Info for Arda Marred

[bondedgryphon]

Player
Name: Alma
Preferred Pronoun: she/her
Contact: almalthia & plurk // PM on dreamwidth

Character
Name: Zhaneel
Canon: Heralds of Valdemar: Mage Wars Trilogy
AU: CRAU - Pulled during book one and developed in new scenario at eachdraidh

Pull-point: Canon pull point: The Mage Wars Trilogy - middle of book one, The Black Gryphon, during her obstacle course run. Add to this 2 1/2 years in the world of eachdraidh

Permissions post link: Here

Opt-out post link: Here

Age: Approximately between 7-8 years and is a mature, breeding age female (appears between 20-22)

Gender/Sex: Female

Appearance: Zhaneel is a gryfalcon, namely a gryphon with falcon shape and coloring. Her wings are longer and slimmer, allowing her to fly higher/faster than her brethren. Her coloring is that of her namesake.

She is approximately three times the size of an adult human male, which is approximately horse sized in comparison. She can approximately 200lbs in flight without the aid of magic to lighten to load. (ie: average adult, packs, etc etc)

In game she will have the ability to become human and her PB will be Marloes Horst. She will stand 5'10" with white-blonde hair and golden eyes, lithe of limb but there is muscle.

History:
The Black Gryphon wiki

**World History**
The war between Great Mages Urtho and Ma'ar resulted in the Cataclysm and its aftermath, and the exile of the Kaled'a'in (some of whose clans supported Ma'ar during the Wars). The Cataclysm followed the destruction of the two powerful mages, Urtho and Ma'ar, and the magic that was sent loose upon their deaths. The Cataclysm will lead to mage storms that cause magic to be unstable, meaning that many that have the mage ability will lose their powers, or will be seriously weakened.

**Personal History**
It was not until Zhaneel made a chance encounter with three makaar (warped and evil gryphons) that her life began to make a change in the positive, having been treated as a cull and misborn for the entirety of her life. In defeating the makaar, Zhaneel earned herself a special token that she is told she may use with the kestra'chern for special treatments and pampering. It was through his (Amberdrake's) gentle guidance and consolation that Zhaneel began to find faith in herself once again, not misborn, but instead .. something new. Urtho would not have made it possible for his prize creation to be anything less than perfect, so why would she consider herself such? He helps her see her differences as positive, rather than negative. Her forefeet were more human than her Wing mates, which would allow her a dexterity that they did not have, and the usage of tools that they could not manage.

It's with Amberdrake's assistance (and that of Skandranon and Tamsin) that Zhaneel designs and creates an obstacle course. She proves, through the use of the course, that she is a valuable asset to the Wing, and so begins to prove it to herself. Not many are able to manage the course on first go, but Zhaneel has various traps and triggers placed that she does not know about, and manages to escape unscathed and victorious. She also manages to catch the eye and attention of a certain gryphon she fancies.

Only, since she was pulled to the drabwurld during the middle of her run through the course, she never got to prove to anyone (much less herself) that she could do what she means to. However, the drabwurld was good for Zhaneel and she met a future version of Aubri, along with many others, that taught her friendship and that she was indeed worthwhile. She fought physical and mental demons and monsters in support of her friends and homeland. It was, over the course of two years, only expected that she would find her own proper footing in the world. She saw friends come and go, never to return to the world she'd come to call home, but yet she remained.

Until she was called away by new magic...

Personality:
Before her time in the drabwurld, Zhaneel was a frightened and timid creature. She'd spent the entirety of her life physically and emotionally abused by her peers because she looked differently than they did. The gave her a self-image and self-worth of ZERO and made her suicidal. She avoided confrontation, as she didn't want to deal with the after effects or bullying that followed. She would volunteer for scouting circuits that were saved for the youngest flyers, just to get away for as many hours as possible. However, in the years that have followed, the gryphon has found her voice and is far less worried about speaking it. She knows her worth (mostly) and her good days far outweigh the bad. She enjoys cracking a joke and is sorely protective of those she cares for. She will still take risks she shouldn't, wanting to always ascertain her value to a group, but it's almost as if she can't help it; she spent too many years believing herself worthless and fears others thinking this of her. Her self-image is still hovering, and she doesn't quite think herself a prime example of gryphon just yet, but she's getting there. She values others opinion of her almost too much, even years away from the abusive surroundings.

In the perfectly horrid situation (ie: dealing with someone that hits those weaknesses), she could be prone to relapsing a bit.

Abilities:
} Raptor Vision - Her eyesight is like that of a hawk's: her sight is many, many times sharper than a humans. Right up there with an elves (what do you see with your Elven eyes?!)
} Crossbow/Standard bow - Self taught and talented with the use of a crossbow. Was then taught by Aragorn on the long bow, so she's pretty good. :)
} Basic healing - Can wrap and otherwise treat general level wounds/injuries
} Mind-speech - allows those who possess it (and the companion Gift of Thought-sensing) to send words and images to each other silently and across long distances.
} Magical Immunity - natural ability due to gryphons of this world being 'created' creatures
} Magic channeling - natural ability to channel magic, or have magic channeled, through or from themselves (much like a focus stone). This is due to gryphons being magical constructs at their creation, and not of natural birth. ((It was not until years past their creation that they are able to breed on their own.))
} Humanization - a learned ability to turn herself from gryphon into a human; there is no limit on how frequent, as long as she has the physical energy to do so
} Languages - She has been learning both Sindarin and Quenya from Aragorn, and though a quick learner, is far from fluent in either.

Inventory:
} Bronze ring - allows her to cast simple fire spells
} Gold ring - grows warm when friends or loved ones are in danger and allows her to teleport to their side
} Shard made necklace - acts as a palantir only with other necklaces likewise charmed
} 2 depowered shards - 1 Aragorn's and 1 Dave Stutler's
} 1 worn photo Elrond, passed from several people (she has never met him personally)
} 1 letter in Maglor's hand (they encountered one another very briefly)
} Small healers kit
} Feather dyeing kit
} Knife - Elven made; unnamed
} Crossbow and bolts
} Longbow and quiver of arrows
} Clothing is charmed to change form with her, vanishing as a gryphon and reappearing as a human; includes a cloak of disillusionment that can hide her identity/make people look past her

Anything else:
I'm happy to answer any questions or concerns, so just ask! I'm open to pretty much everything (injury, love, positive/negative CR, etc) with Zhaneel, but if you want to kill her if appreciate talking that out first. ;)