Name: Karine Silkborne
Age: 25
Gender: Female
Species: Human (Mage)
Physical Description:
Slightly above average for a woman, Karine stands 5' 6" and inhabits a willowy figure offset by feet that are too large and shoulders that are too broad. Her arms are well muscled but the rest of her body is soft. She wears her long dark hair either down or in braids and her bangs are cut to frame her blue-grey eyes. Her skin is an unhealthy looking pale dotted with freckles, and dark circles usually dominate her oval face. Her nose and cheeks will often appear pink, but in a less than healthy way. She rarely smiles with her thin lips. Karine burns before she tans, if she tans at all. Her hands are criss-crossed with raised white scars which, while unsightly, do not impede her work. She dresses in simple but fine apparel of her own creation, often spelled to keep others from noticing her. She prefers blues, browns, and greens with embroidery of the same color on the cloth. Every once in a while she cannot resist making a frivolous garment for herself, but she admires them much more often than she wears them.
Personality:
When one first meets Karine, they are likely to be put off by her. Though she shows a kind facade to customers, she is often unfriendly to strangers and less than willing to converse with them unless she is sure of their motives. She finds it hard to trust others, often questioning people and over-thinking their actions and words, even when there is no deeper meaning to realize. Being reserved, she is unlikely to start a conversation. Her overall lack of friends and companions as a result of this fails to bother her, as she is a very independent person who finds it easy to fend for herself. She is unlikely to ask for help until she is in a mess so twisted there is little hope of escaping undamaged. On the positive side, once Karine trusts someone she is incredibly protective of them. Two people come to mind while discussing this aspect of Karine--one being her brother Gunnar, and the other her teacher Lenara Wovenearth. Both have earned Karine's protection, as far as she is concerned, and she will do anything to help them if the need arises. She is also incredibly hard working, putting paying customers before her sleep and health. She can also become immersed in a personal project and will not stray from her task until it is complete. Karine is also as honest as business people come, and will not cheat anyone in a sale or misrepresent her products.
Bio/History:
Karine was born and spent her childhood in the far distant city of Lorwick, a shopkeeper's daughter and the oldest of four children. All of her siblings were boys. She was barely six when she began to work in her father's shop, which sold herbs and other inexpensive items used in traditional magical workings. Though dedicated to her parents and having grown up in a positive home environment, Karine had a small rebellious streak. She could often be found distracted from her work by the dresses of noble ladies on the street, or found in a clothier's shop after one of her common disappearances. Her parents began to grow angry with her lack of discipline, simply wanting her to make a good marriage to another shopkeeper's son. As there was little magic in her family, the possibility that magic was the reason for her strange obsessions was not explored.
After years of frustrating childhood, Karine had a chance encounter with a mage while visiting the grand market with her family. At age twelve her magic was discovered by a woman who sold clothing bespelled for protection at the market when Karine snuck into her booth to examine her wares. Lenara Wovenearth became her instructor after explaining Karine's magic to her family. They were reluctant to let her study with the stranger, but given time to think they realized that Karine's magic had been present all along and needed to be trained. It had never occurred to them that she might be better than a shopkeeper's wife, and they were happy for her change in station. For eight years Karine traveled with Lenara and expanded her power. Though she found roadblocks within her abilities, she is a mage with a good amount of strength, though she will never be great.
At the age of twenty Karine returned to Lorwick to find that her childhood home had been sold after her parents died of natural causes. Her brothers were scattered throughout the city, and only one had remained respectable, the youngest. She took fourteen-year-old Gunnar in and purchased a house with the money she had earned selling her spelled garments as well as regular clothing she created that were of the finest quality. For over two years they lived happily, and Karine was able to find Gunnar a good apprenticeship as a tanner, his knowledge of leather helping her expand her learning and creations even further. When rumors began to spread vilifying mages (by those who were jealous of their power) she sent Gunnar to live with the tanner he apprenticed for and sold her house, as many knew of her status as a mage. She considered leaving Lorwick, but could not bring herself to abandon the only family she had left. Instead, she went to work for a regular tailor, creating garments without spell work and living in a boarding house to appear inconspicuous.
Unfortunately she could not keep up the charade forever, as power demands to be used. Her magic was discovered by a man named Icarus Bluff, an assassin disguised as a inn-keeper's assistant, while she was working on spelled tablecloths for his master. After he outed her to Lorwick's government Karine was forced to leave the city and her brother behind or face imprisonment and possible execution. She recalled the Kingdom of Astaeron from her travels with Lenara Wovenearth, and knowing that it was a place friendly to mages she decided to travel there.
Other details:
Karine is a tailor mage. She can easily spin any kind of fiber and weave any kind of thread to produce the finest quality cloth. Garments and other items she creates can be spelled for almost anything, from protection to invisibility to the inability to wrinkle. The limitations of this aspect of her power are that she cannot make cloth act as another material [such as being hard like metal], she cannot make it feel heavier or lighter than it is to the bearer, and she cannot make things bigger on the inside than they appear. In addition, any embroidery or fine needlework Karine does is beautiful, but just for show. She must lay spells on cloth during its weaving or the mundane sewing that creates the garment or item. She can manipulate cloth from a short [about 10 foot] distance, fraying hems or magically sewing things. If something is sewn magically it will come undone when it leaves Karine's influence. Finally, when touching a garment that has been worn or an item that has been carried by a person, she can sense some of the emotions they felt while in possession of the cloth, or, if touching someone's sleeve, she can sense their current emotions. She cannot stop this from happening, and prefers not to handle other's cloth possessions. Due to learning from her brother, she has some knowledge of and can work with leather even though it is not cloth.
Picture (if you have one):
Have you read the rules and do you agree to follow them?: *Puts on glasses* I can see them clearly now. (:
