Post by Astra on Sept 7, 2013 13:40:45 GMT -8
Name: Astra Serafino
Age: 18
Class: Myrmidon
Appearance: "That crazy girl with the red hair and that smug little grin" is a pretty good description of Astra. Her bright red hair is cut to just above her shoulders, but, aside from some brushing every once in ablue moon while, she doesn't actually do anything with it. And, yeah, her face is usually graced with one of the smuggest grins you've ever seen, which she actually managed to learn from her mentor and father figure, the man known as Erebos. As for the rest of her, Astra stands at five foot four, and is of a slightly more petite build; she isn't exactly going to tower over anyone, aside from maybe kids, ever. Her green eyes often lead those to the idea that she may be clinically insane… Or maybe just generally jolly? It really depends on the individual observing her, and a little bit on when she is being observed.
Despite her overall "cuteness", as some put it, Astra still possesses a body that has been trained for swordplay and quick movement. She's lithe in build; nothing at all like her adoptive mother, who regularly tripped over her own two feet, and much more like the man she considered her father. As for clothing, she tends to wear a rather loose, worn red-and-brown shirt, with a pair of matching brown shorts and moccasins. Most people would frown on this choice of clothing for combat, but Astra doesn't exactly care; it provides for her the range of movement she needs to employ what little style Erebos had taught her. A simple silver bracelet on her right arm is the only jewelry Astra wears, and, despite her often lack of money, she would never, ever sell the gift her mother had given her.
Personality: Astra tends to be confident in all her actions, despite how little she actually knows. Very rarely will you find her standing back, observing things; she much more often just charges, head-first… And usually into trouble. But she's a proud one, very rarely ever asking anyone for their help, and often refusing help when it is offered. Others may find her abrasive, but Astra does, generally speaking, like people. And by "people", I mean humans. On all her travels with her mother, Astra never once encountered any Taguel or dragons; the only knowledge she has of them are the stories Erebos told her, and from those tales she has developed a large amount of respect for them and wishes to meet one someday.
In a fight, Astra moves with confident grace and speed, and an insane glint in her eye and a mad smile that may be there to just intimidate opponents, or maybe it simply a reflection of her state in combat. She thinks little of the world around her, mostly because she doesn't care; she's really just trying to get by on what money she can get doing various jobs. Her value for human life is that it is a sacred thing, not to be wasted or ended, a lesson learned from her mother, she still realizes that sometimes its better to kill a man than let him live and potentially kill others, or worse, you later, a lesson learned from Erebos. Astra's regard for the well-being of her weapons is much higher, and she is often found maintaining her weapons almost obsessively, when given the chance. She also tends to like blacksmiths, and if one is nearby, doesn't object to her presence, and she has nothing better to be doing, the red head will almost always be found standing and watching somewhere nearby.
Backstory: Left to die by her birth mother, a baby girl was found on a cold, rainy day with a terrible fever and shivering in a thin blanket by a klutzy cleric running errands through a small town. The child was brought to the small, local church, where they nursed her back to health and waited, and waited, and waited for someone to come back for their child. When no one did, the accident-prone cleric decided to take the child under her wing and to teach her to become a cleric like herself.
Of course, Astra was a huge disappointment in that regard.
The child was named Astra, and took on her adoptive mother's last name of Serafino, and said Ms. Serafino dragged her new-found kid all over Elibe. Protection was usually limited to Celestia Serafino's meager skill with magic, but sometimes a kindly sword master by the name of Erebos that seemed to cross paths with them often would tag along. Erebos always held the respect of the little girl, who clung to his every word as if her life depended upon it, much to Celestia's chagrin. See, in trying to teach Astra how to be a cleric, which involved reading from copies of holy texts and trying to teach her to use a healing stave, Celestia was always left disappointed in Astra's complete lack of caring or, in the case of the stave, just terrible at using it. The one time she tried to have Astra heal a bird's broken wing, the wing actually caught fire and exploded, which left Erebos laughing… And then ended in the blade master going to bed with a several large bruises all over.
