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bondedgryphon) wrote2020-11-26 03:30 pm
bondedgryphon) wrote2020-11-26 03:30 pm
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eachdraidh Zhaneel // The Mage Wars Trilogy
EMAIL IT IN FULL to FAIRYWOES[AT]GMAIL[DOT]COM
( PLAYER INFORMATION )
- ★ NAME: Alma
- ★ AGE: 33
- ★ TIMEZONE: PST (Pacific Standard Time)
- ★ CONTACT: almalthia80@ gmail
- ★ CURRENT CHARACTERS & LATEST AC: NA
( CHARACTER INFORMATION )
- ★ NAME: Zhaneel
- ★ AGE: None given in canon: around 5-6 (18 approx in human years) - Full grown adult female of breeding age
- ★ CANON & CANON POINT: The Mage Wars Trilogy - middle of book one, The Black Gryphon, during her obstacle course run
- ★ CANON INFORMATION: The Black Gryphon wiki
- ★ PERSONALITY:
Years of emotional abuse has taken it's toll on the young gryphon, Zhaneel. Losing both parents at a very young age, her care was entrusted to the Trondi-irn (non-human healer) of the Sixth Wing. Most unfortunately for the gryphlet, Winterheart (said Trondi'irn), was amongst many that believed gryphons to be no more than unintelligent beasts not worth her time and certainly worth no more concern than she would show an injured war-horse. Had some care been shown, it is likely Zhaneel would not be half the emotional wreck that she is.
Zhaneel believes herself misborn and an improper gryphon, this due to constantly hearing such throughout her fledgling stage. She is shaped differently from her Wing mates, and unfortunately different means bad. She is taunted and teased so much and made to think so lowly of herself during these first few years, that she believes her parents deliberately flew themselves into the path of death to escape their embarrassment and humiliation over having given birth to a cull. These taunts and vicious words become reality to Zhaneel until she herself believes that she is clearly misborn because she does not look they way they believe she should.
A head too big and wings too long and thin, ear tufts that are barely visible even when at their most erect. Who could love such an ugly, misborn creature?
So becomes her mantra, pushing her to the point of suicide right under the nose of those that should be most attentive to her well-being and self-esteem.
She takes patrols that are meant to teach fledglings basic flight and procedure; a demoralizing and demeaning set of patrols that would only be assigned to a gryphon her age if they were being punished. Still, she believes herself worth no better a patrol Circuit and takes advantage of the several hour long flights to allow even a brief respite from the taunts that always greet her upon her return.
She believes, literally, after having been so abysmally brow-beaten, that the army would be better off without her and wishes desperately to be worth something. When she attacks the makaar, she goes in with the hope that she will die and in that death, finally mean something; finally prove herself worthwhile in some aspect to those that have never seen worth in her.
It's amazing to her, then, that she succeeds in taking out not one of the misshapen gryphons, but all three that she moved in against. She had expected the move to lead to her death, but instead she survives and finds herself receiving praise and a prize token from Urtho himself. She is flabbergasted, not knowing what to make heads or tails of, finally going because she is told that the kestra'chern can bring her pleasure and make her feel well.
She wants nothing more than to feel acceptance and love, so the notion that she can receive this from someone, even if paying with her prize token, is acceptable to her. Amberdrake's refusal of her confused advance leads her back into a loop of self-loathing and self-deprecation. Not even he, someone that lives to heal and make gryphons lovely, sees her as anything more than ugly and misshapen. When 'Drake begins to show her that her differences are an advancement and not a hindrance, she does not believe him at first.
However, when asked if Urtho would deliberately make her anything less than perfect, her denial is absolute and instantaneous. Their Father would never create something less than perfect in his eyes, something that his children believe to the very core of their being. This point, though, had never been brought up to the heart-sick gryfalcon before. She begins to look at her differences in a whole new way, taking a certain degree of pride in that she can fly Circuits faster and higher than any others in the Wing; even if those Circuits are just for fledglings.
Zhaneel begins to think, to hope, that there is a very deliberate reason that she looks the way she looks.
