#( finley + weslyn. )

[mysdrymmumbles]

Getting Into My OC

A comprehensive breakdown of your OC.

Thank you to the wonderful @ellenembee​ for tagging me with this! I’m going to do Finley from Andraste’s Witch and Weslyn and Nicole from Tales of Mysdrym. 

Thank you so much for the tag!

NAME: None, though she calls herself Finley as of the Conclave

AGE: 27 at the time of the conclave 

GENDER: Female

ORIENTATION: pan

PROFESSION: Wilds’ Apostate

BACKGROUND:

Finley’s father was a heartless maleficar and her mother was an abomination. The demon inside her mother was a third parent of sorts, the only one who cared for her, and the only reason the others didn’t drown her when she was little, instead tricking her maleficar parents into believing that Finley’s blood would enhance their blood magic, thus ensuring they would keep her alive.

Around four years old, templars came and killed her parents. Because she had been a hostage of the blood mages, as far as the templars knew, they kept her with them, initially to keep an eye out for signs of possession, though they ended up becoming very protective of their dear, odd girl. 

For the first time, Finley knew what it was like to be safe, to have a home. Her templars -- Ser Caudry, Ser Ross, and Ser Neil -- doted on her and treated her like their own child, telling her stories to make the world less frightening and always there to hold a hand when her nightmares were too much. She would steal the templars’ shields and run around, imagining herself a savior to others from the terrifying blood mages and monsters in the world. She didn’t want anyone else to be trapped with monsters like she had been and was determined to be like her heroes, even if she was very afraid of most all other people.

After 3 years of living with the templars, one of them, Ser Caudry, was brought back severely injured. Terrified that one of her heroes would die, Finley’s magic woke up, and she expended almost all of her energy healing him as best she could.

When she woke up, one of the other templars, Ser Neil, was taking her into the woods, telling her that she would be safe with the Avvar, as he feared what would happen to her if she was taken to a Circle when she was already so skittish and mentally frail. The Revered Mother from the Chantry they’d been living at, however, had already alerted the Circle of Finley’s magic, and the Circle templars caught up before they could get far into the mountains. 

Ser Neil tried to fend off the templars, but one snuck up behind them and ran Finley through, just barely missing her heart. Distracted by Finley’s cry from getting hurt, Ser Neil was cut down in front of her.

When Finley next awoke, she was with the renowned Flemeth and one of her daughters. The great Witch of the Wilds had caught sight of the templars attacking Finley and Ser Neil and had been curious because Finley seemed a bit closer to the Fade than most her age, so she had intervened. 

Flemeth told her that going back north would result in death, at best, and that there was a sliver of a chance she might survive if she fled into the Wilds. When Finley woke up, she was alone in a deserted camp that looked like it hadn’t been used in months.

Life in the Wilds was hard at first, but Finley learned that most of the creatures people deemed to be monsters could be allies of sorts, if one offered them the proper respect and understood that they simply followed their nature.

Seeking peace and quiet, she became known as the Green Witch, as her magic dealt mostly with nature and she wound up helping the lost find their way out of the woods and the like. Mostly she did it to prevent search parties from drawing too much attention to herself and bringing in the templars, but in the stories that sprung up around her, people lauded her a kind Witch. 

Heartbreak and betrayal, as well as the demon that had possessed her mother, followed her through her life, leading to some hellacious trust and abandonment issues.

After the Blight, she devoted herself to finding a way to heal the Wilds and return them to the way they were before the arrogance of man had destroyed so much of it. It was during her research that a familiar old Witch came by to tell her that there was someone who could help her with her research, though she would need to go to the Conclave to get their assistance.

PHYSICAL

Body type: lithe

Eyes: blue with gold flame-like center around the pupils, fade-touched

Hair: fiery orange

Skin: tanned with oodles of freckles

Height: 5′3

Weight: 105   

SKILLS (S.P.E.C.I.A.L + M)

Strength: 5/10, but only because she can heal herself well enough that she can over exert without too much in the way of repercussions. 

Perception: Varies. 9/10 when she’s in the Wilds, on her own, 5/10 when she’s dealing with a lot of people, mostly because she may see what they’re doing but doesn’t understand what their little movements/tells mean so seeing it is meaningless, 6/10 when she’s in a fight and collected, 3/10 when her side is losing and she’s panicking that someone is going to die and she’ll be blamed. She tends to get hurt most often with the last one because she forgets to look after herself.

