for the most part, he agrees with many of their ideologies. He has no interest in making all Elementals equal with other wizards, and even fears the potential effects a complete revelation of Elementalism can have on their community. He admits the council is not perfect, but remains a strong advocate for these reasons. As such, in the general plot, Cyprian will obviously be on the Council’s side.

As a result of his devotion to the Council, Cyprian will be at odds with many, including some whose faces he has grown used to seeing every day. He is going to have to deal with seeing people he knows move over to the rogues’ side.  He is going to have to deal with betrayal. He is going to have to deal with knowing that he may have to fight former students, colleagues, and friends even though he would rather not. At the end of the day, Cyprian knows that he will do whatever it takes to protect Inverness. He is going to have to learn how to tolerate the guilt involved in this.

An Unlikely Pair: Zina Gorshkova, Taylor’s work in progress, will start out as an annoyance to Cyprian. He will find her pranks distracting and irritating at first, and will constantly tell the Zealot training her to keep her under control. However, she will begin to eventually grow on him and he will start to see her potential for greatness. Rather than trying to keep her away from him, or telling her to buzz off, he will begin embracing her presence and giving her advice should she ever need any. Over time, Cyprian will begin to think of her as a slightly annoying but undeniably loveable niece of sorts, and will begin to tolerate her and eventually grow to care for her a great deal.

Rogue Discipula: Zina will eventually learn of the Council’s role in her parents’ deaths and decide to side with the rogues. This will be difficult for Cyprian to cope with because, by this time, he would have begun to really care about Zina. Her change in allegiance would only serve to make his seemingly prevalent grumpiness to flare, and would certainly cause him to lash out at those he normally would not.

Despite this, Zina’s move to what Cyprian views as the dark side will also bring him somewhat closer to other Elementals he’d never dreamed he’d befriend, such as Pop Star Princess’s Simon Ainsworth and Helena’s Brynja Evaldsdóttir. Brynja and Cyprian typically do not get along due to being counters, but Brynja empathises with Cyprian, as Zina is an actual relative of hers. These shared feelings will allow the two counter Elementals to develop an understanding of each other and potentially grow to respect each other a little more. Zina was also an actual student of Simon. Once she leaves, the Garth Elemental will begin to blame himself and question his abilities as a teacher and member of the Council.  Cyprian will awkwardly reassure him that he is a wonderful asset to the Council and remind him that no one could foretell Zina’s going rogue, thereby realising that his own anger is irrational.

Time Artefact: Carys and I have discussed Cyprian running an important errand for Lario. The Harbinger Incin will request that Cyprian retrieve a time artefact for him and return it to Inverness. Of course, because it’s Lario asking him, Cyprian will do everything in his power to find this artefact and bring it back.

Second Affinities and Fights: For a while, Cyprian has been pursuing his second affinity, which will hopefully be stone. Obviously, it isn’t something he has been learning on his own. His ill relationship with the Harbinger Demin prevented him from asking for her help, but he was fortunately approached by Fiorella who was in need of a Zealot Incin to assist her with her second affinity, thus solving both of their problems. The relationship between Cyprian and Fiorella was not utterly peachy, though, and eventually the pair had an off day that led to a fight between the two of them – a physical fight inclusive of elemental spells. During this fight, there was some damage dealt to the their surroundings leading to the two of them being punished.  Still, the Council kept the two of them working together, and this has led to a lot of tension. In future threads, Fiorella and Cyprian will have to learn how to tolerate each other or die trying.

Another thing to be tackled in future threads will be Cyprian’s growing suspicion of Fiorella and how he will go about assuaging this suspicion. During their squabble, the Zealot Demin displayed her knowledge of more advance Incin spells due to her intense anger clouding her rationality. Of course, Cyprian noticed her use of a spell that he hadn’t taught right away. Because they will be forced to continue working together, and Cyprian is not the type to skirt around an issue, Spencer and I plan to eventually have a thread where he will ask her how she acquired this knowledge in a straightforward and undoubtedly rude manner. This will only lead to another argument between the two, though this one is less likely to be physical.

Showdowns: Prior to her leaving the Council, Rozenn and Cyprian did not get along. Their personalities clashed tremendously, which often led to little quarrels. After Rozenn left and then returned, their relationship became even more antagonistic due to Cyprian being unable to give her the fresh start he grants to all other council converts.  He was against her assignment as Harbinger, and quite miffed when the role was granted to her. He suspects that she is up to no good, and as a result of this, treats her with little to no respect and is constantly arguing with her.  This pent up frustration and annoyance is going to slowly build up to hatred, and the two will eventually have a showdown that will likely lead to the both of them becoming severely injured.

Suspicion and Preventing Corruption: Cyprian’s bad encounters with Fiorella and Rozenn, as well as his peaking suspicion of Fio, will eventually force him to succumb to his inner Sherlock Holmes. Noticing the closeness between these two ladies, Cyprian will decide to begin following them around, making sure that they are not a threat to the Council. He will also force recruit Simon to assist him with his spying.

Eventually, Cyprian will also decide to warn the Harbingers about these two women, excluding Rozenn of course. Ty and I have discussed his potential thread with Demeter, in which he will bring up his suspicions about Roz and Fio.

The man’s suspicion of these ladies will also bring him to become quite protective of their discipuli, afraid of the influence they might have over them. He will end up reaching out to one of the younger ones, Michaela’s Karsten Dettweiler, on a whim, and will later take him under his wing. While he can’t teach Karsten everything about the stone element, and will therefore have to release him to Rozenn so that he actually learns, Cyprian will try to teach him more about the Council in the hopes that the young Demin’s allegiance never changes.

Hunting and Council Elemental Retrieval Squad: As a Zealot, one of Cyprian’s duties is to hunt down rogues and either return them to Inverness or kill them. After discovering that people have left or betrayed the Council, Cyprian will enter one of his angry spells. While in this horrible mood, he will be sent to retrieve a rogue who was once a student of Nikodim’s. During this encounter, Cyprian will lose control and ultimately kill the boy. Sarah and I plan to play the aftermath of this event, when Cyprian has to bring himself to confess his actions to Niko. This will put a temporary dent in their friendship that the two men will have to overcome.

Out of regret for what happened, and an even larger desire to rescue all of those who were taken away because of the war, Cyprian will also eventually team up with Nikodim to track down rogues and determine how to extract all of the discipuli safely.

rp sample

While others might preach that surroundings did not matter, and the students’ eagerness to learn and interest in their element would ensure good performance, Cyprian believed otherwise. Yes, a desire for knowledge played a hand in how well discipuli learned their elements, but the Incin Zealot was sure that surroundings held an influence.  If one stuck a Garth in Antarctica, would he not flourish?  Yet when put in a deep forest or grassland, work would be difficult for him. In the second environment, the elemental would be challenged.  And that was what Cyprian wanted – to challenge his students.

The Zealot and a few of the older discipuli were trekking to a location which Cyprian had decided to keep unknown to his discipuli for the sake of having a mostly silent trip.  There was discomfort in all of them, he could sense. This was not surprising, as their current setting was damp and dewy due to a douse of rain that had occurred the previous night. Admittedly, as they neared the destination, even he had to drive away an instant feeling of vexation that had begun to ignite inside of him. Water was a nuisance, without a doubt.

With arms crossed, he turned to face the young people. His expression was solemn, but as he spoke, a touch of irritation sparked across his features. “As we get closer to the spot,” he began, eyes surveying every pupil, “I don’t want to hear any complaints. Let’s get one thing straight. I do not care if you’re uncomfortable. I do not care if you end up tired. I do not care if you feel weak or sick.” For a moment, his gaze lingered on one student in particular – the undeniable slacker of the group – before he refocused on the rest. “I do not care. Suck it up.” Once he gave his words time to sink in, he turned around once more, continuing to lead the way.

Minutes passed before he stopped again to announce their arrival.  Before them was the entrance of a cave – small and uninviting. It was easy to hear the water droplets inside falling from the roof to the ground. The sound evoked a low groan from the Fire Elemental, as if he was not the one who had purposely chosen to come here, and he began to walk inside the cave, motioning for the group to follow.

When inside, Cyprian held out his hand and muttered, “Incin.” A small flame immediately came to life in his palm, acting as a torch.  Without another word, he continued to guide them down a path until they were met by four more arches that all formed different passages. The man faced his students again. “Each day of training, we are going to come back here and go down one of these paths,” he explained. “The minute we enter, you discipuli are to decide the best way to make it to the end. Obviously, you’ll be using your knowledge on spells to help you.”

Wordlessly, he made the flame in his palm grow. “This,” he said, raising his hand the slightest bit, “is the most help you’ll be getting from me.  Once we enter a new passageway, it goes out and you’re on your own.” He paused to wipe a droplet that had fallen on his cheek. A clear look of annoyance was on his face when he spoke again. “There’s no telling what’s down these paths, so be careful.” That was the simple – and only – warning he gave before making his way down the first one. As promised, the minute he’d stepped foot into the entrance, the flame in his hand extinguished and they were once again in darkness.

Approved

Name: Nicole
Character name: Aias Althaus
Feature you are applying for: Rogue Elemental ~ Typh (Zealot level) primary, Garth secondary

Description of the character: Aias is the kind of guy people generally like: charismatic, friendly, optimistic. At first glance, he’s a happy fellow, flitting between places with a smile on his face and a kind word for anyone who needs it. When thrown into debates, he shows himself to be intelligent, and his passion can be seen in everything he does. It takes a little digging to start to see the chips in the carefully constructed façade, the one he doesn’t always realize is there. Despite his optimistic general outlook, life as a rogue has given him an edge of cynicism when it comes to certain things, human nature being one of them. He believes things will turn out for the best, sure, but not without hard work and a lot of push back from people. It’s amusing that he sees stubbornness in other people, since he can be quite headstrong himself. In fact, he is oblivious to his own stubborn nature, and most of his flaws. In his mind, he’s absolutely fine and has nothing to work on. When it comes to many things, Aias is picky; this shows the most in his eating habits. He’s extremely disorganized, leaving his own personal living spaces in clutter no matter how hard he tries to clean. It falls in line with his chaotic nature, although he can surpress it for short periods of time if he really needs to.

Application: So I’ll be entirely honest: I adore elementals. I love them to death, and it’s a large reason I wanted to do a major plot with one in the first place. Aias is a character I’ve had floating around for a long time in some respect;  I’ve wanted another elemental for a while (although I always imagined I’d make my own rather than adopt this time around, whoops). He went through some morphing in my head before I grabbed him from Phoenix Lord and the others, originally starting as another Earth elemental from Armenia (I’ve been attempting to make an Armenian character for some time although it always ends up shifting away from that as plotting happens), then going to a water elemental, then he fled as I started thinking of other things I wanted to do. When we started talking about needing a leader for the rogue faction, it made sense to me that I’d pull him back, although I didn’t intend for him to be the leader/warlord for the plot. That happened later, when we needed someone to step up. Mixing it with the plotting between The Oncoming Storm and Phoenix Lord was something that seemed like a lot of fun, and adopting him also allowed me to mess with some of my original ideas while also keeping him relevant and giving him plots for beyond just this. I know this app is going to appear lackluster; I’m not making any fancy headers or anything for it. Just writing and posting.

Future plots: The big one is the Elemental Plot that’s happening. Aias is a major driving force behind this, as he’s the one who’s managed to unite most (if not all) of the Rogues, provoking the attack on Inverness, and kidnapping the Council Discipli to undergo what he believes to be pacifistic “reeducation” (although not all actually follow his orders and not all the brainwashing is exactly pacifistic). Aias is heavily tied in plots with Phoenix Lord’s Magnus and The Oncoming Storm’s Demeter; originally Council born, Aias was left in Demeter’s care and she was his legal guardian until Magnus stole him to get revenge for a perceived slight. Magnus then raised him as a Rogue, fostering some of the bitterness that Aias feels towards the Council now. I’ve talked to both of them about Aias learning more about the first six years of his life, which aren’t totally lost to him but have been heavily warped through childhood with Magnus. Aias is also friends with Simon, Pop Star Princess’s Garth elemental. Simon knows that Aias is not a Council elemental, making the two an odd couple indeed. During the elemental plot, Aias and Zoe are going to interact, with Zoe unaware that Aias is behind what’s happening and Aias unaware of how the Discipli are being treated. Upon learning that not all of the techniques being used were sanctioned by him, he’s going to help Zoe escape from where the Rogue elementals are keeping them. He can’t help more for fear of others discovering what happened; one escapee is a fluke, but too many becomes suspicious after all. In addition, Aias is going to attempt to sway many over to the side of the rogues prior, during, and after the events of the Elemental Plot. Some of these people include Alain St. Clare. Sailor Pluto and I have talked about Aias getting his information on the Council from her elemental as well, which could be a lot of fun and would give him a reason to be one step ahead of the game. Taylor and I have discussed Aias being the one to tell Zina about her parents and the history there, which will lead to a moment of crisis.

RP sample using the feature: They were supposed to meet an hour ago. Had he been concerned about timeliness, Aias would have been annoyed. Instead, he merely kept his eyes on his book, listening for people who might approach. He’d already had a meeting with Rozenn, which had been less stellar. The discipli were getting stronger, which would make his plan harder to execute. His other contacts being late wasn’t helping any either, but que sera sera. He has entertainment, and he could always give them a stern lecture when they weren’t out in the open. Frankly, he was just happy that he’d remembered to get a coffee before this. He’d need it.

Thirty minutes later and Aias was swearing softly in Gaelic. Now he felt he should be concerned. Plus, there was the man in the blue business suit who hadn’t moved since he’d arrived not long after Aias. Without a second though, he stood and made his way over to the (very obvious, in his mind) trailer on the context of just moving on with his day. Growing closer told him all he needed to know: the man was most certainly a fellow elemental, although probably a council one. As he reached over to throw away his now empty cup of coffee, he muttered a quick “Typh Acies”, drawing the breath from the man’s very lungs before he briskly walked off. If they only sent one man to watch him, the Council was full of more fools than he thought. Aias ducked into an alleyway and levitated up to the rooftops, keeping an eye out for others who might be trailing him. The longer he kept his head down, the safer he’d be in the long run.

In the two hours he spent on the roof, Aias spotted at least three goons wander around, look confused at the obvious presence of an elemental, then wander off because they were unable to find him. It was quite amusing, really. Eventually they grabbed a face he recognized, though, and he realized it was time to go. The only people who ever remembered to look up were air elementals, after all, and now that they’d pulled one, it was time for him to actually move. It wasn’t hard to traverse among the houses if only because he had the air there to use as a foothold. Anyone else might have had trouble, but he was adept at this. He had to be; it was the easiest way to escape from the Council. Eventually, though, he reached a point where he’d have been spotted far too easily if he remained on the rooftops, and so he found a safe spot to go back down. A sigh escaped him as he looked around again. He hadn’t felt any other elementals around for a bit of time, so he seemed to have actually escaped. Good. It was with a large grin plastered on his face that he departed, making his way to a café relatively nearby.

“Simon, my friend, your people are getting rusty.”

Approved

RESUBMITTED

Name: Sarah C

Character name: Nikodim Balaur (Full Name: Duke Nikodim Pyotr Balaur Abkhazi von der Pahlen, Prince of Kardenakhi)

Feature you are applying for: zealot Incin/second affinity Madin

Description of the character:
Nikodim Balaur was born the bastard child of Russian Wizard nobility during the time of the czars. He grew up as a servant in his grandfather's house until it was discovered that he had magical talent. His grandfather adopted him as his heir, a "nephew" recently come to live with him. He was sent to Durmstrang like all men of the family before him, but he was miserable there. He could barely cast the most basic spells and he was routinely punished for his inability to perform. He made no friends and was constantly harassed by other students. As the Great War rolled over Russia, Nikodim ran away from the school and lied about his age to enlist in the Russian army. Barely 14, Nikodim was sent to the Eastern front, more fodder for the trenches. After a brutal charge, Nikodim was left for dead in the snow. His will to live caused flames to dance around him prone body, keeping him warm. It was in this state that Nikodim was found by another elemental and taken with all haste to Inverness.

Nikodim sees Inverness as the one place in the world where he feels normal. Like most fire elementals, Nikodim deals with anger issues, exacerbated by his traumatic time spent in the trenches. As a young zealot, his anger was almost uncontrollable. For a while, he sought to escape his elemental nature, submitting himself to his grandfather's world of wealth and Pureblood privilege. As the last scion of two noble Russian families and heir to the Phalen Mining Company, he was a sought-after dinner guest. He attended decadent parties and seduced witches with his titles and his passionate nature. But all of this still left him empty and angry. He found only falsehoods and shadows in that life, so he returned to Inverness, looking for peace and stability. At the advice of the Madin Harbinger (whom Nikodim was learning his second affinity from) he traveled to China to learn eastern-style meditation from some elementals there. It was a grueling training, pushing him physically and emotionally, but it was exactly what he needed. Even after mastering his emotions, Nikodim stayed in China, having fallen in love with the land and culture. He still belonged to the council, though, so when he was called back to Inverness, he came.

The assignment that the council had for him was a difficult one: retrieve a Pythia child and bring her to Inverness. The journey was particularly harrowing for Nikodim, since it involved a good amount of travel over water. Getting the child was also no easy task; her parents were not exactly cooperative and he sustained several heavy injuries protecting not only the council members, but taking a few hits meant for Magnus and Rozenn as well. The operation was successful, and Nikodim spent the trip back to Inverness being seen to by his friend Demeter Grey, having been reunited after several years of separation. He stayed at Inverness for a while, helping with Katell, the Pythia child: telling Russian folktales and making shapes in fire to amuse her. Once she had passed, he left Inverness, keeping in touch with Demeter and a few other friends through letters.

For the next few decades, Nikodim split his time between staying at Inverness, seeing to the family business, and taking extended vacations to China, Japan, and a few other Asian countries. Once Demeter set up the Ward, Nikodim stayed to assist, and he's remained at Inverness almost exclusively ever since. Something happened to Nikodim that he never expected: love. His loyalties are becoming more strained as he struggles with his duty to the council and his emotions for an earth elemental who would not return his affections even if she wanted to.

Application:
I am relatively new to MH, but I have been role-playing for several years. For me, the most important thing in any character interaction is the story. I want to work with the other characters that I'm interacting with to create a dynamic and interesting story. My characters might fail, they might get hurt, they might not accomplish what they wanted to but that's the fun of playing: making believable characters that have flaws and failings then seeing what they will do with that.

This is my second character, and I wanted to make him an elemental for the upcoming plot. I wanted to have someone close to the council who would be greatly impacted by the fall and who would have some very difficult decisions to make: protect the council or give in to his forbidden feelings?

