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﹤﹤﹤﹤ name ﹥﹥﹥﹥lady aquila of
house falkenrath
﹤﹤﹤﹤ orientation ﹥﹥﹥﹥five, switch
leans dominant﹤﹤﹤﹤ alias ﹥﹥﹥﹥avery faulke of
hawk's cliff, lowborn
﹤﹤﹤﹤ relationship ﹥﹥﹥﹥single, uninterested
wary of commitment﹤﹤﹤﹤ gender ﹥﹥﹥﹥biological woman
behaves as a man
﹤﹤﹤﹤ voice ﹥﹥﹥﹥reference
slightly lower﹤﹤﹤﹤ age ﹥﹥﹥﹥twenty-four
looks a bit older
﹤﹤﹤﹤ accent ﹥﹥﹥﹥cardiff accent
lowborn vernacular﹤﹤﹤﹤ species ﹥﹥﹥﹥simply human
nothing more
﹤﹤﹤﹤ occupation ﹥﹥﹥﹥expert falconer
see 'trade' for more- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
﹤﹤﹤﹤ height ﹥﹥﹥﹥5'11"﹤﹤﹤﹤ weight ﹥﹥﹥﹥140 - 145lbs﹤﹤﹤﹤ scent ﹥﹥﹥﹥sandalwood
﹤﹤﹤﹤ build ﹥﹥﹥﹥lightly muscled and slender, suited towards agility rather than brute force. lacking in curves, slightly broader shoulders, a more boyish figure. modest chest always kept bound.
﹤﹤﹤﹤ facial structure ﹥﹥﹥﹥more square and boyish, though her lips carry a slightly more feminine shape. has the appearance of a slightly more feminine young man than woman.
﹤﹤﹤﹤ complexion ﹥﹥﹥﹥somewhat of an olive-tinted tan, obviously spends a lot of time outdoors in the sun. a few light scars on forearms.
﹤﹤﹤﹤ eyes ﹥﹥﹥﹥central heterochromia, forest green with a golden ring around pupil. very striking, somewhat hawk-like quality to her stare.
﹤﹤﹤﹤ hair ﹥﹥﹥﹥very dark brown, kept short and messy in a somewhat boyish style. two redtail hawk feathers braided into her hair behind her left ear, hanging down parallel to her neck.
﹤﹤﹤﹤ casual outfit ﹥﹥﹥﹥most common outfit, consisting of a loose white cotton shirt, over which is a simple, thin leather vest. on her lower half is a pair of equally plain cotton breeches of dark brown, held up by a belt over her narrow hips. finally, a simple pair of brown leather boots finished the ensemble. an elaborate dagger made of high-quality steel and lacquer, whose golden hilt is in the shape of a falcon, hangs from her belt. also wears a ring on the middle finger of her right hand. these adornments do tend to stick out, considering her alleged 'lowborn' stature. she doesn't like discussing them.
﹤﹤﹤﹤ hunting outfit ﹥﹥﹥﹥when on the hunt, she exchanges the loose shirt and vest for a more form-fitting doublet in white, as well as a brown leather jerkin to fend off briars and branches as she flushes for her falcon. the same type of brown breeches and boots are worn. while her ring remains on her right hand, the elaborate dagger on her belt is exchanged for a more practical, but still beautiful hunting knife. finally, on her left hand is a brown leather falconer's gauntlet, one of her most prized possessions. on the rare occasion that she decides to go hunting without her falcon, she often brings a plain wooden longbow along.
﹤﹤﹤﹤ formal outfit ﹥﹥﹥﹥rarely worn, usually only when it's an absolute must. the whole outfit is made of somewhat more expensive, restrictive felt in shades of greens, browns, and white. though her vest, the circles of padding on her hose, and boots are all brown leather. the ornate dagger and ring reappear, though they look significantly more natural along with this outfit. all in all, it makes her look like a right proper little lord - and she isn't fond of it.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The triquetra in the sigil of House Falkenrath stands for the unity of three beings - the hunter, their falcon, and their dog. Thus was Avery was trained in the art of hunting, to rely heavily on her two closest companions.
Both of Avery's pets have been with her for roughly five years, having bought her dog at one year of age and raising her falcon from birth.
