[OOC] Trans 9 Application
Your name: Stefan
Your LJ: dragoon1940
Your email: dragoon1940@gmail.com
Your AIM, MSN, or Yahoo handle: dragoon1940
Character's name: Ildraniath
Character's LJ: futureisclear
Character's canon: Warhammer 40,000 (OC)
Brief (around 300 words) personality outline of your character: Toward most people aboard the ship, Ildraniath will come off as a bit cold and more distant and aloof than anything - this isn't out of any active dislike toward them (well, except in terms of species - she's something of a racist and slightly xenophobic), but rather something that extends to virtually everyone who isn't an Eldar. They're mostly humans of course (with a smattering of other species), all of whom are inferior in technology and age to the remnants of the Eldar race. Or so she believes. As such, she does not trust those of other races easily.
Ildraniath is a species supremacist. She believes quite strongly in the idea of the Eldar as a superior race and species and thanks to her race's many hostile and enigmatic encounters with humanity (whom she will typically refer to as “mon-keigh”), she harbors a certain amount of distaste and perhaps even hatred for them. She has lost friends and family to human weapons - and each Eldar that dies is another step down their slow road to extinction.
Thanks to both hostile encounters and her own belief in racial supremacy, she finds it hard to empathize with anyone who isn't Eldar. She'll work with them (mostly for her own ends) and she won't be outright hostile or sabotage their plans (unless by doing so she would save more Eldar lives), but she will treat them as ultimately disposable - more resources than people and she'll treat them as such, manipulating events and people to ultimately work for the greater good of the Eldar race. Adding to her sense of being aloof and distant, is her studious, focused nature - she will throw herself entirely into a problem until she has discovered a solution. This can end up being detrimental, of course.
She has an arrogant streak to match the racism, but it's not a loud, brash arrogance - it's much more of a quiet, self-assured superiority. She won't hesitate to tell others that she's superior either, but she certainly knows when to hold her tongue when she has to. As another extension of her cold and quiet exterior, she has a certain irritation when dealing with people she considers over-emotional or people who ear their emotions on their sleeve. Her race is dying, after all, and you don't see her crying about it.
Still, if and when she opens up to people, she's a bit softer, a bit kinder. She still has a cold, hard edge and a steely wisdom born of experience and of a lifetime spent probing the warp for visions of the future, but she is much more like a stern older sister or a mother than the ruthless manipulator and leader that she usually seems to be. She has a love for music and sculpture, as well as an eye for literature. Eldar literature, anyway.
As a farseer, she is typically able to see into the future or at least glimpse portions of it - so she's a bit of a fatalist, although she also knows the threads of time can be tweaked enough to bring about a better outcome. Sometimes, your number is just up though and you have to take it on the chin.
Brief (around 500 words) history and background of your character:
Ildraniath is an Eldar, one of the few remaining members of a dying species. Eons ago, the Eldar controlled a vast stellar empire, bound together by the webway - passages through time and space. They are and were psychically gifted, as well as possessing great technology. However, the Eldar, as ancient and wise as they were, fell to folly. They turned inward, became hedonistic and despite portents of doom, continued down this foolish road. Their folly was finally realized when their combined cruelty and search for pleasure tore a gaping hole in the very fabric of space and time - a hole into the Warp - and gave birth to the Chaos God of pleasure and hedonism, She Who Thirsts. This destroyed much of their civilization and billions died as their souls were consumed. Those who survived were either far enough away from the epicenter of this calamity or had fled their own society beforehand to avoid the encroaching doom.
Now, the Eldar struggle to survive, reading and moving among the threads of fate as they balance precariously on the edge of extinction. The rise of the Imperium of Man and other species in the galaxy have led to war and hardship. The Eldar, however, are determined not to fall.
Ildraniath is one of those few Eldar who traveled too far down the path of soothsaying and fate-reading. For, after the disaster that doomed their race, the Eldar took it upon themselves to be more disciplined and avoid the mistakes of the past; they would focus their efforts on one aspect of their lives at a time, in order to avoid hedonism and corruption. To become so focused and intent on one path so as to make it impossible to ever leave it again is a terrible thing - but an acknowledged part of life. The Path of the Seer, which is relatively rare, is still one fraught with peril - for the Seer must be careful not to allow themselves to be consumed by the creatures Warp.