Future plots: - All characters/plots mentioned have been discussed with their drivers
Forbidden Love Nikodim has been in love with Demeter Grey for a little over 40 years. They became friends as Niko trained under Harbinger Madin Gavin in his second affinity and Demeter was just entering council life. Throughout the hardships in Demeter's life, Niko has been a solid rock of support. Niko has been content to keep his love a secret, but once Inverness falls, he decides to confess his feelings and push for a change in the council's policy regarding inter-elemental relations. The Oncoming Storm and I will play out the change in their relationship after Niko's revelation and how Demeter will react to Niko's desire to face off against the council on this issue.

A Father Figure When Nikodim first arrived at Inverness, he was an angry young man. The first peron to take the time to see past his exterior to the hurt boy beneath would have been Lario. The older Incin would have helped him start to control himself. Nikodim trusts Lario implicitly and calls him "Ded Lario" in private (ded being the Russian word for grandfather). Lario has been looking at Niko as the next most likely candidate for Harbinger. Although he has not been prophesied as such, Lario holds out hope that Niko could make a suitable leader. It is Lario that Niko will turn to as a councilor when he decides he can no longer live his life denying his feelings for Demeter. The Song Faerie and I have already talked about Lario and Niko working on a new set of inter-elemental relationship guidlines while Lario feels out whether or not Nikodim would be a good Harbinger. Should Lario not survive the rogue plot-line, I would be more than willing to have Niko step up as Harbinger if no one else wants the position.

Friends in the Flame It would be an understatement to say that Niko and Cyprian can appear at first glance to have opposite personalities, but if you dig a little deeper you'd find that they have a lot of core values in common. It is these deeply-held beliefs that have kept the two men as good friends. But even good friendships can be tested and when Cyprian kills Niko's former student, the two men will have to find a way to deal with this huge issue. Baby Bae and I have talked about how Niko and Cyprian are going to get through this and also about Cyprian's willingness to help Niko take back the stolen children.

Making It Right Nikodim and Rozenn have a complicated relationship. They were friendly acquaintances when she was a child and a young elemental, as Nikodim was on good terms with her grandmother (who had Incin as her second affinity) and who moved in Pureblood circles with Nikodim's family. While he was one of the zealots responsible for taking Katell into the council, he never felt good about the council keeping Rozenn away from her child. To help the broken family and assuage his own guilt, he acted as a secret messenger, taking notes from Rozenn and giving them to Katell so the girl would know that she had not been abandoned.
When Rozenn gave birth to her second child, Nikodim was given another secret to keep: while Rozenn was told that her child had died shortly after being born, Nikodim was made privy to the truth by Rozenn's grandmother. The child lived, and would be given to another family to raise. Nikodim struggled with whether or not to tell Rozenn and anger the council but Rozenn's attack and subsequent disappearance hardened Niko towards her and he decided that he would never tell her that her son lived.

Fast-forward about 50 years. Rozenn's child is an ice elemental named Gaspard who believes his birth parents abandoned him. Niko befriended Gaspard when he saw how poorly the other elementals treated him because of his parents' rogue status. Now that Rozenn is back in the council's good graces, Niko has begun to feel guilt because of the secret he carries. Micheala, Sailor Pluto, and I will play out Niko finally breaking his silence and informing Rozenn that the child she thought dead is alive and a possible reunion for mother and son (which will most likely completely backfire).


Rogue Attack On Inverness Nikodim will fight for the council, leading a group of zealots against the invading rogues to give the Harbingers time to escape. While engaged in battle, he will see his (unofficial) godson Aias whom he thought was dead. This news shakes Nikodim, and while he is grateful that Aias is alive, he is none too pleased to find him fighting against the council. Once the council has established a new base of operations, Niko will organize a task force to find where the stolen Discipli were taken and to bring them back safely, most likely getting help fro Aias once he realizes that the stolen council members are not being treated in the way he had initially planned.


Saving Our FutureAs a Zealot Incin, Nikodim is in charge of teaching the young disciples. One of his biggest handfuls is Vitya, a former rogue who returned to the council after being abandoned by the other faction. Nikodim was chosen as teacher for him because unlike other elementals, he holds no grudge against the former rogue. \He's hoping that Vitya will begin to see in himself all the potential that there is, and when he's taken by the rogues again, Nikodim will not be merciful to those responsible. Few things can get him angrier than children being forced to fight someone else's wars. Sailor Pluto and I will have training sessions together both before and after the Inverness plot.

RP sample using the feature:

Nikodim was slowly waking from a strange dream. He had dreamed that he was the son of a wizard, and he had attended a school to teach him spells and magic. It had been more of a nightmare, really, for he was no wizard and everyone in the school could see it. But that dream was over, now. In a moment, Anatoly would hammer on his door, calling him to work. The hounds would be hungry and ready for exercise. Nikodim could hear his steps, booming like thunder. No, not thunder, Nikodim thought. Gunfire. Like distant cannons. Nikodim opened his eyes.

Above him was a white winter's sky, devoid of color. If he turned his head, he could see bodies lying on the frozen ground, like broken toy soldiers. Real soldiers, real men, real bodies. He had to remind himself of reality. He was cold from exposure and blood loss. Now that he was conscious again, he could feel the low throb of his injuries: a gunshot wound in his left shoulder and thigh. Since he wasn't dead yet, the bullets must have missed anything vital. That wasn't particularly comforting, since now Nikodim could look forward to a slow death in the snow. Once the fighting had settled down, other soldiers would be out looking for their wounded, but Nikodim had a feeling he might already be dead, or too injured to waste time on, by the time they found him.

To take his mind off the pain, he retraced the steps that had led to his impending death. He was a wizard, the only heir of a long line of wizards which traced its lineage back to Russian royalty. He had been sent to Durmstrang to be taught, but he was no good at magic and could barely perform the most basic of spells. He was punished and was socially ostracized. So he fled, lying about his age to join the Russian army. Not that anyone was looking too closely at any warm bodies willing to hold a rifle. Russia was desperate, and the Great War was taking a toll on the country. So Nikodim had been sent to the trenches. This morning, he had been in a charge. He would most likely be dead by nightfall.

I don't want to die, he thought. Then, spoken out loud, "I don't want to die." As the words left his mouth, Nikodim felt something stir in him. It was anger. Anger at his grandfather, for sending him away to a place full of strangers. Anger at the school, for failing to help him when he needed it and for punishing him for things he could not control. Anger at his country, for sending men to water the trenches with their blood. But mostly, it was anger at himself, for thinking that he could find a life that offered more than waking every day to care for a noble's hunting hounds. As the anger built, Nikodim felt strangely warm. He held up his right hand, and watched as ghostly flames danced along it, down his arm, and onto his chest. They warmed, but did not burn. Hallucinations, he thought, strangely calm. He dropped his hand, enjoying the warmth of his anger.

Approved

*Sorry this isn't pretty, but I don't have PhotoShop on the tablet I'm using, and if I need to elaborate, I'll do that as well.

Name: Michaela 
Character name: Gaspard Archambault
Feature you are applying for: Garth Zealot, second affinity Demin.

Description of the character:
To put it simply, Gaspard is not someone that people would find themselves gravitating towards, once they get to know him, that is. Outwardly Gaspard is an attractive, and suave man who appears to be very charming and silver tongued. But once past this façade, it becomes apparent that the man anything but charming. In reality, Gaspard is not one to care whether people like him or not. He is rather unconcerned with most other peoples feelings and tends to stick to himself being quiet and reserved without something to pick at. Some might describe him as brooding. There are those that he considers friends, and he will treat them with a gentler hand, and respect, but outside of that selective group, the wizard is not likely to be making friends left and right. This is not of concern for Gaspard because of all the time he chooses to devote to the council, and his work there. He tends to feel that he doesn't need anything else beyond that. He is also quite arrogant in the sense that he can rarely be persuaded that he is in the wrong, or that his behavior is out of line. But rather than being ignorant to his own arrogance, the man enjoys it. Mostly for the simple fact that there are many people who dislike arrogance, and he likes using that against them to push their buttons because he enjoys getting under people's skin, and feeling powerful. For him it's mostly the fact that he knows he's their reason for being angry. That said, though, he does have softer edges to him, particularly with younger elementals, and they do show themselves on occasion. He is also very jilted, and cynical when it comes to seeing the good in things these days, much of this, and his other behavior are a result of his unresolved anger at his biological parents, having been told that they were rogue, and essentially abandoned him in favor of their own pursuits.

Application:
To be honest, I was interested in the elemental plot before Gaspard was even a thought in my head. This was mostly because I have my other elemental, and was excited to get in on the action with him, and thought that two elementals might be overkill, but I was also really attracted to the involvement that an older elemental might offer me too. Particularly in the sense that having an older elemental would give me the chance to explore elementals and elementalism in a different way than having a younger one would. It was really after talking with Fee and learning about Roz, her past, and her "lost" son, that I even really began to think of creating an older elemental in the first place. I didn't have any ideas that had stood out to me prior, and the more I heard about Gaspard, the more intrigued I became, both by his character, and the plotting and threading opportunities it would open up for myself and others. And so, after a little debating, I agreed to adopt him, and he morphed into the jaded, angry thing that he is. I didn't intend for him to become so difficult to deal with, either. I had just been interested in digging into the council v. rogues dynamic, and how learning about his past and heritage would change the way he dealt with the conflict, and changed him as a person. Overall, though, what interested me most were the opportunities that would become available for the purpose of the plot, threads in general, and the chance to thread and or be involved with people I might not have had the chance to work with before.

Future plots:
Obviously, due to his parentage and general stance on council v. rogues, Gaspard would have quite a bit of involvement with the elemental plot as a whole. Whether it be through being kidnapped, by Roz and potentially Aias, in an attempt to keep him safe, and in hopes of getting him to see the truth about what had happened, and why he was told what he was by the council, and hoping to turn him rogue. Kidnapped or not, Gaspard will have a lot of thinking to do, about who his parents are, and why he wants to be the one to kill them, particularly once the truth is revealed. And, if/when he learns the truth from Roz, and Magnus, Gaspard will obviously have even more on his hands to consider with his whole world being turned upside down and shaken a few times. Gaspard will also have plenty of interaction with many of the older council elemental as well. Niko for example will play two roles in Gaspard's life. He will be both the one to expose the truth to Roz and Gaspard about their being related, serve as a mentor, and as a friend. Obviously this revelation will likely be the beginning of the changes coming Gaspard's way, and integral to a lot of his later involvement with the whole conflict. Another elemental who will play a similar role in Gaspard's life is Demeter Gray. This is mostly due to her close relationship with Niko, and her want to look after council raised children. She will play a role as one of Gaspard's surrogate mentors/parents, along with Niko and Mickie's Cyprian. This then opens up the door for much drama and conflict between Gaspard/Roz/ Demeter/Niko. Which will sort of be the next step in the unraveling of Gaspard's previous life, and only serve to complicate things as he understands them, and leave him with quite the puzzle to figure out. Another connection of Gaspard's is a longstanding friendship with Simon Ainsworth. Prior to the conflict, Gaspard will see Simon as a confidant, and close friend, probably his closest friend, save for Niko and Cyprian, whom he sees as mentors. But when Gaspard figures out that he and Aias know each other, this will further serve to confuse everything Gaspard has known, forcing him to confront a multitude of factors at once.

This will also open the door for various bouts of fighting with Aias, should they meet at any point, considering that Gaspard is jealous of his involvement with his father, despite his hatred for rogues. His last integral plot involves Taylor's Zina. The first plot involves Gaspard using any potential (we're going to let this one play itself out) romantic feelings that Zina may develop for him as a way to get back at Roz. He will likely see that she sees Zina  as a surrogate daughter, and being the vindictive person he is, see an opportunity to get back at her for the things she has done. Though some conflict is likely to arise as there are many of his friends who are attached to Zina as well, such as Cyprian, and Simon, and this will likely be a point of contention/tension should anyone try to interfere, along with invoking his conscience. Another plot involving Zina is Gaspard's reaction to her turning rogue initially, and his own feelings when she wishes to return. Complicating matter even more will be the acceptance of her return by many of his friends who he sees as pro council, and suspects that should he ever be in a similar situation, he wouldn't be accepted back as readily, and this will serve to anger him, and want to bar the girl from returning. Lastly, Gaspard is not aware that Zina is the child of the elementals he informed upon, helping the council catch them. When he discovers this, he will have his own guilt, and difficulties knowing that he is, in part, responsible for her being a council orphan, much like himself.   

He also has up and coming plots with the likes of Lario, Asya,, Fi, and Zoe, though their natures are still in the works. Along with the flexibility to participate in any other ele plot threads.

RP sample using the feature:

Why had he been so stupid?!

Niko had warned him that being rash would never get him anywhere in a high intensity situation, and usually Gaspard heeded those words, but today and been different. Roz had challenged him to a fight, at her families old stone quarry, where they had trained once or twice, to settle things between them, and his blood had boiled. He hated his mother, and his father, and the rest of the rogue faction. He hated his mother even more now, though that he knew what she had done in having his older sister, who had died a painful death as a pythia, a life that nobody deserved, but especially not his sibling. Though he never had met her, and she had died sometime around the time that he was born, Gaspard felt like, aside from wanting to kill Roz for being a rogue, and for deserting him without a backwards glance, he owed it to his sister. They hadn't asked for the life they had been given, and yet, they had both paid for it dearly.

So it had been an easy decision, to slip out and head for that quarry, with vengeance on his mind. He had even wondered if when things were said and done if he'd feel free, if he would be free to move on with his life, and with the council. He'd been foolish to think ahead, and he knew it. Currently, Gaspard was smack dab in the middle of a trap, surrounded by rogues. And because it was at least five to one, he was losing ground, and losing quickly. Cursing, Gaspard fixed his heated gaze on one of the unfortunate earth elemental who had tried to unsettle him by casting Madin Iacera. He knew he was in a tight spot, and was done with games. With a growl, the blonde gave it back as good as he'd gotten, throwing a Garth Dicubo in the earth elemental direction. One moving ball of ice was easy to handle, but two, was much harder. Grinning victoriously as he watched the elemental struggle to counteract his attack, Gaspard turned his attention to his most pressing problem, the vines trying to attach themselves to his legs. Grunting with effort, Gaspard tried to freeze them off, which only served to make it more difficult to remove them. Snarling again Gaspard twisted to avoid one of Roz's shots, losing his balance in the process. He knew things would be ending in the rouges favor very soon, he just wasn't sure what would be coming next. But he'd be damned if they'd touch him without a fight. 

Name: Taylor
Character name: Zinoviya Gorshkova
Feature you are applying for: Ice elemental – Discipulus Garth

Without a doubt, Zinoviya is a quirky individual. Being raised by an old hermit had her cut off from the world for the first eleven years of her life, and she functions best when she is alone. Because of this lack of contact from the rest of the world, it has caused her to develop a slightly naïve and child-like outlook about life. She is not completely sure how to best interact with others and is baffled by most social interactions, such as hugging or kissing other people’s cheeks in greeting. Too much affection and unnecessary physical contact confuses her and she doesn’t know how to respond to that. In most occasions she will just parrot what the opposite party does.

She comes off as uninviting and anti-social because she does not know how to approach people and start a conversation; she is terrible at making small talk and finds it awkward when she is expected to. Once she grows attached to someone she is completely open with them, sometimes even overly so, and can be unhealthily reliant on those she calls friends. Just like a little bird, she is flighty and has a short attention span, getting excited at the littlest things. While it takes her literally a minute or two to cultivate an interest in something new, she also gets over most of it in a woefully short period of time. “She watches the world with glittering eyes” would probably be an apt phrase to describe her.

On a good day, Zina will try to socialise with her peers, often swooping down and plonking herself right in the middle of someone else’s conversation. When that mood catches her, she is very nosy and wants to know everything that is going on, and she cannot tell that she is unwanted, even if she doesn’t talk and just listens. Sometimes she even passes this information on to other people. But on most occasions, figuring out how to act normally around people is tiresome and they get boring, so she prefers to go to her imaginary world and skulk off somewhere by herself. Certainly, by social standards she would probably seem like a strange person, but she does not care about what others think about her. Or rather, she does not even know that her peers might think that she is weird, so their opinions do not matter to her.

Ninety per cent of the time Zina’s head is not where it’s supposed to be. She is a very dreamy individual and she spends a lot of time daydreaming about anything and everything. Because her head is always in the clouds, she can seem detached from the real world. Always peeping through the curtains of her own little world, any attempts of trying to educate her simply flies over her head. She finds the concept of education burdensome and does not understand why individuals can’t simply study what they are good at instead of being forced to learn the same things. That being said, she does have subjects that she likes and is willing to put more time and effort into them. She writes off those she dislikes as ‘useless’ and only gets by with the bare minimum until she can drop them in her later years, which is a pity because she’s quite bright and could probably do well.

A very giggly individual who laughs at almost every joke, even the unfunny ones, she is terrible at telling them. Her line of logic when it comes to joking around is ‘it’s funny because it’s true’, and that tends to rub some the wrong way. To her, everything is pretty much black and white; someone’s either good or bad, it’s wrong or it’s right. And yet, she operates on a system that’s different from everyone else’s, trusting only her own judgement. If Zina thinks that a sweet looking girl was really an evil two-faced witch, then she might as well have been because there’s no changing her mind about it. Yes, she’s naïve, but she’s not stupid or blindly gullible. When her head’s back on her shoulders instead of being up in the clouds, she can be an analytical person and she knows when to put her brains to good use, most likely when she believes she’s in danger or a disadvantageous situation. 

In her rather isolated childhood she has only ever come into contact with good people and things that went her way, having never been told that she was not good at something or misbehaving. But ever since coming to Durmstrang Zina’s slowly learning that there are shades of grey to life. She’s often told she can’t be the same person she used to be, that she’s not always right and that there are consequences to certain actions, which she doesn’t like. It confuses and irritates her because she doesn’t know what to make of it. She’s trying to find a place for it in her head and slowly adjusting to the concept of growing up.

When Zina first popped into my head some two years ago the first thought I had was ‘ooh I could make her an elemental’, purely because I wanted to. Elementalism is unique to MH and an enticing feature to be a part of, and it was my ultimate goal to make one someday. Even during my prolonged hiatus I never stopped working on her sheet or thinking of possible plots for her. And in the months (possible year) that I have been mulling over her sheet, her elementalism has become an indispensable part of her, and talks of the Big Elemental Plot just sped things up even more. Would I still be able to play her as a stand-alone character? Yes, definitely. Would it be as satisfying or lead me to push the boundaries in terms or writing and thinking of new plots? Probably not as much.

