Heidi - MelancholyFae - 03-09-2013
Adelheid "Heidi" Nylund
Born: (Season Spring, Day 7th, Year ...) (11 yrs. after War of Veld) at Namaste Valley
Age: 25 (young adult) (as of Dec 7th)
Race: Mesalian
Appearance: Tallish, lanky, wiry build. She's about 5'11, compared to her 6'3 brother. Pale skin, occasional freckles.
Wide brilliant blue eyes and light blonde hair, usually in a few braided ponytails at the sides with blue strung beads.
Personality (Traits and explanations):
From a very early age, Heidi developed a mild form of compulsion disorder to deal with everyday stresses and anxieties. She felt the need to control some parts of her life, which included an abnormal obsession with even numbers and objects in straight lines, as well as other things. Delfi being around limited these feelings of anxieties, and he helped her with daily activies to better cope.
These anxieties and her way of dealing with them were not necessarily logical, and she grew up with these rituals being a necessary part of her life, as well as hiding them well enough that they were not always noticed by others. Only when she is unusually stressed or anxious about events that she has no control over, will the compulsive behaviour get out of hand.
She is more comfortable around animals than people, and prefers to talk to the sheep or her dogs. The only exception to this would be her brother, Delfi, whom she depends on for daily social things.
For an unknown reason, people make her nervous and feel unsafe. She has a deep distrust and mild paranoia concerning people. These traits make her seem introverted, quiet, and eccentric, bordering on crazy when she talks to the animals or does certain rituals to calm herself down and make her feel safe.
She knows in the back of her mind that some of the things she does is not 'normal' but the compelling need to do them overwrites this knowledge.
Novice > Apprentice > Competent > Advanced > Expert > Master
Survival (Novice): fire-making (for heat, for cooking), direction and time sense (with sun/moon), common sense/learned things about nature/weather conditions.
Cooking (Novice): enough to cook meat,fish, or soup in very simple meals.
Due to the nature of her actual trained skills, the two above she has done for most of her life as supplemental skills, but they never actually went beyond the basics.
Animal Domestication (Competent):
Cows, Goats, Sheep, Boars, Pigs, Chickens - 'taming' usually only requires the animal to get used to people being around, moving them places (either by herding or by lead), and touching their things (milking, shearing wool, collecting eggs).
Horses, Donkeys, Mules (sometimes cows) - 'taming' is the first step before being able to train them for either riding, carrying packs, pulling wagons/carts/plows, and sometimes other things.
Feral Dogs, Wolves, Feral Cats, Wild Cats - usually not tamed, as it was better to have domesticated dogs/cats bred. (But this IS possible if found as pup/kit, and has the right temperament.)** Tamed for herding, hunting, or guarding purposes.
**Currently, the consensus is 'no' on taming wolves around Ravenna
Animal Training (Competent):
Horses - train to ride, herd, carry, pull, etc.
Donkeys, Mules, (sometimes Cows) - train to carry, pull, etc
Dogs - train to herd, guard, hunt
Cats - train to guard, hunt (good mousers were popular for villages/farms)
The main restriction is the animal being trained - most of the animals are taught one-two skills. This list just shows the variety that each animal type can learn.
((also note: Training, especially horses for riding, pulling wagons, etc, means she is also competent in riding and wagon-driving. I had forgotten to add this before, but wanted it to be clear that this was a skill already technically taken care of from before, but may not have been realized when reading the skills.
Training also includes command words, and whistles and other noises for the animals to hear and obey.))
Animal Breeding (Novice):
Animal breeding takes years of patience and knowledge about the lineage of those animals at the basics. Because she was not expected to be leaving on a more permanent basis, this skill is still at novice levels. She has ideas about how breeding works, and will start writing down what she can when she starts breeding away from home, but will not be able to get exact successes for quite awhile.
Animal Medicine/Care (Apprentice):
The majority was when to know an animal was ill or injured, and how to care for it. First aid was mostly wrapping an injury, calming a frightened animal, restricting and binding/tethering. Medicines were basic and herbal, but rarely given.
The four skills above are closely related and the bulk of her training as part of the family tradeskills.
