#but basically is just crown was just like the creaking and lamb was the heart

[milkyvast]

i want more what ever these 3 dynamics are

[pacificbookworm]

This next chapter of Mora is being a bit harder for me to write so I’m not getting my dose of Mora I need so did another questionnaire. I like doing these because as I write her she is getting more flushed out and being a more real person. Writing her early life with @theravenandthepawn is helping as well. I am really in love with this character. Mora and Neoma have become something I think about all the time (even on the bus and at work). Why do I fall in love with characters I never own the rights to and can only ever do fan fiction >< 

The questionnaire has been edited by me, original here: http://thewriterowl.blogspot.ca/2016/03/ultimate-character-questionnaire.html

Anyone interested in the visuals I keep to help me with Mora can find them here:

https://open.spotify.com/user/12175945672/playlist/2eSkccZWyOpBpLP8GM5Qfu

https://open.spotify.com/user/12175945672/playlist/5Mh4KbVbQQp5u6ozS68C1X

https://www.pinterest.com/fabledtales/mora/?eq=mora&etslf=4903

Basics

What is your name?

Mora Shandra

What is your name’s origin and meaning, and how was it chosen?

N/A Haven’t spent time much on her parents, I think if I do this I would have to collaborate with Raven about where she was born and who her dad was. I took the easy way out, she doesn’t remember where she was born other than it was a Barony. 

Any nicknames? 

A lot of disrespectful names are said behind her back. The Bastard would probably be the most common. When she was young she would fight anyone who would say it to her face, as an older Mora she has grown too tired to fight anymore. She just frowns and usually leaves or walks away.

How tall are you?

I have her about 5′4″ - 5′6″, average.

Who do you live with or near, if anyone?

She lives alone in the poor district. She could afford better accommodations but she “knows her place” as she puts it and stays with her own kind. She is a flea bottom peasant even though her trade now makes her off the craftsman class and I’m sure Zale could make her a noble. 

Where is your residence and what is it like?

It is a very old building that needs to be torn down. The lock sticks and the door is badly warped. Inside, the fireplace is unusable so it gets quite cold in the winter. She has an old table in the main room with a couch that is at least a decade old. On the mantle of the useless fireplace is a small alter to Septriss (god of the moon and magic). She has a 2x4 she uses to lean against her door latch as a lock. There is a window in the main room which is so badly warped it doesn’t open.

In a separate room is a straw mattress bed and a large window looking out over the poor district. In the same room is the tub which doesn’t have running water, but does have a plug to drain it. Mora just uses her wash basin to wash herself and the tub sits empty. Sometimes when she is really drunk she sleeps in it. There is a shared bathroom down the hall from her apartment. There is no running water in the bullding so it is basically a vault toilet. 

The whole building creaks horribly in a bad storm and her apartment leaks. 

What is your hometown and local culture like?

She doesn’t remember (I haven’t really spent time on this). 

Who are your parents?

Her mother was a washerwoman who sometimes laid with men to get by. It is likely her father is one of these men. Her mother was a woman who was born in the gutters and likely died in the gutters (Mora ran away from home as a child). She was bitter about it. For some reason, instead of aborting the child, she allowed Mora to be born and kept her. Her mother never had a kind word for her and reminded her constantly of the burden she was. After Mora was born she stopped bringing men into the hut but Mora knew what her mother was doing. 

Are you married, single, seeking a relationship, avoiding romance?

After Richard died Mora was heartbroken. She wrapped her heart in cold iron and kept everyone at an arm’s distance. She doesn’t open up to anyone ever. If anyone tries to force her to open up she reacts violently. She would run away before ever letting in. She is very afraid of opening her heart again. She carries the guilt and the loss on her like a weight.

For someone to love her she would have to lost herself, which I don’t see happening on her own. If someone really wanted to be with her they would have to fight her and not run away. It would have to be someone very patient and stubborn. This for me, makes Mora one of my most saddest characters. She is very strong, stubborn, can survive almost anything, but she can’t open up to others and let them in. Even still though, she does care for people she is just not willing to admit it or face it.

What is your class/income level?

Peasant

What is your income source and/or occupation?

