Difference between revisions of "Shataina/QuicksilverScribe"

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Quicksilver Scribe

Nightingale Totem No Moon Lunar Exalt

This character was inspired by a character I randomly made up for some of my entries in the Lexicon_of_Elder_Days. I've since decided that those entries chronicle parts of her life in the First Age; this is her most recent incarnation in the Age of Sorrows.

One facet of this character was inspired by Tanith Lee's Mortal Suns (which is, by the way, not her best book by a very very long shot, but does feature a sun-worshipping kingdom and has some good ideas for Solar symbolism, omens, and worship).

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Contents

• Cut Scenes
• Dry Boring Explanation
  • Physical Description
  • Original History
  • First Age Snippets
• Backgrounds
  • Artifact
  • Heart's Blood
  • Resources
• Loose Ends
  • Explanations of Merits and Flaws
  • Sorcery Notes
  • Languages
  • Character Generation
• Statistics
  • Mailanka's Game

[#CutScenes]

Cut Scenes

Quicksilver Scribe dreams:

She knows the place of her dream, but also knows she will not remember it upon awakening. It's bright, filled with light and rainbows, and it is hers -- she feels comfortable here, at home. Recognizing the sense of memories of her First Age self, Quicksilver Scribe settles back and observes what she did.

There is someone across from her -- or perhaps not. She's speaking to someone -- or perhaps not; is the voice coming from before her, or from within her mind? Wherever it is, Quicksilver Scribe quickly concludes that it's a separate entity. The sound of it is soft, caressing, and eager to please; her own voice is commanding, full of energy, beautifully harmonious beyond compare. In her sleep, Quicksilver Scribe sighs.

"Mistress," says whoever she was speaking to. "I have brought what you asked for."

Her own tone is distracted, but warm. "Thank you. Where did it come from?"

"As you suggested, I took it from the Fire Aspect in the south. I think you'll be pleased with it, Mistress. It's rough, but has its own force and charm. It will add a new dimension to your story."

"Excellent. And did it come willingly?"

A short pause. "Don't worry about that, Mistress."

A sigh, from herself. "They're of higher quality when willing."

"Really, Mistress, don't worry. He was willing -- enough. I always take care with quality. You know that, don't you?"

She can feel herself sighing again, troubled. "Occasionally -- oh, sometimes -- it just seems wrong. Even for this ... what we do sometimes." There's no answer for a stretch, but she can understand the distress from the other presence.

Finally, the other speaks, almost tentative, but with the force of conviction. "Mistress, this isn't like you. You cannot let it bother you so. Even if we cause some pain -- the pursuit of purity is all. Surely it is worth some sacrifices."

"Yes. Of course you're right." Quicksilver Scribe's past self stands, paces. "Berengiere ...." and Quicksilver Scribe herself stiffens, even asleep. Berengiere -- she is speaking to the Weaver of Voices?

"Yes, Mistress?" The reply is instant. Quicksilver Scribe marvels at the submissiveness of that tone -- and so ardent ... like the voice of a lover.

"Does it weigh on you, what I ask you to do for me? The binding?"

"Oh, no, Mistress. How could I ever complain about being charged to such an intelligent --" here the murmur becomes even quieter, dulcet -- "wonderful woman? You are beyond compare. We have so much in common. And our goals are so very similar."

Common goals? Quicksilver Scribe thinks, but cannot focus, for the dream keeps on -- Her dream-self smiles a tiny bit. "Thank you, my dear," she feels herself say, and she goes on -- she strains, but the words slipped away ... too far. She could not catch her last statement as the dream-brightness was replaced with the light of morning.

The silence of the Last Hunter's retreat was impressive, and its cause was immediately obvious: his spider-beastmen patrolled his domain, and even birds were afraid to land, for the beastmen could climb trees and catch even an avian visitor. The Last Hunter enjoyed his privacy. Quicksilver Scribe fluttered above the trees and contemplated whether she should interrupt that privacy. If I am properly submissive, she thought, and do not presume too much, I think he will forgive me. Still, she hesitated, riding the air and tasting the Essence of the forest below her. She could see no complex defenses, sorcerous or otherwise. I've come all this way, she considered, it would be absurd to turn back now, and kept a careful eye out as she cautiously alighted on the very top of a tree and began to sing as beautifully as she could. The branches were probably too weak to support the beastmen; she cocked her tiny head and glanced downward as she sang, seeing them begin to gather at the base. Hopefully, he would come soon.

