Gender
Age
Race
Origin
Occupation
female
one hundred fifty-seven
elven
rinarwin
era'amelan ( keeper of stories )
Eyes
Complexion
Height
Build
Weight
Body Markings
celadon green
pale
five feet, ten inches
statuesque
one hundred sixty-five pounds
{xA P P E A R A N C Ex}
Cecilia embodies every aspect of elves that they are both renowned and despised for, doing it with a poise that seems to come as naturally to her as breathing. Like all elves, time has come to a complete standstill for her. Despite being alive for nearly two centuries, Cecilia's skin remains almost unnaturally smooth and mostly unblemished save for a few scars and the tattoos that mark her cheeks. Her hair has never faded to gray, retaining its blonde, almost-silver color and is always kept in a loose bun, and her green eyes have remained free of wrinkles or bags. Perhaps the only thing that truly reveals her age is what lies behind those eyes, which hold a wealth of wisdom that could only be gained with being alive for an ungodly amount of time.
To those who don't know her, her stoic features and towering height often make others inclined to characterize her as intimidating, and it's not without cause. Cecilia carries herself with a confidence that's reserved for lords and kings, and shows no hesitation in letting her disapproval show clearly on her face. She knows the power that comes with being able to control which emotions you portray to others, and she knows this well. Every furrowed brow, ever tug of her lip is displayed in a conscious effort, and there are few that she would whole-heartedly let past these guarded walls.
There are natural curves to her body, but these are well supported with trained muscle, a sign that she is not as frail as the average mage would be. Clung to this body is exceptionally refined clothing, loose to allow for movement, but fitting, as Cecilia does her best to put her best foot forward and present herself as someone of a higher class rather than a normal peasant wearing awkward hand-me-downs. However, this well put together facade quickly falls apart once one gets to know her beyond simple pleasantries, especially in the presence of good booze.
Regarding foot-wear, Cecilia genuinely prefers to be bare foot, only opting for foot wear when travelling, in the presence of company who would frown upon her usual habits, or when she's in a particular dirty town. But when she does wear boots or some other form of foot wear, they're just as finely crafted as the rest of her clothing.
Beyond her hard exterior is someone who is more than a little eccentric and very mischievous. Even still, Cecilia likes to keep her cards to her chest, never revealing too much about what's she feeling at any given moment. She's the very essence of discipline, from her appearance, to her speech, to the way the walks, and this is a fact that tends to annoy many people. Though she pays these people no mind, as any effort expended in trying to change their minds would probably be wasted anyways.
After a century and a half of life, Cecilia has built a multitude of walls around herself, and it has been out of necessity more than anything else. Elven society views everything and everyone with scrutinizing eyes, elves themselves being no exception to this rule. She has learned how to avoid such a scathing gaze, cutting and pasting pieces of herself together to fit the mold that society has formed for her.
Stoic, graceful... condescending; it is the exact image that many have of Elves, and she does her best to fit that stereotype to a T. However, it's a far cry from how she used to be in her "younger" years. Though Cecilia wasn't as wise as she is now, she certainly was more mischievous, more restless, willing to get her hands dirty and fixed what needed to be fixed.
Now, she simply watches, waits, careful not to overstep any boundaries. She picks and chooses when it's time to speak out and when she'll simply sit and watch injustices as they happen. She's not naive. She understands very well that she does seem cowardly at best, and at worst, it makes her just as bad as those who commit injustices themselves. Although there is some guilt, Cecilia stops it from weighing too heavily on her heart. In her mind, this is the best way to protect people, as it's always nice to have someone on the inside. In some ways, this reveals a more utilitarian aspect of her. She's willing to allow a few to suffer if it means she can help many more in the end. She can handle the guilt, the occasional scowl from those who think she's no better than the common despot. After all, she's doing this for their sake, for the people she used to be like, isn't she?
Besides, sometimes you can't just save everybody.
Beneath this hand-crafted persona that she wears around company of a higher status, and generally those who she knows little of, Cecilia is very much the adventurous rash girl who grew up in the squalor surrounding Raes Ulin, who jumped head first into everything she encountered, with little thought given to her own well being. There was nothing that could keep her attention for long, and she flitted between a number of hobbies and an even higher number of romantic partners, always willing to let fly a flirtatious comment or two.
