(Content warning: mentions of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, as well as child sexual abuse, miscarriage, and self-harm.)
Name: Vy
Age: 27
Gender: Ciswoman
Appearance: She’s a weary-looking woman who looks a little older than she really is. Light brown skin, intense dark eyes, and long hair that is currently light brown. She’s of average height and has a slender, hourglass figure. Her body is full of scars. She has some wild slash marks on her stomach where her ex-husband cut her pregnant belly with a knife. She has some on her thighs and her arms that go horizontally across in a precise and even manner which are unmistakably from self-harm. She doesn’t go to an effort to hide these scars. Because of the things that have happened, she feels like she has lost all control over her life, so she might as well control how she looks just so she can control something. So when she has the means Vy’s style of dress is usually inconsistent. One day she looks like a gritty adventurer, the next day she’s a maiden in a loose dress and a flower crown, then the next day she’s in minimalist blacks and so on. The only thing in common is that her looks are constructed carefully, complete with hair and make up.
Personality: She’s basically a storm brewing beneath a cool exterior. She’s very anxious about more bad things happening to her, and feels powerless to stop it. She thinks herself as a magnet for disaster, with no control over anything significant in her life. She feels this way because she was born deaf into a terrible family and thinks that things might have been different for her were she anyone else but herself. She feels limited by what she can do because of her deafness, because in the past its been a limit to her ability to communicate and connect with others. She’s also used to internalising these feelings because of her limited ability to communicate, so she usually looks fine even when everything is utterly horrible. She’s a lonely person who just wants to find a place and identity in the world, make connections with others, and gain some kind of control over her situation. She can be a little bit of a control freak and gets overwhelmed really fast because her anxiety makes her see potential threats everywhere. When she gets overwhelmed or feels unsafe, she tends to go into fight and flight mode and lashes out in order to protect herself. She finds it difficult to trust men due to her abuse. Generally she’s intelligent, quiet and serious in behaviour, but hates who she currently is so she’s open to trying new things and socialising. She knows how to speak a few words thanks to lip reading (she mimics the movements and makes sound, producing distorted but understandable speech) but doesn’t like to talk or make noise because she’s used to people making fun of her for it.
Backstory: She was born into a really dysfunctional family as an accident. Her parents were broken and bitter after the Veld war they fought in to end their slavery had only led to even more war and misery: taxes were raised in her hometown to feed civil war efforts, leaving them poor. Her parents often took out their frustration on Vy, especially since they thought of her as a stupid child because she never listened and her speech was terrible. Her father sexually abused her while her mother chose to enable it because it was easier to blame the child you didn’t want over the man you chose to dedicate your life to. It hadn’t really occurred to them that she was deaf until she was old enough herself to explain it to them at around 6 years old. By then she had figured out that she was different and not in a good way. She taught herself how to lip read and observe situations carefully as a way to cope and seem as un-different as possible, but she was still isolated by the fact that she had to write down what she wanted to say, and few people were patient enough to let her say everything. She started sewing at around 7. It was also a necessity because her family’s poverty required them to make the most of out clothing and fabric. She took to it quickly because it was a calm activity that took her mind off of her horrible situation. She could also take it outside and be away from everything until dark. But eventually, she grew bored with mending and turning old clothes into quilts and wanted to learn more. So she took a job as a seamstress in a small shop at 13 years old. It worked out well for her because she earned money for her parents, but also had more of an excuse to be away from them as well as learn new things with more expensive materials. But it was also how she met her ex-husband, Daniel. She was only 16 when she eloped with him. He said she was talented, she was beautiful, and in her designs he could see the real her, the one that wanted to shine. And she went with it because at that point, he was the only one who saw her as anything but the dumb and deaf girl from the poor side of town. He represented a chance to escape the misery she was born into: though the civil war had ended when she was 14, the news of the reopened dusk portal became a replacement thing for her parents to be bitter and angry about. But unfortunately for her, Daniel really just saw a woman who would support him no matter what. Even if he abused her. They moved to one of the cities that had joined the alliance, which meant the news about the dusk portal and the Xitian situation was constantly there to distract her from the fact that her husband was quite posessive of her. At first he wanted her to leave notes when she was going out, telling him when she would be back and who she was with. He said he was just worried about her, that he wanted to be able to find her if anything with the Xitians were to