Tahlia Blackwell

[Erica]

Tahlia Blackwell

Introduction

In a world where angels and mortals fraternize, Tahlia Blackwell is a ranger with a secret. She is Nephilim: the child of an angel and a mortal. A ranger with a magical gift for healing, she is wanted for crimes against Myrisano 30 years ago. Unfortunately she is also rather socially awkward, but that can lead to opportunities for humor. She is an adaptable character but obviously requires a setting supporting both magic and angels.


Tahlia and Nataline Silva can be paired if desired, for they are from the same setting.

Games the Character has been involved with

Ascended

Basics

Name: Tahlia Elleweth Blackwell


Current Alias: Tahlia Winters


Age: 62 (appears in her early 20s)


Race: Nephilim


Gender: Female


Class: Ranger/Mage (healer), now a mercenary


Area of Origin: Myrisano (Linhaven)


Mother: Quabriel, Angel (assigned to Faest, Ascended of the moon & the harvest)


Father: Braden Blackwell, a human ranger


Formerly worshipped Xegas (Ascended of Healing)


Wanted in Myrisano for crimes against the crown (committed 27 years ago)

• Appearance
• Personality
• History
• Magic/Spells
• Equipment
• Skills
• Miscellaneous

• Appearance
  
  Height: 5'11"
  
  
  Hair: Black
  
  
  Eyes: Bright blue
  
  
  Body: lean and lanky, but mostly muscle; especially in the arms and across her back from use of her bow
  
  
  Attire: While her armor remains constant, she varies her surcoat; almost always in a shade of blue or light grey. Her armor is padded under the surcoat (where there is not plate) and reinforced with leather. When not in a battle situation or traveling as a mercenary, she wears simple-cut clothing, and is just as likely to be seen in pants and a tunic as a dress, depending on the occasion.
  
  
  Appearance Notes
  
  
  • Stands just over 5'11"
    
  • Eyes are a bright blue
    
  • Ink black hair is short (as in picture), falling to the nape of her neck in the back; she cut it when leaving Myrisano.
    
  • A scar runs from the top of her left shoulder to her collarbone but is usually hidden by her clothing.
    
  • Her frame is lean and lanky, but mostly muscle; especially in the arms and across her back from use of her bow.
    
  • Carries a small selection of medicinal herbs on her in pouches at her waist.
    
  • Wears a large oval sapphire pendant under her clothes. It hangs on a heavy chain and its setting is lined with small silver thorns.
    
  • While her armor remains constant, she varies her surcoat; almost always in a shade of blue or light grey
    
  • Her armor is padded under the surcoat (where there is not plate) and reinforced with leather. It is also enchanted to be lighter and quieter than standard of its make.
    
  • The bow she carries depends on the day and the mission. She is proficient in the longbow, crossbow, and shortbow (in that order). She usually has a longbow with her along with a large quiver of varied arrows (see weapons). The only blade she regularly carries is a longsword.
    
  • When not in a battle situation or traveling as a mercenary, she wears simple-cut clothing and is just as likely to be seen in pants and a tunic as a dress, depending on the occasion.
    
  
  
  
• Personality
  
  A caregiver by nature, Tahlia is somewhat softhearted for her role as a ranger-turned-mercenary. She is strongly empathetic, which can lead to reactions she would call "passionate" but others may deem dramatic. Witnessing others' joy almost always inspires a smile, but she finds no humor in jokes made at other people’s expense. Depending upon the circumstances, she can seem introverted and even a little sad at first, but she is quick to warm up and attempt to make everyone at ease. (Those attempts may be awkward, but she will try.) She readily rises to any challenge to prove herself, and can try a bit too hard to belong to a group, especially at first.
  
  
  Her personal identity centers on contributing to others: primarily her ability to heal and her archery skills. The two abilities often seem to contradict each other, and her inner conflict about taking lives can make her bad-tempered and withdrawn at times. She becomes detached in combat and particularly surly afterwards if she is required to kill. This effect is lessened when the target is clearly evil, but even then her inner debate can be evident afterwards.
  
  
  The times when she has - whether consciously or unconsciously - imposed the drain of her abilities upon others weigh heaviest upon her. She will opt to use this ability in dire circumstances, but shies away from it.
  
