Info & Permissions

[thundercall]

CHARACTER

Name: Ziana Vzyli
Race: Half-Elf
Class: Bard (Thundercaller)
Age: Mid-40s; however, due to her elven blood, she appears significantly younger.
Height: Short For A Half-Elf™, Ziana stands at 5'7".
Build: Pear-shaped, with a moderately-sized bust and wide hips.
Distinguishing Features: Ziana's hair is extremely long, falling past her hips. Typically, she keeps it bound in intricate braids and up-dos to keep it manageable. She also has several significant tattoos: both her wrists and ankles are ringed by stylized fern fronds, and one of her collarbones bears the symbol of a branch with dew-tipped leaves.
Clothing: Ziana dresses in loose skirts and light dresses, involving little in the way armor. For reasons of cultural significance, she wears primarily shades of green, violet, and turquoise, along with the occasional white. Her hair is kept braided with low-quality pearls, stripes of cotton, carved beads, polished driftwood, and other such pieces of flotsam. In general, this makes a good point of reference for her general style.

Background:

NOTE: Ziana is a player character made for the Varnhold's Lot DLC of Owlcat's Pathfinder: Kingmaker. However, I'm willing to play her with no connection to canon events or characters whatsoever!

➣ Ziana was born to a Varisian mother and an elven father. However, she knew neither of her parents growing up; her father abruptly vanished during her mother's pregnancy, and her mother died in childbirth. This left her to be raised by her human grandmother, a cleric of Gozreh.

➣ Though Varisians place a high value on community, Ziana grew up something of an outsider among the caravan. Some believed they ought to care for Ziana to honor her departed mother; others saw her as symbolic of her truant father's imposition. She was able to perceive this tension at a young age, rendering her timid and withdrawn in her youth.

➣ Her grandmother, seeking a way to better integrate her into the community around her, raised Ziana in the duties of the Gozren faith. When the caravan required Gozreh's blessings of good weather, Ziana took part in her grandmother's rituals, performing the songs and dances that traditionally accompanied their offerings to Gozreh. In time, the community's attitude toward her softened, with Ziana becoming a respected lay-priestess.

➣ Nevertheless, when Ziana's grandmother passed away in old age, she chose not to step into the empty role that was left behind. Instead, she decided to strike out on her own in the hopes of tracking down her absentee father.

➣ While traveling, she made her living by offering her services as a Gozren priest to the small settlements she passed through, channeling her abilities to summon rains or quell snowstorms as needed. However, her dual heritage often made her the subject of suspicion; frequently, the more bigoted of the locals would accuse her of being a fraud and a charlatan, forcing her to slip away before the whole of a village turned on her.

➣ Ziana first met Maegar Varn while traveling through a mid-sized town in Galt. Varn came to her aid when she found herself accused of espionage by its uniquely paranoid population; though capable of defending herself, Ziana was touched by a stranger's willingness to risk his own safety for her sake—and Varn was equally impressed by her skill in combat.

➣ In the aftermath of this incident, Ziana joined Varn's budding mercenary company quite by accident. She agreed to help the Varnling Host track down a nearby target she had encountered prior, and after that, she simply... never left.

➣ Before long, she found herself a close confident to both Varn and the Varnling Host's co-founder, Cephal Lorentus. Ziana served as a balancing force in personal conflicts between these two very different men—albeit one that tended to side more often with Varn in matters of tactics, if not the other subjects they argued over.

➣ When the barony of Varnhold was established in the Stolen Lands, Varn appointed Ziana to the position of General over its militia.

Personality:

➣ Chaotic Neutral | As a lay-priestess of Gozreh, Ziana has little interest in the concerns of "civilized" society. Rather, the axis of her morality lies with nature. Fundamentally, Ziana believes, the world is an unpredictable place; she sees no purpose in forcing it to conform to the needs of mortals, and she tries not to tip its scales away from its natural outcomes all too much.

As a result, Ziana may sometimes seem apathetic in the face of evil. This isn't... entirely wrong. The simple truth of the matter is that she doesn't view it as her personal responsibility to right all of the world's wrongs. Empathy or personal bias might prompt her to act when confronted directly; however, if she doesn't see a strong enough reason to involve herself in a dispute, she won't.

She also doesn't feel much concern for the inherent "good" or "evil" nature of certain beings. What matters, instead, is the material results of their actions. When it's found that one of Varnhold's villages has been worshiping the evil deity Charon, for example, she staunchly opposes the destruction of this cult; as they've committed no human sacrifice, they've committed no crime, and to Ziana, that means there is no justification for outlawing the worship of a god that wants to wipe out all sapient life.

➣ Varisian | With that said, having been raised in the culture of nomadic Varisians, Ziana places an extremely high value on family and community. Though she cares little about the problems of the world, the problems of Varnhold in particular are another story; she works hard to handle the concerns of its citizens, speaking to its residents directly and pushing Baron Varn into addressing their hardships when needed. There is very little she would not give to protect the barony Varn has built, unveiling a self-sacrificial streak that might otherwise go overlooked.

The same can be said about her personal relationships, as well. She adopts an almost motherly demeanor toward the people she surrounds herself with, showering them in doting care and gentle fretting. She also takes great pains to smooth over arguments between friends, listening impartially to both sides of a dispute and trying to help everyone involved see the issue from a new angle—even when, internally, she'd rather give them all a good thrashing. It's this aspect of her nature that has allowed her to take on the role of trusted confidant to Maegar Varn and Cephal Lorentus, two men who are roughly as different as could be imagined.

➣ General | Of course, it isn't just nepotism that landed her the position of Varnhold's General. Ziana has a tactical mind that might be best described as unorthodox—but effective. Daring, unpredictable, and more than a little audacious, Ziana tends to favor proposals that are so absurd no enemy could possibly anticipate them. That this usually makes them extremely risky, all-or-nothing maneuvers is part of their charm—or so Varn would say, probably.

➣ Outcast | Learning Ziana had once been a withdrawn child would come as a shock to most who know her today. In her adulthood, she has blossomed into a playful and charming woman, quick to laugh and carefree in her affection. Ironically, it's her experience with isolation that molded her into the cheerful person she is in the present day; she has long since learned that the best way to make others accept you is to accept them first, without reservation. Quick to flirt, and quick to tease, she makes herself difficult to turn away.

With that said, though her vivaciousness isn't an act, there is a manipulative aspect to the face she wears. Between her elven blood and the Varisian culture she displays with pride, Ziana is a person who has spent her entire life exoticized twice-over; in order to protect herself from scrutiny and suspicion, she has learned to lean into the attention her identity earns her. When she wants something—particularly from a man—she flirts to lower their guard, and she isn't above using her sexuality as a shield.

PERMISSIONS

i'll write something up later lol i'm tired
here is a quick and dirty kink list for smut