Originally I had planned for her to be an air elemental whose greatest ambition was to fly, which was how the character was first conceptualised, but over time she grew and change. Her character traits expanded to what they are now, and I always listen to my characters and take them in directions that feel the most natural for them. While I wouldn’t say that the element of ice fits Zina one hundred percent, she does seem to identify with it the most. She is in no way charming or sophisticated, and she is definitely the opposite of driven. On the other hand she marches to the beat of her own drum and dislikes social interactions, displaying a certain level of interest in learning and some aptitude concerning her artistic abilities. It is a very nature vs. nurture thing with her as well, because she could very well have become who she was supposed to be, had she grown up in normal circumstances (like if her parents hadn’t died by the Council’s hands) and under proper guidance.

For Zina, I intend to play the feature as something she is still getting used to and working around, because it’s never going to go away. In the guide it says that elementalism is an innate talent. It is something that she is born with, something beyond her control. She does not want it, and she would have fought against her powers a good part of her discipulus years because it’s the one thing she feels that sets her apart from her peers (even more than her sparkling personality). Her whole lifestyle prior to discovery practically dictates to her that normal is good, and having special powers isn’t normal to her, so she’ll think of herself as “bad”. These feelings would have gotten better over time, but they will resurface again once the truth of her parents’ death comes up, and she’ll be questioning everyone around her and the existence of elementalism itself. There will be a lot of inner turmoil as she tries to find her place, be it with the Council or the Rogues.

I am not saying that making her an elemental is just to serve as another plot device to introduce unnecessary drama and hurdles to her life. I think I covered that part pretty well with her history. I see it more as a means to help her grow, not only as a character but also as a person. Before she discovered her powers she had a simple life with mostly animals and kind farmers for companions, and she’d continue living life unchallenged and secluded otherwise. Meeting different people in the Council as well as potential Rogues in the future will broaden her mind, so that she’ll realise life is not all black and white. Her perception of the world, of people, and her values will shift over time, so she won’t remain a static character who’s just stuck in her dreamland forever. There is a lot of growing and maturing that needs to be done on her part, as well as learning to accept who she truly is, and becoming that person she could be.

Seeing as how Zina will eventually turn rogue due to the brainwashing in the Big Elemental Plot, this will change her in terms of who she is and how she interacts with others. This is something I’m keen to play out because she is much closer to members of the Council as opposed to her schoolmates, and it will put a strain on the relationships that she has already fostered, causing her to doubt everyone around her. There will be a lot of warring emotions that she will experience, and an internal battle in herself about what’s good and what’s not, and inherently, what the greater good is for.

For specific connections I’ve spoken to quite a few drivers, many of whom were kind enough to allow me to plot my character with theirs. Zina is incredibly starved for love due to her biological parents’ early demise and isolated upbringing, so she tends to view the Council as a place for her to scope out her pseudo family. They are all incredibly important to her, even though she might not be that adept at showing this due to the large amount of pranks she likes to play and the general mayhem she tends to cause, which will only make her decision to go Rogue that much more monumental in a sense. Since she is such an odd duck, she has made friends with many other elementals, even those whose elements are not friendly with hers.

First of all, Helena’s Brynja was the one to discover her at Durmstrang, and it is only through a bit of poking around that the Hor Harbinger found out that they are in fact distantly related. Zina’s mother used to idolise Brynja, and this seemed to have been inherited by Zina as well, and she trusts Brynja implicitly. Due to certain factors, this trust would begin to become shaky soon, and she is going to ask Brynja a lot of questions about her parents’ past, just to test the waters and see if she lies to her. When she finds out that Brynja knew about her parents’ murder but didn’t do anything to stop it, she’s going to feel betrayal in the most ultimate form, since Brynja is one of her only true relatives left. It is probably going to be one of the main driving forces that will keep her from coming back to Council, the feeling that she wouldn’t be able to trust anyone again.

Within her own element, Tori’s Simon will serve as a father figure for her as he is the one responsible for teaching her, and the two share a very close bond. He would’ve looked out for her more than any of his other students because he used to be close to her biological mother, and would serve as a protector of sorts. After she goes Rogue Simon will likely be one of the few who will accept her back into the Council willingly should she choose to return. Zina also views Jenny’s Zoé as something akin to a big sister, and will likely go to her for advice and just sees her as someone similar to herself. Both Zoé and Simon will work on getting her back to Council after the kidnapping takes place.

Currently, her relationship with Michaela’s Gaspard is a pretty neutral one. He’s the one in charge of teaching her in Simon’s absence, and she is very interested in him because he never reveals anything about himself around her, even with her constant prodding. It is very possible that she may develop some latent romantic feelings for Gaspard in the future, something that he will use to his advantage in a bid to get revenge on Rozenn. He also had a part to play in the murder of her parents, and when she finds out about both things, there will be a lot of hurt feelings and mistrust, something that we chose to play out in due time.

In Durmstrang, there are a handful of elementals that Zina will be more familiar with. Dylan’s Kanat is friendly enough with her in the sense that she’d probably treat him more like an older brother for her to annoy. However, even though they are friendly elements, there would still be a touch of wariness on Zina’s end due to the near death experience she had when she almost drowned. Per what I’ve discussed with Dylan, they’re probably quite fond of each other and he’s helping her get over of her fear of water, as well as imparting onto her his Council ideals. As Kanat is staunchly Council, he will not take to her turning rogue kindly, which will act as something that discourages her from possibly returning.

With Cameron’s Timofei, Zina will have approached with caution when he first came into contact with her. Like I mentioned before, Zina’s a bit odd because counter elements don’t bother her that much. She was more wary of the fact that he was a Rogue converted Council member, although her curiosity would ultimately win over any trepidation, and the two would become friends. Recently, she would begin to ask more questions about Rogue elementals because she’s becoming more suspicious about her parents’ history, and being exposed to another side of the story so to speak, she would begin to be more careful of the going-ons at Inverness.

Unfortunately, her relationship with another Madin Discipulus wouldn’t be as smooth sailing. Other Taylor’s Kyllikki is quite possibly her worse nightmare in a way because of her positivity, enthusiasm, and general bubbliness. She is a source of jealousy for Zina because of her large family and multiple siblings in school. Kylli will constantly try to make friends with Zina, and by talking about her family all the time, it will only cause Zina to think that she’s showing off and dislike the other girl extremely. One day she’ll finally be pushed over the edge and attack her with an ice spell. This is going to be played out IC, which will be very interesting because of the possible repercussions of her actions.

Out of the circle she has immediate contact with, Fee’s Rozenn is probably one of the most important people to Zina ever. To put it simply, she adores Rozenn, who she views as a mother, and they have had a close relationship ever since Zina’s first year at Inverness. She looks up to Rozenn and is willing to do almost anything to please her, and it is likely she will be loyal to her even after they both go Rogue. Precisely because of how close they are, she will be extremely hurt and confused when she finds out that Rozenn knew of the Council’s decision to hunt down and kill her parents all along but kept it a secret. Likewise, this is also something Fee and I have talked about playing out IC, so there’s no telling where it will go, although it will definitely waver her loyalty a little and confuse her even more. 

Her relationship with Mickie’s Cyprian is very interesting, because they are just such an unlikely pair to become involved. Zina is not the most studious or focused person in the world when she doesn’t want to be, so she is constantly “visiting” places she has no business going and leaving destruction in her wake. Cyprian would initially be annoyed by her, but then grow to accept her constant presence around him, and the two will have an almost uncle/niece type relationship. By going rogue, she is effectively severing ties with the Council, which will affect her relationship with Cyprian. Mickie and I have discussed about the possibilities of her maybe seeking him out afterwards to attempt to figure things out, and there’s no saying as to how exactly that will turn out.

As with Cyprian, Carys’ Lario is also an unlikely candidate for Zina to form a strong relationship with. All the same, they have also have a pseudo familial relationship where she sees him as her grandfather who is patient with her and teaches her Gaelic. One of the immediate plots Carys and I have lined up for them is Lario inventing a reason to distract her from following Cyprian to retrieve a time artefact. On the island of the Quintapeds, they will work together and find out exactly how their elements would mash together seeing as they are neither friendly nor counter elements. Of course, this is only the one plot, and there’s no saying what exactly will happen between them in the future as the Big Elemental Plot gets played out.

Seeing as how Zina’s history plays a big part in how she is and where she ends up eventually, Nicole’s Aias plays a crucial role in the sense that he will be the one who reveals her parents’ murder by the council to her, most likely during the kidnapping of the Discipuli. She will then go with him willingly, and everything beyond that point is fair game. There, amongst the other rogues, Zina will also meet Vannah’s Magnus, who would’ve known her parents when they came to seek refuge with him while escaping from the Council. Being a young ice elemental fresh from Council, she would likely be trained and “corrupted” in a sense by Magnus and/or Aias. Again, everything that happens after her departure from Council is fair game.

There are also more light-hearted things in store for Zina. As I’ve stated many times, she is somewhat of a troublemaker, although that is never her intention; she just likes to see how things turn out by doing, not hypothesising. This is where Samm’s Memphis comes to play. Zina has always been fascinated by the sky and flying, which is what will draw her towards Memphis in the first place. His tendency to show off and easy-going nature will have her following him like a second shadow when he’s around Inverness. They are occasional partners-in-crime when it comes to playing pranks, and he would get her out of sticky situations when need be, and ultimately possibly play a role in inspiring her to pick air as her second affinity.

Another such potential thread would be with Fee’s Vitya. Upon convincing him to morph into his elemental state, she will then attempt to douse him with water just to see what will happen. The possibilities are limitless, even with non-elementals, because she is such an unpredictable creature and always getting into some sort of mischief. This list of future plots is not exhaustible by far, and I’m excited to plot her with even more characters.

Zina was going to be punished again, she just knew it.

In her defence, the door (that led to the very important room with all the very important scrolls that “you are never to enter under any circumstances!”) was right open, and if the Acolyte just happened to have his back turned while she managed to sneak out a scroll in her robes… Well, maybe he should be the one punished instead. And it wasn’t as if she was never going to give it back, she was just… borrowing. Yes, borrowing seemed like a good word to use. That’s what she’s going to tell the Acolyte with the caterpillar eyebrows when he wiggled them at her again. He thought it made him look intimidating but it just made him look silly. Maybe she could do something about it the next time he’s taking a nap…

Besides, she wouldn’t have had to resort to such methods if Simon would just be reasonable. So if they got down to the bottom of it, it was his fault, really. Zina rolled her eyes. She could already hear the lecturing she was going to get from him when he finds out she’s trying to learn a sixth year spell. Your fifth year groundwork is still shaky, you can’t even morph properly yet, blah blah blah blah blah… The small girl hopped off the stone stool in the open area, leaving the scroll spread out on the table. All she needed was a little bit of focus. Taking a deep breath, she stretched out her hands and whispered the words “Garth Eternis.”

It started off as a sprout. A single, perfect little sprout, emerging from the ice on her upturned palms. It broke through the thin surface just like a regular plant would emerge from the soil, its shoot reaching upwards to the sun that it would not need. Leaves sprouted next. Delicate, veined things, so thin that Zina could see through them quite clearly, and count the number of lines etched thinly on it. Yet it continued to grow; bigger and bigger, taller and taller. And soon, a bud formed. It was, in Zina’s eyes, the most perfect rosebud she’d ever seen, with full petals and beautifully rounded, she could almost smell the sweet scent. But just as soon as it made to blossom, the blooming flower shattered to pieces, leaving her with a handful of fine ice crystals. Zina gave a small cry of dismay at the inevitable, her hands returning to her sides.

The fifteen year old learned at a young age that it was best not to put too much expectation into something, because all she was going to get was disappointment. But if she actually listened to the advice that she gave herself then she wouldn’t be Zinoviya Gorshkova. She was stubborn, and when she wanted something, she made sure she got it, no matter how long it took. And it didn’t take long at all (no, five hours wasn’t all that long) before there was a pile of little ice figurines laid out on the stone table, all half-formed and twisted. Most were already beginning to drip, but one or two were holding up quite well. Finally! Zina practically launched herself back to where she was sitting, scanning the document excitedly to check if there was any step she missed out.

There wasn’t!

She couldn’t help but give a shriek of delight when the sad-looking figurine (she really couldn’t tell what shape she intended to give it was anymore) showed no sign of melting. She ignored the dirty looks some passing Acolytes gave her, sticking her tongue out at them as she rolled up the scroll and tucked it back safely into her robes for safe-keeping. Now when she got better at performing the spell, she’d be able to make something for ALL her friends! Maybe even for those who aren’t nice to her, as long as they turned a blind eye they next time she did something naughty… With a yawn, long, spindly legs were brought up to rest against her chest as Zina curled herself into a ball on the stool, looping her hands under her knees. Spell casting always took a lot out of her, and she felt ready for a short nap as sleepy grey eyes took in everything around her.

Inverness wasn’t perfect; there were still people who yelled at her to follow the rules, sometimes she was punished for causing trouble, and she still couldn’t do as she liked. But they also seemed to care about her as a person, not how many chips she’d win or lose for her house, and it was nice. There was only one discerning thought in her mind as she finally closed her eyes and rested her chin on the top of her knees, allowing herself to relax into a deep slumber. She liked it here.

It felt like home.

*Sorry this isn't pretty, but I don't have PhotoShop on the tablet I'm using, and if I need to elaborate, I'll do that as well.

Name: Michaela 
Character name: Gaspard Archambault
Feature you are applying for: Garth Zealot, second affinity Demin.

Description of the character:
To put it simply, Gaspard is not someone that people would find themselves gravitating towards, once they get to know him, that is. Outwardly Gaspard is an attractive, and suave man who appears to be very charming and silver tongued. But once past this façade, it becomes apparent that the man anything but charming. In reality, Gaspard is not one to care whether people like him or not. He is rather unconcerned with most other peoples feelings and tends to stick to himself being quiet and reserved without something to pick at. Some might describe him as brooding. There are those that he considers friends, and he will treat them with a gentler hand, and respect, but outside of that selective group, the wizard is not likely to be making friends left and right. This is not of concern for Gaspard because of all the time he chooses to devote to the council, and his work there. He tends to feel that he doesn't need anything else beyond that. He is also quite arrogant in the sense that he can rarely be persuaded that he is in the wrong, or that his behavior is out of line. But rather than being ignorant to his own arrogance, the man enjoys it. Mostly for the simple fact that there are many people who dislike arrogance, and he likes using that against them to push their buttons because he enjoys getting under people's skin, and feeling powerful. For him it's mostly the fact that he knows he's their reason for being angry. That said, though, he does have softer edges to him, particularly with younger elementals, and they do show themselves on occasion. He is also very jilted, and cynical when it comes to seeing the good in things these days, much of this, and his other behavior are a result of his unresolved anger at his biological parents, having been told that they were rogue, and essentially abandoned him in favor of their own pursuits.

Application:
To be honest, I was interested in the elemental plot before Gaspard was even a thought in my head. This was mostly because I have my other elemental, and was excited to get in on the action with him, and thought that two elementals might be overkill, but I was also really attracted to the involvement that an older elemental might offer me too. Particularly in the sense that having an older elemental would give me the chance to explore elementals and elementalism in a different way than having a younger one would. It was really after talking with Fee and learning about Roz, her past, and her "lost" son, that I even really began to think of creating an older elemental in the first place. I didn't have any ideas that had stood out to me prior, and the more I heard about Gaspard, the more intrigued I became, both by his character, and the plotting and threading opportunities it would open up for myself and others. And so, after a little debating, I agreed to adopt him, and he morphed into the jaded, angry thing that he is. I didn't intend for him to become so difficult to deal with, either. I had just been interested in digging into the council v. rogues dynamic, and how learning about his past and heritage would change the way he dealt with the conflict, and changed him as a person. Overall, though, what interested me most were the opportunities that would become available for the purpose of the plot, threads in general, and the chance to thread and or be involved with people I might not have had the chance to work with before.

Future plots:
Obviously, due to his parentage and general stance on council v. rogues, Gaspard would have quite a bit of involvement with the elemental plot as a whole. Whether it be through being kidnapped, by Roz and potentially Aias, in an attempt to keep him safe, and in hopes of getting him to see the truth about what had happened, and why he was told what he was by the council, and hoping to turn him rogue. Kidnapped or not, Gaspard will have a lot of thinking to do, about who his parents are, and why he wants to be the one to kill them, particularly once the truth is revealed. And, if/when he learns the truth from Roz, and Magnus, Gaspard will obviously have even more on his hands to consider with his whole world being turned upside down and shaken a few times. Gaspard will also have plenty of interaction with many of the older council elemental as well. Niko for example will play two roles in Gaspard's life. He will be both the one to expose the truth to Roz and Gaspard about their being related, serve as a mentor, and as a friend. Obviously this revelation will likely be the beginning of the changes coming Gaspard's way, and integral to a lot of his later involvement with the whole conflict. Another elemental who will play a similar role in Gaspard's life is Demeter Gray. This is mostly due to her close relationship with Niko, and her want to look after council raised children. She will play a role as one of Gaspard's surrogate mentors/parents, along with Niko and Mickie's Cyprian. This then opens up the door for much drama and conflict between Gaspard/Roz/ Demeter/Niko. Which will sort of be the next step in the unraveling of Gaspard's previous life, and only serve to complicate things as he understands them, and leave him with quite the puzzle to figure out. Another connection of Gaspard's is a longstanding friendship with Simon Ainsworth. Prior to the conflict, Gaspard will see Simon as a confidant, and close friend, probably his closest friend, save for Niko and Cyprian, whom he sees as mentors. But when Gaspard figures out that he and Aias know each other, this will further serve to confuse everything Gaspard has known, forcing him to confront a multitude of factors at once.

This will also open the door for various bouts of fighting with Aias, should they meet at any point, considering that Gaspard is jealous of his involvement with his father, despite his hatred for rogues. His last integral plot involves Taylor's Zina. The first plot involves Gaspard using any potential (we're going to let this one play itself out) romantic feelings that Zina may develop for him as a way to get back at Roz. He will likely see that she sees Zina  as a surrogate daughter, and being the vindictive person he is, see an opportunity to get back at her for the things she has done. Though some conflict is likely to arise as there are many of his friends who are attached to Zina as well, such as Cyprian, and Simon, and this will likely be a point of contention/tension should anyone try to interfere, along with invoking his conscience. Another plot involving Zina is Gaspard's reaction to her turning rogue initially, and his own feelings when she wishes to return. Complicating matter even more will be the acceptance of her return by many of his friends who he sees as pro council, and suspects that should he ever be in a similar situation, he wouldn't be accepted back as readily, and this will serve to anger him, and want to bar the girl from returning. Lastly, Gaspard is not aware that Zina is the child of the elementals he informed upon, helping the council catch them. When he discovers this, he will have his own guilt, and difficulties knowing that he is, in part, responsible for her being a council orphan, much like himself.   