  
  Knowing her father’s history, she still condemns his choice to be an assassin. Yet she has spent a great deal of time debating the after effects of that night. Would Hollis Steele’s death have prevented the uprising in Aquova? Would it have saved lives? She wrestles with that question and has even forgiven her father. But she still concluded that his actions and choices were wrong, and she never got a chance to say goodbye before he passed on. Today, this perspective colors her personal choices in two ways: she attempts to make the highest choice when faced with large decisions, and she does her best to see the bigger picture before deciding what that is. She remains easily swayed due to her empathy and perhaps a little naive about the nature of the world. Additionally, the combined longing for her father’s attention as she grew up and the unresolved issues between them have left her with a daddy complex and strong compulsion to belong, even if she cannot be exceptionally choosy about the group.
  
  
  In everyday interactions, she prefers small groups to large crowds. Generally soft-spoken, she would rather observe and assist than lead. She is quick to assume the best of people, but her experience with her father and the price on her head has left her slow to fully trust anyone. Knowing that she must eventually move on to avoid detection or suspicion means she cannot allow herself to grow any strong connections. There have been a few exceptions, but those are rare and she protects those people by staying away. Nearly thirty years of hiding her identity and keeping on the move have inspired some idiosyncrasies: she can grow anxious when events turn in unexpected directions or people grow overly curious about her.
  
  
  Today, she varies her life and work by assisting in towns where plague or illness has hit, taking mercenary jobs, and occasionally serving as a guard for local households. She spends her free time studying healing techniques and herbs, reading, or attempting to play the fiddle (poorly). When in a healing capacity, however, her introversion and awkwardness melts away; she truly thrives when among the wounded or sick, for then her focus on the patient dwarfs all else and her caring demeanor shines.
  
  
  
• History
  
  High-level Summary of History
  
  ​
  
  
  
  
  • Mother (Quabriel) left her with father (Braden), a ranger at King Rowe’s court in Myrisano
    
  • Braden left her with family, she learned healing and showed a strong aptitude for both magic and archery
    
  • Followed Xegas (Ascended of Healing) until she left Myrisano.
    
  • Joined the rangers at 16, excelled.
    Got a scar at 18 during a skirmish with an orc party, but still managed to bolster her group’s skills to help them win the day. (She also killed a fellow ranger passing her drain on to him, but didn’t figure out she was the cause of his death until much later.)
    
  • That event made her stand out. The rangers then put her to use. She became known as one of the top rangers, much like her father but for different reasons.
    
  
  
  [*]Tahlia served King Rowe for nearly 20 years. During this time, her father remained distant, but Tahlia tried to make the best of it and found a family in the rangers.
  
  
  [*]Father was assassin more than ranger; Tahlia discovered this by following him on a mission.
  
  
  [*]Upon finding out, she stopped him from killing his target, Hollis Steele, the son of Lord Patrick Steele. Hollis was an outspoken critic of the King and gaining support that could trigger another war over the control of Aquova. They argued briefly, but ultimately they had to run from the guards. He kept the guards off of her and told her quietly to run. He was captured, but would later be revered as a hero.
  
  
  [*]The King blamed her for the assassination attempt and painted her father as the hero attempting to save Hollis Steele - because otherwise Braden’s past service could be traced to him. (Plus he had to discredit her should she decide to talk.) Both King Rowe and Lord Steele had men looking for her. She fled Aquova and Linhaven, and eventually Myrisano.
  
  
  [*]Quabriel sought out Tahlia when she discovered what had happened. She explained her gift to Tahlia: immunity to plagues and common diseases. At first, Tahlia was grateful, assuming that her mother meant for her to heal others, but Quabriel explained that her gift was intended to protect her daughter, not provide healing for other humans. When she discovered Quabriel had known about her father’s role as an assassin, her belief in the Ascended and Angels as “good” was shattered. She turned her back on her mother.
  
  
  [*]Left Myrisano at 35, sought by the King and Lord Steele. Kept to small towns and villages, eventually took a boat to Rhodinar.
  
  
  [*]Attempted to focus on healing, join clergy, but that required devotion to an Ascended. And after meeting her mother, she wanted little to do with them - both morally and from being tracked.
  
  
  [*]Quabriel watched over Tahlia as she left Myrisano. She would also attempt to keep tabs on Tahlia in Rhodinar (without the Ascended’s knowledge), but lost track of her when Tahlia turned away from the Ascended as a whole. She has occasionally caught word of Tahlia over the years, but rarely seen her daughter. Tahlia isn’t fully aware of her mother looking for her, but has made a habit of avoiding harvest festivals in an effort to remain unknown.
  
