Profile
Kalahari
These desert sands
will bury you
She will rule herself until the desert reclaims her bones.
- Kalahari has been living with her roommate, Benevolence, for about two years, in a constant tug-of-war with them.
- Following the destruction of Faline thanks to the Archmage, Kalahari has been hard at work making and replacing windows. After completing the insane workload, the denzines of Faline appeared to be too broke to buy her other glass works.
- Kalahari is watching as Divos has re-entered Beni's life. Divos is now a mage, which is alarming, and Beni's obsessive attitude towards the tax man even moreso. Kala doesn't know why she cares that much, either.
- Faced with the choice of turning Beni in for being a hidden mage, Kalahari instead hides them and defends them from their own short-sighted logic, risking her protected Order mage status in the process.
- Corruption has seeped into Kalahari's bones. She wakes with thoughts of the desert more frequently. Right now, it is easy to keep it at bay.
- Kalahari has risked her life protecting her roommate, Beni, after they were captured by Witchfinders. While she and Beni are home safe now, the fight with the Blight Wights left scars on Kalahari. Her right arm now bears some mummification scarification.
- As an openly mage shopkeeper, Kalahari's glass shop has been under increasing vandalism and scrutiny from anti-mage sympathizers. Her original attitude of "keep your head down" is starting to wear thin.
Details
PERSONALITY
Sly, Stubborn
A wild thing blown in from the desert winds. Survived the desert, and will continue to survive this new city life she has carved for herself. Never one to let an opportunity pass her by, will exploit what she can in order to stay alive. Unwilling to compromise, would rather walk alone than bow back down to anyone. Occasionally refuses to listen, and is quite capable of shouting down someone else. Despite this, she is quick-witted and cautious, not willing to compromise her freedom.
Capricious, Greedy
Never letting her emotions be repressed, Kalahari is known for her bursts of anger as well as she is known for doing plenty to earn just a little more gold. She has stolen and fenced items before and hoards her vices, even though she keeps them under control. Part of her still misses being the desert princess, and longs for her days of freedom and banditry, causing her to engage in high-risk behaviours. Can slip into a deep melancholy some days, and in other days will work until her bones feel like the glass she makes.
Curious, Social
Even after living in Faline and Ivras for several years, Kalahari still feels there is so little she knows outside of the desert. Easy to engage in conversation, even if she is trying to sell someone something, she can be led astray from her nastier behaviors by a few simple questions or a new style of art or music. Easy to talk to, has an open curiosity and natural spark to know more about the world around her.
WC: 264
NOTES
- A huge pothead, Kalahari smokes at least twice a day.
- Her glass shop does well for itself; the "naughty" section in the back certainly helps with sales. Will also make illegal items (like vials for poison) at a steep cost.
- She can sing and dance, but will almost never do so. Occasionally one can hear her singing while she's working.
- Will try to pickpocket almost any customer in her shop. Still a bandit at heart.
- Not a strong swimmer. Trying to learn in her off-time, as she hangs out on the docks and beach a lot.
HISTORY
𓂀 The desert is a cruel place, even for those born into it. Kalahari's birth in the land of her forefathers signaled a kind of rebirth of the land; a blessed child gracing the desert sands bespoke of the sun god shining on them once more, not a mistake like her half-brother Bayuda. Her mother's status in the harem elevated to that of Queen Consort; Kalahari the Princess of the desert.
𓂀 The harem of a king is as filled with dangerous politicking as the battlefield. Bayuda's mother, now the lowest ranking member of the king's chosen, could not let her sacrifices go. She lured Kalahari, a mere toddler, away from her mothers with a plan to take the child's life. Bayuda, her own son, is the one who intervened on that faithful day, and Kalahari's powers roared to life when her own fright triggered a fight response.
𓂀 Bayuda's mother was never prosecuted for what she did; she became a pariah, but never attempted to kill Kalahari again. Word of Kalahari's powers spread across the desert; her reputation thus sealed, Kalahari was trained to become the priestess, the shining beacon of the sun her clan wanted. The clan's status grew to a new, dizzying height, so blessed by the sun god.
𓂀 However, Kalahari had the taste for banditry. Using her reputation as the blessed mage, Kalahari made decisions to attack clans based on the instincts she thought were divine. Her father reach the glory he craved as the king of the desert, but Kalahari failed to see the greed in his eyes. She was blind to the machinations of the politics swirling around her, failing to heed her brother's advice. At fourteen, she was high on life and her status, only chastized when her mistakes cost Bayuda the power he cultivated.
