Eleanor Blackwood (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
craftingshadows) wrote2020-05-19 08:54 pm
craftingshadows) wrote2020-05-19 08:54 pm
Eleanor Blackwood | Info
Name: Eleanor Amelia Rose Blackwood
Age: 30. Born 18 Amaranth 1795, Shadow Age. (18 August 1795)
PB: Gemma Arterton
Species: Human
Sexuality: Disaster bi.
Pet: A Celestial Cat named Odile. Celestial Cats are cats with magical abilities and a set of wings, all of which varies depending upon the breed. Odile is a tabby with tiger stripes in black, brown, and grey, mixed in with ginger fur, and her wings resemble those of swans. Celestial Cats are bonded to their owners by the soul; they can never die until their owner does and they cannot be separated from their owners, supposedly even in death, or so the rumors go, though, of course, no one can confirm this outside of a rare ghost sighting or two. Combined with their magical abilities, this makes Celestial Cats a valuable ally in battle. Odile’s powers are lightning based; she can breathe lightning and send out sparks from her claws. Eleanor saves up and buys Odile for herself when she turns 14 years of age. Odile is one of the few indulges she ever allows herself.
Status: Mage + Rogue, as well as a Guardian with the Sparrow Keepers. Magic is often referred to as shadow crafting by those without magic, meant to be an insult for the role magic played in the Great War, and mages themselves referred to as shadow crafters. In fact, the results of those words have been the opposite; mages have reclaimed them for themselves, and now use them to describe themselves with pride.
Mages, those born with natural magical abilities, have been treated as second-class citizens since the end of the Great War. They are paid less than those without magic, shopkeepers can and do limit what sorts of supplies and materials they can buy, usually by hiking up the prices, they are looked down upon, people assume the worst of them and blame mages for even the smallest slights, etc. Mages do not have the same rights as those without magic; they can be thrown in jail for little reason, (the most common reason given being performing magic outside of sanctioned areas, though, given that those without magic govern what does and does not count as a sanctioned area, this is just one of the murky areas of the law Eleanor personally faces) and are often subjected to a heavy bail. They are also required to give more to the blood tax imposed upon by the ruling vampire class; those without magic are required to donate 100 ml a month; those with magic are required to give 500 ml a month.
Given all of this, the majority of mages work to keep themselves from exposure, and so many pick up an additional skillset for defense. Some take up sword and shield, others a traditional bow and archer, dual wielding weapons, etc. Those who live openly as mages also choose to turn their wand into a different kind of weapon, as Eleanor has done. This is difficult and complicated magic requiring a fair amount of study; when put in use, it drains the user of mana, magical energy, at a faster rate than normal spells.
As such, Eleanor also keeps two daggers on her person and practices dual wielding techniques to always have another means of defending herself available. She is particularly skilled in evasive maneuvers, rolling, low, sweeping kicks, and quick, definitive stabbing. As she flees from Rook’s Hollow, these skills become increasingly useful to her on the road; when she joins the Sparrow Keepers, this skillset ensures that the group she winds up with finds her a valuable asset.
Eleanor’s magic revealed itself very publicly when, at the age of nine, she nearly set the Rook’s Hollow town square on fire. She only just avoided arrest, though her family was fined heavily for the damage, throwing them into debt and on the verge of outright destitution.
Overwhelmed by guilt, Eleanor threw herself into her studies to be able to control and conceal her magic. She also volunteered, in what amounts nowadays to child labor, whenever possible, in every way that she could until she found paid employment, at which point she gave up what little schooling she’d had in favor of trying to earn more money for her family.
When Mary Anne’s powers later revealed themselves, Eleanor was able to help conceal them from the rest of the town and keep her sister relatively safe. (Something she would later come to regret, given Mary Anne’s eventual betrayal.)
Eleanor also maintains the skills of a rogue, able as she is to magically turn her wand into a bow using the right spells. She’s taught herself these skills, as she’s taught herself most of her own magic, being unable to afford an apprenticeship or any schooling beyond what a kindly tiefling neighbor, Olivia, could teach her in between jobs. Her deftness and quickness at thinking on her feet are largely what allow her to survive the Wolfsbane Massacre.
World Population/State: Aurelia consists of all sorts of diverse beings and species with their own cultures and beliefs: humans, elves, dwarves, tieflings, werewolves, faeries, demons, angels, vampires, merpeople, etc. Vampires remain the dominant race, despite the fact that every other population, with the exception of the faeries, outnumbers them, ever since the conclusion of the Great War one hundred years before Eleanor’s birth. With the aid of mages, warriors, rogues, and spell crafting stolen from elven, dwarven, human, and tiefling cultures, the vampires cast a veil across the sun, plunging Villanelle into a state of perpetual darkness and grey. During the day, the sky appears to be covered in stormy clouds, echoes of thunder and bursts of lightning flashing every once and awhile. Sometimes, it rains. At night, the moon and stars shine brightly against the pitch-black sky and the even darker shadows extending beneath it.
At the time of Eleanor’s life, Aurelia, particularly the continent of Villanelle in which Eleanor lives, is living in what’s known as the Shadow Age. The technology, clothing, hair, styles, manners, customs, and social structures mirror those of the Regency era in the real world, with some differences. Society is still male dominated but women in Aurelia have much more power and agency than in real history; they can serve as soldiers, obtain any manner of job, inherit property, etc. Of course, they are still expected to marry, and marry well, and some cultures (Herald’s Peak, Aria) are more equal (pay better and more fair wages, offer better positions, elect women to local government, etc.) than others (Amara, Ermelinda, Konstantina).
Likewise, sexuality and gender identity are not as taboo in Villanelle as they were in the actual Regency era, similar to the society found in the Dragon Age games. And even though various sexuality and gender identities have existed for as long as creation, those who identify as anything other than straight and cisgender are still not considered entirely normal by the majority of the Villanelle population, even as it is legal, in some countries, to marry an individual of the same sex, and face opposition, hatred, and other innumerable struggles. Some countries (Amara, Aria, Konstantina) are much more tolerant than others (Herald’s Peak, Ermelinda); Amara, in particular, is a haven, even in spite of the otherwise oppressive vampire regime ruling it.
Magical, fantastical creatures and monsters of all varieties also exist – everything from a common housecat to unicorns, and everything in between. The last of the dragons supposedly died fighting against the vampires at the Battle of Andromeda, the deciding battle of the Great War, but rumor and legend suggest that dragons still exist and that they are biding their time.
The vampires, particularly King Leon, insist that all is well and that they have full control over the power they stole. However, the fact that rebellions keep sparking all over and that King Leon and his cronies respond even more ruthlessly than before confirms that the vampires’ victory and time of power is, indeed, eroding, and at rather an alarming pace.
Desperation, of course, breeds chaos.
World Map: The world is known as Aurelia, and the main continent is known as Villanelle. There are many areas of Aurelia not yet explored or known to the people of Villanelle, but the known world consists of the following:
- The continent of Villanelle, which consists of the following countries:
- Herald’s Peak, capital city Orion. A mountainous, wild country covered with woods and framed by the Untamed Sea with the highest remaining fae population in the world. Humans, dwarves, elves, tieflings, and werewolves are the most populous populations; angels and merpeople also abide within the skies and various bodies of water, respectively. Duchess Lake in Bishop’s Wood is a particularly famous area, known to be haunted due to its violent history. The villages in and around the lake are home to ghosts, spirits, and demons. Supposedly home to the last of the dragons, no one has yet been able to confirm this particular rumor. Duke Hawthorne is the highest figure of vampiric authority in the country, answering only to King Leon of Amara.
– Amara, capital city Andromeda. Often referred to as the beating heart of Villanelle, Amara directly neighbors Herald’s Peak, with whom they’ve fought countless wars over the years. Amara is an expansive country composed of many glittering cities in addition to the abundance of wild woods and open fields. There are mountains and bodies of water here as well, though not nearly as many as Herald’s Peak. Andromeda is home to King Leon, vampire ruler of all Villanelle. Vampires are the most popular group here, though demons, humans, elves, dwarves, and tieflings also make their homes here. There are no fae or angels here, and merpeople are quite scarce as vampires have gorged on all aforementioned species to the point of extinction and near extinction. Politics, assassinations, romantic rivalries, and using duels to settle matters are the most popular sport here, usually played out in the form of theatre troupes and bards who call themselves Masqueraders. King Leon was once such (and is rumored to be, still) a Masquerader, though, given the power he wields now, he has no need to hide behind a mask to kill. The Onyx Palace is the most famous of sights here, though, of course, the rumors of what goes on in the palace’s dungeons are just as famous. Duke Hawthorne and King Leon are notorious for their particularly cruel brands of torture.
– Aria, capital city Moira. A series of islands off the coast of Herald’s Peak, Aria is the country with the greatest amount of rebellion and unrest throughout Villanelle. The Sparrow Keepers often make their camps on these islands, as they are quite popular here. Humans, elves, and merpeople mostly make up the populations of these islands, and Aria, as a whole, boasts a higher unicorn and pegasus count as opposed to the rest of the continent. Aria is also home to the majority of Celestial Cats, as these islands are far enough away from the central power of Andromeda and the black market of the Silver Crescent Market in Ermelinda. The city of Moira is also, supposedly, the birthplace and death sight of Lady Sparrow, the Savior of the Incandescent religion. Few vampires reside here due to the constant state of rebellions and uprisings, though the devout say it is because Lady Sparrow’s spirit lingers, protecting her people; the constant presence of the Keepers also helps protect the people from retaliation. Earl Armand, so it is said, is the most powerful ally on the side of the Keepers and those they fight for. This is likely why he has recently been called away to court, only to ‘suddenly disappear.’ (His body will eventually be discovered along the pathway to the Onyx Palace, popularly known as the Trail of Bones.)
