βββThe Forsaken White Serpentβββ
Name
- Hylonome, pronounced "hih-lo-no-meh." Although formerly of a reputable Elven clan, she shed its nomenclature following her own disowning, as befits a disgraced exile.
- Female. Despite her lower body's transfiguration into that of a snake, this remains unchanged, hence why she continues to clothe her waist area even in the face of the difficulties involved, given her new form.
- High-Elven. She has, however, made a contract with a particularly powerful nature spirit, known as the Great Serpent, Gaius. This entity, normally bound to an entire area of land, has converted her body into its host instead, leading to part of her body taking on the Serpent's form, and thus giving her the appearance of a mythical Lamia.
- 94. However, given her race's longevity and unique aging cycle, in physical development and appearance, she's somewhere around 19 or 20-ish. In personality, though, she's another story completely.
Skin Color
- Her skin tone is fair, and, in fact, rather pale. Of note is the fact that in several places outside of just her lower half, she's grown small, elegant, silvery scales. These are most prominent in small patches above her hips, around the small of her back, below her shoulders, around her neck, and on her stomach, but if you look closely, there are also small interwoven scale patterns upon each of her cheeks. Although somewhat unsettling at first, upon a more close inspection, one may find her to possess a strange sort of inhuman elegance.
- A very pale hue of platinum blonde, with tinges of pinkish-red mingling in their midst to create locks the hue of burnished white-gold.
- Formerly bright blue, now altered irrevocably by the snake's powers to wine red. In addition to this, her pupils are vertically slit, like those of a snake, giving them a rather bizarre appearance if one looks closely enough to notice.
Physical Description & Clothing
- Just by looking at her, one can easily tell that Hylonome's current form isn't the one she was born with. Her upper body is unquestionably that of a High Elf, with a graceful, curvaceous figure. Her narrow shoulders sit rolled back, with long, limber arms extending into delicate, dextrous hands, while her prominent bustline curves down into a flat stomach, rounding out into wider hips. Yet, even in this more "normal" part of her body, there are several anomalies. Least surprising of these is the fact that, although seemingly thin and fragile, she does have some noticeable muscle to her, as, before she'd fully mastered slithering with her new body, she often had to haul herself along at a crawl, forcing her to build up a similar level of upper body strength to what one might expect of a person confined to a wheelchair. She's no amazon, by any stretch, but she's certainly well built for an Elf. More unusual, however, would be the strange symbols inscribed upon her skin. Two long, wing-like lines of dark crimson frame her navel, running from there up across her chest on either side, while similar markings - pictured in the first reference image - adorn the backs of each of her hands, in addition to smaller sigils marking both her cheeks near her jawline, and appearing directly underneath her eyes. Most prominent, though, are the runic emblems on her back, right underneath her shoulders, forming a shape of four large red "wings" - although the upper leftmost of these bears a large scar carved across it, distorting it beyond recognition. Although at a distance, these crimson markings appear to be tattoos, if one inspects them closely, they would find them to be patterns formed by scarlet scales meshed seamlessly with her skin, further accentuating the elements of inhumanity that already exist in her body.
Her face is, contrary to the somewhat angular visages of many elves, rather more rounded, with a dull jawline, slightly prominent, yet shallow cheekbones, but full, rosy cheeks. Her nose, chin, and forehead are all rather petite, causing most people who observe her face to fixate mostly on her bright eyes and her full pink lips... or upon her slightly disconcerting, fang-like canines, the serpentine slits of her pupils, and the unusual, diamond-like scales adorning her cheeks. As for the first, her unnaturally sharp teeth are not, technically speaking, the fangs of a snake, as they do not "inject" any sort of poison with their bite. That does not mean, however, that she doesn't possess a compound similar to a snake's venom. Her saliva is, in fact, similar in function to a poison, as, once inhaled or otherwise absorbed, it deadens the senses of the victim, oftentimes enough to render them nearly completely immobile. Contrary to what one might expect, however, it actually functions more as a benign healing agent than a dangerous toxin, accelerating the body's natural restorative processes by a remarkable degree. Most likely, this is due to her own tremendous vitality, caused by the nexus of magic stored within her as the vessel of such a powerful spirit. Although the clash between her life and the life of the person she bites weakens their control and perception of their own body, her burning desire to live and the overflowing strength of her own life creates an effect similar to an enchantment, granting that wish to live and be healed within the body her spit enters. Her eyes, similarly, do not function like those of a snake, despite their resemblance. This is fortunate, as it allows her to see color reliably. At the most, all their unique design gives her is an increased ability to see details in the dark and to perceive movements. Interestingly, she's actually very sensitive to bright lights as a consequence, and doesn't see quite so well during the daytime as most Elves might because of it. As for her scales, they, too, serve a unique purpose, although on the surface they appear to be merely aesthetic in nature. In a sense, she appears all the more inhuman if one realizes the faint color patterns in her cheeks are actually made up of scales. At the same time, though, the blush-like patterns their red shine creates in her cheeks appears almost like a delicate mosaic, adding to her already distinctive appearance. These scales are actually incredibly sensitive, not just to the touch, but also to thermal energy. This doesn't allow her to reliably recognize objects based on internal heat, like some sort of infrared goggles, but it does give her a sort of vague sixth sense for warm things in her area - usually living beings. According to her, rubbing her cheeks against something warm or cool creates a very relaxing sensation that isn't exactly easy to describe to someone who can't feel it. She's a little bit self conscious about this and other facts relating to more serpentine aspects of her being, however, as even after all these years, she hasn't fully accepted her new body.
Aside from her blatantly snake-like aspects, her ears are also quite attention-grabbing, being distinctly pointed, a fact which is perhaps the only surefire indicator of what her race was prior to her transfiguration into a serpent - that, and her somewhat unusual shade of hair. The silken locks which frame her face are an uncanny silver-gold in hue, and run in straight, generally well-kept curtains down over her forehead and around her ears. Although usually allowed to flow straight down, stopping only at the small of her back, she sometimes alters her hairstyle to incorporate various characteristic hairpins and ornaments, a fact which can seem rather strange coupled with her body's more monstrous aspects. Although, even her hair isn't entirely free from her bizarre nature. If one examines its appearance closely, despite its tremendous softness, it almost seems to be metallic in nature, as though made from innumerable miniscule scales woven together, all too small to be seen. In fact, at times, when she's excited, it even seems to wobble or shake, seemingly of its own accord, mimicking the slithering of a snake. Regardless, it seems that she retains just enough of her old appearance and nature for people to realize that she'd probably be seen by most as rather cute, even for an Elf, were it not for the rather obvious issue that she no longer is one. Depending on your point of view, this can make her bizarre serpentine aspects all the more stark in contrast to her original form, or make them seem much less frightening than they otherwise might be. It just depends on whether one sees her as a monster or a maiden.
