1.) Name: Stormblade K’Leshya (K’Valdemar)

2.) Gender and orientation: Female, heterosexual

3.) Species: Human

4.) Age: 18

5.) Rank: Silver Gryphon and Ambassador-in-Training (Later, Herald-Mage Trainee)

6.) Physical appearance: Standing around 5’4” tall, Storm has a build that is more toned than muscular, and more slender than skinny, but with a full compliment of curves. Her brown hair is ruthlessly straight, hangs halfway down her back, and is usually kept up in a tie or bun or some sort; her eyes are a nearly matching shade of brown. Her facial features are finely sculpted, bordering on “delicate,” and her skin has been deeply tanned by a life lived mostly outdoors. As for clothing and ornaments, Storm tends to lean more to the conservative side—but even “conservative” K’Leshya could be considered ornate by Valdemaran standards. Her wardrobe is filled with various styles of clothing, most of which are functional and have earthy colors—greens, browns, tans, and such—with a few splashes of brighter colors for special occasions. She has a small box of bright glass beads that her father made for her, and no matter what her hair-style is at a given point in time, she will almost invariably leave a few strands down with which to wind them in.

7.) Personality: With a calm disposition and a rational mind, Stormblade usually takes the time to think things through before she acts. Not very impulsive, but is no stick-in-the-mud, either: she likes to have fun just as much her brethren, and can hardly be called cold or reserved. Her say-name has a double meaning: first off is her love for storms of any kind, and second, the fact that her temper acts much like them—slow to build, but unstoppable when raised to full fury. ‘Blade’ was simply something she added upon reaching full Silver rank, to show her accomplishment. Storm also has a knack for reading people and discerning their motives—this is *not* a Gift, simply a talent built and refined over time, and one that got her and her Silver partner, Kaden Siruskai, accepted as part of the new Envoy to Haven.

8.) Brief history: Storm was born and raised in the K’Leshya Vale, which had been formerly that of the K’Sheyna. Her mother died during childbirth, and her father was often buried in his work; however, she was far from abandoned. Raised mostly by the Vale at large, she spent most of her childhood running around with the rest of her age-mates and doing any number of minor chores for her various “Aunts” and “Uncles”. Once they became of age, she and Kaden Siruskai enrolled in the Silver Gryphons. They passed with flying colors and were partnered up; the two spent a year out on patrols and such before they were both chosen to accompany the new K’Leshya Diplomatic Envoy to Haven, acting not only as honorary guards, but also as Ambassadors-in-Training.

9.) Mother: Sunwind K’Leshya, deceased. She died giving birth to Storm; before that, she was a Silver who was slowly yet surely rising through the ranks. Storm doesn’t remember her, but from the stories she’s heard, her mother was a bright, passionate woman who never did anything halfway, and who greatly anticipated the child growing within her womb.

10.) Father: Glassheart K’Leshya, age 37. As the Vale’s Master Glassblower, he’s often gone at work and has never had a truly close relationship with his daughter, but the two share a friendly bond nevertheless. A true artist at heart, he loves things of beauty and is always experimenting with new things to shape in his Craft. Some of his works seem to defy the laws of nature, giving rise to the suspicion that perhaps his simple “talent” is really something more…

11.) Siblings: Brightsoul K’Leshya, age 8, male. Storm’s half-brother by way of Glassheart, Brightsoul is too young to be in training, but he hovers around the various mages of the Vale like a bee around honey-pots. His say-name is entirely appropriate—-as bright and cheery as a songbird, he positively adores Storm, and bugs her almost as much as he does the mages.

12.) Other significant relatives: Ironheart K’Leshya, age 58, maternal grandmother. A full Adept in the Vale, Ironheart has a reputation of being a hard worker and an even harder taskmaster. She and her daughter were often at odds while she was alive, their arguments mostly centered around Sunwind’s lack of commitment to her Mage-Gift, but that animosity has not carried over Ironheart relationship with Storm—in fact, Storm is one of the few people who has ever seen her grandmother’s softer side.

13.) Romantic interests: None, though she has had a fair amount of trysts before.