She was a highwayman for a few years than worked as a mercenary for a noble. She is now retired and maps the stars.

What is your education?

Private tutor after retiring from being a mercenary. Richard taught her a little to read and write her name.

What is your worldview/religion? What is your level of devotion to that philosophy?

She worships Septriss, god of moon, magic, and knowledge. When she was a little girl she ran away from home and ran into trouble the following night. A band of brigands captured and were going to hurt her when a  mercenary camping nearby heard her screams. He killed the men and saved her under the light of a harvest moon. It made a big impression on her child mind. She became obsessed with the moon and eventually through persistence she discovered Septriss. She couldn’t really read until much later in her life so her worship is very unconventional and she is one of the very few who are not Septrinian (lizard folk), a wizard/mage, or a sage that worship him. 

What are your current life problems?

Oh so many. I think her biggest problem in life is she doesn’t let anyone in. She also believes she can handle anything on her own and she doesn’t need help. She is stubborn as a mule and has a fiery tongue to match it. 

She is blind to whatever relationship she has to others around her. Someone could be actively trying to court her and she probably would not notice because she is trying to hard to keep people at arm’s distance.

Who (or what) are your enemies?

I haven’t thought of any named enemies, but she picked up a few in her travels with the Blades.

What are your priorities in life?

She doesn’t really have any. Mora at the time of the Crown of Chains (the time period in which I am writing) is just basically existing. I guess keeping herself alive and out of the dungeon cells than.

What is your goal in life? What is your motivation for this goal?

Mora would like to see her kind raised up. Her loyalty to Zale keeps her from rebelling with the people, but when he dies there is no one around to keep her straight. She is only loyal to Zale, she is not loyal to the Malidur family. She wouldn’t hesitate to rise up against them if Zale were out of the picture.

Other than that I don’t think she has much in way of goals (at least not yet).

What changes do you undergo by the end of the story (emotional, physical, philosophical, relational, etc)?

From the time Zale pardons her to the time she leaves Victarith she goes through a huge change. At the start she was a scared 15 year old girl traveling with 5 strangers, most of them men, to an older, strong willed woman. Before she was tiimid with Zale, these days she will and has told him off and has no filter when she speaks to him. Most see him as the king proper and treat him like such, Mora will speak to him as she would one of her own and doesn’t fear the repercussions from it. When she fights with Zale, it isn’t pretty. She wouldn’t be afraid to tell Zale to ‘fuck off’ even though he is a high noble.

She grew into a woman with the Blades, travveling with them for over 15 years, closer to two decades. In the time she took a life and more after that. It changes you and it took whatever innocense she had left (though how innocent can you be born in flea bottom). I think that would have had an impact on the other Blades members but Mora proved to be a valid asset because she would not hesitate to do something to dangerous. While the others are busy of talking about to jump in the fire she would drop her blue cloak and run into it without hesitation. This has helped her to realize she is braver than she thinks and how strong she is.

But she has also changed for the worst. Zale did not pardon Richard and was heartbroken by her loss. Zale couldn’t or didn’t wish to linger on this and Mora was surrounded by hardened men, two arrogant men, and a woman who wad an idealist and who didn’t spend mch time getting to know Mora. On top of that Tork harassed and teased Mora. This all made Mora retreat within herself and hide her pain. It made her a little bitter and angry and she lost the softness of her youth. She hardly smiled and her eyes were always a little sad. Surrounded by people, she felt utterly alone and very heartbroken.

Eventually this is what would encourage to drink more and encouraged her to be even more reckless. Mora only wears leather armor, maybr a chainmail chest peiece, and she runs into battle with the big boys unconcerned about her saftey. Luckily, she is a capable fighter.

What is your central philosophy in life?

She has a very dark view of the world and believes in the wolf or lamb philosophy.

What moral code do you follow and why?

Because of Zale she has honor. She always defends the weak and she will give everything she owns, even the clothes on her back, to help others. I know that is honorable, where it gets shaky is if you are willing to rob someone blind because they are better off than you, are you really honorable? Mora is in kind of a grey zone. 

What is your outlook on life?

She has a very dark and morbid outlook.

What do you wish would happen to you?