Though she still has all of these qualities, Cecilia's much... less now, overall. She's just as intelligent as she was before, but age has given her the knowledge to know better than to jump straight in without checking how deep the water is, so to speak.
Her edges have softened over the years, and though she still can sometimes be a little restless, Cecilia's much better at handling herself. She's not nearly as flirtatious as she used to be, but old habits die hard sometimes, and that forgotten side of her can peak through once she's had a bit too much to drink. However, something that has never been tempered is her mischievous nature. Even now she likes to play pranks on unsuspecting innocents, or simply start fights for no other reason than it's funny to her. This has gotten her in more than her fair share of trouble, but she usually shrugs it off when she can and continues on her merry way.
It's quite obvious that when she's not held down by the expectations of Elven society, to either behave well within Rinarwin or to represent the elves well elsewhere, Cecilia is quite the free-spirit who likes to have fun whenever she can, even at the expense of others on the occasion. This carefree personality can quickly give way to someone more cold and ruthless when pushed a bit to far. Like anyone else, Cecilia has her limits on just how much disrespect her pride will allow her to take, and she'll be sure to make it known when that limit has been reached.
Slight miss steps can be covered with an apology, and she'll let it be water under the bridge. Errors that leave deeper wounds, a betrayal of trust, or anything of similar severity, will need more than a simple band aid to fix, and she can hold a grudge for a lifetime, as she'll probably outlive whatever fool made such an egregious mistake anyways.
Cecilia is also rather ambitious and more than a little impatient. She has little time to wait around for those who refuse to act when an opportunity for success arises, and she's gladly take the reigns herself if it means that the job will get done right. There's a ruthless efficiency to her methods, and she'll dig in her heels and argue against anyone who dares to urge that they could do better than her, especially if it has anything to do with magic or swordsmanship.
She's is aware that she's set in her ways, no matter how much she tries to shake them. Perhaps there are just somethings that remain immune to the weathering qualities of time, even withstanding a century and a half of life.
Dislikes
Inadequacy
Disingenuous
Death
Passivity
Cecilia has always been more than proficient at any skill that's caught her interest for more than a handful of years. Magic. Sword fighting. They come as easy to her as blinking does. To even be considered mediocre at anything is unthinkable to her. Thankfully, she has more than few life-times to better any skills that are less than perfect.
As an elf, it's hard to imagine the state of being dead. Cecilia's indifferent to seeing it in other races. Death is more than common for orcs, humans and dwarfs, but it never fails to shock her when she learns news of one elvish elder passing after living more than a thousand years. For her, it seems as though life could go on forever. It's hard to imagine that there's ever an end.
Cecilia believes that there are times were it is often best to sit on the side lines and do nothing, to bide your time and wait for a better opportunity. But that is very different from simply wasting away, watching as the world continues to move along without you, without any response or resistance. That is a choice she refuses to understand or accept. Such things only allow for tyrants to fester and spread like blisters.
Dislikes
Inquisitive
Disingenuous
Stubborn
Disingenuous
Cecilia asks a lot of questions. A lot of questions. It truly is just out of her natural desire to understand the world around her and the people that inhabit it. Like a child, she'll question anything that she lacks even the slightest understanding of, whether it's magic or herbalism. Sometimes this is quite cute. Others times, you'll probably just want her to shut up.
She's of the mind that there are few that truly know better than she does... and anyone that does is probably and elf because they have literal years worth of knowledge that she doesn't. So she'll dig her heels in, scowl and bear her teeth at anyone who opposes her without good reason. She'll admit she's wrong only after it's been proven, otherwise, good luck getting her to agree with you on any matter.
Rarely is Cecilia ever sincere with those she doesn't know. She likes the wear the mask of elvish pompousness, letting others think she's just like they always thought elves to be; condescending asses with all the time in the world to tell you about how great they are. Of course, this idea couldn't be further from the truth, but it's always safer than letting a stranger get too close.
Dislikes
Sweets
Disingenuous
Finery
Blitheness
She definitely does have a sweet tooth, and she'll eat anything that can even remotely be considered sweet, though her favorite dessert is definitely the pies that elves make for the Festival of the Unconquered Sun.
Cecilia prefers the finer things in life after being deprived of them for so long, and loves everything from silks, to scented baths and candles.