14.) Friends: Raised mostly by the Vale at large, Storm has a good many friends in her peers, and some outside her age group. The envoy she travels with to Haven consists of twelve members, five of which are human, three hertasi, two dyheli, a gryphon, and a kyree. The humans are: Stoneskin K’Leshya, a 42-year-old Adept mage legendary for control over his temper; Moonwind K’Leshya, a 27-year-old kestra’chern who is a master of her craft; Firechaser K’Leshya, a 25-year-old Master mage who tends to leap into things head-first; Nimar Vuysher’edras, a 23-year-old Shin’a’in laj’ele’ruvon who is as reserved as he is curious about the world around him; and Stormblade. The dyheli are Tyran and Fleta, a stately old former-King Stag and a bright, chirpy young doe. Kilar, Seira, and Reisa are the hertasi, the former a male and the later two sisters; all three have strong, open, and wickedly humorous personalities. Herla, the kyree, is a young female who is bonded to Firechaser and possesses one of the strongest Mindspeech Gifts ever seen in the Vale. And finally there is Kaden Siruskai, the young male gryphon, who tends to acts ages older than he actually is. Storm has known all of the above since she was a childhood, with the marked exception of Nimar Vuysher’edras. Stoneskin treats her as a surrogate granddaughter, Moonwind and Firechaser like older siblings. Tyran is your classic elder, and to Fleta she is simply another friend to be happy at. Kilar, Seira, and Reisa are all friends, and so is Herla; of them all, however, it is Kaden that is her best and deepest friend. Of Nimar she knows little, and he of her—they haven’t been around each other long enough to form much of a relationship.

15.) Pets: None

16.) NPC's: All of the K’Leshya diplomatic envoy.

Heraldic-Trainee

1.) Gifts and strengths of Gifts: Is a fully-trained Journeyman-class Mage, and a strong Mindspeaker as well.

2.) Reasons why you deserve to be a Herald: Raised in a world where people of entirely different species and radically different powers and ranks co-exist in perfect harmony, Stormblade has practically no concept of prejudice or stereotypes. She will take a person for what they are no matter what titles (or lack thereof) they might have, and will judge them only by the virtues that she sees, not what is implied.

3.) Can your character be spared from their family to become a Herald? Stormblade’s family is not an issue for her being Chosen, but her responsibility to the envoy’s mission is. However, her place in the group was essentially as a student, and her duties negligible when compared with the others’—her absence will be felt by the rest of the envoy, but will not cripple it.

Companion


1.) Name: Aros

2.) Gender: Male

3.) Age: Adult

4.) Personality: Strong and steady, but not without a sense of humor. He has a great deal of experience, and knows how to use it; like Stormblade, he’s not impulsive, but once he sets his mind on something, he will carry it out to all ends.

5.) Sire/Dam: Augulas/Ulera

6.) Siblings: None from his dam, though he has plenty of half-brothers and –sisters running around from his sire’s many… *ahem*… exploits.

7.) Children: None

Herald-Mage Trainee


1.) Level: Journeywoman

2.) Skills: The average Journeyman-class training, with special emphasis on finding new ways to use the power she has.

3.) Specialty: Specializes in Mage-Sense and –Sight. Can also “decipher” spells, breaking them down much as one would a tapestry, and reach into their being to break them apart from the inside. The stronger the spell, the harder it is for her to break, but she has yet to find one that she can’t.

4.) Story: No major drama here—Stormblade’s grandmother, Ironheart, was a powerful Adept, and her mother showed promise of reaching the same stature. Though her father seemed to be un-Gifted, there was some speculation that his proficiency at his Craft came from some strange, rogue Gift, and so Storm was carefully watched throughout her life for any signs of power. When her Gift first appeared around the age of seven, she was taken in and trained by her Adept grandmother. The watchers were soon proved disappointed, however—although Storm’s ability to break spells apart was a cause for excitement, she failed to show any of the great talent of her maternal line, and proved to be destined for nothing greater than Journeyman-class.

5.) Why do you want to play a Herald-Mage? Because I think it’d be fun, and because it’s consistent to Stormblade’s character. It states in the Mage Winds trilogy that almost all Tayledras have the Mage Gift at some level or another, though most can do no more than the most menial tasks—I’m assuming that it’s much the same for the Kaled’a’in. As for her Rogue Gift (the spell-breaking), such things are usually the result of extended exposure to the Pelagiris Range—which those of K’Leshya most certainly have been.

6.) What will you try to accomplish with your Herald-Mage? Just what you’d do with any other character: get her into adventures and scrapes and whatever else I can think up. I am looking forward to a certain amount of culture clash, however—Storm comes from a world where the Mage-Gift is as common as black on crows, and while Adepts and Masters might be a bit of a big deal, being a Journeyman is nothing special. Suddenly finding herself in a place where that “commonplace” Gift is cause for excitement would be strange, to say the least.