#the last time i did one of these was i think jan. or feb. bdfhgh

[venalier]

— SKILLS ANALYSIS.

sword

lance ( BOON. )

axe

bow ( BUDDING TALENT. » BOON. )

gauntlet

reason ( BANE. )

faith ( BANE. )

authority ( BOON. )

heavy armor

riding

flying ( BOON. )

a well-rounded individual, caeldori is someone who canonically excels in a lot of areas and, in the areas where she doesn’t excel, is always working to make up for those shortcomings. as a result, many of these skill areas ( sword, axe, gauntlet, heavy armor, riding ) are neither boons nor banes simply by virtue of her natural adaptability and her work ethic. enough hard work put into any area, she believes, and eventually you’ll get to a point where you at least don’t suck at it.

that being said, it’s worth a slightly closer look at some of the other places.

— LANCE. obviously caeldori’s natural and most preferred weapon. she has a notable preference for the hoshidan naginata over the nohrian ( / every other fe land’s ) traditional spear or lance. this is mostly due to her having been trained with the naginata since she was very young, and also partially out of wanting, in every way she can, to emulate her father. the appreciator of aesthetic in her also prefers the natural grace of the naginata as well, and the hoshidan tradition of emphasizing the naginata not just as a tool for war, but also wielding it as an art in itself. there’s are many hoshidan dances that feature naginatas, and caeldori thinks of the weapon very much not only as something for the battlefield, but as an extension of her self-expression.

in a strictly combat sense, however, she also prefers it for its relative flexibility; its longer blade and curved single edge makes it capable of both cutting and thrusting like spears, but also better for slashing maneuvers as well as capable of hooking the opponent.

through tsubaki, the naginata has been part of her blood for many generations, as his family has served as guards for members of the hoshidan royal family for as long as anyone can remember. caeldori’s family name, amayari ( spear of heaven ), is as much a title as it is a name, and it’s expected that, though royal guards are preferably well-versed in many different types of martial skill, that the emphasis still remains on the symbolic naginata.

— SWORD. while caeldori doesn’t have a boon in swords, it’s worth noting that her two inherited alternate classes from tsubaki are samurai and master of arms, so while i don’t think she necessarily excels in swordplay, she’s probably a bit above average, and would become quite good if she directed her focus there.

— BOW. as illustrated in her kisaragi support, caeldori has some natural talent with a bow, enough to beat him at his own bet, though she admits that she’s never had any particular interest in training her skill at archery and so isn’t as strong in it as someone who both possesses the talent for it and uses it daily. she also possesses kinshi knight as one of her possible promoted classes off of sky knight, and also inherits bow knight from her ( hc’d for now unless rescinded by a future severa ) mother as another class option.

— REASON / FAITH. although i do think that caeldori’s propensity for magic is naturally weaker than her physical combat ability, i think that if she worked hard enough at it, she could become a decent caster, well enough to hold her own at least. caeldori’s magic casting ability is poor; physical weapon prowess and riding ability has always excelled in her family, but not so much magic. some of this could be remedied depending on if she ever establishes a toa!canon mother, but at base, caeldori naturally possesses low natural potential and low skill ceiling in terms of magic overall. 

her bane in faith, additionally, comes ultimately from a lack of exactly that — faith. caeldori believes much more in skill and careful planning in both battle and day to day life, and ( as seen from her ignatius support ) looks down on faith, luck, and chance as too weak and uncertain to be relied on. after all, if you’re relying on luck or a god’s strength in order to win, doesn’t that say something about your own ability leaving much to be desired? 

i think this also translates to a general shortcoming of caeldori’s, which is that she can be pretty near-sighted about her views and come off arrogant or disparaging towards others who see things differently or have different experiences. similarly, she’s kind and generally nice, but a lack of the others-before-oneself altruism commonly seen in white magic users might also contribute to a weakness in this area.

that being said, one of the classes i really like for her is basara, which she gets from S-supporting shiro ( part of it is because i enjoy the pairing, it’s true ). i think it’s both aesthetically nice on her as well as kind of thematically appropriate as a heavily offensive mixed attacking class. it’d be interesting to see if she might ever reach a point in her character development re: her opinions on faith where that might be feasible, if we ever add basara to toa hahaha.

— AUTHORITY. one of caeldori’s skills that she demonstrates amply in canon throughout her paralogue and several supports. she’s highly adept at planning and executing efficiently, and in directing others in a clear and succinct way. she’s usually a step or two ahead of the moment and has probably laid out a few contingency plans as well for herself and anyone involved. she’s good at assessing a given situation and determining what needs to be done, who best to do it, and how.

it should be noted though that despite this, caeldori isn’t really a leader, though she is capable of stepping up to it if she perceives an otherwise chaotic situation. she’s equally as happy to follow someone else’s instructions, but her quick and effective problem-solving and willingness to take action often means she’s one of the first to jump in when it’s needed.

— FLYING. from both tsubaki on her paternal side and cordelia from her maternal side, caeldori’s inherited an affiliation for pegasi. while i don’t think her patrilineal line has been traditionally all sky knights, i think that probably a decent number of them were, since tsubaki seems to have ample experience with them outside of his own career. caeldori also mentions in her support with shiro that she really likes animals and would consider a livelihood caring for them if she didn’t have expectations on her already. 

that being said, i don’t actually think that caeldori is a naturally gifted flier ( and i don’t think tsubaki is either ); for both of them, it comes from a place of many, many long hours and a lot of dedication. for all of her appreciation for animals, i wouldn’t consider her to have an innate affinity for them. this is further evidenced by her support with shigure where she attests that leisure flights are pointless since flying is a combat skill, and reflects back in my hc’s in that she doesn’t have a riding boon despite being a sky knight.