He also has up and coming plots with the likes of Lario, Asya,, Fi, and Zoe, though their natures are still in the works. Along with the flexibility to participate in any other ele plot threads.

RP sample using the feature:

Why had he been so stupid?!

Niko had warned him that being rash would never get him anywhere in a high intensity situation, and usually Gaspard heeded those words, but today and been different. Roz had challenged him to a fight, at her families old stone quarry, where they had trained once or twice, to settle things between them, and his blood had boiled. He hated his mother, and his father, and the rest of the rogue faction. He hated his mother even more now, though that he knew what she had done in having his older sister, who had died a painful death as a pythia, a life that nobody deserved, but especially not his sibling. Though he never had met her, and she had died sometime around the time that he was born, Gaspard felt like, aside from wanting to kill Roz for being a rogue, and for deserting him without a backwards glance, he owed it to his sister. They hadn't asked for the life they had been given, and yet, they had both paid for it dearly.

So it had been an easy decision, to slip out and head for that quarry, with vengeance on his mind. He had even wondered if when things were said and done if he'd feel free, if he would be free to move on with his life, and with the council. He'd been foolish to think ahead, and he knew it. Currently, Gaspard was smack dab in the middle of a trap, surrounded by rogues. And because it was at least five to one, he was losing ground, and losing quickly. Cursing, Gaspard fixed his heated gaze on one of the unfortunate earth elemental who had tried to unsettle him by casting Madin Iacera. He knew he was in a tight spot, and was done with games. With a growl, the blonde gave it back as good as he'd gotten, throwing a Garth Dicubo in the earth elemental direction. One moving ball of ice was easy to handle, but two, was much harder. Grinning victoriously as he watched the elemental struggle to counteract his attack, Gaspard turned his attention to his most pressing problem, the vines trying to attach themselves to his legs. Grunting with effort, Gaspard tried to freeze them off, which only served to make it more difficult to remove them. Snarling again Gaspard twisted to avoid one of Roz's shots, losing his balance in the process. He knew things would be ending in the rouges favor very soon, he just wasn't sure what would be coming next. But he'd be damned if they'd touch him without a fight.

[mick]approved![/mick]

Name: Taylor
Character name: Zinoviya Gorshkova
Feature you are applying for: Ice elemental – Discipulus Garth

Without a doubt, Zinoviya is a quirky individual. Being raised by an old hermit had her cut off from the world for the first eleven years of her life, and she functions best when she is alone. Because of this lack of contact from the rest of the world, it has caused her to develop a slightly naïve and child-like outlook about life. She is not completely sure how to best interact with others and is baffled by most social interactions, such as hugging or kissing other people’s cheeks in greeting. Too much affection and unnecessary physical contact confuses her and she doesn’t know how to respond to that. In most occasions she will just parrot what the opposite party does.

She comes off as uninviting and anti-social because she does not know how to approach people and start a conversation; she is terrible at making small talk and finds it awkward when she is expected to. Once she grows attached to someone she is completely open with them, sometimes even overly so, and can be unhealthily reliant on those she calls friends. Just like a little bird, she is flighty and has a short attention span, getting excited at the littlest things. While it takes her literally a minute or two to cultivate an interest in something new, she also gets over most of it in a woefully short period of time. “She watches the world with glittering eyes” would probably be an apt phrase to describe her.

On a good day, Zina will try to socialise with her peers, often swooping down and plonking herself right in the middle of someone else’s conversation. When that mood catches her, she is very nosy and wants to know everything that is going on, and she cannot tell that she is unwanted, even if she doesn’t talk and just listens. Sometimes she even passes this information on to other people. But on most occasions, figuring out how to act normally around people is tiresome and they get boring, so she prefers to go to her imaginary world and skulk off somewhere by herself. Certainly, by social standards she would probably seem like a strange person, but she does not care about what others think about her. Or rather, she does not even know that her peers might think that she is weird, so their opinions do not matter to her.

Ninety per cent of the time Zina’s head is not where it’s supposed to be. She is a very dreamy individual and she spends a lot of time daydreaming about anything and everything. Because her head is always in the clouds, she can seem detached from the real world. Always peeping through the curtains of her own little world, any attempts of trying to educate her simply flies over her head. She finds the concept of education burdensome and does not understand why individuals can’t simply study what they are good at instead of being forced to learn the same things. That being said, she does have subjects that she likes and is willing to put more time and effort into them. She writes off those she dislikes as ‘useless’ and only gets by with the bare minimum until she can drop them in her later years, which is a pity because she’s quite bright and could probably do well.

A very giggly individual who laughs at almost every joke, even the unfunny ones, she is terrible at telling them. Her line of logic when it comes to joking around is ‘it’s funny because it’s true’, and that tends to rub some the wrong way. To her, everything is pretty much black and white; someone’s either good or bad, it’s wrong or it’s right. And yet, she operates on a system that’s different from everyone else’s, trusting only her own judgement. If Zina thinks that a sweet looking girl was really an evil two-faced witch, then she might as well have been because there’s no changing her mind about it. Yes, she’s naïve, but she’s not stupid or blindly gullible. When her head’s back on her shoulders instead of being up in the clouds, she can be an analytical person and she knows when to put her brains to good use, most likely when she believes she’s in danger or a disadvantageous situation. 

In her rather isolated childhood she has only ever come into contact with good people and things that went her way, having never been told that she was not good at something or misbehaving. But ever since coming to Durmstrang Zina’s slowly learning that there are shades of grey to life. She’s often told she can’t be the same person she used to be, that she’s not always right and that there are consequences to certain actions, which she doesn’t like. It confuses and irritates her because she doesn’t know what to make of it. She’s trying to find a place for it in her head and slowly adjusting to the concept of growing up.

When Zina first popped into my head some two years ago the first thought I had was ‘ooh I could make her an elemental’, purely because I wanted to. Elementalism is unique to MH and an enticing feature to be a part of, and it was my ultimate goal to make one someday. Even during my prolonged hiatus I never stopped working on her sheet or thinking of possible plots for her. And in the months (possible year) that I have been mulling over her sheet, her elementalism has become an indispensable part of her, and talks of the Big Elemental Plot just sped things up even more. Would I still be able to play her as a stand-alone character? Yes, definitely. Would it be as satisfying or lead me to push the boundaries in terms or writing and thinking of new plots? Probably not as much.

Originally I had planned for her to be an air elemental whose greatest ambition was to fly, which was how the character was first conceptualised, but over time she grew and change. Her character traits expanded to what they are now, and I always listen to my characters and take them in directions that feel the most natural for them. While I wouldn’t say that the element of ice fits Zina one hundred percent, she does seem to identify with it the most. She is in no way charming or sophisticated, and she is definitely the opposite of driven. On the other hand she marches to the beat of her own drum and dislikes social interactions, displaying a certain level of interest in learning and some aptitude concerning her artistic abilities. It is a very nature vs. nurture thing with her as well, because she could very well have become who she was supposed to be, had she grown up in normal circumstances (like if her parents hadn’t died by the Council’s hands) and under proper guidance.

For Zina, I intend to play the feature as something she is still getting used to and working around, because it’s never going to go away. In the guide it says that elementalism is an innate talent. It is something that she is born with, something beyond her control. She does not want it, and she would have fought against her powers a good part of her discipulus years because it’s the one thing she feels that sets her apart from her peers (even more than her sparkling personality). Her whole lifestyle prior to discovery practically dictates to her that normal is good, and having special powers isn’t normal to her, so she’ll think of herself as “bad”. These feelings would have gotten better over time, but they will resurface again once the truth of her parents’ death comes up, and she’ll be questioning everyone around her and the existence of elementalism itself. There will be a lot of inner turmoil as she tries to find her place, be it with the Council or the Rogues.

I am not saying that making her an elemental is just to serve as another plot device to introduce unnecessary drama and hurdles to her life. I think I covered that part pretty well with her history. I see it more as a means to help her grow, not only as a character but also as a person. Before she discovered her powers she had a simple life with mostly animals and kind farmers for companions, and she’d continue living life unchallenged and secluded otherwise. Meeting different people in the Council as well as potential Rogues in the future will broaden her mind, so that she’ll realise life is not all black and white. Her perception of the world, of people, and her values will shift over time, so she won’t remain a static character who’s just stuck in her dreamland forever. There is a lot of growing and maturing that needs to be done on her part, as well as learning to accept who she truly is, and becoming that person she could be.

Seeing as how Zina will eventually turn rogue due to the brainwashing in the Big Elemental Plot, this will change her in terms of who she is and how she interacts with others. This is something I’m keen to play out because she is much closer to members of the Council as opposed to her schoolmates, and it will put a strain on the relationships that she has already fostered, causing her to doubt everyone around her. There will be a lot of warring emotions that she will experience, and an internal battle in herself about what’s good and what’s not, and inherently, what the greater good is for.

For specific connections I’ve spoken to quite a few drivers, many of whom were kind enough to allow me to plot my character with theirs. Zina is incredibly starved for love due to her biological parents’ early demise and isolated upbringing, so she tends to view the Council as a place for her to scope out her pseudo family. They are all incredibly important to her, even though she might not be that adept at showing this due to the large amount of pranks she likes to play and the general mayhem she tends to cause, which will only make her decision to go Rogue that much more monumental in a sense. Since she is such an odd duck, she has made friends with many other elementals, even those whose elements are not friendly with hers.

First of all, Helena’s Brynja was the one to discover her at Durmstrang, and it is only through a bit of poking around that the Hor Harbinger found out that they are in fact distantly related. Zina’s mother used to idolise Brynja, and this seemed to have been inherited by Zina as well, and she trusts Brynja implicitly. Due to certain factors, this trust would begin to become shaky soon, and she is going to ask Brynja a lot of questions about her parents’ past, just to test the waters and see if she lies to her. When she finds out that Brynja knew about her parents’ murder but didn’t do anything to stop it, she’s going to feel betrayal in the most ultimate form, since Brynja is one of her only true relatives left. It is probably going to be one of the main driving forces that will keep her from coming back to Council, the feeling that she wouldn’t be able to trust anyone again.

Within her own element, Tori’s Simon will serve as a father figure for her as he is the one responsible for teaching her, and the two share a very close bond. He would’ve looked out for her more than any of his other students because he used to be close to her biological mother, and would serve as a protector of sorts. After she goes Rogue Simon will likely be one of the few who will accept her back into the Council willingly should she choose to return. Zina also views Jenny’s Zoé as something akin to a big sister, and will likely go to her for advice and just sees her as someone similar to herself. Both Zoé and Simon will work on getting her back to Council after the kidnapping takes place.

Currently, her relationship with Michaela’s Gaspard is a pretty neutral one. He’s the one in charge of teaching her in Simon’s absence, and she is very interested in him because he never reveals anything about himself around her, even with her constant prodding. It is very possible that she may develop some latent romantic feelings for Gaspard in the future, something that he will use to his advantage in a bid to get revenge on Rozenn. He also had a part to play in the murder of her parents, and when she finds out about both things, there will be a lot of hurt feelings and mistrust, something that we chose to play out in due time.

In Durmstrang, there are a handful of elementals that Zina will be more familiar with. Dylan’s Kanat is friendly enough with her in the sense that she’d probably treat him more like an older brother for her to annoy. However, even though they are friendly elements, there would still be a touch of wariness on Zina’s end due to the near death experience she had when she almost drowned. Per what I’ve discussed with Dylan, they’re probably quite fond of each other and he’s helping her get over of her fear of water, as well as imparting onto her his Council ideals. As Kanat is staunchly Council, he will not take to her turning rogue kindly, which will act as something that discourages her from possibly returning.

With Cameron’s Timofei, Zina will have approached with caution when he first came into contact with her. Like I mentioned before, Zina’s a bit odd because counter elements don’t bother her that much. She was more wary of the fact that he was a Rogue converted Council member, although her curiosity would ultimately win over any trepidation, and the two would become friends. Recently, she would begin to ask more questions about Rogue elementals because she’s becoming more suspicious about her parents’ history, and being exposed to another side of the story so to speak, she would begin to be more careful of the going-ons at Inverness.

Unfortunately, her relationship with another Madin Discipulus wouldn’t be as smooth sailing. Other Taylor’s Kyllikki is quite possibly her worse nightmare in a way because of her positivity, enthusiasm, and general bubbliness. She is a source of jealousy for Zina because of her large family and multiple siblings in school. Kylli will constantly try to make friends with Zina, and by talking about her family all the time, it will only cause Zina to think that she’s showing off and dislike the other girl extremely. One day she’ll finally be pushed over the edge and attack her with an ice spell. This is going to be played out IC, which will be very interesting because of the possible repercussions of her actions.

Out of the circle she has immediate contact with, Fee’s Rozenn is probably one of the most important people to Zina ever. To put it simply, she adores Rozenn, who she views as a mother, and they have had a close relationship ever since Zina’s first year at Inverness. She looks up to Rozenn and is willing to do almost anything to please her, and it is likely she will be loyal to her even after they both go Rogue. Precisely because of how close they are, she will be extremely hurt and confused when she finds out that Rozenn knew of the Council’s decision to hunt down and kill her parents all along but kept it a secret. Likewise, this is also something Fee and I have talked about playing out IC, so there’s no telling where it will go, although it will definitely waver her loyalty a little and confuse her even more. 

Her relationship with Mickie’s Cyprian is very interesting, because they are just such an unlikely pair to become involved. Zina is not the most studious or focused person in the world when she doesn’t want to be, so she is constantly “visiting” places she has no business going and leaving destruction in her wake. Cyprian would initially be annoyed by her, but then grow to accept her constant presence around him, and the two will have an almost uncle/niece type relationship. By going rogue, she is effectively severing ties with the Council, which will affect her relationship with Cyprian. Mickie and I have discussed about the possibilities of her maybe seeking him out afterwards to attempt to figure things out, and there’s no saying as to how exactly that will turn out.

As with Cyprian, Carys’ Lario is also an unlikely candidate for Zina to form a strong relationship with. All the same, they have also have a pseudo familial relationship where she sees him as her grandfather who is patient with her and teaches her Gaelic. One of the immediate plots Carys and I have lined up for them is Lario inventing a reason to distract her from following Cyprian to retrieve a time artefact. On the island of the Quintapeds, they will work together and find out exactly how their elements would mash together seeing as they are neither friendly nor counter elements. Of course, this is only the one plot, and there’s no saying what exactly will happen between them in the future as the Big Elemental Plot gets played out.

Seeing as how Zina’s history plays a big part in how she is and where she ends up eventually, Nicole’s Aias plays a crucial role in the sense that he will be the one who reveals her parents’ murder by the council to her, most likely during the kidnapping of the Discipuli. She will then go with him willingly, and everything beyond that point is fair game. There, amongst the other rogues, Zina will also meet Vannah’s Magnus, who would’ve known her parents when they came to seek refuge with him while escaping from the Council. Being a young ice elemental fresh from Council, she would likely be trained and “corrupted” in a sense by Magnus and/or Aias. Again, everything that happens after her departure from Council is fair game.

There are also more light-hearted things in store for Zina. As I’ve stated many times, she is somewhat of a troublemaker, although that is never her intention; she just likes to see how things turn out by doing, not hypothesising. This is where Samm’s Memphis comes to play. Zina has always been fascinated by the sky and flying, which is what will draw her towards Memphis in the first place. His tendency to show off and easy-going nature will have her following him like a second shadow when he’s around Inverness. They are occasional partners-in-crime when it comes to playing pranks, and he would get her out of sticky situations when need be, and ultimately possibly play a role in inspiring her to pick air as her second affinity.

Another such potential thread would be with Fee’s Vitya. Upon convincing him to morph into his elemental state, she will then attempt to douse him with water just to see what will happen. The possibilities are limitless, even with non-elementals, because she is such an unpredictable creature and always getting into some sort of mischief. This list of future plots is not exhaustible by far, and I’m excited to plot her with even more characters.

Zina was going to be punished again, she just knew it.

In her defence, the door (that led to the very important room with all the very important scrolls that “you are never to enter under any circumstances!”) was right open, and if the Acolyte just happened to have his back turned while she managed to sneak out a scroll in her robes… Well, maybe he should be the one punished instead. And it wasn’t as if she was never going to give it back, she was just… borrowing. Yes, borrowing seemed like a good word to use. That’s what she’s going to tell the Acolyte with the caterpillar eyebrows when he wiggled them at her again. He thought it made him look intimidating but it just made him look silly. Maybe she could do something about it the next time he’s taking a nap…

Besides, she wouldn’t have had to resort to such methods if Simon would just be reasonable. So if they got down to the bottom of it, it was his fault, really. Zina rolled her eyes. She could already hear the lecturing she was going to get from him when he finds out she’s trying to learn a sixth year spell. Your fifth year groundwork is still shaky, you can’t even morph properly yet, blah blah blah blah blah… The small girl hopped off the stone stool in the open area, leaving the scroll spread out on the table. All she needed was a little bit of focus. Taking a deep breath, she stretched out her hands and whispered the words “Garth Eternis.”

It started off as a sprout. A single, perfect little sprout, emerging from the ice on her upturned palms. It broke through the thin surface just like a regular plant would emerge from the soil, its shoot reaching upwards to the sun that it would not need. Leaves sprouted next. Delicate, veined things, so thin that Zina could see through them quite clearly, and count the number of lines etched thinly on it. Yet it continued to grow; bigger and bigger, taller and taller. And soon, a bud formed. It was, in Zina’s eyes, the most perfect rosebud she’d ever seen, with full petals and beautifully rounded, she could almost smell the sweet scent. But just as soon as it made to blossom, the blooming flower shattered to pieces, leaving her with a handful of fine ice crystals. Zina gave a small cry of dismay at the inevitable, her hands returning to her sides.

The fifteen year old learned at a young age that it was best not to put too much expectation into something, because all she was going to get was disappointment. But if she actually listened to the advice that she gave herself then she wouldn’t be Zinoviya Gorshkova. She was stubborn, and when she wanted something, she made sure she got it, no matter how long it took. And it didn’t take long at all (no, five hours wasn’t all that long) before there was a pile of little ice figurines laid out on the stone table, all half-formed and twisted. Most were already beginning to drip, but one or two were holding up quite well. Finally! Zina practically launched herself back to where she was sitting, scanning the document excitedly to check if there was any step she missed out.