  
  [*]Tahlia sought out other Nephilim and information on them, but could not find any and after attracting unwanted attention, stopped asking.
  
  
  [*]Eventually worked as mercenary. Has connections with tangential worshipers (of Ascended of strength, or of war, even compassion/motherhood) as a healer and scout. Tends to keep on the move, assisting a town when facing illness, war, or plague, or taking jobs she considers moral. Has worked as a household guard or healer, but has to move on when it becomes apparent she’s not aging.
  
  
  
  
  
  Detailed History
  
  ​
  
  
  
  Tahlia was born of a dalliance between an angel named Quabriel and a human ranger and assassin named Braden Blackwell. Braden knew Quabriel as Sage Moran, a woman of modest noble birth who frequented the Myrisano court of King Rowe. He did not know her nature, for she took on human form to explore and understand mortal existence. She found the duality of Braden's clear moral center and devotion to the King with his willingness to kill others fascinating. They often shared philosophical discussions about the nature of humanity and the world, and she explored the rush of the attraction between the sexes. Her visits to court were few and far between over the course of several years, but Braden looked forward to her visits and the passionate interaction they had with each encounter.
  
  
  That was until one year she showed up with a baby girl in her arms. Quabriel offered no explanation except that the girl was his and she could not keep her. When Braden hesitated, she revealed her true nature, stunning him. She made him promise to raise Tahlia as a human and to guide her - and not only for battle. The instruction was rather vague and left him in a bit of a bind. He never saw Quabriel again, but he has tried to follow her instruction. Unfortunately, he is only human.
  
  
  Braden didn’t know what to do with any child, never mind one born of an angel. Tahlia’s nephilim nature represented a dangerous unknown. He did not know whether anyone would seek or hunt her, but he figured that hiding her was the best bet. Unsure what to do and generally overwhelmed, he used his military obligations as justification to send Tahlia to live with his sister, Liana.
  
  
  Liana is a healer by trade in Linhaven, married to a merchant named Michael Addison. They have three sons. This is the household Tahlia grew up in until she was twelve. Braden didn’t tell Liana of Tahlia’s origins, and only rarely came to visit. When he did, he told Tahlia stories of her mother, but they skirted the truth and resembled fairy tales. Although Liana was always kind to her, Tahlia was empathetic enough even then to pick up on the fact that she didn’t belong with Liana’s family - not really - and that her father was always rushing to leave after his visits. With the logic of a child, she felt like each rushed departure was somehow her fault. Throughout her early childhood, she remained fixated on what she could do or become to make her father stay or make him take her with him.
  
  
  Tahlia grew up wrestling with her cousins. Within a few short years, she was challenging them, though - much to her cousins' dismay. To top it off, Tahlia had a nasty habit of feeling every blow emotionally - even those dealt by others. Eventually, she stopped playing with them. She claimed it was because she grew tired of hearing how she wasn’t their sister. In reality, she couldn’t bear the mixture of guilt and pain that came with every fight, no matter how friendly.
  
  
  After that, Tahlia spent most of her time with Liana. She hated housework but adored learning more about healing. It afforded her a peace she rarely experienced. Liana taught her first aid, healing techniques, and about medicinal herbs. Tahlia picked up the work easily and assisted with the patients whenever she could. It also helped that she seemed never to grow ill herself, even in times of great illness and plague. She developed a calm and warm bedside manner but seemed to reserve this temperament for the ill and dying. Outside of caring for Liana’s patients, she had a tendency to bristle easily due to constantly feeling out of place.
  
  
  When Talia was ten, a horse trampled one of the local boys. Liana called in Valentia, a healer more skilled than herself, a devotee of Xegas, and gifted with healing magic, to assist. Witnessing the use of magic, Tahlia was fascinated and asked if she could study it. After a brief discussion with Liana and Braden, Valentia became her mentor. Tahlia excelled at her lessons related to healing. Valentia observed that Tahlia had a “natural gift”, and the lessons were the highpoint of Tahlia’s weeks. Although she had always followed Xegas (as Liana did), Tahlia devoted herself to the Ascended of healing at this point, feeling like it was her life’s calling.
  
