Post by Yyn on Dec 17, 2012 18:44:40 GMT -5
INTRODUCING S`krel Bladeclaw,
we live in circles
we live in circles
and it's so hard to breathe
NICKNAMES ! Skrel (the ` is just to make it fancy)
AGE ! 25 years.
SEX ! female.
SPECIES ! striated caracara, phalcoboenus australis
SHIP ! The Nightpearl[/ul][/size]
maybe the same old fears
what have we here, don't bring me back
what have we here, don't bring me back
COAT DESCRIPTION ! Her plumage is a deep black-brown, with bright white streaks beginning at the nape of her neck and becoming broader and more conspicuous on the upper back and chest. Her underwings are more reddish-brown (some would call it rust) with white tips on the primary feathers while the tail ends in a white band. The area surrounding her eyes is a patch of bare yellow skin, and the base of her beak provides a white-blueish bill though the very end of it was tinted black, showing her growing out of her subadult stage.
OVERALL APPEARANCE ! Standing at an easy 65 centimeters (2.2 ft), she's about as big as caracaras of her specific species can get. Her wingspan is about 125 centimeters (4.1 ft). The ends of her tail feathers always end up looking ragged, due to her near constant walking. She may appear hunched more often than not after she has scouted a "live" meal, and is on her way to grabbing a quickie. Otherwise Skrel stands tall, proud and haughty. Despite being a bird of prey, her and her people are known for their skills on the ground, not in the air. She is able to confidently hold her own against the smaller birds of prey during aerial chases and duels, but anything bigger and she'd prefer to keep the ground (which they obviously wouldn't do). Her flight is mildly slow (comparing to her faster kin, like the hawks) and she tends to stay closer to the ground.
Having been in plenty of scraps (and boy were there plenty - growing up with a raucous crowd of others, they fought near constantly over food), she was in tip top shape for her kind. There were plenty of pulled feathers, but they've grown back since. The island had an extremely harsh environment year long (though winter was the absolute worst. If you made it out alive after a winter, you knew you'd be alright. Though at least half the chicks she grew up with perished that same year.) and her talons bore signs of a lot of use. But because their claws tended to grow very quickly, her constant digging/running/attacking barely kept them manageable.
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now i'm just chasing time with a thousand dreams
i'm holding heavy
i'm holding heavy
CON TRAITS ! nosy, selfish, proud, manipulative, stubborn
PERSONALITY ! Skrel grew up where you had to defend what was most precious to you - yourself. Only the bonded pairs seemed to defend each other, and even then when the going got too tough food-wise, they would chase the chick away. That seemed to happen to every nest in walking distance. Of course it generally happened around the same time, when the chicks were juveniles. Luckily for her, she was one of many who suddenly found themselves homeless. She ran around for years with her gang. Sometimes a few would leave, having bonded and chosen their own territory (no invitations of course) but they were quickly replaced with adults who didn't bond or more typically, the juveniles. This reaffirmed the selfish attitudes of her people, fending for themselves.
Things rarely changed on the island apart from the seasons. Everything else was constant. So constant, that since the dawn of time for her brethren, they synced the egg laying seasons to the prey, thus food was plentiful until the prey would migrate. Her manipulative tendencies tended to show through when something did happen out of place. Every time something new or unusual happened, her and her gang couldn't bear anything but to check it out. She was more wary than the younger ones. Skrel would stay back, watching, as she let the younger ones charge in. If it was dangerous, they'd get hurt but she'd be alright and know all the better for it. If it wasn't dangerous and they could eat it, she would chase off those lower than her in their hierarchy so she could eat with the older gang members.
Those who view poorly upon her for her lifestyle will get nothing from her. For her, this isn't just a lifestyle, but a part of herself. She would find something distasteful about them in return, and judge their weaknesses. Skrel is not some poor, little thing who can get shat upon by any thing that passes by. She is a bird of the island, and she would dare anyone else to live through the dead winter there AND survive.
RELATIONS ! n/a
HISTORY ! As stated earlier, Skrel was a part of gang life for a good amount of her time. She tended to rule with an iron claw, if you will. Very bossy, and controlling, but for good cause. If you let the juveniles do what they wanted, they'd eventually kill you. A favorite among them were prey that was still alive. Oh they raided chicks plenty, and they even came up with a decent ploy to make it work. But sometimes you just don't want to put in that kind of work. The specific prey, however, was sheep. Sheep were plenty among the island, and a somewhat uncommon occurrence would make it so the sheep ended up being ill, or they'd get caught and bloodied by wire, or something of the sort. The color and smell allowed Skrel and her gang to fly in immediately. Of course rival gangs would fly in and try to get them to leave, but it never worked. Not when she was there.
This wasn't the first sheep raid. Skrel knew where they resided, how far it was. But on that specific day, the rival gangs (primarily juveniles - Skrel herself thought that was a stupid mistake) had appeared too quickly, and out of nowhere. Amongst them were the brown skuas, self-righteous little pirates who think they owned everything. Deluded featherbags. Before she was able to call her gang members to retreat, they had either run off or gotten killed by claws and beak. The rival gang leader skree'd his authoritative call, letting every witness know that she was banished from the island and never to return. And so she traveled alone, to find the legendary Redwall.
RELATIONSHIPS !
family --
friends/crewmates --
enemies --
NUMBER OF CHARACTERS ! 1
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and as we cross the line these fading beats have all been severed
don't tell me our youth is running out
[/blockquote][/center]don't tell me our youth is running out