﹤﹤﹤﹤ name ﹥﹥﹥﹥lady
﹤﹤﹤﹤ breed ﹥﹥﹥﹥peregrine falcon
﹤﹤﹤﹤ sex ﹥﹥﹥﹥female
﹤﹤﹤﹤ age ﹥﹥﹥﹥five years﹤﹤﹤﹤ name ﹥﹥﹥﹥lord
﹤﹤﹤﹤ breed ﹥﹥﹥﹥welsh springer spaniel
﹤﹤﹤﹤ sex ﹥﹥﹥﹥male
﹤﹤﹤﹤ age ﹥﹥﹥﹥six years
﹤﹤﹤﹤ hunting technique ﹥﹥﹥﹥watching the three of these beings hunt in unison has often been said to be quite beautiful. after a little over four years of working together season after season, their level of teamwork is exceedingly high and efficient.
avery serves as the orchestrator of their hunts, locating spots hosting the exact type and quantity of quarry they seek and guiding both lord and lady to them. once a spot has been chosen, lady is allowed to perch in nearby trees while lord and avery work to flush out game from their hiding places. once the game has been flushed and a target has been sighted, lady takes off in pursuit and strikes at her prey with astounding speed and force. finally, lord and avery set off in pursuit of the falcon to gather their quarry and set off on the next hunt.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
﹤﹤﹤﹤ positives ﹥﹥﹥﹥Avery is a somewhat humble person, despite being born a lady. Her own personal motto is something like: "There is nothing noble in being superior to some other person. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.” She is very honest - sometimes quite bluntly so - and endlessly loyal to those she would name ally. She is highly self-sufficient, independent, but not exactly anti-social. She enjoys the company of others - particularly that of beautiful women - and is generous, likely to be found buying a round for her friends when money allows. She has a charm and charismatic feel about her that tends to draw in others, making her quite likeable. Finally, she is exceedingly clever and well-educated for an alleged 'lowborn commoner'. She can read and write exceedingly well, and her practical knowledge of the world is just as high as her education. Not to mention a razor-sharp wit alongside a grand sense of humor.﹤﹤﹤﹤ negatives ﹥﹥﹥﹥Perhaps her most defining personality flaw is the fact that Avery is rather misogynistic. While she doesn't exactly bear any hatred towards the fairer sex and indeed finds them quite beautiful and charming at times, she was raised in a culture where women were expected to be weak and all but helpless, resigned to nothing but a life of singing, sewing, and arranged marriages. Simply put, she considers women to be the vastly inferior sex. She can also be a tad bit homophobic, specifically towards male homosexuality. The fact that she occasionally finds men attractive tends to make her uncomfortable. Finally, though she is a sociable person, she has a great deal of trouble actually letting people genuinely get close to her. While she does occasionally make close friends and even takes an occasional lover, she doesn't divulge much personal information - particularly her ancestry and her sex - if she can help it. To her, all relationships are just temporary. It hurts less when you have to move on if you're close to no one.
there is nothing noble in being superior to some other person..the true nobility is in being superior to your previous self
﹤﹤﹤﹤ skills ﹥﹥﹥﹥expert level falconer, hunter, tracker, and archer. exceedingly skilled at manning and training falcons, hawks, and eagles for use as falconry animals. also highly skilled in training dogs to work with raptors in the field. highly skilled leatherworker, especially in the crafting of falconry pieces such as gauntlets, leashes, hoods, etc.﹤﹤﹤﹤ weaknesses ﹥﹥﹥﹥not well-skilled in the initial training of hunting dogs. moderate skill with short-bladed weapons such as knives and daggers. rather disastrous with longer bladed weapons (longswords, greatswords, etc) and blunt weaponry (maces, cudgels, staves, etc). lacks physical strength and physical fortitude due to her lighter frame.﹤﹤﹤﹤ religion ﹥﹥﹥﹥house falkenrath is one of the few remaining houses to keep the old gods, and thus this is the religion avery practices. it's a folk religion with no real rituals, hymns, or prayers. avery regards forests and nature as sacred. yet over time, her faith in the old gods has weakened somewhat. now, prayers are more like old, undying habits.
