Loraelsia Mithrilspine

Loraelsia Mithrilspine (a.k.a. Ael (Pronounced like Ale))

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Loraelsia is rather tall for a female dwarf, a notable feature she has always been a tad self-conscious about, though she has learned not to show that openly. She is rather soft for her species, her physique suggesting she has not done much resembling labor in her life.

Body Features

At campaign start, she has a single, occasionally glowing rune across her hand, one that she tries to keep hidden away using fingerless gloves.
https://tinyurl.com/firstrune

Facial Features

Her face carries a healthy glow that suggests to the casual onlooker that she is a little bit drunk at all times. This is not actually the case, but she has learned to embrace the complexion brought on by generations of proud Mithrilspine women.

Identifying Characteristics

Her eyes are a family trait, a sparkling silver-blue that resembles her family's namesake. She would wear contacts to hide them, except her eyes are quite sensitive to such things, so those in the know might recognize her based off of those.
Her runes, when seen, are also distinctive, and when active carry a mithril-silver glow that is distinct to her bloodline.

Physical quirks

She has a recently developed habit of rubbing at her concealed rune across her hand. This happens when she is nervous, especially if she is nervous about being identified as a Mithrilspine.
She also has a tendency to shuffle her 'special' deck of cards. Sometimes this includes showing off, but at other times she just does it to keep her hands busy.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Loraelsia Mordribera Ravaebena Mithrilspine was born to privilege, born to duty, and born to expectations, none of which she asked for.
The firstborn child of Vardric and Nosurra Mithrilspine, Ael spent her early childhood and adulthood chafing against the expectations that came with being the eldest born of her clan. The Mithrilspine clan has always been relatively small, but influential within what is currently called the Dwendalian Empire, the kind of family with ancestral wealth and long-running connections to the realm. Noblesse Oblige was the mantra she was inundated with from a young age. This was equally true for her seven siblings, but Loraelsia especially felt the pressure to succeed, given her position as eldest and the future head of the clan.
This was a future that Loraelsia never felt she lived up to, unfortunately. She never felt like a typical dwarf. She lacked an interest in the physical exploits and crafting disciplines that her species is known for. She was labelled lazy by her less-charitable siblings, and the charge was not without merit. The pressures put on her by her parents combined with the sinking suspicion that her younger siblings would do a better job resulted in a young dwarf who was full of self doubt. This was only compounded by the simple, unavoidable fact.
She did not seem to possess the bloodline her clan was famous for.
The thing about old families is that whatever noble intentions they might have, the trappings of wealth and power. This proved true... and disastrous... for the Mithrilspine clan when Loraelsia's youngest sibling, Vamwaeline, decided that she would be a far better family head... and set out to make it happen. Conspiring with a human guard, Brannerth Covenswallow, Vamwaeline arranged for the assassination of her parents, with the intent of substituting in a fake will. The plot proved successful, but by chance Loraelsia walked in on the murders and, due to having witnessed Vamwaeline in conversation with the assassin, put two and two together.
Unfortunately, a conversation did not equal proof, and while Loraelsia's arrival ensured the will was not swapped, her anger after the loss of her parents proved fierce. Ignoring the urgings of her brother, Dalovum, the second eldest and the only sibling she as close to, Loraelsia confronted her sister, a confrontation that turned into a chase through the streets of Rexxentrum. This confrontation came to a head atop of a large tower, and during the intervening struggle, Loraelsia pushed her sister off of the tower, apparently to her death.
Aware that she had no proof of her sister's wrongdoing, and had, therefore, committed murder in the eyes of the law, Loraelsia fled her home, leaving her clan and her former life behind. This proved to be quite a challenge for Loraelsia. She left with only the gold she had on her, which quickly dried up, and for many moons she lived off what supplies she could clumsily scavenge or steal. Eventually, however, luck... or rather, natural talent in the guise of luck stumbled into her lap, when she fell into a game of cards she had no business playing, and used her natural charms and talent for reading others to secure a sizable fund of gold.
Thus began a career that turned into a passion, with Loraelsia's gambling 'habit' soon proving to have little gambling involved. She developed her own system for marking cards. She came to embrace the freedom from expectation offered by her new lifestyle, and while she eventually became skilled enough to ensure she always had a tidy sum, she never stopped wandering, for fear of her old life catching up with her.
Over the next seven years, Loraelsia continued as such, with a few further misadventures along the way, including a notable instance where she beat a Goliath tribal chief Kreg in single combat. The chief of course, insists to this day that the feat was only accomplished due to cheating on Loraelsia's part... which is absolutely true. Dust of Deliciousness, a vial of itching serum, and an innocent offer of sharing a final drink before combat won her the day. Unfortunately, this earned her an enemy, and another group to avoid, as the tribe have dedicated themselves to hunting her down and forcing her into a rematch.
And so her life continued, up until two weeks before campaign started, when the unexpected popped up to throw a wrench into her new happiness. At the age of 34, 7 years after the death of her parents, she woke up in the middle of the night after a strange dream she does not remember, only to be confronted with a silver glow across her left hand. Loraelsia's runic bloodline had, at last, come into effect. And she had no idea what to do with this development.

