Siren's Pull Application
Player Information Name: mizzmikan
Age: 27 AIM SN: N/A
email: natale_laplante@yahoo.com
Plurk: flavorytea
Have you played in an LJ based game before? No.
Currently Played Characters: N/A
Conditional: Activity Check Link:N/A
Character Information
General Canon Source: “Sabriel”
Canon Format: Book
Character's Name: Sabriel
Character's Age: 18
Conditional: If your character is 13 years of age or under, please clarify how they will be played: N/A
What form will your character's NV take? Sabriel’s NV will take the form of a steampunk cell-phone, reflecting the Edwardian-ish period in which she was raised, with a bit of a fantastical twist to suit her supernatural occupation. It’s the No. 6 on the list. It’s activated by the blue stone in the center. It will have text and video capabilities, but no holographs.
Character's Canon Abilities: Sabriel is a very powerful Charter Mage, able to manipulate and cast Charter Magic to protect herself or to fight against the undead. Charter Magic utilizes a variety of symbols called Charter Marks that can be spoken, sketched in the air or on paper, whistled, or embedded into objects. Charter Marks are not letters, but they represent everything that has ever lived, is living, or will live again. Charter magic glows golden when it is cast. It can also be used to work the weather if need be. Also, as an Abhorsen, Sabriel possesses an affinity for Death and the Dead, able to sense where people and animals have died and can feel the presence of Dead spirits as well as Free Magic creatures. Perhaps the most important ability an Abhorsen possesses is the ability to traverse in the realm of Death. An Abhorsen may go into Death for any number of reasons; to fight other necromancers, to call up spirits to answer questions no living person could answer, and so forth. To learn more about Death, please visit this page. As for her weapons, Sabriel uses a special Charter-spelled sword that can cut through undead flesh and eat away at the spirit inside. She also uses a set of seven bells to aid her in sending the dead to final rest. The bells and their associated powers are:
Ranna: The smallest bell, Ranna is The Sleepbringer, the bell whose sweet sound calls all who hear it to rest.
Mosrael: The Waker, Mosrael has a harsh voice that rouses the Dead from sleep while sending the ringer into Death. Sabriel never uses this bell for such a purpose.
Kibeth: The third bell. Kibeth is The Walker, the bell who makes the Dead go wherever the ringer wishes. Kibeth is tricksome, and many who have tried to use it have walked where they would not.
Dyrim: The Speaker. Dyrim is used to restore the voices of the Dead, but can also be used to still a tongue that moves to freely.
Belgaer: Belgaer is The Thinker. This bell, when rung properly, can restore a dead person’s memories and personality, or, in a careless hand, completely erase them.
Saraneth: Saraneth is the Binder. It’s deep voice is the sound of strength that shackles the Dead to the wielder’s will. Abhorsens will often use this bell.
Astarael: Astarael is the final bell. It is The Weeper. When sounded, it calls all who hear it to a final Death, including the ringer. Only those will a sufficiently strong will can resist Astarael’s call.
Conditional: Weapons: Charter-spelled Sword and bells
History/Personality/Plans/etc
Character History: Before I get into Sabriel’s history, I want to give a brief rundown of the universe the book is set in, as this is crucial to understanding the plot and Sabriel’s character.
Firstly, the world of Sabriel is split between two kingdoms; The Old Kingdom and Ancelstierre. It’s hinted that not only are these kingdoms separate countries, they may also be separate universes, as neither the seasons nor the weather are the same at any one time on either side.
Splitting these two kingdoms is a structure known as The Wall, built about a thousand years before Sabriel takes place. It’s more a magical than physical construct, meant to keep any sort of sorcery or undead out of Ancelstierre, which doesn’t always work. In fact, magic may be used in areas close to The Wall, especially when the wind blows from the north out of the Old Kingdom. Further to the south, the power of the Charter dwindles considerably and most Ancelstierrans do not believe in magic. Ancelstierre itself is the equivalent of England in the 1910’s-1920’s; there are references to rugby, cricket, tea, and a Parliamentary system of government. Cars are becoming more popular than carriages, women wear bobbed hair, there’s electricity, and cinema is emerging as a new form of entertainment.
Similarly, The Old Kingdom can be said to be the equivalent of medieval England. People tend to live in villages rather than cities, and any sort of scientific advancement is impossible due to the fact that anything machine made will cease to work once it crosses the Wall.
Which brings me to the next most important concept in the novel; magic. There are two types of magic in Sabriel; Charter and Free Magic. Many millennia ago, only Free Magic existed and the world was not yet made. (Or, at least, The Old Kingdom was not yet made.) Nine of the most powerful Free Magic beings in existence came together to put themselves into more orderly constructs and created Charter Magic to stem the chaos around them. Two of these beings become physical constructs (including The Wall), completely losing themselves in their own creations. Another being granted its powers to the Royal Bloodline, still another granted is powers to The Clayr, a clan of clairvoyants, and another gave its powers to the line of The Abhorsens. The other beings are not worth mentioning, as they play no part in this novel. There is a sort of yin-yang element to Free and Charter Magic; Free Magic is inherently negative and always opposes Charter Magic, which is inherently positive. These two magics are only brought into balance under the office of Abhorsen. An Abhorsen is any person born into a clan that uses both Charter and Free Magic to bind and banish undead creatures and magical constructs, sort of like reverse necromancy. If you want more detailed information, please check out the Old Kingdom Wiki.
So, now on to her history.
Sabriel was born in the Old Kingdom near the Wall when her mother staggered into a camp of Travelers. Sabriel’s mother died giving birth to her, and Sabriel herself died shortly after. The Travelers talk about what to do with the bodies when a strange, pale-skinned man arrives and announces that the baby is not dead. He is Abhorsen, Sabriel’s father, and he goes into Death to fetch her spirit. His greatest enemy is waiting for him there, the monstrosity known as Kerrigor, and he has Sabriel’s spirit. He taunts Abhorsen, saying that no matter how many times Abhorsen sends him into the realm of Death he will always return. Kerrigor then throws Sabriel into the river than runs through Death, and she almost is swept away, but her father rescues her just in time and sends Kerrigor past the First Gate. Sabriel is then returned to Life and baptized with Charter Magic to bind her spirit to her body. She and Abhorsen spend the next five years traveling with the nomads until her father decides to take her across the Wall into Ancelstierre. He then enrolls her at Wyverly College, a boarding school about forty miles from the Old Kingdom border. There, she is taught the basics of Charter Magic along with regular school subjects, and she proves to be an exceptional Charter Mage.
The novel proper starts when Sabriel is eighteen and has just graduated from Wvyerly College and is pondering about her future. Part of her desires to move further south to attend a university with her school-friends and live a regular life, but she knows that she must one day carry her father’s burden of office. Her time comes when, later that night, the school is visited by a shadowy apparition bearing Abhorsen’s sword and bells. Sabriel, with a feeling of dread, knows this means that something terrible has happened to her father. The Magistrix of the school tells her that she must leave for the Old Kingdom at once and Sabriel vows to find her father.
The next day, Sabriel departs to the Perimeter, an area near the Wall that is heavily patrolled by a special division of the Ancelstierran army, The Crossing Point Scouts. These are men trained to deal with anything undead or magical that attempts to cross the Wall and cause trouble, but they are not officially recognized by the Ancelstierran government. Sabriel makes her way to HQ where she meets Colonel Horyse, who knew her father. Horyse states that he admired Abhorsen because of all the help he had given them in the past. He is reluctant to let Sabriel cross, explaining to her just how dangerous The Old Kingdom is, but eventually he lets her do so.
Sabriel then sets off, but soon finds herself pursued by a Mordicant. She reaches Abhorsen’s House and temporary safety, meeting a talking white cat by the name of Mogget. Mogget, it turns out, is not a normal cat, but an ancient Free Magic being bound by Charter Magic to serve the Abhorsen, though he is far from willing. He agrees to accompany her on her quest “until you’ve grown into a proper Abhorsen.” As the house is surrounded by the Dead, the two of them escape via Paperwing and head towards Belisaere, the capital city of The Old Kingdom. However, they are attacked by a flock of Gore Crows, and Sabriel is forced to release Mogget’s collar so that he can land the Paperwing without killing them. He does so, but they fall into a sinkhole, and there Sabriel sees Mogget in is true shape and his true nature. Mogget then attacks Sabriel, gleefully reveling in his freedom and declaring that his revenge will be slow so that she will understand his millennia of forced servitude. Sabriel, injured from the crash, is unable to fight him, but manages to re-bind Mogget with the ring he’d given to her at Abhorsen’s House.
The next day, they explore the sinkhole and find that it is the abandoned royal necropolis full of funerary ships for the kings and queens of the kingdom. They come upon an unfinished ship with a male figurehead, but Sabriel senses that there is something wrong with it; it’s too realistic to be a mere carving. She realizes that it is a living young man imprisoned within the ship and she decides to rescue him. The man, once revived, is unable to recall his name or much of his past. Sabriel gives him the name of Touchstone. Mogget tells him that he has been imprisoned for two hundred years, and that everyone he has known is dead...save for one person. Touchstone joins Sabriel in her journey so that he can recover his memories. He eventually does so in the Sea of Saere, the water wiping away the bonds laid on him. He remembers that, two hundred years ago, he had been a Royal Guard to the Queen and the half-brother of the prince, Rogir. He and Rogir had grown up together and were best friends, but as they matured, Touchstone noted that Rogir had begun to act strangely, becoming obsessed with death and dark magic. Rogir then tricked the Queen down into the reservoir beneath the Royal Palace where the Great Charter Stones were located and then killed her. He used her blood and the blood of his sisters to break the stones, thus weakening the Charter and allowing easy access to Life for the Dead all across the kingdom. Touchstone then remembers that Abhorsen arrived in time to banish Rogir, who was already one of the Dead, into Death and then imprisoned Touchstone in the ship.
In Belisaere, Touchstone, Sabriel, and Mogget make their way into the reservoir, where they find the frozen body of Sabriel’s father. Sabriel revives him, but sadly finds that he has spent too long in Death and that he cannot live for longer than a hundred-hundred heartbeats. Kerrigor and his followers then attack, and Sabriel’s father sacrifices himself so that Touchstone and Sabriel can escape. Mogget stays with Abhorsen and is once again unbound. By now, Sabriel and Touchstone realize that Kerrigor had in fact been Rogir, and that he had found a way to prevent his final death by hiding his original body somewhere where no one would think to look. They are shown this hiding place by Sanar and Ryelle, twin Clayr who meet them near the Royal Palace and give them a Paperwing to fly back south. Together with the Crossing Point Scouts, they retrieve Kerrigor’s body and bring it to Wyverly College, where their combined power with the Magistrix and First Form students can destroy the body. Kerrigor is hot on their heels, and he brings a host of Dead with him to mount a final assault. Mogget returns as well, bringing Sabriel her sword and the last bell, Astarael. He then fights Kerrigor, claiming that he alone has the right to kill Sabriel. Kerrigor easily defeats and consumes him before advancing on Sabriel. As he prepares to kill her, Sabriel uses Mogget’s ring and the bell Ranna to bind Kerrigor and separate him from Mogget. Sabriel then dies briefly, but is sent back to Life by her ancestors, who tell her that she cannot cross over until she has an heir to replace her.
Point in Canon: When she dies at the end of the novel and is floating in the river of Death. What she thinks is her ancestors sending her back into Life will in fact be The Pull. She will arrive just after dusk, just as the Darkness Decay is beginning to have its effect, and will encounter a monster before being taken to the apartments.
