Full Name
The Doll
Nicknames
The Lovely Lady, The Fae Kin, Spirit Child
The Doll
Nicknames
The Lovely Lady, The Fae Kin, Spirit Child
Origin of the Name
Appearance
Her manner of dress is a whimsy, thrown up into the winds for how she is feeling on a particular day. She would be a disgraceful doll if she did not have a wide assortment of outfits to choose from. Most of these clothes are wider, poufier, and baggier than she is--giving her the appearance of a truly tiny figure bundled up in lace, silk, and velvet. She enjoys bonnets and bows, there is always a hair ornament decorating her head in one fashion or another--and she is very careful to always wear gloves. To the keen observer, it does not take long to realize that she covers up her ball-jointed limbs underneath cloth--something she began to do when she and her dreamer experienced their tremendous difference.
Personality
But the lady that existed at that time soon began to disappear with the advent of separation. In due course, her qualities began to fade into a dull ember of what they once had been. And the doll began to warp that reality into the new one that she became.
From a distance, she will appear to radiate an elegant and refined nature--perhaps due to her beauty and tiny body. She still possesses her quick wit and overall, sweet demeanor. Her mind has not failed her in the recent years and if anything, she is smarter than she once was. She is excellent at creating traps, but now uses them for different purposes. Acquisition purposes... Most of the time, she is... just confused. She never understood why her creator left her behind and this leaves her with a certain amount of sadness she does not know how to deal with. This has caused her to turn reclusive, to hide from others, to withdraw into herself. She is almost excruciatingly shy now, hiding behind objects at a moments notice. She was always good at hiding, but now she's gotten a little too good at it. You won't find her if she doesn't want to be found.
Her language has turned deceivingly polite. When she is forced to interact, she will display a very formal manner of speech. She knows the proper way to speak to someone but this should come with an alarm. For the more polite she is, the more she detests whoever it is that is unfortunate enough to have incurred her ill temperament. Despite all this, her life is somewhat whimsical. Without her dreamer around, she's turned into a bit of a vagabond and a wandering spirit. Her musings are unpredictable and she doesn't like it when someone else displays a curiosity to understand how she functions. Indeed, for she is chaotic in every sense of the word and enjoys that she moves much like the wind. Her sense of humor has somewhat... diminished over the years. She no longer takes jokes the way she used to, instead, upturning her nose at the very mention of them and giving a small huff. Jokes aren't funny anymore--her creator made one years ago and then the woman went and disappeared.
She's gotten very good at denial. Yes, in her heart, she still loves her mistress dearly and wishes for that love to return. But she's pushed that down like bile and in defense, has set up safety measures. She can alter her personality slightly when her eye color changes, a quirk she picked up when she was unable to return a portion of her imitation magic several years ago. In order to defend herself, a side of her is more manipulative--but unknowingly so. Her innocence remained so not all of her is conscious that her actions cause great harm to others. She will readily pull strings around her in order to ensure her own safety, even if it comes at the cost of someone else's life. She just wants to be left alone, and she will react in kind if pursued. A lot of this is spawned out of fear but don't let that strike a soft spot--because when she's on the offensive, she's ruthless because of her lack of understanding. And she'll do anything to make herself comfortable.
Powers
She can alter her will in other ways, giving way to her next ability. She can deposit her essence into her "creations", which allows her to body-hop if the need arises. For each creation that moves and walks on its' own, it has been imbued with a small portion of her mana to continue its' movement and its' life-like existence. If she is being attacked, this tactic is excellent for defense. (And also makes her a very good hide-and-seek companion) She can only switch bodies with something that shares direct ties to her--this ability does not allow her to possess other, living entities.
This kind of usage of her power leads to her final ability: multi-face. This is an imitation magic technique that allows her to take on the appearance and even personality of a reflection. Whoever shares her gaze might be privy to this particular gift of hers and this acts as a bit of a soul-switcher, in a sense. She will reflect the person back in her own glassy orbs to gain this alternate persona and, much like a druid's "A Thousand Faces", this is no mere illusionary magic--it is a real feat of perfect replication. While using this ability, her actual spirit is transferred into the magical energy that is helping to upkeep the spell. The longer she remains in this state, the more she must diffuse her mana so that she does not lose her actual self in the process.