Backstory:
(Direct) Family Line: - Maternal Grandmother – Thirsa Ria Aarden-Dahl
- Grandfather - Adelbert Niek Dahl
- Paternal Grandmother - Mathilde Jae Kranz-Nylund
- Grandfather - Ivo Fons Nylund
- Mother - Gisele Bente Dahl-Nylund
- Father - Diederik Sven Nylund
- Adelheid Mina (aka Heidi)
- Adelfieri Kasper Nylund (aka Delfi)
- Jelle (pronounced "Yell") - male herding dog (belongs to Heidi)
- Jos (pronounced "Yos") - female hunting dog (belongs to Delfi)
The types of dogs they are, are the Carpathian Shepherd Dog. (The link is just one of the pages I'd looked at for research - I linked this cuz it had the best image of what they'd look like ingame.) In general, they are bred to be sheep dogs as well as guard dogs, and are good against predators.
In specific, these two were raised by Heidi from pups (as well as others) with the original plan of them being mates to continue the breeding; the male is older by a year. She actually sees them (and most of the animals she cares for or trains) as friends.
They are 3-4 years old, and are very loyal toward Heidi (and her brother). They are wary of strangers unless Heidi or Delfi had considered the strangers as harmless. Heidi is considered the 'alpha' of the four, as she was the trainer, but her brother they will also listen to.
Jelle was more trained to be the herder, and with his instincts even tries to herd people. He doesn't need a lot of direction when herding, though he may need to be encouraged to stop doing so. He is also more restless than Jos, preferring to be moving around unless he's eating or sleeping. His fur is more silvery all over, with some black around his muzzle, legs and tail.
Jos was trained more for guarding and hunting, as she went along with Delfi on his trips. She can be loud at times, but she knows to be silent when out hunting. She's stronger than Jelle, and when they play she tends to win. Her fur is darker overall, more like pewter, with bits of snowy white for the chest and paws, and black along the back and tail.
Prologue~
There was once a great clan of Mesalians that roamed the continent, spanning from one region to another, trading from town to town their wares, never staying long in one place.
Each region was large enough that even with their almost constant travelings, it took them about a year to get to the next region. It was akin to a migration of sorts, as they followed and guided their grazing animals to better pastures each season.
They passed through the colder northern mountainous region during the summer, leading toward the valleys and plains in autumn, circling about and following large riverbanks as winter hit, meandering around forests and cliffsides in spring as they led back into the snowy mountains once more.
In another time and place, they would have been labeled gypsies, as they bartered their goods, traveled around, and displayed their favorite knickknacks and trinkets on the sides of their family wagons, which were brightly painted wood. Some of the more eccentric people even used paints in their hair or on their prized animals like temporary tattoos or brands.
This clan had its own myths, though they were heavily steeped in the Mesalian pantheon, and its own legends, usually regarding animals. They had their good times, and their bad times. Some towns saw them as having the best stock for sheep, and the best herd-dogs, while other towns preferred to chase them away, thinking them child-nappers and thieves.
The clan was hardest hit back some 50 years ago or more when the Xitians had decided to take away most of everything they had, including their best animals and their children and families. Morales and trust were crushed, as they'd before been very open with everyone and everything. Now, they tend to stay secluded as a whole, only letting the traders of the clan deal with strangers in towns.
Chapter One~
The Nylunds were one of the families in the clan; somewhat small in comparison as most of their family married into others, but it was considered good luck to have Nylund blood in your heritage, as they seemed to have the best abilities with the animals. Their most current children were a set of twins; Adelfieri and Adelheid. They looked identical from the day they were born; their only differences being their genders. Pale skin that barely tanned was the norm for all the clan, but the Nylund genes boasted deeply blue eyes and the palest of blonde hair like cornsilk.
Delfi and Heidi were never apart for more than a day when they were young – they did most everything together when possible, and were upset when they were forced to be apart for more than a few hours at a time while they were growing up. They even liked the same food, clothing and hobbies, and until they were around 8, dared not do something the other may not like. They even cried when one was hurt; it was as if they were the same person in two bodies. This led to a bit of superstition, but because the family was in such good standing, those rumors were quashed quickly.
