ALISEN (Furry Pirates)
Player: Fox Lee  (http://foxlee.arts-eclectic.com)

NAME: Alisen - she has no surname. Her father discarded his upon being mated to her mother, who never thought they were important enough to have one.
RACE: Dingo x Dog (collie)
AGE: About nineteen
BIRTH RANK: One/one
GENDER: Female, though hardly feminine<
HEIGHT: Roughly 5'11"
WEIGHT: 179lb
BLOOD TYPE: A+

PROFESSION: Farmer/hunter/islander

SOCIAL STATUS: Alisen is of the social group that is best left ignored. Although her strength and abilities may command some respect amongst those who notice them, she has nothing even remotely resembling an official rank.

FAMILY STATUS: All alive and well - or, at least, they were when she left them.

ARCHETYPE: Feral out of water.

FUR: Alisen's fur is a sandy colour, a light brown sort of like honey. The tips of her ears and tail are marked with a darker red-brown, while her face, the front of her body and the upper insides of her arms and legs are a lighter, creamy shade.

HAIR: Rusty brown-red, very wild and bouncy and ill-cared-for. Her fringe hangs carelessly over her face, obscuring her eyes somewhat, while the rest sits around her shoulders. She never cuts or styles her hair - this is how it falls naturally, and she's happy to let it do so. She has, however, been known to brush it on rare occasions.

EYES: Bright green - the sort of green that trusts its instincts and sleeps outdoors and remembers the taste of blood. Alisen's eyes are where one can most clearly see that she indeed has a feral soul.

HOMELAND/BIRTHPLACE: The Colonies; specifically, a small village of four or five families, situated on an island along the North-Eastern coastline.

OTHER APPEARANCE NOTES: Alisen is tall and wiry, wild and scruffy as a point of some pride. Although her build is naturally lean, she is by no means weak - in fact, she is considerably stronger than most furrs, her muscles tight and toned from a life of essential labour. She has broad shoulders and a strong back, a fairly average-sized bust, a small waist and quite angular, boyish hips; just a little too bony and hard-edged for most furrs to consider truly attractive. As per her feral heritage, she has visible claws on both fingers and toes, and sharp fangs lining her mouth - all of which she uses to great effect in combat.

HISTORY/BACKGROUND: Alisen's mother was a feral dingo woman, native to the Colony lands, who ran with a nomadic pack; her father was a far younger collie dog whose family originally came from Namor, and brought him to the Colonies when he was very young. When the pair fell in love, both of them were forced to abandon their people - his refused to trust a feral woman, hers scorned a civilised weakling. After some wandering together, they came to live on one of the tiny islands dotting the land's coast, with a group of similarly outcast furrs.
 Alisen grew up quite happily amongst this group, working hard at farming and hunting, and diving for shellfish in the surrounding waters. Although the semi-civilisation was almost too much for her mother, who would often take off into the wilderness by herself for a few days, the girl never felt starved for attention; her father was a natural parent, and devoted any time he could to his daughter. Living in such a close-knit community, she also came to have some friends who became as close as family - Kanna, a red kangaroo girl a few years older than Alisen, became her older sister and impromptu combat trainer; Clay, a gentle-natured young koala boy, was effectively adopted by her father after being orphaned some years before.
 Alisen was by no means unhappy - or even dissatisfied - with her life. However, a few months ago, a strange series of events led her to leave home. These began when a tropical storm rolled in from the sea; having felt strangely uneasy for the past few days, Alisen was watching the storm's approach when she spotted a mysterious, flickering light out on the water. Braving (or perhaps stupiding) the storm and swimming out the light's source, she found a tiny boat that appeared to be magically shielded against wind and sea, with a beautiful, white-furred woman unconscious inside.
 The woman - who called herself "Alcarin" - was dying; even after waking, she had no doubts that she would not long die. Fearful that her pursuers - the Arraish Inquisition - would catch her, she begged Alisen to carry on her mission; to find one who was "marked as she was", and protect him with her life. More than a little confused, deeply touched by Alcarin's plea, and utterly furious at the Inquisition's treatment of the woman, Alisen could only agree.
 Her burden passed on, Alcarin died weeping tears of thanks in Alisen's arms. The girl emerged from the cave some days later a great deal more serious; privately, she regards Alcarin's death and her acceptance of the mission as her "rite of passage' into adulthood. After explaining what she could to her family, she resolved to travel inland, until she could find a Colony ship willing to take her across the seas; however, fortune provided her an easier route, as a merchant's ship was forced to shelter one night in a bay that she had also chosen for rest. Managing to have herself taken on as a bodyguard, she remained with the merchant until the ship reached its final destination, one of the largest seaports of the Free Cities. From there, Alisen has been wandering about the cities for several weeks, searching for the one Alcarin bound her to protect...

