The Elder Scrolls: Resurgence of the Frost

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Name: Reigenleif

Race: Nord

Family Origins: Born and raised in a homestead near Winterhold.

Appearance: Reigenleif stands at 5' 10, which is average for a Nord woman. She is slightly thinner than you would expect of a healthy person, but she does manage to stay just ahead of anorexia. She has a small scar on her face after a run in with a Falmer blade. She has a few other scars covered by her clothes, all due to either Falmer or Dwemer weapons, with the difference between Falmer scars and Dwemer scars being easy to spot. She carries herself in a very practical manner, if somewhat cautious - a trait acquired by constantly being on the lookout for traps in ancient structures.
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Age: 23

Equipment:
- Winterhold College style Staff of Fireball. This rarely contains charge, since Reigenleif lacks the ability to fill soul gems abroad. It is currently, however, fully charged, since she has had access to the College resources for several weeks. It is a resilient staff and easily used as melee weapon.
-Adept Destruction Mage Robes in College of Winterhold style.


Miscellanea:
- Ancient Dwemer cloak. Made of an unknown material that has stood the test of time and the elements. Extremely warm, but provides no magical or meaningful armor benefits.
- Elven Ring, set with a single small Sapphire. Found in a ruin believed to be of ancient Snow Elf origin. She has enchanted it with minor resistance to fire.
- Copper and Moonstone Circlet. All she could afford... She has enchanted it with Fortify Magicka.
- A fairly thick book attached to her belt. Within are her notes and observations on the many ruins she has studied - from ancient Nordic to Dwemer to Ayleid but with a particular focus on those of known or suspected Snow Elf origin. This will be a very dull book to read for anyone not interested in ancient ruins. For those that are, it is a veritable treasure trove of information.
- A bottle of Water.
- Five days trail rations, though Five days of food to her is three for most.
- A bottle of Black-Briar mead, brought from Skyrim for 'a special occasion.'


Favored Skills:

Highly Proficient:
Destruction. Reigenleif has been a student of destruction magic ever since she arrived at the College of Winterhold, and has refined its use to an expert level with much practice and practical application in battle. With Ice she has fought off Falmer and Bandit attacks, and with Lightning she has destroyed a number of ancient Dwemer constructs over her years of delving into ruins.
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Spells:
Ice Storm
Frost Cloak
Icy Spear
Wall of Frost
Lightning Bolt
Chain Lightning
Thunderbolt

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Moderately Proficient:
Alteration. A skill possessed by many a ruin delver, Reigenleif has received sufficient formal training as well as her experience using it in battle and exploration to be considered an adept practitioner. Though her most common use of it is Magelight, she often uses one of the variants of the flesh spells to give her a defensive edge in battle. She also uses Alteration to open locks, finding it considerably easier and less fiddly than picking them.
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Spells:
Open Average Lock
Magelight
Detect Life
Ironflesh

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Restoration. A natural counterpart skill for a Destruction expert, Reigenleif has focused somewhat less on restoration, but still uses it often to cure herself of scratches and bruises she obtains while exploring ruins. She knows the value of a good ward spell, though her skills fall somewhat short when it comes to turning the undead. Also, due to her study of the Snow Elves she has been able to learn the most basic Sunlight attack - Sunfire, though she has never had a chance to use it in battle. A large part of why she knows more than basic restoration magic is that her ‘poor’ alchemy skills mean she rarely has any potions to spare for healing.
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Spells:
Healing Hands
Sun Fire
Cure Disease
Cure Poison
Close Wounds
Greater Ward

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Somewhat Proficient:
Staff/Spear. Reigenleif has often made use of her staff as a blunt weapon when her magic has been unavailable. She does not practice however and is only a passable melee combatant. As such she sticks to fairly simple attacks.
One Handed. She understands the basics of wielding an Axe, a skill taught to her in her early years, but not practiced since she was sixteen.
Block. Even when she has access to spells her staff is still useful for blocking the attacks of any who get close.
Sneak. Sometimes the best way to get past Falmer is to simply move really quietly. While hardly a master of stealth, Reigenleif has developed some rudimentary skill at sneaking during her adventures.
Enchanting. Reigenleif possesses modest official training in Enchantment, but due to her inability to cast a Soul Trap spell she has not practiced it beyond the walls of the College.