– Ermelinda, capital city Felice. A large country surrounded by water known for its merchants and naval fleet. This country possesses mountains and woods as well, but not nearly as much as the other countries within Villanelle. The southern half of Ermelinda is entirely a desert, one of the consequences of the Great War. Though, without sunlight, the desert is cold and full of shadows. Bandits, thieves, and assassins make use of this desert, driving most of the general population away. Those brave enough to venture out to the desert may find themselves at the Silver Crescent Market, a farmer’s market, but with illegal goods, services, and products. There is much bloody and violent history here, as Ermelinda once ruled as an empire itself long ago, back during the Dawn Age and beyond, and as the birth country of Lady Bellona, the Queen Goddess/Patron Saint of the Sanguine religion. Previously dominated by humans, the human population has since dwindled significantly since the end of the Great War; tieflings, elves, and dwarves mostly make this country their home now. Ermelinda boasts the second largest population of vampires across Villanelle, as this is the country in which vampires claim they have originated. Duke Graziano is King Leon’s spymaster though rumors abound that the good Duke is angling for Leon’s throne himself. Another crack in the vampire empire.
– Konstantina, capital city Kleio. A medium sized country, Konstantina is surrounded by the Untamed Sea on three sides, directly beneath Amara. Like Ermelinda, they, too, possess an impressive naval fleet and variety of merchants. The country of Konstantina possesses richer soils, trees, plant life, and a wide diversity of people and animal life alike; humans, elves, a small amount of fae, angels, demons, tieflings, etc. Like Amara, Konstantina has a high amount of Masqueraders. Currently, much like Aria, Konstantina is proving another crack in the vampire island; even the thieves guilds that run rampant in Konstantina are working with those rebelling, making use of their connections and abilities to help sow chaos and disorder among the ruling class. Konstantina boasts an impressive amount of desirable goods throughout, which makes it quite the commodity to King Leon and his ilk. As tension builds, King Leon tries to use the Wolfsbane Massacre to distract from his attempt to reconquer Kleio. And while he does succeed in his endeavor, to a degree, eventually Kleio falls to those fighting his regime, fueled by the works of the Sparrow Keepers and their allies.
History: The oldest of three children, Eleanor became the default mistress of her household in the wake of her mother’s passing fifteen years ago; Eleanor has all but raised her two younger siblings, given that her father turned heavily to alcohol and drugs to cope with the loss of his wife. He left home one morning ten years ago and hasn’t been seen since; he is presumed dead, and, later, confirmed as such when Eleanor discovers his body in the wreckage of a pub destroyed by mages working in service of the vampire regime. Damien Blackwood, the middle child, 25 years of age, works as a botanist and chemist peddling his wares (herbs and poisons alike) on the black market to help supplement the family income, and Mary Anne Blackwood is the youngest at 16, a mage like Eleanor apprenticed to a local Dwarven sorcerer thanks to the money Eleanor and Damien have been able to save from their work.
Even after the loss of both their parents and working especially long and difficult hours to keep a roof over their heads, Eleanor manages to keep what remains of her family together, for a few years, at least.
Until the night of the Wolfsbane Massacre, a night that proves a reckoning for Eleanor and her family. Orchestrated by Duke Hawthorne, soldiers infiltrate the Wolfsbane household, beginning to kill the family as they sleep. Eleanor, working late, realizes something’s wrong at the sound of Elias Wolfsbane’s screaming. Spurred into action, she gathers her wand and begins ushering the family and her fellow servants to safety, providing protection where she can.
Eleanor only manages to save, Vivian, a tiefling lady’s maid, Arthur, a dwarven footman, and Moira Wolfsbane, the youngest Wolfsbane daughter; the Wolfsbane manor catches on fire just as Eleanor and her companions make it out. Vivian and Arthur follow Eleanor to safety, and all three are ultimately declared outlaws, with a great bounty placed on each of their heads.
On the night of the Wolfsbane Massacre, Damien is murdered trying to protect the village of Rook’s Hollow. Mary Anne, unbeknownst to Eleanor, who is busy trying to save the Wolfsbane family and household, defects to the vampires. She is turned, and becomes mistress to Duke Hawthorne, the man who orchestrates the Wolfsbane Massacre. Eventually, when Eleanor encounters Mary Anne and Duke Hawthorne in the Herald’s Peak capital of Orion, she kills them both. By the time Eleanor kills Mary Anne, she does so particularly brutally.
She has curried favor enough with the people of her town for them to see her as an example of “what mages should be.” But, to them, she’s still a mage; she’s still not enough, and she’ll never be fully enough, despite all her efforts and hard work. And when she manages to survive the attack on the Wolfsbane family, all that good favor she’s curried over the years comes to naught, as Eleanor is instantly blamed and a bounty placed upon her head. All of these details arranged and orchestrated by one Duke Hawthorne, who desperately wants Eleanor’s magic for his own use.
The Blackwoods are believed to be one of the oldest families with magic, rumored to be direct descendants of Druids, the first humans known to possess magic. The strength of Eleanor’s magic supports this rumor; the very fact that she learned to wield her magic mostly on her own especially supports this.
Eleanor, in the wake of her escape from Rook’s Hollow, discovers that her magic is indeed of the most ancient sort when she finds herself able to cast Celestial spells, magic that is said to come from beyond the stars, and available only to those with access to the oldest forms of magic. (Angels, faeries, and elves are usually the only ones with access; the humans who can and do access Celestial spells come from the oldest families with magic, from a time in which peace and prosperity supposedly ruled the day.) Naturally, Duke Hawthorne and the King both learn of this, and intensify their hunt for Eleanor in doing so, with the aid of Mary Anne, who, in a bid for what she thinks of as greater power, defects to Duke Hawthorne and becomes his mistress.
Eleanor, Vivian, Moira, and Arthur manage to survive by the skin of their teeth for several weeks on the road; they keep to themselves, tend to keep to wildlife and berries for sustenance, and very much rely on Eleanor’s magic to keep them from notice. Naturally, this sort of haphazard peace doesn’t last; when they intervene in saving a human carpenter from a gang of bandits, the man they save winds up betraying them by calling for the vampire authorities, specifically, the Crimson Guard, the elite group of soldiers specifically trained for fighting against rebels.
Before Eleanor and company can be arrested, however, they are rescued by a wandering group of Sparrow Keepers. The Sparrow Keepers offer Eleanor, Moira, Vivian, and Arthur a chance to travel with them, and it doesn’t take long before they all find themselves recruited into the order.
Eleanor and her friends struggle with the initiation rites; Arthur does not survive them, in fact. But Eleanor, Moira, and Vivian do, and they learn to make use of their new abilities and situation.
Unfortunately, the brief respite Eleanor finds from those who want her dead doesn’t last. Ambushed by members of the Crimson Guard and some of King Leon’s more vicious experiments (hybrids of snakes, humans, elves, and demons), Eleanor, Vivian, Moira, and a young elf named Lysander Albatross are the only four members to survive and escape.
Eleanor and company travel throughout Villanelle, gathering resources, supplies, and allies in a bid to try and overthrow the current vampire regime. Through a rare stroke of luck, they are able to retain the materials necessary to perform initiation rites into the Sparrow Keepers; Eleanor helps to recruit and initiate enough members so as for her band of misfits to act as a sort of mercenary group.
Eleanor becomes the leader of the group, the one who ultimately makes the tough calls and potentially awful choices. She steers her group well through whatever life and King Leon throw her way, taking on a variety of missions, quests, and jobs in order to survive as well as to spread the Keepers’ message of rebellion and hope.
During a rescue mission in which Eleanor and Lysander wind up briefly stranded in a haunted tavern, Eleanor learns that Lysander is, in fact, the last living descendant of the Oak family, the last family to rule the throne of Amara. Lysander admits that it’s not a burden that he wants, and he’s struggled to keep it a secret for many years. Yet, in him, Eleanor finds a new hope; a solution for after taking down King Leon’s reign.
Eleanor and Lysander debate about his potential as a king for several weeks, but she does keep her word and she doesn’t reveal his secret to anyone else. Ultimately, he reveals himself to the rest of the group, and he decides to take on the mantle of becoming king for the greater good of the world. It is also revealed, at this point in time, his relationship with Vivian, and that he wishes to make her his queen should they take the throne from Leon.
It takes them the better part of a year, but, ultimately, Eleanor is able to lead her group of Keepers to victory, through her smaller victories of gathering resources, allies, weapons, and drumming up support for Lysander as King. What truly grants Eleanor and her allies an edge, however, is the fact that they discover one of the last few dragons in existence, a native, purple dragon named Elderberry who lives in the deepest, wildest forests on the islands of Aria.
With Elderberry’s assistance, Eleanor is able to first defeat Duke Hawthorne and her sister, and then, ultimately, King Leon, though Moira Wolfsbane is the one to deliver the killing blow.