There wasn’t!

She couldn’t help but give a shriek of delight when the sad-looking figurine (she really couldn’t tell what shape she intended to give it was anymore) showed no sign of melting. She ignored the dirty looks some passing Acolytes gave her, sticking her tongue out at them as she rolled up the scroll and tucked it back safely into her robes for safe-keeping. Now when she got better at performing the spell, she’d be able to make something for ALL her friends! Maybe even for those who aren’t nice to her, as long as they turned a blind eye they next time she did something naughty… With a yawn, long, spindly legs were brought up to rest against her chest as Zina curled herself into a ball on the stool, looping her hands under her knees. Spell casting always took a lot out of her, and she felt ready for a short nap as sleepy grey eyes took in everything around her.

Inverness wasn’t perfect; there were still people who yelled at her to follow the rules, sometimes she was punished for causing trouble, and she still couldn’t do as she liked. But they also seemed to care about her as a person, not how many chips she’d win or lose for her house, and it was nice. There was only one discerning thought in her mind as she finally closed her eyes and rested her chin on the top of her knees, allowing herself to relax into a deep slumber. She liked it here.

It felt like home.

[mick]approved![/mick]

Name: Jennifer
Character name: Charity McCormick
Feature you are applying for: half house elf
Description of the character:
Charity is a very small, cute little creature with overlarge eyes and pointed ears. She usually keeps her ears hidden under a floppy hat or tucked under her hair as much as she can. She's not ashamed of her ancestry, but she is afraid of what will happen if certain disapproving parties pick her out as a part house-elf. She does not care overmuch about clothing, so her choices can be quite versatile and/or eccentric. Charity is a happy child - in fact, her family calls her Cheery as a nickname. She is highly non-confrontational to the point of cowardice unless she is defending someone. She is fearful to the point of phobic of a wide variety of things including heights, spiders, and being outed as a house-elf and having her wand taken away. She's incredibly studious because she worries about having to leave early, therefore learns as much as she can while she has the opportunity. She has been told her entire life that her mother wanted her to go to Hogwarts and excel and she also wants this. In Charity's mind, if she excels academically it will prove that she is a human and nobody will doubt her being allowed to have a wand. Charity has a somewhat extreme fear reaction and responds instinctively to a voice of authority, potentially even one she shouldn't. She's also a hair OCD about cleanliness.
Application:
I would like to be half house elf because the concept of a human child with house-elf idiosyncrasies trying to pass herself off at a human school really appeals to me as a great assimilation story. My current plans of what to do with it involve potentially humorous accidental apparitions, certain wandless charms - mostly cleaning things, and potentially defending others. I really want to explore her assimilation into human society and some incidents involving her family. I'd also like to take house-elfing classes with house elf PCs or NPCs if those exist, as I'd like the use of her powers to be at least partially accidental at first.

According to cannon, house elves had a powerful magic of their very own. Obviously, as a part-breed, this is lessened. Here are the ideas that I have:
1) Charity would be gifted at charms due to this feature, since much of the house-elf magic has wizard charm equivalents. I would like for her to be good enough at certain particular charms of the sorts that make sense to house-elves (cleaning, cooking, defending someone) that she wouldn't necessarily need a wand - or even would need to do them with a false wand. If it is okay for her to have wandless charms, I would like to limit it that while she can cast it, if it needs aiming she would still need a pointed instrument like a kitchen utensil, a pencil, or something of that sort.
2) Charity can apparate like a house elf. Yes, even on Hogwarts grounds. She can't do it whenever she wants and can't control where she goes with it as a first year. It's a fear response; she becomes very afraid and *poof* she is elsewhere. The way I see this going, she winds up in a couple of messes and is sent to lessons with some Castle house elves who at least teach her how to resist apparating or how to do gross-motor aiming when she feels it coming on. (So that instead of winding up in a chandelier or on the roof without warning, she can at least aim for 'somewhere near the lake' and wind up in the lake.) Around the age of 16 or 17, when the other kids are learning apparation anyway or maybe a little bit before, it would finally click.
3) I'd kind of like Charity's magical 'fits' to last longer than other kids - when she's distracted, worried, or bored things start getting magically cleaned. Brooms wander out of closets and start sweeping stuff. Clothing folds and irons itself. This I'd like her to have some control over - at least enough to where she knows how to stop it or direct it, but not enough to know how to stop it from starting - and not to where she can intentionally start it 100% of the time either - at least until she's older. If I need to simplify, this can be part of #1.

Future plots:
I would like for Charity to play out learning to start, stop, and aim the powers mentioned above. I'd also like to play out what happens the first time she tries a charm that could over-power and when she learns to fly a broomstick. I don't have any plans for the charm because that's dependent on what the charm is, but with the broomstick I can see her apparating off the broom, leaving it flying off while she goes back to the ground or winds up in the castle.
I'd also like to see - if I can get someone to adopt him - the rivalry between Charity's uncle Garrick (the death eater). If Charity doesn't do well at school, then there's a chance she could be determined to be too much house elf to be human, which would leave the family's home, farm, and business to him. There's really no reason for him to not want to take back over, so if I can get someone to play him, that could be fun to play out.
I will, of course, play in classes and in any social engagements I can get with anybody. I'd like to RP people finding out about her family. I don't see her doing much as far as exploration goes because she's not very adventurous - unless some of her friends decide to go exploring, and then off she'll hop. I'd like her to participate in most of the overarching plots and have already reached out to try and make connections with certain families for non-school encounters. I want Charity to grow friendships with people from every house, and that may induce adventures. If so, so be it.

RP sample using the feature:
It was late, but Charity was often up late. Studying, studying in the common room. She had settled in on the hearth directly in front of the fire, a blanket over her knees and her books and wand on the floor beside her. Tonight, she was trying out a new charm - one that promised to come up in class within the next week. Charity liked studying ahead. It meant that she knew going into class whether she was going to screw it up or not. Therefore, she had slipped out of dinner with her dinner dish. She was sure that, provided she returned it, nobody would mind.

Okay, she had read the section on the spell, and practiced the wand movements, knew exactly what she wanted to do and had practiced pronouncing the word according to the guide in the book several times. She was sure she could put it all together successfully, so she pushed her book aside and pulled the dirty plate directly out in front of her. She waved her wand and tried the scouring spell with an excited tone to her voice, "Tergeo!"

The exhilarating feeling of magic flowing through her and out of her wand was elating, and the glow surrounding the dish made Charity at first think that the spell had worked. She squeaked happily, but the squeak quickly turned to a silenced shout as the plate vibrated very quickly for a few seconds, shedding all of its dirt, and shattered into dust which flew into the air and settled around her like confetti. Charity sat on the hearth frozen, staring down her wand at where the plate had once been in horror. She didn't even react when, after twenty seconds or so of surprised stillness, a broom and dustbin danced out a closet and began sweeping up the remains of the dish. She didn't move until the broom began to persistently attempt to sweep her leg, and then she scooted over to let the broom have the floor and picked up the text book.

"Exploding dishes... exploding dishes..." She muttered, running her finger down the page to see if she'd missed a possible side-effect.

Name: Jennifer
Character name: Charity McCormick
Feature you are applying for: half house elf
Description of the character:
Charity is a very small, cute little creature with overlarge eyes and pointed ears. She usually keeps her ears hidden under a floppy hat or tucked under her hair as much as she can. She's not ashamed of her ancestry, but she is afraid of what will happen if certain disapproving parties pick her out as a part house-elf. She does not care overmuch about clothing, so her choices can be quite versatile and/or eccentric. Charity is a happy child - in fact, her family calls her Cheery as a nickname. She is highly non-confrontational to the point of cowardice unless she is defending someone. She is fearful to the point of phobic of a wide variety of things including heights, spiders, and being outed as a house-elf and having her wand taken away. She's incredibly studious because she worries about having to leave early, therefore learns as much as she can while she has the opportunity. She has been told her entire life that her mother wanted her to go to Hogwarts and excel and she also wants this. In Charity's mind, if she excels academically it will prove that she is a human and nobody will doubt her being allowed to have a wand. Charity has a somewhat extreme fear reaction and responds instinctively to a voice of authority, potentially even one she shouldn't. She's also a hair OCD about cleanliness.
Application:
I would like to be half house elf because the concept of a human child with house-elf idiosyncrasies trying to pass herself off at a human school really appeals to me as a great assimilation story. My current plans of what to do with it involve potentially humorous accidental apparitions, certain wandless charms - mostly cleaning things, and potentially defending others. I really want to explore her assimilation into human society and some incidents involving her family. I'd also like to take house-elfing classes with house elf PCs or NPCs if those exist, as I'd like the use of her powers to be at least partially accidental at first.

According to cannon, house elves had a powerful magic of their very own. Obviously, as a part-breed, this is lessened. Here are the ideas that I have:
1) Charity would be gifted at charms due to this feature, since much of the house-elf magic has wizard charm equivalents. I would like for her to be good enough at certain particular charms of the sorts that make sense to house-elves (cleaning, cooking, defending someone) that she wouldn't necessarily need a wand - or even would need to do them with a false wand. If it is okay for her to have wandless charms, I would like to limit it that while she can cast it, if it needs aiming she would still need a pointed instrument like a kitchen utensil, a pencil, or something of that sort.
2) Charity can apparate like a house elf. Yes, even on Hogwarts grounds. She can't do it whenever she wants and can't control where she goes with it as a first year. It's a fear response; she becomes very afraid and *poof* she is elsewhere. The way I see this going, she winds up in a couple of messes and is sent to lessons with some Castle house elves who at least teach her how to resist apparating or how to do gross-motor aiming when she feels it coming on. (So that instead of winding up in a chandelier or on the roof without warning, she can at least aim for 'somewhere near the lake' and wind up in the lake.) Around the age of 16 or 17, when the other kids are learning apparation anyway or maybe a little bit before, it would finally click.
3) I'd kind of like Charity's magical 'fits' to last longer than other kids - when she's distracted, worried, or bored things start getting magically cleaned. Brooms wander out of closets and start sweeping stuff. Clothing folds and irons itself. This I'd like her to have some control over - at least enough to where she knows how to stop it or direct it, but not enough to know how to stop it from starting - and not to where she can intentionally start it 100% of the time either - at least until she's older. If I need to simplify, this can be part of #1.

Future plots:
I would like for Charity to play out learning to start, stop, and aim the powers mentioned above. I'd also like to play out what happens the first time she tries a charm that could over-power and when she learns to fly a broomstick. I don't have any plans for the charm because that's dependent on what the charm is, but with the broomstick I can see her apparating off the broom, leaving it flying off while she goes back to the ground or winds up in the castle.
I'd also like to see - if I can get someone to adopt him - the rivalry between Charity's uncle Garrick (the death eater). If Charity doesn't do well at school, then there's a chance she could be determined to be too much house elf to be human, which would leave the family's home, farm, and business to him. There's really no reason for him to not want to take back over, so if I can get someone to play him, that could be fun to play out.
I will, of course, play in classes and in any social engagements I can get with anybody. I'd like to RP people finding out about her family. I don't see her doing much as far as exploration goes because she's not very adventurous - unless some of her friends decide to go exploring, and then off she'll hop. I'd like her to participate in most of the overarching plots and have already reached out to try and make connections with certain families for non-school encounters. I want Charity to grow friendships with people from every house, and that may induce adventures. If so, so be it.

RP sample using the feature:
It was late, but Charity was often up late. Studying, studying in the common room. She had settled in on the hearth directly in front of the fire, a blanket over her knees and her books and wand on the floor beside her. Tonight, she was trying out a new charm - one that promised to come up in class within the next week. Charity liked studying ahead. It meant that she knew going into class whether she was going to screw it up or not. Therefore, she had slipped out of dinner with her dinner dish. She was sure that, provided she returned it, nobody would mind.

Okay, she had read the section on the spell, and practiced the wand movements, knew exactly what she wanted to do and had practiced pronouncing the word according to the guide in the book several times. She was sure she could put it all together successfully, so she pushed her book aside and pulled the dirty plate directly out in front of her. She waved her wand and tried the scouring spell with an excited tone to her voice, "Tergeo!"

The exhilarating feeling of magic flowing through her and out of her wand was elating, and the glow surrounding the dish made Charity at first think that the spell had worked. She squeaked happily, but the squeak quickly turned to a silenced shout as the plate vibrated very quickly for a few seconds, shedding all of its dirt, and shattered into dust which flew into the air and settled around her like confetti. Charity sat on the hearth frozen, staring down her wand at where the plate had once been in horror. She didn't even react when, after twenty seconds or so of surprised stillness, a broom and dustbin danced out a closet and began sweeping up the remains of the dish. She didn't move until the broom began to persistently attempt to sweep her leg, and then she scooted over to let the broom have the floor and picked up the text book.

"Exploding dishes... exploding dishes..." She muttered, running her finger down the page to see if she'd missed a possible side-effect.

[mick]Please check your PMs![/mick]

Resubmitted with requested modifications

Name: Jennifer
Character name: Charity McCormick
Feature you are applying for: half house elf
Description of the character:
Charity is a very small, cute little creature with overlarge eyes and pointed ears. She usually keeps her ears hidden under a floppy hat or tucked under her hair as much as she can. She's not ashamed of her ancestry, but she is afraid of what will happen if certain disapproving parties pick her out as a part house-elf. She does not care overmuch about clothing, so her choices can be quite versatile and/or eccentric. Charity is a happy child - in fact, her family calls her Cheery as a nickname.

Charity's family works in spices and pre-prepared potions ingredients. (See EFB application) They made quite a name for themselves and a small fortune as well thanks in part to the four brothers who founded the company so that the one brother who was squib would have something worthwhile to do with his life. The family got on fine and was very successful with business, but not as successful with love as the lines were dwindling. During the first Rise of Voldemort, the branch of the family that Charity is descended from had shrunk to one family unit, but it was a very generous and versitile one. So versitile, in fact, that the second oldest brother, Garrick, decided to become a Death Eater. The family had always been fairly open-minded about blood matters and tried to stop him from leaving, so Garrick slaughtered the entire family, from the eldest to the youngest. He only missed one, a first year Hufflepuff who was taken away by house elves before Garrick could get to her. She stayed in school and did well; she was a very caring young lady. But her brother was a known Death Eater and people tended to ignore her. She had no family to go to except for their house elves, who were maintaining the business. She spent as much time as possible with them because they at least enjoyed her company.

Through the ordeal of losing her family, hiding in school, and hiding at home while the Ministry worked to supress the Death Eaters the first time, she fell in love with one of the younger house elves. He also was quite fond of her and they had a small legal ceremony and were married just after she graduated. She got a job at St. Mungos as a healer and eventually had a baby with her husband, a tiny infant girl who they named Charity. When Charity was a toddler, there was an accident at St. Mungos and Charity's mother wound up inserting herself into the middle of it and she died protecting her patients. This left Charity to be raised by her father, who did his best to raise her as a human.

Charity is highly non-confrontational to the point of cowardice unless she is defending someone. She doesn't like to fight or argue and will give up quickly rather than be invovled in almost any type of conflict, even if it is bad for her (unless she's defending someone else). She is fearful to the point of phobic of a wide variety of things. She is afraid of the dark, heights, pain, crowds, bugs, untidiness, failure, dirt, germs, flying, bogeys, thunder and lightning, clowns, demons, incliment weather, drowning, disapointing her family and friends, violence and violent people, sharks, and disease. She's incredibly studious because she feels that eventually the school will decide that she is too much house elf to be human if she doesn't do well, and she really wants to be seen as a human. She has been told her entire life that her mother wanted her to go to Hogwarts and excel and she also wants this. In Charity's mind, if she excels academically it will prove that she is a human and nobody will doubt her being allowed to have a wand. Charity has a somewhat extreme fear reaction (she is likely to scream, flee, jump, hide, and/or apparate away when frightened and remain shaken for quite a while afterwards... makes surprise parties interesting) and responds instinctively to a voice of authority, potentially even one she shouldn't. If someone gives her an order, she is likely to simply get to work on it right away and then rethink what she is doing after a little bit to evaluate the worth of the order and whether or not she actually wants to complete the task. Just about anyone can tell Charity what to do and she'll obediently follow their directions unless it 1) hurts another person, 2) will hurt another person, or 3) is crude and mean. She's also a hair OCD about cleanliness. By 'a hair' I mean a really thick hair - her work area and living area are always very clean and the cleanliness is prone to overflow from her areas if she feels that someone elses' mess is infringing upon her clean. If public spaces are messy, she is likely to stop what she is doing and clean them up. Unless there is something much more pressing going on, if she finds herself somewhere grimey, she will simply start to clean it to the best of her ability.

Application:
I would like to be half house elf because the concept of a human child with house-elf idiosyncrasies trying to pass herself off at a human school really appeals to me as a great assimilation story. My current plans of what to do with it involve potentially humorous accidental apparitions, certain wandless charms - mostly cleaning things, and potentially defending others. I really want to explore her assimilation into human society and some incidents involving her family. I'd also like to take house-elfing classes with house elf PCs or NPCs if those exist, as I'd like the use of her powers to be at least partially accidental at first.

According to cannon, house elves had a powerful magic of their very own. Obviously, as a part-breed, this is lessened. Here are the ideas that I have:
1) Charity would be gifted at charms due to this feature, since much of the house-elf magic has wizard charm equivalents. I would like for her to be good enough at certain particular charms of the sorts that make sense to house-elves (cleaning, cooking, defending someone) that she wouldn't necessarily need a wand - or even would need to do them with a false wand. If it is okay for her to have wandless charms, I would like to limit it that while she can cast it, if it needs aiming she would still need a pointed instrument like a kitchen utensil, a pencil, or something of that sort. I based this off of the wandless magic background section.
2) Charity can apparate like a house elf. Yes, even on Hogwarts grounds. She can't do it whenever she wants and can't control where she goes with it as a first year. It's a fear response; she becomes very afraid and *poof* she is elsewhere. The way I see this going, she winds up in a couple of messes and is sent to lessons with some Castle house elves who at least teach her how to resist apparating or how to do gross-motor aiming when she feels it coming on. (So that instead of winding up in a chandelier or on the roof without warning, she can at least aim for 'somewhere near the lake' and wind up in the lake.) Around the age of 16 or 17, when the other kids are learning apparation anyway or maybe a little bit before, it would finally click.
3) I'd kind of like Charity's magical 'fits' to last longer than other kids - when she's distracted, worried, or bored things start getting magically cleaned. Brooms wander out of closets and start sweeping stuff. Clothing folds and irons itself. This I'd like her to have some control over - at least enough to where she knows how to stop it or direct it, but not enough to know how to stop it from starting - and not to where she can intentionally start it 100% of the time either - at least until she's older. If I need to simplify, this can be part of #1.