Special Mention:
Alchemy. She is atrocious at Alchemy and will avoid it as much as possible for fear of it literally exploding in her face. She suspects that this stems from her inability to cook (she's terrible at it), a trait which has led to her relying on rations and food cooked by others as much as possible, with restoration magic to fill the void left by not having access to potions.

Background and a 'Brief' History:
Reigenleif was born to Nord parents in a homestead in the Winterhold province on the northern coast of Skyrim in 4E 185. She was an only child, and destined to inherit the family house and land. She grew up learning all her parents could teach about surviving and eking out a living in the harsh, cold north of Skyrim. She was rarely able to visit Winterhold proper, but the City had never recovered from the great collapse, and there was little for her to find there that could pique interest such that she would be anything but content with her life. She could always see the College jutting out from the sea on its solitary pillar of rock, but though it had captured her imagination from a young age, she was unaware of possessing any magical talent, and so considered going there to be a forever unattainable dream. Still, of all the things that her parent could teach her, she was always most interested when her father would tell her the legends of the ancient times of Skyrim - of Ysgrammor and his Companions, of The Night of Tears and of the other great battles with the Snow elves. By her twelfth birthday she could recite the stories herself having heard them so much.

She was taught much over the years about how to survive in Skyrims harsh climate, as well as how to use an Axe. With this knowledge her wanderlust began to grow, and at fifteen she was becoming ever more eager to leave her home and adventure, though her parents did their best to keep her there, as much for her safety as for their want to keep her around, for Skyrim is not a kind land to adventure in and no place for a young girl to be alone in the wild, Nord or no. By the age of sixteen, she was almost ready to walk out into the wilds regardless, as she found the day-to-day bored her ever more with each sunrise. But mere days before she planned to leave, the whole of Skyrim changed. Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm, slew High King Torygg and plunged Skyrim into civil war. The first war that Reigenleif was alive to see. Suddenly, Skyrim changed from being merely dangerous to a downright terrifying place to adventure. Her parents supported the ideals of the Stormcloaks, but they did not believe so much as to join the battle, much less send their only daughter to join Ulfric’s rebellion. Nonetheless as stories of great battles and glorious warriors slowly filtered through Winterhold her wanderlust slowly turned to battle lust. She wanted to go and join the Stormcloaks and fight the good fight for glory and the honor of Skyrim. But again, before she could work up the courage to leave for Windhelm, another change wracked Skyrim, this time shaking the very land to its core: Alduin the Worldeater returned, hordes of Dragons following soon after. Though she had been eager to fight and kill her fellow Nords in battle for the soul of Skyrim, the prospect of fighting the dragons for her very survival held no allure. In fact, the Dragons terrified her, and after one flew over Winterhold on one of its few clear days, she was convinced she never wanted to adventure, and that she should stay and take up the lands of her family. This point was driven home yet more when she heard the sounds of a battle of Thu'ums coming from the direction of Winterhold, the sound of the Dragonborn challenging the Dragon shaking the land and tearing the sky.

As quickly and suddenly as the War and the Dragon crisis had begun, they both came to an end by the hand of the Dragonborn. Still, they'd left their mark on Reigenleif, tempering her more wild thoughts. In particular, she realized that in all of the great stories of old, in all the glorious battles, there were also those who suffered an ignominious defeat. Though she had not actively fought for the Stormcloaks, she had supported them and their ideals, even as she never truly understood them. That meant that she was on the losing side. The Imperials would have songs sung of their heroism, their general Tullius lauded as the successful commander, while Ulfric would be a mere footnote in history, the defeated one, who had given his life for his cause, only for his cause to be forgotten. This revelation was perhaps the most significant deciding factor in events to come.

One month to the day after the end of the civil war, a roving band of Falmer found Reigenleifs household. Ever since the war they had been becoming more bold, venturing further from their caves, but neither she nor her family had expected to see them at all, much less at their house. When they arrived they wasted no time in cutting down Reigenleifs mother. Her father, enraged at this, managed to kill one of them with his axe before he too was torn apart by the vicious, poisoned Falmer blades. When she saw them coming for her she ran. There was nothing else to do. Who was she to fight a dozen Falmer with nothing but her father’s axe? Once she had escaped the blind creatures, she was in shock, with no idea where to go. All she could do was ask why. Why had her family been attacked and so mercilessly cut down around her? What had made the Falmer like that? In the stories she knew they were proud white skinned Mer, not the twisted and grotesque monsters she had seen. She remembered then the stories of The Night of Tears. The Falmer had been there too, they'd sacked Sarthaal. Surely that wasn't so different to what they'd just done? Maybe then, if she found out why they had sacked Sarthaal she could find out why her household had been attacked.

