Character name: Aoi

Fable requested: Lady of the Lake

Goal: Obtain the oath of bravery

What has your character done to qualify?:

Aoi, in her own eyes, is many things. A hero is not that. A recent conversation where she was asked if she was a knight, she said she wasn’t. Just a sinner attempting to repent for a past stained in red.

After the loss of her bonded, she shut herself away. Cursed and feeling alone, the lady told her to change the way she viewed herself. Though, that was easier said than done.

Instead, she reached acceptance. She would never be good or a hero, but she would be what others needed her to be. For her loved ones who cared deeply for justice, for goodness, she would do her best.

Though wall after wall remains. The idea of taking on a student fills her with dread, one who Caleb thinks would do her well. She fears seeing that spark in his eye. She fears that she will be like her own teacher: Abusive, cold, and uncaring.

Cold? Yes. But she cares. Even if she pushes and pushes.

Now, she wants to set out on a personal journey. It will not fix her, her thoughts and how she feels. But she is resolute: she will do her best not to let another die, even if the cost is herself.

Just as she sought out the Lady to make an oath to defend those she loves. Now, it is time to make another. To keep that spark alive and not let another die.


 

Character Name: Royvin

Desired Fable: Wild Nature

What has your character done to qualify them for the fable / gather the attention of the fable?:

Royvin has lived a life in the wilds. Before his time with the Odokhi, he was a caravanner. He spent his life on the road with his family. And after, he rekindled the itch for nature by way of nomadic travel. He doesn't live in the Spire, only traveling through the plains with his horses. Some notable feats he as accomplished include: cleaning the forest of traps and man-made debris, catching and turning in poachers, living his life outside of the claimed area of the Spire, living amongst the herd of horses upon the planes.

He currently is seeking wisdom in the wilds seeing as someone offered to give him his arm back, despite his complicated past with losing it.

Character Name: Klara
Desired Fable: Twin Birds - The Equinox
What has your character done to qualify them for the fable / gather the attention of the fable? 

Born from impossibility and artificially made, Klara’s existence has been a contradiction from the moment she emerged from that cocoon.
Even now that she has lived, that contradiction still plagues her life. To be the best knight, she needs to grow up, but she is horribly terrified of the concept. Her body is already a subject of pain; who knows how it may change through her teenage years… maybe it gets worse? Or maybe it grows normally? The questions, the uncertainty, keep her up at night. 
The Equinox, death, the night, stillness, represent her body in this equation. A corpse given life that now wishes to find peace in herself, acceptance that may lead to growth, to a further and different understanding of her body and herself, paving the path of a knight.

The idea of the pilgrimage and the birds was given to her by a mysterious stranger long ago, and since she has been thinking of it, maybe this is what she needs. With a backpack gifted by her mothers, a weapon gifted by her father and resolve granted by her mentor. She wants to go out there, into the wilds, to find peace with herself; alone, wishes she not repeat the mistake she made with her father.

So maybe, one morning, the young girl will disappear from home to seek the feathers of dusk; mostly unintentionally.

OOC: I intend for this P&E pilgrimage to explore Klara's dysphoria specifically for her connection with the Equinox. As she is a minor (14), said pilgrimage should be mostly internal or externally low-stakes. By the rules, she can fight, just nothing heavily dangerous.

Character Name: Kitty Grandine
Desired Fable: Phoenix & Equinox: Touch of the Equinox

Character Name: Leoric Voss
Desired Fable: Oath of Diligence

What has your character done to qualify them for the fable / gather the attention of the fable?:

Leoric was raised on fairy tales.

Stories of mighty heroes who ventured out into the wilds to slay savage beasts in a search for glory. Legends of mortal men who outsmarted fey far sharper and far craftier than they were. Parables that were written to teach the values of honor, bravery, and sacrifice.

But life isn't a fairy tale.

Since he's arrived at the Spire, Leoric has found his values questioned and his ignorance laid bare. He came to the Spire to look for the very heroes he read about, only to find that they do not exist. He thought he lived in a world that truly values honor, only to see firsthand that it is filled with suffering, strife, and greed. He sailed into the mists along the shores of the Spire in search of his own beast to slay, only to find that it is more complicated than good versus bad.