Starting at her hips and curving downward around her more private regions, the line between her humanoid parts and serpentine ones is a little nebulous. Nevertheless, beginning near her waist, her skin gives way entirely to a much tougher snow white hide, coated in all areas save her snakelike underbelly with scales of a similar, diamond-like hue and texture. This appendage tapers away ever so slowly to form a small tail, which, like the scales on her cheeks and the similar, softer scales adorning other areas of her otherwise humanoid regions such as her hips and back, is actually rather sensitive to tactile sensations of all sorts. As such, it's not uncommon to see her feeling some unusual thing over not with her hands, but with the tip of her tail, so as to get a much more accurate sense of its texture. The creases in her underbelly, too, are also rather sensitive to touch, presumably meant to allow her to more reliably get a feel for anything she happens to be holding onto. Consequently, although it might be rather unbecoming for either a maiden or a monster, she actually may seem to be a bit ticklish in these particular places. In reality, it's not quite that simple. Rather, pressure to these areas creates a strangely soothing feeling, as mentioned above. While rather similar on the surface to the muscle relaxation brought on by a massage, the heightened, localized sensitivity of physical arousal or the itching, tingling sensation of being tickled, it's not quite the same as any of these. Regardless, it's rather embarrassing for her, and is a fact she isn't particularly keen on sharing.
Her serpentine lower body, much like her more humanoid upper half, is also covered in strange patterns of dark red scales, forming intricate symbols all along its full length, most concentrated on each side, but also joining in several locations on her serpentine half's back. Although the scales that make up both her hide and these patterns are rather tough, they're actually somewhat brittle, making their utility as a "natural armor" somewhat limited in any matters save the wear and tear brought on by dragging herself across the ground like... well... a snake.
Her upper body is roughly two feet, eight inches in height. So, given its proportions, it's quite likely that, in her old body, she would have been somewhere close to five feet, ten inches total in height. And, for the most part, she appears to be only a little shorter than that size, as when she moves, she now does so upright, like a cobra, propping herself up on her upraised tail in a manner reminiscent of sitting down upon her own serpentine coils. However, her lower half is actually significantly longer than a humanoid pair of legs - 18 feet or so in total length, to be exact - causing it to trail behind her. She moves by lurching her top half forward, and then slithering her serpentine lower body along in an S-shape, constricting it to push herself off the ground and move forward. Although she's much faster than one might expect, there are still several mobility problems that this entails. If she needs to go fast, for example, she moves in quick lunges, but then needs to draw in her coils in order to launch herself once again, thus forcing her to momentarily stop moving. She faces a similar difficulty when it comes to corners, as to turn herself around, she needs to swerve repeatedly in the same direction, forcing her to swing out her tail, constrict it, coil it, and then push once again in the same direction. As such, her maximum speed barring tremendous effort on her part is usually only about a normal Human's walking speed. Surprisingly, though, she's actually fairly good at climbing and slithering over obstacles, as her tail can grab hold of things and cling to them with tremendous strength, then uncoil itself to launch herself upward, allowing her to crawl vertically in a series of small jumps and lurches.
Although her lower half is rather rounded and elegant, it's actually astonishingly heavy for its size, weighing over three times as much as her upper body. Yet, despite this, she moves it with ease, likely because it contains very little in the way of internal organs, aside from a large secondary heart located just a few feet down her serpentine abdomen from her waist, used to pump blood through the long, extended appendage where the strength of her own heart isn't quite sufficient. Even if her own, humanoid heart was damaged, this secondary organ might be enough to keep her alive for some time - fortunate, since her second heart is much harder to get at than her first, positioned as it is in the very core of her much tougher serpentine body. Aside from this organ, her nerves and blood vessels, and a much more flexible extension of her own human spine and vertebrae that runs down the center line of her snakelike body, pretty much all of her tail's internal makeup is muscle and sinew, giving her lower half the tremendous strength she needs to haul both it and her own humanoid torso along. Given this, it's quite likely that she could strap quite a load to her serpentine "tail" and carry it without being overly burdened. Someone might even be able to sit on her back and ride along with her, although the utility of such an action is questionable at best, given that her usual maximum speed is close to that of a normal person walking.
Given her current circumstances as a hermit and the difficulties caused by her serpent half's large size and rigid nature, Hylonome's wardrobe is somewhat limited. Although due to her current place of residence, fanciful and elegant dresses are in no short supply, simply getting them on and wearing them is something of a trial in and of itself, and as such, she usually favors a fairly predictable few outfits - mostly side-slit dresses into which she can slip herself without going through the trouble of winding her whole snake body into them first. Given that her scales, while not covering her more private areas, do shield them from view somewhat, high cut garments aren't so much of an issue for her modesty as they might otherwise be. And, given the simple difficulty of getting dressed and undressed by herself, and her lack of company, she's taken to wearing some outfits that would doubtless be considered rather immodest and revealing by most people without thinking much of it. People are generally horrified by the sight of her anyway, so baring a little skin for convenience's sake is hardly the least of her worries.
As such, she can most often be found clad in some variant of a qipao, dress, or robe, which she can simply open, drape around herself, and fasten, and which doesn't get in the way of her tail or drag on the ground as she slithers. Customarily topping these ensembles off with a matching pair of women's gloves cut open to reveal the red markings on the backs of her hands, she thus presents a strangely elegant image that clashes slightly with her unnerving and inhuman shape, the strange, swaying motions of her movement, and the unnatural scales adorning her flesh. Whether or not her monstrous form is beautiful or horrifying... that's up to the one looking at her to decide.
Face Claim
- Kyara Akaro, original character design by the DeviantArt user BanyeX.
Occupation
- Forest Hermit.
- Alne. She was born in the capital.
- Hylonome currently lives in an isolated grove in the forests of Sylvana, just beyond the holdings of the Wood Elves, within a small unused cottage hidden in the forest, where some long lost caravan was apparently abandoned. Although this humble abode was on the verge of collapse when she found it, she fixed it up using materials from the forsaken wagons to replace rotting wood and redecorate the interior, using some fanciful garments carried for trade by the forgotten caravan to fill her wardrobe, and cultivating crops in a small, overgrown garden in order to sustain her livelihood, or else preying upon the creatures of the wood. Although nobody's really sure where her hideout is, legends have recently been spreading around the area about a great white snake that lurks through the forest, snatching up local children and travelers who've lost their way and devouring them whole. Whether or not there's any truth to these stories... well, that's up to anyone looking for her to figure out.