Trapped in this path, she has become a leader among her own people - one of those who reads the future and tries to find the best way for her Craftworld (a massive world-ship that travels the stars). However, she was not always so - she began her life as a child, as most do. She was raised on the Craftworld of Ulthwe, one of the more populous and strongest remaining Craftworlds. However, it also orbits perilously close to the Eye of Terror - the rift that the Eldar created - and most constantly be on guard for attacks from Chaos raiders.
She grew up with an appreciation for music, sculpture and elegance. For a time she dabbled in the pathway of an artist and for a short while, the Path of the Warrior. Ultimately, she choose the Path of the Seer and although she had not intended on it, found herself drawn down it until she could imagine no other life. She became skilled at picking out the possibilities of the future, of reading signs and, when necessary, leading troops in battle.
Her encounters with aliens have always been brief and usually hostile. Her education and upbring have all taught her that aliens are generally less intelligent than the Eldar - at best they are like children, blindly groping through a galaxy they do not understand. The loss of her mother in battle when was a young girl has also left its impression on her. The weight of her peoples' future is on her shoulders and it is a heavy burden, but one she bears gladly - for all of the personal costs this role has brought her, it has also brought much power and respect.
She has been involved in several forays beyond her Craftworld to aid her people and she is a combat veteran. She is not, strictly speaking, a soldier or a warrior - but the immense psychic power she enjoys gives her a position of power on the battlefield. She has not yet married nor does she plan to anytime soon - the Craftworld needs her and, considering she will likely live for another few centuries, she is in no particular hurry. She has walked the paths of the webway, seen planets burn and known tragedy and laughter in her long life. And yet she is still only a few centuries old - much time remains to her before her story will end.
Sample post:
Every day aboard this accursed living starship was a trial in of itself. It was almost like a Craftworld - it certainly rivaled one for size - but it was far too organic. Less elegant lines and sweeping, crystalline structures and much more like the few glimpses she had received of the Tyranids - the devouring swarms that came out of the great galactic night. She did her best not to let it bother her, of course, although at times she felt certain that the ship had found a hole in her mental defenses, slipped through some crack and was quietly picking over her mind for information of note.
That might just be the paranoia speaking, however.
Living with the mon-keigh was more trying. She was the sole Eldar in a sea of humans (and the occasional other alien) and the solitude wore on her at times. Although she was used to keeping her thoughts to herself, to remaining in solitude for meditation and prediction, the lack of other Eldar still bothered her. It was as if she was surrounded by children - clumsy, groping children - who understood not a jot of what they did or what they were attempting to accomplish.
“I can only attempt to guide them,” she murmured, offering up a brief prayer,“If they will not listen, what can I do? But... if what they tell me is the truth, then I have no choice - for the sake of what remains of my people, for any who are still trapped in the gullet of this ship...”
It was a sad and morbid thought. She would have to see about finding out about any spiritstones aboard. For now, she would try and find a way - the best way - to bring the remnants of her people through their latest trial unscathed. Even if that meant sacrificing every mon-keigh aboard this ship.
If the character has magic, mutant, or otherwise metahuman abilities, please explain what they are and outline EXACTLY how they function, as their powers may not work due to the nature of the ship or may need to be limited somehow:
Ildraniath is a powerful psyker. In addition to possessing telepathy and telekinesis, she can tap into the power of the Warp to try and scry out visions of the future. This is a relatively complex process and getting anything meaningful and accurate from the Wraithbone icons takes time, effort and meditation - and even then, the portents might be confusing or up for interpretation. It is not a magical cure-all, although it has certainly helped the Eldar avoid bad situations.
Her psychic power to tap into the warp also allows her a variety of other powers. She can glimpse a few seconds into the future and guide her companions - whether helping them to avoid danger or helping them to inflict great wounds upon her enemies. She can also conjure up a powerful psychic storm, with bolts of crackling energy hurling her enemies in every direction. By reaching into another's mind she can overwhelm them with a mental onslaught, causing horrific injury, trauma or death.
All of these powers take concentration, of course.
As an Eldar she is also almost supernaturally quick and light on her feet. Although she does not possess super-speed, she is still likely to outpace any normal human.
Non-superhuman special abilities of note (Is your character a master ventriloquist? A naturally-occurring super-genius? The best martial artist in the world? Say so here):
She is a skilled swordswoman and is able to wield most weapons of her people. Swords, pistols, rifles, spears - these are all familiar to her. Although she is not a master, her power, practice and experience make her a deadly opponent.
It should be noted that she is frail - a bit frailer then most humans. She can take a hit, but her light build means that she is not nearly as strong as an equivalent-sized human.
She also has an eye for sculpture and artwork, although this may or may not prove helpful in the future.