happen. Then, when she found work as a tailor in the market, he’d visit a lot to make sure she was really there. Eventually she stopped working at 25 when Daniel managed to wear her down with tantrums and arguments and eventually violence. With nothing but housework to keep her occupied, she and Daniel decided it was time for a child. It was yet another moment of hope for her because though she really wasn’t happy, she could raise this child with all the things she didn’t have as a child herself, and give it the life that she had once hoped for. She looked forward to being a mother, so much so that Daniel grew jealous of the unborn baby. He accused her of loving it more than him, and one day he slashed at her pregnant belly with a knife. The stress caused her to miscarriage a few days later. She was devastated and her self-worth was at an all-time low. She started cutting, and when her husband began making fun of her scars, she started changing her appearance. At first she just made and wore light makeup, but eventually it progressed to her taking up sewing again and wearing different clothes. She started feeling better about herself because for once she could control something, even if it wasn’t much. But one night, Daniel had gotten drunker than usual and tried to sexually abuse her. He blamed it on her clothes. Instinctively, she fought back. It was a fight or flight thing and she ended up stabbing him to death with a kitchen knife. And while it was true that she could have gotten away with it, the anxiety overwhelmed her. She was so used to abuse. How could she trust anyone to believe her word, to keep her safe? And how could she continue living in that home where she was worn down for over a decade? She needed to be in control of her life, and the only way to do that was to find a way to make a new slate and carve out a new person from herself. So she spent the next few days selling what she could of her belongings, and hiding the body in the cellar. Mentally, leaving was a difficult step so she took it slowly. But then one day, there were dragon sightings. She didn't believe it until she saw it with her own eyes: a dragon burning down another section of the city. She ran with a group of people who were also leaving town, as she took the sighting as a sign that now was the time for her to begin anew. With the money she had earned from selling her things, she managed to hitchhike carriages to the coast and buy her way onto a ship to the Forbidden Lands. She chose to get off at Nightveil simply because she had heard the people there were mad, living in a cursed place among Xitians. If they were mad enough to accept Xitians and curses, then perhaps they could accept her, too...
Capabilities:
Housekeeping - Competent
Tailoring - Competent
Drawing - Apprentice
Items: Two notebooks (one for clothing designs and sewing patterns, the other for conversations), a small box of charcoal pencils, and an elaborate, lace-trimmed, orange handkerchief with a fire dragon embroidered on it (a sample of her work to show to future employers).
Name: Vy
Age: 27
Gender: Ciswoman
Appearance: She’s a weary-looking woman who looks a little older than she really is. Light brown skin, intense dark eyes, and long hair that is currently light brown. She’s of average height and has a slender, hourglass figure. Her body is full of scars. She has some wild slash marks on her stomach where her ex-husband cut her pregnant belly with a knife. She has some on her thighs and her arms that go horizontally across in a precise and even manner which are unmistakably from self-harm. She doesn’t go to an effort to hide these scars. Because of the things that have happened, she feels like she has lost all control over her life, so she might as well control how she looks just so she can control something. So when she has the means Vy’s style of dress is usually inconsistent. One day she looks like a gritty adventurer, the next day she’s a maiden in a loose dress and a flower crown, then the next day she’s in minimalist blacks and so on. The only thing in common is that her looks are constructed carefully, complete with hair and make up.
Personality: She’s basically a storm brewing beneath a cool exterior. She’s very anxious about more bad things happening to her, and feels powerless to stop it. She thinks herself as a magnet for disaster, with no control over anything significant in her life. She feels this way because she was born deaf into a terrible family and thinks that things might have been different for her were she anyone else but herself. She feels limited by what she can do because of her deafness, because in the past its been a limit to her ability to communicate and connect with others. She’s also used to internalising these feelings because of her limited ability to communicate, so she usually looks fine even when everything is utterly horrible. She’s a lonely person who just wants to find a place and identity in the world, make connections with others, and gain some kind of control over her situation. She can be a little bit of a control freak and gets overwhelmed really fast because her anxiety makes her see potential threats everywhere. When she gets overwhelmed or feels unsafe, she tends to go into fight and flight mode and lashes out in order to protect herself. She finds it difficult to trust men due to her abuse. Generally she’s intelligent, quiet and serious in behaviour, but hates who she currently is so she’s open to trying new things and socialising. She knows how to speak a few words thanks to lip reading (she mimics the movements and makes sound, producing distorted but understandable speech) but doesn’t like to talk or make noise because she’s used to people making fun of her for it.
