Tarai

From CotH-Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search

Information

Player: hiddengecko

Character Full Name: Tarai Shira'filahr

Character In-Game Name: Tarai

Nickname(s):

Association(s): Herself

Race: Wastewander Human

Class: Dark Inscriber

Age: 26

Sex: Female

Hair: Black

Eyes: Brown

Weight: 135 Lbs

Height: 5'6 (168 cm, or 1.02 in ingame scale)

Appearance

Tarai favors flowing and comfortable clothing, but her vanity ensures that it is often regal; she robes herself in black and crimson. Regardless of style, it is almost unvaryingly practical, and easy to move in She is well-muscled and darkened by her desert lifestyle, and is often more than willing to demonstrate both this and her markings. A fine scimitar hangs from a sash at her side, and there is a veil about her throat at all times save in battle: she covers her face before killing if able.

Other: Tarai's from is swathed in jagged and artful tattoos from head to toe, only her face left unmarked. Even her scalp and the skin beneath her nails bear various patterns and symbols, although the former have long been concealed by her hair. Many of them seem to dance and swim when observed closely, in a manner either hypnotic or unnerving. To attempt to comprehend their shapes in an intellectual sense is often painful; most would be hard pressed to attempt copying them from memory or by sight. The ley-based patterns of inscription are more easily visible; most of the fel runes lie covered by her clothing--the more revealed by what she chooses to wear, the more easily they are seen.

Personality

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Brilliant, ruthless, and supremely confident, Tarai is a woman accustomed to no small degree of power and influence. She is not spoiled, and certainly not soft, but her upbringing has accustomed her to being paid what she views as proper respect and to commanding the attention of those in authority. While relentlessly pragmatic in her philosophy, she is a stubborn and willful creature who acts quickly and thinks even more so.

Her actions are guided by what may seem to most as a quite alien system of values; the Wastewander religion is monotheistic and steeped in tradition that bears little resemblance to the more familiar philosophies of Azeroth. Honor is of the utmost value to her, but it deviates in meaning from that assigned it by Orcs or by the followers of the Light. The desert is a harsh mistress, and life is clawed from her bosom with no time for the more lofty system of traditional morals. Honor is determined by that which most benefits her and hers, and what brings glory before their god and upon her people. To rob a corpse would be seen as more just than to leave it lie and let its effects go to waste, killing a surrendered foe unless fealty is pledged to prevent an enemy returning to battle loftier than misguided mercy, and to deceive to further survival both nobler and more righteous than unthinking truth.

Racially, Tarai lacks significant prejudice in nearly all cases--save that of goblins, which she despises with a fiery passion. Humans, Dwarves, Elves and Orcs; all are 'Wetlanders' unaccustomed to the difficulty of survival in a harsh and unforgiving wasteland. While weak and often foolish, the nomad rarely holds them at any true fault for their lack of experience, and in fact finds their idealism rather endearing in a slightly cynical fashion. Tauren, however, are respected; as nomads themselves they have far greater understanding of life than their warlike allies. While she knows little of Draenei, she marvels at their solidarity in the face of their forced exodus, and their practicality in uniting themselves with former enemies to stand against the Burning Legion.

Tarai herself is inquisitive and analytical; her intellect and willpower combined grant her a natural gift with magic and charisma. Learning for knowledge and for pleasure are the same in her eyes: knowledge is a gift, and all of it useful in some fashion or another. Knowledge of primal and darker energies are of particular interest; shadow and fel lack the stigma given them by the other races. In her eyes, corruption is the failing of the caster, be it weakness of will or failure to take appropriate precautions. Decrying a form of magic or any weapon for being inherently evil is a fancy of the Wetlanders; the result of a lifestyle of coddling and idealism, of crusades and futile war. She places great value upon books and writing implements, and is irritated greatly at poor care of either.

History

Born to a concubine of the bandit lord Rashad Shira'filahr, Tarai was welcomed into life with no small amount of celebration. As Rashad's first child, she was viewed as a blessing both upon her father and upon her tribe--and indeed, the year she was birthed bore an abundance of rain which more than doubled the water stores of her father and those beneath him. 'Terai,' she was named, for the wet land heralded by her genesis. A brother followed the next year, and he was named 'Abdal;' servant. He was to carry on his father's bloodline, and bring glory to the tribe with his actions. The two were often rivals, for Abdal held the favor of his mother, yet sought the approval of his father, and Tarai felt that her place was challenged by her sibling.

While she was cared for, she was not coddled; the desert would not suffer weakness in any of her children. The duties of nomadic life were shared by all, and she was no exception. Her father's hand was strong in discipline and firm in guidance, but his love for his daughter was genuine. His efforts at child-rearing were not wasted: she was observant and quick-witted, and showed a remarkable talent for spellcasting even at a young age. This was readily expanded upon; magical aptitude was a sacred thing among the Wastewander. Her brother demonstrated a lesser talent: he was aspirant but unfortunate, and dreamed more than he did. His pursuit of knowledge was less ruthless and more considering than hers, and he gave much thought to the effects of the Wastewander upon their neighbors.

