Jotting this down because I feel like it. I'll probably do Anna next.
In a similar line of thought as this, but for Lyta Bastali.
Above all else, Lyta is cautious around people she doesn't know. She doesn't tell them anything, and she goes out of her way to avoid telling them any more than they need to know.
She has many aliases. Similar to a certain bard we know, but not nearly as outgoing about it. She'll give a name if asked, but will happily remain 'that red orchaeya' if not approached or asked.
Lyta typically speaks with an even, civil tone to those she doesn't know, keeping her emotions guarded. When relaxed and around people she does know, her emotions become much more obvious to those around her, with the exception of anger or sadness.
Her body language is usually closed off and reserved. If she gestures to add to a point, she usually only does so with one hand.
Lyta can and does get angry, however, she buries it below the surface and remains calm throughout it. Getting irrationally angry can lead to irrational, stupid actions. This wasn't something she could afford while younger. To say nothing of the fact that an angry fire channeler tends to burn things.
Depression, general upsetness, and unhappiness fall into this regard as well. However unhealthy it may be, Lyta buries this negativity under the surface. And she hides it well. Alfred only got just a taste of it in getting to see her insecurities, and even that was when she was alone with him, and somewhat under pressure.
Otherwise, Lyta is passionate about her emotions. Lively, and fairly chatty once she starts to relax. She enjoys life, and enjoys traveling, for whatever her mysterious reasons actually are.
She is a meat eater and proud of it, but aside from OOC channel jokes, she doesn't overdo it.
She is also greedy. She enjoys having money, and the security a lot of it can bring. Part of her mentality is the fact that she can always have a bit more, despite her preference for a simpler, easier life (Plus as I've mentioned before, her remaining a thief after becoming stupidly rich is something that's hilarious to me).
Lyta does not have very much in the booksmart department. She isn't stupid by any stretch at all, but anything she's learned, she's learned while out, experiencing the world. Her knowledge extends well past simple thievery into other shady dealings, but she isn't always open about this fact, preferring to use this knowledge strategically, or let others handle it (Such as Eve knowing more about Assassins and such, Lyta's knowledge is more general, Eve's was probably more specialized, combined with the fact that Eve had more experience). I hesitate to use the term 'street smarts', but it's probably the closest analogy.
Lyta can speak Jerolan, Igan, and a good bit of Yesshan. She can read all three, and can read more Yesshan than she can actually speak. She can also understand Camarian, and read a few key phrases in it. She can also speak a little of it, but not enough to hold a conversation.
Lyta can and will lie as necessary for whatever she needs to do at the time. However, she's practical about it. She doesn't weave this huge massive bundle tale of a lie, simply because doing so becomes a pain to keep up with after a while. Most anything outside of her real name and the Southern Way is generally mostly true, no need to lie about any of that, now.
Lyta is, as a fun useless fact, left handed.
Clothing: A wrap-around top similar to a tube top, worn tight, leaving her shoulders and stomach exposed. She prefers looser pants, with big pockets. No shoes, or extraordinarily light weight shoes if needed, preferably sandals.
Generally, she's a tomboy in that respect. Dresses and girly clothing are, as a general rule, a foreign concept to her. She can find a dress pretty or something, but the idea of wearing one is like growing a second head. It's strange and weird, and it'd be a case of "Why can't someone else do this?", if forced into that situation. She has never worn heels.
Lyta isn't ashamed of her body at all. Though she does prefer to wear clothes, mindful of the fact that nudity can bother other people, and the fact that pants generally have pockets. However, when sunning herself, she usually forgoes the pants (using them as a pillow on deck, for example), leaving her in her top and underwear.
She does not have a 'got it, flaunt it' attitude, though. The clothing she wears is for convenience. The top keeps her skin and shoulders exposed, for sunlight and useage of her spores respectively, and the pants offer protection, pockets, and are easy to move in.