What is Zhaneel?: A desire to not only survive, but to excel. When Amberdrake reads Zhaneels emotions and finds her suicidal, he also notes in her a desire to be recognized and to make her death count for something. It's not that she wants to make an impression on those around her (though she does seek to impress the attractive Skan), but that she wishes to prove she's better than she is thought of.
No matter that she's been beaten down emotional for years, Zhaneel still has an inner fire burning within her; a will to not simply live, but to thrive. She wants to do well and prove that she can do anything and everything thrown at her. And though she does not believe herself worthy of praise when completing a task, it's her own personal victory that she did succeed. She wants to see gryphons given the respect they are do and to see them treated as the sentient and brave creatures that they are.
She sets out to make her obstacle course to prove her worth to others (and herself), that she was made different because she is special, not because she was a mistake or a cull. Though it was Amberdrake that instilled these thoughts in her originally, it is she that is ingenious enough to design the course; a course that only she is able to maneuver without injuring herself. Her self-worth begins to improve drastically, though she finds praise difficult and embarrassing to take. She is not accustomed to being recognized in any fashion, let alone by those of rank.
Zhaneel believes that the gryphons should be treated as any other participant in Urtho's forces and, as she gains her courage, takes it upon herself to voice these opinion when confronted. The lioness part of Zhaneel is made apparent and she fights for her beliefs, showing a backbone that none had believed her capable of.
Though wary of meeting new people, when she befriends you there could be no less loyal a companion or friend. She is a fiercesome creature, willing to fight to the death in defense of hearth, home, and those she loves or calls friend. If she sets herself on a mission or cause, she will see it done; one way or another. She will never stand by and watch a bully in action, having had to take this for years herself. She will step in to the defense of the underdog and take them (possibly literally) under her wing. She cannot stomach senseless violence, or people that cannot see worth in things around them (be those things people, creatures, plants, etc).
She is not one to carry a grudge against someone that has admitted their fault in something, but she damn well will remember it. Let it happen again and consequences might prove a little heavier than you anticipated.
Every day is a new day of emotional growth for the gryphoness, though some days are harder than others. She pushes with the notion that she was made the way she is because she is special and so much more is expected of her. She lives each day to prove this to herself and those that helped get her to this point in her life. She is grateful to those that have helped her see herself as beautiful and the thought of letting them down is unacceptable to her. She can only hope to repay them for all that they have done for her, even if most of the work has been her own.
- ★ COURT ALLIANCE:
Though Zhaneel is rather innovative and breaks from the expectations of both her peers and her commanders when designing her obstacle course, she does it with the intent not of making herself look good to her peers, but of proving to herself that she can succeed in these challenges and make something of herself that her friends can depend on. She herself is a guardian and warrior in her army and in her own world, that army is fighting against a Mage that wants to overthrow good and allow darkness and evil to spread throughout the land. Ma'ar (said Mage), wants nothing more than to expand his powers of influence and put the land under his rule, whatever the cost. Zhaneel herself has been belittled and picked on her entire life, but she believes in her species and defends their right to be treated as the intelligent beings that they are. She believes in defending and protecting the weak and needy and will put herself at personal risk to do so.
She would die before betraying a friend or a sworn oath.
She believes in the power of 'good' and serves Urtho as best she can in his own fight against 'evil.' Even though we struggles to believe in herself, she would have seen herself dead while taking out warped creatures of black magic to both prove herself and to protect that which she believes in.
While she has not known love before, she believes it exists ... she hopes it exists.
She believes in truth and knowledge, believing that secrets that affect her species should be known to them. She believes that in knowledge is power.
**OOC :: In the end, I will happily accept whichever Court the mods choose! **
- ★ ABILITIES:
} Raptor Vision - Her eyesight is like that of a hawk's: her sight is many, many times sharper than a humans.
} Human-like forefeet - She can do pretty much anything a human can with their own hands, save it's with taloned feet so she has to be a bit careful.
} Crossbow - Self taught and talented with the use of a crossbow due to her human-like forefeet.