It was soon apparent that Astra would not be following in Celestia's footsteps in terms of occupation, but it was likewise apparent that she would not be leaving her care for quite a while yet. When Erebos first brought up the possibility of teaching the young girl how to wield a sword, Celestia scoffed and turned down his offer on the spot. After several years of continued requests, Celestia finally agreed.
For her thirteenth birthday, Astra was given a wooden blade. While the klutz of a cleric didn't necessarily like her daughter being trained, she did have to admit it was good seeing Astra truly happy. And so, for the first time in her entire living memory, Astra found her little family finally settling down for a while, in a small village in the plains of Eastern Elibe, the place where Erebos had been born. Here, Celestia healed the sick and old and the injured, and tended to a small garden alongside the elderly, blind priest who had lived in the village for longer than even Erebos really knew (he often joked with Astra that the old man had always been here, before even the grass, and that the village had been built around him); meanwhile, Erebos trained Astra, day-in and day-out, her way around the blade.
Astra took to swordplay like a dehydrated plant takes on water, learning the very basics under Erebos's tutelage in under six months. From there, she… Sort of started having problems. She could never beat Erebos in their little duels, which left her discouraged, and there was no one else around for her to practice with. Her skills never quite became dusty over the next couple years, but she likewise never truly advanced. Erebos never stopped trying to teach her, however, on her seventeenth birthday, he finally stepped back and admitted that someone was right.
You see, Celestia never did take a backseat in Astra's life during this time. She was always there, watching Astra's skills develop and eventually plateau, acting as the mother figure Astra needed when she needed it, and eventually telling Erebos that, if he wanted her to become a great blade master like himself, he'd have to let her go and get the experience and confidence and, most importantly, hone the skills she needed; she would never get that here. Erebos eventually, reluctantly, told this to Astra… And then sent the girl, with a new sword from Erebos and a the treasured silver bracelet from Celestia, off with directions to a town near Arcadia, where Erebos knew a woman who trained plenty of swordsmen, all on her lonesome.
Unfortunately for everyone, Astra seemed to have no sense of direction and never quite made it to her destination. She ended up in northern Elibe, where she soon found herself broke and went town-to-town trying her hand at odd jobs. Many tried to take advantage of the relatively pretty girl, but these men always found themselves shocked at her surprising strength, so their attempts never worked. Astra would eventually settle in as a mercenary, helping out, for a fee, whenever a town had a bandit problem. And thus, her story begins… And her skills finally begin to grow once again.
Age: 18
Class: Myrmidon
Appearance: "That crazy girl with the red hair and that smug little grin" is a pretty good description of Astra. Her bright red hair is cut to just above her shoulders, but, aside from some brushing every once in a
Despite her overall "cuteness", as some put it, Astra still possesses a body that has been trained for swordplay and quick movement. She's lithe in build; nothing at all like her adoptive mother, who regularly tripped over her own two feet, and much more like the man she considered her father. As for clothing, she tends to wear a rather loose, worn red-and-brown shirt, with a pair of matching brown shorts and moccasins. Most people would frown on this choice of clothing for combat, but Astra doesn't exactly care; it provides for her the range of movement she needs to employ what little style Erebos had taught her. A simple silver bracelet on her right arm is the only jewelry Astra wears, and, despite her often lack of money, she would never, ever sell the gift her mother had given her.
Personality: Astra tends to be confident in all her actions, despite how little she actually knows. Very rarely will you find her standing back, observing things; she much more often just charges, head-first… And usually into trouble. But she's a proud one, very rarely ever asking anyone for their help, and often refusing help when it is offered. Others may find her abrasive, but Astra does, generally speaking, like people. And by "people", I mean humans. On all her travels with her mother, Astra never once encountered any Taguel or dragons; the only knowledge she has of them are the stories Erebos told her, and from those tales she has developed a large amount of respect for them and wishes to meet one someday.
