Name: Eslaine Avriana
Title: "Eslaine the Dahlia"
Apparent Age: 37
Actual Age: 568
Gender: Female
Appearance:
(Credit goes to
staino on DeviantArt)
Magic Branch: Earth-aligned tetramancy
Personality: Eslaine is an earth-aligned tetramancer, not a druid; she doesn't run around barefoot so that she can "feel" the earth beneath her feet, nor does she live as a hermit in the middle of a forest, or surround herself with plants and grow despondent when she's in a stone city. Quite the opposite, in fact; she loves the city and the city life that comes with it. She enjoys comfortable living and having a nice home near to an inn and a market, and would be more unhappy and uncomfortable if she had to spend weeks living in the middle of a swamp instead.
So, in many respects, Eslaine is quite progressive. She isn't afraid to shun traditions, especially if she thinks that they're just being done for the sake of it, or because "that's how things have always been". Living in a large city means that she does need to be careful when using her powers; were she to start summoning the earth itself to her aid then she would risk tearing up cobbled streets and pulling down buildings, so some of her spells are seldom used. If she feels the need to do some serious training, Eslaine will travel outside of the city and train in a more natural environment, where she can use her powers more freely, but this does mean that she may not be as battle-ready as other magi on the high court.
Having been alive for well over a century, Eslaine tends towards being rather jaded and cynical. As much as she tries to be progressive and forwards-thinking, she feels that the Witch King and Queen are holding people back by forcing adherence to the "old ways" of magic, but despite trying to change their minds, she's never succeeded. In a sense, she's lost interest in the court, turning up to its assemblies and gatherings late and only because she is required to, rather than wanting to be there. She's seen plenty of young upstart magi come and go over the years, either murdered by a non-magic wielder that they underestimated, or killed in a pointless battle that they weren't smart enough to avoid. As such, she tends to look down on magi that are a good deal younger than she is, thinking them little more than headstrong idiots with suicide wishes.
She's also a lesbian, and whilst I don't believe that this is a "personality" thing, this seems to be the most appropriate place to put it. She isn't a man-hating lesbian, but she does hate men that won't take no for an answer.
History: Eslaine was born to two magi, her father was an earth-aligned tetramancer and her mother was a summoner, so it was no surprise when she displayed magical abilities at an early age. She was sent to the local academy where it became clear that her father's abilities were dominant, and Eslaine was best-suited to becoming an earth tetramancer too.
Whilst this was where Eslaine's magical aptitude lay, from a social and personal point of view, it was a terrible decision for the girl. Earth-aligned tetramancy is considered somewhat "uncool" and its students are treated like losers. Being the only girl in her class, Eslaine was effectively the least popular girl in school and was frequently teased and bullied for it. Whilst the other earth tetramancers were sympathetic and tried to support her, they were also rather dorky and Eslaine never got close to any of them, leading to her becoming quite cynical and closed off to people. She also took to shunning earth tetramancy customs and, rather than surround herself with her element, she took to city living instead.
She was invited to join the court of high magic at the request of her former tutors, all of whom considered her a talented tetramancer and felt that having her join the high court was the only way to ensure that she continued to practice her magic. Their fear was that, without the high court, she would stop using magic altogether and become just another civilian. Eslaine saw it as a chance to improve things for herself, and future earth-aligned tetramancers, so she took the position when offered and immediately began championing their cause. Unfortunately, over time, such optimism has been crushed by the court's refusal to accede to all-but the most minor of her requests, so now she only attends its meetings when she has no choice. It's been like this for well over fifty years now, so to say that she's jaded about it all is an understatement; she'd much rather be drinking in the local tavern than worrying about what the magical community cares about.
Likes: The city, and all the hustle and bustle that comes with it. Clean living; her element is
earth, not
dirt. The occasional drink at The Hook and Dagger.
Dislikes: The current Witch King and Queen, "children" (which is a term that applies to a lot of people when you're over a century old). Men that try to hit on her and won't give up, even when she's made it clear that she's just not interested in them.
Fear/Paranoia: When Eslaine was being taught the ways of tetramancy, she was the only girl in a class of seven, and the rest of the males were basically
Pig-pen (From Peanuts) incarnate. Most of them were filthy and smelly and horrendously dorky, which Eslaine wasn't keen on, but she accepted... The problem was that other students treated her as if she was just the same, and the other girls were very cruel in making fun of her and asking "What's that smell?" whenever she passed by. As such, she's got a paranoia that she somehow does smell, or that people are accusing her of stinking when such comments are made.
Her actual fear, however, is that she'll die without knowing love. She knows that she's getting on in years and she hasn't found anyone that she trusts enough to even think of settling down with. She wouldn't openly admit this, but it's a deep-seated fear that she carries with her.