Melek Ishikal
Appearance and Equipment
* Dark chestnut brown hair styled into a bun, red eyes, tan skin, 5'2", soft and petite build not well-suited for fighting.
* Usually wears clothing of simple make, with blues and browns in their hue. When armored, usually in light mail, and other lightweight options.
* Usually armed with yatagan sword, inherited from her late father.
Skills and Abilities
Praetor Anti-Magic: Nullification Zone. A powerful ability, Melek may invoke a large spherical zone of Nullification up to a long range, halting all magical effects within and preventing mages from casting spells; useful for both offensive and defensive purposes. However, Melek herself is very vulnerable during this, for it is that she must hold her hands together as though in a kind of prayer and concentrate, channeling her ability to keep it active, and therefore in nearly all cases requires protection.
Quaestor: Melek is currently enrolled in Gild's War College, studying and training to become a Praetor, and as such is receiving an education and martial practice. Her marks in academics are fair, but not amazing, and she is slow to take in more abstract, philosophical, or scholarly topics; her martial ability is quite bad; but where Melek truly shines is with her Praetor power, for she excels among her class, and makes improvement to her ability regularly.
Arcanosomata: A rare disease, that comes with a boon and a detriment. Often it is confused with Arcanochromia, the far more typical—and harmless—phenomenon of eye color changing with one's possession of magical ability. Arcanosomata, however, is an abnormal sensitivity in the body to the use of nearby magic; different types of magic produce different sensations, but in large part these sensations, like allergic reactions, are painful or irritating. The boon from Arcanosomata, therefore, is that it acts like a Detector of magic. Most notably, the unnatural color of the eyes are the first to show signs, as they increase in brightness with the presence of magic.
Personality and Characteristics
Major
* Much like her namesake would suggest, Melek is as sweet, kind, and caring as they come.
* Shy. Not so much as to impair her sociability, but it does to her time to open up.
* Soft-spoken, meek, and mild-mannered. Agreeable, and tends to avoid conflict. Supportive.
* An optimist and idealist to the fullest, and often has about her an air of quiet joy.
* Pious, and particularly patience and generous because of it.
Minor
+ Very much a giggler, when made to laugh.
+ Doesn't like to drink, and doesn't like the smell of alcohol.
+ Once acting as a courier for her hometown, writing letters for the illiterate, Melek likes to constantly improve her handwriting; also interested in various pens, quills, and writing materials.
+ Afraid of full dark, and of moonless, starless nights.
+ Fascinated by thunderstorms. Finds endless comfort in shelter, by a warm fire, while a storm rages outside.
+ Prays for the orphans of war to find loving families.
Biography and Lore
Born in the small town of Bayat to Altan and Halime Ishikal, Melek lived a modest, rural life for much of her eighteen summers.
Bayat in its greater days was a prosperous town, tucked into a flat of land near the edges of the Spine west of Gild. Plenty of farms dotted the fertile land outside Bayat's walls, and days of harvest brought much surplus to Bayat and to the Kingdom. Indeed, her father Altan had earned land in reward for his many years of military service to Gild and to the service of a Noble Commander, who had come to love him as a brother. Halime, her mother, worked still as a courier, though her best and most athletic years were behind her.
Melek, being an only child, enjoyed the full attention of her mother and father in her childhood. And even in her earliest years she helped out around her father's farm, around other farms in the community, and around Bayat proper—fetching water, feeding the animals, cleaning and tidying barns and coops and pens. But soon, at the age of nine, her true passion was discovered in following her mother's trade. Halime taught her how to read and write, and by this time she had mostly retired from her courier duties in favor of farm work with her husband. Melek, then, took to being perhaps one of the youngest couriers Gild, Campania, likely all of Arethil had ever seen, making small trips between Bayat and nearby villages, towns, and even on a few occasions to the city of Gild itself to deliver letters. Often she would read the letters aloud for the pleasure of the recipient, and, if they needed, recorded responses they would dictate to her. Melek herself found no greater satisfaction than this work of connecting people, and it helped her to overcome much of her natural shyness.
