Grimdark Nevermore

Wild Magic Barbarian - War Mage of Living Word - Travel Domain Cleric

Grimdark Kiri Nevermore (a.k.a. Grim, Grark, Dimgrark, Stonewall, Paonne)

Played by Kacey

Physical Description

Body Features

Plus-sized. Prosthetic (of varying designs) on her left leg, starting from the mid-thigh down.

Identifying Characteristics

Oil slick hair. White kintsugi-like scars that glow when she casts magic. The ever-present scent of Ozone. Large white vitiligo-like marks on the sides of her face and ears, as if someone had grabbed both sides of her head.

Physical quirks

Innately strong and has never gotten sick in her life.

Special abilities

Mark of Comprehension: Allows her to understand any language spoken and read any language not written in code as long as she bears the marking. Writing must be touched and takes one minute per page to translate. Ten minutes must be spent to apply the marking, though it can be removed in under a minute.
Time Averse: Unaffected by the passage of time unless she allows it due to her status and power as a hag.

Apparel & Accessories

Majority of her color palette is grayscale or pure black, with hints of color thrown in as accents. Refuses to wear anything that was not made specifically for/by her. Will only sometimes wear clothing that doesn't fit her measurements perfectly.

Specialized Equipment

Watcher's Crown: Gemstone crown that allows her to track individuals of her choosing, regardless of their distance or planar location.
Grimoire gown: Her spellbook, woven into a multi-fashioned shawl with a mix of arcane, diving, and living word imbued thread.
Deflection Corset: A specially boned under-corset shaper that allows her to channel the leylines of her magical scarring into a protective shield.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Each year since she got the job of Goat Herder, Grim wandered down from the Bloomspear mountain range to Geitenstad, paving a well-curated and freshly fertilized path for the grazing herders behind her in the cycle. She would wander the mountain in the spring and summer, set down temporary roots with the tribe for a few weeks in the fall for breeding, and then make her way down alone during the winter. While in Geitenstad, she would work as additional labor. Eventually, she was hired by a kenku, Auda, to work in her tailor shop in Regenboog. During this time, she would sew and meet with her friend, Sol, in the Primewelds. This passed for several circulations of the mountain, enough that she was of child-bearing age, and then her Mama won an entrance ticket to the school, Rampart Academy. She wanted Grimdark to attend. It was a chance, she said, that the community would never give her. Grim, very confused and not fully understanding the situation, left. That winter, after selling the last of her goats and making sure her dog, Caske, was in good hands, she made her way down the mountain with all of her belongings and no intent of coming back. She told Auda of the news, accepted her offer to stay in the shop until it was time to head to Rampart, and began working there as a part-time seamstress.

Gender Identity

Person

Sexuality

Sometimes she likes people enough for touching

Education

Medicine taught by Mama and Rose
Fashion taught by Auda and Garnet
Arcana taught by Sol and Temperance
Living Word taught by Voda Nazvaniye
Stitching magic taught by Harmenot and Caroline
Time magic taught by Melanie Wood
Hag magic taught by The Other One and Saint Jessie of James

Employment

Former

Miner: At around eight cycles, Grim's mama garnered enough favor to get her some training as a miner, given that she was fairly strong despite her petite size. However, after an incident in the mines that turned her into an Earth Genasi, she was transferred into a new profession.
Herder: Started at around nine cycles. She maintained this position as one of the best herders of all pastoral grazing for the next ten cycles, wandering with her goats through the mountains and down into the lower towns at the base. Of all the herders in her community, she was the only one able to breed and herd Dire beasts.

Current

Adventurer: Despite how she views her party as her family and loves spending her time off with them, often times the missions they end up undertaking are absolutely within the realm of 'work'. She's a seasoned traveler, with a lot of experience with both combat and magic; enough so that sometimes she has to function as a stand-in teacher of sorts. Doing work with the Wukong Anomaly is her main priority and profession, not only because it takes up the majority of her time but because it's where her instincts bring her first.
Seamstress: Originally began with a seasonal apprentice-like position with Auda in her tailor shop. Her duties mostly included manual labor around the shop, modelling the clothes, reciting words, patching up clothes, escorting deliveries, and listening to everything Auda said. Currently, she bounces between working at Elvira's shop in Bastion and doing freelance commission work. She has also been known to collaborate with other creators, such as Dala and Garnet Summit.

Accomplishments & Achievements

Being a Herder for her old tribe
Helping Sol escape her captor
Learning the 3 forms of magic to unlock stitching
Being employed by the Chateau
Making friends and reuniting the majority of her family
Overcoming Luprecio

Failures & Embarrassments

None that linger long enough to become regrets

Mental Trauma

Crushed to death when she was a child. As a result, she really doesn't like being indoors or in tight spaces.
Also had her leg exploded off.
Also also is now littered with scars, which has jettisoned her from being a Nothing (a blank unable to bear any marking) to an Everything (literally every part of her is mottled).

