The Children of Shannara - Characters

[Valen]

Please post characters here.

Name: Mahdi Anwin
Age: 21
Race: Human​

Appearance

Mahdi's youthful energy pervades all he is. His darkly-tanned skin and silver hair provide him with a mysterious, almost other-worldly look. Wispy silver fair falls to the nape of his neck with the occasional strand of hair falling over the front of his forehead. His eyes are the clearest, deepest emerald and only accentuate his otherworldly appearance.

Mahdi travels light. He wears a simple, homespun tunic with brown breeches. Brown, sturdy walking boots have seen much use in the eight years since his exile.​

Personality

Mahdi Anwin is a gentle soul. Despite his background and his exile from his people, he has retained his good-naturedness. Mahdi is one of two, twin brother to his sister, Dulcimae. He is the light of the sun to her dark of the moon. The yin to her yang.

Gentle and caring, if perhaps a little naive, Mahdi is quick to trust and quicker to believe words of duplicity. He is easygoing and happy, despite the murky circumstances that have defined his past. Yet he is also lonely. He has been alone for the past eight years, since his separation from his twin sister. Although it is not something that he will speak of, Mahdi Anwin desires company and friendship once more, a warmth and spark to light the dark paths on which he treads.

Sometimes enigmatic, Mahdi has been known to speak in both riddles and rhymes. This is a manifestation of his latent talent. The once-Rover has a untrained, somewhat unpredictable ability to foretell the future. He has no control over it, and the talent speaks to him in ghostly whispers and shadows, yet that makes it no less potent when it does take him.

Finally, when one speaks of Mahdi, they have to speak of his twin sister, Dulcimae Anwin. Two sides of the same coin, the two were inseparable as youths. Indeed it was that they were so close that when one spoke, the other finished their sentence, two minds working as one. The pranksome duo were always together and they shared a bond that transcended life into the netherworld itself. The events that served to confirm Mahdi's exile from his people severed a bond that was never meant to be broken.​

Background

Mahdi Anwin hails from a travelling group of Rovers based around the lowlands of Clete. Theirs was a simple existence. Travelling entertainers, warriors, thieves, they were everything that they needed to be to survive. And from an early age, Mahdi excelled at the arts of thievery and skullduggery. He displayed an aptitude that impressed peers, friend and family alike. When Mahdi did not want to be seen, he could not be seen.

From his earliest days, Mahdi could always be found in the company of his twin sister, Dulcimae Anwin. She was his elder by a matter of seconds, yet Mahdi deferred to Dulcimae in all things. She was the leader, and Mahdi was more than happy to play the role of follower. The two were harbingers of chaos, causing mischief wherever they went. Yet they were also inseparable.

However, Mahdi's ultimate fate was caught up in an ancient prophecy. It was said that the male rover child who developed the ability to foretell the future would bring about the destruction of their people. The foretelling was a very rare ability, it was unheard of for a female to possess it. There had never been a reported case of a male child with the sight in the history of the Rovers.

Until Mahdi.

When his ability was discovered, Mahdi would have been sentenced to death. It was Dulcimae, as his closest kin, who was tasked with killing him. However, she did not have the heart to go through with the task. And so it was, eight years ago, that Mahdi Anwin, once-Rover, fled his kin and his sister's murderous blade.

And for Dulcimae, she was tasked to find her brother, and kill him.​

 

[Rue]

Name: Cassandra Xilstine

Race: Human

Age: 20

Overview: Cassandra is a cheerier girl than her outwards demeanor might portray. An orphan at birth, she was raised by her adopted elven father who developed in her a love of nature and lust for life. She was also trained in the sword, earning the title of the swiftest and strongest blade in the village. Her noble soul always prepares her to help a friend in need, whether it be treating injuries, or treating troubled thoughts with a warm smile.

1: Why do you enjoy PbP?

Getting to bounce off other people’s writing styles. You can tell a lot about a person from the way they write and RPing with them helps liven a story up much more than having to of my own characters interact.

2: What do you look for in a PbP game?

A good mix of internal drama and external interaction. While I certainly am intrigued to read of a character’s backstory and inner personal conflict, I also like to see the story take a step forward with each post.

3: Describe to me your best experience in a PbP game

It was about a month into my second RP ever, it was on this site as well. I’d finally gotten the hang of writing longer posts and just enough events had happened to my character to send him into a spiral of different emotions. Being able to describe this whirlwind dramatically, while also advancing the story, while also taking a huge step forward in said character’s development was hugely satisfying for me.

4: Describe to me your worst experience in a PbP game.

If there’s a large RP with only one thread to post in, the last thing I want is to get buried and left behind in a mountain of posts because players are too impatient to at least ask for permission from me to keep their own side plots going. I’ve left a couple PbP games because of this.

Finally, I want you to post me a short role play sample in response to the following scenario as you think your character would respond:

"A stranger rides into town on the back of a dark horse. You are going about your daily business when the horse charges up to you. The rider is dismounted. He falls to the floor, an arrow jutting from his shoulders. Under his breath he mutters something about an army of the dead closing from the north, then he passes out."

Cassandra was walking home after training in the forest when she saw the stranger on the dark horse. She could already tell something was amiss even before the horse charged up to her. The stranger was thrown from his horse, a crack of wood ringing out as she sees a broken arrow jutting out from his shoulders.

Cassandra wastes no time, calming the horse before running to its rider. “Sir, how bad are your injuries?!” She called out, forgoing asking if he was alright, because she could clearly see that wasn’t the case. His words were soft, muttering, all she could hear was something about an army of the dead. She feared that he may be delusional.

Scooping the man up and over her shoulder, Cassandra quickly made her way to her father’s house. Fenris Xilstine was a healer and would surely have a potion available to heal the poor man.
“Papa!” She cried out as she burst through the door.

“Heavens, Cassandra. What happened?” The older elf questioned as she laid the man down stomach first on their bed.

“He fell off his horse entering the village. Hurry, Papa, I don’t think he has much time left!” She pleaded.

Fenris eyed the man with studious eyes and nodded to her daughter. “See if you can find his horse, dear. I’ll take care of him.”

She nodded and rushed back out again, looking fervently for the horse this man had rode in on. I hope he’ll be ok. She thought as she ran. She made a note to ask him about this army of the dead after he woke up, as she set about the arduous task of retrieving the poor stranger’s horse.

 

[_BB_]

Name: Arlios
Race: Human
Age: 19
Overview: Arlios is the only son of the forester in Shady Vale. He is certain that he was put on the earth to hunt beasties and woo women, and has made it his life's goal to get into a bard's tale doing so. Charismatic and easy going, Arlios is well on his way to achieving it, winning the village's archery competitions year after year, and with it, the hearts of village girls. He is outstanding at his craft, though his smile falters when you ask him about his training. He always talks about leaving, for the thrill of a real adventure, but few know there is a violent threat living in his own home that makes the village somewhere he needs to escape.