Fennec Vel Olera
Very little is known about Fennec, or if Fennec is even her real name. She comes and goes in and out of people's lives on a whim, fully capable of disappearing when the circumstance calls for it with extraordinary adaptability. Fen has a way with instinct that makes her seem as though she has otherworldly powers to any normal person.
A bit of a mystery even among her fellow Initiates, there are very few who know of her true skills.
Appearance
Dark brown hair, shorn short and thin. She wears it in a state of constant bed-head. Generally shortish and lean when compared to her oversized fellow Initiates. Fen's athletic build is slight but often overlooked due to the loosely fitted robes she tends to wear. She easily disappears within a crowd, unassuming and quiet as she is, and uses this to her great advantage.
Fennec's face is usually painted bone white and charcoal in the fashion of a skull. This covers up the hideous and permanent scars left behind from a run-in with a shadow Archon's powers. Similar scars can be found on her left forearm and hand, as well as her lower right leg.
Skills and Abilities
Fennec's command of magic is a topic of curiosity, confusion, and varied discussion among her peers. While it manifests itself visually as dark, myst-like tendrils that sprout from her back, the majority of her fellow Initiates couldn't pinpoint what her main power or skillset is.
What they think they know...
Fennec has some form of telepathic manipulation. Her myste tendrils can interact with both tangible and intangible (re: magic-based) people, objects, entities, and energies. They've seen her use them effectively to wield weapons, ward away incoming magical attacks, pick up and throw enemies, and even banish incorporeal beasties.
Some have experienced a form of mental manipulation when coming into contact with Fennec's myste. The contact forces memories to the forefront of their mind, and shortly after they black out, remaining unconscious for several hours. Often when they wake, they cannot remember what happened for the last day or so.
Despite her slight form, Fennec is exceptionally agile and seems to have some super-human sense about her of her surroundings which allows her to nimbly find her way through obstacles, detect incoming attacks or movement in her general vicinity, and a sense of where people are if they are close by, even if she cannot see them. This is heightened any time her myste comes into play. They have also seen her myste used like prehensile spider limbs, enabling her to climb and scale objects or things that a normal person would not be capable of.
What they do not know...
Fennec's major ability has been carefully concealed from her fellow students for as long as they have known her. Using her myste, Fen is able to latch onto another being and absorb not just their memories, but their mind and soul, effectively stealing their identities. Through the magic of her myste, she is then able to assume their identity in both a physical form, and from a mental standpoint depending upon how much she has taken from them.
Fen is capable of taking a few days worth (of the most recent) of memories from a person, as well as a partial mirror of their being. She can then assume their identity using the knowledge of those memories for a limited amount of time - generally only a few hours. This leaves the target unconscious for a few hours at a time and they wake up having lost those memories taken from them. Sometimes the memories return, sometimes they do not. It varies from person to person. Fen refers to these instances as Taking a Mask. In this case, she cannot reuse these Masks unless she comes into contact with the same person and Takes a Mask again.
Fennec is also capable of ripping a person's full identity and life completely out of them and stockpiling their Mask away. Fen refers to these more permanent and deadly instances as Claiming a Mask. In this case, Fennec can use and reuse these Masks over and over again at will. The more she uses a Claimed Mask, however, the more likely she is to become lost within that Mask and completely forget herself.
The other downside to Claiming Masks is that Fennec must stockpile them within her own psyche. She has received specialized training on how to do so, but for every additional Mask she Claims, the harder it becomes to contain each one within. In times of duress, her own veneer may crack or break and the Masks within could take over.
At this time, Claiming a Mask of another magic user does not provide Fennec with their powers.
Beyond her magic abilities, Fennec is highly accomplished in the use of daggers, light swords, bow and arrow, survival skills, melee combat, and has a firm grasp of how to utilize Pressure Points on the human body to incapacitate her foes. She has excelled in tracking targets, breaking and entering,
What they think they know...
Fennec has some form of telepathic manipulation. Her myste tendrils can interact with both tangible and intangible (re: magic-based) people, objects, entities, and energies. They've seen her use them effectively to wield weapons, ward away incoming magical attacks, pick up and throw enemies, and even banish incorporeal beasties.
Some have experienced a form of mental manipulation when coming into contact with Fennec's myste. The contact forces memories to the forefront of their mind, and shortly after they black out, remaining unconscious for several hours. Often when they wake, they cannot remember what happened for the last day or so.
Despite her slight form, Fennec is exceptionally agile and seems to have some super-human sense about her of her surroundings which allows her to nimbly find her way through obstacles, detect incoming attacks or movement in her general vicinity, and a sense of where people are if they are close by, even if she cannot see them. This is heightened any time her myste comes into play. They have also seen her myste used like prehensile spider limbs, enabling her to climb and scale objects or things that a normal person would not be capable of.
What they do not know...