Then came the war with Omma, and the sacking of Bayat.
Melek was by then aged twelve years. Advances and setbacks occurred on both the Gildan and Ommite sides, and for a time it appeared like Bayat might be spared the worst of war's devastation. But a large Ommite army broke into Gildan territory, and sieged Bayat. Gildan forces tried to lift the siege from without, but these attempts were repelled. The assault of the town began, and the Ommites overwhelmed the defenders of Bayat—of whom Altan was one, and he fell in the battle. Melek saw her mother one last time as Halime tucked her away in a secret place, bid her to be quiet and still, and to run east to Gild when all was silent.
This was the day which made Melek an orphan.
She came to dwell, then, in an orphanage in Gild for a few years, continuing to act as a budding courier in the wake of the Ommite War. She cursed not Regel for the loss of her family, nor swore any form of vengeance upon the Ommites, but only did Melek pray to the God of Jura for the happiness of her father and mother in the Fields of Duzen, and to tell them not to worry about their daughter.
And it would come to pass, near to Melek's seventeenth summer, that her Praetor powers were discovered. And for this simple, kindhearted rural girl, who had suffered greatly the ravages of war, a new life beckoned.
But though her heart is kind, can Melek withstand the weight of war when it is she who is called to wield the sword?
Bayat in its greater days was a prosperous town, tucked into a flat of land near the edges of the Spine west of Gild. Plenty of farms dotted the fertile land outside Bayat's walls, and days of harvest brought much surplus to Bayat and to the Kingdom. Indeed, her father Altan had earned land in reward for his many years of military service to Gild and to the service of a Noble Commander, who had come to love him as a brother. Halime, her mother, worked still as a courier, though her best and most athletic years were behind her.
Melek, being an only child, enjoyed the full attention of her mother and father in her childhood. And even in her earliest years she helped out around her father's farm, around other farms in the community, and around Bayat proper—fetching water, feeding the animals, cleaning and tidying barns and coops and pens. But soon, at the age of nine, her true passion was discovered in following her mother's trade. Halime taught her how to read and write, and by this time she had mostly retired from her courier duties in favor of farm work with her husband. Melek, then, took to being perhaps one of the youngest couriers Gild, Campania, likely all of Arethil had ever seen, making small trips between Bayat and nearby villages, towns, and even on a few occasions to the city of Gild itself to deliver letters. Often she would read the letters aloud for the pleasure of the recipient, and, if they needed, recorded responses they would dictate to her. Melek herself found no greater satisfaction than this work of connecting people, and it helped her to overcome much of her natural shyness.
Then came the war with Omma, and the sacking of Bayat.
Melek was by then aged twelve years. Advances and setbacks occurred on both the Gildan and Ommite sides, and for a time it appeared like Bayat might be spared the worst of war's devastation. But a large Ommite army broke into Gildan territory, and sieged Bayat. Gildan forces tried to lift the siege from without, but these attempts were repelled. The assault of the town began, and the Ommites overwhelmed the defenders of Bayat—of whom Altan was one, and he fell in the battle. Melek saw her mother one last time as Halime tucked her away in a secret place, bid her to be quiet and still, and to run east to Gild when all was silent.
This was the day which made Melek an orphan.
She came to dwell, then, in an orphanage in Gild for a few years, continuing to act as a budding courier in the wake of the Ommite War. She cursed not Regel for the loss of her family, nor swore any form of vengeance upon the Ommites, but only did Melek pray to the God of Jura for the happiness of her father and mother in the Fields of Duzen, and to tell them not to worry about their daughter.
And it would come to pass, near to Melek's seventeenth summer, that her Praetor powers were discovered. And for this simple, kindhearted rural girl, who had suffered greatly the ravages of war, a new life beckoned.
But though her heart is kind, can Melek withstand the weight of war when it is she who is called to wield the sword?
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