  
  Liana had always been kind to her, but Tahlia had never felt like she belonged with the Addisons. So she hatched a plan: perhaps, if she learned archery like her father, she would have a chance of joining the military and serving King Rowe as an archer or healer - and she could be with her father. She kept studying magic with Valentia, but during her father’s next visit, she asked him to teach her archery. Braden resisted for a few months, but Liana eventually convinced him that Tahlia needed a connection with her father, especially since Michael’s traveling schedule left him little time for his own sons and almost none for Tahlia.
  
  
  Tahlia took to archery quickly. Braden, who had been struggling with how to connect with and still protect his daughter, seized the chance to get to know Tahlia better, and soon enough he could not deny that she had to make a choice due to her talents. If she kept developing them, someone would notice and recommend her to the king’s service. He also feared that someone would notice Tahlia's gifts and figure out her nature. He decided it was better to keep her close to protect her.
  
  
  When she was sixteen, Braden finally sat Tahlia down and told her about her mother in clear terms. Angry and confused at first, Tahlia retreated to the solitude of her room for nearly a month. Eventually she emerged, resolved not to waste her gifts. In an attempt to honor Quabriel’s wishes, Braden emphasized that Tahlia had a choice. Yet Tahlia was determined: she immediately declared she wanted to become a ranger. She said her goodbyes to Liana’s family and Valentia and headed for the King Rowe’s castle with her father.
  
  
  Between her natural skill and her father’s credentials, she was quickly accepted into training and made up for missing years of drills in short order. She proved efficient with a sword as well as a bow, but did not like the brutality of it. As a result she never excelled in its use. She learned how to use multiple kinds of bows but prefers the longbow. She also took to tracking well, although not as well as the bow. Many of the other rangers resented her natural ability, which made it difficult to make friends. Her plans to be closer to her father didn't pan out, either, because he was often away on missions or busy with his duties. (Actually, Braden was nervous about Tahlia wanting to meet her mother, which he could not help with. Her nature and kind-heartedness also made him generally uncomfortable, and he was sworn to keep his missions secret. He fell into a pattern of avoiding her which would remain throughout their relationship.) This made her training a lonely experience, but she did get to visit with her father more often than before. She made what peace she could with it and reached out to the physicians and healers to continue her training in her free time.
  
  
  Although she had the potential to be an impressive fighter by human standards, she did not have the stomach for brutal combat. Her true gifts centered on healing. When she took a beating herself in sparring matches, she would occasionally heal herself afterwards. Far more often, she healed her fellow rangers between matches. Friendships with the other rangers were slowly built through this interaction.
  
  
  In the service of King Rowe, she also learned of spells to amplify other’s abilities and asked for instruction in that area. One of the spellswords taught her and was impressed at her aptitude. He recommended her to one of the mages who taught magic at court, and she proved a good student. She practiced them on her fellow rangers during sparring matches and eventually during battle.
  
  
  And battle was inevitable. As a ranger, Tahlia defended Myrisano and its holdings against uprisings and outside threats. Largely, her duties involved preventing and stomping out attacks by ogres to the north and suppressing the occasional uprising. She preferred the former. During one patrol in the north, her group was attacked by a group of orcs led by an orc mage. She took several superficial wounds, and when a classmate received a nasty wound to his side, she instinctively reached for a scroll to heal him. As a result, her opponent's blade slid into her shoulder, cutting deeply enough to nick her collarbone. All around her, the rangers were losing ground. She reached for a scroll and cast a spell to bolster her allies - but put more power behind it than she should have. The drain should have killed her. Instead, the drain passed onto one of her companions instead; he died, but the rest had improved strength and agility - enough to fight back the enemy and kill the orc spell caster. Her energy fully spent, she was left bleeding and unconscious on the ground as the rangers pressed their advantage. They were able to see to her wound after the battle, but she still bears a scar along her collarbone.
  
  
  In time, she became a valued ranger. Fighting still presented a challenge for her due to her empathy. When she entered the field, she would shoot when necessary to preserve life, but rarely acted as the aggressor. Only killing clearly evil beings left her with a clear conscience. She also made a habit of healing small animals. Some of the rangers teased her for her soft heart, but she healed almost all of them at one point or another. Slowly the other rangers warmed to her. After a particularly nasty fight where she healed one of the men in her unit of a severed finger, the ranger jokingly called her "Doc"; the nickname stuck and many of her division called her by that name until she left.
  