And so she set out for Sarthaal, a short trip, but after what had just happened it felt like forever. She found the ancient Nord ruin seemingly abandoned, but with no other direction she entered anyway. Maybe she'd be cut down by Draugr. At this point she didn't care, but the chance for answers was enough to drive her on. When she got in, the entrance way was in pitch darkness, she cursed herself for not thinking about that beforehand, but she hadn't exactly had time for grabbing a torch or three when she ran. So instead, she resorted to desperate measures. She'd heard in Winterhold once that the College Mages believed anyone capable of magic, and she remembered the hovering lights that often illuminated the college, and thought maybe, just maybe, she could conjure one of those. So she closed her eyes and focused as hard as she could on making a light. When she opened them - nothing. She tried again, and again, nothing happened. For the third and what she thought would be the final time, she closed her eyes and focused, not expecting anything but the black when she opened them again. But this time, there was a tiny glowing point of light hovering just in front of her head. She let out a cry of triumph, before marching confidently into the Nordic ruin, armed with her magic light.

Inside she found a small group of college mages, who, after convincing them she wasn't hostile, she questioned at great length, desperate for answers. Some of them answered some of her questions, but eventually the day came to an end and the mages returned to the college. She followed them, still asking questions, though getting tired after the day's adventures. Out of pity, one of the College mages purchased her a room at the inn in Winterhold for the night, despite not knowing what had befallen her. The next day when the mages left for Sarthaal again, she was waiting for them and followed them, ever inquisitive about anything they would tell her. After three days of this, a very tired Reigenleif was visited by the Master Wizard of the college and tested for magical aptitude, a test she passed, though just barely, before being asked why she was interrogating college mages day in and day out. When she told them what had happened and what she was trying to do, the Master Wizard offered her a place to learn in the college, citing that the college needed more inquisitive minds interested in history.

For the next five years Reigenleif learned everything she could at the college, possessed of a voracious appetite for knowledge that her instructors were ecstatic to feed. Though she was not initially particularly skilled with magic, she proved a quick and adaptable learner, becoming skilled with a variety of magic. During this time, she could often be found in the Hall of Elements with the Eye of Magnus. She found it entrancing and fascinating both, but despite this, she was never able to form any solid theories as to its nature. At age nineteen she was declared a capable enough mage to investigate ruins on her own. She focused on ruins suspected to be of Snow Elf origin for a year, though with so little of the ancient Falmer culture remaining this was a year spent largely chasing ghosts. Despite the lack of much progress, she became somewhat obsessed, her original search for the reasons that the Falmer killed her family having long since grown into an obsession with everything Snow Elven. She began to view the Dwemer with hatred for what they were believed to have done to degenerate the Snow Elves, but she also came to view her own people as savage and brutish for simply conducting genocide on an entire people. Ever practical though, she largely avoided letting her contempt for the actions of the old Nords influence her actions and thoughts towards the modern Nords.

Obsession is still obsession though. One day she returned from an expedition claiming to have discovered a Dwemer artifact that held knowledge of the Snow Elves, and was determined to wring the secrets from it with every second of every day. Seeing her unhealthy obsession, the Master Wizard decided to send her on an expedition out of Skyrim and away from the Dwemer and the Snow Elves. To that end, he sent her to Cyrodil to study the Ayleid ruins and the magics they left behind among them. She spent the whole year there, liaising with several independent archeologists and learning a great deal about the heartland High Elves.

Though she found the Ayleids quite interesting, and was spoiled by the relative ease with which their artifacts and ruins could be located compared to the Snow Elves, she was still very eager to get back to Skyrim and continue her personal goals. In fact, the Master Wizards attempt to deflect her interests only made her more qualified to pursue her obsession.

