~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AVAEL Shadow of an Angel PLAYER: Fox Lee (http://foxlee.arts-eclectic.com) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NAME: Avaelis Ailamsye Lahil'ye AGE: 53 SEX: Male HEIGHT: 170cm WEIGHT: 30kg HAIR: Silver-white; worn mostly short, but with a long, thin ponytail out the back. EYES: Violet BLOOD TYPE: AB+ SKIN: Pale, but not quite white. APPEARANCE: Avael looks like a fairly typical avariel, if a little bit scruffier; he's very thin and fragile, fairly effeminate, and very attractive. The only way that Avael stands out amongst his people is the fact that his wings are stunted and underdeveloped, and he keeps them hidden - thus usually appearing to have none at all, or to be a hunchback. PROFESSION: Travelling healer/midwife. HOMELAND/BIRTHPLACE: SOCIAL STATUS: Although he is not technically of a lower or higher status than your average young-adult avariel cleric, Avael is considered "disabled" because of his wings; although the deformity doesn't affect him in any other way, he's viewed more or less as retarded. FAMILY STATUS: Quite respected. His parents are both alive and well, and in relatively prestigious positions - his father (Elidyan) in the armed forces, his mother (Aelariana) a cleric. He also has two older siblings - the eldest (Araleis) a sister who trained in aerial combat and became one of the most renowned fliers of her time, the middle a brother (Elyrian, aka Lyri) who pursued a more peaceful life as a scholar. BIRTH RANK: 3/3. ARCHETYPE: Bishie with a backbone; altruist != pushover. HISTORY/BACKGROUND: All his life, Avael has suffered from one of the most horrible afflictions most avariel can conceive; due to complications during birth, the growth of his wings was drastically stunted. Far from the glorious wingspan most avian elves can boast, Avael's wings measure less than a foot each in length, and are entirely useless for flying. He was not treated badly for this, of course - rather, the members of his community pitied him so that they would constantly go out of their way to help, praise and be nice to the poor child. There was nobody who didn't know the landlocked avariel; no matter who he was with, they would be sure to smile and speak gently, pull out his chair, offer to walk him home... Discipline, too, was an almost entirely alien concept to him - after all, who could blame the poor boy for misbehaving? Just look at him! How could he not be angry at the world? As might be suspected, it didn't take Avael long at all the become sick and tired of being the object of everyone's pity. Becoming somewhat withdrawn, he turned to books - usually "borrowed" from Lyri's collection when he wasn't using them - and began to study various subjects in secret. It was during this period that he first studied in healing, both magical and mundane. Initially, his interest was entirely selfish, focused around the possibility of learning a spell that might restore his wings - even as he imagined using such skills to help others, such thoughts were born primarily from a desire to prove his own worth. Whatever his motivation, however, his studies became more and more focused as he began to experiment with what he had learned, becoming something of a self-taught cleric. When his sources were exhausted, he finally did what he had been tempted to do all along - he ran away from home. Ironically, it was probably one of the best things that could have happened to him - travelling on his own and learning to cope with life outside a city finally taught him a measure of the discipline that he had always lacked. His maturity had been stunted by his upbringing as much as his wings had been stunted by his birth, but trying to survive on his own started a very sudden and drastic period of emotional growth. Indeed, he found that as he travelled and matured, and his pent-up anger slowly cooled, his understanding of his healing powers increased accordingly - as did his desire to use it for the good of others as well as himself. Eventually, he came to a point where he realised that he didn't /want/ to heal his wings any more - after all, he had never wanted them in the first place. If he was accepted because he re-grew his wings, he realised, it would be worth nothing - he had to prove himself without them, for what he was. Which brings us to the present, where Avael acts as a travelling healer, moving from town to town giving aid to those who need it. It was on one such journey that he encountered a woman named Serena, who also seemed to believe in the value of helping those less fortunate than herself. Although he never became close to the woman, he has worked with her several times since, and does consider her a friend (albeit a seldom-seen one). PERSONALITY: Avael is an altruist, and desires to help good people whenever they need it - however, his past has made him more than a little prickly. While he tries to be nice, his patience wears thin quickly when people push his buttons - he always expects people to look down on him, and his lack of discipline means he has trouble controlling his temper when they do. He tends to be sarcastic, having had little experience with other kinds of humour; he's generally not very happy, but tries to make the best of it. For the most part, he tries to be a self-sufficient loner who doesn't care what other people think - however, he is truly overly self-conscious, and longs for genuine approval. Overall, he could be a fine friend once convinced that he is viewed as an equal - however, few get far enough to know him that well. CLOTHING: Avael generally wears fairly basic cleric-style robes, with a heavy cloak/caftan to hide the presence of his wings. He dresses fairly conservatively, having no particular desire to make himself stand out or be attractive. ACCESSORIES: None to speak of. SPECIAL MARKS: Just the mutant wings. LIKES: Realism (rather than pessimism or optimism), equality and fairness, helping people, animals, feeling useful/wanted. DISLIKES: Cruelty, professional victims, laziness, parents who don't discipline their children properly, being offered charity/condescended to, feeling useless. ABILITIES: Avael's talents lie mostly within the category of healing magic, though he has trained in a number of skills such as wilderness survival, animal handling, and alchemistry. He's also a pretty good shot with a sling, though he doesn't like to get involved in combat. WEAKNESSES: Avael is almost entirely incompetent in melee combat, and his natural fragility makes him ill-suited to it (or any other activity which relies primarily on strength or endurance). He also has trouble controlling his temper. RELATIONSHIPS: None to speak of. Since the bitterness of his teen years wore off, Avael has written several letters home to his parents - he has not, however, returned to see them yet. CONNECTIONS: Nothing of note. GOALS: To help others with his magic, and to prove that he's not some retard who needs to be pitied. POSSESSIONS: As per character sheet. CONCEPT OF LIFE: "Just work with what you have - everybody has to take responsibility for their own life." OTHER: N/A ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pronunciation: Avael - "AH-vay-el" Avaelis - "ah-VAY-el-iss" Ailamsye - "AY-lahm-sai" Lahil'ye - "lah-HEEL-yeh" "HEEL-yeh" is almost "HEE-luh-yeh", but not quite Elidyan - "el-EED-yahn" "eed-yahn" is almost "ee-dee-ahn", but not quite Aelariana - "AY-el-ah-ri-ah-na" Araleis - "ah-rah-lays" "lays" is almost "lay-is", but not quite Elyrian - "ee-LAI-ree-ahn" Lyri - "lai-REE"