Name:
Elpis Essor'i
Gender:
Female
Race:
Dokkalfr
(Note: Dokkalfr is used when speaking of the race singularly and Dokkalfar is the plural use.)
Age:
616 (Appears around 22)
Height:
5'9"
Weight:
136
Abilities:
As with all Dokkalfar, Elpis receives her magic from rituals. She carries the knowledge of both the Blot and Rune rituals (Blot being the name of a sacrificing ritual and Rune being the name of a symbol ritual). Seeing as Elpis is the Chastiser for the Dokkalfar, it only seems logical that she should excel in both the Blot ritual and Rune ritual individually along with combining them. Her knowledge in those areas surpass any other Dokkalfr; she knows more than just pain rituals and holds the knowledge of her ancestors rituals (Rune ritual). It isn't just her knowledge of the rituals that surpass her kin's, it is also her grace, nimbleness and dagger skills. Elpis walks with a graceful aura and moves as if she is walking on air. Her nimbleness adds to that factor. She moves quickly from place to place and her actions and movements always seem swift and never hesitant. Being graceful and nimble has allowed this Dokkalfr to wield a dagger with a haunting accuracy and a lack of mercy.
Job/Role:
Elpis holds a special position among the Dokkalfar: the Chastiser. During the rituals, this Dokkalfr has the privilege to draw the pain inflicting symbols on her kin, along with on herself. However, since coming to the realm the Humans reside in, Elpis has found herself at a loss in this curious world and stuck between her ancestors rituals and her kin's rituals; not knowing whether to seek revenge or seek her homeland. With no role to attend to she wanders, tempted by curiosity yet cold with hatred.
Weapons:
A small dagger is all she need, though the one she carries around is not small and dinky, it is small yet has a keen blade.
Personality:
Emotions are what characterizes a person. It is what reveals one's personality and feelings. So, how would one turn out if they have never had a shred of emotion cross their features? I would imagine they would be a lot like Elpis who has never felt the warmth of a smile on her lips, or whose eyes have never shown a sparkle of happiness. Of course, why would a Dokkalfr be happy since they devote their lives to avenging their ancestors and tend to their Blot Rune rituals? In that light, Elpis has never had her lips curl with an acidic hatred and her eyes have never glistened with searing pain. Indifferent, she may seem, but her mind is anything but indifferent. With blank eyes she inflicts pain on others along with herself. With no opposition she succumbs to the orders given. With not even the slightest slip up, Elpis keeps her indifferent mask on. She speaks when spoken to an follows orders perfectly, though in actuality Elpis feels tied down to a life that seems to spin off hilt. Like her ancestors, she is intrigued by the humans though, she cannot ignore her heart that pangs with hatred towards the malicious race. Although pain and suffering are the only things she knows, Elpis can't help but secretly wonder if pain is the only thing worthy to be felt. This strange and seemingly emotionless Dokkalfr questions the world every chance she gets, however, the fear of finding answers to those question are what drive her to continue living with the same morals as her fellow kin.
Bio:
During the Great War the Dokkalfar dwindled in their numbers. They were badly wounded, not just spiritually, but physically and mentally. Once the darkest reaches of Junos made itself acquainted with the vulnerable race, the Dokkalfar decided that they would change their ways and start anew. Following this revelation came the long centuries that gave birth to the generation that the elders, who lived through the war and on Gaea, presumed would master the true nature of the Dokkalfar and initiate the long awaited revenge. It was one of these off springs that would be the key to the future and the narrow glimpse of the past. However, centuries and centuries went by without a sutiable child to fill the role the elders made upon coming to Junos. For the time being, the elders became the Ritual Head and the Chastiser, though it wasn't as effective as they would have hoped. Their knowledge of the old ways often interfered with the new ways they inflicted upon their kin. The pain they bestowed to the Dokkalfar was still excruciating, still mind searing and every bit of a reminder of the overflowing spite they feel towards the humans. However, it wasn't... as emotionally torturing as they would have hoped; not when it was the elders' blade that cut the scarred flesh of the Dokkalfar at least.
It must have been a millennium since the Dokkalfar set foot on Junos. It had been a millennium and finally, the child was born. The child that would avenge her ancestors and become the Chastiser of the rituals. The patience the elders held was not in vain, for the child would grow up surrounded by a race that held hatred in their hears and had scars to show for it. She would be surrounded by the Blot Rune rituals that had evolved throughout the millennium and she would be surrounded by the elders who harbored hatred more than anyone on the pitiful planet. She was now the daughter of the Ritual Head, which consisted of twenty elders, replacing the Dokkalfar who had given birth to her.