Backstory: She was born into a really dysfunctional family as an accident. Her parents were broken and bitter after the Veld war they fought in to end their slavery had only led to even more war and misery: taxes were raised in her hometown to feed civil war efforts, leaving them poor. Her parents often took out their frustration on Vy, especially since they thought of her as a stupid child because she never listened and her speech was terrible. Her father sexually abused her while her mother chose to enable it because it was easier to blame the child you didn’t want over the man you chose to dedicate your life to. It hadn’t really occurred to them that she was deaf until she was old enough herself to explain it to them at around 6 years old. By then she had figured out that she was different and not in a good way. She taught herself how to lip read and observe situations carefully as a way to cope and seem as un-different as possible, but she was still isolated by the fact that she had to write down what she wanted to say, and few people were patient enough to let her say everything. She started sewing at around 7. It was also a necessity because her family’s poverty required them to make the most of out clothing and fabric. She took to it quickly because it was a calm activity that took her mind off of her horrible situation. She could also take it outside and be away from everything until dark. But eventually, she grew bored with mending and turning old clothes into quilts and wanted to learn more. So she took a job as a seamstress in a small shop at 13 years old. It worked out well for her because she earned money for her parents, but also had more of an excuse to be away from them as well as learn new things with more expensive materials. But it was also how she met her ex-husband, Daniel. She was only 16 when she eloped with him. He said she was talented, she was beautiful, and in her designs he could see the real her, the one that wanted to shine. And she went with it because at that point, he was the only one who saw her as anything but the dumb and deaf girl from the poor side of town. He represented a chance to escape the misery she was born into: though the civil war had ended when she was 14, the news of the reopened dusk portal became a replacement thing for her parents to be bitter and angry about. But unfortunately for her, Daniel really just saw a woman who would support him no matter what. Even if he abused her. They moved to one of the cities that had joined the alliance, which meant the news about the dusk portal and the Xitian situation was constantly there to distract her from the fact that her husband was quite posessive of her. At first he wanted her to leave notes when she was going out, telling him when she would be back and who she was with. He said he was just worried about her, that he wanted to be able to find her if anything with the Xitians were to happen. Then, when she found work as a tailor in the market, he’d visit a lot to make sure she was really there. Eventually she stopped working at 25 when Daniel managed to wear her down with tantrums and arguments and eventually violence. With nothing but housework to keep her occupied, she and Daniel decided it was time for a child. It was yet another moment of hope for her because though she really wasn’t happy, she could raise this child with all the things she didn’t have as a child herself, and give it the life that she had once hoped for. She looked forward to being a mother, so much so that Daniel grew jealous of the unborn baby. He accused her of loving it more than him, and one day he slashed at her pregnant belly with a knife. The stress caused her to miscarriage a few days later. She was devastated and her self-worth was at an all-time low. She started cutting, and when her husband began making fun of her scars, she started changing her appearance. At first she just made and wore light makeup, but eventually it progressed to her taking up sewing again and wearing different clothes. She started feeling better about herself because for once she could control something, even if it wasn’t much. But one night, Daniel had gotten drunker than usual and tried to sexually abuse her. He blamed it on her clothes. Instinctively, she fought back. It was a fight or flight thing and she ended up stabbing him to death with a kitchen knife. And while it was true that she could have gotten away with it, the anxiety overwhelmed her. She was so used to abuse. How could she trust anyone to believe her word, to keep her safe? And how could she continue living in that home where she was worn down for over a decade? She needed to be in control of her life, and the only way to do that was to find a way to make a new slate and carve out a new person from herself. So she spent the next few days selling what she could of her belongings, and hiding the body in the cellar. Mentally, leaving was a difficult step so she took it slowly. But then one day, there were dragon sightings. She didn't believe it until she saw it with her own eyes: a dragon burning down another section of the city. She ran with a group of people who were also leaving town, as she took the sighting as a sign that now was the time for her to begin anew. With the money she had earned from selling her things, she managed to hitchhike carriages to the coast and buy her way onto a ship to the Forbidden Lands. She chose to get off at Nightveil simply because she had heard the people there were mad, living in a cursed place among Xitians. If they were mad enough to accept Xitians and curses, then perhaps they could accept her, too...
Capabilities:
Housekeeping - Competent
Tailoring - Competent
Drawing - Apprentice
Items: Two notebooks (one for clothing designs and sewing patterns, the other for conversations), a small box of charcoal pencils, and an elaborate, lace-trimmed, orange handkerchief with a fire dragon embroidered on it (a sample of her work to show to future employers).