} Basic healing - Can wrap and otherwise treat general level wounds/injuries
} Fast/Agile flight - Gryphons as a whole can out pace all species save for the Cold Drake. Zhaneel is better than all those of her generation due to being the first of her sub-species, the gryfalcon. She can fly a circuit 1/3 faster than any others in the Wing
} 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.))
Weaknesses:
Though she is beginning to find a place for herself and come into her own, Zhaneel is still very prone to bouts of self-doubt and self-deprecation. The opinion of others has been hammered into her since her birth, and so she sought it for many, many years. It's a habit hard lost and she still finds herself caring about the opinion of others far more than she should; she worries about such too much, in truth, but can't help herself.
She was bullied physically and emotionally for years, so she also has a tendency to shrink back from altercations, though this was beginning to improve after her public dressing down of Winterheart.
She fears failing, and will run herself to the ground to see a task done and done as well as she believes it should be. A failure will result in her withdrawing and closing off to those around her.
- ★ INVENTORY:
Neck pouch for carrying items, inside a gold reward chit. Crossbow w/ bolts and war-claws.
( SAMPLES )
- ★ NETWORK SAMPLE:
[[AUDIO - Open to both courts because she doesn't know better]]
[Zhaneel has spent the last day getting settled in. Having stayed pretty much entirely to herself, she made a point of scouting the area with a few low height flights.
However, as used to lone flights as the gryphon had been over the past few years, this land is entirely unknown to her and she is wary. So, to her locket she goes.
It takes a bit of manipulation, pushing and twisting, to figure it out, but in the end she perseveres.
Her voice is soft, some might say shy, and if she seems a bit uncertain of herself, it would be because she is to a certain extent. She had barely gotten used to having her own voice and being taken seriously before ending up here. Please excuse the hissing and trilling, as both are brought on by her nervousness.]
Ahh .. heyla .. My name isss Zhaneel and I am amongsssst thosse of usss newly arrived.
[A beat of silence and then..]
Do any of you fly? I am .. well .. I am accusssstomed to ssscouting on my own and making lone flightsss, but thisss place iss muchly unknown and I would rrratherr ssscout in the company of another or even sssseverral.
If not .. I am ssssorrry to be a botherrr of any kind.
[A bit of fumbling and the feed cuts off.]
- ★ LOG SAMPLE:
The smells were one of the first things that alerted the gryphoness that something drastic had changed. The smells and the way the sun sat in the sky, its light cutting through the thick foliage of trees that shouldn't have been there. Slowly Zhaneel comes around, inner lids sweeping across her yellow eyes several times as she lifts her head from the leaf covered ground. She shakes her head several times, remembering only the intense feeling of free-fall, although she had been on the ground at the time the Gate engaged.
However, as her gaze settles on the area around her, she becomes astutely aware that she is not where she believes herself to be. This is no place she remembers scouting, even taking into effect the wild magic of the surrounding Pelagirs or how the land might have changed due to those magics. She could not recall a single area with such a canopy of trees, nor the lingering sense of being watched that was already crawling down her spine.
Fur and feather both begin to bristle as she sweeps the area with a sharp glance, moving to reclaim her footing. She shakes herself out, grimacing as her crossbow shifts and settles uncomfortably between her wingblades, but she makes no move to remove it. Uncomfortable or not, it could mean the difference between life and death; that and her war-claws.
It's only after a moment, that lingering feeling of eyes still remaining on her, that she realizes that she is frightfully alone. She feels her chest constrict, fear beginning to coil tightly in her stomach.
The last thing the gryphon could remember was the Gate being held open by Vikteren to give Skan a chance to make it through. However, she could not recall if he had successfully made it or not before the magic went bad and sent her here .. wherever here was.
no subject
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.
~A History~
Before Foundation (B.F.) there was a time that magic was not nearly so controlled by the land of Valdemar, nor its denizens within. A year tentatively marked as 1000 B.F. brings the start of the history that includes within it a gryphon by the name of Zhaneel; although her part in the tale is less marked than that of her future mate, Skandranon Rashkae.