It's the type of joy that can only be felt when everyone's a little bit too drunk for their own good and there's not a care in the world to be had. It's those moments she loves the most.
Rashness
Disingenuous
Hesitation
Smugness
She's was rash herself, once, and she had it bite her in the ass enough times to know that it's more detrimental than anything else.
Just as she dislikes rashness, she rolls her eyes at those who are too afraid to act. She'll gladly make the decision for them if they're truly that scared.
Anyone who genuinely believes they're superior to her is enough to tick her off. But there are those who act as if they got her all figured out. As if Cecilia could be read like a book they picked off a shelf. Those people enrage her more than anything else.
Cecilia has a menagerie of odd skills that she's picked up during her time travelling, though a few core skills were mostly learned during her time in Raes Ulin. Her mentor made sure to teach her at least the basics of hand-to-hand fighting, instilling in her the idea that you should never rely on your staff or a blade, as there are many situations where you can be without both. Although, it is clear that she doesn't prefer this fighting style, but she still packs quite the punch.
The area where she truly shines is her swordsmanship. Cecilia took the sword early on in her life - well, at the time that could be early considered for elves. It's almost awe inspiring, watching her work her way through her enemies, a concoction of deadly grace. Though she can usually be seen with a rapier on her hip, she is trained in usage of a short and long swords. She makes quick work of any foe in her path, leaving them covered in a myriad of cuts, each of them shallow, but deadly.
She could map the entire human body on a sheet a parchment if prompted. Cecilia knows the locations of every artery, every vital organ and vein. This knowledge is all to meet one end; in a potentially fatal situation, kill your opponent by any means necessary, and kill them quickly. She is not interested in butchering anyone beyond recognition. Her only interest is self preservation.
Besides skills necessary for combat, Cecilia is adept at all things necessary for life on the road; hunting, prepping food, repairing equipment and patching up tattered clothing with a sewing needle and some loose cloth. It may seem odd for a mage to expend any effort in learning how to sew when a spell can easily mend any clothing, but, once again, Cecilia's of the mind that one should never rely fully on their magic.
{xM A G I CxA F F I N I T Yx}
Although there are many who surpass Cecilia in the application of magic and the numerous spells possible, there are few who could dare to match her in knowledge. Because of a few higher connections and her own role in elvish society, she has had access to the Raes Ulin's Elvarel Eneran, a library with such a wealth of knowledge that she could only imagine would take numerous elven life times to truly begin to learn it all. This, and she has also ventured well into the lands of both humans and orcs alike, and has learned the many similarities and differences that exists between how each race practices magic, even within the different normadic Orc tribes.
Of course, this knowledge also comes with the knowledge of things such as blood magic and necromancy, but she scorns the use of such magic, and refrains from utilizing it herself. Such magic is a perversion of a gift given by Namarië, and no good could possibly come of it. Only death and madness.
Cecilia on the chance that she has to go on the offensive, she prefers the more elemental side of magic over anything else. For magic that's not focused on destroying everything in its path, she's quite proficient in healing and mending.
{xW E AK N E S S E Sx}
Master of Few
Master of Few
If absolutely necessary, Cecilia's armor of choice is a rather ornamented gambeson jacket made of several layers of wool. It's light, allowing for quick and precise movements, while still offering a decent amount of protection from arrows and blades. Of course, her ultimate preference is no armor at all. Rapiers were made for unarmored combat after all, and a simple cloak is enough defense for her to feel safe. She stays away from any sort of chain mail or armor plating, partially because of how heavy they are, and due to the obnoxious amount of noise that they make in any given situation.
{xC L O T H I N Gx}
Cecilia carries clothing suitable to all weather conditions. Perhaps she's a little over prepared, but such a thing is necessary when she's on the road so often for indefinite lengths of time. Heavy wool and well insulated boots, light shawls and sandals — anything and everything that she could possibly need is at her disposal. All of her clothes have their own embellishments, signifying to many that she's someone with more than a little loose change on hand, which, unfortunately, comes with its own problems. When she's not travelling, Cecilia prefers to wear light, sleeveless shirts and simple leather pants.
She doesn't care much for tight fitting clothing, only wearing such things during formal events. In her day to day life, however, she still prefers the finer things. Cecilia wears a multitude of fine silks as though they were common items, and thinks little about adorning herself with rings and bracelets. She does show quite the preference for earrings, and has several piercings in both of her ears.