Elpis grew up surrounded by these twenty elders. She didn't refer to them as "mom" or "dad", no, she didn't even consider them parents. She'd always address them as Ritual Head or at times Elder Dokkalfr. Elpis never inquired about her birth parents and never question anything her superiors had to say. Through most of her childhood, she would be sent to her lessons. The Ritual Head would teach her about the long history they had with the humans. They would have her practice Blot Rune rituals on various subjects; from children her own age to men old enough to loose their beautiful features. She accompanied them throughout Junos, watching them perform the rituals. Elpis observed and learn more than was expected through the accompaniment. Not only did she see the rituals being performed first hand along with witnessing the outcome of large groups of people who have had the pain symbols drawn out on their skin, but sometimes she helped perform the rituals. However, despite the her strict learning, the elders couldn't stop her from being a child. Although she never showed any emotion and never spoke without being spoken to, it was evident that she took interest in the children she saw on the trips around Junos.
When Elpis was a child, she was not allowed to go out and play with the other kids. She was strictly forbidden to leave the castle-like structure that was home to the Ritual Head and the Chastiser. So, upon seeing the children play, Elpis couldn't help but stare at the strange way the young Dokkalfar danced and ran around and inflicted simple Blot Rune rituals on each other. It was a curious sight to Elpis, and to make sure that she didn't get any unwanted notions, the Ritual Head gave the young Dokkalfr more work. They gave her stacks of books that were to "fill her free time". These books were strictly about Blot rituals or solely about Rune rituals. The Ritual Head was right, these books did fill the free time she had between lessons, or the free time she had while journeying to different parts of Junos. However, Elpis was smarted than the Ritual Head gave her credit for. She knew what the books were for. She knew the task handed to her and the position she took among not only the Ritual Head but also the Dokkalfar. It was precisely that knowledge that insured no emotion would cross her face and that her voice would be lost without the start of another. It was that knowledge that made her steal glances at the other children when the Ritual Head payed no heed to her. She would secretly stare with curiosity on her mind and a tad bit of longing in her heart.
As the years dragged on Elpis became more and more engrossed in rituals. Not only did she start to take on the full responsibilities of the Chastiser, she also started to pick up true interest on the the rituals of both the past and the present. As she aged, she realized the true meaning of the history between the humans and Dokkalfar. When she was a child, the history became a fuel for hatred, as was it with most Dokkalfar. However, it no longer was solely hatred that came from the ancient history, but also sparks of interest and curiosity. Elpis had always been the curious type, just not one to take initiative and ask for or find the answers. She kept her curiosity to herself and often times pushed it towards the back of her mind, for she was constantly busy. There was always something new to be learned or someone new to perform the Blot Rune rituals on. Often times, a visitor from a different community would ask Elpis to perform rituals that would scar their skin. Elpis was in no position to decline. She would perform the rituals, get back to studying and set off to a different community to perform the rituals on a whole community. It was considered a privilege to have the Chastiser mark you with a symbol of pain; the more complex the symbol the greater the privilege along with pain.
As the numbers of Dokkalfar grew, slowly but surly, so did the amount of work Elpis was inclined to do. There were constantly new symbols that she had to memorize and practice, for her kin were currently in an era where coming up with new symbols was their idea of fun. Elpis now had to go to different Dokkalfar communities to not just perform the rituals but to gather the new symbols and rituals that the Dokkalfar had come up with. Her arms, back, stomach, sides and upper thighs were littered with pink and grey scars. As if her skin wasn't tainted enough, there was no other way to practice and understand the full strength of the new Blot Rune rituals than for Elpis to inflict them upon herself. It was a painful process, but after six hundred years of living in Junos amongst the Ritual Head, the Chastiser had secretly become numb to it.
Elpis had heard little about the rifts between words. Small rumors here and there in different communities were all that her ears had picked up. Travel had started to become a frequent thing for the Chastiser and not every place she went to had the same knowledge as the others. Elpis played the rumor off as just that, a rumor, however, the familiar curiosity in the back of her mind had started to make its way forward. There was a small chance that the rumor could be true and that small chance made the strong hatred in her heart waver. Elpis was performing a ritual when she got word that she was summoned back home and it was urgent.
When she got back to the castle-like home that didn't hold the aura of a home, she was immediately taken into a huge room that held a round table in the middle and had twenty elders sitting around the table. They beckoned her forward and they spoke about the rifts. They told her that they were going to send her into a rift so she could avenge her ancestors and the Dokkalfar race. They told her that she was to meet up with some Dokkalfar that had already fallen through the rifts and that they were all too old to go, that their time was coming to an end and to grant them this last wish. Elpis was in no position to decline. With their last adieu they sent her through the rifts of the worlds, entrusting her to avenge them.