Post by Dubhlidais on Jul 17, 2020 15:11:56 GMT -5
I've been sitting on Dubhlidais's half-completed bio for years, so I dusted it off and finished it.
Childhood
The story of Dubhlidais doesn't start with her birth, but with her abandonment with a witch who lived between Yew and Skara Brae. The witch named her Dubhlidais, pronounced Doov-lee-ash. Dubhlidais isn't sure this is a real name, and suspects the witch might have picked it because it was all but impossible for her to spell as a child learning her letters. She's told people to call her Dubh, which she's pronounced both varyingly as Dub, Dove and Doov.
She grew to see that witch as her mother. In fact, she grew to call the witch Mother (as did those who interacted with Mother). Dubhlidais was a highly enthusiastic and barely competent assistant. Mother slowly taught Dubhlidais as much as she could, the skills a witch would need to know: basic healing, veterinary, alchemy, plant identification and such. She also learned headology, which is roughly psychology with an emphasis on manipulation (to Dubhlidais, manipulation for the victim's own good). Dubhlidais had a high potential for magic, so she learned that as well, rather than relying on alchemy as Mother did.
To the witches, the coven was essentially a village, but with the households spread miles apart, to offer support for the world at large.
Family
Dubhlidais's biological parents are completely unknown to her, but fully human. She believes her birth probably would have been a scandal of some sort, but that's just speculation.
Dumahbh was her best friend and also lived with Mother, becoming a sister to her.
Dominic was also a good friend, a bit like an older brother to her.
Caoimhe (pronounced Kee-va) was almost six years older and raised by another witch in the coven, but Dubhlidais suspected Caoimhe was her biological sister. Caoimhe's descent into selfishness and greed led to her death. The experience gave Dubhlidais an overdeveloped sense of what is right, and how different doing good could be from following the rules.
Teenager
As with many witches, Dubhlidais began to write her own spellbook. It was the things she was taught, the things she learned on her own, and significant things that happened to her. While she could navigate it quickly, one could start from the first page and read through it to learn a lot about her life. It included some earth magic, a lot like necromancy but from a perspective of life. If she needed to raise the dead to protect *life*, she would in a heartbeat. The dead were dead, and would be returned to dead. But the alive were still alive, and couldn't be brought back if killed.
When Dubhlidais was a young woman, she was sent to Trammel. Most of the population was migrating there, so there had to be witches to help. Mother stayed behind, and was ultimately killed.
Adulthood
Dubhlidais joined the Emerald Fist because she sensed kindred spirits. These were people who wouldn't let a conventional view of what was proper stop them from doing what was right. That nearly led to her death when the group fought to stop an invasion from Pagan. Instead, she was trapped there.
She doesn't talk about what happened in Pagan, though it sounds like she took up "witching" again to benefit a village there. She wrote a lot of notes and made sketches, all in her spellbook. She spent many years there, although time doesn't seem to line up quite right. Did it pass differently? Did years just mean something different there? Were the days shorter? Did she slip through time? She doesn't know. Time became even harder to track when she was cursed by a sorceress from Pagan. While everyone else saw her as she was, Dubhlidais would see a crone in every reflective surface.
Eventually, Pagan world launched an invasion of Britannia. Dubhlidais snuck through a portal during one such attack and was finally home.
It wasn't long before her spellbook was destroyed. In a few seconds, she had to decide whether to give it up or argue against it and maybe be attacked. On the advice of her friends, she gave it up and kept her life but lost her history.
Dubhlidais was a favorite plaything of Thalmain Shaste, a necromancer targeting Trinsic. After one such battle, Shaste took her eye and left her to die. Never fond of Trinsic, she likes it even less now. A while later, Shaste captured her, probably to kill her. Before he could do so, though, Shaste was killed. That left her stranded for months, surviving on rain water and coconuts.
While stranded, Dubhlidais broke the curse using the little earth magic remaining to her. Her connection to the earth magic is now severed. Even if her spellbook was returned, she would not be able to cast many of the spells she'd previously cast. If the curse returns, she would need a necromancer to break it again. But she'd never work with a necromancer on this.
While preparing to help a mage return to Pagan, Dubhlidais considered returning as well. She realized she'd come to think of Britannia as home again, mostly because of her friends. But when the spell was cast, her friends disappeared… possibly to Pagan. She feels guilty she wasn't pulled with them, and without her experience available to them she worries about their chances.
Appearance
Dubhlidais has a variety of different ethnicities in her background. To anyone who knew what to look for, she's a mix of Caucasian and Filipino-Malay. The Filipino is largely dominant.
She has a wide "square" face. She has a short but wide nose and darker skin. Her almond-shaped dark eyes have single eyelids, and her stare is intelligent, curious and even penetrating. Her right eye is missing, replaced with a black marble, which somehow does nothing to lessen the effect. Her hair is dark brown with red highlights, which probably aren't natural.
She has a slim build, with a small chest and waist. Her hips are a bit wider. Given her height, from a distance you could probably mistake her for a pre-teen boy with long hair. She doesn't look overly strong, but she does have the wiry musculature of someone who's worked hard all of her life.
Personality
Dubhlidais is quick-witted and can be acerbic, especially to those she likes or have proven themselves less than worthy. It's an odd combination. If she respects you but doesn't feel that close to you, she'll probably be polite and proper. If she doesn't like you, she'll let you have it. If she likes you and is close to you, she'll also let you have it… but in a kinder fashion.
Everything Dubhlidais does is about life, which was not just a generic concept to her but a specific goal. She tries to make reduce death and suffering in the world, and will casually break (really, just completely ignore) whatever laws are necessary along the way.