Her studies progressed as she matured, always careful but always ambitious. The magi of her tribe taught her much, and she kept for herself spell primers taken from caravans they raided in order to further her knowledge even more. From these, she took on a certain affection for literature; books, she decided, were not a Wetlander luxury, but a valuable tool for both the acquisition of knowledge and as a whetstone for the mind. From these she learned many things; magical lore both arcane and fel, runecasting and inscription; the volatile sciences of tinkering and of Wetlander mannerisms--which she regards with no small amusement. Abdal read many of her books, yet was repulsed at the opportunistic and heartless magics of those she collected. Instead, he came to favor those centered on the pure arcane, and stories of adventure and battle.

Tarai's first forays into darker magic were met with encouragement from her father--he drove her to excel in all things, and evocation was no exception. Corruption was of no concern to him; his daughter was strong, and she would resist the allure of fel unflinchingly. Her schooling continued, and resist she did; Tarai was a darkcasting prodigy. Believing that skill was a product of finesse rather than of innovation, she chose to learn the runic variations of fel magic. The benefits of this were multifaceted: it permitted her to cast her favorite and most commonly used spells without fear of corruption and with less drain upon her stamina. In addition, tattooing them upon herself appealed to her pride, for combining form and function in art held great appeal to her. Abdal, on the other hand, took to learning to understand the ley patterns that were behind all arcane magic. While Tarai considered this knowledge merely supplemental and useful only for runecasting and inscription, her brother centered his technique about it. In time, he sought a deeper connection with the desert and walked the sands with feet unshod, seemingly impervious to the heat.

The siblings grew distant as they entered adulthood: Adbal viewed Tarai as opportunistic and cruel, and heedless of the risks of her felcasting; she regarded him as unrealistic and foolish, blinded to the harsh truths of live and chasing dreams rather than bringing glory to his tribe. Likewise, a rift formed between Rashad and his concubine, for his rule drove the tribe to acts of violent desperation as the blessing of water brought by Tarai waned. There was little speech between either, and dissatisfaction grew in those beneath Rashad. There were uneasy whisperings and dark looks toward her father, and Tarai saw and heard much. She had been trained well, however, and knowing that she alone could do nothing against revolt and that her father had brought this upon himself, she held her peace and waited. Rashad saw all this, and he took pride in his daughter's cautious and impartial reason. He readied himself for the inevitable, and likewise waited.

Even so, his preparations proved inadequate, for he did not predict the scope of his tribe's hatred of him. His guard was decimated, and he was slain by Abdal; his head was impaled upon a spike outside the settlement. Tarai herself was taken off guard by the brutality of the coup, for she had not considered that she was viewed as an ally of her father's and likewise deceived. She was his heir, and word reached her that she was to be next. Infuriated at this betrayal, she took her most valued slaves and fled, seeking to leave Tanaris behind and gather power elsewhere.

Her flight was short lived and ill-fortuned; her party encountered a caravan of goblins and were quickly indentified as Wastewander. Without the advantage of surprise or of numbers, her party was quickly defeated and her servants slain. Tarai was forced to surrender, and so took the only option she had at her disposal: knowing that word of the coup would not yet have reached the Steamwheedle cartel, she made a desperate bid to buy herself time and identified herself as the daughter of Rashad. Goblins are mercantile folk, and the opportunity for easy gold through ransom was more appealing than that of revenge. Imprisoned in Gadgetzan, she readied herself for escape or for death.

Skills and Abilities

Tarai's abilities are not far from those of a typical Warlock. Favoring explosive and chaotic bursts of shadow and flame, she typically shuns the war of attrition that exemplifies Affliction. Demonology is of little interest to her: the only minion she makes any regular use of is her succubus, whom she values for her subtlety and ability to conceal herself and provide protection even in polite society. What makes her skillset unique is that she channels fel through runes rather than touching the nether herself.

These runes permit her to cast without speech and without fear of corruption, as in a technical sense they perform the casting for her. She need only fuel them by opening them to the energies of the nether, although this does require that she is able to cast normally at the time. While runecasting does free her from the verbal components of inscribed spells, it does not from the somatic. As such, she will often make grandiose gestures and sharp movements to accompany her spells--although the necessity of some of them is debatable. While most would be unable to identify the runes (even if they have seen illustrations), arcanists or Paladins could detect them with a simple spell, whether or not they are visible to the naked eye.

She is also an accomplished scribe, with a fondness for the more traditional artwork of the ley patterns--although her interest pales in comparison to that of fel runes. Scrolls and slips of paper with intricate symbols are often carried in her clothing, although some of these symbols are tattooed as well (usually in more visible areas.) While they do not enable new spells, they do serve in passively altering the function of some of her own, and providing her a degree of increased strength, durability, and agility.

Her skill in swordplay and in unarmed combat, while by no means unmatched, is considerable--if largely because she weaves spellwork with, and shamelessly uses magic to press her advantage against more skilled melee combatants.

In addition, she is also a passable tinker--although this has no place in combat, and is in fact merely a hobby to her.