Ancient Tides: A Tale of Sea and Sky

Name: Aurora Ambrosia

Description: A dark red-headed/coppery hair and bleach pale skin. Once perhaps, you used to be smaller, slimmer. But decades of training and wayfare have pushed her to a taller, threatening mass and an intimidating build. About 6 foot 3, she has almost pure, piercing white eyes and an unnatural stillness to her. Despite years of fighting and violence, no scars remain on her and is quite classically beautiful, looking to be in her mid-20s and of only slightly muscular physique. The most unnatural and revealing feature to her nature are the long fangs when she rarely smiles, and obvious when she talks unmasked, which is rare. She doesn't look as strong as she is, undead fortitude boosting her might more than it appears.

She's a serious sort, not prone to laughter or levity. A lifetime of hard living and growing up in a world where the undead not only thrive but rule in many places, has hurt any chance to recover from her own experiences. Instead, she has simply focused herself towards her cause, resolving to the fact that she'll die before she succeeds but hopes she can make a small change to better this dark realm.

Place of Origin: The midnight sea. Near the city of Marbhog, a port capital to challenge and border the theocracy of Serkath. Marbhog is something of a "best foot forward" city for those visiting the Midnight sea and deals with trade amongst the other travellers of the realms for the undead islands and lands. It's somewhat more welcoming towards non-undead, you may not get just picked off the street and eaten, but it remains a very dangerous place regardless as after all, even though it's duties are to somewhat placate the nation of Serkath and keep an eye on them and trade with them, it needs to be able to defend itself as one of the more open and valuable city states. Aurora grew up in a smaller village community within the back borders of Marbhog's influence.

Bio: 

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SpoilerAurora was born... about 50 years back lets say, she's not too sure on how old she is. Just lets say that, she knows she had an irregular upbringing. There were a set of woods that made up her whole world, and a tower she lived in alone in it. Well, not entirely alone. She never knew their names, but the blank eyes of the rotting undead and skeletal guardians kept an eye on her and took care of her home. Every now and again, tutors would be brought, to teach her some basic skills, to see what she excelled at or didn't. Aurora didn't care too much for their lessons, finding most of her teacher's behaviour strange. Their barely contained frustration whenever she didn't get anything or their fearful glances at her breathless guardians and servants. Some seemed made of sterner stuff, and over the years whilst some came and went only briefly, a handful she got to know better.

Christina, a short, wiry gnomish ranger who helped explain the usages and names of the plants and trees in her woods, and to find the tracks of passing beasts and wanderers. It had been surprising that Christina couldn't talk and hear and laugh with the bats and rats and night life of the woods, seeming to prefer the day time and squinting in the darkness, but, they adjusted well to each other's limitations, Aurora enjoying the puzzles and tests Christina set her to watch for.

Then there was Orisa, a quiet, serious draconic woman, who taught Aurora to fight, judging her growth and explaining the physiology of the mortal bodies of humanoid species that were brought in. She was also the first person to strike Aurora, straight across the face during their first spar. There had been a moment of tension, Orisa's eyes moving from the young girl, to the dead soldiers overlooking it, that had suddenly become more alert somehow, until Aurora stood up, rubbing at her face and more surprised looking than upset. It had been an important lesson to learn that Orisa didn't have the patience to put aside or the fear to not get it over with, what pain felt like.

Then there was Dr. Orpheo. A quiet, bookish and endlessly patient elven man, who slowly replaced the other scholarly tutors over time, calmly explaining the esoteric natures of reality and magic, the history and geographies and all manner of odd nuggets of information or lore to the frustrated Aurora. Only a slightly sad and disappointed look given in response when she got upset and stormed off, only to come back quickly after and sit down sulkily after the cool off, where he'd continue where he left off, offering small questions to keep her interest and recap previous points, or taking out practical experiments or strange examples of oddities or tools related to the lore of the day.

Beyond the handful of others than came and went, the only other constant figure in Aurora's life. Only ever referred to as Ma'am, my lady, or mummy specifically by Aurora and eventually mother later on. Dressed in finery, beautiful, extravagant and dark, rich, soft dresses. Her grace, her voice, everything she had control over radiates confidence, elegance, power. Standing at 6' 4", Mother has a skeletal visage, dead, white skin with sickly purple veins running under her skin, empty eyes of bleeding violet and wisps of shadow and long, deadly talons, adorned with rings. One of the ancients, a nosferatu, a noble of the wonderful city of Morbhog, who visits to see how her little Dawn is doing, checking her schooling, seeing how happy she is, that she's been listening to her tutors. Mother also took care of matters of society, concealing one's emotions, the correct words to manipulate those around you, the value of fear and loyalty.

Mother also liked to talk to Aurora on nice midnight walks, to explain her own troubles and hear what Aurora had been learning, and to speak of the night that one day Aurora would be able to join her in Morbhog, when she was ready for court, when she was old enough for her birthday present. Mother seemed more and more proud and excited for the eventual night, until. Finally.

Aurora wasn't sure what made the particular night special. Perhaps some of Mother's plans had finally reached the point of fruition or Aurora was considered finally ready or some magic had been prepared or the stars had aligned, who knows. But. Finally, the one room in the tower she'd never been able to explore and enter, despite several attempts over the years, with some small knowledge that there was something in there that called to her, was to be opened. As she'd grown and explored the boundaries of the woods, she had found that... there was some unknown, fluctuating distance from the tower that Aurora could reach before a feeling of fatigue, shakiness, weakness came over her. Like her blood and life lost all potency as she traveled further away until her breaths barely brought any relief to an aching, gasping sensation of loss of air, like every cell in her body was dying.