Even in the prehistory of Valdemar there was magic. The land was made of it, its creatures born and formed from it, its people becoming masters of it. Nearly 1800 years before Herald Mage Vanyel made his mark and 2300 years before Tarma and the Mage Storms that would follow nearly 100 further years later is the time of gryphons.
Personal History:
Since the gathering of Ma'ar's evil forces drove away High King Leodhan, Urtho, the Mage of Silence, has been forced into becoming the leader of those opposed to Ma'ar. Among Urtho's subjects are the Kaled'a'in, including the kestra'chern Amberdrake, the magnificent gryphons and other non-human races.
As Ma'ar's power continues to grow, Urtho and his forces struggle to keep him from destroying all that is good in the world. Should Ma'ar succeed in overthrowing Urtho and his people, he will begin to bend magic further than he has yet and it will lead to an unknown, yet terrifying future for those under his rule.
Urtho, Mage of Silence, known by that name for his ability to create enchantments undetectable by other mages, is probably the best there ever was; he was at least the best of his time. And, while he was the creator of many other magical creatures, the Gryphons were his masterpiece, and the key to the war against Ma'ar. However, the war is not going well for Urtho and his people, and everyone, from the soldiers and generals to those who heal mind, body, or heart, is working themselves to exhaustion.
The gryphons are magically constructed beings, created by Urtho during the Mage Wars, with the hope of being his great chess piece. Intelligent, fierce, magical and loyal to a fault, there could be no better a soldier than the creatures that called him 'Father'.
Non-humans (including not just the gryphons, but the hertasi, tervardi and many others) were respected by Urtho and many amongst his armies, but not by all. By a good number they were considered simply cannon fodder and treated as such; never mind that they were not simply sentient, but intelligent creatures, capable of far more than they were given credit. And although respected by their Father, they were also held in his service is a most unkind manner; their ability to pro-create was unknown to them and controlled by Urtho. The Mages' fear was that if the gryphons, his most loved children, knew the secret to pro-creating, that they would not feel the desire to remain with Urtho and fight for him. He also did not want them bringing young into the world, so rife with magic and warfare, unless they were prepared for it (although this is not learned until after his death).
Already understandably upset at being treated like second rate chattel, this with-holding of information causes great strife amongst the gryphons and they stage a coup, sending Skandranon (Urtho's favorite amongst the gryphons) into Urtho's tower to find answers for them all. After finding out the secret to free-breeding, instead of fleeing as Urtho feared, the gryphons remain with their Father to defend and fight for their army. They prove not only to their Father that they are so much more than he thought, but also those humans that thought them no more than breathing cannon fodder. They are viewed with a new level of respect and treated with better dignity than they have been since their creation. During the final battle, those that cannot fight help evacuate the encampments and the flee to safer grounds by way of Gates, taking with them books and information of import that will prove vital to starting a new colony. It is not until after the simultaneous deaths of Urtho and Ma'ar that any of the gryphons begin striking out on their own, though most remain to help start the city of White Gryphon.
Zhaneel was born to an average gryphon pair that were in service to the Wing and Urtho's forces. While they were both broadwings (hawk or eagle based in shape), Zhaneel herself was born a gryfalcon (falcon based and slimmer in shape and wing form). Shortly after her birth both of her parents died while on a scouting mission for the Wing and Zhaneel was left in the care of her Wing and the Wings' Trondi'irn, Winterheart. It was from this point that the little gryphlet's life went to hell.
Though loved by her parents, she was treated completely in the opposite by her fellow Wing mates and the humans in charge of her Wing. Taunted with jibes of being misborn and useless, Zhaneel grew to believe this of herself and took advantage of any patrol that would keep her away; even if the patrols were the most demeaning possible. She didn't care that they were patrols made for fledglings to teach them the lay of the land, preferring to take them as her own and enjoy the solitude of a long patrol circuit. At no point did those responsible for her ever make her feel like she was more than a stupid beast meant to serve at the commanders' will.
All the while, she was treated as a cull and mis-shaped gryphon by those around her. She grew to believe this of herself, not seeing that the differences between she and her fellow gryphons was not a fault, but the next step in gryphon evolution.