Endurance: 9/10. She’s been through some shit and is used to having to outrun/outlast templars. 

Charisma: 2/10. Her general paranoia and fear of people betraying her does not lend well to being charismatic.

Intelligence: 7/10. Finley picks up on things quickly, so long as she can make sense of why it is done or why it is necessary. Her lack of understanding of currency, for example, stems from her not seeing a point in having tiny coins when one can just do favors for one another. Spells, she learns incredibly quickly, flips, and the like. Nuances to conversation and culture, not so much. Most of the time, her problems also stem from the fact that if she knows (or thinks she knows) one way to do something, she sees no point in learning another way when hers is already effective. She’s her own biggest obstacle.

Agility: 9/10. One does not outmaneuver a templar if one is slow.

Luck: 1/10. Father - maleficar. Mother - possessed and dead. 3 Templars - dead or exiled from the order. 1st love - possessed and dead. 2nd lover - possessed and dead. 3rd lover - was a liar who tried to sell her to the templars and Finley was almost beheaded while she ran away (she doesn’t like to talk about it). Demon stalker. Wilds ravaged. People messing up her wards and making them clunky and cumbersome. Stuck around a ridiculous number of templars. Expected to play nice with idiot nobility and mage haters. Favorite spider - stepped on by Hawke. Hawke - exists. 

As far as Finley’s concerned, she has no good luck. Well, except for getting to meet the Alistair Theirin and a few other grey wardens. 

Magic: 10/10 Finley is very good with magic, also rather condescending to anyone who doesn’t practice her style, which is everyone. 

LIKES

Colors: birds, wild animals, the Wilds, not being around people

Smells: Fresh rain, ocean breezes, wildflowers 

Food: For someone as picky as she is, she’s surprisingly blasé toward food in general

Fruit: any of them

Drinks: Anything non-alcoholic

Alcoholic drinks: she doesn’t like them because she likes to stay alert.

OTHER

Smoke: none. Smoke makes it easier for someone to find you.

Drugs: none, unless she’s slipping them to someone else so she can run away

Driver’s license?: much to Varric’s amusement, she claims she can ride kelpies, but not much else.

NAME: Weslyn Kagris, 2nd son of Jasserai Kagris

AGE: 28 at the beginning of the book

GENDER: male

ORIENTATION: gay

PROFESSION: emissary/make-shift monarch (not by choice)

BACKGROUND:

Weslyn grew up in Kyvrell, Mysdrym’s southern neighbor who has poor standing with Mysdrym ever since the Demons’ War four thousand years ago, during which the lands that now make up Kyvrell were abandoned by the crown. The people who survived the demonic onslaught and fall of their sacred temples refused to return to the rule of the people who had left them to die, and it is a point of pride that they have survived so well on their own. Especially considering that they are the ones who are most frequently attacked by the Chaotic shifters from the islands to the south.

While Weslyn had expected to join Kyvrell’s prominent military, being the second child of noble parents, when it became clear that the demons were reemerging after four turns (1 turn is 1000 years) of silence, he was elected to go to Mysdrym on behalf of Kyvrell to request the ancient seals that could lock the demons away once more.

He was nearly laughed out of court when he presented himself to High Grace Norwrithe of Mysdrym.

Even as he’d considered what he could do—he couldn’t return home without the seals, but knew he couldn’t expect the High Grace to take him seriously—he was approached by Lord Sehnswrift, a noble who had fallen out of favor with the high grace. Lord Sehnswrift was adamant that Weslyn was right; the demons were returning.

They began working together, gathering support where they could—even though he’d fallen from favor with the court, Lord Sehnswrift still held a great deal of respect among the soldiers.

Then, abruptly, Lord Sehnswrift staged a coup, with Weslyn at his side, murdering the high grace and scattering the surviving nobles from the capital. Despite taking power, Lord Sehnswrift showed no desire to take over the duties of running the country, instead handing the job off to Weslyn, who—despite pleas that him running things would make it look like Kyvrell had declared war on Mysdrym—finally accepted with great reluctance.

Despite the rather legitimate fear that he will be assassinated, Weslyn has done what he can to ease tensions, working on redirecting funds from the high grace’s parties to doing construction around Mysdrym’s capital and attempting to show the people of Mysdrym that he and Lord Sehnswrift wish to help.

He keeps his sword near him at all times, so that he will not be taken unawares.