Lyta does enjoy sex. She doesn't actively seek it out, however, and is just as happy to live life without doing it most of the time anyway. Usually it's more trouble than it's worth, especially given how humans view the Orchaein race as a whole (see also: the camwhore analogy on her profile linked above). She's bisexual, but only in the fact that her partner's gender means little to her at all. Guy, gal, doesn't really matter. Just what's there at the time. She can see attraction both in and outside her race, but it's not an imperative (Selia, for example, has some nice curves on her, as far as Lyta's concerned, but she's otherwise 'eh' on the matter).
Love is complicated, and she tries to avoid it at all costs. It's also a very, very separate bubble from sex. Sex is closeness and intimacy, yes, and it's something she'd probably do with someone she'd love, but her race isn't wired the way humans are. She can love one person, but she can separate love and sex in her mind. She'd be just as happy with them celibate, too. Love is also painful. It causes hurt and angst, so she just avoids the subject altogether. Whether she loved Alfred or not is a fact that can be debated, and is unclear (Even to her). It's also among one of the subjects she'll readily lie about, usually to avoid talking about it altogether.
She doesn't talk about her past in the Southern Way at all, if she can help it. It was chaotic. Violent. She didn't really have much of a childhood compared to most folks in Zenninfal and other 'civilized' areas of the world, and sometimes this shows. Lyta had to grow up fast at a young age, and has since learned to adapt and survive as necessary.
Now fighting, fighting she loves. It gets the blood pumping, the body active, and it's oh-so-very fun. Lyta in a barfight is Lyta in her natural habitat, despite her small stature. Lyta enjoys the thrill of fighting, and the challenge it can sometimes bring.
However, she's not overly violent. She won't start a barfight at completely random, either. She also holds back. Fighting to kill is a rare thing outside of self defense, because what fun is it if the other guy can't get back up and try again?
She also holds back a bit when channeling, using straight up constructs and effects of heat, rather than actual flame. Fire is dangerous and can get out of control very quickly, and Lyta is constantly mindful of this.
When it's self preservation, though, she doesn't hold back, but she keeps it focused.
Casters and other weapons are annoyances. They get in the way and can restrict her movement (particularly the bulkier casters currently on the Stormrunner), which becomes a liability in a fight. Lyta knows how to aim and fire a caster, but she's not the one you want on your firing squad constantly, unless she can use her channeling instead.
As far as how to fight goes, Lyta's intimidated by very little as far as most people go. It's when you get into the fantastic (like the werewolf, etc) that she starts to really actively worry. She knows how to use her small size to her fullest advantage, fast, agile, and knows a thing or two about leverage. She won't win a fight by powering her way through it, she wins it by fighting smart, and if for survival, fighting nasty. She's not above crotch shots when it comes to surviving. Her spores are saved as a last resort, since she can only usually get off two shots at most per major altercation (and even then, she'd rather save the last for a flashbang, for a quick escape if need be).
Lyta cannot sing, nor can she play an instrument, however, she can dance. For similar reasons above, she thoroughly enjoys doing so, even if she doesn't get to do it as often as she likes. She often incorporates channeling effects into her dancing, to make it flashier. She's all fluid motion when she does dance, having the obvious influences of the southern way in it.
Lyta prefers more subtle approaches to things. Not drawing attention, avoiding stupid plans. She's pragmatic and logical when it comes to doing things. If it makes sense and isn't crazy, go for it. You don't draw suspicion to yourself. She's a thief, yes, but the less you're breaking the law, the less likely you are to get caught when you do break it. If you can buy the supplies you need for a reasonable price, there's no need to steal them, for example. As stealing them would raise attention, and run the risk of getting caught by the town guard.
She would not get along with Golluck. His style of thievery would drive her up the wall. Simply because it does not work that way for her.
As far as Lyta's concerned, her general thoughts on the crew (past and present) are as follows:
As a whole the crew is her surrogate tribe and family. Without them, she'd go back to being the silent, wandering loner. And she'd miss them if she left, even if she wouldn't readily admit this to any of them. They're chaotic, but they're home. For the most part, Lyta is herself around the crew, and her emotions are her own in their presence. She's largely honest with them, except in regards to her real name, and southern way past.