Dr Orpheo, Orisa, Christina and several other tutors followed Aurora and Mother down the stone steps. The sealed door had almost melted away after a word from Mother, it's physical form apparently merely a distraction from a potent, magical seal. In darkness, Mother and Aurora walked ahead, the clicking of bone on stone from the heels of Mother leading in the darkness whilst some small lights were allowed for those that needed it. Aurora squinted slightly, needing the light still to pierce the shadows, nights of exploration and company of the night creatures having sharpened her vision but not enough for the dripping, strangling shadows that had receded and grown down here over the decades.

They walked deep, deep down into the stone, the depths of this tower apparently reaching far below, far longer than the surface height of it, walking down until the cold and damp of the stone became warm and hot instead, a cloying warmth, like when your own skin feels sticky and gross. Despite all this, as they walked, there were no signs of life. No webs, no dust, no scurrying little insects, no smell of decay or growth of vines or fungi. Doors were passed by, with unknown symbols of different languages and scripts scrawling into them, but Dr Orpheo seemed to recognise some of them, surprise and concern of recognition but silent as he followed.

Finally, a door. The symbol on it reminded Aurora slightly of a setting half-sun, set into a hexagon border. A breathless word was spoken by Mother and the door shifted to mist. Leading the way, Mother, Aurora and her tutors entered one by one, the remaining mindless undead remaining in the staircase. The room was made of a green stone, almost like it was carved out of a pure, dark green gemstone rock. Lines and grooves were carved into the floor and the 6 pillars that split up the room into segments, the center of it holding a simple hexagonical green box with gold and silver ornate fittings about it.

Taking her hand, Mother walked Aurora over to the box, a strange pulsing filling Aurora's head as a whispering voice filled the room. A gentle, skeletal kiss from Mother on Aurora's head, comforting and proud words of her growth distracting Aurora from a sudden pricking sensation on her hand. A talonous finger had cut open her pale skin, spilling blood onto the box that Aurora's hand was placed on. A set of six clicks echoing out in perfect synchronicity from the box as parts of it snapped open, and a dark red mist exploded out, slamming about the room, the mortals thrown about like rag dolls as it tore and rushed about, passing by Mother as she laughed in delight and finally, this long removed and nurtured and grown and invested and cursed gift returned to it's true host. Magic and death and dark blood filling Aurora's veins, her features suddenly changing as she screamed silently, the life being ripped out of her to be devoured as succulence for this force, this part of her that had been hidden away until ready returning with a vengeance, a terrible strength increased tenfold by Mother's machinations and planning.

Sadly, the pain of the transformation was only the first half of the tragedy of the night, a mostly human mortal girl changed to fully reflect her undead origin, and with the new, unnatural power flowing through her unrestrained, it demanded a final nail in the coffin. Falling upon her stunned tutors, one by one their throats were torn out and drank and devoured. From the misty door, wizened and frail but the still yet alive bodies of past, discarded teachers, keep preserved and breathing until this night were dragged through and thrown to slate her endless hunger. Gore and liquid, red and white and pink splatters of blood and bone and flesh covered the room and Aurora, the scent and echo of dozens of panicked, screaming, resisting and violent deaths stained the scene.

That was probably the big catalyst moment that suddenly some things made sense for Aurora. Like hey, mom is evil. Like, seriously evil. Like, yeah, she'd sounded upset normally about the things she had to do, the things she'd confided to Aurora during their nightly walks. Regrets that she'd gathered, old faces that she missed, choices that she wished she didn't have to pay to get where she was. And Aurora had always believed in that side of her mother, the one that liked to play dress up with her, that laughed at her dances and her petty complaints about boring lessons, that shared secrets and weights with her, that apologised for keeping her locked away from the world but it was the only way to keep her safe until she was ready to shine one day. It didn't click immediately that whether that part of her was real or not, there was more to her, other sides Aurora had never been truly shown before, a cruel, dominating will, a cold mind that could do what it took to get what it wanted, a wild joy in petty cruelties and power. It er... Aurora was sort of in a fugue state for a while after that all anyway. She was escorted about the city of Marbhog, as the new knight of lady Ruīna Ambrosia, not quite ready to be revealed as her daughter still. It took a little while for some informed knowledge to become rote, but, Aurora wasn't really focusing on much beyond violence and being a good daughter, nodding along and playing along with mom's unlife, the plays of court, the web of intrigue, the careful play of politics and power. She didn't really have anyone left beyond mom anyway, so, yeah. She got to experience life outside the woods finally, talk to some other undead and living, actually see some of the politics and world rather than just hearing about it, and slowly, numb herself to the reality of her situation. Who knows how she could have turned out, if maybe there had been one more missing positive influence in her childhood, a slightly heavier touch of her mother's hand guiding her, one less screaming, terrified face sent to silence after a bloody end.

As fate would have it, of the two sides of her, one night it all came clear and it was like she was herself again, the years of sin and murder and the wrongness of it all clear to her, that she could choose to leave, that she wasn't a tool of her mother's will and that if there was anything she'd discovered as a tool of lady Ruīna, it was that she had enemies. That this was not the way the world had to be. That there were other ways, another part of her that she could follow and listen to.

That night was the last time Aurora Ambrosia would ignore her heart, even if it beat slowly now. There was an escape from her home, donning her garb of dark-grey nebus plate and her sword of stygian steel. Her shield she kept as it was, the seal of house Ambrosia, a setting sun beset by incoming shadows, but now it would be a force of light in this realm, under her name, Dawn.

You may ask yourself, “How did I get here?” This should explain how your character reached level 10 - or if you want to start at a lower level, give an idea of how you will get there near the game’s start.

Ambition: Free the city of Marbhog from undead rule and fight the undead forces of the Midnight Sea

Contacts: Who do you know? Relatives, friends, business contacts, mortal enemies, etc. Define as many or as few as you want here.