Profile
"The things that happen to you become a part of you."
amiable ✦ confident ✦ calculating ✦ insincere ✦ calm
Elisha is outwardly amiable and pleasant, friendly to almost anyone and eager to overshare. He is not shy in the slightest, even overstepping boundaries and pushing too hard with questions. He's curious and likely to invade others' personal space. He frequently combines morbid humor and flirting to get a reaction out of others through teasing. This also leads him to misinterpret the advances of others, often he believes others are simply giving him the same treatment.
He has a notable lack of common empathy and tends to dehumanize others around him, even those he loves. He'll do whatever he think is best for them without their consent.
More than anything, he hates when he can't get a reaction. This is one of the few things that pokes holes in his normal demeanor.
I, the undersigned, hereby agree to follow the charter of walpurgis and all rules therein:
Magic
Area of Expertise
Elisha is talented but unpracticed with Rejuvenation, able to use his magic to enhance the glow of life in things around him. While it is adjacent to the same magic as necromancy, he can't do anything once someone is dead.
His methods of using this magic are rather simplistic and inefficient-- he pours his energy into others, and it is strongly affected by his emotions and his will. If Elisha is happy, the flora around him blooms, the air grows light, and people feel an extra warmth in his presence. It is likely his natural use of the magic was another effect of a changeling's innate desire to be accepted and liked. Even when he's sad or upset however, he's realized that his blood still carries his magic and can act as a medium for applying it to others even when he can't focus on the magic himself. He can also rejuvenate himself using the blood of others.
Abilities
Life Sense: Elisha can sense the strength of life force within a person through touch. He can feel when it begins to dwindle, and can estimate when someone might die from natural causes if it's soon (he can't tell you that you'll die of old age in 20 years, but he can tell you if you're so weak from illness that you might die next week.) This requires skin contact and he normally wears gloves.
Rejuvenation: Elisha can imbue things with life, giving them extra pep so to speak. While he can't de-age people drastically, he can soften the edges of the effects of aging with enough exposure and relieve chronic aches and pains. He can also use it to alleviate pain to injuries and speed recovery from both wounds and illness, though calling it 'healing' is a bit heavyhanded as it still takes a few days to recover usually. Elisha's rejuvenation works on plants, animals, and people. As stated before, he can channel this magic more intentionally through blood, giving away or absorbing energy through it.
Shapeshifting: As a changeling, Elisha can alter his appearance. He uses physical shapeshifting and does not have the technical skill to apply illusory glamours.
Elisha can change into any established persona with a few minutes of concentration. This can be done any time he's calm. If his focus is interrupted in any way (even a minor distraction) it can be enough to disorient Elisha so that he can't transform into any personas until a long night's rest.
The exception is if Elisha is in 'sync' with a persona-- certain emotional mindsets have tendencies to urge him to slip into other personas more suited to dealing with those emotions, strengthening his focus, and he isn't easily distracted during this shift. As Elisha is the default, Elisha can resist this with focus, though.
At the same time, each persona has an emotion or thing they aren't good at handling, and experiencing these things can force them back into Elisha's form and lock him out of that persona for the rest of the day. Addressing him by his true name while he is in that persona will also do this.
Limitations
Force of Will: Normal use of his magic is based on his emotions and desires- it is extremely difficult for Elisha to help someone he doesn't want to help, and extremely difficult to hold back from soneone he wants to like him.
Blood Loss: While blood can be used to apply his magic against his will, it can also... be used to apply his magic against his will. Also, he only has so much blood to work with. Lastly, while blood can be stored using coagulants, his magic fades from it (absorbed into the atmosphere or by nearby living things) within a few minutes.
Sense of Self: In shapeshifting, Elisha's identity is strongly tied to his own appearance, and likewise he tends to assign egos to different 'faces' he takes on. He's bad at making up faces on the fly, and if he tries to imitate someone else he often gets too much into their headspace and it can take a moment for him to center himself.