. i know i have the body of a weak and feeble woman..but i have the heart and the stomach of a king .
﹤﹤﹤﹤ likes ﹥﹥﹥﹥hunting and anything related to it, archery, nature, flowing water, snow, early mornings, warm spiced wine, beautiful women.﹤﹤﹤﹤ dislikes ﹥﹥﹥﹥rainy weather, extreme cold and heat, wasteful hunters, most nobility, snooty and arrogant types, finding men attractive, cats.﹤﹤﹤﹤ phobias ﹥﹥﹥﹥her true identity being discovered, her true sex being revealed, harm coming to lord and lady, losing her dagger or ring.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"And who are you," the proud lord said, "that I must bow so low?"
﹤﹤﹤﹤ early life ﹥﹥﹥﹥Avery was born as Lady Aquila of House Falkenrath some odd twenty-four years ago in Blackwood, sister to two older brothers - one six years her elder, the other four - and a younger sister some three years after her own birth, and finally a younger brother one year after that. Their house was old and prosperous, holding a position as one of the most powerful and respected of the northern half of the realm. As such, there were many expectations and responsibilities pinned on Aquila early on in life. As soon as she reached the age of eight, she was swept into the world of noble womanhood with lessons in singing, dancing, and sewing. As the eldest daughter of the house, her family was determined to train her into a perfect young woman from an early age.
The child never quite took to her lessons as her parents had hoped. Her singing voice was more like a tone deaf warbling, and the gods had saw fit to give her a halfwit's sense of rhythm. And her needlework.. Aquila was miserable in her lessons, yet dutifully carried on with them. However, as she grew older and her younger sister's own lessons took the focus so sharply off of her, the girl began to explore other outlets. Chiefly, she was entranced by the very sport her house was notorious for - falconry.
At the age of ten, Aquila finally managed to persuade her parents to let her learn the arts of their family. Though they didn't rightly approve of their little lady learning such manly skills, they also saw how miserable the lady's life was making her. Thus, they finally allowed her to study under her eldest brother under the condition that she still put her own lessons first and give them her best. Naturally, she agreed. After the day's sewing and dancing were done with meager results, Aquila was taught how to ride horses and to hunt using a falcon and a hound. Unlike her simply dreadful stitching, her work with the animals and with a bow were astonishing. She was a born natural, and in just three years time, she was just about on par with her eldest brother in terms of skill.﹤﹤﹤﹤ adolescence ﹥﹥﹥﹥At the age of thirteen, Aquila was anything but the refined, elegant lady that her parents had prayed to the gods for. They hoped that she would be a late bloomer, all in vain. As the years went on, no extra curves nor grace accompanied the rather excessive height she grew to. She filled out a dress just about as well as a stable boy would with broad shoulders to match. While no one would outright say she was unattractive, she certainly wasn't as pretty as expected from a highborn lady, either. What she lacked in womanliness, though, she made up for tenfold in prowess with a falcon and the accuracy of her arrows.
Around the age of fifteen, war was breaking out among the kingdoms. While House Falkenrath managed to stay out of the fray for a time, the fall of the other prominent Northern houses slowly pulled them right into the center. With no other houses between them and the Southern conquerors, they had no choice but to rally the remaining lesser houses and fight back. For the better part of two years, war raged on in the North. Aquila dropped her lessons in singing and dancing and provided for her people during the hard times, bringing in much needed game and furs. Ever her father's daughter, her heart bled for her fellow Northerners to see them forced from their homes and to see their children go hungry. Within her, a hatred of the Southerners grew fire hot.
Yet the war slowly twisted out of their favor with the capture of her lord father. Her eldest brother, inexperienced with leadership of an army, could only do so much before he too was overwhelmed. The Southerners took their lands and their castle and forced them into a peace negotiation. More like they simply needed means to pacify the still impassioned Northerners once the war was over, and they knew they could twist the Falkenraths into doing whatever they liked with their lord and two heirs captured. In the end, they were to be given back their "autonomy" as long as they pledged fealty to the Southern king, paid their taxes to them as well as hefty war reparations, and provided men for the royal army. In addition, it was requested that Lady Aquila would be betrothed and immediately wed to the young king to "solidify the newly-made friendship and cooperation between the Northern and Southern kingdoms."