In a fight, Astra moves with confident grace and speed, and an insane glint in her eye and a mad smile that may be there to just intimidate opponents, or maybe it simply a reflection of her state in combat. She thinks little of the world around her, mostly because she doesn't care; she's really just trying to get by on what money she can get doing various jobs. Her value for human life is that it is a sacred thing, not to be wasted or ended, a lesson learned from her mother, she still realizes that sometimes its better to kill a man than let him live and potentially kill others, or worse, you later, a lesson learned from Erebos. Astra's regard for the well-being of her weapons is much higher, and she is often found maintaining her weapons almost obsessively, when given the chance. She also tends to like blacksmiths, and if one is nearby, doesn't object to her presence, and she has nothing better to be doing, the red head will almost always be found standing and watching somewhere nearby.
Backstory: Left to die by her birth mother, a baby girl was found on a cold, rainy day with a terrible fever and shivering in a thin blanket by a klutzy cleric running errands through a small town. The child was brought to the small, local church, where they nursed her back to health and waited, and waited, and waited for someone to come back for their child. When no one did, the accident-prone cleric decided to take the child under her wing and to teach her to become a cleric like herself.
Of course, Astra was a huge disappointment in that regard.
The child was named Astra, and took on her adoptive mother's last name of Serafino, and said Ms. Serafino dragged her new-found kid all over Elibe. Protection was usually limited to Celestia Serafino's meager skill with magic, but sometimes a kindly sword master by the name of Erebos that seemed to cross paths with them often would tag along. Erebos always held the respect of the little girl, who clung to his every word as if her life depended upon it, much to Celestia's chagrin. See, in trying to teach Astra how to be a cleric, which involved reading from copies of holy texts and trying to teach her to use a healing stave, Celestia was always left disappointed in Astra's complete lack of caring or, in the case of the stave, just terrible at using it. The one time she tried to have Astra heal a bird's broken wing, the wing actually caught fire and exploded, which left Erebos laughing… And then ended in the blade master going to bed with a several large bruises all over.
It was soon apparent that Astra would not be following in Celestia's footsteps in terms of occupation, but it was likewise apparent that she would not be leaving her care for quite a while yet. When Erebos first brought up the possibility of teaching the young girl how to wield a sword, Celestia scoffed and turned down his offer on the spot. After several years of continued requests, Celestia finally agreed.
For her thirteenth birthday, Astra was given a wooden blade. While the klutz of a cleric didn't necessarily like her daughter being trained, she did have to admit it was good seeing Astra truly happy. And so, for the first time in her entire living memory, Astra found her little family finally settling down for a while, in a small village in the plains of Eastern Elibe, the place where Erebos had been born. Here, Celestia healed the sick and old and the injured, and tended to a small garden alongside the elderly, blind priest who had lived in the village for longer than even Erebos really knew (he often joked with Astra that the old man had always been here, before even the grass, and that the village had been built around him); meanwhile, Erebos trained Astra, day-in and day-out, her way around the blade.
Astra took to swordplay like a dehydrated plant takes on water, learning the very basics under Erebos's tutelage in under six months. From there, she… Sort of started having problems. She could never beat Erebos in their little duels, which left her discouraged, and there was no one else around for her to practice with. Her skills never quite became dusty over the next couple years, but she likewise never truly advanced. Erebos never stopped trying to teach her, however, on her seventeenth birthday, he finally stepped back and admitted that someone was right.
You see, Celestia never did take a backseat in Astra's life during this time. She was always there, watching Astra's skills develop and eventually plateau, acting as the mother figure Astra needed when she needed it, and eventually telling Erebos that, if he wanted her to become a great blade master like himself, he'd have to let her go and get the experience and confidence and, most importantly, hone the skills she needed; she would never get that here. Erebos eventually, reluctantly, told this to Astra… And then sent the girl, with a new sword from Erebos and a the treasured silver bracelet from Celestia, off with directions to a town near Arcadia, where Erebos knew a woman who trained plenty of swordsmen, all on her lonesome.
Unfortunately for everyone, Astra seemed to have no sense of direction and never quite made it to her destination. She ended up in northern Elibe, where she soon found herself broke and went town-to-town trying her hand at odd jobs. Many tried to take advantage of the relatively pretty girl, but these men always found themselves shocked at her surprising strength, so their attempts never worked. Astra would eventually settle in as a mercenary, helping out, for a fee, whenever a town had a bandit problem. And thus, her story begins… And her skills finally begin to grow once again.