  
  The King’s Rangers became her family. Yet she still longed for a closer relationship with her father. Braden would visit with her periodically, but kept their visits short. She knew he was on special missions for the King and at one point made the foolish decision to follow him. It was then she discovered that her father served the king as an assassin.
  
  
  The tension between King Rowe and the people of Aquova was mounting again. Lord Patrick Steele of Greenfield was playing a sound political game, showing fealty to the King while hearing his people's complaints. Hollis Steele, the son of Lord Patrick Steele, was only 16 at the time but already charismatic and an outspoken critic of the King. He was becoming a champion of the people, and that was a danger to Myrisano's hold over Aquova. Some of the King's soldiers - including Tahlia and her father - were sent to help maintain order.
  
  
  Tahlia attempted to use this as an opportunity to spend more time with her father. He remained distant. Eventually, she followed him when he left at dusk on a mission. Unfortunately, his mission was to eliminate Hollis Steele. Braden was about to shoot when Tahlia stopped him - and alerted the guards. They didn't have long to talk about her father's mission after that - although Tahlia tried, and Braden did his best to convince her he would explain later. When he attempted a second shot, Tahlia interfered again and this time they could not escape. Braden whispered for her to run, then purposefully ensured he was caught before her. She did as he urged and fled.
  
  
  The attempt on Hollis Steele's life further fanned the flames of war. King Rowe, needing both to save face and avoid labeling Braden an assassin, spun the tale of Braden Blackwell saving the lord's son from his rogue daughter. Tahlia was labeled a traitor to the crown. Lord Steele wanted her for questioning as well. She cut her hair and fled Myrisano, taking a ship from an Aquovian port to Rhodinar.
  
  
  Just before Tahlia left, Quabriel found her. The angel explained Tahlia’s nature with no real answers. Nephilim were extremely rare and even the Angels didn't discuss them openly; Quabriel couldn't answer most of Tahlia's questions. She did explain her gift to Tahlia: immunity to plagues and common diseases. At first, Tahlia was grateful, assuming that her mother meant her to heal others - but then Quabriel explained that it was about protecting her daughter, not providing healing for other humans. Quabriel also explained that she witnessed Tahlia’s ability to pass her drain onto another. Tahlia was horrified to realize that she had been the cause of her fellow ranger’s death.
  
  
  Not realizing that Quabriel had seen everything and sought her out due to the current situation, Tahlia told her mother about her father being an assassin. It was then she discovered that Quabriel knew. The conversation also revealed that Braden had been killing for the King since before Tahlia was born. This shattered Tahlia’s ideals of the Ascended and Angels being “good”. She turned her back on her mother. Eventually, she turned her back on all Ascended. Quabriel still watched over her as she left the area. It may be one of the reasons she was able to escape to Rhodinar.
  
  
  Upon reaching Rhodinar, Tahlia attempted to start over. She began wanting to live a more secluded life and sought out priesthoods - but that all required devotion to an Ascended. For a time, she attempted to find information on Nephilim and perhaps locate others of her kind, but even asking was a risky prospect. After a series of pointed questions from members of a sect following Myok (the Ascended of war), she moved on and only asked questions or conducted research in the most discreet ways. She took jobs as a healer, mercenary, or as a house guard or personal healer - all under the name of Tahlia Winters. At first she moved frequently, but over the years her fear of being recognized has diminished. Now she tends to take mercenary work until she finds a town or city she likes, then works as a house guard until the family is likely to wonder about her youthful appearance. Then she travels a distance in an effort of being forgotten.
  
  
  Within a year after she left for Rhodinar, the conflict between Aquova and the Myrisano crown came to a head. There was a brief war, and Hollis Steele was the champion of the Aquovian people - too large to be killed at this point without making him into a martyr. After 4 years of skirmishes and a few major battles, King Rowe and Lord Steele reached a tenuous peace through a treaty that kept Aquova under Myrisano's dominion but granted them many concessions - lower taxes, local representation (making Lord Steele a Duke), and more liberal trading rights. Duke Patrick Steele passed away five years after the treaty was signed and Duke Hollis Steele now rules Aquova for the King. He is known to be a fair ruler and considered a hero by the Aquovian people. The warrant for Tahlia still remains, but as it has been nearly 30 years since the assassination attempt, most assume she is dead. (If you asked him, Duke Hollis Steele would say he wouldn't rule anything out. He strongly suspects King Rowe was behind the assassination attempt and that Tahlia, who reportedly retained her youth, could be half-elven. If asked, he would say he would still like to question her about that night.)
  