He was an impressively built man, she saw when he arrived moments later, striding naked through the trees and watching to all sides for the disturbance. The many eyes studded his head like dark carbuncles, glittering unpleasantly in the twilight. His movements, she noted, were jerky in a strangely flowing way, as if his limbs were not properly jointed and yet his was the proper way to walk. It was odd, not quite right in a human form. She let her tune trail off as he looked up at her, and waited politely for him to address her.

"Why do you come?" he called up. He did not sound pleased, but neither, she was relieved to note, did he seem particularly angry. "I live in solitude."

"Please," she said, and took a chance on flying down slightly, within reach of his beastmen. None of them moved. "I am just a young No Moon, and I have come a long way in search of your wisdom."

The Last Hunter grunted. "I have no dealings with the Silver Pact," he growled.

"The Silver Pact wants little to do with me, either," she offered. "Please, grandfather. I will take only a moment of your time. I must know more about my doings in the First Age, and I think you may be the only one who can advise me."

"Oh? Come closer." He crossed his arms and stared as she fluttered timidly down to the forest floor, then took on her human form, head bowed and crippled legs folded beneath her. "Look up at me, child."

His face was forbidding, eyes huge and dark and alien, and his expression did not change as he gazed down at her. "Well," he said at last. "And what has caused you to take an interest in your First Age doings, little No Moon?"

"My dreams are strange," she confessed. "I worry about some of the things I may have done, long ago, and I think some of them are coming back to haunt me now."

Another grunt. The beastmen came down from the trees and approached from all sides, hemming her into small circle. Quicksilver Scribe tried not to be afraid. She glanced up; there was still a pale circle of sky visible above the lowering trees and the threatening beastmen. She could probably still take on her nightingale form and flee without too much trouble, she thought, but she wouldn't want to try, particularly not if it caused the Last Hunter to take umbrage.

"Even in the deep East, away from the doings of mortals and Exalted," said the Last Hunter at last, "I heard tales of the doings of Quicksilver Scribe. They say you consorted with demons, wicked spirits, and worse, that you made bargains you could not possibly keep, that you scorned the world as I did, but that you seemed to have allied with its enemies. -- Still, there was no evidence, and none moved against you, for in your fastness in the ice you bothered no one, and in those times it was handy not to have to worry about yet another political possibility."

Quicksilver Scribe took a deep breath. "And my fastness in the ice," she said. "Does it still exist? Do you know where it was?"

"I do not," he said heavily, and she tried not to let her disappointment show on her face. "I know only that it was along a river, and indeed it was far in the north, beyond the temperatures that most mortals can live through. I believe that the territory it lies in today -- if it is still there -- is claimed by none."

"Thank you, grandfather," she said quietly, "for your wisdom."

"Ha," he grumbled. "That was not wisdom. Always understand, child, that knowledge is not wisdom. -- You say you have separated from the Silver Pact?"

"I think so," she said. "We have little in common, and I think they have small respect for me."

"Well, that is wise, anyway," he said, "-- at least, your decision to keep apart from them," and turned. "If you should happen to speak to one of the Silver Pact," he rumbled, not looking back as he walked away, "or others of the Lunar Exalted, then tell them that I am not to be disturbed. And you yourself should not come here again, little nightingale. My children would find a small bird to be a delicious treat." He made a dismissive gesture with one hand. "Go."

"Thank you again, grandfather," Quicksilver Scribe said hastily, and slipped into her tiny form, arrowing up through the trees and trying not to shudder at the gluttonous stares of the Last Hunter's children. Well, then; it seemed that she must go to the North, and try to find her Manse; she could see no other way to find answers. She tried not to imagine what she would find there.

[#Explanation]

Character Background and Explanations

[#Description] Description

Keeping her eyes downcast, Quicksilver Scribe has the appearance of a modest maiden, and despite her delicate beauty, she tends to fade into the background. She rarely speaks, but when she does, listeners are surprised by the exquisite, singsong quality of her rhythmic words. Everything she says is well-considered and executed as poetically as possible. Her hair was originally palest gold, but at the moment of Exaltation it faded to a deep moon-coloured silver; her eyes are a deep brown-black colour, unexpectedly dark against her Northern-flushed, pale skin and silvery lashes. (Her eyes are her Tell, but they obviously aren't that bad since she has no Deadly Beastman.) The deep silver of her hair cannot be magicked away, leading Quicksilver Scribe to believe that it is a mark that Luna has placed upon her deliberately; why this is true, she has no idea, but she suspects that it may be intended to demonstrate Luna's favour and encourage other Lunars to accept her in spite of her disability -- something they are not necessarily inclined to do.