. . . memories are like a hunting horn whose sound dies upon the wind . . .
﹤﹤﹤﹤ adult life ﹥﹥﹥﹥Now a young woman of seventeen, Aquila found herself affianced to the very king that she had grown to hate so rancorously. Still, both she and her mother knew that there was little to be done. If they refused the terms, the North would be entirely lost and her lord father and elder brothers would be executed. Reluctantly, Aquila was shipped off to the South to the capital to live amongst those she prayed to the gods to deliver justice to every night. Their engagement was set for a year's time, during which her father and elder brothers would remain in the capital as leverage, to ensure the Northerners' cooperation.
Meanwhile, Aquila was to be re-educated on what it meant to not only be a lady, but to be a southron and most importantly, royalty. Whereas part of her had grieved her lack of femininity for her parents' sake when she was younger, she now relished in the fact. Each failed singing and dancing lesson and the resultant disapproving clicks of the tongues of her tutors made her spirits soar. Though the insults behind her back and sometimes even to her face should have hurt her, she wore them like badges of honor each time she saw the look of disgust and horror on her king's face each time he looked at her.
Finally, the time of their wedding was upon them, much to Aquila's dismay. In only a week's time, she would be forced to marry and bear children to a man that she loathed and who loathed her just as much. That was not the biggest of her worries, however. A rumor had been started in court that before the wedding, her lord father and brothers were plotting to kill the king. Aquila desperately tried to get to her family, to ask them if the whispers were true. As much as she hated the king and didn't want the marriage, she did not wish for it to end with his death, if only because it would certainly mean the death of them, the destruction of House Falkenrath, and the complete loss of the North. She was unable to see them before word reached the king's ear, though, and he swiftly ordered all three of them to death.
At first, Aquila thought that she too would be suspected and executed. In fact, she was praying for it as she grieved her loss. When the king and his council came to her, though, they made her a final offer. If she renounced her family's treasons, married the king, and remained faithful to him, their offer with the North would still stand and her family would live. If she refused, they would seize the North and House Falkenrath would cease to exist. As loathe as she was to marry the king, she agreed to the terms, if only out of a sense of duty to her family and its people.
Days before the marriage was supposed to take place, Aquila was on her way to her lessons when she happened to overhear a discussion between two of the king's council members. They were discussing how they had set up her father and brothers in order to have an excuse to execute them, leaving no male heirs to Blackwood. With the imminent marriage, they hoped that the king could put a son in Aquila soon after and thus wrest away control of the lands and power that House Falkenrath still possessed. With that, their new queen would no longer be necessary. She would be assassinated quietly, made to seem like illness from childbirth, and the king would be free to remarry a much more suitable bride.
Horrified and angered, Aquila immediately fled back up to her own room. As soon as she was alone, she grabbed a knife that had come with her lunch and hacked off her long, dark hair. When a serving girl was sent to retrieve her, she knocked the girl unconscious and took her clothing. No one seemed to notice her as she made her way to the stables, repeating the process and disguising herself as a stable boy. She was easily able to slip away, and once she began running, she did not turn back. As much as it pained her, she did not return to Blackwood. If she was caught there, being harbored by her family, the war would resume. Thinking that maybe they would show her family leniency if she simply disappeared, Aquila did just that.
She adopted the identity of Avery Faulke, the son of a modest hunter living just outside of Blackwood in a small village named Hawk's Cliff. She remained on the continent for a year or so, keeping her identity a well-guarded secret and making a meager living hunting small game. After a time, she learned that her assumption had been wrong and that the king had ordered the execution for the rest of her so-called traitorous family. Feeling as if she had been the one to sign their death warrants and single-handedly destroying her own house, the guilt-ridden falconer fled across the sea to lands unknown before they could even be brought to the capital. Thus, for the last five years, Avery has constantly been on the move from one place to another._________________________________
First of all, I just want to say that if you made it this far and actually read most of my nerdgasm all over this RPR:
Thank you, you're awesome, and I hope you enjoyed it! ♥
The rest of this section is just going to be for various tidbits of information that didn't go anywhere else or OOC notes about various things. If you want to RP with me, the OOC things at least would be advisable to read. But after reading a whole novel's worth of character information.. I'm not going to blame you if you stop here, haha.