Personal History
- There are two legends fairly well known in the countryside of Alde. The first is that the daughter of a prestigious elven clan, a girl named Hylonome, envied her brother for his inheritance, his strength, and his skill, and forsook his kindness towards her, cursing him to death with black magic in a fit of jealousy. For her crime, she was tried for dark witchcraft, found guilty, and executed, although it is said that her hateful spirit still lives on, haunting the forgotten parts of the Sylvan woodlands in which she died. The second legend is largely viewed as being unrelated to the first. It speaks of a great white serpent, its body possessed and transformed by the spirit of a noblewoman who longed for eternal life, and who was willing to consume the lives of her people to get it. Cast out from her kingdom in exile, she became like a beast herself, and lives within the woods in eternal solitude, so that she may repent her sinful greed until the end of time.
As with all legends, there is, perhaps, some grain of truth to these tales. However, the real story connecting them is one that few people, if any, are aware of.
Born into an Elven noble family, Hylonome was largely overshadowed from early in her childhood by her twin brother, Afliss. Her father, a member of the High Elf Council, carefully groomed Afliss for the inheritance of their clan, while Hylonome was largely left to her own devices, as she'd been born with a rather frail constitution. She was taught how to cook and keep house, and only reluctantly instructed in reading and the arts, as, overall, she just didn't seem like anything would ever come of her, and so was mostly just expected to be married off to one of the other clans for political purposes.
Yet, despite this disparity in their treatment, and although she envied her brother, Hylonome never disliked Afliss. Far from it, in fact. The two of them were inseparable right from the moment they were born. Whatever Afliss was taught, he would share with her, and when Afliss wanted to go play somewhere, he would always insist that his sister be allowed to tag along, even if it meant taking things slowly so that she didn't get left behind. If there was any risk at all, Afliss would take it in her place, always striving to protect the young girl from everything the world had to throw at her. And, for a time, even though her health was ailing, Hylonome was happy just knowing that she was important to someone.
All that changed when, one day in her late twenties - closer to a Human's very early adolescence - she fell particularly ill. Only Afliss, her perpetual caretaker, insisted on remaining by her side, doing whatever he could to make her comfortable and treat her ailments, even though many people in her family already felt as though her fate was sealed. But, to her surprise and horror, when the dawn finally rose after a night spent wracked by fever and delirium, Hylonome awoke to find herself completely healed... and her precious brother completely stripped of his very life.
As it happened, her "illness" was not one of the body. It was an affliction of the soul. Born with painfully little magic to sustain her life, her spirit had to make up for what it lacked through some means, and thus developed the ability to siphon the lives of others around her. The closer and more devoted the victim was to her, the easier it would be to make him give up his spirit so that she herself might continue to live. And, as fate would have it, Afliss was the most devoted, loving person that this dark power could ever have asked for. He had paid the price for that selflessness, and now, Hylonome would have to pay the price for her own soul's greed.
Found guilty of using dark magic to claim the life of a beloved child of the nobility, she was disowned, arrested, and then taken in ignominy as a practitioner of forbidden Dark Magic to a great granite plateau, a shaded monolith in the woods on the edge of Alne. This spot had once been revered as the nexus of the power of an ancient land spirit who had existed since before the time of the Life Walkers, and was venerated accordingly by the local populace. Thus, offering her accursed magic to the spirit of the earth such that it might be purified and returned to the living, her own vengeful family denounced her and convicted her. Her pleas were never heard, and the penalty she suffered for taking a life infinitely more valuable than her own was, as was inevitable, death. A sword was driven through her body, and she was cast over the edge of the great stone and into the dark woods below, to be dashed to pieces on the rocks.
Yet, impossibly, the girl did not die, even though her spine had been partially severed by the blade, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down, unable to seek aid as she slowly bled out into the dirt. Clinging desperately to her life, her ever-starving soul devoured the magic that steeped the earth, and, in doing so, called forth an existence far beyond her own, just as her own life reached its endpoint.
The Great Serpent, Gaius, was indeed what the legends claimed he was. An ancient spirit that had dwelt within the converging leylines on that spot, he had thrived on the magic that danced beneath the earth, untouchable to mortal hands. However, in the time of the Elders, that power, which he had shared with them willingly, had been stolen from him, leaving him weakened and trapped beneath the earth. Infuriated by this betrayal, he had resolved never to offer his power to another mortal being. And yet, seeing a being similarly betrayed and laid low, he heeded the young girl's dying pleas, appearing before her, called forth by the desperate searching of her soul as she finally breathed her last. She, like him, thrived on the magic that existed around her, but had been slain because she could not control that thirst. In his eyes, she was just another victim of those who wished to hold magical power for themselves, and thus, as the enemy of his enemy, he was willing to accept her as a comrade in arms. However, even he, with all his power, could not bring back the dead, which by this point, she partially was. So, just as her soul began to leave her body, he took drastic measures. Ripping his essence and the magic that steeped it out of the leylines upon which they stood, he implanted that nexus of subterranean power within her, recreating her body from within to restore it such that its thirst for magic would at last be sated, giving her the vitality she needed to revive herself. However, he was nowhere near the pinnacle of his strength, and thus in pulling her back from beyond the boundary of death, he was unable to preserve aspects of her form that had been damaged beyond repair. It was for this reason that, when she awoke, her paralyzed legs had been replaced by the body of a snake.
Horrified by what she had become, and fearing that the villagers would realize her survival and come hunting for her, she fled into the forest, crawling and slithering in the dirt like a common vermin. However, although she'd sated her hunger for magic, she still needed to feed her earthly body. Not knowing how to hunt or survive in the wild, she was forced into a risky situation, poaching food from local villages to survive. Of course, given her clumsiness with her new body, it was inevitable that sooner or later she was discovered. Reviled as a monster, she was once again hunted, and forced into the wilds to save herself. However, during this time, Gaius was not silent. Through her every waking moment, he tested her resolve to live, advising her of the best course of action to take so that she might live, and escape from her pursuers. It was through this means, and this means alone, that she managed to avoid being put to the sword. However, as she grew used to her new form, she began to realize the potential it held. As she was now, her very body was like a nexus of leylines of magical power, and her soul, which held the power to call out to other magic - namely, life - existed on the edge of death. Thus, she who had feared death more than anything began to give herself willingly into the world of Phantoms, calling upon their power with the guidance of Gaius, her mentor. She at last learned to control her abilities of Dark Magic, and thus gave them a new form: the ability to call on and command phantasmal existences. Confident in her newfound strength, when she found herself cornered next, she resolved not to run, but rather, to fight.
At first, things seemed to go well. Although she'd been caught by two elven hunters, she managed to hold her own, calling upon the phantoms of their own weapons and wielding them to protect herself. Yet, although she could replicate their blades, she couldn't replicate their skills at wielding them. She pushed herself as far as she could go, stepping into and out of the Phantom World to escape death time and time again - and yet all this did was leave her drained. As a last resort, she called upon every phantom existence she could possibly think of. Her brother's arms appeared from her back to supplement her own, while phantom forces of fire and pressure made themselves manifest, battering her assailants without mercy. It seemed as though she'd won bloodlessly when she disarmed one of her opponents, only for his compatriot to strike at her from behind, damaging one of her body's "leylines" in the form of one of the scarlet markings on her back, creating a scar she still bears to this day, and disrupting her connection to the phantoms she had summoned. In desperation, she called forth all the spirits she could muster and gave to them one final order: "Protect me." Her powers eagerly complied. By the time she realized what she'd done, both the men hunting her were dead, skewered by phantasmal swords.