Quote:The snows had been melting enough for travel to be hindered not by the cold and winds, but by the mud and hungry wild animals freshly awake from hibernation, as they traveled through the large valley toward their next destination. The twins' parents had already noticed Heidi's unwillingness to play with the other children, and after a few years of unsuccessful prompting, finally let her alone, as she was happier with the animals and with Delfi, and not with the other children. Delfi, the ever-doting brother, was more social than his sister, but would still drop almost anything, shunning the clan's childrens' games, to keep his sister company on their travels.
The clan elders, knowing the importance of family and dependence, but also knowing the importance of working with others in the clan, decided to try and take over for a few months, in getting the girl to be more active with her prospective playmates. It was then, they saw her eccentricities, especially when they separated the twins.
She never looked anyone in the eye, when talking to them. She was at least polite, and she was able to speak, so they knew she was not dumb, but she looked almost frail around people; tense and unhappy. They immediately noticed her insistance in everything being in pairs, or in even numbers; from her clothing, her toys; even her food. She practically cried, distraught, when someone tried to break up some invisible routine of Heidi's, which had led Delfi to intervene on her behalf, even to the dismay of the elders.
After the few months were over, they had come to the conclusion that Delfi had subtly helped his sister in many more ways, than the parents had even realized. With their close bond, he had been able to supress her unusual anxieties, and hide her odd behaviours with ease, from placing things in order on her plate for her to eat comfortably, to picking out toys that matched, and were only certain colors. He'd stand by her side and answer for her most times when confronted by others, and would give her silent comfort just by his presence during other times.
It wasn't until around 8, that they started showing different characteristics. Delfi was more outgoing and social than Heidi, even protecting her at times whenever she didn't want to talk to anyone, talking for her instead. She much preferred being around the animals, picking up on the Nylund trait of animal care quickly and easily. Delfi could have done similar, but to help his beloved sister out, he instead went more for the people interactions; taking the wool to the weavers, talking to the hunters, and in general helping her deal with people.
They both learned the basics while the clan traveled; how to tell direction, follow trails (mainly the traveling paths that the clan used as well as some hunting trails), how to cook basic food and make camp, how to look after the sheep, goats, cows, and horses, how to watch out for danger – including weather as well as wild animals, and when to run and hide, or defend from a rare wild animal attack. These were things all the clan were taught, as chores were constantly switched back and forth, and the more basic things were for the children while the adults did the harder chores such as setting up either temporary or more permanant camp, preparing for trade, and such.
Quote:The Nylunds were grateful for at least one thing; Heidi was not a weak nor lazy child. She did her chores dutifully as best she could, even if it meant they took a bit longer than normal for her to fit them into her eccentricities. Delfi did not coddle his twin, nor spoil her as their parents were afraid would happen. He had accepted Heidi for who she was long long ago and treated her as he treated others.
It may have irked the other children, in how Heidi acted toward them, but they stopped bothering about it and adapted to their own chores and lessons soon enough. This actually helped much more than anyone had suspected, as now Heidi didn't feel pressured to try and get along with people, and she was able to more gradually slip into clan society on her own terms – usually with Delfi by her side.
The twins stayed close even as they had separate trainings and skills, their silent communications between themselves sometimes causing awkward scenes in public. Delfi always knew when his sister was distressed and would drop anything for her to go cheer her up. The entire close-knit family was a bit worried about this, as it would hinder Delfi later on, and believing that Heidi would never learn to fend for herself, but others in the clan told the Nylunds to give it time.
Quote:Heidi was considered quiet and withdrawn, but it was more of a small fear of people; strangers in particular, that caused her to act the way she did. She learned easily how to care for the animals, and stayed with them more often than not, and her parents noticed that she acted more like a normal child when she was around them; laughing and playing at times, stern when needed, and patient with training as if they were children-friends.
Her first dog was an elderly one, and helped her learn how to handle animals, as he was the veteran. She talked to him as if he was a human family member; her first 'imaginary friend'. Oh, she'd been talking to animals before that, and it had left her parents exasperated, but the animals didn't seem to mind, and Heidi was much happier this way.