Eleanor helps to crown Lysander and Vivian; they also ask her to officiate their marriage, which she is only too happy to do so. In the aftermath of all the celebrations, Eleanor journeys to meet up with other Sparrow Keepers to begin rebuilding and continuing her mission of fighting evil wherever she finds it.
Position/Work Experience: Eleanor has been employed as a kitchen maid since the age of eleven in the Wolfsbane household, the Elven lord and his family who rule her village. She works long hours and covers for other servants in the house when needed. She has just been promoted to assistant cook, though she also performs kitchen maid duties. As a mage who unintentionally revealed her powers early on in her life, she earns significantly less than someone without magic would, though the Wolfsbane family has been kinder to her than most and often grant her additional gifts of food, materials, clothes, herbs, and additional money when they can.
After surviving the Wolfsbane Massacre, Eleanor resorts to a combination of stealing and odd jobs to survive, until she finds sanctuary with the Sparrow Keepers, a group of rebels fighting against the ruling vampire class and their regime. When she joins the Keepers, Eleanor is granted the position of Guardian, a position that makes full use of her magic, fighting, and botanical abilities. She fights from a distance unless it can’t be avoided, and provides support for the Warriors who fight on the frontlines and other Guardians. She also provides potions and poisons to aid in battle or in the wake of it, and she helps carries the supplies the group takes with them as they travel.
Residence: Eleanor knows the world as Aurelia; she hails from the continent of Villanelle, a landmass roughly slightly larger than the size of Europe. Specifically, she comes from the mountainous country of Herald’s Peak, from the village of Rook’s Hollow. When she joins the Sparrow Keepers, she lives as she travels, making camp wherever they can find the space as they travel all across Villanelle, seeking allies, gathering resources and supplies, and performing their duties as best they can.
Sparrow Keepers: A group of rebels made up of all races determined to overthrow the ruling vampire class and fight for equality as best they can wherever they happen to find it. They are a ragtag group but they are organized, and they accept help from every corner, including criminals and others fleeing the law, as well as vampires rebelling against the other vampires in charge. They are despised by the noble classes and revered by the working class and the poor; they are, as a whole, considered outlaws, and under the ruling vampire regime, joining, aiding, or abetting the Keepers is considered treason and punishable by death, usually brutal death, so as to set an example. (In the capital city Andromeda in the country of Amara, the road leading to The Onyx Palace is lined with the bodies, heads, and skeletons of traitors executed by way of staking, hanging, or worse. Some of the bodies are not quite dead yet, and that is intentional. This is known as the Trail of Bones, and it is said that King Leon makes all of his guests walk this particular path as a silent and unspoken threat of what they can expect should they ever cross him.)
They drink a magical potion known as Midnight Brew, which consists of vampire, angel, faerie, and blood of the dead in order to gain their abilities; not everyone who drinks the potion survives. (And while vampires can and do help the Keepers, vampires are the only race who cannot participate in drinking Midnight Brew, as doing so will instantly kill them.) Sparrow Keeper abilities are as follows:
Elevated Immunity Against Vampires:
- Toxic Blood – The blood of Robin Keepers is instantly dangerous to vampires, and a little goes a long way. If they drink just under 1 ounce of blood, they’ll be wretchedly sick. Between 1 and 5 ounces will immediately knock them out. Any greater amount will kill vampires except those that have protected themselves by consuming dragon’s blood. Only the most powerful and wealthiest of vampires have access to dragon’s blood, so very few vampires are able to defend against this toxic blood. If a Keeper deliberately sprays their own blood on vampires, it will act as a paralyzing toxin, though for a limited amount of time. Vampires who are protected with dragon’s blood are also immune to this.
- Resistance to Compelling and Glamours – Robin Keepers maintain a greater resistance against vampiric abilities to compel and disguise via glamours. That isn’t to say that they are entirely resistant; the more powerful the vampire and the more honed the vampire’s abilities, the more difficult it becomes to resist. But, generally speaking, Keepers resist mind-control from a minor to a moderate nature, and can see through glamors (magical disguises) of a mild to moderate strength.
- Sense the Undead – Keepers can sense the nearby presence of vampires; unfortunately, the reverse is also true, which makes this ability just as much of a risk as it is a strength.
- Still Able to Withstand Sunlight – Although becoming a Keeper renders the individual more susceptible to sunlight, they can still function and survive in the sun, which is more than can be said for vampires. Those with enough power, wealth, and influence can access charms to make sunlight just barely tolerable, but, inevitably, those charms never last long, and to put such power into the hand of another is to open oneself up to the possibility of an assassination attempt.
All of these abilities allow Keepers to fight vampires with greater strength and stamina than an average citizen. That being said, gaining such abilities and resistances does not come without cost.
Keeper Weaknesses:
- Weakness to Sunlight – Currently not too prevalent an issue, given that Aurelia is in a state of perpetual lack of sunlight, but once it becomes an issue again, it will affect Keepers in the following ways: more easily sunburned, more prone to becoming overheated, and weaker overall in the sun, including a drain on energy, stamina, and mana.
- Similar Weaknesses to Vampires – Keepers, as much as they gain strength against vampires, also gain some of their weaknesses to a lesser extent. Weapons made out of or crafted with runes of silver will hurt more and have the potential to cause serious, even fatal injuries.
Religions: There are a countless number of religions throughout Aurelia, rooted in various cultures and beliefs and differing perspectives. The two most popular beliefs are that of the Incandescent and Sanguine faiths, two different religions that intertwine in interesting and mysterious ways.
- Incandescent: The most popular faith among humans, in particular, the Incandescent faith follows the teachings of Lady Bethany Sparrow, a young martyr warrior who fought against the Ermelinda empire to free the rest of Villanelle from its brutal and tyrannical rule. According to doctrine, Lady Sparrow turned herself in to Queen Bellona, a sacrifice meant to protect her people. Queen Bellona beheaded her in a public spectacle meant to discourage her followers/those rebelling, before drinking her blood to add insult to injury and demonstrate her power over Lady Sparrow. Instead, the blood curdled in Queen Bellona’s throat as Lady Sparrow’s body transformed into a group of sparrows, bursting forth and flying towards the sun. As Lady Sparrow ascended into paradise, Queen Bellona and her followers immediately turned into damned creatures of the night. Though churches and sanctuaries dedicated to Lady Sparrow are few and far in between, those especially devoted to this faith find ways to celebrate it. Anyone may dedicate themselves to the church; a group of elders known as Candle Lighters decides upon how best to interoperate the scripture that details Lady Sparrow’s life and teachings.
- Sanguine: The declared national religion of all Villanelle, in accordance with the vampire rule. Some humans, elves, dwarves, angels, etc. do follow this religion, but the most dedicated and faithful to this particular branch of faith are vampires, especially those from Queen Bellona’s birthplace of Ermelinda. According to the Sanguine faith, Queen Bellona heroically put down a treasonous rebel, Lady Sparrow, in order to save the empire. The earth swallowed Lady Sparrow into hell while the night itself rewarded Queen Bellona and her most faithful followers with the gift of immortality. The Sanguine religion has temples and churches throughout Villanelle, most notably, the majority of their churches once belonged to the Incandescent religion. Anyone may dedicate themselves to the church; at the very top of the hierarchy sits The Designer, a position of power only just below King Leon. It is said that Designer Brennan is just as much as the ruling power behind the throne as Leon is. The Designer is the one who ultimately controls and leads the Crimson Guard.
The Great War: The war in which vampires gained dominance over all of Villanelle. Many lives were lost in the various battles, and rumors suggest that vampires gained their victory through all sorts of dirty and backhanded sorts of methods, such as the use of time magic, and exploiting various groups of people with promises they never intended to actually keep. In fact, popular folklore suggests that the vampires actually lost the war in the end, but, with their access to magic, managed to reverse time to turn the tides in their favor.
The Wolfsbane Massacre: A political maneuver orchestrated by Duke Hawthorne on behalf of King Leon in order to cut down one of the most prominent Elven families in Herald’s Peak, supposedly for their rumored support of those rebelling against vampire rule, particularly, aiding mages and members of the Sparrow Keepers. Rivals of King Leon suggest this is also to distract from the king’s problems in maintaining order in Konstantina.
The Crimson Guard: An elite group of warriors, rogues, and mages trained to enforce the law. More than that, they’ve been trained to fight against rebels, and they’ve helped swiftly and brutally stomp out riots, potential riots, and other acts of rebellion throughout Villanelle. They can be directly controlled by vampires, and their abilities require the use of a specific potion known as Moon Dust, a magical concoction made from the blood of mages from any race, angel blood, and Celestial Cat shit. It is a highly addictive substance, and those expelled from the order generally don’t tend to last long, as withdrawal from lack of Moon Dust is known to be fatal.
Months and Time: Time runs in Aurelia as it does in real life – 360 days a year, 12 months, 30 and/or 31 days per month. In terms of measuring eras, each one hundred years marks a new age. Or it did. Since the vampires have taken control, the current age, known as the Shadow Age, still reigns. Months are named for particular herbs.
Sage = September
Oak = October
Nutmeg = November
Dandelion = December
Jasmine = January
Feverfew = February
Mugwort = March
Anise = April
Mullein = May
Juniperus = June
Jojoba = July
Amaranth = August
It is currently the year 1825 SA. Eleanor’s birthday is 18 Amaranth 1795.