Conditional: Brief summary of previous RP history: N/A
Character Personality: Sabriel is a kind and friendly girl, fairly normal by all accounts. She is a bit sheltered, having been raised in an all girls boarding school and having her father largely absent from her life due to his constant need to travel. Her naivete is is a major focus in the novel; she’s never been around young men her own age before, nor has she ever been outside of Ancelstierre. This doesn’t stop her from occasionally sneaking around the rules; she’s been to see motion pictures even though Wvyerly College frowns on them and has experimented with alcohol a few times with her friends. Underneath this reserved schoolgirl, there is a wistfulness to Sabriel, and she sometimes regrets that Death is not a mystery to her as it is to others. She also remarks that she doesn’t feel young anymore because of all the grimoire she’s studied under her father. But she’s still eighteen, and therefore, very untried in the beginning of the novel in the ways of both Charter Magic and the Old Kingdom. When she is pursued by the Moridicant, it hits home that good marks in magic at school is not enough to prepare her against real dangers and real enemies that mean to kill her. She bemoans this to her father when they reunite, complaining that “I must be the most ignorant Abhorsen in centuries!” Her father tells her that he sent her to live in Ancelstierre to keep her safe, and that he apologizes that he could not have been there to teach her more thoroughly. It is Mogget who takes up the mentor role, albeit in a rather sarcastic and sometimes deliberately unhelpful way, providing Sabriel hints and information throughout the story to fill in the gaps in her education. As the novel progresses, we begin to see Sabriel become more controlled and competent as she begins to understand the nature of the role she has to fill. She stops panicking when faced with powerful opponents and stands her ground, even when the odds are woefully against her as they were when she faced Kerrigor. She becomes a true leader, directing and organizing the both the Crossing Point Scouts and the First Form students as they prepare to defend Wyverly College in the last battle. She also proves to be very clever and resourceful with whatever tools she has available, such as using Mogget’s binding ring when she herself was unable to use either her sword or bells. Sabriel also has a very strong sense of morality, justice, and duty, acting with compassion towards those affected by the deterioration of the Old Kingdom and swearing she will do all she can to right the wrongs that have been done to them.
As just as she is, however, Sabriel does have quite a few flaws. She can be stubborn; through half the novel she insists that her father isn't truly dead and that she can fully restore his life. It isn't until she reunites with him that she realizes the painful truth that some things are beyond her powers and that her father cannot live again. She's also stubborn in refusing to acknowledge her growing romantic feelings towards Touchstone, preferring instead to ignore them as she sees such emotional entanglements as an obstruction to her main goal. Eventually, though, she comes around and the two of them confess their love to each other near the end of the novel.
Sabriel also isn't immune to feeling the temptation to use her powers in ways they should not be used. For example, when she's first introduced, she is shown blatanty breaking a promise she had made both to her father and to herself when she resurrects a beloved pet of a younger student. As an Abhorsen, bringing the dead back is strictly forbidden, but again we see her desire to reshuffle the cards when she encounters the corpses of a Scout patrol unit and has a brief moral conflict as she debates what it would be like to bring these men back to life. And we're shown another instance where, again due in part to her naivete, she uses magic to play a trick on an officer that meets her when she first arrives at the Crossing Point, only to quickly realize that using magic near the Border is never a good idea.
Character Plans: Sabriel is going to have a lot on her plate when she reaches Siren’s Port. This being a place ravaged by the angry spirits of the dead, she’ll be right in her element trying to find a permanent way to lay them back to rest. Charter Magic will be extremely easy for her to use, and her Death sense will be almost overpowering when she first arrives due to the Core. She’ll be extremely bewildered by all the fascinating new people and powers around her, but she’ll be happy to make friends with as many as she can. Because of this desire to meet and mingle, she’ll most likely become a Greeter.
Appearance/PB: Here’s the most accurate depiction.
Writing Samples
First Person Sample
[The NV flickers on, screen revealing a girl in her late teens, short black hair strewn messily about a face whose pallor is startling, even flushed so with exertion. Bits of gore are smeared across her cheek. From what we can see, she appears to be dressed in a blue surcoat and medieval style armor. She’s not looking directly at the screen; her sharp gaze is focused on the thickening shadows and the thin luminescence of the streetlamp she has sought refuge under. When she speaks, it seems to be more to herself than to anyone else, as she isn’t sure that anyone can hear her just yet.]