Fennec's major ability has been carefully concealed from her fellow students for as long as they have known her. Using her myste, Fen is able to latch onto another being and absorb not just their memories, but their mind and soul, effectively stealing their identities. Through the magic of her myste, she is then able to assume their identity in both a physical form, and from a mental standpoint depending upon how much she has taken from them.
Fen is capable of taking a few days worth (of the most recent) of memories from a person, as well as a partial mirror of their being. She can then assume their identity using the knowledge of those memories for a limited amount of time - generally only a few hours. This leaves the target unconscious for a few hours at a time and they wake up having lost those memories taken from them. Sometimes the memories return, sometimes they do not. It varies from person to person. Fen refers to these instances as Taking a Mask. In this case, she cannot reuse these Masks unless she comes into contact with the same person and Takes a Mask again.
Fennec is also capable of ripping a person's full identity and life completely out of them and stockpiling their Mask away. Fen refers to these more permanent and deadly instances as Claiming a Mask. In this case, Fennec can use and reuse these Masks over and over again at will. The more she uses a Claimed Mask, however, the more likely she is to become lost within that Mask and completely forget herself.
The other downside to Claiming Masks is that Fennec must stockpile them within her own psyche. She has received specialized training on how to do so, but for every additional Mask she Claims, the harder it becomes to contain each one within. In times of duress, her own veneer may crack or break and the Masks within could take over.
At this time, Claiming a Mask of another magic user does not provide Fennec with their powers.
Beyond her magic abilities, Fennec is highly accomplished in the use of daggers, light swords, bow and arrow, survival skills, melee combat, and has a firm grasp of how to utilize Pressure Points on the human body to incapacitate her foes. She has excelled in tracking targets, breaking and entering,
Personality
Adding to the mystery that surrounds Fen is her muteness. Scarring along her neck is the supposed reasoning behind her lack of vocalization, but no one really knows for sure. She communicates through sign language, the basic of which all Dreadlord Initiates are taught, though some learn and retain it more than others. To get the attention of others, Fennec carries a small silver bell on her at all times within one of her pockets, ringing it when she requires her turn to "speak." Even still, she rarely spends time conversing casually with others.
Fennec does have a competitive streak to her, however, and a stubbornness that often catches others off guard. When putting her mind to a task she is difficult to distract. She holds very little fear in the face of adversity or danger and has a quick, analytical mind that allows her to find creative solutions to challenges or problems.
To the very few that she will freely communicate with, Fen remains a quiet type regardless. She much prefers to listen and spends a good deal of time thinking on appropriate responses. Fennec is not the sort to form an opinion quickly on broader subjects but seems to have an exceptional memory for small details.
A diligent student to the point of obsession, Fennec places her studies and education above everything else, making every effort to please the Proctors. She has faced severe difficulties with the recent changes that have come about with the Revolution, especially where harming, maiming, and killing her fellow students are involved.
Fennec does have a competitive streak to her, however, and a stubbornness that often catches others off guard. When putting her mind to a task she is difficult to distract. She holds very little fear in the face of adversity or danger and has a quick, analytical mind that allows her to find creative solutions to challenges or problems.
To the very few that she will freely communicate with, Fen remains a quiet type regardless. She much prefers to listen and spends a good deal of time thinking on appropriate responses. Fennec is not the sort to form an opinion quickly on broader subjects but seems to have an exceptional memory for small details.
A diligent student to the point of obsession, Fennec places her studies and education above everything else, making every effort to please the Proctors. She has faced severe difficulties with the recent changes that have come about with the Revolution, especially where harming, maiming, and killing her fellow students are involved.
Biography & Lore
Fennec's origins are vastly unknown except by a small selection of Proctor's at the Academy. For the majority of people, the girl was one of the youngest ever taken into the Academy - barely past infancy - and is the longest resident out of the other Initiates within her age and year. She has no parents or family to speak of and no other home. Her entire name was given to her by the Academy and loosely translates to Child or Beast of the City Shadow.
Given the very early manifestation of her powers, Fen was quickly taken under the wing of Proctor Harkenov and though she knows not why the Proctor seemed to favor her, she has never sought to question it given Harkenov's otherwise horrible nature to the other Initiates.
While she attends all normal classes expected of every Initiate, including academic, athletic, survivial, dueling and sparring, weaponry, and more - Fennec does not attend classes catered to the expansion and practice of magic. This has been a source of great curiosity to her peers, especially since it seems she receives private instruction from Harkenov herself who was one a loyal Dreadlord of House Sirl before she retired to instruct at the Academy.
Given the very early manifestation of her powers, Fen was quickly taken under the wing of Proctor Harkenov and though she knows not why the Proctor seemed to favor her, she has never sought to question it given Harkenov's otherwise horrible nature to the other Initiates.
While she attends all normal classes expected of every Initiate, including academic, athletic, survivial, dueling and sparring, weaponry, and more - Fennec does not attend classes catered to the expansion and practice of magic. This has been a source of great curiosity to her peers, especially since it seems she receives private instruction from Harkenov herself who was one a loyal Dreadlord of House Sirl before she retired to instruct at the Academy.