Future plots:
1) I would like for Charity to play out lessons on how to use her house elf powers with a house elf PC or NPC. This would include learning to control her apparation some and potentially even learning to supress the cleaning charms so that they don't start up when she's nervous. I already outlined the progressions I think are reasonable with these skills under the skills.
2) I'd like to play out what happens the first time she tries a charm that could over-power in class, or potentially run a scene with a professor because she wants to show the professor what she has discovered happens with certain charms. I'd like to see the other students and professors reactions to her accidentally overpowering a charm.
3) I'd like to play out experimenting with wandless magic so that she learns what her limitations are, perhaps experimenting with different types of wand substitutes to see which ones work better. I think she'd do it in private mostly, but I would enjoy her getting caught casting reparo or somesuch with a spoon.
4) I really want to play out when Charity learns to fly a broomstick. I want her to apparate back to the ground, get steeled up and try again, and then apparate somewhere else in the building so that she has to walk back to class and someone has to go fly up and corral the abandoned broomstick. I think that'd be a befuddling scene all around, and will make it difficult for Charity to pretend that there is nothing special about her (aside from being tiny).
5) Pixie Trickett and I would like to run some scenes where she tries to tutor Charity on riding a broom, which would probably have similar results, but could get a bit more wild than in the class. In class, I imagine eventually the teacher will eventually back off, but Pixie is likely to be dedicated to Charity's success. I imagine that might potentially wind both of them up in odd situations, since Charity will go along with anything that Pixie suggests.
6) Pixie Trickett and I also want to run some scenes exploring Charity's background and where Pixie asks some very uncomfortable questions regarding Charity's house elf heritage and what powers she has as a result. I don't know where this scene would go yet, but it'd be mightily uncomfortable for Charity, which is what I'm aiming for.
7) I want to run some scenes for Charity where she goes shopping - either apparently alone or with some adult escort. I was hoping for a guardian, but a company employee or distant cousin would do just as well. I'd like to run some scenes where Charity awkwardly tries to explain to shop-keepers that she is not six and her father is waiting outside for her or something like that. I imagine that it could be fun back and forth for some shop-keepers.
I'd like for Charity to invite some people over to the farm during summer vacation. I think she'd like to have visitors and host people on the farm, and I'd like it if the farm had some odd creatures on it to explore. I had an idea for the farm to be a place where jinxed animals or animals accidentally born magical wound up to live, since most purely magical beasts like thestrals and such have dedicated farms. My ideas included things like apparating goats (an accidental cousin of fainting goats - when startled, they teleport into unlikely locations) or shifter horse that shifts through breeds. Harmless things that simply cant be kept on muggle farms.
9) The more I think about it, the more I'd like to see Charity get really scared and apparate somewhere outside of Hogwarts (perhaps not even in the UK) and have to find her way back. This could be an interesting cross-barrier plot to encourage people rping across country boundaries - or perhaps she could accidentally appear in one of the other schools and have to get help from the students there to get back to Hogwarts.
10) I would like to play through the rivalry between Charity's uncle Garrick (the death eater) and Charity. Garrick has a vested interest in sabotaging Charity's schooling because if Charity is not considered a human then the house and farm will revert to him despite his being disowned. This could be fun with Garrick as a PC or an NPC and could involve quite a few people depending on what sorts of tricks he gets up to and who he gets involved. He could get involved in something that winds up causing school lock-downs or anything you'd like him for, really. I could see him masterminding the following things that would be aimed specifically at Charity:
10a) Kidnapping plot - I could see Garrick arranging for someone to kidnap Charity. She'd be pretty easy to kidnap and hold on to provided the kidnapper was at least moderately kind, at least until she's older.
10b) Stealing - I could see someone being sent in to collect Charity's wand and/or school books the day before they leave for the station so that she has to go the first bit of school borrowing while someone tries to acquire her new supplies.
10c) Hostile Takeover - Garrick could pull some strings and see if he could get another part of the family, perhaps from the muggle side, to try to take over the farm since they don't have an adult family member in charge, thereby distracting Charity and giving him someone to manipulate to get back in.
10d) Hovering - Garrick could just make a point of being visible in Hogsmede or near the school or farm so that it gets back to Charity and makes her nervous and jumpy in the hopes of messing up her studying.
10e) Sabotage - Garrick could convince an ally in the school to 'lose' Charity's work (or take it) so that she starts getting zeros for papers and such because the teacher can't find the record - or just change the grade books.
Otherwise, Garrick wants what any other Death Eater wants - the enslavement of muggles and "lessser races," the empowerment of pureblood families, and the eradication of muggle-borns. What he gets out of Death Eater schemes is a potential pardon. His non-farm focused goals are to help the Death Eaters take over the ministry so that he can arrange his pardon and no longer be hunted. His farm focused goals are because he wants 1) the money and 2) the easy access to rare and expensive potion ingredients that can be used to make more dangerous potions.


RP sample using the feature:
It was late, but Charity was often up late. Studying, studying in the common room. She had settled in on the hearth directly in front of the fire, a blanket over her knees and her books and wand on the floor beside her. Tonight, she was trying out a new charm - one that promised to come up in class within the next week. Charity liked studying ahead. It meant that she knew going into class whether she was going to screw it up or not. Therefore, she had slipped out of dinner with her dinner dish. She was sure that, provided she returned it, nobody would mind.

Okay, she had read the section on the spell, and practiced the wand movements, knew exactly what she wanted to do and had practiced pronouncing the word according to the guide in the book several times. She was sure she could put it all together successfully, so she pushed her book aside and pulled the dirty plate directly out in front of her. She waved her wand and tried the scouring spell with an excited tone to her voice, "Tergeo!"

The exhilarating feeling of magic flowing through her and out of her wand was elating, and the glow surrounding the dish made Charity at first think that the spell had worked. She squeaked happily, but the squeak quickly turned to a silenced shout as the plate vibrated very quickly for a few seconds, shedding all of its dirt, and shattered into dust which flew into the air and settled around her like confetti. Charity sat on the hearth frozen, staring down her wand at where the plate had once been in horror. She didn't even react when, after twenty seconds or so of surprised stillness, a broom and dustbin danced out a closet and began sweeping up the remains of the dish. She didn't move until the broom began to persistently attempt to sweep her leg, and then she scooted over to let the broom have the floor and picked up the text book.

"Exploding dishes... exploding dishes..." She muttered, running her finger down the page to see if she'd missed a possible side-effect.

Resubmitted with requested modifications

Name: Jennifer
Character name: Charity McCormick
Feature you are applying for: half house elf
Description of the character:
Charity is a very small, cute little creature with overlarge eyes and pointed ears. She usually keeps her ears hidden under a floppy hat or tucked under her hair as much as she can. She's not ashamed of her ancestry, but she is afraid of what will happen if certain disapproving parties pick her out as a part house-elf. She does not care overmuch about clothing, so her choices can be quite versatile and/or eccentric. Charity is a happy child - in fact, her family calls her Cheery as a nickname.

Charity's family works in spices and pre-prepared potions ingredients. (See EFB application) They made quite a name for themselves and a small fortune as well thanks in part to the four brothers who founded the company so that the one brother who was squib would have something worthwhile to do with his life. The family got on fine and was very successful with business, but not as successful with love as the lines were dwindling. During the first Rise of Voldemort, the branch of the family that Charity is descended from had shrunk to one family unit, but it was a very generous and versitile one. So versitile, in fact, that the second oldest brother, Garrick, decided to become a Death Eater. The family had always been fairly open-minded about blood matters and tried to stop him from leaving, so Garrick slaughtered the entire family, from the eldest to the youngest. He only missed one, a first year Hufflepuff who was taken away by house elves before Garrick could get to her. She stayed in school and did well; she was a very caring young lady. But her brother was a known Death Eater and people tended to ignore her. She had no family to go to except for their house elves, who were maintaining the business. She spent as much time as possible with them because they at least enjoyed her company.

Through the ordeal of losing her family, hiding in school, and hiding at home while the Ministry worked to supress the Death Eaters the first time, she fell in love with one of the younger house elves. He also was quite fond of her and they had a small legal ceremony and were married just after she graduated. She got a job at St. Mungos as a healer and eventually had a baby with her husband, a tiny infant girl who they named Charity. When Charity was a toddler, there was an accident at St. Mungos and Charity's mother wound up inserting herself into the middle of it and she died protecting her patients. This left Charity to be raised by her father, who did his best to raise her as a human.

Charity is highly non-confrontational to the point of cowardice unless she is defending someone. She doesn't like to fight or argue and will give up quickly rather than be invovled in almost any type of conflict, even if it is bad for her (unless she's defending someone else). She is fearful to the point of phobic of a wide variety of things. She is afraid of the dark, heights, pain, crowds, bugs, untidiness, failure, dirt, germs, flying, bogeys, thunder and lightning, clowns, demons, incliment weather, drowning, disapointing her family and friends, violence and violent people, sharks, and disease. She's incredibly studious because she feels that eventually the school will decide that she is too much house elf to be human if she doesn't do well, and she really wants to be seen as a human. She has been told her entire life that her mother wanted her to go to Hogwarts and excel and she also wants this. In Charity's mind, if she excels academically it will prove that she is a human and nobody will doubt her being allowed to have a wand. Charity has a somewhat extreme fear reaction (she is likely to scream, flee, jump, hide, and/or apparate away when frightened and remain shaken for quite a while afterwards... makes surprise parties interesting) and responds instinctively to a voice of authority, potentially even one she shouldn't. If someone gives her an order, she is likely to simply get to work on it right away and then rethink what she is doing after a little bit to evaluate the worth of the order and whether or not she actually wants to complete the task. Just about anyone can tell Charity what to do and she'll obediently follow their directions unless it 1) hurts another person, 2) will hurt another person, or 3) is crude and mean. She's also a hair OCD about cleanliness. By 'a hair' I mean a really thick hair - her work area and living area are always very clean and the cleanliness is prone to overflow from her areas if she feels that someone elses' mess is infringing upon her clean. If public spaces are messy, she is likely to stop what she is doing and clean them up. Unless there is something much more pressing going on, if she finds herself somewhere grimey, she will simply start to clean it to the best of her ability.

Application:
I would like to be half house elf because the concept of a human child with house-elf idiosyncrasies trying to pass herself off at a human school really appeals to me as a great assimilation story. My current plans of what to do with it involve potentially humorous accidental apparitions, certain wandless charms - mostly cleaning things, and potentially defending others. I really want to explore her assimilation into human society and some incidents involving her family. I'd also like to take house-elfing classes with house elf PCs or NPCs if those exist, as I'd like the use of her powers to be at least partially accidental at first.

According to cannon, house elves had a powerful magic of their very own. Obviously, as a part-breed, this is lessened. Here are the ideas that I have:
1) Charity would be gifted at charms due to this feature, since much of the house-elf magic has wizard charm equivalents. I would like for her to be good enough at certain particular charms of the sorts that make sense to house-elves (cleaning, cooking, defending someone) that she wouldn't necessarily need a wand - or even would need to do them with a false wand. If it is okay for her to have wandless charms, I would like to limit it that while she can cast it, if it needs aiming she would still need a pointed instrument like a kitchen utensil, a pencil, or something of that sort. I based this off of the wandless magic background section.
2) Charity can apparate like a house elf. Yes, even on Hogwarts grounds. She can't do it whenever she wants and can't control where she goes with it as a first year. It's a fear response; she becomes very afraid and *poof* she is elsewhere. The way I see this going, she winds up in a couple of messes and is sent to lessons with some Castle house elves who at least teach her how to resist apparating or how to do gross-motor aiming when she feels it coming on. (So that instead of winding up in a chandelier or on the roof without warning, she can at least aim for 'somewhere near the lake' and wind up in the lake.) Around the age of 16 or 17, when the other kids are learning apparation anyway or maybe a little bit before, it would finally click.
3) I'd kind of like Charity's magical 'fits' to last longer than other kids - when she's distracted, worried, or bored things start getting magically cleaned. Brooms wander out of closets and start sweeping stuff. Clothing folds and irons itself. This I'd like her to have some control over - at least enough to where she knows how to stop it or direct it, but not enough to know how to stop it from starting - and not to where she can intentionally start it 100% of the time either - at least until she's older. If I need to simplify, this can be part of #1.

Future plots:
1) I would like for Charity to play out lessons on how to use her house elf powers with a house elf PC or NPC. This would include learning to control her apparation some and potentially even learning to supress the cleaning charms so that they don't start up when she's nervous. I already outlined the progressions I think are reasonable with these skills under the skills.
2) I'd like to play out what happens the first time she tries a charm that could over-power in class, or potentially run a scene with a professor because she wants to show the professor what she has discovered happens with certain charms. I'd like to see the other students and professors reactions to her accidentally overpowering a charm.
3) I'd like to play out experimenting with wandless magic so that she learns what her limitations are, perhaps experimenting with different types of wand substitutes to see which ones work better. I think she'd do it in private mostly, but I would enjoy her getting caught casting reparo or somesuch with a spoon.
4) I really want to play out when Charity learns to fly a broomstick. I want her to apparate back to the ground, get steeled up and try again, and then apparate somewhere else in the building so that she has to walk back to class and someone has to go fly up and corral the abandoned broomstick. I think that'd be a befuddling scene all around, and will make it difficult for Charity to pretend that there is nothing special about her (aside from being tiny).
5) Pixie Trickett and I would like to run some scenes where she tries to tutor Charity on riding a broom, which would probably have similar results, but could get a bit more wild than in the class. In class, I imagine eventually the teacher will eventually back off, but Pixie is likely to be dedicated to Charity's success. I imagine that might potentially wind both of them up in odd situations, since Charity will go along with anything that Pixie suggests.
6) Pixie Trickett and I also want to run some scenes exploring Charity's background and where Pixie asks some very uncomfortable questions regarding Charity's house elf heritage and what powers she has as a result. I don't know where this scene would go yet, but it'd be mightily uncomfortable for Charity, which is what I'm aiming for.
7) I want to run some scenes for Charity where she goes shopping - either apparently alone or with some adult escort. I was hoping for a guardian, but a company employee or distant cousin would do just as well. I'd like to run some scenes where Charity awkwardly tries to explain to shop-keepers that she is not six and her father is waiting outside for her or something like that. I imagine that it could be fun back and forth for some shop-keepers.
I'd like for Charity to invite some people over to the farm during summer vacation. I think she'd like to have visitors and host people on the farm, and I'd like it if the farm had some odd creatures on it to explore. I had an idea for the farm to be a place where jinxed animals or animals accidentally born magical wound up to live, since most purely magical beasts like thestrals and such have dedicated farms. My ideas included things like apparating goats (an accidental cousin of fainting goats - when startled, they teleport into unlikely locations) or shifter horse that shifts through breeds. Harmless things that simply cant be kept on muggle farms.
9) The more I think about it, the more I'd like to see Charity get really scared and apparate somewhere outside of Hogwarts (perhaps not even in the UK) and have to find her way back. This could be an interesting cross-barrier plot to encourage people rping across country boundaries - or perhaps she could accidentally appear in one of the other schools and have to get help from the students there to get back to Hogwarts.
10) I would like to play through the rivalry between Charity's uncle Garrick (the death eater) and Charity. Garrick has a vested interest in sabotaging Charity's schooling because if Charity is not considered a human then the house and farm will revert to him despite his being disowned. This could be fun with Garrick as a PC or an NPC and could involve quite a few people depending on what sorts of tricks he gets up to and who he gets involved. He could get involved in something that winds up causing school lock-downs or anything you'd like him for, really. I could see him masterminding the following things that would be aimed specifically at Charity:
10a) Kidnapping plot - I could see Garrick arranging for someone to kidnap Charity. She'd be pretty easy to kidnap and hold on to provided the kidnapper was at least moderately kind, at least until she's older.
10b) Stealing - I could see someone being sent in to collect Charity's wand and/or school books the day before they leave for the station so that she has to go the first bit of school borrowing while someone tries to acquire her new supplies.
10c) Hostile Takeover - Garrick could pull some strings and see if he could get another part of the family, perhaps from the muggle side, to try to take over the farm since they don't have an adult family member in charge, thereby distracting Charity and giving him someone to manipulate to get back in.
10d) Hovering - Garrick could just make a point of being visible in Hogsmede or near the school or farm so that it gets back to Charity and makes her nervous and jumpy in the hopes of messing up her studying.
10e) Sabotage - Garrick could convince an ally in the school to 'lose' Charity's work (or take it) so that she starts getting zeros for papers and such because the teacher can't find the record - or just change the grade books.
Otherwise, Garrick wants what any other Death Eater wants - the enslavement of muggles and "lessser races," the empowerment of pureblood families, and the eradication of muggle-borns. What he gets out of Death Eater schemes is a potential pardon. His non-farm focused goals are to help the Death Eaters take over the ministry so that he can arrange his pardon and no longer be hunted. His farm focused goals are because he wants 1) the money and 2) the easy access to rare and expensive potion ingredients that can be used to make more dangerous potions.


RP sample using the feature:
It was late, but Charity was often up late. Studying, studying in the common room. She had settled in on the hearth directly in front of the fire, a blanket over her knees and her books and wand on the floor beside her. Tonight, she was trying out a new charm - one that promised to come up in class within the next week. Charity liked studying ahead. It meant that she knew going into class whether she was going to screw it up or not. Therefore, she had slipped out of dinner with her dinner dish. She was sure that, provided she returned it, nobody would mind.

Okay, she had read the section on the spell, and practiced the wand movements, knew exactly what she wanted to do and had practiced pronouncing the word according to the guide in the book several times. She was sure she could put it all together successfully, so she pushed her book aside and pulled the dirty plate directly out in front of her. She waved her wand and tried the scouring spell with an excited tone to her voice, "Tergeo!"

The exhilarating feeling of magic flowing through her and out of her wand was elating, and the glow surrounding the dish made Charity at first think that the spell had worked. She squeaked happily, but the squeak quickly turned to a silenced shout as the plate vibrated very quickly for a few seconds, shedding all of its dirt, and shattered into dust which flew into the air and settled around her like confetti. Charity sat on the hearth frozen, staring down her wand at where the plate had once been in horror. She didn't even react when, after twenty seconds or so of surprised stillness, a broom and dustbin danced out a closet and began sweeping up the remains of the dish. She didn't move until the broom began to persistently attempt to sweep her leg, and then she scooted over to let the broom have the floor and picked up the text book.

