November Black

NAME:
November Black

GENDER:
Female

RACE:
Human

ORIGIN:
The Barrier Lands

AGE:
20

CLASS:
Civilian

SECONDARY CLASS:
Merchant

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APPEARANCE:

To start off with, Nova isn’t the tallest girl in the world. Standing at around 5 foot 4, the girl isn’t much off a midget according to herself. Being below the average height is somewhat of a problem to her. It would be a lie if she said she didn’t want to be taller, even if just a little bit, however, she has to live with it because she isn’t getting taller any time soon. Despite her longing to be taller, she’s fine with how much she weights, somewhere around 52 kg (114 lbs). In fact, she’s a very light build, while she lacks in upper body strength, her legs are where her power is at. This is probably because Nova may as well own a swimming pool. The girl was born for the water and has become an extremely strong swimmer. Nova can’t punch very well but you really wouldn’t want her to kick you. 

The travelling merchant isn’t the most curved woman to have ever walked the earth, either. Having an ‘average’ D-cup, she really is nothing special. The only striking features are probably her bright, electric blue eyes. Although, they do her no good if she wants lie, because her eyes give a lot away. Although, she’s never been a huge liar anyway. Her face is softly curved, framed with short cut, raven-black hair that can take on a slightly dark-blue hue in the right light. she normally does nothing with it unless there’s some kind of special occasion. That’s not to say she doesn’t take care of it, but she won’t break down and cry if it doesn’t co-operate with her. The same goes with makeup, it isn’t a big deal to her, but if she feels like it she may use the odd bit of eye-liner and such, something that doesn’t consume too much of her time, anyway. 

Nova is one of those 'Pseudo-Adventurer' people in terms of her dress sense, but it also seems to carry well into her current role as travelling merchant. Capes are, and always have been, all the rage in the Barrier lands, and it's one trend she, as a respectable merchant, couldn't possible ignore. So much so that she wears two at the same time, but both fashion together to make a 'layered' cape. The clasp of her two-sectioned cape is that of her merchant emblem, a Chakram. She doesn't know why she is drawn to the weapon, all that she knows, is that she simply is. She wears something akin to a dress, that comes down to her thighs and full-length sleeves if she didn't keep them rolled up. It has a collar that comes up around her neck, and has two small folds, unlike the full ones on modern shirts. Her gloves are endowed with a gemstone each, and, while are wholly respectable gems, have a secret. Nova likes to tell bandits or other such uncivilized folk that they are enchanted to enhance her magical abilities. This is entirely false, and only those of the keenest and most knowledgeable eye would be able to tell. Around her waist is belt. It could almost be considered a tool belt, expect it does lack the tools. All the way around the belt are holders for all sorts of things that Nova is adamant would help her survive if ever she needed to. Her boots come up to just above her knee; a fur bracer adorns each of her ankles, and are held there with a thin rope. Her trousers are merely because she doesn't like dresses in the least, and it's far more practical to go with than without.

EQUIPMENT:

~Compass and Map~

- A self-drawn map, on an old, worn, thick paper, so that she can find her way around. It has it's own personal key, and points of interest labelled on it. It has a North arrow, and also marks key-locations, such as the Capitals of the separate kingdoms, or anywhere sales seem to be better than others. She also picked up a compass in a Market, so that she can find her way to Paint and her Cart if she ever went exploring by foot, and so that path directions on her map stay somewhat accurate.

~Bits and Pieces~

- From trinkets lost and found, to genuinely useful things, as a Merchant, Nova likes to believe she has something for everyone aboard her horse-cart. Freshly caught meats and newly picked fruits and vegetables, clothes both casual and formal, books old and new, gems and stones, jewellery and weapons from small daggers to pistols. The back of her cart is rife with all manners of things, some of it more odd and rare than others. One other thing she keeps dear to her, is a record player, and a crate of vinyl records.

~Personal Items~

Arts

-Stuff for her artistic endeavors, sometimes sold at her stall, more often, stolen. Watercolour paints, Acrylic paints, Gauche and Oils. Over her years as a budding artist,she has become extremely talented in all these media's. Self-pulled or bought canvases as well. Brushes and scrapes and sponges, and all sorts of weird, wonderful things, for the equally weird and wonderful endeavor of art. Only a few ever make it into frames, and even then, the frames her rather crude. She fails to see that this look, is rather pitiable. In terms of musical arts, Nova also plays a lute.

