Nelianne Sundrose
Once a mage of ancient Amastacia, Nel gambled all she had in defense of her home and people.
Now, she wanders Arethil, belonging to no place or time.
Appearance
To most people, Nel is a pale woman of average height, lightly muscled as if from regular physical activity, with black hair that she leaves either hanging at her shoulders or pulled back into a ponytail. Her eyes are brown with flecks of dark crimson. She dons the robes of a traveler. She has no weapons or armor visible, but carries the gentle, unspoken confidence of someone accustomed to defending herself with magic.
Such is the glamour she weaves around herself to hide her true nature from others.
Her real appearance is that of a corpse--skin stretched too tight over her skinny frame, bits of bone peeking through where her flesh has broken. Her glowing crimson eyes give away her state of undeath. Nel is missing her lower jaw and tongue, and were she to draw back her robes, one would find a gaping hole below her ribs, where some weapon or spell punched into her stomach and exited through her back, narrowly missing her spine.
Beneath her robes, Nel wears a necklace of rubies and glass orbs threaded through a silver chain, strangely untarnished by the passage of time. This magical relic once brimmed with the collected vitality of a thousand lives, but over the centuries this power has faded to nearly nothing. These days it might be able to house the soul of one or two people at most, a reserve of magical energy should the bearer need it.
Such is the glamour she weaves around herself to hide her true nature from others.
Her real appearance is that of a corpse--skin stretched too tight over her skinny frame, bits of bone peeking through where her flesh has broken. Her glowing crimson eyes give away her state of undeath. Nel is missing her lower jaw and tongue, and were she to draw back her robes, one would find a gaping hole below her ribs, where some weapon or spell punched into her stomach and exited through her back, narrowly missing her spine.
Beneath her robes, Nel wears a necklace of rubies and glass orbs threaded through a silver chain, strangely untarnished by the passage of time. This magical relic once brimmed with the collected vitality of a thousand lives, but over the centuries this power has faded to nearly nothing. These days it might be able to house the soul of one or two people at most, a reserve of magical energy should the bearer need it.
Skills and Abilities
Nel trained as a battlemage of Amastacia and is highly knowledgeable in the spell schools her old kingdom was famed for.
Fleshcraft & Boneweaving
Manipulation of the physical body. Nel mainly uses the former to repair herself after injury. As an undead, she is unable to heal naturally and requires ‘material’ to stitch herself back together. She tries to limit her sources to proven criminals or wild beasts, preferably freshly defeated. Old bodies are too poor quality for this magic. Her missing jaw and stomach are ancient wounds from before her awakening and do not respond to attempts to attach new flesh.
She can also wield these talents to heal others, should they be receptive to their gruesome nature.
Boneweaving enables the forging of tools and weapons from bone, as well as the creation of bone golems, again using material obtained from any available creature, and again the fresher the better.
Bonewoven implements have the expected sturdiness of the type of bone they were wrought from, but can be further magically enhanced to improve their durability.
Bone golems obey simple commands and serve multiple purposes, from surveillance to mundane chores to combat. Nel can send these golems afield, though their effectiveness is diminished the further they stray from her, with a few hundred feet the maximum range.
Fleshcraft and boneweaving combined make for a terrifying combination in battle, allowing the practitioner to literally tear a foe’s limb from their body, though their effective range is extremely short, requiring one to be within 1-2 inches of their target. Cloth and armor do not protect from this magic, though it can be stopped by wards or other magical protections.
Psionics
Nel weaves her glamour through subtle deceit, implanting the image of her human self into the minds of others. Lacking her lower jaw and tongue, Nel communicates through telepathy, utilizing further trickery to project into others’ minds the appearance of her speaking normally.
Telekinesis allows her to lift and throw objects as large and heavy as an adult human male. The swing of a blade can be shoved to the side; projectiles can be forced off course.
Decay
Nel can fling bolts and conjure blasts of a dark, writhing energy that quickly decays whatever it touches. Vegetation rots and crumbles; flesh suffers a swift necrosis; even buildings of stone and brick weaken as if eroded over centuries.
Fleshcraft & Boneweaving
Manipulation of the physical body. Nel mainly uses the former to repair herself after injury. As an undead, she is unable to heal naturally and requires ‘material’ to stitch herself back together. She tries to limit her sources to proven criminals or wild beasts, preferably freshly defeated. Old bodies are too poor quality for this magic. Her missing jaw and stomach are ancient wounds from before her awakening and do not respond to attempts to attach new flesh.
She can also wield these talents to heal others, should they be receptive to their gruesome nature.
Boneweaving enables the forging of tools and weapons from bone, as well as the creation of bone golems, again using material obtained from any available creature, and again the fresher the better.
Bonewoven implements have the expected sturdiness of the type of bone they were wrought from, but can be further magically enhanced to improve their durability.
Bone golems obey simple commands and serve multiple purposes, from surveillance to mundane chores to combat. Nel can send these golems afield, though their effectiveness is diminished the further they stray from her, with a few hundred feet the maximum range.
Fleshcraft and boneweaving combined make for a terrifying combination in battle, allowing the practitioner to literally tear a foe’s limb from their body, though their effective range is extremely short, requiring one to be within 1-2 inches of their target. Cloth and armor do not protect from this magic, though it can be stopped by wards or other magical protections.
Psionics
Nel weaves her glamour through subtle deceit, implanting the image of her human self into the minds of others. Lacking her lower jaw and tongue, Nel communicates through telepathy, utilizing further trickery to project into others’ minds the appearance of her speaking normally.
Telekinesis allows her to lift and throw objects as large and heavy as an adult human male. The swing of a blade can be shoved to the side; projectiles can be forced off course.
Decay
Nel can fling bolts and conjure blasts of a dark, writhing energy that quickly decays whatever it touches. Vegetation rots and crumbles; flesh suffers a swift necrosis; even buildings of stone and brick weaken as if eroded over centuries.
Personality
Nel was once a soldier, and a soldier she remains. She takes pride in doing what’s right and honorable. She would rather protect than harm the weak, and has no interest in acts of terror or cruelty. She will use intimidation or force to resolve a situation if challenged, however, and if attacked will hold nothing back in the course of defending herself.
Even in undeath, a part of her still derives satisfaction from aiding the common folk. Nel sometimes takes on jobs to clear a road of highwaymen or mend the broken leg of a farmer’s horse. Good, honest work to help those who need it the most. She receives others’ gratitude awkwardly; they thank her for her deeds, but only she knows the worst of what she’s done.
She misses the camaraderie of her long-gone fellow soldiers, but wonders if she still deserves companionship in her current state.
Even in undeath, a part of her still derives satisfaction from aiding the common folk. Nel sometimes takes on jobs to clear a road of highwaymen or mend the broken leg of a farmer’s horse. Good, honest work to help those who need it the most. She receives others’ gratitude awkwardly; they thank her for her deeds, but only she knows the worst of what she’s done.
She misses the camaraderie of her long-gone fellow soldiers, but wonders if she still deserves companionship in her current state.