Poor Imitation: Though Elisha can shapeshift, he can't emulate others' abilities. Animal ears would not enhance the sensitivity of his hearing; a tail wouldn't do much to give him extra balance; a dragon's form doesn't mean he can fly or breath fire. He can also only alter his height/size by a foot or two maximum (3'6" - 7'6").
Personal Lore
History
Elisha was a changeling who lost two families- one to the consequences of his nature, and the other to the consequences of his magic. He's fled to Walpurgis seeking sanctuary from becoming prey to a demon.
Early Life
Elisha is still young as far as changelings and fae go. He was placed with a human father in Colorado, and grew up as the son of a priest. His mother, Celine, was an undertaker who married his father when he was 5... and she died when he was 15. Grieved at the loss, he instinctively shapeshifted into her form to hold onto her for longer. His father was disturbed, and cast him out of the house believing he was a ghost, demon, or worse.
The stir of events drew attention, and Elisha was quickly scooped up by a witch known as Aurelie. A travelling apothecary, she already had one son named Alou, and the two became fast friends and brothers. Still, having two youths was less manageable on the road than just one-- Aurelie brought them as far as New York before finally giving in and settling down in the city. She had connections to a coven there, and thought they would be safe.
Moving to Walpurgis
Aurelie didn't quite know that Elisha was a changeling, only that he had been tossed out due to supernatural events-- but his magical nature quickly became apparent as he warmed up to her and Alou. It also drew the attention of a malicious entity-- a demon who sought out vitality and power for its own gluttony. It destroyed Elisha's new family, and he only barely escaped and fled to Walpurgis. This was only months ago.
Still struggling with the loss, Elisha did the same thing he did years ago when he first experienced loss-- he took Alou's face and personality and it exists with him as an alter ego he puts on when he feels lonely or lost. Unlike the last time he did this, he came to a new town where nobody knew either him nor Alou, so he's able to pretend the other is still alive, in a way.
Present Day
Grieving his lost mother and home brought Elisha in contact with Lorelie, the funeral director of Haven Services in Walpurgis, and when it was discovered that Elisha had some familiarity with the work of a funeral home from his youth, he was offered an apprenticeship as a mortician as well as a place to stay in Lorelie's home.
Race Lore
Changelings are simply fae children that were swapped out for a human child while the mother is looking the other way. They have the magical potential of any other fae, and with the empathy earned from their human upbringing most are extremely adept at changing their appearances in an attempt to be accepted.
Once their fae nature is discovered by their human parents, many changelings are shunned, demonized, and kicked out of their homes for having replaced the human child. This has led to a common misconception among humans that changelings are intentionally deceptive, but most simply want to be accepted by the people they live with. They are prone to wandering, searching out a place that they feel they belong since they don't quite fit into either human or fae society.
Miscellaneous
relationships
Character Relationships [ feel free to req a link ]
Business [ Haven Services ]
Haven Services is the funeral home run by the vampire, Lorelie Grimm. It provides memorial services for various different creatures from all walks of life, from witches to fae to ghosts looking to finally let go. Its Undertaker, Emory Fallenbloom, puts a lot of effort in arranging these services tailored to each individual and their magical/geographical cultures.
Elisha is currently in a probationary/trial period as a Mortician. Though he's apprenticed to Lorelie, he was casually trained by his mother when growing up when it was intended he might assume the family home.
Items
Archery Pin [common]
Scored 24 points in the Archery contest 4/27/2022. Art by Tam.
Finger Gun [Uncommon]
A simple rubber ring that can be worn around a finger. While wearing it, making a finger gun motion at someone within 15ft will create the sensation of them being shot with a rubber band. Watch the eyes!
Arrow Through Head Headband [Common]
Literally just what it sounds like. A novelty hat. Won in the Archery contest 4/27/2021.
Cow™Boy Hat [Common]
A cowboy hat that moos whenever the wearer walks past a cow. Won in the Boar riding game 4/28/2021.
Barbarian's Cookbook [Common]
A book for illiterate cooks. Has lots of pictures and simple recipes, mostly meat..
HTML by Eggy
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