She hadn't meant for that to happen. All she'd wanted was to show them she wasn't to be trifled with, that she could stand against them and wasn't to be pursued, and yet wasn't the monster people thought she was. Yet in the end, all she had done was prove to the world that a monster was exactly what she was. She'd taken three lives with her own hands, and no matter how much she told herself it had been an innocent mistake every time, she was yet wracked by the guilt of what she'd done. Fleeing into the forest, she resolved to never again show her face to the world that so loathed her, that she might live out the rest of her life in repentance. And so, leaving nary a trace behind, she escaped into the wilderness, into an area of the forest that was home to countless dangerous predators. Few people ever came here, and it was here that she would at last be left at peace. Finding a run-down old cottage in the woods and the supplies to repair it in an abandoned caravan, she made this place into her isolated sanctuary, and lived there for many years. Eventually, the hunters who had pursued her so tirelessly gave up their chase, and the tall tale of the monster born from the hatred of a woman possessing the body of a snake eventually became little more than a local legend. Hylonome the Forsaken had "died" in the eyes of the world.
And so, the young exile grew and matured, learning more about her magic and the ways of the wild. For many years, she was left undisturbed in the heart of the woods, spending her days reading what books she had been able to gather from the outside world, and dreaming of what it would be like to live a normal life free from guilt, free from the accursed body in which she now found herself. But these fantasies seemed fated to remain nothing more than just that - futile daydreams. That is, until one day, she felt a great power emerging from underneath the earth. Intrigued by this, she left her home, following the leylines that carried this energy to their source, and discovering what it was that had held such phenomenal magic: a vault, a fantastic inheritance left behind by the Elders. It was then that she realized that, perhaps, her wishes might yet be granted. Were she able to find such a vault herself, she could lay claim to its magical power, and restore the full strength of Gaius, using it to return both her soul and body to their normal forms. She could become an ordinary Elf again, and lay aside the curse that had afflicted her for all her life. Hylonome didn't need to think twice. If it meant that her seemingly impossible wish might become a reality, she would do anything to lay claim to such power. No matter what it took, she resolved herself: she would restore her original body.
Personality
- Although she's lived for almost a hundred years, Hylonome doesn't really act either her physical or her true age. Her contact with other people stifled and her development somewhat stunted, she tends to act rather more childish than anyone might expect. She enjoys the simplest things life has to offer: a nice meal, a warm bed, the singing of the birds, and sunlight on her cheeks. All of these things hold a basic appeal to her that, to most people, would likely seem strange or inconsequential. Having lived the majority of her life in the wilderness, she doesn't really remember what civilization is like very well, and as such, has little knowledge of society's goings-on, or of the progress of technology. All she knows is what she's learned from books sneakily obtained from nearby settlements, sequestered in her little cottage in the forest as she has been. Consequently, she finds much to marvel about in the modern world and its progression from the vague remnants of her own memories. Insatiably curious, she wants to know everything she can about anything she can get her hands - or, in some cases, her tail - on. As such, she tends to fixate on... well, pretty much anything that catches her attention, which is most things in general, since she, as previously stated, doesn't really remember much about anything.
Kind at heart, in matters of ideals she is as fundamentally childish as she is in matters of worldly knowledge. People being inconvenienced or hurt is bad, and is to be avoided whenever possible. If somebody needs help, they should get it, and nobody should ever have to be lonely. This is all based on her personal experience with the world, and, given her own miserable life thus far, has founded the core tenets of her moral outlook. Although she views people as intrinsically good, she sees herself as an outsider in that regard. For many years now, she's been reviled as an accursed monster, and, over time, has come to agree with those who view her as subhuman. Having claimed the lives of three people in order to preserve her own, she views her own existence as worthless β at least, as it stands. She wants to help people, feeling as though saving or bettering other people's lives will allow her to atone for her sins. But she can't do that in her present form. People fear her, or are disgusted by her appearance, and are driven away from the moment they see her. Anyone who might sympathize with her would only feel pity for her wretched circumstances. Her very form seems to her to be a curse, and one she must be rid of before all else. Driven less by active malice and more through sheer self-loathing and hatred of where her life has ended up, she's willing to do some pretty questionable things if it means restoring her body. This ultimate atonement is an admirable end goal, but, seeing how far she's already come, if it meant lifting her curse, there are few additional sacrifices that would seem too costly to her. She's desperate to be whole again, and so despite her gentle nature, no blood is too precious to be spilled in the name of her restoration, be it her own or that of anyone who might make themselves her enemy, and no cost is too great to be paid save, perhaps, her own life. Perhaps it's because she's come to view herself as a monster, and therefore feels as though she shouldn't be too proud to act like one if it means eventually shedding that status, convoluted though that logic may seem. Regardless, she's ended three lives in the name of continuing her own, and in her opinion, has come much too far to turn back on her dreams.
Even so, so long as one doesn't directly interpose themselves between her and her goal, treat her as something less than a person, or otherwise antagonize her, she can show herself to be a surprisingly kind individual, completely unlike the way she's depicted in the stories about her, and diametrically opposite the haughtiness and arrogance one might expect from a High Elf. She helps without being asked, does what she's told, and generally addresses people with the utmost humility and politeness. This last fact is likely because she remembers little else when it comes to interpersonal interaction than what she was taught amongst the nobility. Consequently, there's a certain dichotomy between her somewhat flowery language and her simple personality.
This isn't to say she's a fool, even if in her childlike innocence she may act a bit like one. She catches onto the meanings of things rather quickly, and is more than capable of deducing many things that are far from obvious, just from observing their relations to other, more familiar objects. Although not well-educated in any sense, she still has a surprising sort of wisdom, especially when it comes to matters of magic. As she herself is the functional equivalent of a nexus of leylines, she possesses a sort of uncanny connection to the flow of magical energy. Even if she lacks the talent to cast them herself β her own abilities being limited solely to the realm of Phantasms β she can understand the spells used by others with shocking clarity, allowing her to decipher their mechanics and purposes just by seeing them used. If her powers were in some area other than Dark Magic, she'd probably have been revered as a prodigy rather than reviled as a pariah. In any case, her intuition is a great deal more formidable than anyone might expect.