Mora wishes for death to  be reunited with what she believes are the only people who cared for her.

What do you want to hide?

She wants to hide her feelings and emotions. I based her off of the medieval society since that is what seemed closest to what Raven had his world set in, so I based her off a patriarchy world. She dresses and acts man-ish and acts tough like them and hides her emotions and likes people to think she doesn’t feel much. Its a facade.

What languages do you know?

She only knows common.

What do you worry most about?

She is terrified of the plague and showing weakness. If anyone tries to get close or tries to get her to open up she freaks out.

What are your phobias?

Plague

What are your insecurities?

She believes she has no value because she is a bastard and now she is an old maid. She is also a little self conscious about her ability to read and write since she gained it in later life. She reads and writes well enough.

How is your self-confidence?

She is very self confident despite her issues. She is perhaps a little too self confident about her fighting skills.

What is your political stance?

She hates the feudal society she lives in (to be clear, if you said to her it was a feudal society she would have no idea what you’re talking about). She would love to see the people rise up and topple the nobles.

Do you like what you do for a living? If so, why? If not, what do you wish you could do instead?

She likes what she does now for a living. She maps the stars and constellations. Her late training and education in life was a boon from Zale for all the years she spent in the Blades. It gave her a trade so she doesn’t have to spend the rest of her life as a mercenary. 

Where do you feel most at home?

She wanders the dangerous woods at night. She feels at home there because she can be alone and be herself where there is no one to watch her and criticize her.  

Who do you look up do?

She idolizes and looks up to Richard. She was only with him about 1 1/2-2 years, but he made a big impact on her. He was a disgraced noble who didn’t give the caste system much value. He was honorable, though he turned to be a highwayman.

I think a part of her does look up to Zale even though she is a bit abrasive with him.

When and where were you the happiest?

She was the most happiest in the woods with Richard and the boys. They were her family. Richard taught her to read a little and to write her name and he taught her the basics of sword. She learned more from him and the other boys in the time they were together. Mora longs to have those moments back and would do almost anything to be back there.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I think Mora would like to know who her father was. Mora would tell you she wished she could turn off her emotions, but really she just needs to release the weight she has been carrying for years.

How do you feel about showing your emotions?

Mora will not show emotion in front of anyone, if she feels like she is going to lose control she will quickly walk away.

Body

What kind of creature are you (elf, human, alien, etc)?

Human, Plains human.

What are your abnormalities (deformity, birthmark, allergies)?

In her travels there was a priestess who traveled with them and she received much healing, so she doesn’t have many scars. For someone born in the gutter, she is remarkably mark free. She is a very plain and not strikingly beautiful but her eyes show her emotion and sometimes will strike you. She has a tattoo of a crescent moon over her chest, it is hard to see and sometimes you can see just the edge. 

What is your figure like (thin, muscular, pudgy)?

She grew up poor and did not have food to eat all the time. The long malnourishment made her slender but she has strength. Her thighs, abdomen, and arms are strong and she is very agile. But most of the Blades (except Tork) could beat her in a strength contest.

How fit are you?

She is very fit.

What is your hair and eye color?

She has dark walnut brown hair that looks black in the shadow and hazel eyes.

What is your hair texture and style?

She has long slightly wavy hair. It is very thick.

What is your face shape and features (freckles, big eyes, zits, reddish cheeks, birthmark, etc.)

She has a rounded v-shape face. Her birthmark is on her left wrist on the inside.

How old are you?

Mora doesn’t know how old she is. At the time of the Crown of Chains she is in her 30′s. She is the youngest member of the Blades. I would say something like 32-36.

What kind of colors do you wear?

She wears all colors.

What kind of clothing do you wear?

She dresses in mens clothing. It is always a little big on her. She is too much of a city girl so she still binds her breasts unlike the country women. It is well tailored cotton, one of the few things she’ll spend a little coin on.

What kind of clothing do you hate on yourself/others?

Dress. Don’t try to put her in a dress.

What accessories do you frequently have?

She has a mithril necklace with Septriss’s symbol on it. 

How do you feel about your appearance?