PERSONALITY: Alisen has the personality of a protector, always looking out for those who need her. She can be sort of intimidating sometimes, due to her feral nature and appetite for fighting - however, she's an extremely reliable person once she commits herself to something, and there are few things that could ever sway her determination to do what she believes is right. She has little regard for religion, due to the fact that most religion she's seen has led directly to corruption; however, as she doesn't believe in imposing her standards on others, she will treat a religious person just the same as any other, though she may not like them.
 Alisen believes that people should be without pretence, and certainly doesn't make any pretence about herself; she takes pride in what she is, particularly her feral heritage. She's a very open and honest person, never hiding what she thinks or feels, reacting on instinct to many situations. This can often unnerve furrs of a more sheltered or refined nature - her tendency to sniff and lick people when she first meets them, for example, and her habit of growling and raising her hackles when she doesn't like something. Such reactions are usually very primal; she doesn't understand why, there's just something about that person's smell that isn't "right". She does try to give people a fair chance to prove themselves, though, even when first impression warns her otherwise.
 She also holds some other values very strongly. Most are due to her feral heritage, some are simply what she feels is right.
   - Without freedom, life is worth nothing.
   - Nature is to be respected, and you should try to live in harmony with it, taking only what you need.
   - Magic is usually messing with things that are best left alone.
   - Don't give your word lightly, and uphold it with your life once you do.
   - Never attack somebody who can't fight back, and never kill in cold blood.
   - Always know yourself, and always be true to yourself.
   - Never desert a member of the pack who needs your help.
   - All furrs are equal, and nobody should hold themselves over another.

CLOTHING: A simple, short top with cord straps, over a ratty pair of pants belted with rope, legs rolled up to mid-shin and tied with more rope. Alisen dresses for mobility and freedom, and hates restricting her body more than is absolutely necessary.

ACCESSORIES: She wears a strip of dark, grey-blue cloth tied around her left upper arm. It was previously a bandanna owned by Clay, which was given to her when she left home.

SPECIAL MARKS: Alisen has a series of small marks, patches the same colour as her ears and tail, scattered across her back. At first glance, they appear to be random markings; a less casual observer may suspect that they are more, as each dot appears to have two spikes on either side which point to another of the markings. Their purpose remains a mystery, to Alisen as much as anybody else - however, she knows that they appeared the night Alcarin died, so she considers them something of a mark of honour.

LIKES: Fire, wind and rain; the open sea and swimming in it; hunting and sparring; a good meal; open-minded people who don't care about traditions and rules and etiquette and stuff; being free; being herself. She also has a soft spot for younger men, who remind her of Clay, and beautiful, noble women who remind her of Alcarin.

DISLIKES: The Arraish Inquisition; those who unfairly impose their will on others; Imprisonment; those who pretend to be something they aren't; silly standards and traditions; anybody who looks down on somebody else as "less than a person" because of money or attitude or gender or whatever; most religions; money; official documents; rules and restrictions; authority; corrupt power; anybody who would abuse somebody weaker than themselves. That's about it.