[#History] History

Quicksilver Scribe is about as unlike most Lunars as can be. Born into a merchant family in a big city (which I haven't decided on yet) and with a different name, she was treated as privileged most of her life, although an accident with her feet when she was very young required amputation. Although she couldn't walk, her parents saw to it that she never lacked for entertainment, and delightedly trained her in languages when they saw that she had a facility for them. Intense and anti-social, she spent most of her childhood reading, with a particular love for poetry, neglecting all other pursuits in favour of perfecting a phrase, or mastering a translation.

Her parents were both killed in an accident when she was in her mid-teens, and unscrupulous shysters took what was left of her fortune when they saw that all that was left to guard it was a frightened girl and her last, loyal servant -- her athletic trainer. They left her her crafted silver feet out of pity, but took most everything else, at last even casting her out of the house she had grown up in.

Determined to live, the girl had her silver feet reconfigured slightly, with leather soles. She knew it would be hard -- perhaps even impossible -- to survive as a cripple, and so, with a singular and insane effort of will, she forced her long-dormant muscles to help her balance on her crafted feet. With only the help of her servant, who died midway through the year, she actually taught her reluctant, atrophied muscles to walk. After almost a year of agony, with scar tissue lining her legs, she finally came to the point when she could, essentially, move on her own (with great difficulty and a cane) -- and that night, she Exalted.

Luna came to her and said that she admired her bravery in the face of adversity the girl had never imagined, and her willingness to conquer her own crippled body to survive. With an ironic smile, the goddess granted Quicksilver Scribe her totem animal -- the nightingale, whose wings she had wished for, through her tears, all through the ordeal of learning to use her legs. She gave the girl her perfect new voice, the voice of a songbird and poet; paled her hair to show her affiliation; and told her where to go to find tutelage as a Lunar Exalt.

The search led Quicksilver Scribe to the one who had been her greatest student in the First Age, when she was a sorceress and fighter who sought to harness only the power and purity of words. He gave her back her damaged (but mostly whole) warfans, which he had been keeping for her through the millenia, and taught her what she needed to know, going into the basics of the styles she had invented. Before he could take her beyond that, however, he was killed by agents of the Lover Clad in the Raiment of Tears, and Quicksilver Scribe was left to find her own way.

Quicksilver Scribe is not particularly interested in revenge -- she knows she's not an effective fighter, and besides, she has other goals. She wants to find someone -- she desperately hopes that someone remains -- who can teach her the higher techniques of her sorcerous school, as well as the Celestial Martial Arts style that she invented. As memories come back to her of the First Age, she recalls her former life's obsession, and it is slowly becoming hers: to find the purest form of every word, so pure they cannot even be spoken in their original form, and to craft from these the greatest epic ever told.

Quicksilver Scribe's First Age self, perceiving and believing in the power of language, believed that if she could rewrite the story of the Primordial Wars using the power of every word's original form and weave it into the greatest epic of all time, then she could actually alter reality. The story she is aiming to complete and bring into reality tells of a harmonious end to the Primordial War, in which the Primordials were never locked away and twisted beyond their original, true selves, and remained in Creation in harmony with the Exalted and the gods. Quicksilver Scribe's latest incarnation has realized this and is slowly coming to think that it's true; she is starting to pick up where her past self left off. Whether she's right or wrong is hard to say; even the mere beginning of her epic contains incredible power -- it has been used to open gates to Malfeas and communicate with demons, among other things. If she actually completes it, the effects could be exactly what she thinks they will be -- or they could be something far, far worse.

She has found the unfinished Dictionary of All First Things, a book she began to compile Ages ago which begins to record the pure forms of words, and she has also found the beginnings of the epic itself. Although she might be turned from single-minded pursuit of its completion for a short time, or even a longer time if she could study languages or poetry in the process, it is unlikely that she would stay away for long. She is also beginning to remember some of the more terrible pacts she made in times past -- with the Weaver of Voices in particular -- and they are beginning to look ever more attractive as her obsession begins to devour her.

[#FirstAge] First Age Snippets

Here is a list of Lexicon entries which mention Quicksilver Scribe's pre-Usurpation incarnation:

• The Green and Gold Eastern Mercantile Fund: Quicksilver Scribe gets cheated by a shyster.
• Harbor of Stars, Lace and Paper War, Namarath, Principality of: These entries weren't written by me, and I admit to shamelessly writing around them in a later entry.
• Kuzari Nefhindi: A man of perfect disguise capability.
• Miasma Poetica: Quicksilver Scribe dies at the hands of her lover.
• Mark of Purification: Rumours of Quicksilver Scribe's associations.
• Quest for the Final Shadow: The entry I used to shamelessly write around the entries I didn't write.