Morality & Philosophy

Never really thought about it before. Doesn't really care much for it even after thinking about it now. She doesn't consider herself a good or bad person-- she's just living her life and doing what she wants. And all she wants right now is for herself and the people she loves to be happy.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

~~To become a person.~~
~~To learn more about fashion and eventually make clothing of her own design.~~
To travel the world, hopefully with the many loves of her life.

Likes & Dislikes

Likes: Rocks and animals (especially drawn to goats), bunching things up into groups, organizing, colors.
Dislikes: Small spaces, not being able to see land, anything she's unfamiliar with.

Vices & Personality flaws

Very bad at lying, gullible, absolutely immovable when she becomes stubborn

Personality Quirks

Assuming people can't see or hear her.

Hygiene

Used to be okay at it, became VERY GOOD AT IT thanks to Auda.

Social

Family Ties

Grimdark was the youngest born of 7 children to the triad known as Clan Brimspark. She was born barren of markings; something that, while not seen as an evil omen, was often treated as a sign that the Goliath was going to amount to nothing and wasn’t worth raising by the community as a whole. It was advised that she be cast down to the forgotten, with the other blanks, and as such she was never given a clan to belong to. Her mama, Evermore, girlfriend to her birth parents, Orecarver and Flintrock, left the family clan of Brimspark in order to raise Grim herself. Many of Grim’s not-siblings seemingly blamed her for the break in the family and for “stealing” Evermore, but abode by the tribe's rules to ignore her rather than being openly hostile, as that would acknowledge the existence of Nothing. At current, she has managed to gain a level of respect from the community that neglected her, as they now acknowledge the existence of Blanks and her place as a provider for Clan Nevermore. Furthermore, it came to light that the only one of her blood blaming her at all was her birther, Orecarver, as the rest of her blood have worked with her to forge new familial bonds-- with the exception of her two not-sisters, though, who she has not yet met since becoming a person herself.

Religious Views

Overall, Grim is not traditionally pious or overly reverent. There was a period of time where she did try to be, while she was still drawing her divine power from other travel gods, but she's pretty much given up on relying on them at this point. With enough miracles under her own belt to keep her straddling the cusp of ascension, Grim is currently savoring the sound of the steps as she sources her divine magic from her own self. She has no intentions of rising to godhood, however.

Social Aptitude

Her frequent migration routes and missions to gather new livestock pre-Rampart often took her away from the community for weeks at a time, and she had little reason to speak to anyone outside of it. She mostly talked to the goats and her herding dog, Caske, so she's... not great at talking with people, to put it mildly. She has had some etiquette rules drilled into her by Auda; however, she has thrown most of them out because she thinks making Auda angry is very funny. Learned many of the intricate mannerisms for Raishin's culture from their father, Saji, before ultimately bailing on them due to frustrations with the societal rules and labels. At the moment she's abstractly working to get better at talking to people, though it seems she's not any better at conveying information.

Mannerisms

Quiet, leaves without saying anything when she feels like a conversation is over unless she's very close to you, often stops talking in the middle of sentences and just slaps on a "y'know?" in the hopes that she won't have to say any more, loses track of conversation due to distractions.

Hobbies & Pets

Hobbies: Rock collecting, pottery, listening, interacting with animals, walking, sewing, designing clothes

Caske: Former herding dog; got him a couple of months before she began wandering with the goats, raised him with some of the kids so he'd be used to being around them. Very well trained and always did his job perfectly. Viewed him more as a coworker/partner than a pet.

Spindle: Chwinga assistant; originally given to her by the pack of Chwinga living in Wishwood as repayment for the various outfits she made for them. Began as a small black opal egg, which later hatched into a fear elemental. The remains of the egg have been crafted into a pendant that Grim now wears, which functions as a home for Spindle to rest in whenever it likes. It spends most of the time during travel or downtime from missions either repairing Grim's outfit from battle damage, or spinning threads into cloth for later use in clothing.

Opal: Originally a Displacer Beast-- one of a 5-beast pack that Grim raised from kittens and trained for jobs as hunters/guardians. Currently spends a lot of time in his Griffin form, performing his duties as Grim's battle companion and bonded steed. Often has the personality and energy of a grumpy old man. Seems to enjoy his Griffin form more than any other, as it allows him to just fly away from whatever is bothering him.

Speech

Mid-northern American/Canadian accent, has gotten pretty good at swearing; gets quieter the more people she doesn't know are around to hear her.

Relationships

Sol

Sol (Vital)

Towards Grimdark Nevermore

Frank

Grimdark Nevermore

Grim (Vital)

Towards Sol

Frank

History

The first friend, for both Grim and Sol. Grim was about 11 when she and Sol first met. At around 14, Sol swallowed her pride enough to ask for help. Grim was nervous to bear such responsibility, as no one had ever asked Grim for anything before, but she wanted to help. They used to meet yearly, on the anniversary of this vow, but now that Sol is free to travel with the Anomaly the two of them get to spend a lot of time together. As long as it doesn't drag Sol into a quest, that is. In retrospect, Sol and Grim were each others' very first love as well. Nothing much has changed between them now that they're dating since they've always had a very intimate relationship from the start, though. And that's just how they like it.