Yorden, the herd dog, was almost a surrogate-Delfi for Heidi, as Delfi went to learn how to hunt for days at a time. She was still distressed, but it wasn't as noticeable as she'd had Yorden around.
Other parents tried to convince the Nylunds that she would grow out of this dependancy on the animals, or on Delfi, thinking that his longer hunting trips would gradually wean her from his presence and influence, and give them both a chance to grow up a bit more separately.
That time never really came. Even into their teens and early twenties, they stayed together, content to not worry about any prospective husbands or wives, boyfriends or girlfriends. Delfi excelled in his social skills as a fair trader, and Heidi continued to spend most of her days with either the small herd of sheep she was given to raise, or her two beloved sheepdogs, or with her twin brother.
Chapter Two~
The clan had also ran into troubles as a whole during the time the twins were growing up, while entire towns began fighting each other, and were more concerned with weapons and killing traitors, than with trading goods. The civil war also caused the clan to stay far away from certain towns, as they were easy targets against angry people, those who would shout 'traitor!' at the merest glimpse of possible betrayal, even though the clan had never taken sides on anything.
This had a severe impact against them, as they were not as self-sufficient as people would think. They had depended on the towns for bartering food, tools, and miscellaneous supplies, and without being able to trade, the clan gradually fell out of order.
It was with concern and hesitation, that the clan leaders had started to try and go further out for trading. One prospective trader had asked for a herd of sheep, and talks began. As Heidi and her brother had one of the smaller herds, Delfi went along with the trading talks to see how well he could barter with the tradesman, and came back to the clan with what he thought was a great deal.
Seven sheep were to be taken by boat to one of the settlements at the Forbidden Lands, and payment would be delivered once the sheep had made it safely. This didn't sound bad at all, and the payment was hefty. Even the clan leaders were impressed, and so it was just past their 24th birthday that he and his twin sister took the small herd, along with her two dogs, into the seaport town to board the trader's ship, "Rolling Thunder".
At first, the travel was nice, except for the constant rocking of the boat, and everyone, including the sheep and dogs and twins getting seasick. The weather was good, though, and they made decent traveling time according to the captain of the ship. There were a few extra stops along the way, of course, trading goods to and from the ship, but the twins were told their stop was the last. It wasn't until they neared what they thought was their destiny, that the 'too-good-to-be-true' happened.
Heidi had noticed it first; the idle talkings of the crew, their laughing and smirking. As usual, Delfi thought it was her paranoia of strangers until the crew started insisting that the twins stay in their room, and had locked the door, them and their dogs unable to get out.
They were no longer treated as passengers but as stowaways, and the crew blamed anything they could on the twins, their dogs, and eventually the sheep.
After a week of rough treatment, Delfi tried to stand up to them in defiance. It was a brave move, but in retaliation, the crew's chef went and slaughtered all the sheep. Horrified, Heidi watched as her brother grew angry and went to attack one of the men, resulting in a frenzied fight as the dogs joined in to defend their master.
The fight did not last long, as the crew were able to shove them all offboard. They were near shore, and even though the dogs were wounded, helped her to land, leaving behind in the water trails of blood.
Heidi stared out into the ocean for hours, cold and wet in the deep autumn wind, waiting for her brother to make it to shore. She had made it to the Forbidden Lands, but at a terrible cost. With no food or shelter, no tools or supplies, and no Delfi; only her two furry guardians and the clothes on her back. She didn't even have the coherence to find a town. It was her faithful Jelle and Jos that pushed her to start walking along the shore, even as she kept her eyes to the water.
Epilogue~
Unbeknownst to her, she was near a town; hence the dogs' insistence of getting her moving toward a safer location. After the night settled around them, she tried to sleep, with the dogs curled around her for warmth, even though the three of them were barely dry from their ordeal.