Clothes

-Nova has her fair share of clothes. While not loaded to the brim, enough to be able to stay clean during the few days she may go without seeing a river, or well. None too outlandish or crazy. Otherwise she isn't amazingly fashion conscious, and is more worried about the money in her pocket.

Defense

-Nova is in possession of dagger for when she needs it. For both defense and stocking up, and owns a more humble bow, and self-made arrows  . Nova tries not to get caught up in close-combat, but sometimes, times simple call for it. She also carries with her torches. While not strictly for defense, they help to keep her safe if she has to travel at night.

Big Stuff

-Her horse, Paint , her dog Archibald , andcart, which she keeps her stuff in , obviously, both of which she bought after her time working in a shop, and sleeping on the streets in order to save up money for the things.

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PERSONALITY:
Nova is best described as being bouncy young woman. She is energetic and out-going, with a bubbly, happy-go-lucky attitude. The freedom of the world has given her free reign to explore her own happiness, and flower into a person she wasn't allowed to be before. It is very hard to get her down or miserable, and she prefers to see the bright side of most situations before coming to the conclusion that it is bad or inescapable. Most of the time, she dons a more calm, friendly, approachable demeanor. The last thing Nova would want, was people hating her. 

She is honest and well-meaning; willing to help those who need help in any way she can, and, in this way, she is extremely easy to take advantage of. Though generally being something of a philanthropist, she is determined to meet or exceed her abilities it whatever she is called upon to help with, whether it be something small and trivial, like telling someone the way, or something more serious, like tending to an injured person or helping in a raid (after she was sure it was 'well meaning' to the masses).

More often than not, Nova is spontaneous and a little bit unpredictable, as well as slightly disorganized, which isn't so much a good thing when you're a merchant. That sign saying there's 40 percent off? That's a month old; she forgot it was there. But don't worry, put on a sad face and your best sob story, and that 70 percent discount is yours! When meeting new people she can come off as extremely over enthusiastic, as her travels tend to leave her a little lonely and lacking social interaction. However, her job allows her to meet all kinds of people and see all kinds of things, and that, she thinks, can make up for the lack of social interaction along the way. 

The girl adopts a rather short fuse, as well. While she'll try to see the best of a situation, it rather easy to get her worked-up and angry. She can be very self-conscious if you attack her, playfully or not, and takes things very personally. Though, it is very easy to bring her back down, and level her out again, even if she might hold it against you for a few hours, depending how a person made up, or what they said. As well as this, she can be very curious, and maybe a little noisy, as well. If there's a cave, she'll explore it, a lonesome building, she'll go inside it. She'll eavesdrop and listen into conversations in taverns or in the street, and after so long, is very good at doing so. During her time as a travelling Merchant, she has become proficient in her own self-defense and fighting skills. 

PERSONAL STRENGTHS:
-Loyal
-Trustworthy
-Honest
-Sympathetic
-Happy-go-lucky

PERSONAL WEAKNESSES:
-Forgetful
-Disorganized
-Short-fused
-Nosy
-Curious

COMBAT STRENGTHS:
-Stealthy
-Agile
-Precise
-Long range

COMBAT WEAKNESSES:
-Close Combat
-Lack of strength
-Fragile
-Low Stamina

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TRAITS:

TRAIT: Advanced Archer
WEAPON: Bow and arrow
DESCRIPTION: A long ranged weapons master. Though not very strong, Nova has next to perfect eye sight and targeting; her arrows rarely miss. This was something she honed after years of having to hunt for her own food and raiding tombs and ruins.
RELATED CLASS: 
AP COST: 60

TRAIT: Eye For Value
DESCRIPTION: This is a 'common' trait. Merchants, businesspeople, and certain adventurers can develop quite an eye for objects of value, learning how to get the most for their money. Characters with this Trait can get top gold when selling off Loot or other items and haggle their way down to cheap prices when buying from NPC shops; selling prices go up 5% and buying down 5% with this ability, with each additional ★ adding 2% to buy and sell rates (up and down respectively).
This Trait only comes into effect when dealing with NPC shops -- barter and trade with other roleplayers is unchanged. Be mindful that some shops will have fixed or minimum prices; this Trait does not effect those.
RELATED CLASS: Merchant
AP COST: 20

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ABILITIES:

ABILITY: Imperfect Unlock
DESCRIPTION: This is an 'imperfect' 'common' spell. The caster touches the locked object (door, treasure chest, etc.) and focuses their mind and willpower on the locking mechanism, causing it to open under the influence of magic. Because of the mischief and thievery this spell can cause it is seldom taught -- most magic students have to learn Unlock on their own.
Due to the imperfect nature of this spell, it cannot open magical locks, no matter how weak the magic may be. Additionally, this imperfect spell is anything but subtle -- casting it causes a loud, harsh sound like metal scraping metal as well as a bright flash of light, meaning that it almost inevitably will draw attention to the caster.
RELATED CLASS: Rookie Caster
AP COST: 10

ABILITY: Summon Imperfect Slime
DESCRIPTION: This is an 'imperfect' 'common' 'summoning' spell that creates a magical slime beast at any location within the caster's area of awareness. Slimes are not particularly dangerous monsters under most circumstances, even less so when the slimes are summoned imperfectly. Imperfect slimes lack the ability to feed and grow, instead gradually shrinking over time until they dissolve completely. This makes them much easier opponents when compared to their correctly summoned kin. Imperfect slimes will also tend to look sickly and move much slower than normal, as well as dissolve if brought into contact with water.
Cutting weapons like a sword will cause a slime to split when cut in half. The best way to damage slimes is with spells: they're particularly vulnerable to 'fire' and 'ice' magic, though 'lightning', 'astral', 'force', 'holy', 'white magic' and 'black magic' will work also. They're stubbornly resistant to 'wind' and 'earth' spells however, but imperfect slimes are highly vulnerable to 'water' spells.
In combat, Slimes are best used as distractions and decoys to slow down magic users or bog down warriors.
With each ★ the caster may summon and control one additional slime at a time, or summon a larger slime instead. The base size for summoned slimes is about three feet.
RELATED CLASS: Rookie Caster
AP COST: 25

ABILITY: Sneaky Persona
DESCRIPTION: This is a 'common' 'stealth' ability. This character has mastered the art of moving silently and keeping out of sight, though the effectiveness of their skills relies on their surroundings. For example, even the best sneak thief will have difficulty being completely silent if they're forced to walk across broken glass, and hiding is difficult or impossible if there's nothing to hide behind. Creativity is required to use this ability effectively.
RELATED CLASS: Thief, Assassin
AP COST: 20

ABILITY: Craftsmanship (misc: Jewelry and Arrows) ★★★★
DESCRIPTION: This is a 'common' ability useful in the creation of various types of mundane, non-magical items and may only be used out of battle. The craftsmanship ability comes in three flavors: weapons, armor, and misc -- when purchasing or upgrading this ability, be sure to specify which type in the (choose type) field. If choosing 'misc', write in the character's specific area of craftsmanship focus instead.
This ability is treated like a ritual because its usefulness is dependent upon the materials at hand. For instance, a character with weapon craftsmanship could make a much better sword out of iron than they could out of wood, and similarly a character with jewelry craftsmanship can make a far more valuable necklace from gold and diamonds than they could from rope and seashells.
If a character's "craftsmanship" is merely a talent or hobby, they don't need to invest in this ability. If it has high practical or market application, however, then the player should consider adding this ability to their profile. The AP cost of Craftsmanship goes up by 20 with every ★ level, but the items created will have a matching ★ level, making them better and more valuable in every way compared to non-upgraded counterparts.
At 8 ★s, the character gains the ability to work with orihalcon (if applicable to their specific Craftsmanship).
RITUAL MATERIALS: various
RELATED CLASS: Merchant
AP COST: 20 (+80)

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HISTORY:

Nova is girl of the barrier lands through and through. Born to a successful family of merchants and store-owners, she is the eldest, with two younger brothers. She has a strong, Artistic disposition, with a love of all things Painterly, she finds her strong suit best with crafts and creativity. In her younger years, between exploring and adventure in the wide space known as 'just-out-of-town-but-not-too-fair-into-the-forest-because-that's-where-the-big-bad-monster-who-likes-to-gobble-children-lives', she would paint, draw, craft, and create all manner of things that people would love to watch her create, and then buy. Nova, as the first child of the Black Family, was loved throughout the community; a helper and a friendly face, the young girl was a people-person, and she was often sent out to help the older folk in town. Though she had attempted magic a few times, it seems she was not cut out for it in the way a lot of Barrier Landers were, if she wasn't going to dedicate her life to it.