Gender Identity

Female

Sexuality

Try sexual. She'll try anything once... or twice... or three times.

Education

Loraelsia was fairly well educated. Her parents ensured she and each of her siblings had tutors. She was neither the best nor worst student, but she has not retained as much of what she's learned as she would like.

Employment

She cheats at cards... ahem, she wins at cards.

Mental Trauma

Witnessing the tail end of her parents' deaths, murdering her youngest sister for her role in those deaths.

Morality & Philosophy

While she is a charlatan, she is a benevolent one. She has a code that she follows. She never takes money from anyone who cannot afford to lose it, and always ensures that those she cheats at cards have a good time in the interim. She also never takes money from those who are actually desperate, and if she feels that is the situation she will either break even with the person after a few hands and move on, or, if she is feeling particularly benevolent, she will 'lose' on purpose.
While she feels that as of now she is in no way a noble, the philosophy of Noblesse Oblige was engrained in her at a young age, and that sense of duty to her fellow man, especially to those less fortunate, has never quite abandoned her despite many attempts to change that about herself.

Taboos

She believes saying the name of The Crawling King is an ill omen.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

One of Loraelsia's strongest motivators is an inability to ignore the plight of others. Whether one looks upon this as a noble spirit, or simple nosiness, she is often exasperated with her own inability to leave well enough alone when she sees people in need.
While it is not as active a motivation, she is eager to avoid confronting her past, and that desire to avoid could motivate her in interesting ways. She also would likely be driven to find and confront Vamwaeline should she find out her youngest sister is not, in fact, dead.

Virtues & Personality perks

While she is a charlatan, she is a benevolent one. She has a code that she follows. She never takes money from anyone who cannot afford to lose it, and always ensures that those she cheats at cards have a good time in the interim.

Personality Quirks

She does not like sitting with her back to the rest of a room, always sitting where she can see everything else, including the entrances and exits if possible.

Hygiene

She prefers to be clean when able, but she has learned to be comfortable with occasional bouts of uncleanliness.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Kreg - Noble in his own way, but wracked with Pride, Kreg feels as if his standing was injured by his loss to Loraelsia during what was, more or less, a souped up bar brawl. In truth, while he certainly would beat the crap out of Loraelsia if given the opportunity, but would likely not actually kill her. His tribe has honor, he simply wishes to get recompense for an unjust loss, for having his righteous challenge met with trickery and falsehood.
Brannerth Covenswallow - The guard who conspired with Vamwaeline, Loraelsia is not entirely clear as to what his motives were for joining up with her younger sister. She knows that he was, at the time, a mid-ranked guard within the Rexxentrum guard. She knows he comes from a noble family, and nows that he always seemed cordial enough with her parents in social gatherings... but that seems to have been a facade, because she saw him with Vamwaeline and the assassin the day before the murders. She has never confronted him, and has no idea what became of him, but she confided that information to her brother, Dalovum.