Selia - Crazy as hell, but fun and trustworthy. As fond as she was of Alfred, she preferred Selia as captain. Though she has to place shoulder Vulcan (due to sometimes having to inject logic) to Selia more than once, since Lyta's the more grounded of the two. The fact that Selia named Lyta first mate is pretty telling. Selia's crazy stunts are fun, even if Lyta has to typically at least be a voice of reason against them. Lyta only generally mentions this once, unless she truly believes it's something they can't handle.
Ward - Ah, poor Ward. The 'normal' guy in a band of outlaws and crazy folks. For what it's worth, Lyta does like him, even if he's even more of a 'Mr. No-fun' than she is. Part of it is that she realizes he's in the middle of all of this insanity, and typically gets caught in things when he doesn't really want to.
Dana - Not quite as trustworthy. Being a vampire already makes Dana unnerving, but her personality amplifies this by several magnitudes. Lyta suspects something's up with Dana's past, but doesn't really care what. She honestly wouldn't be surprised if it involved killing (Yes, we know OOCly, but this is what she thinks ICly). Dana's a good cook, but not someone you want to be on the wrong end of. As such, Lyta treads carefully around her, especially since she can mindwalk. Dana was the largest source of stress when Selia was kidnapped, since she was pretty largely a fangy, knifey timebomb waiting to go off.
Gloria - She didn't like Gloria at first, but warmed up to her as time went on. She considers Gloria one of her closer friends among the crew, and has, if and when she leaves the Stormrunner, considered asking to travel with Gloria more than once. She was a fellow 'non-human', that had the outsider's point of view that Lyta also shared. Trustworthy to a point, but unpredictable.
Luka - What. The fuck. Lyta has no idea what else to think of Luka, only that he's strange, and pretty much exemplifies everything she's ever heard of Death Channelers into a fun, horrifying, single (and now with Dryad, pair of) package. Luka's useful, but by the gods, she has no idea what to think of him at times. Trustworthy in a fight, but she won't be telling him much more than necessary.
Shu - Oh dear god, the Valdrex. Hard to believe, but Lyta occasionally misses Shu's presence. She was one hell of a business-bug, and terrifying in a fight all at once. Also: Nice Hats.
Alfred - Oh, Alfred, your relationship with Lyta was so complicated. Crazy, young at heart, cared about his ship a little worryingly much (if understandably so at times), but Lyta honestly did like him quite a lot. But sex and love were complicated factors, and the creepy time bomb that was Infi the infinite puppy were worrysome problems all on their own. Lyta felt she could trust Alfred, but didn't always appreciate some of the pressure he placed on her at times. She misses him sometimes, even if it's not something she readily admits, and wonders how he's doing.
The Spirit Animals - Louie: Annoying, useful, pries into things. Philippe: Why does it have to speak igan and only igan. why. The most annoying of the bunch, to the point that he was more irritating than useful. Lyta wanted to dump him overboard more than once. Gertie: The one she actually liked.
Walunder - Sort of a 'what the fuck', but not nearly on level with Luka (on a scale of one to ten: Luka's eleven, Walunder's about three). D'zonts are inherently strange, but Walunder's proven himself more than once, and Lyta likes him, just doesn't really trust him enough to really say much.
Eve - Lyta's not really sure what to think on her. She was an assassin, and possibly a threat. Not trustworthy in her mind, but useful, and didn't try to kill them.
Timmus - The strongest Ardlin... in the world! As much as she dismisses him, he's a good little guy. useful in a fight and at least somewhat trustworthy. Never touching the backpack again, though. Ever. Again. Lyta has seen why it's called a backpack of horrors, and she cannot unsee.
Sasha - Similar to Luka, Sasha exemplifies absolutely everything she's ever heard of Life Channelers, into one bizarre package that weirds her the fuck out. She prefers to ignore his antics and let him do what he wants until she needs him for something.
Pina - Lyta's not sure what to think of Pina nor Felis. They're the members of the crew that she probably knows the least, with the exception of Kaden and Sasha.
Kaden - No idea what to think on him. He hasn't been with the crew long enough. He's earned points for telling us Wardrobe's Secret, though.