And every time, the same question plagued his mind. If everything he based his life on is a lie, then who is he?

But now, after seeking advice from the ones he holds dear, he knows the answer. If he is alone in upholding honor, bravery, and sacrifice, he will wear those values on his sleeve. If he is to slay a beast, he will do it for the protection of others instead of the glory of victory. If he cannot find the heroes he grew up imitating, then he will become that which he once believed only heroes could be. A protector.

He will be their shield.

Character Name: Magnolia Littlefield

Desired Fable: Wild Nature; Instinct of Beast

What has your character done to qualify them for the fable / gather the attention of the fable?:
Since coming to the Spire, Maggie's choices have led her to spend more and more time out of her adopted home, traveling the wilds and roadways of the Reach instead of frequenting the more civilized areas of it. Gaining an officer's promotion for her service leading archers in the Militia it only made sense for her to lean into those skills and with time and practice she has, arguably, become the go to tracker, pathfinder, and overall ranger within the Militia's ranks. Apart from a minor hiccup of losing her ability with a bow thanks to the meddling of fey, she has recently been returned to her love of archery thanks to the help of an aspiring bowmaker and a new style of archery- as such she has been spending more and more of her time in the wilds wandering, practicing her archery, and honing her mutated senses through hunts both great and small. This says nothing of her past deeds in hunting foes of all sorts be they beast, human, or something else altogether. Bandits, undead, Krackerstags, and Mournshade have all fallen to her arrows.

Going forward Maggie seeks to deepen her connection with the wilds and truly give herself over to a more "ranger" style of life, even if there are anchors that will keep her tied to the civilized and developed Spire. She seeks to take up a Weavewalk, packing the bare essentials and wandering into the wilds for as long as needed to commune with and make that connection with the world around her.

Character Name: Grimshaw
Desired Fable: Siren Serene: Specifically Siren's Singer
What has your character done to qualify them for the fable / gather the attention of the fable?: 

Grimshaw has been wrapped up in plenty of chaos since her entry to the Southern Reach, though even before it she held a fascination from the first moment she'd seen the ocean. Often finding beaches and shoals an easy place to rest, speaking her worries and sorrows into the water as if it was a valued confidant.

During the invasion of Avery and her Nocturne whale, she worked hard to try and help free those mutated by the curse, sea creatures included. Even working with another Siren Blessed, Callan. Who was teaching her about what she knew of the Siren itself. Even after she was captured and held prisoner on that Galleon in the ocean, she kept singing to the waves, trying to soothe her fellow captives and the animals that lingered, and assisting when others came to help them finally end that nightmare.
Dealing the final blow on the one she'd been trying to save, when they were too far gone for her to reach. 

Even after returning from that harrowing experience, she lingered back by the waves- Cleaning up after what was left behind as some had found her doing, still singing to the waves, whether from closer to home- Or from Callan's own Siren Serene shrine. 

Character Name: Elkaj Felgesterne
Desired Fable: Lady of The Lake

What has your character done to qualify them for the fable / gather the attention of the fable?: 

Elkaj has always been one guided by promises and vows, living his life as a Warden for those who needed his help, despite of their ideas,
despite of their past and current actions, if they needed help and he could aid them he would have, this eventually led him into being sparked by Facet,
who also inflicted him with a gift recently, one of protection amongst all.

It is not the first time the giant meets the Lady, they had a previous encounter on grounds of helping another oathsworn of hers to free herself from
a curse that plagued her, but despite ones intention he was found adorned in magic of an oathbreaker and then sent away.

Despite his past encounter with the Lady not being a fruitious one, the Greatling after a quiet chat with another oathsworn of hers had decided to try
again, to settle his dislike for the Fables as a whole and start on even ground, hoping for a positive encounter this time.
And so the giant is set to meet her once more, bringing those two oathsworn, Caleb and Aoi, by his side, not entirely sure what to expect of it.