Childhood
The story of Dubhlidais doesn't start with her birth, but with her abandonment with a witch who lived between Yew and Skara Brae. The witch named her Dubhlidais, pronounced Doov-lee-ash. Dubhlidais isn't sure this is a real name, and suspects the witch might have picked it because it was all but impossible for her to spell as a child learning her letters. She's told people to call her Dubh, which she's pronounced both varyingly as Dub, Dove and Doov.
She grew to see that witch as her mother. In fact, she grew to call the witch Mother (as did those who interacted with Mother). Dubhlidais was a highly enthusiastic and barely competent assistant. Mother slowly taught Dubhlidais as much as she could, the skills a witch would need to know: basic healing, veterinary, alchemy, plant identification and such. She also learned headology, which is roughly psychology with an emphasis on manipulation (to Dubhlidais, manipulation for the victim's own good). Dubhlidais had a high potential for magic, so she learned that as well, rather than relying on alchemy as Mother did.
To the witches, the coven was essentially a village, but with the households spread miles apart, to offer support for the world at large.
Family
Dubhlidais's biological parents are completely unknown to her, but fully human. She believes her birth probably would have been a scandal of some sort, but that's just speculation.
Dumahbh was her best friend and also lived with Mother, becoming a sister to her.
Dominic was also a good friend, a bit like an older brother to her.
Caoimhe (pronounced Kee-va) was almost six years older and raised by another witch in the coven, but Dubhlidais suspected Caoimhe was her biological sister. Caoimhe's descent into selfishness and greed led to her death. The experience gave Dubhlidais an overdeveloped sense of what is right, and how different doing good could be from following the rules.
Teenager
As with many witches, Dubhlidais began to write her own spellbook. It was the things she was taught, the things she learned on her own, and significant things that happened to her. While she could navigate it quickly, one could start from the first page and read through it to learn a lot about her life. It included some earth magic, a lot like necromancy but from a perspective of life. If she needed to raise the dead to protect *life*, she would in a heartbeat. The dead were dead, and would be returned to dead. But the alive were still alive, and couldn't be brought back if killed.
When Dubhlidais was a young woman, she was sent to Trammel. Most of the population was migrating there, so there had to be witches to help. Mother stayed behind, and was ultimately killed.
Adulthood
Dubhlidais joined the Emerald Fist because she sensed kindred spirits. These were people who wouldn't let a conventional view of what was proper stop them from doing what was right. That nearly led to her death when the group fought to stop an invasion from Pagan. Instead, she was trapped there.
She doesn't talk about what happened in Pagan, though it sounds like she took up "witching" again to benefit a village there. She wrote a lot of notes and made sketches, all in her spellbook. She spent many years there, although time doesn't seem to line up quite right. Did it pass differently? Did years just mean something different there? Were the days shorter? Did she slip through time? She doesn't know. Time became even harder to track when she was cursed by a sorceress from Pagan. While everyone else saw her as she was, Dubhlidais would see a crone in every reflective surface.
Eventually, Pagan world launched an invasion of Britannia. Dubhlidais snuck through a portal during one such attack and was finally home.
It wasn't long before her spellbook was destroyed. In a few seconds, she had to decide whether to give it up or argue against it and maybe be attacked. On the advice of her friends, she gave it up and kept her life but lost her history.
Dubhlidais was a favorite plaything of Thalmain Shaste, a necromancer targeting Trinsic. After one such battle, Shaste took her eye and left her to die. Never fond of Trinsic, she likes it even less now. A while later, Shaste captured her, probably to kill her. Before he could do so, though, Shaste was killed. That left her stranded for months, surviving on rain water and coconuts.
While stranded, Dubhlidais broke the curse using the little earth magic remaining to her. Her connection to the earth magic is now severed. Even if her spellbook was returned, she would not be able to cast many of the spells she'd previously cast. If the curse returns, she would need a necromancer to break it again. But she'd never work with a necromancer on this.
While preparing to help a mage return to Pagan, Dubhlidais considered returning as well. She realized she'd come to think of Britannia as home again, mostly because of her friends. But when the spell was cast, her friends disappeared… possibly to Pagan. She feels guilty she wasn't pulled with them, and without her experience available to them she worries about their chances.
Appearance
Dubhlidais has a variety of different ethnicities in her background. To anyone who knew what to look for, she's a mix of Caucasian and Filipino-Malay. The Filipino is largely dominant.
She has a wide "square" face. She has a short but wide nose and darker skin. Her almond-shaped dark eyes have single eyelids, and her stare is intelligent, curious and even penetrating. Her right eye is missing, replaced with a black marble, which somehow does nothing to lessen the effect. Her hair is dark brown with red highlights, which probably aren't natural.
She has a slim build, with a small chest and waist. Her hips are a bit wider. Given her height, from a distance you could probably mistake her for a pre-teen boy with long hair. She doesn't look overly strong, but she does have the wiry musculature of someone who's worked hard all of her life.
Personality
Dubhlidais is quick-witted and can be acerbic, especially to those she likes or have proven themselves less than worthy. It's an odd combination. If she respects you but doesn't feel that close to you, she'll probably be polite and proper. If she doesn't like you, she'll let you have it. If she likes you and is close to you, she'll also let you have it… but in a kinder fashion.
Everything Dubhlidais does is about life, which was not just a generic concept to her but a specific goal. She tries to make reduce death and suffering in the world, and will casually break (really, just completely ignore) whatever laws are necessary along the way.