Family Ties

Vamwaeline - Vamwaeline is a little shit. The youngest Mithrilspine, younger than Loraelsia by 9 years. A dwarf's dwarf, to a parodic. She was the youngest, and also developed her bloodline at age 13, a record in the history of the clan. Unfortunately this went to her head, and ultimately resulted in Loraelsia proving she was more capable in combat than any of her siblings would have guessed.
Dalovum - The second eldest Loraelsia's generation, born two years after Loraelsia, Dalovum was the only sibling that she felt particularly close to. In many ways, Dalovum was the type of dwarf that Loraelsia felt SHOULD lead the clan. Alas, he was more inclined to the church, and became a priest of Erathis. Their relationship was damaged severely by Loraelsia's actions, though she has not seen him since that day.
Erildrelin and Halgrona - The twins. 'Dreli' and 'Grona' were always rather insular. Four years Loraelsia's juniors, the two were always inseperable. Dreli was the thinker, and Grona the schemer, and together they often caused benevolent mischief, much to the chagrin of their mother.
Noromi - Is the family drunk. Not in a negative sense, he was a party animal, almost a dwarven equivalent of a Dandy. He is five years younger than Loraelsia.
Thendrem - The scholar of the family, Thendrem was seven years younger than Loraelsia. He had aspiritions to attend the Soltryce Academy, but was always held back by his natural magic interfering with his arcane studies. Somewhat boring.
Jagnaec - The truest crafstman of the family, Jagnaec, or 'Jag' is eight years younger than Loraelsia. He often told terribly, pun-ridden jokes, and was more often than not covered in soot. Other than Loraelsia herself, he was probably the least-comfortable with the family he was born into, and at times confided in his father he would have been happier to be born into a simpler clan.
Vardric and Nosurra - Loraelsia's parents were, to her, paragons of that idea of Noblesse Oblige that they tried to instill in their children. While they likely were not as perfect as Loraelsia has come to regard them as. Death often erases flaws. She thinks fondly of her parents, but often felt like a disappointment to them. Her father, in particular, was often hard on his daughter in an attempt to help her reach the potential he saw in her to be a strong leader, and unfortunately this led to a perception that he felt she was incapable. This was further compounded by Loraelsia's suspicion that her father would have preferred a male firstborn. This was probably not true, but it was a thought that festered during Loraelsia's younger years. Her mother was the peacemaker between father and daughter, but even she was often frustrated with Loraelsia's inability to act in a manner that befit a noble dwarf. Despite all of this, Vardric and Nosurra loved each of their children dearly, which makes their youngest daughter's betrayal all the more tragic.

Religious Views

Loraelsia worships the Allhammer, Moradin, but is not very active in her faith. It is more a byproduct of how she grew up, almost a habit. That said, she still recognizes major religious festivals and holidays, and will, in more introspective moments, offer prayers to him.

Speech

She has what, in the real world, would be a Scottish accent.

Loraelsia, or Ael, is a dwarven card-shark who recently came into her family's Sorcerous Bloodline, the ramifications of which she would rather not consider. You can trust her implicitly, so long as cards are not involved.

View Character Profile

Alignment

Neutral Good

Age

34

Date of Birth

17th of Brussendar

Birthplace

Rexxentrum

Gender

Female

Eyes

Silver-Blue

Hair

Red

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Fair

Height

4'8"

Weight

148lbs

Quotes & Catchphrases

She often refers to her friends of the moments as her duckies. It's an odd form of affection. Alas, her friends have, until recently, not been long term, due to her wandering nature.

Known Languages

Dwarvish, Common