Player Contact Information Real Name: Robert Richardson Y! Profile: berryranger ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Willow Age: 32 Birth Year: NRC 494 Gender: Female Race: Half-Common Elf, Half-Human Homeland: Moss Duchy of Griff Physical Description: Tall and lithe with raven black hair pouring down her back, Willow is elegant and graceful and her face is empty of any malice and, unfortunately, equally unburdened by any glimmer of understanding. That same vacant face is graced with a pair of bright green eyes, shining like perfect emeralds. Clothing and Armor: Elegant but quite travel-worn cloths in royal colors of greens and blues with a finely tailored leather jerkin and a gray hooded cloak that she keeps drawn low over her face out of shyness. Weapon: She carries a finely smithed rapier named "Whisper". Elegant and exquisite in make, the swordsmith, Labalda of Fox, was a slightly renowned smith from the past century and was known for eschewing ornamentation in favor of clean lines and beauty of form. Rather the Bauhaus of swordsmiths. As the last vestige of her life at the manor, Willow coddles and pampers the sword, cleaning and honing it when she lacks anything else to do. Height: 6'1" Weight: 123lbs Build: Tall and lithe Hair Color: Raven black Eye Color: Green Skin Tone: Milk pale OOccupation/Class: Displaced nobility Weapons: Rapier and main gauche Armor: Leather jerkin and wool cloak Items: Bedroll and bag of her scant belongings Magic System: Shamanist Shamanist Level: 1 Special Summons: None Magic Items: None Enchantments: None Special Abilities: None Affinities and Proficiencies: She knows things are out there but just isn't sure what. Waves lapping at the shore and the babblings of a brook seem to tell her things that are just out of her grasp. The waters know more than they let on, she's certain. The fishes know secrets and pools hold deep answers, but, until Willow learns their language, she's content to listen as best as she can and be respectful. Being properly tutored, Willow is the most well read and literate of the siblings but also the least likely of them to understand what she is reading. Regardless, she can recite very well and may even be able to recognize other common languages. She is quite talented at the use of rapier and main gauche. This is the one area that her lack of understanding is of benefit for she never grasped the classical and "proper" teachings of fencing and is usually able to best most accomplished fencers since she doesn't follow the prescribed techniques. She may even turn away victorious against an armored knight since Willow would likely be able to run faster than said knight and create enough distance between the two of them that conflict stops being an option. She doesn't just have animal affinity, she has Affinity. Things (animals, people, maybe even plants) usually adore her and this allows her nearly countless opportunities to be in a position of advantage and favor. Of course she rarely recognizes her advantage and, if brought to her attention, she'd refuse to take advantage of the nice person who was so kind and trusting. There is a small percentage of people, however, who simply can't stand Willow, regarding her as "A babbling and addle-brained idiot." This of course makes her wonder what she did to offend and want to make amends, pestering them even more. While her siblings are adept in rustic survival skills, her grace is in, well, grace. The cultured and artistic population will go out of their way to accommodate her, insuring she never has to fend for herself. It will be brought to her. Having to run from the manor has been a brutal wake up call and she has since shown more resilience than anticipated, proving she can live on fine pastries and coarse brown bread alike. History: Slightly over three decades ago in the Moss Duchy of Griff, one of the ladies of the court had the great honor of carousing with a certain elf. He was a stylish rogue with a rakish grin, the sort who perfectly fit the fashion of the time. He charmed, he pranced, he won a few hearts and enraged a few more. The Lady Istabelle learned she was with child, his child, a week after he vanished which, coincidentally, was the night after a rather rousing evening of libation ending with some fisticuffs. Being a Lady of the court and having followed fashion, she was applauded rather than chastised for carrying a half-breed. When she gave birth, Lady Istabelle chose for her daughter the name Willow, that tree being considered by local tradition to be one of courtly grace, gentle mirth and sage wisdom. The years passed and it proved to be a generally appropriate name on all but one count. Living in the royal houses, the young Willow was never in want of playthings, playmates or lessons. Her laugh was musical and even the most grizzled and war hardened knight was hard pressed to callously send her away. No matter how dearly she was loved, however, it was difficult to ignore that dear sweet Willow was, well, rather stupid. She was eager to please and was diligent and attentive. She listened carefully and was never late for her lessons. Her tutors would have drawn their own blood would it have done any good. She was everything they could have dreamed of in a pupil except she just didn't get it. Concepts passed through her head as if it was a sieve. She could read brilliantly and order her numbers just as they told her but the parts never came together in her head to make a whole. Simple arithmetic was simply beyond her. She was lost if a passage in a book took longer than two sentences to make a point. Still, they couldn't find it in their hearts to beat the dear child since her eagerness was so sincere. The poor tutors could only try their hardest and hope that some grain of understanding would stay in that hole-addled head of hers. Being a child of the court, her worth was not measured solely on her intellect. She excelled at classical swordplay and proved to have an intuitive knack for animal handling. The Duke personally had her study under his own master trainer and she helped to care for his prized hounds and hunting falcons. As with all types of paradise, this too had to end. The fateful evening came when dark clouds gathered and even the noble Dragon Riders fell out of the sky. Cemeteries erupted and unspeakably evil things swarmed the city. The guards were slain, some fell only to rise back up and carry on the carnage. Willow stole from her hiding place and ran to the armory. She plucked her rapier from its stand and threw a colorful leather jerkin under her cloak. Corpses shambled and sinister shadows slithered down the corridor towards her. Initially headstrong and willing to die in a noble fashion, her common sense won out and she lept from the window, landing on the stacked bails of hay underneath. She ran off at the first rising of dawn, unsure where the day would lead her. If she ever returns to the Duchy, she'll be rather shocked to discover that she's the last surviving heir of a title, some land and a small fortune. After The Attack of the Dead, most of the nobility were slaughtered leaving the genealogists to place Willow at the top of one of two of the ruling lineages. This is dependant, of course, on whether there's a Duchy to return to. Personality: Selflessly loving and kind, Willow needs to know that she is somehow useful. Rather shy and timid, she is very much like an exquisitely crafted bauble that needs to be played with, otherwise she will just sit there looking quite vacant and not knowing what to do with itself. Still, Willow carries a certain dignity and self-acceptance that her brother lacks. With Puzzle desperate for adoration and Willow needing to care for things to justify her existence, the two of them make a classic co-dependant partnership. To contrast the three siblings, Puzzle would pull a flower from behind Willow's ear. Willow would be delighted and want to carefully press and save the flower. Berry would possibly try to eat the flower. To compare the three siblings, they are all incredibly strong willed and impossibly stubborn if they don't agree with how things are progressing. They compliment each other, any two having the strengths that the third lacks, and may be quite a formidable power if they learn to work together. Hmph. Fat chance. Alignment: Neutral Good Quotes: "Where did everyone go? Oh, wow!"