It was not until she made a chance encounter with three makaar (warped and evil gryphons) that her life began to make a change in the positive. 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's pulled during the middle of her run through the course, she never gets to prove to anyone (much less herself) that she can do what she means to.))
More Personality Stuff!
To give some depth of understanding into the personality of Zhaneel and how it came to be, and what she is fully capable of (to round her out), you must look at the series as a whole.
When first we meet Zhaneel, she is an emotionally broken shell of herself due to the constant belittling and picking upon her by her fellow gryphons. Not only that, but by being treated like an animal directly by those whose order she is under. Winterheart is supposed to watch her barges and make certain they are attended to wholly when in need, but instead sees those same charges (the gryphons) as no more intelligent than a war horse.
Amberrrake meets Zhaneel after she has taken down three enemy makaar, because she was rewarded a chit for her actions. She had taken on the makaar in a rather auicidal attempt to prove that she was worth more than she was being treated, and had succeeded. The re are chit itself was a big deal, because she'd never earned one before and it was given to her by Urtho himself. Urtho, being the Father and creator of the gryphons, was someone that Zhaneel had never before had the pleasure of interacting with and she didn't consider herself worthy of the reward. Instead, when speaking with Amberdrake about her success, she talks down about how she succeeded, because it wasn't the way other gryphons would have taken the creatures down.
There is also an innocence to Zhaneel, due to the lack of care she's been shown since her hatching. When she is sent to Amberdrake for 'special care,' the Healer was expecting that the young gryphon will want her feathers painted or some other such thing to make her more attractive to other gryphons. Skandranon had told her that Drake would make her 'feel good,' but she is so naive that she doesn't understand that he means pampering and grooming. She approaches Drake thinking that he means to please her sexually. When Amberdrake denies her advances, Zhaneel withdraws so wholly into herself that Amberdrake is horrified by the level of emotional pain she's in. It is Drake himself that helps Zhaneel begin to see that her 'disfigurements' are, in fact, traits that have evolved in her specifically; while she had smaller talons on her forefeet, they have also formed in a more human-hand like manner that allows her to grasp and handle things like a human. While her wings are longer and slimmer than the broadwings she serves with, they allow her to cut through the air easier and faster; she can fly a given Circuit 1/3 faster than any other gryphon.
Once she begins to see herself as something other than deformed, Drake and Gesten (and a few others) set out to help her show this to the others of the Wing; and to prove it to Zhaneel herself. She designs an obstacle course that she alone can manage, using her smaller body and other traits to navigate. There are traps that even she doesn't know about within the course, magical and physical, and she manages to make her way through *and* rescue the 'victim', Aubri.
This is a turning point for Zhaneel's character, and a key moment in showing the potential that is there if she finds a chance to prove it. She has a crush on Skandranon and had impressed him with her capabilities, which begins to make her feel more secure wih herself and her abilities. If the famous Black Gryphon sees this in her, how can it not be true? It's with his guiding force behind her that she finally finds her voice and when confronted by Winterheart, her 'captain', she finally doesn't back down. Winterheart demands that Zhaneel no longer run the course of practice upon it, and Zhaneel has none of it! She stands up to the captain, telling her that she is doing so on her leave time and not while on duty and demands to know if she must ask permission to take a piss as well.
This strength of character and healing within herself continues and eventually, Skandranon wins *her* over and the pair become mated. She has learned to value herself and her actions and knows that there is strength in everyone, sometimes because of their differences.
Eventually, she and Skan have two children (Tadrith and Keeneth) and she proves to be a nurturing and loving mother. Of the pair, she is the calm and level headed one, where Skan is prone to a bad temper and colorful rants. She listens to her children and knows that their paths will be different from one another and accepts it, so long as they are happy. She is a force, however, and will defend they, her mate and her friends with a salty tongue and a vicious beak should there be cause for it.
At Eachdraidth, she would be pulled before she has had a chance to compete her obstacle course run and stand up for herself, but the potential is just beneath the surface waiting to emerge.