Upon returning to Skyrim, she has spent even more of her time abroad, usually below ground in some ruin or another. The last month has, however, seen her confined largely to the college. She had arrived back just before the disappearances plaguing Winterhold of late really came into full swing. Since then, it has been too dangerous for her to venture out, and she had also decided she wished to aid the locals. That was, until rioting caused the death of a member of the college. Though still optimistic, Reigenleif is under no illusion that this may the final straw - the end of the village of Winterhold. For, she reasons, should there be true open conflict between the tiny, ever shrinking village and the might of the college, there could be only one possible victor. This state of affairs has left the usually cheerful mage sullen and at times angry, torn between the need to stay and defend the college (from both non mages and the mysterious evil that plagues Winterhold) and the desire to leave, dive back into a ruin and hide from the world, a desire unfulfillable until the mystery of the disappearances is solved.

Fighting Style: Reigenleif prefers magic over more mundane combat, and will immediately resort to her destruction spells if danger presents itself. When given time to prepare she will use Alteration spells to bolster her defense before attacking with an elemental spell chosen to best counter her opponents. When not given time to prepare she will launch straight into a volley of Ice based attacks, this being her preferred element, except when fighting Dwemer who are immune to Ice attacks. Against Dwemer she will use Lightning spells, though these are her least favored. If she runs out of magicka or is otherwise unable to use her magic she will keep her distance and fight with her staff, keeping an eye out for a chance to disengage and restore her magical advantage. Being silenced mid battle is a particular weakness, the shock of it leaving her momentarily stunned and vulnerable.

Personality: Reigenleif could best be described as dangerously Curious, a trait that being in the College of Winterhold has only exacerbated with their focus on unlocking knowledge and power over safety. She is determined in her work as well as a quick and adaptable learner. She is generally inexperienced at interacting with non-magic users due to living alone in ruins most of her time, but tries to keep an open mind when meeting people. She has no problems with other races, since the college judges people by their magical aptitude rather than their race. Unfortunately, she has picked up the other side of this attitude, and views those without magic with pity and a small amount of arrogance, though not in a callous way. Nonetheless, she prefers friends to enemies and so wont act antagonistically without a good reason. Unlike most Nords, she won't reach for her weapons at the slightest provocation, preferring to find an alternate method to most situations, though she will guiltily admit that she does enjoy a good fight and won't shy away from battle when it comes. She has been known to get so caught up in her work that she does not eat and barely drinks for far longer than is healthy, resulting in her skinny, borderline anorexic from. She just barely manages to avoid ill effects with her restoration magic.

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inb4 Markain and Reigenelf swap spellbooks for sparring lessons
 
Will pull out zee reviewing scythe in a bit. But glad to see Reigy back!
 
Paints and Juin I think have a lot of potential to be best bros, but they definitely have the potential to be enemies. It all depends on if/when/how his affliction comes to light.

In Paint's eyes Zaveed and Sevari are just general neer-do-wells, but he appreciates Zaveed's friendliness and aptitude for storytelling. I'm VERY excited to see what could make Sevari gain brownie points towards Paints.

Jei-tah and him will have an interesting relationship if they ever have an actual conversation.

It's not going to be pretty, but the reasoning behind it, anyone would be able to agree with. I'm really always making stuff up as I go with Sevari because I've never had a set development I wanted him to go through. This universe's Sevari is far more morally bankrupt than last and far more accepting of it.

Only time will tell and the future events will see what happens the more I ask myself, "what would Sevari do?"
 
Woops, forgot to add ze pictures of her...
Will get to that soon.
 
So what's our posting plan going forward from here?
 
Well. Since I super-nerded and spent most of my day doing chores and playing Heroes of the Storm. I hope to make a post tomorrow. If I don't. I will break my leg and force myself to make one.
 
Well if anybody is waiting for me, please don't. Don't ever wait for me unless I ask. Shit gets weird over here from time to time and I certainly don't want my shit interfering with everybody else's shit.
 
I has post in the works. Sorry it's taking so long!
 
who here has exams to do?
 
I made a chat room. Mainly because I hate steam right now, so, so very much. Feel free to come in and make yourself at home. As much of a home as you can with people like me and Dervs, who stumble around drunk and get angry all the time.

http://us19.chatzy.com/87506012685945
 
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