[#Backgrounds] Backgrounds

[#Artifact] Artifact

Quicksilver Scribe's fans were rescued by her most loyal student (who later, in a twist of fate, became her mentor) after her death, but they had been badly damaged as the past Quicksilver Scribe drew on their power to fuel her last, vengeful sorceries; they have lost their greatest magical capability, and may only be used as weapons (Martial Arts weapons, which may also be thrown using her Martial Arts score). They could be fixed, but she has no idea how, or where to look.

The fans take the form of a delicate tracery of moonsilver runes, sharpened to razor fineness at the edges, which read her name and several epithets. As they open, they chime, harmonizing with the Essence of the area; thereafter, they are utterly, impossibly silent, in perfect and pure harmony with the world, until they are opened again, when they must re-harmonize. The chiming is soft and melodious, but quite noticeable.

[#HeartsBlood] Heart's Blood

My Storyteller plays with a houseruled version of this background; I would tend to assume small shapes, like mice and small birds, with perhaps one or two medium-sized but fairly harmless animals.

[#Resources] Resources

Having left the city of her birth, Quicksilver Scribe makes very little every now and then as a translator. She does not particularly need this money, of course, and rarely uses it, as she can survive in animal form fairly handily.

[#LooseEnds] Loose Ends

[#MeritsFlaws] Merits and Flaws (that deserve explanation)

• Double-Jointed: As a child, Quicksilver Scribe's parents were aware that she might be a pretty girl someday, and intended to marry her off to someone who wouldn't mind that she's a cripple. They couldn't have her ruining her looks with extra weight or ill-toned muscles, though, so they hired athletic instructors to give her a regimen every day. In this way, she learned to contort, flex, and move in the most improbable ways, even though she could not use her feet.
• No Feet: This Flaw would normally give Quicksilver Scribe 4 points rather than 2. However, in human form, due to her silver feet, she can walk (albeit with a great deal of difficulty and cane usage -- walking would be impossible in, say, a forest, or anything else with a non-flat or soft surface). Her animal forms also don't retain the lack of feet when she shifts into them. As such, we reduced the Flaw value to 2 points.

[#Sorcery] Sorcery Notes

Quicksilver Scribe's former incarnation developed the Sound-Mesh School of sorcery herself; it is a tiny, ill-practiced and esoteric school which focuses on poetry, pure language, and the power of words to call forth its effects. Mechanically, there are no differences in her spells, but they involve more chanting, rhyming and sonorousness than they would if learned by another school, and they also manifest differently: Flying Guillotine as a slashing crystal rune, for example. If she were to learn other spells, they would also tend to manifest differently from those cast by students of the "mainstream" schools.

[#Languages] Languages

Quicksilver Scribe speaks and reads Forest-Tongue, Riverspeak, Skytongue, High Realm, some Tribal Tongues, and Old Realm. (Houseruled Language System: Celestial Old Realm 4; Demonic Old Realm 5; Ancient Dragon King 2; Eastern Fae 2; Terrestrial Old Realm 3; High Realm 3; Low Realm 2; Haltan / Linowan 1; Icewalker 1; Riverspeak 3; Hundred Kingdoms 5; Forest-Barbarian 3; Gaelic 1; Clawspeak 3)

[#CharGen] Character Generation

This character has played in two short-term games, during which she learned: two new Charms and four new Specialty dots; and 36 (houseruled) experience points, which were put entirely towards languages.

[#Statistics]

Statistics

Attributes

Strength: 1
Dexterity: 3
Stamina: 2

Charisma: 3
Manipulation: 2
Appearance: 4

Perception: 5
Intelligence: 4
Wits: 3

Abilities

Athletics: 3 (plus one extra die to twisty checks from Double-Jointed Merit)
Awareness: 3 (plus two extra dice to all hearing checks from the Acute Sense Merit)
Dodge: 3 (Specialty: In Bird Form +1)
Martial Arts -- Sound-Mesh Style: 3 (Specialty: Throwing Fans +2)

Craft -- Poetry: 4 (Specialty: Lyric Poetry +2)
Linguistics: 5 (Specialty: Written Translation +2; plus one extra die to all checks from the Prodigy Merit)
Performance: 2
Socialize: 1
Survival: 2

Investigation: 0 (Specialty: Research +1)
Lore: 3
Occult: 4 (Specialty: Sound-Mesh Sorcery +2)

Backgrounds

Artifact: 4
Heart's Blood: 2
Resources: 1

Virtues and Such

Compassion: 2
Conviction: 3 (Limit Break Virtue)
Temperance: 3
Valour: 2

Willpower: 7

Essence: 3
Personal Essence Pool: 17
Peripheral Essence Pool: 38 (11 committed: 1 to Hide of the Cunning Hunter and 10 to her damaged Sound-Mesh Fans)