However, before one can ever hope to observe any of these aspects of her being, one must first obtain her trust, which is no easy feat. Hylonome has been betrayed, used, and discarded time and time again throughout her life, and has long since come to the conclusion that her own cursed existence is just a burden on those around her. As such, she's terrified of being noticed by other people and thereby earning their ire, and so largely avoids such confrontation by escaping notice entirely. Hiding herself away in the forest, if at all possible, she tries to never interact with a fellow sentient being face to face, a tradition she's kept going for many decades. Although she's caught glimpses of people during that time, she's never allowed them to see her, nor has she ever spoken to anyone save herself. Over time, her fear and loathing of her own visage grew and grew until she became utterly certain that anyone who looked upon her and understood her for what she was would surely try to kill her. The most she's used to interacting with other people is having a sword swung at her head. That's just what she's come to expect, and thus, when and if it happens, it's βnormal,β and, arguably, easier for her to cope with despite her fear of death than is interacting cordially with someone whose motives and motivations she doesn't know. Consequently, she views any sort of contact almost like an attack, and is very, very secretive, trying any means available to her to hide her snakelike body for as long as possible, so as not to be recognized, and thus, she reasons, despised. Assuming somebody did see her form and didn't attack her or flee on sight, she'd probably have no idea how to deal with them. She would be wary at first, fearing that they were only luring her in to trap her and kill her when she let her guard down. Assuming someone actually did manage to convince her that they weren't after her life, she would still likely be on edge for quite some time, not wanting to trust someone only to risk losing them later. Hylonome is a terribly lonely individual, who desires nothing more than to be a positive influence in the lives of people around her. After the sins she has committed, that is the only meaning she feels her life has left. And yet, decades spent drowning in her despair and self loathing have made her second guess any hope of people accepting her as she is. It would take a great deal of effort to prove one's devotion to Hylonome, but if one were to succeed at doing so, they'd finally see the side of herself she'd been hiding.
Overall, she's an easily frightened woman who lacks much in the way of self-esteem. Although kind, she's also very desperate, and prone to do things that would otherwise go against her ideals entirely for the sake of her own vision of βredemption.β She fears the world in its entirety, as she feels she has no place in it, and yet, at the same time, finds herself drawn to it, like a moth towards a flame. Depending on whether the people she meets after her long seclusion accept or reject her, her hopes might become a reality. Or, perhaps, they might be shattered completely, leaving her with nothing left to lose...
Likes
- The Basics: Having spent most of her life as an ascetic exile, living off the land, she's come to appreciate very basic luxuries that most people would ignore. This is helped by her altered senses giving her a slightly different perception of the world from the people around her, drawing out the real beauty of the warmth of sunlight, and of fireflies dancing in the darkness of the deep forest. The usefulness of new inventions, also, is not lost upon her, and as such, many things most people in the modern era would take for granted, she finds miraculous, relieving, and wonderful. She likes to know things, so it's really no surprise that she takes such pleasure in discovering the meaning behind simple facts of life, and of her surroundings. Of particular note is her love of water and swimming. Due to the way her body handles heat β see below β she's perhaps most comfortable when drenched to the bone, as it keeps her cool and moistens her otherwise hard and brittle scales, helping clean out the pesky cracks between them. Regularly bathing in this fashion is actually vitally important for her, as, unlike a normal snake, she doesn't moult. Instead, she enters a state of semi-consciousness, and the magical crests spanning the length of her body begin to exude magical power in small bursts in time with the beating of her heart. Carrying her overflowing vitality in her blood, this spreads magic all along the span of her tail, utilizing a sort of built-in regeneration mechanic to restore cracked and broken bits of her hide. However, although this process does purge any parasites or fungus that may have accumulated on her underbelly, there may be some leftover residue clinging to gaps between her scales that must be properly cleaned off in order to avoid discomfort while moving.
- Children: They remind her of herself when she was young, and did not know how cruel the world could be to those who do not belong in it. As such, she can't bear to see them hurt, and delights in their smiles and laughter. Although she has never appeared before any directly, many children lost in the woods have spoken of being protected from predators by some unseen being concealed within the darkness, which guided them back to the safety of their homes, yet never showed its face. Although adults fear the forest, and tell stories of the White Serpent that lives within it in order to scare their children away from it, the local youth hold a somewhat different opinion of that forbidden area of the wild. Many refer to it as βThe Sacred Wood,β and revere what they assume to be a benign nature spirit living within it, rather than fearing the much more well-known βmonster.β
- Reading: Even before she was exiled, Hylonome loved to read more than almost anything else. Now, in her self-imposed solitude, it is her main means of passing the time. βBorrowingβ books from several local towns, she has amassed quite the collection, a small library all her own to peruse at her will. She's read most everything in it at least seven times over, but certain favorites are capable of captivating her just as easily even after she already knows their stories by heart. The characters within these books are like her close friends, and help her feel less alone, living all by herself in the middle of an isolated and empty land.
- Singing: It's rather surprising, coming from one who most people would fear as a monstrous beast, but actually, not only does the serpentine maiden greatly enjoy this activity, she's quite good at it. Her voice is soft, high, and clear, projecting tones that lilt throughout the forest groves. Although few, if any have been blessed to hear her singing, it's truly a wonderful sound to hear, rare though it may be.
- Gardening: Another hobby she picked up after moving into her new home. As a lover of beautiful things, she decided she would brighten up her sanctuary a little bit to cheer herself up. Although surrounded by thick underbrush on all sides, the center of the clearing in which her cottage is located stands as testament to her continued efforts, with rows of brightly colored flowers swaying to and fro in the wind all around her somewhat shabby wooden house.
- Perks of her New Form: Although she loathes her present body, and would never admit to finding even a single aspect of it useful, she does enjoy certain things about her transformed self. The most obvious of these is that she doesn't get sick anymore β although whether this is due to Gaius' regenerative effects or because she's technically partially dead, who can say for sure? - which is quite a far cry from her original frailty. Aside from that, she's grown quite accustomed to the augmentations and limitations of her five senses that her serpentine aspects provide, such as her uncanny ability to detect distant warmth by βtouch,β or her intuitive perception of the flow of magic. Besides these things, there's also the fact that her coils can serve as a chair for her even if she has none, which is a lot more convenient than it sounds. Although she wouldn't hesitate for an instant to change back to a humanoid body were she given the chance, there are still some things she's gotten used to in the time since her transfiguration, things which she would perhaps find it difficult to live without were she to cast them away.