Powers & Abilities: Eleanor is a powerful mage, in addition to the abilities she gains when she drinks the Midnight Brew and becomes a Sparrow Keeper. Descended directly from the Druids of old, Eleanor has access to magic most other mages can only dream about, and her adeptness at magic comes from this lineage as well. Like most mages, Eleanor has aspects of her magic that she’s stronger with and aspects that she’s weaker with. Also, given that she is mostly self-taught, her magic and her use of it is much obviously less refined as opposed to someone who has had formal training in magic.
It should also be noted that Eleanor's magic requires mana, magical energy, and that the stronger a spell is, the more mana it requires. Eleanor can regenerate mana, and she has access to/can create spells to more quickly regenerate mana. However, if she fully exhausts herself of mana, she cannot use a potion to quickly regenerate, and regenerating mana on her own requires her to fully rest (taking a nap, going to sleep for the night, not working any magic at all, etc.). If she runs out of mana, that exhaustion will begin to effect her stamina/non-magical energy in a negative way; she'll grow physically tired, which is dangerous if she's fighting. And, of course, using potions in the middle of combat to regenerate mana leaves her vulnerable to attacks and losing focus herself. She's learned to be careful with magic over the years; she has her daggers as back-up for when she does run out of mana.
- Charmed Writing: Also known as ‘magical texting.’ The ability to send messages swiftly and directly to someone using unicorn ink (not made of actual unicorn, just a name referring to the unique nature of the ink), the quill of a lavender hedgehog, and message parchment. A quick and secure way for Sparrow Keepers (and anyone looking to avoid the watching eye of the Crimson Guard) to communicate. Eleanor is skilled in this, and in writing in code for extra protection.
- Transformative Magic: Like Transfigurations in Harry Potter, Eleanor is able to use her magic to transform, for example, a teacup into a mouse, a bookmark into a butterfly, etc. Eleanor most uses this magic as a means of disguise, such as disguising her friends and companions from enemies seeking them out. She’s competent in this area, but this isn’t one of her greatest strengths, the exception being the way she’s able to transform her wand into a magical bow and conjure arrows to use with it. This branch requires a great deal of mana to use, so Eleanor is always particularly careful with where and when she uses it.
- Charms: Eleanor uses a variety of spells geared towards various aspects of every day life. In her work as a servant and at home, taking care of her family, she would make use of charms to help her organize, cook, and clean. In her time as a Sparrow Keeper, she uses charms to enhance combat for her and her allies, as well as to help with defenses. Charms can also be used to pick locks, turn lights on and off, as well as a variety of other uses. Eleanor is particular skilled in this branch of magic, given how often she makes use of it.
- Offensive/Defensive Magic: One of the earliest branches of magic Eleanor chose to study due to the practicality of it, she has access to a variety of spells to aid either offensively or defensively in battle, such as stunning enemies, casting temporary barriers of protection around herself and allies, etc. She is skilled in this area from experience but she does have to be careful, as if she loses concentration, the spell she’s trying to cast can either backfire or not work at all. She’s had this happen several times, in fact; she tries to learn each time this does happen.
- Celestial Magic: Eleanor has only recently discovered her capability for this kind of magic, so she has less experience in it than other branches. Still, she has an aptitude for this particular branch. Celestial magic draws its power from the stars above; Eleanor can use such magic to produce glyphs, either defensive or offensive, add additional power that is especially effective against monsters that aren’t vampires in her attacks, and heightens all of her senses in the dark, allowing for more effective combat. True masters of celestial magic are able to use it to transform themselves into the animal that most represents their soul but Eleanor has not reached that point yet.
- Elemental: Most mages throughout Villanelle tend to favor one element or another when they wield their magic. Very few mages master more than one, and even fewer than that master them all. For her part, Eleanor tends to favor the element of fire, which seems aptly suited for her celestial magic as well. She can make fire in her fists, cast a light that shines but doesn't burn, cause fires, send out waves of fire, and shoot fireballs. She can also enhance her party's weapons with fire. Of course, the more powerful the flame, the more mana it requires of Eleanor, and any spell such as that causing fireballs or waves of flame can just as easily damage Eleanor and her allies as it does her enemies. She usually tends toward the more practical uses of fire (safe light, helping to create a sturdy campfire, etc.), and only uses the more dangerous of spells deep in combat.
- Potions/Poisons/Grenades: Eleanor is capable of using herbs, gems, and other ingredients, magical or otherwise, to craft potions, poisons, and grenades. In particular, she is quite skilled at healing potions, which comes in handy in her work as a Sparrow Keeper. She’s less skilled at grenades but she does know her poisons, which she uses to help her companions coat their weapons for additional damage.
- Weapon Transmutation: Those who live openly as mages also choose to turn their wand into a different kind of weapon, as Eleanor has done. This is difficult and complicated magic requiring a fair amount of study; when put in use, it drains the user of mana, magical energy, at a faster rate than normal spells. Eleanor can transform her wand into a magical bow, and she can conjure arrows to shoot with it. She enjoys fighting like this, but she has to be careful, given how quickly she can burn through mana when she fights like this.
- Celestial Cat: Odile, Eleanor’s Celestial Cat, possesses lightning abilities. She fights besides Eleanor in battle.
- Dual-Wielding Daggers: If Eleanor ever runs out of mana, she has a means of fighting and defending herself. She is by no means an expert in this area; she only resorts to using her daggers if she has to. But she is trained and skilled enough to hold her own using dual-wielding daggers.
Personality: Eleanor is a woman who had to grow up suddenly, almost entirely overnight, in fact. After the death of her mother, she became the head of the family, bringing in the main source of income so that her family could survive, all the while looking after her younger brother, younger sister, and even her father, briefly, before he abandoned them, unable to deal with his own grief.
She’s a responsible woman used to various burdens being placed on her, due to a number of reasons: living openly as a mage, being the oldest child, being the member of her family with the most steady amount of work, leading Vivian, Moira, and Arthur to safety, joining the Sparrow Keepers, and becoming the leader of that particular group in the wake of the ambush. She has endured various tragedies and survived, from the loss of her mother, to the Wolfsbane Massacre, to the loss of Arthur to the initiation rites of joining the Sparrow Keepers. This seemingly endless barrage of loss has nearly broken her on numerous occasions, and yet, Eleanor not only survives, she finds a way to turn a bad situation to her advantage.
She’s hardworking, dedicating herself to job wholeheartedly even though she makes less than others around her. She balances working, taking care of her family, as well as studying and practicing her craft of magic. Later, she works to ensure the survival of those she’s rescued, as well as those she recruits into the order of Sparrow Keepers.
She’s intelligent and clever, capable of reading quickly and learning how to adapt in tough situations. Aside from the kindly tutorage of Olivia in her youth, Eleanor is mostly self-taught in her use of magic, and she’s still learning, constantly, every day. She managed to somewhat find a way to continue her schooling by borrowing books from the local library once she had to drop out of school to work. She’s also a wit, also known as a smartass, and she’s not afraid of expressing herself through sarcasm, regardless of how her words affect others.
She’s fiercely protective of those she loves, and she will not hesitate to intervene if they are threatened in any way, shape, or form. As a mage who has experienced prejudice due to her magic, she is also fiercely defensive and protective of mages, very much in favor of expanding their rights and making them equal to those without magic. She doesn’t take kindly to those who look down on others for any reason, though, in a way, she’s also hypocritical about this, given that she tends to broadly paint any and all vampires the same. She assumes that every single vampire is like King Leon: power hungry, vicious, and willing to rack up as many as bodies as it takes to get their way. As much as she’ll protect those around her, she’ll just as equally dismiss vampires out of hand, only willing to see them for what the nobility and ruling class do.
She tends to repress her emotions for the sake of being a rock for others, knowing that people depend upon her. This tends to bite her in the ass, and it’s come back to haunt her through various arguments she gets into with those she cares for, both her brother and sister, as well as those she rescues from the Wolfsbane Massacre and those she recruits for the Sparrow Keepers. Lysander consistently calls her out on this, wanting her to take better care of herself.
She puts others before herself constantly, to a fault. She has a good heart but she can be negligent when it comes to taking care of herself. She will often sacrifice the last bit of food, blankets, or water so that others might be comfortable, and she always insists that it doesn’t bother her. This is something Eleanor struggles with constantly, due to the harsh realities of her life. Her sense of self-worth/self-esteem is a struggle she’s contested with ever since her magic first manifested, given the way her society views and treats mages, as well as the harsh remarks and difficult situations she’s endured from various citizens throughout Rook’s Hollow. Mostly, she keeps these struggles to herself, until Lysander, Vivian, and Moira get her to eventually open up. Still, this is a part of Eleanor that she will always struggle with.
One area in which she is selfish is in the way she holds her opinions. She is opinionated and stubborn, as well as impatient, which often leads to her putting her foot in her mouth. Sometimes both feet, in fact. Her intelligence, hard work, and skills with magic lead her to believe there is no problem that she can’t solve, so long as it’s solved her way. She also tends towards the idea of ‘act first, think later,’ and she believes that her ideas are always the best ones, and anyone who questions this just can’t see how right she truly is. Her resistance to listening to other ideas and suggestions often leads her into trouble; in fact, her refusal to even consider Lysander’s suggestions and desire to rush right into battle leads to them becoming stranded in a haunted tavern.
Though Eleanor has her struggles, she’s a brave, determined woman trying to do as much good in the world as she can. She’s endured and survived, and, in the end, she’s thrived.
