Hair: Curtains of thick, long, straight black hair—parted in the middle—frame her face making it appear even paler than it actually is.
Eyes: Cat has large gray-blue eyes rimmed in long black lashes. Thin arched brows give her a permanently curious look.
Weight: 108 pounds
Height: 5 feet 5 inches
Weapon: Catriana wields a short sword and several knives and surprisingly not one is stashed in her boots. One hangs on her belt the other, a thin dagger without a cross-guard, is strapped just above her wrist hidden by her loose black sleeves.
Armor: She has a few lightweight black leather pieces but nothing too substantial. Once upon a time they were enchanted with a protection spell but over the years it has been slowly wearing off. Though still more protective that normal leather armor it could be breached with a strong enough blow. She also wears a red flower in her hair, which has an evasion charm on it making her harder to hit. Strengths: Cat relies heavily on her agility and speed. She is nimble and lithe and uses it to her advantage when borrowing things. She is also a natural acrobat and can climb just about anything.
Weakness: To say Catriana is afraid of the dark would not be entirely accurate. She is afraid of what she can’t see. Of what is just around the corner, hidden in the shadows, stalking her in the darkness. She is afraid of the unknown. Commitment and loneliness, her future and her past, all her shadowy demons seem to be hidden in that one terrible curtain of darkness. It has developed into an almost pathological fear. She also of course has all the natural human weaknesses as well; extremely easy to break being one of them.
Skills/Magic: Though Cat was never officially taught magic she has picked up a few things from different disciplines. Namely the healing of light wounds, an illumination spell, and a few defensive enchantments nothing that would hold up against a magic user who knew what they were doing though. She has also become skilled at picking locks and taking things that don’t belong to her. Both hobbies aided with a touch of magic make her one of the best in the ‘removing’ business. She also has Aslo, a miniature gryphon.
Aslo looks like a cross between one of those cute little fluffy owls and a fat hamster, albeit the Godzilla of hamsters. Only his sharp talons and hooked beak, which could easily gauge out an eye, keep people from scooping him up and giving him a cuddle.
In the manner of most things small Aslo has a huge ego. Though not even a foot tall Aslo is under the impression he is much larger and extremely fierce and will take it out on anyone who he thinks doubts his awesomeness. He does not actually answer to Catriana but follows her around because she feeds him. Aslo has magic of his own but as a bonded familiar only his master can unlock his potential, and he died some six years previously. Without magic Aslo is dependent on Cat for his survival, not that he would admit that. The few spells he can still manage are like ‘parlor tricks’ compared to what he used to do while his master was alive. Mostly he has to work in concert with Cat to achieve anything at all and so works magic only when it is absolutely necessary. It is frustrating for him to struggle to work a spell that he mastered as a hatchling.
Appearance: Catriana does not consider herself pretty and so does very little to make herself appear so to others. She dresses all in dreary gray and black, and her outfits are always a size too big on her tiny frame. The only spark of color is the red cloth flower she always pins in her glossy black hair. Her face is a slender—almost perfect—oval with a wide but delicate mouth and small straight nose. Her features are almost elfin in appearance. Her eyes are rimmed in black lashes, which in combination with her hair, creates a striking contrast to her porcelain skin. Her eyes though large are not striking. The muted shade of blue is too pale to attract attention. Though not a girl you would quickly notice she has the kind of face that grows on you the more you see it. She carries a small lightweight backpack with one strap and a pouch at her belt.
Personality: Cat lives completely in the present never looking past her minutely existence and her past has been carefully locked away. She has a natural inclination for comradeship and so is drawn into crowds and public gathering places, but is too suspicious and fearful to talk to any of the individuals in the crowd. She is afraid of commitment of being tied down. She keeps moving forward afraid of what might catch up with her emotionally. She keeps running but never looks where she is going. She isn’t’ suicidal but death doesn’t sound so bad if that is the way things go. She is a skilled thief and enjoys challenging herself. It keeps her occupied; keeps her from thinking. She is terrified of the dark, which is strange for a thief, but as long as she can see she is able to conquer her fear long enough to find whatever it was she was paid to take. When She sleep there are always three candles lit. Axel is dead, and she knows that, and yet a small piece of her isn't willing to give up the hope he isn't. After all they didn't see a body. She struggles on amusing herself as best she can, clinging to that fragile hope, but without admitting it to herself.
Biography: Cat was born in a large village. It was self-supporting and had very little interaction with the outside world. It had a resident witch and a traveling wizard had decided to settle down there and even took on a local boy as an apprentice. The boy was Catriana’s best friend Axel. Axel was a natural and the wizard claimed he had never had a student with such an affinity for magic. He even took Axel to a large city to find him a familiar. When they returned a cute miniature gryphon was sitting on the boys shoulder. Sadly the small creature—Aslo as he was called—only allowed Axel to touch him anyone else got bloody fingers for their pains.
When Cat was 15 a young man came to their village. He was handsome and dress all in silver armor. He talked of warring lords they had never heard of, but there was such fire in his words that he persuaded many of the young men to enlist in their Lord Gylith’s army.
Axel took a strange dislike to the young man, who was named Edward, that Cat couldn’t’ understand. She was swept off her feet by his courtly manner and handsome smile. Edward showed an interest in her as well. She often told Axel she couldn’t understand how someone so wonderful and brave could like her.
The next thing Catriana knew Axel had signed up. Before he left he told her to try and think of him while he was gone and the way he looked at her and held her hand suggested he didn’t mean as a friend.
As she thought about her two suitors she realized it was Axel she worried about the most the one she thought of the most. Edward faded from her thoughts like he had never been there. With this revaluation she waited impatiently for his return. They had only signed up for 4 months but the weeks seem to drag by.
When at last he returned he had changed, but he still loved her. She could see it in his eyes as he pulled her close or the absent way he played with her hair.
He wouldn’t tell her what had happened. Most of the young men who had gone had not returned and those who did were different as well. They were naturally drawn together into small groups but wouldn’t meet each other’s eyes and they didn’t talk.
About a week after their return an army came to the village. Axel shoved Cat into a cellar and shoved a box over the trapdoor effectively hiding it and keeping Catriana from following him. Cat couldn’t understand it was ‘their army’ she had seen Edward leading it.
About half an hour later the yelling, screaming and sounds of battle started. In the pitch black Cat covered her ears and prayed it would stop…and it did but the deathly silence that followed was even worse. She couldn’t say how long she had been in the cellar. The darkness seemed to take on an oppressive weight of its own. She became hungry but she couldn’t move. Suddenly afraid she wasn’t alone in the blackness.
The sounds of movement above her caught her attention. She wanted to call out but was to afraid the darkness would hear her. As the sound began to fade she forced a choked ‘please’ out. A few moments later she heard the box being pushed and the trap door was opened. It was the old traveling Wizard back from one of his many trips abroad. The village had been destroyed. They discovered a wounded Aslo but found no sign of Axel. She traveled with the wizard for a time but eventually split off on her own. Aslo came with her. He did not get on well with the wizards familiar and as he was not bonded with the wizard he could not help him with his magic problem. Cat has been traveling ever since surviving the best she can.
04-04-2009, 06:49 PM
