Oriole Haigh
A former professor and Maester of the Elbion College turned bored itinerant and healer.
Appearance
Oriole is aptly named, with shockingly orange, very curly hair and tawny, freckled skin. Her hazel eyes are a rich pine green that overwhelms the softer warm brown coronas around her pupils. She is quite tall and strongly built, well suited to an active lifestyle on the road. A scar runs from her chin to her right cheekbone. She likes to tell people that she got it from a close encounter with the undead dwelling in an archeological dig site, but in reality she got it as a child… falling off of an old stone wall at said site.
Her arms are tattooed from wrist to collarbone in intricate, precise lines and patterns that aid her luminancy. She also has several scars from crystals installed for the same discipline. Most of these are fully embedded beneath her skin, with the exception of one on each of her shoulders.
Her arms are tattooed from wrist to collarbone in intricate, precise lines and patterns that aid her luminancy. She also has several scars from crystals installed for the same discipline. Most of these are fully embedded beneath her skin, with the exception of one on each of her shoulders.
Skills and Abilities
Having spent more than a century at the College of Elbion (the majority of which as a professor), Oriole’s magical skills are varied. Well educated on a very broad range of magics and their applications, her personal repertoire of expertise lies mainly in healing magic, phosphoromancy, and luminancy.
Oriole is the most experienced and skilled with her healing magics, both innate and learned. Her specialties include alleviation, cellular activation, regenerative healing, and herbalism. Over the years, she also gained a resulting education in good old fashioned medicine.
Beyond healing magic, Oriole is a natural phosphoromancer. It was this natural fascination that led her into the study and practice of luminancy during her time at the College. With plenty of time on her hands, she dedicated years to studying and practicing, learning from numerous masters of the discipline to become a master of it herself.
As a rule, Oriole uses her magic to help, not harm. While she knows plenty of offensive battle magic, she has never had the need to use them and goes out of her way to avoid situations that would demand it from her. Her magic is for healing, not destruction.
Oriole is the most experienced and skilled with her healing magics, both innate and learned. Her specialties include alleviation, cellular activation, regenerative healing, and herbalism. Over the years, she also gained a resulting education in good old fashioned medicine.
Beyond healing magic, Oriole is a natural phosphoromancer. It was this natural fascination that led her into the study and practice of luminancy during her time at the College. With plenty of time on her hands, she dedicated years to studying and practicing, learning from numerous masters of the discipline to become a master of it herself.
As a rule, Oriole uses her magic to help, not harm. While she knows plenty of offensive battle magic, she has never had the need to use them and goes out of her way to avoid situations that would demand it from her. Her magic is for healing, not destruction.
Personality
Oriole is an intense person. Intelligent, opinionated, and blunt, her very loud personality makes her as easy to love as she is easy to hate.
Her natural wit and hunger for knowledge made her a born intellectual, and she was both a boon and a bane to the College. As a half-elf, she learned to be forward and assertive with her wants and needs among people who would slight her for being what she was. She is honest to a fault with anyone and everyone, seeing no point in deceiving others. Oriole believes in honesty even when it might hurt others. More importantly she believes in her personal integrity, and will sacrifice no part of who she is for the benefit of others or herself.
Despite this, Oriole has an incredible bedside manner. She is caring and attentive to the needs of others -- both physically and emotionally. To those who can stand her, she is an unswerving friend who genuinely seeks to improve the lives of others.
Experience has only honed her natural gift of gab. Oriole likes talking to people -- and more than to just hear herself talk. She is always an engaging conversation partner and her mind is a steel trap for information.
Her natural wit and hunger for knowledge made her a born intellectual, and she was both a boon and a bane to the College. As a half-elf, she learned to be forward and assertive with her wants and needs among people who would slight her for being what she was. She is honest to a fault with anyone and everyone, seeing no point in deceiving others. Oriole believes in honesty even when it might hurt others. More importantly she believes in her personal integrity, and will sacrifice no part of who she is for the benefit of others or herself.
Despite this, Oriole has an incredible bedside manner. She is caring and attentive to the needs of others -- both physically and emotionally. To those who can stand her, she is an unswerving friend who genuinely seeks to improve the lives of others.
Experience has only honed her natural gift of gab. Oriole likes talking to people -- and more than to just hear herself talk. She is always an engaging conversation partner and her mind is a steel trap for information.
Biography & Lore
Oriole was raised by her mother, Robin Haige, on the road. Life as the daughter of an archeologist made her curious, eccentric, and independent. Robin managed her daughter’s education and upbringing the same way she handled her career: with professionalism and passion. Oriole grew up in a wagon, playing with children from all corners of Arethil, and climbing ancient structures built in ages long gone. She learned not only from her mother, but her colleagues, who taught her everything from mathematics and grammar to theory and astronomy.
It was only natural that she would pursue life as an academic. She was accepted into the College of Elbion and thus began a century of being a burr in the Foard’s hair. She studied for seventeen years before being approved to the Foard of Maesters for her research in phosphoromancy. At that time she also became a professor, teaching introductory healing and advanced phosphoromancy.
In the first fifty years of her life, being a half-elf had not been so bad. After all, children were meant to bury their parents and her mother had lived a long, adventurous life. During her tenure with the College, however, she settled down with a partner and raised a daughter. The march of time continued for her husband and child, but never for her, putting her longevity into painful perspective. There was no set rule on how long half-elves lived, only guesses. She lost her husband and her daughter. She was a grandmother, then a great-grandmother, then a great-great-grandmother.
Bored, sad, and restless, decided it was time for a change of scenery. After more than 200 years with the college, Oriole resigned from her position. She took up the same transient life once more and has since wandered where the whim takes her. Occasionally she has gone where the excitement is, using her healing to aid those caught in unfortunate times.
It was only natural that she would pursue life as an academic. She was accepted into the College of Elbion and thus began a century of being a burr in the Foard’s hair. She studied for seventeen years before being approved to the Foard of Maesters for her research in phosphoromancy. At that time she also became a professor, teaching introductory healing and advanced phosphoromancy.
In the first fifty years of her life, being a half-elf had not been so bad. After all, children were meant to bury their parents and her mother had lived a long, adventurous life. During her tenure with the College, however, she settled down with a partner and raised a daughter. The march of time continued for her husband and child, but never for her, putting her longevity into painful perspective. There was no set rule on how long half-elves lived, only guesses. She lost her husband and her daughter. She was a grandmother, then a great-grandmother, then a great-great-grandmother.
Bored, sad, and restless, decided it was time for a change of scenery. After more than 200 years with the college, Oriole resigned from her position. She took up the same transient life once more and has since wandered where the whim takes her. Occasionally she has gone where the excitement is, using her healing to aid those caught in unfortunate times.