After a few months of somehow managing to not have a heart attack whilst running a foreign country, Lord Sehnswrift gathered him to go and meet fabled other-worlders, who are sent by the Gods in times of strife. Weslyn is not particularly pleased with their arrival, as that means that the return of the demons is likely to be so devastating that the Gods thought other-worlders were necessary.

PHYSICAL

Body type: well toned

Eyes: gray

Hair: dark brown

Skin: coppery

Height: 5′11

Weight: idfk, he’s got muscle though  

SKILLS (S.P.E.C.I.A.L + M)

Strength: 7/10. He’s a pretty solid fighter. 

Perception: 7/10 He’d probably notice more, but he’s kind of paranoid about being assassinated, so what he thinks is hyper-vigilance does make him miss some stuff because he gets so easily distracted by harmless sounds and shadows. 

Endurance: Varies. 9/10 in a fight, 6/10 dealing with the upkeep of the castle, 2/10 dealing with other-worlders’ bullshit, but he’s working on that last one.

Charisma: 5/10. He’s not great at hiding the growing terror that he’s going to be deposed with the Lord he sided with, should people come to reclaim the throne for the young grace. 

Intelligence: 7/10. He’s a quick study, and a fairly good tactician. 

Agility: 7/10. Not the fastest, but good at dodging stuff, in a fair fight. Demons don’t fight fair, though. 

Luck: 4/10. He went to a foreign country to find out how to save his, got stuck running said country and accidentally freed the demon lord, when all he wants is to go home, so... not the best.

Magick: 3/10. He is not a fan of his healing magick, as it wears him down, but he is trying to strengthen it, as the other-worlders are so accident prone and it would help to have a healer while fighting the demons. 

LIKES

Colors: reds, browns, golds

Smells: ocean breezes, baking bread

Food: He likes a good wyvern steak. 

Fruit: eh, star flower fruit is alright

Drinks: something to take the edge off

Alcoholic drinks: yes, please

OTHER

Smoke: a good distraction tactic, if necessary.

Drugs: he sees enough shit hiding in the shadows, he doesn’t need drugs adding to it.

Driver’s license?: He does not come from a world with driver’s licenses, but he’s fairly good on a horse.

NAME: Nicole (Nik) Katerin Hedgeway

AGE: 21 at the beginning of the book

GENDER: female

ORIENTATION: pan

PROFESSION: other-worlder

BACKGROUND:

The first five years of Nik’s life are never brought up or talked about, other than to say her mother was unwell and unfit. Zachary’s father found Nik living in the woods behind their house, scrawny and underfed and terrified of people. He talked her into coming home with him, and while his wife and son talked with her, he called for help.

Nik’s mother had failed to inform anyone that she’d been missing, and had a breakdown after her reappearance, saying that Nik was the product of rape, and she couldn’t look at her. While Nik has always doubted this, her mother’s family did not, rallying behind her mother. When her aunt refused to shun Nik, saying she deserved to be with family, Nik, her aunt, and her cousin Samantha were all disowned.

Nik has fought with guilt over that for most of her life, though she can’t say that she thinks Samantha is missing out on much. Still, she knows it hurts her aunt and wishes she could fix things.

Because of a freak accident in the woods when she was 7 that left Nik severely injured, she was unable to go to school for two years and ended up being in the same grade as Samantha, Zachary, and Ella.

Her injuries have caused her problems ever since, and she’s been in and out of the hospital far too many times.

One of the things that has helped her the most throughout her life are stories that have been in her head for as long as she can remember, of fantastical creatures and magick. She is sure that they are as real as she is, and often claims to have seen them or other magickal creatures wandering the world.

While Samantha and Zachary—and later Ella—were fond of her stories growing up, Samantha has become disenfranchised with them, feeling that Nik is using them to avoid reality. Nik is annoyed that Samantha would be so quick to insist they are not real, but tries to keep the peace, as she knows Samantha will not accept her truths.

Knowing that Samantha has spent much of her life giving up too many things so that she can stay with and help her, Nik fakes getting accepted into a local college so that Samantha will go off into the world and have a chance to find herself, free from Nik’s shadow.

It doesn’t quite work, and when Zachary finds out she’s not in college, things get uncomfortable as she realizes she’s going to have to tell Samantha she lied.

However, before things can fall apart completely, Nik and Ella are whisked away to Mysdrym by a dog made of shadows.

Needless to say, Nik is ecstatic.