There’s too many...so many Dead here...I can feel them everywhere. They’re--
[She stops, wincing as though she’s in pain. A strange symbol begins to glow on her forehead. She glances down at the NV, really looking at it this time and beginning to understand what the nature of it is. Her expression has lost some of its sharpness and is marred a bit with confusion. ]
This...I know this cannot be The Old Kingdom or Ancelstierre. This device I have...if there is anyone who can hear me...please tell me where I am and what this is I feel around me. Also, if there is any safe place I can--
[Sabriel is cut off as she whisks her head to the right, eyes narrowed as she catches sight of something slinking just out of her periphery. The mark on her forehead grows brighter and she crooks the fingers of her hand, sketching out the Charter symbols that become golden daggers at the ends of her fingertips. She hurls them out at something off screen, crying out the names of the marks.]
Anet! Calew! Ferhan!
Third Person Sample
It was night, and that in itself was enough to make Sabriel cautious, never mind the utter strangeness of her surroundings. She shivered as she felt the icy fingers of her Death sense trail up the back of her neck, forcing her to exert her will against its overpowering caress. The doorways to Death were almost too numerous to count, and all pressed against her spirit like gaping, ravenous maws eager for the taste of Life. There had been many, many deaths in this place, nearly all violent and sudden. A guarantee that the souls of those who had departed would return.
Sabriel started, senses pulled in a new direction as she felt rather than saw something stir near the fence-line of the playing field she had landed in. She could hear the soft rustle of something hoping to catch her unawares, but her many travels into Death had left her too well acquainted with such creatures. Instinctively, her right hand went to the hilt of her sword as her left hand reached for the strength of Saraneth in her bandolier. Whatever was stalking her, it wasn’t alive.
Drawing her blade, Sabriel stifled a gasp of surprise, for the Charter Marks that normally ran like rain through dust over her sword were now quivering in agitation and blazing with a brilliant golden flame. Perhaps they, too, were reacting to the unnaturally thick and oppressing aura of Death.
It also turned out to be a major mistake, for that same light had now given her position completely away to the thing in the field, and she could now sense it rushing towards her.
Sabriel barely had time to drop into a crouch, holding the blade at the ready as the thing charged, its shape revealed in the brilliance of the Marks. It was surprisingly small, no bigger than a child of five or six, but any resemblance to a human form ended there. An eerie, almost melancholy wail burst from the gaping mouth that split its face nearly in two. Stick thin shadow arms reached out as if to beckon her to embrace it as it mewled like an infant for its mother. Sabriel had never seen a creature like this before; never in Death and never in The Book of the Dead. She had no idea whether Charter Magic could be counted on to repel it, yet she swung her sword anyway.
The thing dodged in an astonishing burst of speed, still wailing as it readied itself to lunge again. Pivoting, Sabriel forced herself to quell her doubts and focus on her opponent, raising her sword to block the creature’s talons as it swiped viciously at her face. She could already see that it wasn’t very strong, preferring to use speed and surprise to take its victims down. One good slash would most likely destroy both its physical shape and its spirit. She just needed the opportunity to get inside its guard.
The creature, however, was more than making up for its lack of strength with is ferocious determination; the spirit inside this warped, corpse-like body thirsted for her life. It attacked again and again, each time growing more desperate, more bold, and always managing to twist itself just out of reach of her blade. It struck Sabriel then with a grim realization of just what the thing was doing; it was purposefully forcing her to use up her energy in defending herself, trying to tire her out so that she would then be too weak to do anything as it made the final kill. This was no mere Lesser Dead Hand, this thing still possessed some of its original intelligence. Her sword alone wouldn’t be enough here.
Sabriel, waiting for the moment with the creature slipped back into the shadows between attacks, quickly slipped her hand into the third pouch of her bandolier, grasping for Kibeth. The Walker would slow this creature’s movements and she could hold it in place until she could get Saraneth to bind it to her will and, hopefully, banish it to Ninth Gate.
That is, if her bells would work at all...