Above all else, Lyta is cautious around people she doesn't know. She doesn't tell them anything, and she goes out of her way to avoid telling them any more than they need to know.
She has many aliases. Similar to a certain bard we know, but not nearly as outgoing about it. She'll give a name if asked, but will happily remain 'that red orchaeya' if not approached or asked.
Lyta typically speaks with an even, civil tone to those she doesn't know, keeping her emotions guarded. When relaxed and around people she does know, her emotions become much more obvious to those around her, with the exception of anger or sadness.
Her body language is usually closed off and reserved. If she gestures to add to a point, she usually only does so with one hand.
Lyta can and does get angry, however, she buries it below the surface and remains calm throughout it. Getting irrationally angry can lead to irrational, stupid actions. This wasn't something she could afford while younger. To say nothing of the fact that an angry fire channeler tends to burn things.
Depression, general upsetness, and unhappiness fall into this regard as well. However unhealthy it may be, Lyta buries this negativity under the surface. And she hides it well. Alfred only got just a taste of it in getting to see her insecurities, and even that was when she was alone with him, and somewhat under pressure.
Otherwise, Lyta is passionate about her emotions. Lively, and fairly chatty once she starts to relax. She enjoys life, and enjoys traveling, for whatever her mysterious reasons actually are.
She is a meat eater and proud of it, but aside from OOC channel jokes, she doesn't overdo it.
She is also greedy. She enjoys having money, and the security a lot of it can bring. Part of her mentality is the fact that she can always have a bit more, despite her preference for a simpler, easier life (Plus as I've mentioned before, her remaining a thief after becoming stupidly rich is something that's hilarious to me).
Lyta does not have very much in the booksmart department. She isn't stupid by any stretch at all, but anything she's learned, she's learned while out, experiencing the world. Her knowledge extends well past simple thievery into other shady dealings, but she isn't always open about this fact, preferring to use this knowledge strategically, or let others handle it (Such as Eve knowing more about Assassins and such, Lyta's knowledge is more general, Eve's was probably more specialized, combined with the fact that Eve had more experience). I hesitate to use the term 'street smarts', but it's probably the closest analogy.
Lyta can speak Jerolan, Igan, and a good bit of Yesshan. She can read all three, and can read more Yesshan than she can actually speak. She can also understand Camarian, and read a few key phrases in it. She can also speak a little of it, but not enough to hold a conversation.
Lyta can and will lie as necessary for whatever she needs to do at the time. However, she's practical about it. She doesn't weave this huge massive bundle tale of a lie, simply because doing so becomes a pain to keep up with after a while. Most anything outside of her real name and the Southern Way is generally mostly true, no need to lie about any of that, now.
Lyta is, as a fun useless fact, left handed.
Clothing: A wrap-around top similar to a tube top, worn tight, leaving her shoulders and stomach exposed. She prefers looser pants, with big pockets. No shoes, or extraordinarily light weight shoes if needed, preferably sandals.
Generally, she's a tomboy in that respect. Dresses and girly clothing are, as a general rule, a foreign concept to her. She can find a dress pretty or something, but the idea of wearing one is like growing a second head. It's strange and weird, and it'd be a case of "Why can't someone else do this?", if forced into that situation. She has never worn heels.
Lyta isn't ashamed of her body at all. Though she does prefer to wear clothes, mindful of the fact that nudity can bother other people, and the fact that pants generally have pockets. However, when sunning herself, she usually forgoes the pants (using them as a pillow on deck, for example), leaving her in her top and underwear.
She does not have a 'got it, flaunt it' attitude, though. The clothing she wears is for convenience. The top keeps her skin and shoulders exposed, for sunlight and useage of her spores respectively, and the pants offer protection, pockets, and are easy to move in.