Merits and Flaws

Acute Sense -- hearing (-1)
Damaged Artifact (+2)
Double-Jointed (-1)
Eidetic Memory -- hearing (-1)
Enchanting Feature -- voice (-2)
Eternal Vow (+1)
No Feet (+2)
Prodigy -- Linguistics, thereby making this Ability "double-favoured" (-2)
Slow Healing (+4)
Unusual Appearance -- silver hair (+1)

Charms, Sorcery and Combat

Charisma: Finding the Spirit's Shape, Humble Mouse Shape
Manipulation: Hide of the Cunning Hunter, Shaping the Ideal Form
Perception: Spirit-Scenting Technique, Pulse of the Invisible
Intelligence: Terrestrial Circle Sorcery, [Speak to Animals Charm]

Spells (learned by the Sound-Mesh School): Emerald Countermagic, Paralyzing Contradiction, Flying Guillotine

Power Combat Statistics: with her fans: Speed +9, Accuracy 14, Damage +6, Parry 13, Rate 8
(when thrown: Speed +6, Accuracy 14, Damage +6, Range 45', Rate 2)
with Flying Guillotine: Accuracy 12 (with 3 autosuccesses), Damage +18
Dodge Pool (Power Combat): 9
Soak: 2 Bashing, 1 Lethal, 0 Aggravated
Health Levels: -0, -1, -1, -2, -2, -4, Incapacitated

[#Mailanka]

Statistics (Mailanka's game)

Nature: Architect

Attributes

Strength: 1
Dexterity: 3
Stamina: 2

Charisma: 3
Manipulation: 2
Appearance: 4

Perception: 5
Intelligence: 4
Wits: 3

Abilities

Athletics: 2 (plus one extra die to twisty checks from Double-Jointed Merit)
Awareness: 3 (plus two extra dice to all hearing checks from the Acute Sense Merit)
Dodge: 3 (Specialty: In Bird Form +1)
Martial Arts -- Sound-Mesh Style: 3 (Specialty: Throwing Fans +2)

Linguistics: 5 (Specialty: Written Translation +2; Poetry +3; plus one extra die to all checks from the Prodigy Merit)
Performance: 2 (Specialty: Voice +1)
Socialize: 1
Survival: 2

Investigation: 0 (Specialty: Research +1)
Lore: 3
Occult: 4 (Specialty: Sound-Mesh Sorcery +2)

Backgrounds

Artifact: 4
Heart's Blood: 2 (forms: deer mouse, grey cat, deer, unsure yet)
Resources: 1

Virtues and Such

Compassion: 2
Conviction: 3 (Limit Break Virtue)
Temperance: 3
Valour: 2

Willpower: 7

Essence: 3
Personal Essence Pool: 17
Peripheral Essence Pool: 38 (11 committed: 1 to Hide of the Cunning Hunter and 10 to her damaged Sound-Mesh Fans)

Merits and Flaws

Acute Sense -- hearing (-1)
Damaged Artifact (+2)
Double-Jointed (-1)
Eidetic Memory -- hearing (-1)
Enchanting Feature -- voice (-2)
Enemy -- Silver Pact (+1)
Eternal Vow (+1)
No Feet (+2)
Past Lives (-1)
Prodigy -- Linguistics, thereby making this Ability "double-favoured" (-2)
Slow Healing (+4)
Unusual Appearance -- silver hair (+1)

Cannibalized Attributes (+9)

Charms, Sorcery and Combat

Charisma: Finding the Spirit's Shape, Humble Mouse Shape
Manipulation: Hide of the Cunning Hunter
Perception: Spirit-Scenting Technique, Pulse of the Invisible
Intelligence: Terrestrial Circle Sorcery

Spells (learned by the Sound-Mesh School): Emerald Countermagic, Paralyzing Contradiction, Flying Guillotine

Power Combat Statistics: with her fans: Speed +9, Accuracy 14, Damage +6, Parry 13, Rate 8
(when thrown: Speed +6, Accuracy 14, Damage +6, Range 45', Rate 2)
with Flying Guillotine: Accuracy 12 (with 3 autosuccesses), Damage +18
Dodge Pool (Power Combat): 9
Soak: 2 Bashing, 1 Lethal, 0 Aggravated
Health Levels: -0, -1, -1, -2, -2, -4, Incapacitated

Current Experience Total: 13
Conviction: 1
Willpower: 4
Essence: 8

[#Comments]

Comments