She did awake with the sun, however, and realized that Jos had left sometimes in the night. Jelle, in his infinite doggy wisdom, continued prodding, pushing, nudging and even on a rare occassion a gentle nip to herd Heidi onwards. It took awhile, and she looked and acted more like a doll, than a young woman, but she eventually came across a large bridge, spanning the river they had followed. They had finally found a town.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Relationships
(family)
Delfi - twin brother, looks out for her. Currently helping her learn how to get along better with people, by having her go back and forth to Alroc.
Jos - Delfi's dog, she raised and trained to hunt.
Jelle - Her dog, she raised and trained to herd.
(possibly friends)
Lyrxi - calm, quiet, cook-person, offers to help but not pressuring her
*(Aura - calm, quiet, healer-person. friendly without being scary)
Mercedes - a bit quiet, but generous and offers to help
*(Celyn - unspoken child, interesting, gave her two carved bowls as leaving present.)
Jie - very outgoing child, loves the dogs
Zaira - also energetic and outspoken child, loves Jelle
(scary people)
Chathra - scariest person she will voluntarily walk towards and talk to. The most redeeming quality is Chathra isn't loud. Delfi has Heidi deliver letters to this person.
Cyrus - one of the leader types. Does the trading. Acts nice but still scares her.
Victor - one of the leader types. Owns the animals. Sounds nice but is still scary.
Obtain second set of clothes
Find and tame herd of.. anything. Sheep, Goats, something.
Find and tame a few horses, or donkeys, or mules (to help with wagon)
Start the Trading.. with Alroc.
Gain enough money to possibly go back home, or at least write back home.
RE: [New2] Heidi - Michelle - 11-10-2013
Hey Fae. Sorry this has taken a long while, but thanks for not bringing it up a lot in staff chat. Your patience is super-appreciated on this end. Also sorry if anything’s not particularly clear right now; I am having someone else ‘check myself before I wreck myself’, but I have a heavy fever, and I believe my brain is trying to break through my eardrums and make a run for it.
1. ‘The clan was hardest hit, however, when the Xitians had decided to take away most of everything they had, including their best animals and their children and families.’ This is very vague lore relation; it is unclear what lore event it is referring to, or even which time frame this section of backstory occurs in. Please clarify/elaborate.
2. ‘(I'm going to leave the rest out for roleplay fun and spoilers.)’ Everything needs to be reviewed and approved. Please PM me with details on this information, and it will be dealt with from there.
3. Your character’s skill levels need some minor revision. The skill system here is complicated enough; specifics such as ‘Novice/+’ are not necessary and seem difficult to understand. With the animal health care skill, I personally would choose apprentice, as three competent skills at twenty-three (though they are closely linked) is pushing it. Please revise and/or clarify.
4. As you already know, the rules of Mesalia currently state only one pet is allowed per character. Yes, I am aware of the rule revision that might possibly change this, but it hasn’t been passed, and I’m under the impression you didn’t want to wait. Considering your character’s profession however, the other staff will be voting on this, though personally I would like to see some justification; why two dogs instead of one? Why should this rule be bent for this character? Please provide some justification.
5. Jelle and Jos themselves require more description. So far, they’re basically listed as objects (which could be how Heidi views them, but that’s only speculation without facts). I would like to see some detail on what they’re like, how they are around people, how they are around Heidi, etc. Please elaborate/revise.
That’s all. Good luck, and feel free to ask questions if in the event that I have typed gibberish.
RE: [Pending] Heidi - MelancholyFae - 21-10-2013
Michelle Wrote:1. ‘The clan was hardest hit, however, when the Xitians had decided to take away most of everything they had, including their best animals and their children and families.’ This is very vague lore relation; it is unclear what lore event it is referring to, or even which time frame this section of backstory occurs in. Please clarify/elaborate.
My apologies. This was supposed to be about the time the Xitians had bested the Lucins, and started taking slaves. This would put the timeline after the Celestial Gate was destroyed, near the end of the 'Age of Betrayal'. I had believed that the Xitians had not taken them -all-, so that the clan, though diminished in numbers, could still handle trading with the other cities, as this helped the Xitians as well in an indirect way.