Lyta does enjoy sex. She doesn't actively seek it out, however, and is just as happy to live life without doing it most of the time anyway. Usually it's more trouble than it's worth, especially given how humans view the Orchaein race as a whole (see also: the camwhore analogy on her profile linked above). She's bisexual, but only in the fact that her partner's gender means little to her at all. Guy, gal, doesn't really matter. Just what's there at the time. She can see attraction both in and outside her race, but it's not an imperative (Selia, for example, has some nice curves on her, as far as Lyta's concerned, but she's otherwise 'eh' on the matter).
Love is complicated, and she tries to avoid it at all costs. It's also a very, very separate bubble from sex. Sex is closeness and intimacy, yes, and it's something she'd probably do with someone she'd love, but her race isn't wired the way humans are. She can love one person, but she can separate love and sex in her mind. She'd be just as happy with them celibate, too. Love is also painful. It causes hurt and angst, so she just avoids the subject altogether. Whether she loved Alfred or not is a fact that can be debated, and is unclear (Even to her). It's also among one of the subjects she'll readily lie about, usually to avoid talking about it altogether.
She doesn't talk about her past in the Southern Way at all, if she can help it. It was chaotic. Violent. She didn't really have much of a childhood compared to most folks in Zenninfal and other 'civilized' areas of the world, and sometimes this shows. Lyta had to grow up fast at a young age, and has since learned to adapt and survive as necessary.
Now fighting, fighting she loves. It gets the blood pumping, the body active, and it's oh-so-very fun. Lyta in a barfight is Lyta in her natural habitat, despite her small stature. Lyta enjoys the thrill of fighting, and the challenge it can sometimes bring.
However, she's not overly violent. She won't start a barfight at completely random, either. She also holds back. Fighting to kill is a rare thing outside of self defense, because what fun is it if the other guy can't get back up and try again?
She also holds back a bit when channeling, using straight up constructs and effects of heat, rather than actual flame. Fire is dangerous and can get out of control very quickly, and Lyta is constantly mindful of this.
When it's self preservation, though, she doesn't hold back, but she keeps it focused.
Casters and other weapons are annoyances. They get in the way and can restrict her movement (particularly the bulkier casters currently on the Stormrunner), which becomes a liability in a fight. Lyta knows how to aim and fire a caster, but she's not the one you want on your firing squad constantly, unless she can use her channeling instead.
As far as how to fight goes, Lyta's intimidated by very little as far as most people go. It's when you get into the fantastic (like the werewolf, etc) that she starts to really actively worry. She knows how to use her small size to her fullest advantage, fast, agile, and knows a thing or two about leverage. She won't win a fight by powering her way through it, she wins it by fighting smart, and if for survival, fighting nasty. She's not above crotch shots when it comes to surviving. Her spores are saved as a last resort, since she can only usually get off two shots at most per major altercation (and even then, she'd rather save the last for a flashbang, for a quick escape if need be).
Lyta cannot sing, nor can she play an instrument, however, she can dance. For similar reasons above, she thoroughly enjoys doing so, even if she doesn't get to do it as often as she likes. She often incorporates channeling effects into her dancing, to make it flashier. She's all fluid motion when she does dance, having the obvious influences of the southern way in it.
Lyta prefers more subtle approaches to things. Not drawing attention, avoiding stupid plans. She's pragmatic and logical when it comes to doing things. If it makes sense and isn't crazy, go for it. You don't draw suspicion to yourself. She's a thief, yes, but the less you're breaking the law, the less likely you are to get caught when you do break it. If you can buy the supplies you need for a reasonable price, there's no need to steal them, for example. As stealing them would raise attention, and run the risk of getting caught by the town guard.
She would not get along with Golluck. His style of thievery would drive her up the wall. Simply because it does not work that way for her.
As far as Lyta's concerned, her general thoughts on the crew (past and present) are as follows:
As a whole the crew is her surrogate tribe and family. Without them, she'd go back to being the silent, wandering loner. And she'd miss them if she left, even if she wouldn't readily admit this to any of them. They're chaotic, but they're home. For the most part, Lyta is herself around the crew, and her emotions are her own in their presence. She's largely honest with them, except in regards to her real name, and southern way past.