Weaknesses
As a doll, her body also suffers from the need for maintenance. She has a small, wind-up key slot located on her back. It is rather tiny and only those who are very familiar with her mechanisms would be able to find it. With the lack of her creator, she had been using her own created dolls to wind her up. However, if she should ever lose her key, she cannot actively move. The key also serves a dual purpose for restoring her mana--it creates a flow for her magic to stem out inside of her body. So if she fails to be wound up that day, then she will be powerless to defend herself and will be trapped in a paralyzed state until her mana completely depletes and she closes her eyes, waiting to be wound up again.
In addition to being wound up, she has to consciously re-charge her mana every day. To do this, she enters a meditative state for 1-2 hours and will not awaken until the process is complete. (She does not sleep or eat but this is the one time that she is nearly defenseless) Giving her magic to her created dolls can be exhausting and should the tinier versions ever be destroyed, then she will lose a bit of her magic for that day--as she had given some of her essence to that creation.
Other
History
Then came the day that her mistress... vanished. She did not know why it happened, she looked all over for her creator. She kept searching and searching, this was just a game of hide-and-seek, wasn't it? She'd find her creator and they would laugh, play, and go on another adventure, just like always. But the search was fruitless and after days had passed, she finally came to the realization that her dreamer wasn't coming back. She was alone. And this scared her. She had never been without her creator before and she felt confusion bubble up in the pit of her stomach. She cried out for her mistress to return, she waited still, because somewhere in her heart, she didn't want to accept what she had come to realize. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't.
But all of the months of waiting took their toll on her. She began to get used to wandering, to being alone, and she didn't like it, not one bit. She needed playmates, but she would be a better momma than her creator ever was because she wouldn't desert her children. She never would. She set to work in her small home, bringing back bits of wood, herbs, vines, leaves--anything she could spin into cloth, doll hair--and began to make miniature dolls to keep her company in the large forest. At first, she created small replica's of her mistress but dismissed those prototypes before long because she was trying to convince herself that she could be strong all on her own.
Without her dreamer, she suffered from doubt--a doubt that took a large blow to the copious amounts of courage she used to have. And over time, she turned shy, soft-spoken, barely able to hold anyone's gaze for fear that they'd leave her too. It was this need for company that urged her to steal her first pair of eyes. Her dolls, though she gave them her mana, did not have any eyes and seemed lifeless to her, even though they could move and speak. But eyes, yes, that was what was missing, wasn't it? Her creator had the loveliest pair of eyes... eyes that reflected back utter perfection. She wanted that too, she wanted a soul all on her own so she could stop feeling scared. She began her morbid collection of eyes shortly there after, adding it to each of her creations and putting the rest in jars. But none of it was good enough, she wanted her dreamer's eyes--she wanted those for herself. So that she could feel strong again, so she could stop feeling so dependent.
She wasn't used to these kinds of feelings and for someone that was used to being so forwards, this new demeanor did not sit well with her. So she turned her hatred outwards towards her mistress--all of this was her fault. And so what if she cried? So what if she longed to be held? She had to remind herself that those days were over with. She was alone now, only with her children for company. And nothing would change that. Even though her heart hurt, even though it begged her to wait just a little longer. Those instincts were childish and she had to fight her need to make excuses...
Realm
The realm of Dominae Terra is beautiful and is somewhat reminiscent of a fae grove. While her demeanor changed, her habitat did not suffer a lot of change. She relies upon her environment to provide her with wood, shelter, and ingredients to keep making new creations. The earth is rich and provides many nooks and crannies that allow adventures to be had and many games of hide-and-seek to be played. The realm is expansive and seems to stretch on for miles. It is extremely easy to get lost in the woods and a lot of moving around relies upon intention. If you know where you wish to go, then the woods will guide you there. If you do not, then well, you are leaving yourself up to the whimsy of the land and in the hands of the fates. And sometimes the forest is cruel. It is home to a variety of magical creatures, not all of whom are friendly and speak a healthy dose of common. But perhaps the best part of the realm are the mushrooms. They levitate and are the main source of transportation to and from the different areas.
However, the most notable change in the atmosphere are the odd amount of... strings that hang from the forest ceiling. Tugging on a string won't do you any good and climbing up one will lead to a task that will span hours and hours and still never be over. She actually uses those strings much like a puppeteer, staged at the topmost branches of her forest and moving around creatures as if they were puppets in a life-sized play. The strings are also used by her as a means of getting around, providing shortcuts that are accessible only to the tiny figure. If one peers close enough, you will notice there are a variety of eyes popping up here in there. In the tree trunks, against the mushrooms, in the grass... always being watched. Yes, there is a lot to explore here but careful not to wander too far into the unknown.