PHYSICAL

Body type: a bit too thin

Eyes: gray

Hair: brown

Skin: too pale

Height: 6′0

Weight: underweight 

SKILLS (S.P.E.C.I.A.L + M)

Strength: 4/10. Despite being so thin, she can carry about as much as her healthier friends, and insists she could do more, if given the chance. She is never given the chance. 

Perception: 4/10. Nik’s pretty thrilled to learn new stuff, but she doesn’t pick up on danger really quick. Like, she’ll be inspecting an awesome flower she’s never seen before and would be so entranced with memorizing the details on the pistils that someone could easily sneak up on her. She tries to pay attention, but gets distracted really easily. 

Endurance: 7/10. She’s pretty proud that she’s been improving lately, not falling over and collapsing like she used to.

Charisma: 4/10. She’s friendly enough, but people often find themselves experiencing an innate unease from merely being around her, and as a result, a lot of people just try to avoid her.

Intelligence: 9/10. She catches on to stuff really quickly, even things she’s not able to do herself, and can walk others through how to do it (i.e. magick).

Agility: 8/10 fast for someone who looks like they’re about to fall over, and when Ella and Zach catch her doing things like backflips, they wonder how. Samantha threatens murder, though, so Nik tries to be subtle with any acrobatics, so that word doesn’t get back to her dear cousin.

Luck: 4/10. Things are always trying to kill her, when all she wants is to have fun and go on adventures.

Magick: 0/10. Much to her chagrin, she cannot use magick. 

LIKES

Colors: all of them

Smells: leaves, wind - yes, she insists it does have a smell unto itself, nature-y things

Food: salad

Fruit: fuck yeah

Drinks: water

Alcoholic drinks: she is wary of alcohol and other mind-altering things

OTHER

Smoke: her cousin, Samantha, would kill her.

Drugs: just got off a bunch of prescribed bullshit against her doctor’s orders, and is not a fan of any type in general

Driver’s license?: due to her health issues, she’s not really allowed to drive, since she was prone to passing out and stuff for a while. Though she’s doing better, she doesn’t need one because she’s in Mysdrym now.

Tagging: @cometeclipsewriting, @momopichu, @commandershepardvasfuckit, @slothquisitor, @rederiswrites, @gugle1980, and @thesecondsealwrites. No pressure :D

[sofrpc]

⌖*ﾟ— 400 UNIQUE AND UNDERUSED FEMALE NAMES

in honor of returning to the rpc, i have created a masterlist of 400 unique and underused female names ! these are all listed in alphabetical order, and although i dont claim any of these as my own, please don’t copy and paste straight into another masterlist. feel free to use the names in any way you like, i hope this gives you muse for your characters (my faves are bolded) — also smash that like or reblog if you found this useful, thank you !

A

aliyah, acacia, adabelle, adair, adelie, adelina, adley, adrienne, ainsley, alana, alaska, alessia, alfie, allora, amanita, amara, ambrosia, amelie, ambrosia, analia, anastasia, andrea, aneka, angelica, ana-marie, ana-sofia, anthea, ariel, arielle, arizona, asteria, astrid, atlanta, auburn, audrey, aurelia, aurora, autumn, avalee, avanelle, avery, aviana, axa

B

baila, bailey, baize, bambi, bardot, barry, beatrix, bee, benilde, bethia, beverly, bexley, billie, bindi, birdie, blake, blanche, blaze, blossom, blue, bonita, bonnie, braelyn, brielle, brinley, brinx, brona, bronte, brooke, bryce

C

cailin, calla, camila, camille, carmen, catalina, cecilia, celine, celestia, chanel, chantelle, chelsea, cheryl, claire, clara, claudia, clea, cleo, colette, corine, courtney, cynthia

D

dahlia, dakota, darlene, darodah, dawn, deidra, delaney, delilah, denise, desiree, destiny, dinah, dove, dylan

E

eden, effie, eileen, eiza, electra, elena, elise, ellie, elodie, eloise, elora, ember, emerson, esme, estelle, evelyn, evolee

F

farah, farren, faye, felicity, fern, finley, fleur, florence, frankie, freya, frieda

G

gaia, galiena, genie, gia, gianna, gigi, gisela, giselle, genesis, grecia, greer, greta, gwendolyn