Michelle Wrote:2. ‘(I'm going to leave the rest out for roleplay fun and spoilers.)’ Everything needs to be reviewed and approved. Please PM me with details on this information, and it will be dealt with from there.
I know I had a reason to put this down, but I no longer remember what it was, so for now it's no longer applicable. If I do think of it at a later date, I can ask in staffchat about it, but I have a feeling I won't remember.
Michelle Wrote:3. Your character’s skill levels need some minor revision. The skill system here is complicated enough; specifics such as ‘Novice/+’ are not necessary and seem difficult to understand. With the animal health care skill, I personally would choose apprentice, as three competent skills at twenty-three (though they are closely linked) is pushing it. Please revise and/or clarify.
I changed the skill levels of all the skills down (taking out the +, and changing to apprentice for animal medicine).
Michelle Wrote:4. As you already know, the rules of Mesalia currently state only one pet is allowed per character. Yes, I am aware of the rule revision that might possibly change this, but it hasn’t been passed, and I’m under the impression you didn’t want to wait. Considering your character’s profession however, the other staff will be voting on this, though personally I would like to see some justification; why two dogs instead of one? Why should this rule be bent for this character? Please provide some justification.
I had wanted to bring in a character that could help with the animals of Ravenna; including herding the sheep, chickens, cows, pigs or whatever we are able to find around. This would help not only for food (and leather, wool, feathers, etc.) but for more possible roleplay.
Taming animals is part of her thing so that the wild (cows, sheep, pigs, etc) that are found, can be legitimately tamed and used as livestock.
The ruling so far, prevents the overly wild wolves from being tamed, so her main taming ability, (though it can apply to livestock but was meant more for dogs/horses) is already hindered.
Since she will outlive her dog(s), the only ways she'd be able to continue her job as herder/tamer/trainer would be to either (1) already have a pair of breedable dogs, or (2) have a dog sent to her from home and have someone else own it to breed with hers, or (3) replace the one that died by having a dog sent from home. I thought the second two were a bit extreme, but they can still be possible. The second two also bypass her being able to train pups from birth.
A fourth option I could do, though, is if she came in with both, but offers one of the hunters the hunting dog, then she is back to one animal, and the breeding of them can still continue.
Michelle Wrote:5. Jelle and Jos themselves require more description. So far, they’re basically listed as objects (which could be how Heidi views them, but that’s only speculation without facts). I would like to see some detail on what they’re like, how they are around people, how they are around Heidi, etc. Please elaborate/revise.
I completely forgot to describe them! Perhaps because I was not sure where to. I've added them under the family relations, since it was a rather large chunk of info.
Thank you - I hope these changes answered your questions.
RE: [Pending] Heidi - Michelle - 26-10-2013
Right. Sorry for the delayed response. I had a lot of uni things, and then I had to get the staff to discuss the dog thing. Anyway.
1. Personality issues: after giving this a second look, I believe that the character's personality description should be improved. Please follow the instructions below.- a) ~ Eccentric ~ She has a few eccentric habits, such as talking to the animals as if they were intelligent and able to talk back to her. She is also obsessive about some things, such as the colors blue (her favorite) and red (unable to stand red), about things being kept clean (dirt is fine but dust is not), and things in straight lines. This does not seem to be justified by the character's backstory. As a result, they read as quirks for the sake of quirks, as opposed to something that adds to the character's depth. Please revise/clarify.
b) Currently, the description is too list-like. Please provide a prose description that goes with what you already have, or that replaces what you already have.
c) Overall, the personality description requires more detail. This relates slightly to the previous point (as lists tend to oversimplify complexity), but Heidi feels a little too archetypal; she needs something to set her apart from the general 'frail, quiet girl'. I understand this is probably what you were aiming for with her eccentricities, but you need to explain them more clearly. Please elaborate/revise.
2. The dog issue. We'll get to that later, but I believe right now the idea is to open up the issue on the forums so it can be discussed by all.
That's all for now. Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions.
RE: [Pending2] Heidi - MelancholyFae - 11-11-2013
Due to lots of reasons - one being priority of Circe - I think I need to pause this application for now, and I can fix what's needed while it's paused, before bringing it back out for review.
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