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[takewing]

OOC INFORMATION
Name: Re
Contact: whirlwindy
Other Characters: None.

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Name: Bluebird
Age: 22

WORLD INFORMATION:

Sabra La Tau – more commonly known as simply Sabra – is a fantastical world far, far away from Earth. It's full of strange creatures, magicks, and supernatural quirks: there's a whole pantheon of gods and spirits. All are real, and all are very, very present … though not quite so present that every person on the planet calls themselves a believer. There's even a country full of hybrid hippies with just a splash of gods-blood running through them, leading to half-breeds who are part plant, part river, part bird, and so on. Humans born with magical powers are quite common throughout the world, but so are humans who sought power through other means, or humans who have no magic at all! It's a mixed bag in all respects.

The only god of real relevance to this particular story is the Lady of Birds, Kyrinon, the guardian and embodiment of all who take to the skies. She never appears directly, but Bluebird is a worshipper—her ability to talk to birds makes it impossible not to be.

Bluebird's story takes place upon the First Land, a vast and sprawling continent divided into twenty three countries, each with their own unique culture. The level of technology varies from place to place, ranging from "Technology? What's technology?" to steampunk, both magically augmented and crafted through mere human ingenuity alone. There are dirty cities with twisting streets and mechanical lights, and majestic cities of spiralling crystal buildings. The weather, too, is both noteworthy and sort of important: it's warm—warm enough that natural snow is the stuff of myth and legend, when it's recognized as "stuff" at all. (Not too long after Bluebird's canonpoint, the sun kind of began careening into the planet and everything was doomed to a fiery death.)

Bluebird hails from a country – or territory, as her people prefer to call it – known as Pyxis! It's a land of scrub and hardy grassland, of sandstorms and oh, gods, where is the water ahhhh. (Any Pyxin worth their salt can locate an underground river with their head in a sack and their feet glued to their ears.) They're a tribal folk, travellers and nomads at heart, and often stereotyped for their love of a good brawl. Very few settlements pop up long enough and large enough to be considered anything more than prolonged camps, though there are some, especially closer to the borders. Even these towns are loosely organized, with little by the way of government and, at best, the barest trappings of technology.

HISTORY:

What do you call a woman who dreamed of flight before she could crawl?

Who spoke with birds before she learned her first word?

If you’re very, very close, you may have the privilege of calling her by the name she carries in her heart: Nalea. Otherwise, you call her by the name she wears on her sleeve: Bluebird.

This woman – let’s call her Bluebird – was born in Osnova, one of the few towns that her country, Pyxis, had to boast of. It was a small place, on the foothills of the mountain range that separated the Pyxin plains from the neighbouring country of Cygnus. Her parents were Harrier the inn-keep and Fantail the Escort-slash-Minstrel, with “Escort” being the name given to those tried and true adventurers who helped travellers about on their business, and Minstrel being a common term for entertainers and professional show-offs.

Little Bluebird, so named for her bright blue eyes and her friendship with all things winged and feathered, had quite the happy upbringing. What time she didn’t spend learning the ways of tavern-upkeep, archery, and brawling, she spent doggedly following in the footsteps of her beloved father. His village centre and roadside performances astounded her, whether she was taking part as his beautiful assistant or merely watching. She learned countless tricks and secrets from Fantail, from the conjuring of scarves to the counting of cards, to fancy talk with no dropped g’s or ain’ts, to dance … and, most importantly of all, stringent codes of ethics, morality, and honour.

Of course, she had other hobbies. Bluebird became well known around Osnova for her love of stories (she’d talk to anybody about where they’d come from and where they were going), her stoutness of heart (she never let a bully or a criminal skip merrily on their way), and her dedication to helping people. … And also for her love of finding things: one of her favourite pastimes was finding the things that other people had lost and returning them free of charge, though she loved seeking out the previously undiscovered just as much.

It’s this thirst for discovery that led to a meeting that changed Bluebird’s life. When she was just seven years old, clambering alone through the rocky, mountainous foothills that surrounded her hometown, she stumbled upon a young orphan rennya. Rennya are extraordinarily rare, sapient birds with powers of illusion and an affinity for gemstones. The pair immediately hit it off, with the rennya – who introduced himself as Koútero – showering her with illusionary flowers, and Bluebird repaying him with a shoulder to ride on, a thorough grooming, and a nice, long bath. Much to the wonderment of the townsfolk, most of whom had barely even heard of Koútero’s kind, the two of them quickly became firm friends. They grew up together, rarely leaving each other’s side.

Koútero even accompanied Bluebird on her Coming of Age ceremony at the tender age of thirteen. Once a year, every year, the tribes all came together for a week of grand festivals … a week that culminated in an incredibly dangerous trial: to make the journey from childhood to adulthood, children were tasked to steal a scale from Auriin, the only dragon known to dwell in the Pyxis territory. Some didn’t survive. Some did, with injuries that would be with them for life. Others, like Bluebird, through sheer dumb luck, skill, and intelligence, scraped their way through relatively unharmed, with scars to boast of and adulthood to revel in. Her Coming of Age was the beginning of Bluebird’s fascination with tattoos and scarification, and gave life to a slowly blooming interest in the potential pleasures of pain.