Please note that this is a work in progress. I will be updating and/or correcting this information as needed.
Age: 30. Born 18 Amaranth 1795, Shadow Age. (18 August 1795)
PB: Gemma Arterton
Species: Human
Sexuality: Disaster bi.
Pet: A Celestial Cat named Odile. Celestial Cats are cats with magical abilities and a set of wings, all of which varies depending upon the breed. Odile is a tabby with tiger stripes in black, brown, and grey, mixed in with ginger fur, and her wings resemble those of swans. Celestial Cats are bonded to their owners by the soul; they can never die until their owner does and they cannot be separated from their owners, supposedly even in death, or so the rumors go, though, of course, no one can confirm this outside of a rare ghost sighting or two. Combined with their magical abilities, this makes Celestial Cats a valuable ally in battle. Odile’s powers are lightning based; she can breathe lightning and send out sparks from her claws. Eleanor saves up and buys Odile for herself when she turns 14 years of age. Odile is one of the few indulges she ever allows herself.
Status: Mage + Rogue, as well as a Guardian with the Sparrow Keepers. Magic is often referred to as shadow crafting by those without magic, meant to be an insult for the role magic played in the Great War, and mages themselves referred to as shadow crafters. In fact, the results of those words have been the opposite; mages have reclaimed them for themselves, and now use them to describe themselves with pride.
Mages, those born with natural magical abilities, have been treated as second-class citizens since the end of the Great War. They are paid less than those without magic, shopkeepers can and do limit what sorts of supplies and materials they can buy, usually by hiking up the prices, they are looked down upon, people assume the worst of them and blame mages for even the smallest slights, etc. Mages do not have the same rights as those without magic; they can be thrown in jail for little reason, (the most common reason given being performing magic outside of sanctioned areas, though, given that those without magic govern what does and does not count as a sanctioned area, this is just one of the murky areas of the law Eleanor personally faces) and are often subjected to a heavy bail. They are also required to give more to the blood tax imposed upon by the ruling vampire class; those without magic are required to donate 100 ml a month; those with magic are required to give 500 ml a month.
Given all of this, the majority of mages work to keep themselves from exposure, and so many pick up an additional skillset for defense. Some take up sword and shield, others a traditional bow and archer, dual wielding weapons, etc. Those who live openly as mages also choose to turn their wand into a different kind of weapon, as Eleanor has done. This is difficult and complicated magic requiring a fair amount of study; when put in use, it drains the user of mana, magical energy, at a faster rate than normal spells.
As such, Eleanor also keeps two daggers on her person and practices dual wielding techniques to always have another means of defending herself available. She is particularly skilled in evasive maneuvers, rolling, low, sweeping kicks, and quick, definitive stabbing. As she flees from Rook’s Hollow, these skills become increasingly useful to her on the road; when she joins the Sparrow Keepers, this skillset ensures that the group she winds up with finds her a valuable asset.
Eleanor’s magic revealed itself very publicly when, at the age of nine, she nearly set the Rook’s Hollow town square on fire. She only just avoided arrest, though her family was fined heavily for the damage, throwing them into debt and on the verge of outright destitution.
Overwhelmed by guilt, Eleanor threw herself into her studies to be able to control and conceal her magic. She also volunteered, in what amounts nowadays to child labor, whenever possible, in every way that she could until she found paid employment, at which point she gave up what little schooling she’d had in favor of trying to earn more money for her family.
When Mary Anne’s powers later revealed themselves, Eleanor was able to help conceal them from the rest of the town and keep her sister relatively safe. (Something she would later come to regret, given Mary Anne’s eventual betrayal.)
Eleanor also maintains the skills of a rogue, able as she is to magically turn her wand into a bow using the right spells. She’s taught herself these skills, as she’s taught herself most of her own magic, being unable to afford an apprenticeship or any schooling beyond what a kindly tiefling neighbor, Olivia, could teach her in between jobs. Her deftness and quickness at thinking on her feet are largely what allow her to survive the Wolfsbane Massacre.
World Population/State: Aurelia consists of all sorts of diverse beings and species with their own cultures and beliefs: humans, elves, dwarves, tieflings, werewolves, faeries, demons, angels, vampires, merpeople, etc. Vampires remain the dominant race, despite the fact that every other population, with the exception of the faeries, outnumbers them, ever since the conclusion of the Great War one hundred years before Eleanor’s birth. With the aid of mages, warriors, rogues, and spell crafting stolen from elven, dwarven, human, and tiefling cultures, the vampires cast a veil across the sun, plunging Villanelle into a state of perpetual darkness and grey. During the day, the sky appears to be covered in stormy clouds, echoes of thunder and bursts of lightning flashing every once and awhile. Sometimes, it rains. At night, the moon and stars shine brightly against the pitch-black sky and the even darker shadows extending beneath it.
At the time of Eleanor’s life, Aurelia, particularly the continent of Villanelle in which Eleanor lives, is living in what’s known as the Shadow Age. The technology, clothing, hair, styles, manners, customs, and social structures mirror those of the Regency era in the real world, with some differences. Society is still male dominated but women in Aurelia have much more power and agency than in real history; they can serve as soldiers, obtain any manner of job, inherit property, etc. Of course, they are still expected to marry, and marry well, and some cultures (Herald’s Peak, Aria) are more equal (pay better and more fair wages, offer better positions, elect women to local government, etc.) than others (Amara, Ermelinda, Konstantina).
Likewise, sexuality and gender identity are not as taboo in Villanelle as they were in the actual Regency era, similar to the society found in the Dragon Age games. And even though various sexuality and gender identities have existed for as long as creation, those who identify as anything other than straight and cisgender are still not considered entirely normal by the majority of the Villanelle population, even as it is legal, in some countries, to marry an individual of the same sex, and face opposition, hatred, and other innumerable struggles. Some countries (Amara, Aria, Konstantina) are much more tolerant than others (Herald’s Peak, Ermelinda); Amara, in particular, is a haven, even in spite of the otherwise oppressive vampire regime ruling it.
Magical, fantastical creatures and monsters of all varieties also exist – everything from a common housecat to unicorns, and everything in between. The last of the dragons supposedly died fighting against the vampires at the Battle of Andromeda, the deciding battle of the Great War, but rumor and legend suggest that dragons still exist and that they are biding their time.
The vampires, particularly King Leon, insist that all is well and that they have full control over the power they stole. However, the fact that rebellions keep sparking all over and that King Leon and his cronies respond even more ruthlessly than before confirms that the vampires’ victory and time of power is, indeed, eroding, and at rather an alarming pace.
Desperation, of course, breeds chaos.
World Map: The world is known as Aurelia, and the main continent is known as Villanelle. There are many areas of Aurelia not yet explored or known to the people of Villanelle, but the known world consists of the following:
- The continent of Villanelle, which consists of the following countries:
- Herald’s Peak, capital city Orion. A mountainous, wild country covered with woods and framed by the Untamed Sea with the highest remaining fae population in the world. Humans, dwarves, elves, tieflings, and werewolves are the most populous populations; angels and merpeople also abide within the skies and various bodies of water, respectively. Duchess Lake in Bishop’s Wood is a particularly famous area, known to be haunted due to its violent history. The villages in and around the lake are home to ghosts, spirits, and demons. Supposedly home to the last of the dragons, no one has yet been able to confirm this particular rumor. Duke Hawthorne is the highest figure of vampiric authority in the country, answering only to King Leon of Amara.
– Amara, capital city Andromeda. Often referred to as the beating heart of Villanelle, Amara directly neighbors Herald’s Peak, with whom they’ve fought countless wars over the years. Amara is an expansive country composed of many glittering cities in addition to the abundance of wild woods and open fields. There are mountains and bodies of water here as well, though not nearly as many as Herald’s Peak. Andromeda is home to King Leon, vampire ruler of all Villanelle. Vampires are the most popular group here, though demons, humans, elves, dwarves, and tieflings also make their homes here. There are no fae or angels here, and merpeople are quite scarce as vampires have gorged on all aforementioned species to the point of extinction and near extinction. Politics, assassinations, romantic rivalries, and using duels to settle matters are the most popular sport here, usually played out in the form of theatre troupes and bards who call themselves Masqueraders. King Leon was once such (and is rumored to be, still) a Masquerader, though, given the power he wields now, he has no need to hide behind a mask to kill. The Onyx Palace is the most famous of sights here, though, of course, the rumors of what goes on in the palace’s dungeons are just as famous. Duke Hawthorne and King Leon are notorious for their particularly cruel brands of torture.
– Aria, capital city Moira. A series of islands off the coast of Herald’s Peak, Aria is the country with the greatest amount of rebellion and unrest throughout Villanelle. The Sparrow Keepers often make their camps on these islands, as they are quite popular here. Humans, elves, and merpeople mostly make up the populations of these islands, and Aria, as a whole, boasts a higher unicorn and pegasus count as opposed to the rest of the continent. Aria is also home to the majority of Celestial Cats, as these islands are far enough away from the central power of Andromeda and the black market of the Silver Crescent Market in Ermelinda. The city of Moira is also, supposedly, the birthplace and death sight of Lady Sparrow, the Savior of the Incandescent religion. Few vampires reside here due to the constant state of rebellions and uprisings, though the devout say it is because Lady Sparrow’s spirit lingers, protecting her people; the constant presence of the Keepers also helps protect the people from retaliation. Earl Armand, so it is said, is the most powerful ally on the side of the Keepers and those they fight for. This is likely why he has recently been called away to court, only to ‘suddenly disappear.’ (His body will eventually be discovered along the pathway to the Onyx Palace, popularly known as the Trail of Bones.)