Your LJ: dragoon1940
Your email: dragoon1940@gmail.com
Your AIM, MSN, or Yahoo handle: dragoon1940
Character's name: Ildraniath
Character's LJ: futureisclear
Character's canon: Warhammer 40,000 (OC)
Brief (around 300 words) personality outline of your character: Toward most people aboard the ship, Ildraniath will come off as a bit cold and more distant and aloof than anything - this isn't out of any active dislike toward them (well, except in terms of species - she's something of a racist and slightly xenophobic), but rather something that extends to virtually everyone who isn't an Eldar. They're mostly humans of course (with a smattering of other species), all of whom are inferior in technology and age to the remnants of the Eldar race. Or so she believes. As such, she does not trust those of other races easily.
Ildraniath is a species supremacist. She believes quite strongly in the idea of the Eldar as a superior race and species and thanks to her race's many hostile and enigmatic encounters with humanity (whom she will typically refer to as “mon-keigh”), she harbors a certain amount of distaste and perhaps even hatred for them. She has lost friends and family to human weapons - and each Eldar that dies is another step down their slow road to extinction.
Thanks to both hostile encounters and her own belief in racial supremacy, she finds it hard to empathize with anyone who isn't Eldar. She'll work with them (mostly for her own ends) and she won't be outright hostile or sabotage their plans (unless by doing so she would save more Eldar lives), but she will treat them as ultimately disposable - more resources than people and she'll treat them as such, manipulating events and people to ultimately work for the greater good of the Eldar race. Adding to her sense of being aloof and distant, is her studious, focused nature - she will throw herself entirely into a problem until she has discovered a solution. This can end up being detrimental, of course.
She has an arrogant streak to match the racism, but it's not a loud, brash arrogance - it's much more of a quiet, self-assured superiority. She won't hesitate to tell others that she's superior either, but she certainly knows when to hold her tongue when she has to. As another extension of her cold and quiet exterior, she has a certain irritation when dealing with people she considers over-emotional or people who ear their emotions on their sleeve. Her race is dying, after all, and you don't see her crying about it.
Still, if and when she opens up to people, she's a bit softer, a bit kinder. She still has a cold, hard edge and a steely wisdom born of experience and of a lifetime spent probing the warp for visions of the future, but she is much more like a stern older sister or a mother than the ruthless manipulator and leader that she usually seems to be. She has a love for music and sculpture, as well as an eye for literature. Eldar literature, anyway.
As a farseer, she is typically able to see into the future or at least glimpse portions of it - so she's a bit of a fatalist, although she also knows the threads of time can be tweaked enough to bring about a better outcome. Sometimes, your number is just up though and you have to take it on the chin.
Brief (around 500 words) history and background of your character:
Ildraniath is an Eldar, one of the few remaining members of a dying species. Eons ago, the Eldar controlled a vast stellar empire, bound together by the webway - passages through time and space. They are and were psychically gifted, as well as possessing great technology. However, the Eldar, as ancient and wise as they were, fell to folly. They turned inward, became hedonistic and despite portents of doom, continued down this foolish road. Their folly was finally realized when their combined cruelty and search for pleasure tore a gaping hole in the very fabric of space and time - a hole into the Warp - and gave birth to the Chaos God of pleasure and hedonism, She Who Thirsts. This destroyed much of their civilization and billions died as their souls were consumed. Those who survived were either far enough away from the epicenter of this calamity or had fled their own society beforehand to avoid the encroaching doom.
Now, the Eldar struggle to survive, reading and moving among the threads of fate as they balance precariously on the edge of extinction. The rise of the Imperium of Man and other species in the galaxy have led to war and hardship. The Eldar, however, are determined not to fall.
Ildraniath is one of those few Eldar who traveled too far down the path of soothsaying and fate-reading. For, after the disaster that doomed their race, the Eldar took it upon themselves to be more disciplined and avoid the mistakes of the past; they would focus their efforts on one aspect of their lives at a time, in order to avoid hedonism and corruption. To become so focused and intent on one path so as to make it impossible to ever leave it again is a terrible thing - but an acknowledged part of life. The Path of the Seer, which is relatively rare, is still one fraught with peril - for the Seer must be careful not to allow themselves to be consumed by the creatures Warp.
Trapped in this path, she has become a leader among her own people - one of those who reads the future and tries to find the best way for her Craftworld (a massive world-ship that travels the stars). However, she was not always so - she began her life as a child, as most do. She was raised on the Craftworld of Ulthwe, one of the more populous and strongest remaining Craftworlds. However, it also orbits perilously close to the Eye of Terror - the rift that the Eldar created - and most constantly be on guard for attacks from Chaos raiders.