She finds herself very plain. When the beautiful noble women are around she admires their beauty and it makes her self conscious. She thinks the queen is beautiful even though she doesn’t trust her.

What is your skin like (smooth, pale, dark, rough, tight, saggy, scarred, etc)?

She has very pale skin. She has beauty marks from sunburns and her hands are calloused from years of using a sword and labor. She has crows feet and frown lines but otherwise her skin is flawless, a product of Victaria’s healing.

How is your health? Any problems? What was your health like as a child?

When she was a child she was malnourished but she survived. Her health is surprisingly good even though she drinks too much. Likely a result of Victaria’s healing.

What are your common movement habits and demeanor (swaying, graceful, snapping, wringing hands, staying perfectly still, glancing around, stumbling, etc)?

She stares off into space sometimes when she is remembering things. She moves gracefully.

What is your race/ethnicity/nationality?

She is a plains human.

What food do you usually eat (amount, kind of food, what times of day)? What food do you like to eat?

She eats simple, hearty food. She sometimes only eats once a day. She is used to hunger so it doesn’t bother her much. She likes chocolate and coffee, but its really expensive. She also loves fresh fruit and real butter and fresh bread.

What do you like to drink?

She drinks rum and occasionally brandy. She hates moonshine and whisky, which is unfortunate, since she is surrounded by wheat, wild and cultivated.

What is in your refrigerator?

She buys food as she needs it.

What do you smell like (cologne, sweat, musty, cats, etc)?

Even though Mora doesn’t have a proper bath she is very clean. She uses the bathhouse, who never charges her. One of the longtime employees knows Mora and is protective of her, the owner doesn’t charge her because of her affiliation with Zale. She is there most days, but whether or not she goes, she cleans herself with her washer basin in her apartment. Its just sometimes her hair goes a few days without being washed.

What would you change about yourself physically if you could?

She wishes she were born a man.

Past

When and where were you born?

She was born in a Barony.

What are your past occupations and career goals?

She used to take odd jobs here and there to get by and traveled city to city. Being a young girl she got some sympathy. After she encountered Richard’s highway group and joined them she did that for a year to two years before working for Zale.

As a child, what did you want to be and do when you grew up? Did you do it? How do you feel about that?

She just wanted to be free and to be loved. She almost gave up on it once until she ran into Richard, and after his death she was heartbroken and the dream got lost.

What are your greatest accomplishment?

The Blades achieved many goals and fought many battles and saved lives. I think her greatest accomplishment is to survive all she did.

What are your greatest failures?

To her, her greatest failure is not standing up to Zale about Richard and the boys a demanding if he free her, he free all of them.

It would also be very tragic is she found love or realized she loved someone too late, but I see that happening all to easily with her. It would be dependent on the person or writer.

What is the worst thing that ever happened to you?

A lot of really horrible things have happened to her, but the worst was losing Richard.

What is the best thing that ever happened to you, or your most cherished memory?

Again, being with Richard.

What do you regret?

She regrets not trying to save Richard, she regrets not stabbing the magic user that caught them.

What do you remember most about your childhood?

She remembers the sorrow most, the good memories are lost and hard to find but sometimes she’ll have a good memory.

What was your favorite thing to do as a child?

She used to go to the boundary of the Barony and think about running away. Eventually she got the courage. She also loved running through the wheat fields with her friends and using the rainstorms as baths.

What did you dislike most as a child?

The baron. He was cruel and used women as objects.

Personality

What are your vices?

She drinks, occasionally uses an intoxicating herb,.

What are your virtues?

She does actually have honor and courage, and she is very charitable to the less fortunate.

What is your typical attitude?

She is bitter and angry, but underneath that she is vulnerable and soft.

What are your quirks (only eats raw meat, collects action figures, always wears rubber band on wrist, etc)?

Sneezes when she goes from a dark/shadowed place to bright sunlight, switches to her normal accent when tired or drunk, doesn’t know how to swim.

What would make you smile?

Happy memories, the rare time she dances (as rare a golden egg laying goose), being alone in the woods (she is a city girl and lived in cities most of her life, so the woods seem strange and exotic to her)

What would make you laugh?

She has a sense of humor, she is very cheeky when she wants to be.