Selia - Crazy as hell, but fun and trustworthy. As fond as she was of Alfred, she preferred Selia as captain. Though she has to place shoulder Vulcan (due to sometimes having to inject logic) to Selia more than once, since Lyta's the more grounded of the two. The fact that Selia named Lyta first mate is pretty telling. Selia's crazy stunts are fun, even if Lyta has to typically at least be a voice of reason against them. Lyta only generally mentions this once, unless she truly believes it's something they can't handle.
Ward - Ah, poor Ward. The 'normal' guy in a band of outlaws and crazy folks. For what it's worth, Lyta does like him, even if he's even more of a 'Mr. No-fun' than she is. Part of it is that she realizes he's in the middle of all of this insanity, and typically gets caught in things when he doesn't really want to.
Dana - Not quite as trustworthy. Being a vampire already makes Dana unnerving, but her personality amplifies this by several magnitudes. Lyta suspects something's up with Dana's past, but doesn't really care what. She honestly wouldn't be surprised if it involved killing (Yes, we know OOCly, but this is what she thinks ICly). Dana's a good cook, but not someone you want to be on the wrong end of. As such, Lyta treads carefully around her, especially since she can mindwalk. Dana was the largest source of stress when Selia was kidnapped, since she was pretty largely a fangy, knifey timebomb waiting to go off.
Gloria - She didn't like Gloria at first, but warmed up to her as time went on. She considers Gloria one of her closer friends among the crew, and has, if and when she leaves the Stormrunner, considered asking to travel with Gloria more than once. She was a fellow 'non-human', that had the outsider's point of view that Lyta also shared. Trustworthy to a point, but unpredictable.
Luka - What. The fuck. Lyta has no idea what else to think of Luka, only that he's strange, and pretty much exemplifies everything she's ever heard of Death Channelers into a fun, horrifying, single (and now with Dryad, pair of) package. Luka's useful, but by the gods, she has no idea what to think of him at times. Trustworthy in a fight, but she won't be telling him much more than necessary.
Shu - Oh dear god, the Valdrex. Hard to believe, but Lyta occasionally misses Shu's presence. She was one hell of a business-bug, and terrifying in a fight all at once. Also: Nice Hats.
Alfred - Oh, Alfred, your relationship with Lyta was so complicated. Crazy, young at heart, cared about his ship a little worryingly much (if understandably so at times), but Lyta honestly did like him quite a lot. But sex and love were complicated factors, and the creepy time bomb that was Infi the infinite puppy were worrysome problems all on their own. Lyta felt she could trust Alfred, but didn't always appreciate some of the pressure he placed on her at times. She misses him sometimes, even if it's not something she readily admits, and wonders how he's doing.
The Spirit Animals - Louie: Annoying, useful, pries into things. Philippe: Why does it have to speak igan and only igan. why. The most annoying of the bunch, to the point that he was more irritating than useful. Lyta wanted to dump him overboard more than once. Gertie: The one she actually liked.
Walunder - Sort of a 'what the fuck', but not nearly on level with Luka (on a scale of one to ten: Luka's eleven, Walunder's about three). D'zonts are inherently strange, but Walunder's proven himself more than once, and Lyta likes him, just doesn't really trust him enough to really say much.
Eve - Lyta's not really sure what to think on her. She was an assassin, and possibly a threat. Not trustworthy in her mind, but useful, and didn't try to kill them.
Timmus - The strongest Ardlin... in the world! As much as she dismisses him, he's a good little guy. useful in a fight and at least somewhat trustworthy. Never touching the backpack again, though. Ever. Again. Lyta has seen why it's called a backpack of horrors, and she cannot unsee.
Sasha - Similar to Luka, Sasha exemplifies absolutely everything she's ever heard of Life Channelers, into one bizarre package that weirds her the fuck out. She prefers to ignore his antics and let him do what he wants until she needs him for something.
Pina - Lyta's not sure what to think of Pina nor Felis. They're the members of the crew that she probably knows the least, with the exception of Kaden and Sasha.
Kaden - No idea what to think on him. He hasn't been with the crew long enough. He's earned points for telling us Wardrobe's Secret, though.