– Ermelinda, capital city Felice. A large country surrounded by water known for its merchants and naval fleet. This country possesses mountains and woods as well, but not nearly as much as the other countries within Villanelle. The southern half of Ermelinda is entirely a desert, one of the consequences of the Great War. Though, without sunlight, the desert is cold and full of shadows. Bandits, thieves, and assassins make use of this desert, driving most of the general population away. Those brave enough to venture out to the desert may find themselves at the Silver Crescent Market, a farmer’s market, but with illegal goods, services, and products. There is much bloody and violent history here, as Ermelinda once ruled as an empire itself long ago, back during the Dawn Age and beyond, and as the birth country of Lady Bellona, the Queen Goddess/Patron Saint of the Sanguine religion. Previously dominated by humans, the human population has since dwindled significantly since the end of the Great War; tieflings, elves, and dwarves mostly make this country their home now. Ermelinda boasts the second largest population of vampires across Villanelle, as this is the country in which vampires claim they have originated. Duke Graziano is King Leon’s spymaster though rumors abound that the good Duke is angling for Leon’s throne himself. Another crack in the vampire empire.
– Konstantina, capital city Kleio. A medium sized country, Konstantina is surrounded by the Untamed Sea on three sides, directly beneath Amara. Like Ermelinda, they, too, possess an impressive naval fleet and variety of merchants. The country of Konstantina possesses richer soils, trees, plant life, and a wide diversity of people and animal life alike; humans, elves, a small amount of fae, angels, demons, tieflings, etc. Like Amara, Konstantina has a high amount of Masqueraders. Currently, much like Aria, Konstantina is proving another crack in the vampire island; even the thieves guilds that run rampant in Konstantina are working with those rebelling, making use of their connections and abilities to help sow chaos and disorder among the ruling class. Konstantina boasts an impressive amount of desirable goods throughout, which makes it quite the commodity to King Leon and his ilk. As tension builds, King Leon tries to use the Wolfsbane Massacre to distract from his attempt to reconquer Kleio. And while he does succeed in his endeavor, to a degree, eventually Kleio falls to those fighting his regime, fueled by the works of the Sparrow Keepers and their allies.
History: The oldest of three children, Eleanor became the default mistress of her household in the wake of her mother’s passing fifteen years ago; Eleanor has all but raised her two younger siblings, given that her father turned heavily to alcohol and drugs to cope with the loss of his wife. He left home one morning ten years ago and hasn’t been seen since; he is presumed dead, and, later, confirmed as such when Eleanor discovers his body in the wreckage of a pub destroyed by mages working in service of the vampire regime. Damien Blackwood, the middle child, 25 years of age, works as a botanist and chemist peddling his wares (herbs and poisons alike) on the black market to help supplement the family income, and Mary Anne Blackwood is the youngest at 16, a mage like Eleanor apprenticed to a local Dwarven sorcerer thanks to the money Eleanor and Damien have been able to save from their work.
Even after the loss of both their parents and working especially long and difficult hours to keep a roof over their heads, Eleanor manages to keep what remains of her family together, for a few years, at least.
Until the night of the Wolfsbane Massacre, a night that proves a reckoning for Eleanor and her family. Orchestrated by Duke Hawthorne, soldiers infiltrate the Wolfsbane household, beginning to kill the family as they sleep. Eleanor, working late, realizes something’s wrong at the sound of Elias Wolfsbane’s screaming. Spurred into action, she gathers her wand and begins ushering the family and her fellow servants to safety, providing protection where she can.
Eleanor only manages to save, Vivian, a tiefling lady’s maid, Arthur, a dwarven footman, and Moira Wolfsbane, the youngest Wolfsbane daughter; the Wolfsbane manor catches on fire just as Eleanor and her companions make it out. Vivian and Arthur follow Eleanor to safety, and all three are ultimately declared outlaws, with a great bounty placed on each of their heads.
On the night of the Wolfsbane Massacre, Damien is murdered trying to protect the village of Rook’s Hollow. Mary Anne, unbeknownst to Eleanor, who is busy trying to save the Wolfsbane family and household, defects to the vampires. She is turned, and becomes mistress to Duke Hawthorne, the man who orchestrates the Wolfsbane Massacre. Eventually, when Eleanor encounters Mary Anne and Duke Hawthorne in the Herald’s Peak capital of Orion, she kills them both. By the time Eleanor kills Mary Anne, she does so particularly brutally.
She has curried favor enough with the people of her town for them to see her as an example of “what mages should be.” But, to them, she’s still a mage; she’s still not enough, and she’ll never be fully enough, despite all her efforts and hard work. And when she manages to survive the attack on the Wolfsbane family, all that good favor she’s curried over the years comes to naught, as Eleanor is instantly blamed and a bounty placed upon her head. All of these details arranged and orchestrated by one Duke Hawthorne, who desperately wants Eleanor’s magic for his own use.
The Blackwoods are believed to be one of the oldest families with magic, rumored to be direct descendants of Druids, the first humans known to possess magic. The strength of Eleanor’s magic supports this rumor; the very fact that she learned to wield her magic mostly on her own especially supports this.
Eleanor, in the wake of her escape from Rook’s Hollow, discovers that her magic is indeed of the most ancient sort when she finds herself able to cast Celestial spells, magic that is said to come from beyond the stars, and available only to those with access to the oldest forms of magic. (Angels, faeries, and elves are usually the only ones with access; the humans who can and do access Celestial spells come from the oldest families with magic, from a time in which peace and prosperity supposedly ruled the day.) Naturally, Duke Hawthorne and the King both learn of this, and intensify their hunt for Eleanor in doing so, with the aid of Mary Anne, who, in a bid for what she thinks of as greater power, defects to Duke Hawthorne and becomes his mistress.
Eleanor, Vivian, Moira, and Arthur manage to survive by the skin of their teeth for several weeks on the road; they keep to themselves, tend to keep to wildlife and berries for sustenance, and very much rely on Eleanor’s magic to keep them from notice. Naturally, this sort of haphazard peace doesn’t last; when they intervene in saving a human carpenter from a gang of bandits, the man they save winds up betraying them by calling for the vampire authorities, specifically, the Crimson Guard, the elite group of soldiers specifically trained for fighting against rebels.
Before Eleanor and company can be arrested, however, they are rescued by a wandering group of Sparrow Keepers. The Sparrow Keepers offer Eleanor, Moira, Vivian, and Arthur a chance to travel with them, and it doesn’t take long before they all find themselves recruited into the order.
Eleanor and her friends struggle with the initiation rites; Arthur does not survive them, in fact. But Eleanor, Moira, and Vivian do, and they learn to make use of their new abilities and situation.
Unfortunately, the brief respite Eleanor finds from those who want her dead doesn’t last. Ambushed by members of the Crimson Guard and some of King Leon’s more vicious experiments (hybrids of snakes, humans, elves, and demons), Eleanor, Vivian, Moira, and a young elf named Lysander Albatross are the only four members to survive and escape.
Eleanor and company travel throughout Villanelle, gathering resources, supplies, and allies in a bid to try and overthrow the current vampire regime. Through a rare stroke of luck, they are able to retain the materials necessary to perform initiation rites into the Sparrow Keepers; Eleanor helps to recruit and initiate enough members so as for her band of misfits to act as a sort of mercenary group.
Eleanor becomes the leader of the group, the one who ultimately makes the tough calls and potentially awful choices. She steers her group well through whatever life and King Leon throw her way, taking on a variety of missions, quests, and jobs in order to survive as well as to spread the Keepers’ message of rebellion and hope.
During a rescue mission in which Eleanor and Lysander wind up briefly stranded in a haunted tavern, Eleanor learns that Lysander is, in fact, the last living descendant of the Oak family, the last family to rule the throne of Amara. Lysander admits that it’s not a burden that he wants, and he’s struggled to keep it a secret for many years. Yet, in him, Eleanor finds a new hope; a solution for after taking down King Leon’s reign.
Eleanor and Lysander debate about his potential as a king for several weeks, but she does keep her word and she doesn’t reveal his secret to anyone else. Ultimately, he reveals himself to the rest of the group, and he decides to take on the mantle of becoming king for the greater good of the world. It is also revealed, at this point in time, his relationship with Vivian, and that he wishes to make her his queen should they take the throne from Leon.
It takes them the better part of a year, but, ultimately, Eleanor is able to lead her group of Keepers to victory, through her smaller victories of gathering resources, allies, weapons, and drumming up support for Lysander as King. What truly grants Eleanor and her allies an edge, however, is the fact that they discover one of the last few dragons in existence, a native, purple dragon named Elderberry who lives in the deepest, wildest forests on the islands of Aria.
With Elderberry’s assistance, Eleanor is able to first defeat Duke Hawthorne and her sister, and then, ultimately, King Leon, though Moira Wolfsbane is the one to deliver the killing blow.
Eleanor helps to crown Lysander and Vivian; they also ask her to officiate their marriage, which she is only too happy to do so. In the aftermath of all the celebrations, Eleanor journeys to meet up with other Sparrow Keepers to begin rebuilding and continuing her mission of fighting evil wherever she finds it.