- Extreme Weather: Gaius' serpentine aspects adapted themselves to Hylonome's Elven body when the two of them fused into one physical entity. As such, even her lower half is warm-blooded. However, despite this fact, for whatever reason, Hylonome experiences effects similar to those that an actual snake might undergo when faced by excessive heat or cold. In hot weather, she seems to speed up excessively, alternating between states of almost manic activity and somewhat alarming exhaustion, as she finds it difficult to deal with excess heat, given that most of her body is incapable of perspiring. Consequently, when it's hot, she usually tries to find shade or large bodies of water, basking it in so as not to overheat herself. Similarly, in the cold, she becomes sluggish and tired, as though every aspect of her being is slowing to a crawl. It's entirely possible that in either of these cases - heat exhaustion or cold-induced torpor β she might completely lose consciousness, thus making it important for her to keep her body temperature in mind at all times. Interestingly enough, she's actually capable of slowing her body's processes at will, controlling her temperature to an extent. This is one of the reasons why it was mentioned earlier that should she lose her mortal heart, she might still be able to survive for a time, as by slowing her body's internal workings down and going into βhibernation,β she vastly reduces what is βnecessaryβ for her to continue staying alive. This also works in similar circumstances, such as when she doesn't have food to eat or water to drink, or in the event she's been poisoned. Maybe these reptilian features of her body are why she's so slim? Snakes don't store body fat the way people do, after all.
- Hot Food and Drinks: Another hand-me-down from Gaius's body. Ever-so-sensitive, Hylonome's tongue is consequently easily burnt by the sting of hot refreshments. Given the way her sense of taste works, this is more than just painful and irritating to her, it actually deprives her to a certain extent of the perceptions she relies on, as, in as much like a snake as a person can be, she actually can βtasteβ scents, much like how a snake βsmellsβ for prey by flicking its tongue out. She doesn't go quite so far as to stick her tongue out, instead simply opening her mouth and taking a deep breath, but nevertheless, this odd ability of hers gives her an incredibly good sense of smell, and as such, having her tongue get burned and that sense she's grown to rely on to identify things at a distance crippled β as said before, she doesn't deal well with bright lights β can be quite a predicament for her.
- Being Touched: As mentioned before, due to her transformation, many areas of her body are especially sensitive to touch. Combined with the fact that most of her memories of people coming into contact with her involve them trying to kill her, this causes her an immense amount of discomfort when it comes to interacting physically with others. Consequently, it's a sign of a great deal of trust on her part if she actually doesn't draw back from the touch of another, or, if taken by surprise, actually lash out in βself-defenseβ against an illusory attack.
- Surprises: On that note, she really doesn't handle sudden movements or loud noises well. Living in a forest populated by deadly predators would have been enough to hard-wire her mind to remain perpetually on the lookout for danger even without the experience of being hunted like a wild animal ringing fresh in her memories of her childhood. Consequently, it's very ill-advised to make any unexpected motions or exclamations near her. She's very easily startled, and very difficult to calm down when frightened, and consequently has a tendency to react rather violently on instinct.
- Spirits: This is less of a choice on her part and more a reaction to how Spirits view her. As is obvious considering she's in a contract with one, she has no problem with Spirits... aside from the fact that, aside from Gaius, they tend to view her as even more of a freak of nature than most people do. After all, in their eyes, she is but a ghost of her former self, possessing what should be a corpse that is in turn wearing the flesh of a Spirit like themselves, imbued with a mockery of the latent magic that they thrive on in order to bind and house a now-homeless phantom. Even if both she and Gaius subjected themselves to this unnatural dual existence willingly, she is largely perceived as a mere object by other magical Spirits, who refuse to acknowledge a being that is merely living off the overwhelming power of one of their own kind like a parasite, and oftentimes are completely baffled as to why Gaius treats her as a compatriot and partner, and why he was willing to serve as a tether for her unstable new life, when all she offers in exchange is a mobile βterritoryβ for him to occupy. You may wonder why this is so strange. As an ancient and powerful nature spirit, Gaius' nature is somewhat different from other, more basic Spirits, and his existence infinitely more vast. As such, his vessel needs to be equally as expansive. Formerly, he lived in the leylines carrying the world's natural magic. However, when he made a contract with Hylonome, he transplanted both his own essence and that of the local leylines which served as the boundaries of his spirit directly into her dying body, turning her, in effect, into a microcosm of the flow of magic through the world. As such, her existence has become less like that of a normal, living being, and more like an area of ground consecrated by his powers. Normally, this would be of little consequence, if not for two factors. Firstly, it allows her to serve as a tether not just for Gaius' spirit, but also for existences from the past known as Phantoms. See her powers for an explanation of why this is useful. Secondly, though, it makes her presence stifling to lesser Spirits, as being close to her is functionally the same as trespassing into Gaius' territory, over which he holds absolute dominion. Consequently, their own powers are weakened by proximity to her. On the other hand, Gaius is no longer anywhere near as strong as he once was, and as such, these effects are somewhat less than one might expect. However, the opposite also holds true. When Hylonome tries to enter the territory of another Spirit, she experiences immense physical agony, and, depending on the Spirit's mood, she might even die, as her life is tethered to Gaius' continued influence. Coming into contract with a Spirit's contractor yields a similar, if lesser effect, causing her pain and difficulty remaining conscious unless both sides consciously restrain their Spirits' clashing influence on one another. However, given how repulsive she is to other Spirits, it's entirely possible that some haughtier spiritual entities might not care to hold back their influence, viewing ending her unnatural existence, which stands as an insult to the very nature of Spirits on the whole, as its own reward.
Skills and Abilities
- Hylonome's skillset is somewhat limited. She's a fairly talented housekeeper, having had decades to practice managing the affairs of her little hidden enclave, and has learned β largely through book reading and a great deal of trial and error β how to either grow or catch her food, and to prepare it. This second item has also led to her becoming a somewhat eerily skilled hunter, an endeavor in which she has been aided in no small part by the unique perceptions of her serpentine body. In general, her hearing is fairly average for an Elf, while her vision is superior at night but inferior during the day. Her senses of touch, taste, and smell, however, are unbelievably keen, even for an Elf, thus serving many different purposes as described previously, and making up for her somewhat poor tolerance for light. Sensing heat from a distance, picking up on scents by tasting them in the air, and combing the ground she crawls for any trace of tracks using the more sensitive regions of her tail all combine to allow her to seek out prey with great ease, while her mighty tail, sharp teeth, and paralytic saliva are enough to bring down most creatures, assuming she can catch them. Although given her limited mobility, this last part can be something of an issue, it's nevertheless one she's managed to overcome through a few handy applications of her powers. In turn, with the aid of Gaius and her own intuition, she's managed to become quite adept when it comes to weaving Dark Magic.
She's also become fairly proficient at treating injuries, as on several occasions, she's been harmed rather badly by various predators on her nighttime hunts, and has had to patch herself up as best she could, given her limited knowledge of anatomy and medicine as taught by some of the books in her collection. Fortunately, in her case, βrub a little spit on itβ is actually a legitimate means of treating a wound, as her saliva serves as a disinfectant, painkiller, and healing agent all rolled into one. Her knowledge of the forest's herbs and what they do has certainly helped her get by, however, despite the utility of her own unique physiology. She can identify and treat poisons, cleanse and bandage wounds, and aid in the recovery process afterwords. Similarly, she's also had a great deal of practice at sewing clothing for herself from the various fabrics she's managed to get her hands on, as well as altering existing outfits to accommodate her body and repairing damage sustained in slithering through the overgrown forest.