Some pain, of course, can never be pleasurable. Barely a year after Bluebird became an adult in the eyes of her people, she and her mother received some terrible news: Fantail had gone missing while escorting some dignitaries in some far away south-eastern country. He'd vanished without a trace, with scarcely a sign or a whisper, leaving only the vaguest of clues to suggest foul play. After a brief argument – heated hisses in the back of their family tavern, Harri's eyes brimming with tears and Bluebird's chest burning – she made up her mind. Anger and grief were an acidic cocktail, but determination and conviction were there as well, soothing balms even as they stoked her higher. She took Koútero and a small sack of goods, and left immediately on a quest to find the truth.

To find him.

To bring him home.

The First Land was a vast place. Bluebird visited villages, towns, cities she'd never even heard of, let alone seen. She battled pirates, solved murder mysteries, enchanted crowded marketplaces with a tale or two and a dash of illusion; she helped the helpless, took jobs that ranged from guard duty to buying milk … and frequently she found herself penniless. Oh, she took coin as repayment for her services sometimes, but she'd never placed much value on the material, and she could never bring herself to walk past suffering without doing something to mitigate it. Fortunately, she was more than practised in fending for herself. All the while, come rain or shine, she searched for clues and followed even the flimsiest of leads, desperate to find her father.

Bluebird was still on the road two long, mostly fruitless years later. She'd grown, though not in height; she'd become wiser, more mature … though never any less herself. She was still determinedly optimistic, still proactive, and still bound and determined—and still a little more generous than she could strictly afford to be, too. The first big chance since her father's fateful disappearance occurred in the capitol city of Cepheus, Corehaven. There, in the midst of a bar fight that she hadn't started but hadn't tried particularly hard to stop, she met a young man called from Spark. They hit it off immediately, despite their differences: he was rough where she was polite, mistrustful where she was unquestioning, dismissive where she was sympathetic … but they shared a certain tenacity, the drive to do and discover, and to live life to its fullest. (And, as time went on, she grew to find that they weren't so opposite as they might seem on the surface.) She didn't divulge her goals, or the depth of her dedication to them, until over a year later—long after they'd made the steady transition from friendship to something a little more. It was all somewhat complicated by the simple fact that they spent days, weeks, and sometimes months apart … but they always had the birds, and the birds were always happy to carry messages back and forth.

Life nearly came to an abrupt, messy, premature stop when Bluebird was just nineteen years old. Her mission, and her natural inclination to help any around her who needed it, sometimes saw her tangled up with trouble: more than once had she been hurt in the line of her self-imposed duty. One of these incidents just happened to be so much more pivotal than all of the others. Cepheus' antipathy towards magic and those with abilities meant that sometimes people fell between the gaps in society—teenagers, mostly, full of rejection and frustration, and a longing for support, for understanding. In the fifth month of King's Year 196, many of these people began to disappear from Corehaven, one at a time or in small groups. Bluebird, in town to spend time with Spark, took it upon herself not just to investigate, but also to put an end to it. She succeeded, but not without a price—she was stabbed, viciously, and would have bled out mid-escape if Koútero and Spark hadn't found her.

During her month-long recovery, she finally revealed her true name to him, and to her great surprise, learned his in return: she was Nalea, and he was Khoalan. Their relationship, which had deepened from "a little more" to friendship to deep but unspoken love, became closer and closer by the day.

Life continued on from there, as it was wont to do, and so did her search for her father. But now, at least, she had one more anchor; one more reminder that the mission wasn't quite everything.

PERSONALITY

She’s just a small town girl—

Okay, no.

On the surface of her surface, Bluebird is an extraordinarily polite young woman. She busts out the “Sirs” and the “M’ladys” with all of the earnestness in the world, bleeding sincerity and courtly good manners. Bows and curtseys? You bet! A light flourish, a swish of the cape? Those too. Genuine as she is, there’s just a hint, a faintest whiff, of showmanship: it’s respect and play all at once, and a homage to one man she looked up to more than any other. She always had loved the way his stage presence alone could charm a crowed, even before his sleight-of-hand drew the first gasps of wonder. Of course, respect, childhood adoration and long-lasting fancifulness aside, knightly good manners do have their uses—they’re markers of distance, methods by which she can keep her private affairs exactly the way she likes them: face down, close to her chest, for nobody but her and her most trusted comrades to know.

While Bluebird has absolutely no sense of shame regarding her body, having long since disassociated casual nakedness with sensuality, she is easily flustered by intimacy. Admitting her innermost feelings, romance, being teased—you name it, anything along those lines can see her usual easy grace flying straight out of the window. It can take a while for her to relax, and it’s a general trend that the more familiar with and equal to she feels with somebody, the looser she will – gradually – become. As such, family, love interests, and very close friends have the privilege of watching her trip over herself like a moron. Family is indescribably important to her; while she's free and ready with her friendships, it takes time and circumstance to burrow one's way into her heart of hearts.