ABILITIES AND WEAKNESSES: There's no denying it; Alisen's primary strength is simply fighting. Through years of hard labour, hunting, and sparring with Kanna and her mother, Alisen is more than adept in combat, specialising in using her natural weapons - claws and fangs - to make short work of an enemy. She flies into combat like a whirlwind, appearing to have little control over herself - though, in reality, she knows exactly what she's doing. She's also quite incredibly brave - or foolish - and seems undaunted even by the most risky situations.
 She can take one hell of a beating, having built up a natural toughness as a result of her life and environment; her feral heritage grants her impressively heightened senses of scent and hearing. She also has a great deal of control over her body, being able to execute impressive feats of balance and acrobatics in a pinch. She's also adept at boating, swimming and diving, intimidating enemies in combat, and - much to most furrs' surprise - singing.
 As far as weaknesses go, Alisen's personal code of conduct is a big limiting factor; for a feral, she certainly isn't as ruthless as she could be. She has little hope of blending in with a crowd, being doubly marked with her halfbreed nature and the marks that Alcarin left on her back; she also tends to unnerve people, her being feral making people jump to all manner of conclusions about her trustworthiness, intellect, motivations, and similar things. She also has a very major disadvantage placed on her by accepting Alcarin's quest - although she has no ability to use magic, the marks on her back carry with them an aura of magical power, which would be as clearly visible to certain Inquisitors as having her own magic would. Should the Inquisition ever catch wind of her, she will be a wanted woman.

GOALS: Nothing really matters to Alisen except fulfilling Alcarin's dying wish, and finding the one she is to protect. She also harbours an intense hatred for the Arraish Inquisition, and will gladly work toward its downfall if given half a chance. Aside of that, she's very easygoing, and has little commitment to anything.

POSSESSIONS: Nothing but what she's wearing. The only weapon she relies on is her own body, and she doesn't care to own more than she needs.

CONCEPT OF LIFE: "Be what you are, and never be ashamed of it."
  "I won't let her down."

ARMOUR: Alisen refuses to wear armour, hating the restrictive feeling of being encased in steel or padding, and the limit it places on her natural speed and flexibility. She takes a rather stubborn pride from her mother, believing that you should rely on yourself to avoid blows, rather than wear a tin can to soak them for you.

OTHER: Behind-the-curtain-game-stuff: The marks on Alisen's back passed on by Alcarin are part of a map. Cody is marked with the starting and finishing points, while Alisen bears the points in between. Presumably, a third person might have an indication of /where/ the map should be placed to make sense.
 Alisen's charge, of course, is Cody. Once she knows this, she will protect him with her life, and absolute and undying devotion.
 Lastly, Alcarin; the woman was, in fact, a Lantian, who was told by an ancient spirit that she must become a guardian to a boy who would be born on the sea, many years later. Alcarin used magic to suspend her life indefinitely by binding her soul into a crystal (in her case, a diamond), her body becoming little more than a vessel; she lived for thousands of years after the tragic fall of Lantia, and tried to avoid contact with the primitive races that followed (though several of the tribes who would later form Tiatania did cross paths with the woman, and were so amazed by her far-advanced mind and impressive beauty that they revered her as a Goddess). Finally, when she sensed that her long wait was drawing to an end, Alcarin set off toward the sea, praying that she would finally find her charge; however, in doing so, she entered Arrain, and ran afoul of the Inquisition. Captured and imprisoned, Alcarin was assumed to be a Tiatanian, and barely managed to escape before her death sentence was carried out. However, her body was injured beyond repair, and the stone which held her soul was still in the possession of the Inquisition - she knew that her death would come in a matter of days. In a last, desperate effort to fulfil her mission, Alcarin took a tiny sailing boat and set out to sea, vowing that if she couldn't find the child, she would pass her mission on to another who was worthy...
 The rest, as they say, is history.