However, when it comes to direct combat, she can be a little bit lacking. Although she can create and wield weapons, and possesses fairly respectable physical strength, she doesn't have any particular experience or training in the art of war, and thus usually just follows the guidance of Gaius, who, lacking limbs, isn't exactly the best swordmaster one could ask for. Consequently, her fighting style usually revolves around a crippling ranged offensive, with her keeping her distance from an enemy whenever possible. If someone does close in and force her onto the defensive, however, they'll usually find that she favors quantity over quality, utilizing phantom limbs in addition to her own body in order to wield the maximum number of weapons at once, striking from multiple angles and shielding herself as best she can. If it comes down to it, she isn't above using her more bestial qualities to give her the advantage in battle, viciously thrashing, whipping, and flaying enemies with her tail, or constricting them in her coils to hold them in place before biting them to render them immobile with her paralyzing saliva. It's a brutal, predatory method of combat that fits her image as a monster perfectly, even if it clashes somewhat with her otherwise mild-mannered personality. Regardless, she tries to avoid conflict if possible, for the simple reason that even given all her unusual traits, she's just not very good at it.
- Aside from any weapons she creates using her powers and those built into her body, Hylonome is essentially unarmed. Possessing very little aside from her books, her home, and the food she obtains for herself, she lacks any distinctive tools or items.
Magic
- Originally incredibly frail, Hylonome was born with very little magic of her own. To compensate for this deficiency, she subconsciously drew on the magic of others to survive, eventually developing fully into the power to siphon magical energy in small quantities from people she interacted with, using her bonds with those people as a vector. The closer they became to her emotionally, the less barriers were between her spirit and theirs, allowing her to leech their energy to increase her own ailing vitality. She never realized what she was doing, and paid for her ignorance with her life. Desperate to escape the death that was otherwise inevitable to her, she made a contract with an ancient spirit serpent of the woodlands, the Great Serpent Gaius, who bestowed upon her his remaining power to sate her soul's hunger for magic, thus suppressing the darker side of her abilities for the most part and reducing the danger to those around her. In order to save her life, however, he was forced to create a tether for not only his spirit, but her own, as her soul had already left her technically βdeadβ body. To bind them both and revive her, he mimicked the flow of magic through the earth he'd formerly inhabited - being a land-bound spirit - in her own body, creating arcane crests that mimic the function of leylines for conducting magic, allowing her to control her own ability to draw on outside magical forces by binding their power to these leylines independently of both her own and Gaius' existence, allowing them to retain an existence distinct from her own. And, as she must deliberately invoke the power of these leylines to draw in spirits, this means that, barring extreme circumstances, she no longer unintentionally drains the life of those around her. However, as she technically βdiedβ once, her soul is now a distinct existence from her body, bound to it by the conductive power of the leylines, which in turn channel magic from her spirit into her body, regenerating it and keeping it from going back to being dead. Since this is the case, she can actually use her power to call to magic to draw on the existences of phantasms β recollections of things as they once were in a spiritual form β and bind them to the leylines running through her, or else reversing those same abilities to cast aspects of herself into the Phantom World, a realm beyond the confines of space and time in which transient existences are preserved in the form of phantasms.
Her first "spell" is perhaps her most fundamental: namely, it constitutes the ability to separate her conscious awareness from her body, and to shift either or both across the boundary between the Real World and the Phantom World to the other side. By displacing her body β which, being a fusion between a mortal body as it once was and the body of a spirit, is technically phantasmal in and of itself in all aspects save its leylines - to the Phantom World, but leaving her spirit behind, she is capable of becoming intangible, passing through solid objects, becoming unaffected by physical forces such as gravity, and temporarily making herself immune to harm. However, while in this state, she's incapable of exerting any sort of physical influence on the living world, becoming nothing more than a ghost. On the other hand, as the concept of "time" does not exist within the Phantom World, by passing her spirit β which, as the essence of a person once dead, is also a phantasm - over to the other side, she can temporarily enter a state in which she can analyze the situation and plan her reaction according to whatever decisions she might come to without worrying about time passing in reality, allowing her to, for example, predict the course of incoming attacks and plan all her movements several steps ahead in the midst of battle by repeatedly displacing herself from time. Perhaps most useful, however, is her ability to displace both mind and body to the Phantom World, allowing her to move herself about freely, repositioning herself while time is "stopped" for her, and thus simulating teleportation, even though solid objects or the laws of physics might stand between her and her goal. However, although this ability is very useful, her ability of displacing herself has several limitations. Firstly, due to the somewhat delicate nature of the ties that bind her to the leylines at the core of her body, she has to take great care in order to avoid being pulled fully into the Phantom World. Since entering the Phantom World almost completely detaches her from reality, she cannot remain within it in any capacity for any more than about a minute β at least, from her point of view, as time is nebulous for phantasms - of total exposure of either of her faculties - body or soul - within any short time interval. And, when fully immersing herself, she only has about 30 seconds before she has to pull out. These deadlines aren't independent of one another, either, meaning she must be very careful when using this ability. Furthermore, she can only enter and leave the Phantom World when her body is not restricted by any major forces, as these serve as a tie binding her to reality. So, for example, she couldn't phase into the Phantom World, phase her arm through her opponent's torso, and then pop back into tangibility so as to shatter their body from the inside out, nor could she enter the Phantom World while being restrained by another person, or impaled by a weapon, or some similar wound. This also means that her momentum isn't maintained between her entrance to and exit from the Phantom World, meaning actions such as, say, swinging a sword, entering the Phantom World, slithering up to her target, and then emerging in front of them only centimeters away from her blow connecting wouldn't work, as she'd lose all the force she put behind her motion. It also means she can't carry objects or people with her when she jumps, as they are strictly real existences, and thus don't meet the criteria to enter the Phantom World. The one exception is personal items that could ostensibly viewed as an extension of herself, like clothing or items with great meaning to her β rather fortunate, since otherwise, she'd end up naked every time she jumped. Finally, since she exists so close to death, it's entirely possible that any damage to her body's internal or external aspects sufficient to undo the convergence of its leylines would be enough to cause her body to "fall' onto the far side of the boundary, as she'd lose the tethers holding her spirit within her physical form, and holding her body together. In short, destroying enough of the red crests on her body might be all it takes to push her into a state of death, although "death" for her isn't quite as set in stone as it would be for most people, as, if a sufficient amount of magic is provided for her to feed on and restore her leylines to functionality, her body could eventually restore itself like it did when she made her contract, and her soul could return once again from the other side. But considering that her initial contract was with an incredibly powerful land spirit, almost all of whose magic was used up completely in the act of "resurrectingβ her, it's likely that nothing short of a vault of magical power would be enough to heal her if she really, truly died.