﹤﹤﹤﹤ sex ﹥﹥﹥﹥Avery has come to make a pretty convincing male, even if she does come off as somewhat more effeminate than your garden variety masculine man. She talks, acts, and even smells like a man. Your character will not be able to discern her true sex right off the bat. They may be suspicious and might eventually puzzle it out. However, they will not just look at her and automatically know she is female.﹤﹤﹤﹤ identity ﹥﹥﹥﹥As with her sex, no one will just know who she is. Though this one might be easier to figure out if the character has reasonable knowledge of her family for a logial reason - that is, if you ask me first OOCly and we work something out. If your character does have knowledge of where she's from, her eye color (it's a dominant trait in her family), occupation, and ring/dagger would likely raise suspicion. But please, ask me first if your character wants to be "in the know"!﹤﹤﹤﹤ game of thrones ﹥﹥﹥﹥Yes, Avery is heavily inspired by Game of Thrones! At the time of her creation, I had just finished reading A Clash of Kings, re-watched the second season, and am about to re-watch season three. I was just way too inspired to create a new character after this. Her house is somewhat loosely inspired by the Starks and her personality/history is inspired by three of my favorite characters: Arya, Sansa, and Brienne. But you don't have to be a GoT inspired character to RP with her! All are welcome. ♥
﹤﹤﹤﹤ house falkenrath ﹥﹥﹥﹥House Falkenrath was one of the oldest families of the North, formerly holding much prestige and power. Their seat of power was in Blackwood. They were well-known for their prowess in falconry, archery, and their infamous green-gold eyes. Their sigil is a golden falcon over a white triquetra, representing the unity of the hunter, his falcon, and his dog. This overlays a background that is forest green on top, leading down into a half-circle that interrupts the golden lower half. House colors are forest green, gold, and white. Their words are 'Strike with Severity'.
In the war, House Falkenrath came to control much of the North when the other prominent Northern houses fell. Not long after they took control of the North, the Falkenraths also succumbed. A peace was brokered with the south in which their house was to be united by marriage to the royal family. However, their house fell to ruin when its lord and two eldest heirs were executed for conspiring against the crown, the oldest daughter fled, and the remaining children and lady of the house executed for treason, leaving it with no heir as Lady Aquila has long since been gone and often presumed to be dead.
﹤﹤﹤﹤ gender identity & pronouns ﹥﹥﹥﹥I just thought that I would write up this section really quick to clear up some potential confusion. Avery is biologically female. However, due to the culture she was raised in and the beliefs she has about what it means to be a woman, she chooses to dress and behave as a man. Her own femininity makes her highly uncomfortable, and masculinity just feels more "right" to her. In this sense, I suppose you could say that she experiences transexualism to a certain degree, though I hesitate to call it that because her case is driven more by cultural perceptions of femininity and how she was treated externally due to her sex, rather than her internal sense of gender identity truly being that of a man. Therefore, in terms of gender pronouns, I choose to write posts referring to Avery as "Her", "She", etc. It's just my personal preference. But if you would prefer to refer to Avery as "Him", "He", etc, then that is equally fine!
﹤﹤﹤﹤ interacting with slaves ﹥﹥﹥﹥Slavery is considered one of the utmost taboos of Avery's religion, alongside incest and kinslaying. However, as she is somewhat losing her religion with the passing of years, she's made an exception to her morality in coming to Guildereim. Still, slavery as a whole makes her somewhat uncomfortable. This isn't to say that she'll never interact with a slave, but just that if she does, it's usually for a specific reason or because they've initiated contact first. Therefore, if you whisper me from your slave character for roleplay, please don't be offended if I politely decline! Even if I adore your character OOCly, if I cannot see a legitimate reason for Avery to initiate conversation with them, I will likely pass unless you have an idea for a scene yourself. Likewise, in terms of slave ownership, it's highly unlikely to ever happen unless a longterm plot is involved. And if it did happen, Avery would likely free the character as soon as she purchased them, which I know is what 99% of slave characters' players do not want in a slave roleplay.