Position/Work Experience: Eleanor has been employed as a kitchen maid since the age of eleven in the Wolfsbane household, the Elven lord and his family who rule her village. She works long hours and covers for other servants in the house when needed. She has just been promoted to assistant cook, though she also performs kitchen maid duties. As a mage who unintentionally revealed her powers early on in her life, she earns significantly less than someone without magic would, though the Wolfsbane family has been kinder to her than most and often grant her additional gifts of food, materials, clothes, herbs, and additional money when they can.
After surviving the Wolfsbane Massacre, Eleanor resorts to a combination of stealing and odd jobs to survive, until she finds sanctuary with the Sparrow Keepers, a group of rebels fighting against the ruling vampire class and their regime. When she joins the Keepers, Eleanor is granted the position of Guardian, a position that makes full use of her magic, fighting, and botanical abilities. She fights from a distance unless it can’t be avoided, and provides support for the Warriors who fight on the frontlines and other Guardians. She also provides potions and poisons to aid in battle or in the wake of it, and she helps carries the supplies the group takes with them as they travel.
Residence: Eleanor knows the world as Aurelia; she hails from the continent of Villanelle, a landmass roughly slightly larger than the size of Europe. Specifically, she comes from the mountainous country of Herald’s Peak, from the village of Rook’s Hollow. When she joins the Sparrow Keepers, she lives as she travels, making camp wherever they can find the space as they travel all across Villanelle, seeking allies, gathering resources and supplies, and performing their duties as best they can.
Sparrow Keepers: A group of rebels made up of all races determined to overthrow the ruling vampire class and fight for equality as best they can wherever they happen to find it. They are a ragtag group but they are organized, and they accept help from every corner, including criminals and others fleeing the law, as well as vampires rebelling against the other vampires in charge. They are despised by the noble classes and revered by the working class and the poor; they are, as a whole, considered outlaws, and under the ruling vampire regime, joining, aiding, or abetting the Keepers is considered treason and punishable by death, usually brutal death, so as to set an example. (In the capital city Andromeda in the country of Amara, the road leading to The Onyx Palace is lined with the bodies, heads, and skeletons of traitors executed by way of staking, hanging, or worse. Some of the bodies are not quite dead yet, and that is intentional. This is known as the Trail of Bones, and it is said that King Leon makes all of his guests walk this particular path as a silent and unspoken threat of what they can expect should they ever cross him.)
They drink a magical potion known as Midnight Brew, which consists of vampire, angel, faerie, and blood of the dead in order to gain their abilities; not everyone who drinks the potion survives. (And while vampires can and do help the Keepers, vampires are the only race who cannot participate in drinking Midnight Brew, as doing so will instantly kill them.) Sparrow Keeper abilities are as follows:
Elevated Immunity Against Vampires:
- Toxic Blood – The blood of Robin Keepers is instantly dangerous to vampires, and a little goes a long way. If they drink just under 1 ounce of blood, they’ll be wretchedly sick. Between 1 and 5 ounces will immediately knock them out. Any greater amount will kill vampires except those that have protected themselves by consuming dragon’s blood. Only the most powerful and wealthiest of vampires have access to dragon’s blood, so very few vampires are able to defend against this toxic blood. If a Keeper deliberately sprays their own blood on vampires, it will act as a paralyzing toxin, though for a limited amount of time. Vampires who are protected with dragon’s blood are also immune to this.
- Resistance to Compelling and Glamours – Robin Keepers maintain a greater resistance against vampiric abilities to compel and disguise via glamours. That isn’t to say that they are entirely resistant; the more powerful the vampire and the more honed the vampire’s abilities, the more difficult it becomes to resist. But, generally speaking, Keepers resist mind-control from a minor to a moderate nature, and can see through glamors (magical disguises) of a mild to moderate strength.
- Sense the Undead – Keepers can sense the nearby presence of vampires; unfortunately, the reverse is also true, which makes this ability just as much of a risk as it is a strength.
- Still Able to Withstand Sunlight – Although becoming a Keeper renders the individual more susceptible to sunlight, they can still function and survive in the sun, which is more than can be said for vampires. Those with enough power, wealth, and influence can access charms to make sunlight just barely tolerable, but, inevitably, those charms never last long, and to put such power into the hand of another is to open oneself up to the possibility of an assassination attempt.
All of these abilities allow Keepers to fight vampires with greater strength and stamina than an average citizen. That being said, gaining such abilities and resistances does not come without cost.
Keeper Weaknesses:
- Weakness to Sunlight – Currently not too prevalent an issue, given that Aurelia is in a state of perpetual lack of sunlight, but once it becomes an issue again, it will affect Keepers in the following ways: more easily sunburned, more prone to becoming overheated, and weaker overall in the sun, including a drain on energy, stamina, and mana.
- Similar Weaknesses to Vampires – Keepers, as much as they gain strength against vampires, also gain some of their weaknesses to a lesser extent. Weapons made out of or crafted with runes of silver will hurt more and have the potential to cause serious, even fatal injuries.
Religions: There are a countless number of religions throughout Aurelia, rooted in various cultures and beliefs and differing perspectives. The two most popular beliefs are that of the Incandescent and Sanguine faiths, two different religions that intertwine in interesting and mysterious ways.
- Incandescent: The most popular faith among humans, in particular, the Incandescent faith follows the teachings of Lady Bethany Sparrow, a young martyr warrior who fought against the Ermelinda empire to free the rest of Villanelle from its brutal and tyrannical rule. According to doctrine, Lady Sparrow turned herself in to Queen Bellona, a sacrifice meant to protect her people. Queen Bellona beheaded her in a public spectacle meant to discourage her followers/those rebelling, before drinking her blood to add insult to injury and demonstrate her power over Lady Sparrow. Instead, the blood curdled in Queen Bellona’s throat as Lady Sparrow’s body transformed into a group of sparrows, bursting forth and flying towards the sun. As Lady Sparrow ascended into paradise, Queen Bellona and her followers immediately turned into damned creatures of the night. Though churches and sanctuaries dedicated to Lady Sparrow are few and far in between, those especially devoted to this faith find ways to celebrate it. Anyone may dedicate themselves to the church; a group of elders known as Candle Lighters decides upon how best to interoperate the scripture that details Lady Sparrow’s life and teachings.
- Sanguine: The declared national religion of all Villanelle, in accordance with the vampire rule. Some humans, elves, dwarves, angels, etc. do follow this religion, but the most dedicated and faithful to this particular branch of faith are vampires, especially those from Queen Bellona’s birthplace of Ermelinda. According to the Sanguine faith, Queen Bellona heroically put down a treasonous rebel, Lady Sparrow, in order to save the empire. The earth swallowed Lady Sparrow into hell while the night itself rewarded Queen Bellona and her most faithful followers with the gift of immortality. The Sanguine religion has temples and churches throughout Villanelle, most notably, the majority of their churches once belonged to the Incandescent religion. Anyone may dedicate themselves to the church; at the very top of the hierarchy sits The Designer, a position of power only just below King Leon. It is said that Designer Brennan is just as much as the ruling power behind the throne as Leon is. The Designer is the one who ultimately controls and leads the Crimson Guard.
The Great War: The war in which vampires gained dominance over all of Villanelle. Many lives were lost in the various battles, and rumors suggest that vampires gained their victory through all sorts of dirty and backhanded sorts of methods, such as the use of time magic, and exploiting various groups of people with promises they never intended to actually keep. In fact, popular folklore suggests that the vampires actually lost the war in the end, but, with their access to magic, managed to reverse time to turn the tides in their favor.
The Wolfsbane Massacre: A political maneuver orchestrated by Duke Hawthorne on behalf of King Leon in order to cut down one of the most prominent Elven families in Herald’s Peak, supposedly for their rumored support of those rebelling against vampire rule, particularly, aiding mages and members of the Sparrow Keepers. Rivals of King Leon suggest this is also to distract from the king’s problems in maintaining order in Konstantina.
The Crimson Guard: An elite group of warriors, rogues, and mages trained to enforce the law. More than that, they’ve been trained to fight against rebels, and they’ve helped swiftly and brutally stomp out riots, potential riots, and other acts of rebellion throughout Villanelle. They can be directly controlled by vampires, and their abilities require the use of a specific potion known as Moon Dust, a magical concoction made from the blood of mages from any race, angel blood, and Celestial Cat shit. It is a highly addictive substance, and those expelled from the order generally don’t tend to last long, as withdrawal from lack of Moon Dust is known to be fatal.
Months and Time: Time runs in Aurelia as it does in real life – 360 days a year, 12 months, 30 and/or 31 days per month. In terms of measuring eras, each one hundred years marks a new age. Or it did. Since the vampires have taken control, the current age, known as the Shadow Age, still reigns. Months are named for particular herbs.
Sage = September
Oak = October
Nutmeg = November
Dandelion = December
Jasmine = January
Feverfew = February
Mugwort = March
Anise = April
Mullein = May
Juniperus = June
Jojoba = July
Amaranth = August
It is currently the year 1825 SA. Eleanor’s birthday is 18 Amaranth 1795.