November was pushed out of the way where gaining control of the company was concerned, with the middle child, her eldest younger brother taking her place in line. Her father much more favoured his sons than his daughter. Though he didn't hate or disown the girl, he was under the impression that business was a man's prerogative, and that put Nova out of the picture. She'd once overheard him saying that he'd rather dissolve the company, or sell it on, than have his daughter run it.. Apparently she had better things to learn. Cooking, dancing, housekeeping, to name but a few. This caused her great distress, having been under the impression that she was going to inherit the business.

Nova was 15 at the time, and had spent the last few years studying in secret about business and how to run them; she'd even got a job in the local Tavern, The Queen and Bee, the owner of which was a nice man named Horrus, who had a considerably large family, his wife, Lineé, and five children, 2 girls and 3 boys. He knew of the girls plan when he gave her the job at 13, and made a habit of informing her on how the books were kept and how everything was organised. And often enough, how Lineé helped him. Novembers mother and Lineé were close, and they often talked about Nova, and her Mother was pleased that she had shown such initiative, though knew that her husband didn't wish for November to ever run the company.

Unlike that in their nature, were both her brothers, who knew she was out of the picture, but were told to keep silent or loose the place themselves, felt secure in their future, and spent their days doing what boys do. Exploring, climbing trees, chasing carts down the street, causing trouble, and when the eldest got to age, heckling girls, too. Something he was told off for quite often. Girls in the area took to wielding trays, rolling pins, sticks, maces, clubs, and newspapers in order to hit the boy when he attempted to look up their skirts. He did stop when his father took extreme exception to it. Though he didn't wish a woman to run a business, he held up that they should be treated with respect and honour.

When Nova overheard him, it felt like her heart had been cleaved in two. She had only ever tried to do what her father would have been proud of, working off of her initiative and becoming someone mature enough to handle such a thing as money and shares. Nova didn't sleep that night.

For 10 months, there was a tense atmosphere in the household. Often November would confront her father. At first it was calm and collected questions, only looking for answer that made sense to her. She had worked hard off of her own back, saving the money in bags, locked in a chest under her bed, had studied and learned in her spare time, in between attempts to keep her Artisan spirit going. It was all very confusing to Nova; the Barrier Lands was a place in which Gender-roles were very much open, there was nothing a man or woman couldn't do. She had been raised with this in school, and from everyone around her. It was just something she didn't understand, and her father treated it as if she never would, and from the moment he spoke those works, 4 months after, things became...sticky.

After that, Novembers attempts at finding an answer were thrown into the wind; she worked harder than ever, and picked up her art in place of the studying, selling pieces of art and little creations. She took to buying and selling things to and from people, generating more money for herself. Her records were kept solo. Her mother grew worried about her, though November kept her smiling and bright exterior, and for the most part, it wasn't really faked. It was no longer anger, but drive. Nova was making her plans already, and one involved and band of travelling merchants who would pass through the town every few months. They themselves knew of the potential in the young lady.

This time she would take up their offer to join them.

November, along with this drive to prove herself, had always held a curiosity about the world outside the town gates. The sense of adventure and exploration of her youth never really left her. A couple weeks before her birthday, she announced she was going to leave, and that any attempts to stop her would only fuel her desire to leave even more. The night before she left, her mother presented her with something; a present intended for her 16th birthday. A puppy named Archibald. Or Archie for short.

With her stuff in tow, she joined the band of travelling merchants, a caravan of 8, and a couple of hired mercenaries. Safety in numbers with the Barrier Lands numerous bandits. For two years she traveled most of the Land, visiting mighty Cities and humble hamlets, Capitals and Outposts alike. She dinned like a Queen and Starved like a beggar. She learnt to hunt, using a bow and arrows and how to make them, too. Setting traps and following tracks, and how to defend herself with a dagger. How to sneak and blend with the shadows in tombs and caves in search of gold. Along the way, she even picked up a lute, beginning to play, dance, and sing for the extra coin if need be, or for traditional camp-fire entertainment. Throughout the two years, she swapped Caravans, making sure she never hit her hometown again. Staying with the trusted friends of trusted friends, making new friends and meeting new people, she would always meet them again on the road and at settlements.

After those two years, at 18, she got herself a Wagon and horse of her own, and with her ever faithful companion at her side, she did what very few traders dare to do. She separated from her Caravan, and set out on her own. Every 6 months or so, the travelers all gather in central Capital of Seyruun, to set prices and keep tabs, and be social.

Now at age 20, she is beginning to reach the goal she set for herself when she first set out away from home. Soon it will be time for her to go back, but not before she is ready. One soon gets attached to the life they could only ever dream of.