What would make you cry?

She cries for those she misses and for the things she wishes she should have done.

What makes you calm down?

Drinking, some of the Blades members can talk her down (not Tork), having a quiet moment away from people

What makes you revved up?

The adrenaline rush of a fight

What do you do when you are happy?

She drinks, dances, and helps those in the poor district.

What do you do when you are stressed?

She drinks and keeps away from people

What do you do when you are upset?

When she is really upset she will go out to the fields at night where it is quiet or hides in her apartment.

What do you do when you are angry?

Mora is hell when she is angry. She has a temper and a fire within her.

What are your habits (good or bad)?

Touches her necklace when she is feeling emotion or worries, runs her hand over the runes on her longsword when she is cleaning it (she doesn’t know what it says), her blades have a permanent edge but she always runs her finger along it when she cleans them and cuts herself, she has a habit of looking at someone as if to say something and then turning away without a word.

What is something you can’t resist?

Helping an innocent, fresh fruit, butter.

What is something most people do not know about you?

I think most people don’t really know Mora. She does care for people and she is a little lonely but she hides that within herself. She has people she cares deeply for but she will never admit it. She is also very intelligent which is missed because she is a gutter rat and wasn’t educated until later in life.

What are your areas of expertise?

She knows how highwaymen work and she knows how to be a decoy. Later in life she gains the cartography skill in making star maps.

What is hard for you to do?

To open up to people and sometimes being social is hard for her.

What special skills do you have?

Map making, highwaymen traps, dirty fighting.

What weather and physical conditions do you like?

She loves the rain and thunderstorms, also likes warm summer nights when the wind blows through the wheat creating whispers.

What would you do all day if you could do anything you wanted?

Depends on her mood. It could be go to the library, walk in the wheat fields, or walk in the forest.

Relationships

Who would you ask for help in a tight spot?

No she would not.

Who’s company do you enjoy?

Srei, he owns the tavern and is a retired pirate.

How often do you see family and friends?

Family, never, friends she sees often, though she doesn’t call them friends.

How do you interact with other people (cold, awkward, friendly)?

Very awkward and distant.

Who is your family and what are they like?

Mother was a washerwoman who sometimes laid with men for money. She didn’t treat Mora well at all, but made sure there was some food on the table most nights. She doesn’t know her father.

If you could convince any one person or group of people of one thing, what would that be?

To end the caste system and force nobles to treat peasants fair.

What is the main quality or aspect you look for in a person (good looking, is talkative, seems helpful, has money, etc.)?

She likes people who are more like her. The lower classes and dredge of society. She wants nothing to do with thieves or people who pray on the innocent and weak. She says she likes men with calloused hands. She considers nobles to be ‘soft handed’ who get others to do their work (sometimes dirty) for them.

What is something people often misunderstand about you?

They think she is either a bitch or promiscuous because they can’t believe a woman of her age never married or had a lover.

Can people get the gist of who you are when first meeting you, or is your true self so hidden we would need to know you for a long time? Or somewhere in between?

She is somewhere in between.

How do you feel about other people’s worldview/religions?

She doesn’t care what other people believe.

How do most people see you?

She is invisible to most people. She stays on the outside and avoids attention.

What person or group of people do you dislike the most, and why?

She hates nobles and knights. She sees them as the dredge of the commnfolk and is weary of watching them break their backs to appease the nobles.

How do you greet people (if you greet people at all)?

She smiles and nods and says the local greeting.

How do you feel about and treat authority?

She doesn’t respect authority at all, even after years of traveling with Zale.

Speech

How do you speak (speak loudly, quickly, whispering, interrupting, talkative, etc)?

She has an accent which she tries to hide. Her vocabulary is like that of someone born in flea bottom and she doesn’t try to soften the blow, she is blunt and to the point.

What words and phrases do you use frequently (omg, dude, like, um, for pete’s sakes,)?

“petticoat”, her nickname for fluffy, weak women.

What expletives do you use in surprise or irritation (swears, gasps, yowza, etc)?

She uses them all.

Do you speak properly or often use slang and bad grammar?

Slang and bad grammar.