H

hadlee, harlow, harlee, harlyn, harper, hayden, hazel, helena, heidi, holland

I

ida, ileana, imogen, indianna, indie, inessa, ingrid, inna, iris, irene, isabel, isadora, isla, ivana, ivory, ivy

J

jacinta, jadelyn, jamie, jamilla, jaylah, jenna, jersey, jocelyn, jodie, jolene, jordyn, juliana, july, juniper, juno

K

kaia, kalina, kalani, karina, katherine, kaya, kaylee, keegan, kelby, kelsey, kendall, kendra, kenna, kiara, kimberly, kinsley, kristina, kyra

L

lara, laurel, layla, leia, leighton, leilani, lena, lesley, leona, leticia, liberty, liliane, lilo, loraine, lorelei, lori, london, lorena, lucia, luisa, lumi, luna, lynn

M

maeve, maize, malia, marcella, mariana, marissa, margot, marisol, marjorie, marlene, matilde, mavis, mazikeen, melodie, merlia, micah, mikaela, mila, milena, miriam, mirielle, mona, myrsina

N

nadia, nadine, naomi, naressa, nathalia, naya, neila, neo, nicola, nikita, noelle, nora, nova, nur, nyla, nyx

O

octavia, odelia, odina, olena, olita, olive, olivia, olympia, opal, ophelia, oriana, orion, orla, orlena

P

paige, paislee, pandora, pearle, penelope, pepper, perrie, petra, peyton, phoebe, pilar, pip, piper, pippa, priscilla, priya, prudence

Q

queenie, quella, quinn, quinta

R

raffa, rana, raven, regina, remi, rhea, rhiannon, river, robin, rome, rosabelle, rosalie, rosalyn, rosette, rowan

S

sable, sadie, sage, sahar, salem, samira, saoirse, saskia, savannah, scout, selina, serafin, seraphina, shani, shenae, sia, siobhan, sloane, solene, solstice, sonya, summer, suri, sydney, sylvia

T

tamara, tana, tasmin, tasha, tatiana, teagan, tessa, thalia, thea, tilda, toni, tove, tricia, trixie, tuesday

U

udelle, ulani, uri, urma, ursa

V

valerie, valentina, valentine, venus, vera, verona, vivian

W

weslyn, whitney, willa, willow, winnie, wynona, wynter

X

xahlia, xana, xandra, xanthi, xena, xylia

Y

yara, yasmine, yana, yani, ysabel, yvette, yvonne

Z

zada, zahara, zara, zariah, zaylee, zeina, zelda, zelena, zeriah, zoelle, zuri

[mysdrymmumbles]

Writing Meme

The awesome @slothquisitor tagged me for this. Thank you <3

Is there a snack you like to eat while writing?  

Not really.

What time of day do you usually write?

Anytime I have both drive and time. Sometimes it’s 2 am, sometimes it’s 11 am, no real set time.

Where do you write?

My room. It’s the only place I can really write without getting interrupted.

How often do you write a new fic?

Not too often. Every now and then I’ll have the energy to start a few new ones, but that hasn’t happened lately, lol.  Do you listen to music while you write?

Almost always. 

Paper or laptop?

Depends on the story, how long the chapter is, and whether my wrists hurt or not. Usually laptop. 

Do you have a special pre-writing ritual?

Nope.

What do you do to get into the writing?

Either it will just hit me, or I’ll just start writing. I may throw out the first few paragraphs I write, but it gets me started. 

What do you always have near the place you write?

Generally something to drink and my phone. 

Do you have a reward system for word counts?

Not really. I used to when I played WoW. 

Is there anything else about your writing process your readers don’t know?

I have a hard time settling on names. One of my Mysdrym characters went from Lynn to Meryl to something to Nicole. Honestly, there were two or three other names in there, for her, too. Almost all my characters went through name changes, including Nadrynne, Shai, Vesper, Weslyn (originally his first name was Kagris, not his last).

See, someone told me that it was important for characters’ names to reflect who they are, and so I was trying to be a ‘professional writer’ and totally struggling. Then I said fuck it and all the names fell into place.

It happens with my fanfic characters, too. Finley started as Lorelai, changed to Katherine, then to Draiochta, then to Dree, then Emmi, then Ember, then Amber, then Finley. 

I’m the worst at naming characters and stories xD

I’m tagging @ellenembee, @queenmelisende, @rederiswrites, @halfblood-fiend, @ma-sulevin, @scootscootscotty, and @commandershepardvasfuckit. No pressure :3