𓂀 Yet, despite all her polytheizing, Kalahari was not divine. The summers grew brutal, the monsters plentiful. The temporary and uncontrolled nature of her magic made her as much of a boon as a bane; often she crippled herself as much as their enemies. Bayuda picked up the pieces behind her, stroking anger within the clan as the shadow of her brother seemed to attach himself to her light. She was a problem, but she could be traded to secure their future in the glory of their clan.
𓂀 At fourteen, Kalahari was sold in marriage for the price of an oasis. She could not blame her parents, even her father; what could they do, with children dropping dead and the monsters' attacks growing more vicious? Her husband was twice her age, twice her size, and she was a dutiful daughter of the desert. She was one of four wives, but she was the most precious.
𓂀 Smothered, kept, a jewel in her husband's eye. The bile of hatred wormed a sick path around her heart. No longer could she run through the desert, live by the rules of sun and moon. Now her living quarters were a velvet tent, and jewels like shackles around her limbs. Her appearance, her personality shaped adoringly by her husband, reinforced by his harem. Under him, she suffered.
𓂀 Her identity did not re-awaken until her husband took her to Faline, eager to spend his gains in the capital of Ivras. Seeing the city, its vibrant culture, its pleasures and pains; all of it brought her soul screaming back from its chains. A plan formed in Kalahari's mind as her husband gabbed, oblivious to her machinations.
𓂀 The Order mages were surely surprised to see someone flinging themselves at their feet, and with such fervor. A blatant display of power and immediate cowering, Kalahari was bundled up at seventeen years of age and shipped to Namarast. Her husband had no say in the matter, and the Order blocked his claim upon her. She was of the Crown now, not of the desert.
𓂀 Getting through the mage's training was rough, but nothing compared to what she had endured. She played her part, spoke and sang her lines like a canary. She tested her powers, grew to respect it the way she respected the predators of her homeland. The magic that sold her also freed her.
𓂀 Graduating at 21, Kalahari ran back for Faline. Mage Protector? Perhaps later. For now, she covets the city as the breath of fresh air she longed for. Her freedom means more than her home, and she knows she can never go back. Her glass-making shop is the price she pays for her transgressions, but it could have been much worse.
WC: 659
The Plague Sands
Can generate and control 15 lbs of sand. This sand, when it makes contact with living or once-alive matter, will dehydrate, wither, blister and decay what it touches, as if the area of contact has been mummified. Muscle will atrophy as if it too has been mummified. This effect on living matter will last for three and a half hours, after which the person will begin healing the damage until returning to its previous state.
She can create shapes with her sands. The figures of a caracal or a jackal will stalk alongside her for a short time. The tinier forms of a viper, a cobra, a lizard, and a rat are more solid.
{2} Pain
- Kalahari is not immune to the effects of her own magic. If she makes contact with her own sand, it will hurt her the same as it hurts anything else. Without precise control, Kalahari is as likely to injure herself as she is others, and the damage takes longer to heal. Given that she conjures the sand from herself, she typically injures herself every time she casts.
{0} None
- Kalahari used to find her magic useless in the cold and snow; now, she can pull sand even when her very bones feel like freezing.
USE & LIMITATIONS
In the past, her sand was a weapon used to defend her home. Nowadays, Kalahari uses her magic as a source of fine, raw materials for her glassware. Once she generates the maximum amount of sand her powers have alotted, she must regain some energy before she can create more sand. This limit goes up with her discipline.
GROWTH
- [-1] Cost After her fight with the Blight Wights, Kalahari finds she can work her magic in the cold without issue.
- [+1] Discipline By all accounts, Kalahari had enough problems without the Witchfinders adding onto it. Risking her protected mage status, Kalahari sheltered her hidden mage roommate, quietly rebelling against the new order.
- [+1] Corruption Kalahari defended a possible hidden mage with violence, and something inside of her has stirred. She wakes with thoughts of the desert in her mind, and a longing inside of her chest that fades by the afternoon.
- [+1] Discipline Following her help with the Outlanders and swapping tips with the strangers, Kalahari has found that she can form shapes with her sand. They do not stay for long, but as her control increases she wonders what more work there is to be had.
STAT & ITEM LOG
PURCHASE HISTORY & STAT CHANGES
- Item or Stat change. Date of transaction. Effect.
- Item or Stat change. Date of transaction. Effect.
- Item or Stat change. Date of transaction. Effect.
- Stat Coin. 8/22/21. +1 Power.
- Familiar Scroll. 7/6/2021. Summons her scarab familiar, Khepri.
PERSONAL INVENTORY
WIP.
- stuff
- more stuff