Does your speaking style change when you’re around certain people? If so, how?

Yes. She speaks more “normal” around the Blades and others unless tired or drunk. When she is around her own she talks normal.

What is your accent or dialect?

It is from wherever she is from.

What is your pitch and voice texture?

Mora talks very soft when she is upset. She has an average tone for a woman, but not high pitched.

Situations

What are the five worst things possible to happen to you?

1. Any time she has to go to the castle

2. Ending up alone. Mora completely alone would be a very sad thing.

3. Getting the plague.

4. Getting old and weak, she has no family or anyone to look after her when she gets old.

5. Disappointing those around her, it would devastate her.

How would you react in a fight?

She fights dirty and uses objects since she is not overly strong.

What do you do when you’re bored (go crazy, tap your fingers, hum)?

She drinks, works at her trade, and walks around beyond the walls of Victarith.

What are you or would you be embarrassed about?    

She is embarrassed when her emotions get the best of her. She is also very sensitive about being a bastard.

What is the first thing you do every morning (go for a jog, check your phone, take a pill, check your own pulse, etc)?

She washes herself and sits in the sun to help her wake up while she waits for her tea to brew. She also lights an incense stick.

What would you do with 5 million dollars?

She would buy a land parcel and create a community where everyone was equal and would look after each other. There would be no “peasants”.

If you could teleport anywhere, where would you go (Hawaii, your mom’s house, the theatre, that old barn you used to play in, etc)?

Mora has a longing to know who she is and where she is from. She also has a desire to kill the baron.

What is your favorite holiday and how do you celebrate it?

It would probably be a Septrinian holiday and I don’t know what that would be.

What do you spend most of your day doing?

Working at her trade, getting the few things she needs at market, training.

How do you want to die (suddenly, alone, with a certain person near you, etc.)?

She wants to die fighting before she gets old.

What is the worst you’ve ever been injured or sick (broken arm, cancer, hang nail)?

She has popped her shoulder out of place, broke some bones in her hand, bruised ribs, had a concussion, and would have been burned badly by the black dragon had not Travinter pulled her out of the way. She has also been stabbed and cut many numbers of times and countless bruises.

Objects

What object(s) do you like to keep near you?

Her Septris necklace, her curved dagger, her blue cloak.

What is in your backpack, purse, or closet?

She would have a few dry rations. Having group up hungry she can go without food longer than most. She’ll also have a rudimentary blanket and flint and steel (she is a city girl), her water skein, and some sparse medical supplies (needle, thread, boot knife for burning wounds shut).

If there was a fire in your house and you only had time to grab whatever you could carry, what would it be?

Her weapons.

What is your most valued possession (for a reason other than monetary value)?

The necklace of Septriss. She got in from a traveling merchant while with the Blades and has never taken it off since. It has become her worry stone and source of comfort. Mora is afraid of truly being alone and it comforts her. Her curved dagger is also very precious because it was made for her and is more suited than her longsword which is a bit too heavy for her. She can defend herself far better with it than her sword.

Do you still have any possessions from your childhood?

She had nothing as a child but the clothes on her back.

Random

What is your symbol?

A crescent moon.

What does your signature look like?

Her name printed.

What is your theme song?

Stolen Roses by Karen Elson

What is something that really annoys you (loud people, music that is too quite, when your mom vacuums at three in the morning, the sound of trickling water)?

Arrogance, anytime Tork smiles, holy proclamations, when wealthy people pretend to care by giving out free bread or “reading to the poor children”

What is the place you hate the worst (standing in line at McDonalds, the salon, Toledo Ohio, etc.)?

The castle

What is your favorite kind of entertainment and what type of content do you like (books, movies, comics, romance, sci-fi, humor)?

Bare fist fights, tavern brawls, books, listening to people talk of far away lands

What is you favorite celebrity or historical figure?

Any strong willed woman

What were you doing before this story started?

She was part of a highwaymen group

What time period do you wish you lived in? Past, future?

Future

If you were and animal, what kind would you be?

A falcon

Do you or have you ever had any pets?

no

And finally... the most important question of all....What is your favorite color (and why)?

Green, the color of the sky before a terrible thunderstorm.