"Exploding dishes... exploding dishes..." She muttered, running her finger down the page to see if she'd missed a possible side-effect.

[mick]approved![/mick]

Name: Meridian
Character name: Oscar Meredith Early
Feature you are applying for: Ghost
Application:

OSCAR "OZ" EARLY

History
Oz was born Oscar Meredith Early in Melbourne, Australia to a halfblood mother and a muggle father. The world was a different place back then and Oz’s mother, despite being a powerful witch, was relegated to the life of a homemaker, where ironing the sheets and making pies were the most interesting parts of her day. For the most part she accepted her role as a homemaker and mother to her only chld. Oz’s father was a police officer in one of the Melbourne police precincts. He was a decorated veteran and an honorable man to whom his job was second only to his family.

Oz grew up in a loving household and had a fairly typical, happy upbringing. After his graduation from Wanamangura, he set his sights on law enforcement as well, though he was more interested in joining the ministry than the muggle police. He became an Auror at a young age and quickly rose as a star player for the Auror squad in Melbourne. He later married his Wanamangura  sweetheart Rosella. They moved into a quaint apartment and prepared to start their family. Their first child miscarried, but her second child was a very sweet little boy they named Elijah. Oz and Rosella lived a happy, picturesque life for many years.

Oz was quickly rising through the ranks at work. His sharp eyes, stone-cold investigators instincts, and excellent detective skills served him well, and he was given the name Oscar “The Iceman” Early. He arrested numerous criminals and was a persistent thorn in the sides of many criminal organizations. His cocky attitude and arrest rates were making himself a problem to a number of crime bosses. One in particular, Columbus “Lom” Jackson, took a special dislike to the over-confident Auror putting his nose in everyone’s business. After Oz carried out a sting operation that compromised an entire warehouse of Lom’s blackmarket exotic animal parts, Lom decided to take him out of the picture.

Lom’s men went to Oz’a apartment looking of him, but only found Elijah and a pregnant Rosella. Rosella locked Elijah in a laundry closet and pulled out her wand, ready to defend herself and her children. She was not a duelist by nature, but she knew enough to fight off her attackers and send them running. Lom did not take this lightly and decided to take out the entire family. A few days later, he and his men cornered Rosella and Elijah in a dark alley. He stabbed Rosella repeatedly and made her watch as they strangled her son, and then left her in the alley. She bled out within a few minutes. Oz, who had decided to work late that night, as he often did, didn’t find out until he was called to the scene of the murder by his superior.

After the death of his wife and children, Oz fell apart completely, crawling into a bottle of gin and getting hooked on opium, the common drug of choice during that era. His downward spiral was tragically spectacular. It wasn’t more than a year later that he was kicked out of the ministry. He didn’t give up trying to find the people who killed his family and swore to spend the rest of his life hunting them down. Five years later he finally succeeded, chasing Lom and is expanding empire all the way to London. Oz rushed at him head first, ready to kill Lom Jackson and everyone in his crew. Oz put up a ferocious fight, but he was outnumbered fifty to one. In the end he was killed and his body was tossed into the Thames.

Personality
Oscar is a classic 1920s gentleman law enforcement officer, the kind you might find in a film noir. While he was alive he was the hard-boiled detective type: cynical, shrewd, uncompromising, and very capable of getting himself out of the most dangerous situations with no shortage of glib remarks. Since the death of his family and his own passing, his rougher edges have been sanded down considerably. What he retains from that time is his sarcastic wit, blunt opinions, and critical eye, but time and intellectual pursuits have mellowed him. He is still stiff and mannered, as he holds onto some of his more ingrained tradition. He carries himself like a proper gentleman: graceful and refined, but with a clever wit and just a hint of something dangerous.

At his core, Oz has a very tortured soul. He is punishing himself for eternity for letting his wife die and allowing Lom Jackson to continue hurting people. While he was alive, honor and duty meant everything to Oz. He believed in the work he was doing with the ministry and truly wanted to do good in the world. He also realizes that if he hadn’t gotten so over-confident and taunted those criminals, he would still have a family. He knows that he had been young and stupid and it cost him everything. Oz is desperately seeking redemption, but the only way he can find it is if he forgives himself, which will never happen.

Oz is not adverse to darkness, and in fact he dabbled in some when he was still alive. At the time, law enforcement officers were doing whatever needed to be done to catch dangerous criminals. While he was alive, Oz was mostly on the side of the light. After his death, he spent nearly a century meeting new people and he now sees dark wizards as a necessary, inevitable part of society. His personality is a little bit darker and more cynical than it was when he was alive.

As a ghost, Oz keeps everyone at arm’s length. He wants to help people and is happy to be confided in and act as a support system, but any friendship he may form with a human is usually one-sided. He does not share his own past and actively avoids talking about it. Despite this, Oz can be a very good companion. He is well-read and extremely intellectual, with a sense of humor and the capacity to be very comforting. His sarcastic wit and naturally critical nature can be hard to get along with, though, and interacting with this ghost would require a tough skin.

OZ THE GHOST

Ghosts
In HP canon, ghosts are the imprints of the souls of deceased magical beings that remain in the world of the living because they are unable to move beyond the Veil. Like Nearly Headless Nick, Oz chose to stay in the living world for eternity. According to Nick, it is usually wizards that fear death that become ghosts, and this true of Oz. He rushed to his death out of an uncontrollable rage, but once he was actually dying he realized he was terrified. He couldn’t care less if about himself, but he was terrified that he might meet Rosella in death and she would confirm his deepest fears: that she blamed him for her death and the deaths of their children. That fear was what caused Oz to cling to the world of the living, as he would rather be cursed to wander for all eternity than know she blames him.

Why He’s Still Here
Canon ghosts are tied to a place or a person, and Oz is tethered to the dark alleys of wizarding London though he can wander within the city. Oz is very strongly anchored in the physical world by a feeling. He is drawn to people who are in mortal danger or are about to die. He is especially drawn to innocent people who are facing a very violent death like his wife was. For the majority of his life as a ghost, Oz wanders around and simply watches the world go by. If he finds someone particularly interesting, he may pop in to meet them. But when he senses someone in mortal danger or about to die, he is naturally drawn to them like a moth to the flames. If the person is already too far gone, he will sit with them and keep them company while they pass on. If they can be saved, Oz may go to them and warn them of the danger, possibly even going so far as to use his meager powers to assist them.

Like most who die, Oz had the choice of passing into the next life when it was all over. He chose to stay in the world of the living both to punish himself for eternity and to help those who might die like his wife did. He felt that he had failed both his family and at his duties as an officer of the law and wanted to spend the rest of time making up for his mistakes. His wife died scared and alone, bleeding to death in a dirty alley like a piece of rubbish. Oz will never be able to forgive himself for putting his family in danger and failing them when they needed him most. Because of this, he has devoted the rest of his immortal life to protecting innocents and easing the passing of those too far gone.

Abilities
Ghost do not have much physical influence. If Oz really focuses, he is able to do some of the classic ghost stuff, like rattle chains, knock stuff over, and make the lights flicker. The presence of a ghost is a kink in the natural order of things, and thus when Oz is around, he can cause elemental disturbances. Water can freeze over around the edges of a cup, flames can flicker and will turn blue, the temperature of the room drops, and most animals tend to scamper away. In most cases, Oz has no huge effect on the world, but there are rare instances when his emotions may cause his powers to flare up and he is able to do something, though the levels vary depending on the situation.

Oz appears to the living as a visible, silver-white apparition. He is intangible and cannot physically interact with the world of the living, but those he appears to can certainly see him. He is able to interact and speak with humans or other living creatures, but being incorporeal he cannot touch them.

Since he is not constrained to the laws of physics and gravity, Oz is able to float, fly, and even teleport himself to different places if he so chooses. He can pass through living and solid objects, and people might feel an icy chill as he wafts through them on his way somewhere. For the most part, Oz is completely indestructible, seeing as he is already dead. Spells and magic do not work on him and he is able to see through illusions. He is susceptible to petrification should he look in the eyes of a basilisk.

PLAYABILITY

Of all the SFs I have worked on, I think a ghost is the most straightforward. I also think a ghost is the easiest to interact with because unlike magus or parseltongue, he can’t hide the fact that he is dead. He can also interact with basically anyone because at some point death touches everyone's lives. I am really interested in the challenge of playing a character who cannot physically interact with the world around him. Most of my characters (Niska, Two, Septimus, Vulcan, Amaranth etc.) are intensely tied to the physical world, meaning so much of their world is shaped by their ability to physically (or magically in Amaranth's case) fight their way through life. Oz, on the other hand, can only watch helplessly as the world moves around him. I'll need to look at playing MH characters a completely different way, as I have always liked bruisers and fighters. Oz is intensely intellectual and has to be clever to be able to affect the real world.

Generic Future Plots
Oz's ghostly presence is attracted to certain kinds of people: the dying or about to die. Oz is drawn to people who are on their deathbeds, especially if they are terrified of death, so there is the possibility that he may appear to a dying relative or friend of a character. He also appears to people who are in mortal danger, especially if there is the possibility of a gruesome and violent death. This could lead to very interesting threads where he is basically forced to just watch it happen. And once he interacts with a living person, there is the possibility he may stick around. Oz is a good conversation partner as he is well-read and in possession of a sharp wit. Once he is comfortable with a person, he may pop in and out of their life in-between following other people to their deathbeds.

Specific Future Plots
      ● Aisling's Julia Konig ~ As I'm sure is no surprise, Julia can be a bit of a mess sometimes. Aisling and I were discussing a plot where Julia either overdoses or is drunk out of her mind and is in danger of getting herself killed. Oz would appear to her, be sarcastic and chiding, but then go to get help. He would also stay with her on the way to the hospital or to her home and keep her company until he is sure she isn't going to die. After that, he would pop in and check on her often to make sure she isn’t actively ruining her life.
      ● Amy's Marusya Maksimovna ~ Marusya is going to be one of the many criminals/ darker wizards who Oz would come into contact with. Marusya is no stranger to death and does occasionally kill people in violent ways. Oz views darker wizards with an intellectual curiosity and does sometimes hang around them. Oz would have appeared to someone Marusya has killed and become acquainted with the dark witch, even getting a little disturbed by her habit of going to those people’s funerals.
      ● Aqua Queen's Orion Vilaró ~ Another criminal Oz is going to meet is Orion. She is a bounty hunter and has a knack for getting herself in trouble. Eventually, Orion is going to get banged up so bad that Oz appears to her. Orion will believe she is hallucinating, but Oz will stay with her and keep her company until she comes back to her senses.
      ● Dr. Harleen Quinzel's Tracey Davis ~ Tracey is a ghost hunter who talks to ghosts and banishes malignant spirits. She's very comfortable with spirits and is probably met Oz multiple times. He has insight into life in limbo and she can physically interact with the world, which makes them very useful to each other.
      ● Dr. Harleen Quinzel's Unnamed Seer ~ This character is a post-cognitive seer with uncontrollable powers. Oz is extremely uncomfortable talking about his past, so when she knows about it already, it's going to make him lose usually unshakable composure. She also would be able to use her powers to divine some of the previously unknown details of his family's murder.
      ● Soufflé Girl's Aline Stanton ~ Because Oz is drawn to those on their death beds, his is a common face in the wards of St. Mungo's. He is well-acquainted with many mediwizards, one of which is Aline. Soufflé Girl and I were planning a plot where the two possibly meet for the first time and becoming friendly. Aline is also eventually going to get pregnant. Oz would try to support her through it, as he had been through something similar when he was alive.

RP SAMPLE

Oscar was a wanderer. A drifter. A faded imprint of an old soul pressed into the world like a watermark that didn’t belong. He could only watch as he world moved forwards without him in a hazy blur of faces and sensation. Eternal life was both gift and a curse. His true form was ghastly to behold: a drowned man riddled with holes and flesh that rotten from the inside out. This form, the one of the well-dressed gentleman detective, was slightly easier on the eyes. With this appearance he was allowed to wander wizarding London to his heart’s content and no one paid him mind. Aside from the eternal torment of his aching soul, there were a few perks to being dead. He could help people and had all the time in the world for the arts. Music, theater, literature—the progress was endless and fascinating to the dead man anchored to the mortal plane.

He had been perusing the newest composition of an up-and-coming concert violinist when he heard her calling to him. Following the ghastly whispers of her soul, Oz wafted through the walls and flew through the streets until he finally found her behind a pile of rubbish in one of London’s many dark alleys, where no one would find her. It was as if she was star-gazing, laying on her back and looking up into the twinkling night sky. A fur mink lay to the side, soaked through with muddy water. The wound in her stomach was staining her short dress with a quickly-growing dark puddle. Her soul was yearning— drifting in and out of her body like ocean waves ebbing back and forth on a sandy beach.

Oz floated over to where she was, his flickering form hovering above her. “I’m sorry,” he said softly, shaking his head. “This is no way to die.” Her mouth was choked with red, but he watched her pretty hazel eyes widen and a ghastly squeak erupt from her dark lips as she caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye. It was too late for her. He knew it, she knew it. If Oz left now he may be able to find help, but knew they’d never make it back on time. He’d seen this sort of thing too many times to count now. Instead he floated over beside her, his silvery-white shoes touching down gently on the dirty ground as he knelt beside her.

“It’ll be alright, love, you won’t have to suffer for too much longer. You’re getting numb already, aren’t you? Do you have someone you want to get a message to?” He watched her carefully, and with great effort she shook her head. So she was all alone in the world. The corner of his lip lifted just slightly in a sad smile. “No one left, eh? Then you are just like I was.” Oz sat down beside her, flipping his silvery coat tails over the grimy alley floor so they rested behind him. He placed his hand over hers, letting it hover there a hair’s length from her own skin. He leaned forwards and ran a gentle hand over her hair, though he knew all she felt was the cold of a ghost’s touch. “Don’t be afraid,” he said softly. “Dying isn’t so bad, it’s actually very liberating. You don’t want to end up like me, now do you? You can’t be scared then. Go ahead, close your eyes.”

She did as he said and closed her eyes, her body relaxing against the wet alley floor and her twitching limbs creating ripples in the dirty puddles. As he spoke, he let his voice drift over her, low and slow like he had all the time in the world and this was just a casual conversation. “If you could be anywhere in the world, where would you want to be right now? Digging your toes into the golden sand on the French Coast? Dancing your heart out at a concert in Amsterdam? Or perhaps a tiny little coffee shop in lower London, where the rain pitter-patters against the glass window and you can watch from inside? You don’t need to tell me, just think on it. See it in your mind. Where ever it is, cling to it and don’t let it go. That’s where you’re heading soon, so there is no reason to be afraid.”

She opened her eyes again and looked up at him. Her throat gurgled in panic but no words came out and her eyes rolled back into her head. Oz watched with solemn eyes as the girl began to convulse, her body going rigid and her limbs spasming grotesquely and foam forming in the corners of her mouth. Oz wanted to look away, but he couldn’t make himself do it. These were her last few seconds on this earth. Someone had to be here. He knelt beside her, mumbling soft, reassuring words until she grew still once more, her eyes half open, barely focusing. He smiled softly and let his silvery hand pass over her forehead, cooling the feverish sweat forming on her brow. “Shh. It’ll all be over soon, love. The hurt will be gone and you’ll be alright.”

That was a lie. Oz had no idea if that was true or not. He had died like a coward, clinging desperately to the mortal world because he was terrified of whatever was on the other side. He wouldn’t wish this eternal existence on anyone else. She mustn’t be scared when she died or she might come back like him. The girl deserved some rest.

He brushed his cool fingers against her forehead and begun to sing, slow and quiet like a sad lullaby. “Oh, the wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees. The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas... ” The folk song drifted through the alley, echoing in the emptiness. “The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, and the highwayman came riding— riding—riding— The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door...”

He kept singing, going on until his voice had finished masking the sound of her gasping death rattle.

Name: Meridian
Character name: Oscar Meredith Early
Feature you are applying for: Ghost
Application:

OSCAR "OZ" EARLY

History
Oz was born Oscar Meredith Early in Melbourne, Australia to a halfblood mother and a muggle father. The world was a different place back then and Oz’s mother, despite being a powerful witch, was relegated to the life of a homemaker, where ironing the sheets and making pies were the most interesting parts of her day. For the most part she accepted her role as a homemaker and mother to her only chld. Oz’s father was a police officer in one of the Melbourne police precincts. He was a decorated veteran and an honorable man to whom his job was second only to his family.

Oz grew up in a loving household and had a fairly typical, happy upbringing. After his graduation from Wanamangura, he set his sights on law enforcement as well, though he was more interested in joining the ministry than the muggle police. He became an Auror at a young age and quickly rose as a star player for the Auror squad in Melbourne. He later married his Wanamangura  sweetheart Rosella. They moved into a quaint apartment and prepared to start their family. Their first child miscarried, but her second child was a very sweet little boy they named Elijah. Oz and Rosella lived a happy, picturesque life for many years.

Oz was quickly rising through the ranks at work. His sharp eyes, stone-cold investigators instincts, and excellent detective skills served him well, and he was given the name Oscar “The Iceman” Early. He arrested numerous criminals and was a persistent thorn in the sides of many criminal organizations. His cocky attitude and arrest rates were making himself a problem to a number of crime bosses. One in particular, Columbus “Lom” Jackson, took a special dislike to the over-confident Auror putting his nose in everyone’s business. After Oz carried out a sting operation that compromised an entire warehouse of Lom’s blackmarket exotic animal parts, Lom decided to take him out of the picture.

Lom’s men went to Oz’a apartment looking of him, but only found Elijah and a pregnant Rosella. Rosella locked Elijah in a laundry closet and pulled out her wand, ready to defend herself and her children. She was not a duelist by nature, but she knew enough to fight off her attackers and send them running. Lom did not take this lightly and decided to take out the entire family. A few days later, he and his men cornered Rosella and Elijah in a dark alley. He stabbed Rosella repeatedly and made her watch as they strangled her son, and then left her in the alley. She bled out within a few minutes. Oz, who had decided to work late that night, as he often did, didn’t find out until he was called to the scene of the murder by his superior.

After the death of his wife and children, Oz fell apart completely, crawling into a bottle of gin and getting hooked on opium, the common drug of choice during that era. His downward spiral was tragically spectacular. It wasn’t more than a year later that he was kicked out of the ministry. He didn’t give up trying to find the people who killed his family and swore to spend the rest of his life hunting them down. Five years later he finally succeeded, chasing Lom and is expanding empire all the way to London. Oz rushed at him head first, ready to kill Lom Jackson and everyone in his crew. Oz put up a ferocious fight, but he was outnumbered fifty to one. In the end he was killed and his body was tossed into the Thames.