Her second "spell" is less of a passive ability and more of an active manipulation. As a Phantom herself called to the living world by the power of magic, she bears dominion over some lesser Phantoms similar in essence to herself. As such, she's capable of calling on Phantoms from the other side and manifesting them in the living world, using her leylines as a tether for their otherwise unstable and intangible existences in a mimicry of the Serpent tethering her. Not limited to just once-living spirits, she can also call upon lesser recollections, such as objects, forces, or forms of energy. However, without exception, the things she can summon are limited to the things she herself has experience with. Spirits she knows nothing of, items she's never seen, or forces she's never experienced cannot be called upon, as she has nothing to connect them to her own being with. Furthermore, there must be a purpose for all things she summons, and once called forth, her conjurations can only fulfill that assigned duty, and nothing else, as that βcommandβ is all that binds them to her leylines, and is integral to whatever existence she gives them. So, for example, suppose she summoned a phantom "shield" to protect herself from a given attack, then was attacked again by surprise immediately after. It would block the first attack, but the second would phase right through it as though it were intangible, because that wasn't what it was summoned to defend against, and thus isn't connected to its βexistence.β As her summons draw on the same fuel as her own life to sustain themselves, this is likely a mechanism meant to conserve power. Nevertheless, being selectively corporeal causes her summons' utility to be a little bit limited.
Starting with the simplest group of summons available to her, phantasmal forces generally take the form of gleaming blue "ghost lights." Whether it be fire, concussive pressure, or physical momentum, she can conjure it so long as its origin is from the leylines running through her body - specifically from one of the magical "circuits" grafted onto its surface in crests of red scales, the most often used of which are marks on the backs of her hands and upon her own back - and it is called forth for a specific purpose. However, due to the limited sustainability of vague things like forces, usually, the most she can do in this field is something like, say, commanding a force to push a locked door open, or to light something on fire. More often than not, she uses phantom forces to accentuate her own physical movements, reducing the friction of her lower body against the ground so as to ease the process of slithering, making up in part for her lack of mobility.
Phantasmal objects, meanwhile, simply become transparent silhouettes of the items they replicate, constructed wholecloth from glowing blue light. For example, in the case of a sword, a side-by-side of the original and the Phantom might look like this. Note that the object she replicates need not be destroyed. It simply must be something that once existed, and which still exists within her memories as a Phantom to be actualized. Somewhat more versatile in their function, these phantom items must still be created with a given purpose in mind. Again using a sword as an example, she might conjure such a weapon to fight a specific foe. And, indeed, it would work both to cut that target, and to defend against his or her attacks. However, it would be unable to defend against or strike back at other enemies in the case she summoned it using such a command. Usually, the items she creates are also rather fragile, having a very limited supply of energy on which they can exist, granted them as a static βcostβ when they are summoned, and which cannot be renewed by any means. Once that runs out, they break and disappear. The more broad the command used to create them, the less focused her creations are, the more energy they must spend to maintain their existences, and thus, in the case of phantom items, the easier they are to break, a price that must be paid for increased utility.
The final thing she can conjure is either part of or an entire once-living phantom. In this case, the only things she can summon are the specters of lives she has assumed the responsibility for ending, and thus bound herself to the life force of. Furthermore, she cannot summon these phantoms to act autonomously, as she doesn't have enough power to support two lives. Instead, she simply creates them as extensions of her own body. A phantasmal "hand" might overlay itself over her own, extending or retracting as she wills to grasp far away objects, but otherwise mimicking the movements of the limb it is covering. Alternatively, she might use the tattoos adorning her back to grant herself up to three additional appendages. (Formerly four, but as one marking was destroyed, she can no longer use it.) Even if full-bodied phantoms are usually not connected to her body, the same principle usually holds for them as well, as they usually mirror her body's actions perfectly - a fact which presents a major difficulty when it comes to summoning phantoms with legs, since, as she no longer possesses such appendages, she cannot replicate or control them. As such, most phantoms she summon take the form of a floating torso, head, and arms, or else detached appendages of some sort. Oddly enough, she is capable of controlling basic, nonhuman appendages so long as they are similar in function to her own, however. So, for example, although she couldn't control legs by moving her tail, she could control a summoned pair of wings by flapping her arms. Furthermore, as usual, she still needs a purpose in mind when she summons these spirits, meaning that whatever she targets with them is the only thing towards which they will be tangible.
Given that her body's leylines are limited in number and in capacity, it's possible for her to, with some effort, create tethers other than herself before utilizing a given summon. By creating crests that replicate her own leylines, she can essentially imbue the energy for a given summoning into an artificial crest, the shape and details of which in turn specify the Phantasm to be summoned, linking it to its target and leaving it solely waiting for her chosen command to fulfill the specific function she has given it β emitting energy to call to a Phantasm, bind it to a temporary physical existence, and fulfill the order she has given. On the surface, this seems tremendously useful, since it means she can store energy outside herself when she doesn't need any extra, and call on it later when that same energy is in short supply. The problem is that she can't actually reclaim the power she imbues into these False Crests β which usually take the form of small paper talismans adorned with red markings similar to her own, as shown in the images β meaning that whatever Phantasm she selects for them to summon is the only one they can ever be used to call upon, forcing her to predict what she'll be needing and prepare False Crests in advance, which, given the wide variety of summons available to her, is generally very difficult. In addition, given that the False Crests are inferior in design and efficiency to her own leylines, they can only store a very small amount of energy, meaning that it's difficult to use them to call on anything beyond very simple Phantasms. Complex objects and once-living Spirits are completely out of the question, limiting these items' utility to conjuring basic tools and fundamental forces. In addition to these factors, the False Crests are subject to the same limitations as her own leylines when it comes to actually manifesting Phantasms. They must be the origin point of what they conjure, and the broader the command used, the more energy they must expend for the same results. More often than not, she thus uses these talismans to store basic weapons or forces useful as traps, so that she can access them at a moment's notice if she's backed into a corner, and stores them in the gloves she wears.
As such, although her ability to become one with and to control Phantasmal Existences is tremendously versatile, that versatility is severely hampered by several restrictions. The most crippling among these is without a doubt its reliance on her own life as fuel. By using this power, she ensures that her own tether to existence will be weakened, and she will be brought close to reliving her death regardless of whether or not she's actually injured if she's unable to take at least partial responsibility for the death of whatever enemy she should employ it against, or connect to some other outside source of magical power β an act which usually entails draining the energy of other people close to her, whom she fears hurting above all else.
...I'm really feeling sleep deprived, incidentally, which is why I forgot to add this when I copy-pasted this bio from my computer to this page. Derp.