Anybody meeting her for the first time might call her charmingly ebullient: charming, because of all of those delightful manners; ebullient, because she has a boundless enthusiasm for life. She’s cheerful, friendly, fun-loving … thoroughly plucky, seemingly reckless, and not a little violent. Growing up in a culture where punch-ups are a norm between friend and foe alike means that Bluebird is far from shy about a little rough n’ tumble—coming from her, a punch can mean anything from a greeting, an invitation to clear the air, to an all-out declaration of war. Fortunately for all involved, this manner of, er, communication is generally reserved for likeminded individuals; she’s worldly enough to understand that not everybody out there can take a punch with grace and good humour.

... Unless she catches you being an asshole, in which case you are SOL.

Bluebird is a woman who cannot abide bullies. She’s honourable and unfailingly courageous, always seeking to see better, to do better, to change things for the better. She’s bound and determined almost to the point of stupidity, and utterly unwilling to back down once she’s set to the task. If she hears tell of a murderous cult kidnapping people for nefarious experiments, you bet that she’ll be on the case, using all of her quick wits, resourcefulness, and willpower to see things through to the best possible end. She is a compassionate, kind woman almost to a fault, who is unafraid to take responsibility not just for herself, but also for the world and the lives around her. She isn’t a glory-seeker by any means; she’d help a pet out of a tree or an old lady across the road just as readily as she’d stand up to a murderer. She never asks for or expects a thank you, because why would anybody expect thanks simply for doing what’s right?

This sense of personal responsibility is both her greatest drive and something of a flaw. It takes compassion, guts, and integrity to live life as she does—but Bluebird is as fiercely independent as she is courageous, and she steadfastly refuses to drag anybody else along for the ride. She’s proud, though not vain, and to say that she treasures her agency is a huge understatement. It’s not just that she doesn’t want to be a burden, and it isn’t just that she doesn’t want to lose anybody—though the latter is undeniably true. Bluebird has lost before, and while the grief merely fuelled her fires instead of breaking her or turning her into something she’d rather not be, she’s just a little bit terrified of ever losing somebody again. She places a great deal of value upon her agency, upon her ability to act as she wants to act, and she resents any attempt to take that away from her … no matter how well-intentioned. She still operates under the belief that the consequences for her actions fall on her shoulders alone, and is still learning that her hurts can hurt others.

Still, Bluebird is a people-lover by nature. She’s dedicated and loyal, and despite the hardships she’s seen and fought her way through, she’s too kind-hearted to be truly comfortable with the idea of second-guessing everybody she meets. She’s only just begun to grow out of a wide streak of being way too generous; more than once in her past has she had to work odd jobs for a week just to scrape by, after donating her entire wallet to some cause or other. However, she isn’t so gullible that she’d let a thief run away with her coin; try to take it by force, and you’d more than likely find yourself with broken fingers. Going hand in hand with her love of agency is a rather unapologetic dislike for being taken advantage of.

She’s also highly curious, on a constant search for new knowledge, new horizons, new roads to travel or uncharted territories to explore. She loves the freedom of the open road and a limitless sky, and can spend many long, happy hours talking even to strangers. This desire to see everything that there is to see helped her greatly on her years-long, thoroughly fruitless search for justice: she hunted across the whole world after receiving news of her father’s disappearance, and while it was tough, while it took grit and desperation and something almost like tunnel-vision, she would never, ever deny that she enjoyed it. There’s a hint—okay, a big hint, a huge hint—of dorkiness to her, of wide-eyed wonder and a delight at all of the marvels the world and other people have to offer. The few times she’s found herself grounded in one place left Bluebird anxious and unhappy

Finally, there are two more important things to note. Firstly … Bluebird has a serious case of Aquaphobia. Yep, that’s right: this tough, independent, courageous young woman is terrified of water, and will side-eye anything deeper than a shallow puddle. Secondly, and arguably most importantly: Bluebird loves birds. She loves birds, and for some years one particular bird – Koútero – was her only constant companion. She can talk to them all, and while not all are as intelligent as some, to her they are all precious. She may or may not have walked into more than her fair share of walls and trees while listening to birds sing and chatter.


5-10 Key Character Traits:
✲ Highly independent.
✲ Stubborn, sometimes to the point of tunnel-vision.
✲ Free-spirited and adventurous.
✲ Courageous, gallant.
✲ Driven.
✲ Compassionate. No matter what life has thrown at her, she's never let go of her kindness.
✲ Energetic and friendly.
✲ Curious, inquisitive; loves to discover.
✲ Intelligent. She's booksmart and streetsmart, and sharp enough to think her way out of many a tight spot.
✲ Aquaphobic.

Would you prefer a monster that FITS your character’s personality, CONFLICTS with it, or EITHER? Strong preference for FITS.
Opt-Outs: Arachne, Naga, Troll, Demon, Minotaur

Roleplay Sample:
Intro to Ruby City
A thread from Ruby City