{xI T E M Sx}
Digging through Cecilia's belongings is almost like going to a pawn shop. Almost. There are a hand fill of odd trinkets that seemingly have no real value, but she also makes the effort to carry around many items that can come in handy. Besides the obvious water skins and food rations, Cecilia has handfuls of different herbs, spices and salts. Not ones that you would use to cook a feast, but more of the sort that are used in magical rituals, or perhaps to preserve living organisms. Besides this, she has numerous vials, whetstones, resin and a sewing kit to repair any damages to equipment or clothing that might occur. She also carries a lot of parchment, perhaps more than you would expect, and she generally uses this to record information of any type.
{xP R I M A R YxW E A P O Nx}
Dagger
Length
Weight
Origin
59in ( 150cm )
1.7lbs ( 0.77kg )
Sveva, the weapon's namesake, was a friend of Cecilia's in Raes Ulin who gifted her the rapier. It's crafted from enasvevaral, a strong and enduring metal native to Rinarwin. She's had it for nearly twenty-five years now, and it has served her well. Surprisingly, it has few embellishments save for it's elaborately decorated pommel. The rapier does include a ricasso and a compound hilt. The ricasso allows for greater grip strength and torque, while the compound hilt protects her hand.
{xS E C O N D A R YxW E A P O Nx}
Length
Weight
Origin
19in ( 48cm )
.7lbs ( 0.45kg )
This dagger was also crafted by Sveva. It is certainly longer than most daggers, and this is due to its function of parrying larger swords.
Friends
Rosalia Floros
née Adarahris
Adelaide Sullanis..
Cecilia doesn't remember much about her mother. Given that she passed away from illness whenever she was younger, she only has her father's word to go off of. Apparently, she was a rather self-effacing women, and considering how Cecilia turned out herself, she's not so sure about whether she believes that.
Friends
Sveva Belavahn
Adelaide Sullanis
One of Cecilia's closest friends, Sveva is a Aju'adahlen la Durgen (crafter of forest and stone), and has created much of the equipment that Cecilia still uses today. They met when Cecilia was just entering the Asan'en Dirthera (lit translation: to tell a thousand stories), a academic institute of Raes Ulin that houses the Elvarel Eneran. Cecilia still talks to her on the occasion using the same stone she uses with Ada.
{xO C C U P A T I O Nx}
Cecilia is a Era'amelan, someone who is given the responsibility of travelling and documenting important events and applications of magic, gathering relics, and other things that are deemed important to elven society. What they gather is eventually added to the Elvarel Eneran, where it will remain so long as the library exists. At any given time there are hundreds of Era'amelan travelling the world, and it's not too uncommon for them to come across one another. It is an occupation that one usually has for the rest of their life, and as they age they eventually end their travels and remain in the library to ensure the quality of all tomes. They also hold the responsibility of protecting the library from foreign and domestic threats, if such a thing becomes necessary.
{xO U T L O O KxO NxL I F Ex}
Pessimistic would be the succinct way to put it. She doesn't believe in any ideal world. There will always be tyrants, and when they're gone they'll eventually be replaced. There will always be slaves. Murderers. The strong and the weak. Those wishing to do harm. Nothing will change that. She doesn't believe in any sort of social darwinism, but she does recognize the hierarchy that the world seems to naturally fall into over time, if nothing is done to correct it. In spite of this, Cecilia does believe there is also much beauty in life, and that alone is worth living for. But that beauty is marred by far too much for her to simply ignore it.
{xH I S T O R Yx}
Elven society tends to operate in extremes. At its very best, it is very beautiful. Stereotypes are founded in some sort of truth, after all. Although many would like to believe that Raes Ulin is a gilded apple with a rotten core, that is false. It's beauty is not a facade. It is something real. Tangible. Many elves experience a wealthy life, filled with knowledge and every luxurious item imaginable. But for such a life to exist, there must be something equally as dreadful. This is true for every society, and elves are not immune to the ugliness that can pervade life. Cecilia knows this well, as her family was born into such ugliness.