Personality
Oscar is a classic 1920s gentleman law enforcement officer, the kind you might find in a film noir. While he was alive he was the hard-boiled detective type: cynical, shrewd, uncompromising, and very capable of getting himself out of the most dangerous situations with no shortage of glib remarks. Since the death of his family and his own passing, his rougher edges have been sanded down considerably. What he retains from that time is his sarcastic wit, blunt opinions, and critical eye, but time and intellectual pursuits have mellowed him. He is still stiff and mannered, as he holds onto some of his more ingrained tradition. He carries himself like a proper gentleman: graceful and refined, but with a clever wit and just a hint of something dangerous.

At his core, Oz has a very tortured soul. He is punishing himself for eternity for letting his wife die and allowing Lom Jackson to continue hurting people. While he was alive, honor and duty meant everything to Oz. He believed in the work he was doing with the ministry and truly wanted to do good in the world. He also realizes that if he hadn’t gotten so over-confident and taunted those criminals, he would still have a family. He knows that he had been young and stupid and it cost him everything. Oz is desperately seeking redemption, but the only way he can find it is if he forgives himself, which will never happen.

Oz is not adverse to darkness, and in fact he dabbled in some when he was still alive. At the time, law enforcement officers were doing whatever needed to be done to catch dangerous criminals. While he was alive, Oz was mostly on the side of the light. After his death, he spent nearly a century meeting new people and he now sees dark wizards as a necessary, inevitable part of society. His personality is a little bit darker and more cynical than it was when he was alive.

As a ghost, Oz keeps everyone at arm’s length. He wants to help people and is happy to be confided in and act as a support system, but any friendship he may form with a human is usually one-sided. He does not share his own past and actively avoids talking about it. Despite this, Oz can be a very good companion. He is well-read and extremely intellectual, with a sense of humor and the capacity to be very comforting. His sarcastic wit and naturally critical nature can be hard to get along with, though, and interacting with this ghost would require a tough skin.

OZ THE GHOST

Ghosts
In HP canon, ghosts are the imprints of the souls of deceased magical beings that remain in the world of the living because they are unable to move beyond the Veil. Like Nearly Headless Nick, Oz chose to stay in the living world for eternity. According to Nick, it is usually wizards that fear death that become ghosts, and this true of Oz. He rushed to his death out of an uncontrollable rage, but once he was actually dying he realized he was terrified. He couldn’t care less if about himself, but he was terrified that he might meet Rosella in death and she would confirm his deepest fears: that she blamed him for her death and the deaths of their children. That fear was what caused Oz to cling to the world of the living, as he would rather be cursed to wander for all eternity than know she blames him.

Why He’s Still Here
Canon ghosts are tied to a place or a person, and Oz is tethered to the dark alleys of wizarding London though he can wander within the city. Oz is very strongly anchored in the physical world by a feeling. He is drawn to people who are in mortal danger or are about to die. He is especially drawn to innocent people who are facing a very violent death like his wife was. For the majority of his life as a ghost, Oz wanders around and simply watches the world go by. If he finds someone particularly interesting, he may pop in to meet them. But when he senses someone in mortal danger or about to die, he is naturally drawn to them like a moth to the flames. If the person is already too far gone, he will sit with them and keep them company while they pass on. If they can be saved, Oz may go to them and warn them of the danger, possibly even going so far as to use his meager powers to assist them.

Like most who die, Oz had the choice of passing into the next life when it was all over. He chose to stay in the world of the living both to punish himself for eternity and to help those who might die like his wife did. He felt that he had failed both his family and at his duties as an officer of the law and wanted to spend the rest of time making up for his mistakes. His wife died scared and alone, bleeding to death in a dirty alley like a piece of rubbish. Oz will never be able to forgive himself for putting his family in danger and failing them when they needed him most. Because of this, he has devoted the rest of his immortal life to protecting innocents and easing the passing of those too far gone.

Abilities
Ghost do not have much physical influence. If Oz really focuses, he is able to do some of the classic ghost stuff, like rattle chains, knock stuff over, and make the lights flicker. The presence of a ghost is a kink in the natural order of things, and thus when Oz is around, he can cause elemental disturbances. Water can freeze over around the edges of a cup, flames can flicker and will turn blue, the temperature of the room drops, and most animals tend to scamper away. In most cases, Oz has no huge effect on the world, but there are rare instances when his emotions may cause his powers to flare up and he is able to do something, though the levels vary depending on the situation.

Oz appears to the living as a visible, silver-white apparition. He is intangible and cannot physically interact with the world of the living, but those he appears to can certainly see him. He is able to interact and speak with humans or other living creatures, but being incorporeal he cannot touch them.

Since he is not constrained to the laws of physics and gravity, Oz is able to float, fly, and even teleport himself to different places if he so chooses. He can pass through living and solid objects, and people might feel an icy chill as he wafts through them on his way somewhere. For the most part, Oz is completely indestructible, seeing as he is already dead. Spells and magic do not work on him and he is able to see through illusions. He is susceptible to petrification should he look in the eyes of a basilisk.

PLAYABILITY

Of all the SFs I have worked on, I think a ghost is the most straightforward. I also think a ghost is the easiest to interact with because unlike magus or parseltongue, he can’t hide the fact that he is dead. He can also interact with basically anyone because at some point death touches everyone's lives. I am really interested in the challenge of playing a character who cannot physically interact with the world around him. Most of my characters (Niska, Two, Septimus, Vulcan, Amaranth etc.) are intensely tied to the physical world, meaning so much of their world is shaped by their ability to physically (or magically in Amaranth's case) fight their way through life. Oz, on the other hand, can only watch helplessly as the world moves around him. I'll need to look at playing MH characters a completely different way, as I have always liked bruisers and fighters. Oz is intensely intellectual and has to be clever to be able to affect the real world.

Generic Future Plots
Oz's ghostly presence is attracted to certain kinds of people: the dying or about to die. Oz is drawn to people who are on their deathbeds, especially if they are terrified of death, so there is the possibility that he may appear to a dying relative or friend of a character. He also appears to people who are in mortal danger, especially if there is the possibility of a gruesome and violent death. This could lead to very interesting threads where he is basically forced to just watch it happen. And once he interacts with a living person, there is the possibility he may stick around. Oz is a good conversation partner as he is well-read and in possession of a sharp wit. Once he is comfortable with a person, he may pop in and out of their life in-between following other people to their deathbeds.

Specific Future Plots
      ● Aisling's Julia Konig ~ As I'm sure is no surprise, Julia can be a bit of a mess sometimes. Aisling and I were discussing a plot where Julia either overdoses or is drunk out of her mind and is in danger of getting herself killed. Oz would appear to her, be sarcastic and chiding, but then go to get help. He would also stay with her on the way to the hospital or to her home and keep her company until he is sure she isn't going to die. After that, he would pop in and check on her often to make sure she isn’t actively ruining her life.
      ● Amy's Marusya Maksimovna ~ Marusya is going to be one of the many criminals/ darker wizards who Oz would come into contact with. Marusya is no stranger to death and does occasionally kill people in violent ways. Oz views darker wizards with an intellectual curiosity and does sometimes hang around them. Oz would have appeared to someone Marusya has killed and become acquainted with the dark witch, even getting a little disturbed by her habit of going to those people’s funerals.
      ● Aqua Queen's Orion Vilaró ~ Another criminal Oz is going to meet is Orion. She is a bounty hunter and has a knack for getting herself in trouble. Eventually, Orion is going to get banged up so bad that Oz appears to her. Orion will believe she is hallucinating, but Oz will stay with her and keep her company until she comes back to her senses.
      ● Dr. Harleen Quinzel's Tracey Davis ~ Tracey is a ghost hunter who talks to ghosts and banishes malignant spirits. She's very comfortable with spirits and is probably met Oz multiple times. He has insight into life in limbo and she can physically interact with the world, which makes them very useful to each other.
      ● Dr. Harleen Quinzel's Unnamed Seer ~ This character is a post-cognitive seer with uncontrollable powers. Oz is extremely uncomfortable talking about his past, so when she knows about it already, it's going to make him lose usually unshakable composure. She also would be able to use her powers to divine some of the previously unknown details of his family's murder.
      ● Soufflé Girl's Aline Stanton ~ Because Oz is drawn to those on their death beds, his is a common face in the wards of St. Mungo's. He is well-acquainted with many mediwizards, one of which is Aline. Soufflé Girl and I were planning a plot where the two possibly meet for the first time and becoming friendly. Aline is also eventually going to get pregnant. Oz would try to support her through it, as he had been through something similar when he was alive.

RP SAMPLE

Oscar was a wanderer. A drifter. A faded imprint of an old soul pressed into the world like a watermark that didn’t belong. He could only watch as he world moved forwards without him in a hazy blur of faces and sensation. Eternal life was both gift and a curse. His true form was ghastly to behold: a drowned man riddled with holes and flesh that rotten from the inside out. This form, the one of the well-dressed gentleman detective, was slightly easier on the eyes. With this appearance he was allowed to wander wizarding London to his heart’s content and no one paid him mind. Aside from the eternal torment of his aching soul, there were a few perks to being dead. He could help people and had all the time in the world for the arts. Music, theater, literature—the progress was endless and fascinating to the dead man anchored to the mortal plane.

He had been perusing the newest composition of an up-and-coming concert violinist when he heard her calling to him. Following the ghastly whispers of her soul, Oz wafted through the walls and flew through the streets until he finally found her behind a pile of rubbish in one of London’s many dark alleys, where no one would find her. It was as if she was star-gazing, laying on her back and looking up into the twinkling night sky. A fur mink lay to the side, soaked through with muddy water. The wound in her stomach was staining her short dress with a quickly-growing dark puddle. Her soul was yearning— drifting in and out of her body like ocean waves ebbing back and forth on a sandy beach.

Oz floated over to where she was, his flickering form hovering above her. “I’m sorry,” he said softly, shaking his head. “This is no way to die.” Her mouth was choked with red, but he watched her pretty hazel eyes widen and a ghastly squeak erupt from her dark lips as she caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye. It was too late for her. He knew it, she knew it. If Oz left now he may be able to find help, but knew they’d never make it back on time. He’d seen this sort of thing too many times to count now. Instead he floated over beside her, his silvery-white shoes touching down gently on the dirty ground as he knelt beside her.

“It’ll be alright, love, you won’t have to suffer for too much longer. You’re getting numb already, aren’t you? Do you have someone you want to get a message to?” He watched her carefully, and with great effort she shook her head. So she was all alone in the world. The corner of his lip lifted just slightly in a sad smile. “No one left, eh? Then you are just like I was.” Oz sat down beside her, flipping his silvery coat tails over the grimy alley floor so they rested behind him. He placed his hand over hers, letting it hover there a hair’s length from her own skin. He leaned forwards and ran a gentle hand over her hair, though he knew all she felt was the cold of a ghost’s touch. “Don’t be afraid,” he said softly. “Dying isn’t so bad, it’s actually very liberating. You don’t want to end up like me, now do you? You can’t be scared then. Go ahead, close your eyes.”

She did as he said and closed her eyes, her body relaxing against the wet alley floor and her twitching limbs creating ripples in the dirty puddles. As he spoke, he let his voice drift over her, low and slow like he had all the time in the world and this was just a casual conversation. “If you could be anywhere in the world, where would you want to be right now? Digging your toes into the golden sand on the French Coast? Dancing your heart out at a concert in Amsterdam? Or perhaps a tiny little coffee shop in lower London, where the rain pitter-patters against the glass window and you can watch from inside? You don’t need to tell me, just think on it. See it in your mind. Where ever it is, cling to it and don’t let it go. That’s where you’re heading soon, so there is no reason to be afraid.”

She opened her eyes again and looked up at him. Her throat gurgled in panic but no words came out and her eyes rolled back into her head. Oz watched with solemn eyes as the girl began to convulse, her body going rigid and her limbs spasming grotesquely and foam forming in the corners of her mouth. Oz wanted to look away, but he couldn’t make himself do it. These were her last few seconds on this earth. Someone had to be here. He knelt beside her, mumbling soft, reassuring words until she grew still once more, her eyes half open, barely focusing. He smiled softly and let his silvery hand pass over her forehead, cooling the feverish sweat forming on her brow. “Shh. It’ll all be over soon, love. The hurt will be gone and you’ll be alright.”

That was a lie. Oz had no idea if that was true or not. He had died like a coward, clinging desperately to the mortal world because he was terrified of whatever was on the other side. He wouldn’t wish this eternal existence on anyone else. She mustn’t be scared when she died or she might come back like him. The girl deserved some rest.

He brushed his cool fingers against her forehead and begun to sing, slow and quiet like a sad lullaby. “Oh, the wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees. The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas... ” The folk song drifted through the alley, echoing in the emptiness. “The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, and the highwayman came riding— riding—riding— The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door...”

He kept singing, going on until his voice had finished masking the sound of her gasping death rattle.

[mick]*snaps* approved![/mick]

Name:  Taed
Character name:  DJ Conway
Feature you are applying for:  Animagus :: golden eagle
     Markings:  dark “hair” and thick “eyebrows”; large “robe” patches on back and front

Application:  On a personal level I’ve always been fascinated by the Animagi, partially because of my own research into spirit animals.  For the same reason I like the Patronus charm, but we see in the cases of James Potter and Minerva McGonagall that their Patronus form is the same as their Animagus form; it’s likely that the two are the same, since a Patronus’ shape reflects the caster’s personality^[1] and an Animagus’ form is determined by their personality and inner traits^[2].  In a lot of cultures we see that the shapes a person is forced to take is meant not only as an extension of who they are, but also as a means of communicating an important message or lesson that must be learned.  When a student expresses interest in finding their spirit animal and I walk them through the process (from a psionic qi perspective, not a Native American one), I explain that whichever animals choose to come to them in their trance state will communicate an integral part of, or flaw in, their character.  Thus the allure of the Animagus isn’t just about “how cool is this, I can turn into an animal?” but also “what does this say about me” and “how can I make the most of this trait?”

     At the character level, based on the above, I’m curious to see what form DJ might (otherwise) take as an Animagus, since he is in such a state of flux right now between “light” and Dark, and his personality is undergoing a lot of changes (ahh, adolescence).  I originally envisioned him as a falcon, even though we haven’t seen any avian Animagi since ancient times (Chocolate Frog cards list Falco Aesalon, Cliodna, and Morgan le Fay).  Obviously based on my entries above I looked over some other birds of prey and decided that the golden eagle was the most appropriate based on DJ’s appearance.  It works well with what has been cemented about DJ’s personality – he is cunning (Slytherin), intelligent (almost a Ravenclaw), and prefers to work alone (predatory and non-flocking).

     Plotwise, I enjoy the challenge set by the MH staff that Animagus training takes a long time and is very difficult, and we’ve never really seen that in the Harry Potter books.  Rowling touched on Sirius and James figuring it out on their own and helping Peter to finish his transformation, but we don’t really see the day-to-day tedium of acclimating your body molecule by molecule to a “permanent” switch.  With DJ just finishing his fifth year at Hogwarts and presumably getting high marks in his Transfiguration O.W.L., now is the perfect time to start the years-long training.  No matter how good DJ has been at Transfiguration up to this point, I don’t intend to have him rush the learning process.  In fact I’m almost considering having him fail halfway through (but I like the idea of achievement too much to let that happen... probably...)

Future plots:  Ideally this would be a fantastic opportunity to have the training as a plot itself – arduous hours of practice and lessons, studying theory, learning the basics of self-Transfiguration, meditating to accomplish self-awareness and sentience for when DJ enters his animal shape, and the all-important month of keeping a Mandrake leaf in one’s mouth (wouldn’t really be looking forward to that if it was happening to me).  I would love to do some one-on-one plots with Professor Bronté, and maybe some of the other Transfiguration “pros” of the MH world (not including Mssr. Améliore because RPing with oneself is a complex waiting to happen). Eventually, assuming DJ actually completes the training and becomes a registered Animagus, this would open up a number of other options for utilising the skill, though admittedly if he didn’t end up as a bird I’m not sure what sorts of situations these would be.   

RP sample using the feature:

This was the moment DJ had been waiting for.  Thousands of hours of reading and memorizing and concentrating and practicing, all led to his first Animagus transfiguration.  He knew that continued concentration was critical, but he was so excited that for once he couldn’t hide his feelings behind a blasé mask.

He looked down at his bare feet, deciding to start from there and go slowly. His toenails thickened, bubbled up, arced out and turned into talons while his toes stretched out and his heel sprouted another talon. His legs started scaling over and his knees suddenly reversed with a sickening squelch noise.  His robes flared out and then started to tear into strips all by themselves, fastening themselves to his sides and back and rolling into feathers.  DJ could feel the wind in every fibre of every feather shaft. The transformation swelled up to his chest and he spread his arms wide, throwing his head back, as his arms melded into his sleeves and became wings. Finally his chin and nose jutted out and came to a curved point, and his eyes slid backward a little bit to give him a greater range of peripheral vision.  Apparently during the entire process he had been shrinking too, as he now stood three feet tall posturing with his chest out.

Excitedly, he forgot all else in his rush to get into the air, beating his powerful wings and getting enough lift to get his feet off the ground.  He aimed for the window in the Great Hall, which opened just as he reached it, and he flew out over the top of Hogwarts Castle.  The thermals were fantastic today... it took so little effort to catch them and soar up, up, far up. The Castle was still impressive but it seemed so distant.  He could see the entire grounds, the Forbidden Forest reaching out toward the mountains.  Clouds blew past him and breezes swirled merrily around him.  DJ let out a raptor cry of pure ecstasy and dove toward the lake as if he were hunting.  What a feeling of freedom!!!

The next moment, however, his cry turned from joy to fear as he tried to pull out of the dive and discovered that he couldn’t.  Why can’t I get my wings to work?! DJ panicked, flapping wildly but still falling, tumbling end over end toward the lake below him.  Suddenly a large bubble blossomed on top of the water’s surface and exploded as the giant squid flew up toward him, rows of enormous teeth in its circular mouth aimed at DJ, sunlight glinting off thousands of droplets of flying lake water in midair and blinding DJ...

...and DJ’s eyes snapped open, staring at the refraction of sunlight through lake water on the ceiling above his dormitory bed.  DJ groaned, turned over and faceplanted into his pillow. Five years to go, he thought.