She grew up with an appreciation for music, sculpture and elegance. For a time she dabbled in the pathway of an artist and for a short while, the Path of the Warrior. Ultimately, she choose the Path of the Seer and although she had not intended on it, found herself drawn down it until she could imagine no other life. She became skilled at picking out the possibilities of the future, of reading signs and, when necessary, leading troops in battle.
Her encounters with aliens have always been brief and usually hostile. Her education and upbring have all taught her that aliens are generally less intelligent than the Eldar - at best they are like children, blindly groping through a galaxy they do not understand. The loss of her mother in battle when was a young girl has also left its impression on her. The weight of her peoples' future is on her shoulders and it is a heavy burden, but one she bears gladly - for all of the personal costs this role has brought her, it has also brought much power and respect.
She has been involved in several forays beyond her Craftworld to aid her people and she is a combat veteran. She is not, strictly speaking, a soldier or a warrior - but the immense psychic power she enjoys gives her a position of power on the battlefield. She has not yet married nor does she plan to anytime soon - the Craftworld needs her and, considering she will likely live for another few centuries, she is in no particular hurry. She has walked the paths of the webway, seen planets burn and known tragedy and laughter in her long life. And yet she is still only a few centuries old - much time remains to her before her story will end.
Sample post:
Every day aboard this accursed living starship was a trial in of itself. It was almost like a Craftworld - it certainly rivaled one for size - but it was far too organic. Less elegant lines and sweeping, crystalline structures and much more like the few glimpses she had received of the Tyranids - the devouring swarms that came out of the great galactic night. She did her best not to let it bother her, of course, although at times she felt certain that the ship had found a hole in her mental defenses, slipped through some crack and was quietly picking over her mind for information of note.
That might just be the paranoia speaking, however.
Living with the mon-keigh was more trying. She was the sole Eldar in a sea of humans (and the occasional other alien) and the solitude wore on her at times. Although she was used to keeping her thoughts to herself, to remaining in solitude for meditation and prediction, the lack of other Eldar still bothered her. It was as if she was surrounded by children - clumsy, groping children - who understood not a jot of what they did or what they were attempting to accomplish.
“I can only attempt to guide them,” she murmured, offering up a brief prayer,“If they will not listen, what can I do? But... if what they tell me is the truth, then I have no choice - for the sake of what remains of my people, for any who are still trapped in the gullet of this ship...”
It was a sad and morbid thought. She would have to see about finding out about any spiritstones aboard. For now, she would try and find a way - the best way - to bring the remnants of her people through their latest trial unscathed. Even if that meant sacrificing every mon-keigh aboard this ship.
If the character has magic, mutant, or otherwise metahuman abilities, please explain what they are and outline EXACTLY how they function, as their powers may not work due to the nature of the ship or may need to be limited somehow:
Ildraniath is a powerful psyker. In addition to possessing telepathy and telekinesis, she can tap into the power of the Warp to try and scry out visions of the future. This is a relatively complex process and getting anything meaningful and accurate from the Wraithbone icons takes time, effort and meditation - and even then, the portents might be confusing or up for interpretation. It is not a magical cure-all, although it has certainly helped the Eldar avoid bad situations.
Her psychic power to tap into the warp also allows her a variety of other powers. She can glimpse a few seconds into the future and guide her companions - whether helping them to avoid danger or helping them to inflict great wounds upon her enemies. She can also conjure up a powerful psychic storm, with bolts of crackling energy hurling her enemies in every direction. By reaching into another's mind she can overwhelm them with a mental onslaught, causing horrific injury, trauma or death.
All of these powers take concentration, of course.
As an Eldar she is also almost supernaturally quick and light on her feet. Although she does not possess super-speed, she is still likely to outpace any normal human.
Non-superhuman special abilities of note (Is your character a master ventriloquist? A naturally-occurring super-genius? The best martial artist in the world? Say so here):
She is a skilled swordswoman and is able to wield most weapons of her people. Swords, pistols, rifles, spears - these are all familiar to her. Although she is not a master, her power, practice and experience make her a deadly opponent.
It should be noted that she is frail - a bit frailer then most humans. She can take a hit, but her light build means that she is not nearly as strong as an equivalent-sized human.
She also has an eye for sculpture and artwork, although this may or may not prove helpful in the future.