Powers & Abilities: Eleanor is a powerful mage, in addition to the abilities she gains when she drinks the Midnight Brew and becomes a Sparrow Keeper. Descended directly from the Druids of old, Eleanor has access to magic most other mages can only dream about, and her adeptness at magic comes from this lineage as well. Like most mages, Eleanor has aspects of her magic that she’s stronger with and aspects that she’s weaker with. Also, given that she is mostly self-taught, her magic and her use of it is much obviously less refined as opposed to someone who has had formal training in magic.
It should also be noted that Eleanor's magic requires mana, magical energy, and that the stronger a spell is, the more mana it requires. Eleanor can regenerate mana, and she has access to/can create spells to more quickly regenerate mana. However, if she fully exhausts herself of mana, she cannot use a potion to quickly regenerate, and regenerating mana on her own requires her to fully rest (taking a nap, going to sleep for the night, not working any magic at all, etc.). If she runs out of mana, that exhaustion will begin to effect her stamina/non-magical energy in a negative way; she'll grow physically tired, which is dangerous if she's fighting. And, of course, using potions in the middle of combat to regenerate mana leaves her vulnerable to attacks and losing focus herself. She's learned to be careful with magic over the years; she has her daggers as back-up for when she does run out of mana.
- Charmed Writing: Also known as ‘magical texting.’ The ability to send messages swiftly and directly to someone using unicorn ink (not made of actual unicorn, just a name referring to the unique nature of the ink), the quill of a lavender hedgehog, and message parchment. A quick and secure way for Sparrow Keepers (and anyone looking to avoid the watching eye of the Crimson Guard) to communicate. Eleanor is skilled in this, and in writing in code for extra protection.
- Transformative Magic: Like Transfigurations in Harry Potter, Eleanor is able to use her magic to transform, for example, a teacup into a mouse, a bookmark into a butterfly, etc. Eleanor most uses this magic as a means of disguise, such as disguising her friends and companions from enemies seeking them out. She’s competent in this area, but this isn’t one of her greatest strengths, the exception being the way she’s able to transform her wand into a magical bow and conjure arrows to use with it. This branch requires a great deal of mana to use, so Eleanor is always particularly careful with where and when she uses it.
- Charms: Eleanor uses a variety of spells geared towards various aspects of every day life. In her work as a servant and at home, taking care of her family, she would make use of charms to help her organize, cook, and clean. In her time as a Sparrow Keeper, she uses charms to enhance combat for her and her allies, as well as to help with defenses. Charms can also be used to pick locks, turn lights on and off, as well as a variety of other uses. Eleanor is particular skilled in this branch of magic, given how often she makes use of it.
- Offensive/Defensive Magic: One of the earliest branches of magic Eleanor chose to study due to the practicality of it, she has access to a variety of spells to aid either offensively or defensively in battle, such as stunning enemies, casting temporary barriers of protection around herself and allies, etc. She is skilled in this area from experience but she does have to be careful, as if she loses concentration, the spell she’s trying to cast can either backfire or not work at all. She’s had this happen several times, in fact; she tries to learn each time this does happen.
- Celestial Magic: Eleanor has only recently discovered her capability for this kind of magic, so she has less experience in it than other branches. Still, she has an aptitude for this particular branch. Celestial magic draws its power from the stars above; Eleanor can use such magic to produce glyphs, either defensive or offensive, add additional power that is especially effective against monsters that aren’t vampires in her attacks, and heightens all of her senses in the dark, allowing for more effective combat. True masters of celestial magic are able to use it to transform themselves into the animal that most represents their soul but Eleanor has not reached that point yet.
- Elemental: Most mages throughout Villanelle tend to favor one element or another when they wield their magic. Very few mages master more than one, and even fewer than that master them all. For her part, Eleanor tends to favor the element of fire, which seems aptly suited for her celestial magic as well. She can make fire in her fists, cast a light that shines but doesn't burn, cause fires, send out waves of fire, and shoot fireballs. She can also enhance her party's weapons with fire. Of course, the more powerful the flame, the more mana it requires of Eleanor, and any spell such as that causing fireballs or waves of flame can just as easily damage Eleanor and her allies as it does her enemies. She usually tends toward the more practical uses of fire (safe light, helping to create a sturdy campfire, etc.), and only uses the more dangerous of spells deep in combat.
- Potions/Poisons/Grenades: Eleanor is capable of using herbs, gems, and other ingredients, magical or otherwise, to craft potions, poisons, and grenades. In particular, she is quite skilled at healing potions, which comes in handy in her work as a Sparrow Keeper. She’s less skilled at grenades but she does know her poisons, which she uses to help her companions coat their weapons for additional damage.
- Weapon Transmutation: Those who live openly as mages also choose to turn their wand into a different kind of weapon, as Eleanor has done. This is difficult and complicated magic requiring a fair amount of study; when put in use, it drains the user of mana, magical energy, at a faster rate than normal spells. Eleanor can transform her wand into a magical bow, and she can conjure arrows to shoot with it. She enjoys fighting like this, but she has to be careful, given how quickly she can burn through mana when she fights like this.
- Celestial Cat: Odile, Eleanor’s Celestial Cat, possesses lightning abilities. She fights besides Eleanor in battle.
- Dual-Wielding Daggers: If Eleanor ever runs out of mana, she has a means of fighting and defending herself. She is by no means an expert in this area; she only resorts to using her daggers if she has to. But she is trained and skilled enough to hold her own using dual-wielding daggers.
Personality: Eleanor is a woman who had to grow up suddenly, almost entirely overnight, in fact. After the death of her mother, she became the head of the family, bringing in the main source of income so that her family could survive, all the while looking after her younger brother, younger sister, and even her father, briefly, before he abandoned them, unable to deal with his own grief.
She’s a responsible woman used to various burdens being placed on her, due to a number of reasons: living openly as a mage, being the oldest child, being the member of her family with the most steady amount of work, leading Vivian, Moira, and Arthur to safety, joining the Sparrow Keepers, and becoming the leader of that particular group in the wake of the ambush. She has endured various tragedies and survived, from the loss of her mother, to the Wolfsbane Massacre, to the loss of Arthur to the initiation rites of joining the Sparrow Keepers. This seemingly endless barrage of loss has nearly broken her on numerous occasions, and yet, Eleanor not only survives, she finds a way to turn a bad situation to her advantage.
She’s hardworking, dedicating herself to job wholeheartedly even though she makes less than others around her. She balances working, taking care of her family, as well as studying and practicing her craft of magic. Later, she works to ensure the survival of those she’s rescued, as well as those she recruits into the order of Sparrow Keepers.
She’s intelligent and clever, capable of reading quickly and learning how to adapt in tough situations. Aside from the kindly tutorage of Olivia in her youth, Eleanor is mostly self-taught in her use of magic, and she’s still learning, constantly, every day. She managed to somewhat find a way to continue her schooling by borrowing books from the local library once she had to drop out of school to work. She’s also a wit, also known as a smartass, and she’s not afraid of expressing herself through sarcasm, regardless of how her words affect others.
She’s fiercely protective of those she loves, and she will not hesitate to intervene if they are threatened in any way, shape, or form. As a mage who has experienced prejudice due to her magic, she is also fiercely defensive and protective of mages, very much in favor of expanding their rights and making them equal to those without magic. She doesn’t take kindly to those who look down on others for any reason, though, in a way, she’s also hypocritical about this, given that she tends to broadly paint any and all vampires the same. She assumes that every single vampire is like King Leon: power hungry, vicious, and willing to rack up as many as bodies as it takes to get their way. As much as she’ll protect those around her, she’ll just as equally dismiss vampires out of hand, only willing to see them for what the nobility and ruling class do.
She tends to repress her emotions for the sake of being a rock for others, knowing that people depend upon her. This tends to bite her in the ass, and it’s come back to haunt her through various arguments she gets into with those she cares for, both her brother and sister, as well as those she rescues from the Wolfsbane Massacre and those she recruits for the Sparrow Keepers. Lysander consistently calls her out on this, wanting her to take better care of herself.
She puts others before herself constantly, to a fault. She has a good heart but she can be negligent when it comes to taking care of herself. She will often sacrifice the last bit of food, blankets, or water so that others might be comfortable, and she always insists that it doesn’t bother her. This is something Eleanor struggles with constantly, due to the harsh realities of her life. Her sense of self-worth/self-esteem is a struggle she’s contested with ever since her magic first manifested, given the way her society views and treats mages, as well as the harsh remarks and difficult situations she’s endured from various citizens throughout Rook’s Hollow. Mostly, she keeps these struggles to herself, until Lysander, Vivian, and Moira get her to eventually open up. Still, this is a part of Eleanor that she will always struggle with.
One area in which she is selfish is in the way she holds her opinions. She is opinionated and stubborn, as well as impatient, which often leads to her putting her foot in her mouth. Sometimes both feet, in fact. Her intelligence, hard work, and skills with magic lead her to believe there is no problem that she can’t solve, so long as it’s solved her way. She also tends towards the idea of ‘act first, think later,’ and she believes that her ideas are always the best ones, and anyone who questions this just can’t see how right she truly is. Her resistance to listening to other ideas and suggestions often leads her into trouble; in fact, her refusal to even consider Lysander’s suggestions and desire to rush right into battle leads to them becoming stranded in a haunted tavern.
Though Eleanor has her struggles, she’s a brave, determined woman trying to do as much good in the world as she can. She’s endured and survived, and, in the end, she’s thrived.
Please note that this is a work in progress. I will be updating and/or correcting this information as needed.