  
  Quabriel continues to seek Tahlia - if only to keep tabs on her daughter. Tahlia does not know this for certain, but she continues to avoid lingering in one place primarily due to knowing that she is sought in Myrisano. Her opinion of the Ascended and angels has not changed, so she remains evasive to detection except through followers who may have seen her. She has become slightly more lax in the last few years, given that she hasn’t had anyone recognize her or heard of any notices. Most recently, she came to Highport having heard of a sickness after a ship’s arrival. With the port city prone to plague, she hopes to prevent it from spreading and perhaps find work locally for a decade or so.
  
  
  
• Magic/Spells
  
  Racial Traits
  
  ​
  
  
  
  Tahlia is Nephilim (half-human, half Angel). This means her life span will be 800-1200 years. She is not aware of how long she will live, though; she seems to have stopped aging and appears in her mid-twenties, but no one can tell her how long Nephilim live - there aren’t enough around to know. For all she knows, she is immortal - or could drop dead tomorrow.
  
  
  Nephilim are also naturally adept at magic; Tahlia has focused this on healing magic and techniques to bolster allies’ skills.
  
  
  She also has the ability to pass her drain onto another being, or take on another person's drain. While she found out about this the hard way (passing on her drain to a fellow ranger during a battle and killing him), she has not learned how to effectively control it. The times it has come into play have been times of crisis.
  
  
  Specialized ability given by her mother: Immune to normal diseases and common plagues. Quabriel gifted her with this ability to protect her daughter. Nephilim are exceptionally rare, but they must live among the mortal plane. She wanted to give Tahlia the best chance of survival. Tahlia has used this to help with her healing, but that wasn’t Quabriel’s intent.
  
  
  Magical Abilities/Spells
  
  ​
  
  
  
  Tahlia’s magical skills focus on healing and amplifying the abilities of others.
  
  
  She is proficient in healing minor wounds with relative ease, being naturally adept at magic. She can heal major wounds, given the time to do so and enough personal energy. In a battle situation, she can reflexively heal a large party - but then the drain needs to go somewhere or she will die. She discovered this by killing a fellow ranger during a battle. She also has the ability to take on another’s drain, but has misunderstood this to be a symptom of her healing abilities.
  
  
  She carries a spellbook with her in a satchel which is enchanted to carry more than its expected capacity. Originally she used a combination of scrolls and a spell book, but she gravitates toward a set of spells she knows well, only referencing her spell book as needed. She still keeps a limited number of scrolls on her for emergency purposes, but tries not to use them unless absolutely necessary.
  
  
  Healing
  
  
  In addition to standard healing spells to heal anything from minor wounds to major wounds, Tahlia also has studied and specialized in the purification of disease from others. These spells drain her more than the standard physical healing spells, especially when the disease has progressed in the afflicted. As with all healing spells, these require touch (unless otherwise specified below) and can be used to deal damage to the undead. Specialized healing spells:
  
  
  • Lingering Healing Touch - A proactive spell cast to store healing energy at hand. With a touch, she can administer part or all of the stored energy to others. She often prepares this before battle as an emergency aid. If she needs to cast a different spell during the battle, the stored healing energy is lost.
    
  • Ease Pain - this spell does not heal any damage or wounds, but instead erases all sensation of pain while Tahlia is in contact with the one being affected. This low-drain spell has been useful when a person is close to death and beyond saving, to help with their transition. It is also useful if stitches or another unpleasant procedure is required.
    
  • Arrows of Life - Arrows of healing energy surround the caster and can be "thrown" with a thought. Each "arrow" administers healing to the person they hit. (If the target is undead, it delivers damage). The drain for this spell is the cost of the healing spell plus additional drain for the “arrow” form - and it incurs more drain the longer it is held.
    
  • Neutralize Poison - Removes poisons and toxins in the body. Drain is relative to the amount of poison and the speed at which it is removed. Can be cast at lesser cost over food or drink.
    
  • Remove Disease - Cures subject of all diseases. There are specialized diseases (especially those magically created) that resist this spell. Casting this spell requires a day of preparation and the resulting drain requires the caster to rest for at least a day.
    
  • Regeneration - Very costly spell allowing regeneration of recently lost body parts (fingers, hands, toes, limbs, but not heads or organs). Has to be within 24 hours of injury.
    