Her family had little to their name, only a small house. There was no farm or crops to cultivate, as Raes Ulin's economy had little use for them. Any and all money her family earned was through selling whatever crafts they could afford to make, or from working odd jobs here and there. It was this constant cycle of work that had eventually caused her mother, Rosalia, to fall ill. And with little money to spare for any medication, herbal or magical, she eventually passed when Cecilia was still young.
With only her father bringing in money, Cecilia began working small time jobs as early as she could to take some of the weight off his shoulders. Soft hands, clean hands soon grew hard and filthy with callouses and dirt. At the time, she couldn't describe it anything truly horrible. There was nothing she knew to compare it to, as this was life as she knew it. Of course, there was always the knowledge that there were those better off than she was, but such things remained so far away that it rarely crossed her mind.
It was perhaps twenty or thirty years (it gets hard to keep track of time being alive for a century) that she lived this way. For elves, that's barely a footnote in their long lives, but in the context of other races it was a rather sizable amount of time.
However, it was around the age of thirty-five or forty that things truly began to change for her. Cecilia knew she always had an affinity for magic, but it was only then that she tried to truly foster it into something more. There wasn't much that she could do, as it wasn't particularly legal to learn magic without the guidance of a Era Ghi'lan (lit translation: story teacher), someone who's dedicated to teaching other's the art of magic.
But she made the attempt anyways, even though it resulted in failure more often than not. She was careful not to fall into the temptation of forbidden practices such as blood magic and necromancy, as these tended to be prominent in disenfranchised areas, but her usage of magic still caught the attention of someone
She never figured out what Adelaide was doing in such a poverty-stricken part of Raes Ulin, but nevertheless she took an unprecedented interest in Cecilia, saying that it was displeasing to find anyone of potential talent living like she did. It wouldn't be truthful to say she was offered to attend Asan'en Dirthera. With Adelaide's cold, almost distrusting gaze and harsh voice, it'd be more apt to say she was told that she would be attending, with no input on her end.
Granted, she'd be insane to ever refuse an offer like that, but it was more than a little off putting for Adelaide to simply uproot her life like she did.
Within weeks the context of Cecilia's entire life changed. Now she finally gained some understanding of what she had lived through. And she grew to detest her old life. The slums, the grime, the dirt, the stench — anything and everyone associated with it was subject to her ire. Cecilia began to think of the poor as nothing but rats fighting over scraps before finding some hole to scurry into so they could live to see the next day. Because that's what she was. That's what her father was.
Was.
But not any longer.
She would make sure of that herself.
Cecilia flourished in both magic and swordsmanship under the guidance of Adelaide, and at the age of eighty or so she completed her initial training at Asan'en Dirthera.
During this time she had met Sveva, and had her own personal rapier crafted out of enasvevaral. Although no one really stops being a student of the institute, as elves believe that the pursuit of knowledge is a life long journey, Cecilia, with the display of her abilities and a recommendation from Adelaide, eventually gained the title of Era'amelan. She was to travel, explore and document every important bit of information that she possibly could. The only thing that was off limits was the dwarven continent of Dûrg-Bekári, as it prevented any foreigners from entering.
She has a host of stories she could tell about her travels during her seventy-seven years of being a Era'amelan. One that particularly comes to mind is of her times spent in the Orcish Empire. But in between her years spent travelling she has returned to study at Asan'en Dirthera numerous times. Medicine, science, history, pretty much any subject that they had to offer she has studied at one point or another.
Of course, these studies were never as in depth as her study of magic. Cecilia has continued to grow her knowledge of the subject, and doesn't see herself ever stopping.
Although, all of her years of life seem to pale in comparison to the day when a strange mark seared itself into her wrist. It oddly looked familiar. Possibly something that she had seen in a tome that was especially ancient during her studies in the Elvarel Eneran. However, Cecilia could not recall any knowledge that would explain to her why this mark had found its way onto her wrist. Adelaide, since the sensible thing to do was surely to tell her knowledgeable mentor about this strange mark, failed to explain it as well, and thus Cecilia was left with more questions and no potential answers.
But it seemed that should wouldn't have to keep searching for long, as soldiers sent by King of Stormgarde would soon be dragging her all the way to the King's doorstep.
Art for Rosalia Floros, Adelaide Sullanis, and Sveva Belavahn is by Louminx
All other art (excluding relationships) is by Nipuni