Grimdark Nevermore

Kiri (Vital)

Towards Benætha Læk

Frank

Benætha Læk

Ilså (Vital)

Towards Grimdark Nevermore

Frank

History

Nicknames & Petnames

"Girlfriend" is more of a petname than an actual representation of their relationship, as both have agreed that going by societal labels for their feelings towards each other is stupid and confusing. They are 100% dating, yes, but they just say "girlfriend" when talking about each other to denote that to the rest of the world-- to one another, the 'title' itself means nothing.

Relationship Reasoning

They ground each other and get along without needing to try. Most of their free time during school is spent together. Being together is a lot like breathing for them-- something they do without needing to think about it. Overall, they just get each other.

Commonalities & Shared Interests

Sparring, walking, cuddling, getting work done, calling each other by their true names when alone

Shared Secrets

Bee's true name and reading habits; Grim's numerous war crimes

Grimdark Nevermore

Daughter (Vital)

Towards Evermore Nevermore

Frank

Evermore Nevermore

Mother (Vital)

Towards Grimdark Nevermore

Frank

History

by mxpastel

Grimdark Nevermore

Pupil (Vital)

Towards Auda Nevermore

Honest

Auda Nevermore

Mentor (Vital)

Towards Grimdark Nevermore

Honest

History

During her time as a herder, Grim met a kenku named Auda, who owns a tailor shop near the Windmills that Grim visited every winter during migration. The crow was drawn to Grim’s darker color palette, and Grim was drawn to how friendly Auda was despite her more… overbearing tendencies. Grim often traded labor for sewing lessons and, at Auda’s insistence, very specifically tailored clothing. Auda has a very strong sense for what looks good on people, and the tenacity to insist on it despite their personal tastes. She has a very skilled eye and can’t stand when people don’t look “their best”. Sometimes, she would have Grim recite certain words or phrases for her to expand her vocabulary.

Grimdark Nevermore

Daughter (Important)

Towards Flintrock Brimspark

Honest

Flintrock Brimspark

Father (Important)

Towards Grimdark Nevermore

Honest

Grimdark Nevermore

Former Daughter (Trivial)

Towards Orecarver Brimspark

Frank

Orecarver Brimspark

Former Mother (Vital)

Towards Grimdark Nevermore

-5

Frank

Bearstalker Brimspark

Sometimes Brother (Trivial)

Towards Grimdark Nevermore

Grimdark Nevermore

Sometimes Sister (Trivial)

Towards Bearstalker Brimspark

Dalin Kinkiller

Brother (Vital)

Towards Grimdark Nevermore

Frank

Grimdark Nevermore

Sister (Important)

Towards Dalin Kinkiller

Honest

Riverdragger

Former Sister

Towards Grimdark Nevermore

Grimdark Nevermore

Former Sister (Trivial)

Towards Riverdragger

Nightwalker

Former Sister

Towards Grimdark Nevermore

Grimdark Nevermore

Former Sister (Trivial)

Towards Nightwalker

Horncarver

Sibling (Important)

Towards Grimdark Nevermore

Grimdark Nevermore

Sister (Important)

Towards Horncarver

Cattleprod Brimspark

Sibling (Important)

Towards Grimdark Nevermore

Grimdark Nevermore

Sister (Important)

Towards Cattleprod Brimspark

Honest

Temperance

Teacher (Vital)

Towards Grimdark Nevermore

Frank

Grimdark Nevermore

Student (Vital)

Towards Temperance

Honest

Grimdark Nevermore

Kiri (Vital)

Towards Lillian Mirodatter

Frank

Lillian Mirodatter

Lily (Vital)

Towards Grimdark Nevermore

Honest

History

Rocky at the start, due to it being very frivolously initiated and problems communicating.

Nicknames & Petnames

"Girlfriend"

Grimdark Nevermore

Kiri (Vital)

Towards Hallbryn Sylvar

Frank

Hallbryn Sylvar

Hallbryn (Vital)

Towards Grimdark Nevermore

Honest

History

At the start the two of them had very little interactions, despite how much they had in common with their prior status and general outlook on things. Perhaps it was even because they both came from nothing, each having grown up poor, that they ended up missing one another in conversation. Usually, when one would speak, the other would silently agree and felt little need to bring that up in conversation. However, thanks to their extensive 6-month period spent in together in both Bastion and Mechanus, there was little else to do with their spare time aside from spend it together. What began as them commiserating over how much they missed everyone else, slowly turned into deeper talks about goals, identity, and love. Grim, to her own surprise, ended up helping Hallbryn explore much about himself and his interests-- including things of a more romantic nature. They're currently dating, though Grim is under the assumption that it's on a trial-period to help him understand what love feels like-- with their relationship potentially acting as an example of what it doesn't feel like. In her mind, her task was to help him figure out his feelings for Bee, and now that those two are dating as well Grim isn't sure how much longer Hallbryn's relationship with her will last.