  • Resurrection - Generally only available through devotion to Xegas. Tahlia once could cast it, but no longer has access to this ability since she turned away from the Ascended. She theorizes that she could perform the spell by offering her life in exchange through the resulting drain. (Theoretically, she could pass that drain onto another and save herself and effectively exchange one person’s life for another, but this is against her nature.)
    
  
  
  She also has a special necklace to help with healing.
  
  
  Bolstering Allies
  
  
  Tahlia has also focused on how to cast spells upon her allies and companions to keep them safe and amplify their skills. She is not nearly as adept in this area as healing, but learned this as part of her work with the rangers and continued studying it since reaching Rhodinar as a means of making herself valuable to potential employers. Most of the spells are focused on a singular area: i.e., strength, speed, will, accuracy. All fatigue her through drain afterwards, and items like speed induce mental strain as well.. Specialized amplification/bolstering spells:
  
  
  • Sure Shot: through preparation and casting amplified dexterity on herself or another, this allows for sharpshooter shots with a bow or thrown weapon. Tahlia has been known to use this for herself in situations where a long or difficult shot is required.
    
  • Borrowed Strength: In desperate situations, Tahlia can give up nearly all her strength and lend it to another through this spell. She must keep enough in reserve to deal with the drain (which is relatively low, considering) and keep herself conscious. However, she will be out of any fight after casting this and relatively defenseless until healed or given a chance to rest.
    
  
  
  Special item - Necklace of Restoration
  
  
  A large (approx 1.5” long) oval sapphire pendant surrounded by tiny silver thorns on a heavy chain. It is enchanted to allow her to store vitality/health. Essentially, it allows her to sacrifice her current health toward future need. She cuts herself on the thorns and bleeds upon the stone (a drop of blood is sufficient). The stone absorbs not only the blood but health/vitality. The cost to her is the drain of a very basic healing spell, plus whatever health she sacrifices. She then has to recover from the sacrificed health without magical intervention. Done slowly over time (think the equivalent of small cuts or bruises), she can store enough vitality within the stone to recover from near death two times over. Once stored, she can use this to heal herself or others, but it must all be used at once. (So she can fully heal someone larger/stronger than her with the additional stored health.) The stone's color indicates how much health is stored within the gem: at full capacity, the stone is bright with an inner light. With no health, it is a dark blue.
  
  
  
• Equipment
  
  Tahlia is proficient with almost any kind of bow, but has gravitated toward the longbow as her personal bow of choice.
  
  
  • Longbow - Her bow is obviously of fine quality, but otherwise does not appear to be anything beyond the ordinary. It is imbued with subtle enchantments for strength (resistance to breaking) and magnifying the force of arrows drawn from it. This does not increase the standard pull of the bow, but magnifies the force behind arrows shot from the bow by 1.5 times. The bow needs to be recharged by sunlight to maintain both effects.
    
  • Large quiver, holding up to 30 arrows, segmented into three compartments:
    12 arrows with elemental enchantments: 4 fire, 4 ice/cold, and 4 light. These are all single-use arrows and have fletching of red, light blue, and white respectively.
    
  • 8 arrows of piercing: composed of broad-headed adamantine tips, these bypass armor of anything less than adamantine (less than 20 hardness in D&D terms). These are re-useable, as the piercing quality lies in the rare metal and design of the tip. The fletching on these arrows are dark grey with a white stripe.
    
  • The remainder are standard arrows of fine quality; she opts for fletching of any color other than the ones listed above; most are yellow or black.
    
  
  
  [*]Longsword. This is a well-crafted but otherwise unremarkable weapon.
  
  
  [*]Dagger (sheathed in her belt near the back). Also a well-crafted but unenchanted item.
  
  
  
  
  For specific missions, she may also carry a crossbow or short bow. Her armor appears as pictured above. It is padded under the surcoat (where there is not plate) and reinforced with leather. It has been enchanted to be quiet and light for its make, both intended to help her with scouting.
  
  
  
• Skills
  
  Ranger, with skills in archery and healing. See history and Magic/Spells for details.
  
  
  
• Miscellaneous
  
  Once she joined the rangers, Tahlia discovered the fiddle and has been attempting to learn it. She is horrid at it, and she knows it, but she tries anyway. (Usually in private.) She also often hums to herself when alone or going about mundane tasks.
  
  
  

 

[Erica]

I should add: critiques/feedback are always welcome, for those willing to read.