A closer look
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“Fear is only your enemy if you allow it to be.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes
N E S T A
Feminine | "Pure" | WelshB E L A C Q U AMasculine | Surname | French -
Basics
⎨NAME⎬
Her full name is Nesta Belacqua.
⎨ALIAS(ES)⎬
She usually goes by Nesta and that's about it.
⎨AGE⎬
She is 20 years old.
X, which makes her an X.
⎨NATIONALITY⎬
She is of Scholar descent.
⎨RESIDENCE⎬
She lives in the Martial Empire's impoverished backstreet.
⎨OCCUPATION⎬
Recently made a spy of.
⎨BUILD⎬
Not the tallest girl, smaller around her upper body, and a slight curve at the hips.
⎨COMPLEXION⎬
Pale as snow.
⎨HEIGHT⎬
She is 163 centimeters tall.
⎨EYES⎬
Brown eyes, almost black.
⎨HAIR⎬
Jet black hair to her hips, it's completely straight and without any waves or curls.
⎨TRADEMARKS⎬
The contrast between her pale skin and her black eyes and hair is quite striking.
⎨QUIRKS⎬
X.
⎨SEXUALITY⎬
She considers herself to be heterosexual, though she has had little to know experience.
⎨STRENGTHS⎬
Loyal, Compassionate, unwilling to abandon people, strong sense of justice, defiance against authority, determination.
⎨WEAKNESSES⎬
As of now she has lived very sheltered and has been taken well care of by her grandparents and brother which essentially means that she doesn't have a whole lot of experience with "surviving on her own" - doesn't know how to cook, hunt, not much of anything required of her to survive.
⎨LIKES⎬
She likes being read to as her brother always read stories out loud to her, loves how the moon looks on the night sky, has a fascination with the colors of nature and how they move around and melt together, enjoys the little things in life that most people don't notice, in her home she used to collect small wooden figurines she cut herself and she still does it sometimes if she has a knife and some wood at her disposal.
⎨DISLIKES⎬
Generally doesn't do well with authorities which is for sure inherited from her entire family being active rebellions of the martial empire, has a strong sense of what she feels is right and wrong and if someone does what she feels is wrong she puts her foot down.
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Background
“You are an ember in the ashes. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy.
You cannot change it. You cannot stop it.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes
[img]x[/img]A LIONCUB
TURNS INTO A LIONESS
Nesta never knew her parents. She doesn't have any memories of them herself, instead they live in her through her brothers story. She was born on a stormful night in a little house in the impoverished backstreet of the Martial Empire, to two scholar parents who had been at forefront for fighting the battle against the Martial Empire. Nesta got a total of three days with her parents, before they went to meet other scholars in the catacombs, and never returned. However, even though she has never met them, her brother, who was seven years senior at the time of her birth, always made sure to tell her stories of their parents and how wonderful they were.
Growing up Nesta's greatest inspiration in life was her brother, though she loved her grandparents who gave her and her brother a roof over their heads and provided them with clothes and food and water, Nesta absolutely adored her brother. Whenever she looked at him she always had a specific kind of sparkle in her eyes, that shined brighter than when she looked at anyone else. If there was something Nesta knew how to do, you could always count on her brother being behind the learning of it, whether it was reading, writing, carving figurines, telling stories in the most compassionate way, it all came from him.
In her little family of four, Nesta has always been referred to as the light of the family, the one at the table who was capable of up-lifting even the most depressive of moods. She has always been capable of finding the positives, even when their clothes were tearing of their body and they couldn't get new, when they had to eat a single potato for dinner or when her grandfather collapsed on the floor due to overworking himself. She has always been someone who found the little in wonders in life, like how the moon kept rising to the night sky, how the sky turned purple right before sunday, how the rain kept falling and washing away the yesterdays sins.
“You are full. Full of life and dark and strength and spirit.
You are in our dreams. You will burn, for you are an ember in the ashes.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes
Nesta however, has always been sheltered collectively by her family. Early on after their parents died, it was as if the brother and grandparents collectively decided that she shouldn't be involved with the life and heartache her parents had been, even if what they fought for were for the better. This means that Nesta has never really known the story of her parents, she has never known of the rebellion, she has never known that her parents were murdered for doing the right thing. She's als been sheltered in that she always been told that she wasn't to work, that her family would do that, that she shouldn't cook or provide for them, because that was her family's job. This has made her a tad unaware of how to provide and survive on her own.
However, due to her brother's teaching in other aspects of life, she has grown up to be a fast learner and quick on her feet. She's also, like her family, a rebel at her core which also means that she breaks the rules regularly even behind her familys back and does thing she shouldn't. She likes to climb rooftops and be up high, she likes to spy on people form afar who live a different life than her, she likes to stand outside the taverns and watch people bask in a party life she will never experience, she likes to watch the light of the festivals in town as people celebrate in a way she has never experienced. -
At the core
“I'd rather die than live with no mercy, no honor, no soul.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes
○ COMPASSIONATE
Adj. | com·pas·sion·ate | com·pas·sion·ate
Having or showing compassion.
Nesta is a compassionate individual, who greatly feels for those surpressed, in pain or in tough circumstances. Generally she is an individual who cares deeply about right or wrong, but sometimes her compassion gets in her way and makes her feel like she is in a dilemma with her self about what to do or feel.○ DEFIANT
Adj. | de·fi·ant | de·fi·ant
Full of or showing a disposition to challenge, resist, or fight.
Though sheltered and currently not skilled with how to provide and survive on her own, she is still someone who doesn't just do what those older and wiser than her tell her to, she is perfectly capable of resisting or fighting against authorities and rulesetters if she feels what they are asking of her isn't right.
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○ DETERMINED
Adj. | de·ter·mined | de·ter·mined
Characterized by determination.
Nesta is someone who if she sets her nose to it, she doesn't stop until she has reached the goal. She doesn't like to give up on something, which means she will always fight to reach the end rather than give up no matter how difficult it becomes.○ PASSIONATE
Adj. | pas·sion·ate | pas·sion·ate
Capable of, affected by, or expressing intense feeling.
Nesta is someone who isn't capable of sheltering her emotions, and she entirely wears them everything she feels on the outside. She's greatly affected by her emotions whenever they show up, whether it be joy, anger, sadness, she reacts the moment they appear.
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Powers & Abilities
S C H O L A R
“But I’m not strong. I’m weak, and I’m sick of pretending I’m not.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes
The Scholars are a race of oppressed people who once ruled the land that has since been occupied by the Martial Empire. They were once renowned for their knowledge and arts, and were a generally peaceful people.
The Empire of Scholar arose from the successful accord between men and the fey. The efrits showed men the paths to greatness, granting them powers of healing, fighting, swiftness, and fortune-telling. The Scholars were the strongest among men and they were dedicated to their creed: "Through knowledge, transcendence." What they had achieved, nevertheless, was not enough to surpass the boundless knowledge owned by the jinn. In attempt to learn the secrets of the jinn, the Scholars sent delegations to negotiate with the leader of the jinn, the King-of-No-Name. They received a gentle but firm response, "We are jinn. We are apart."
The Scholars attempted countless ways of negotiation, but the response was still the same. Soon, hard times struck the Scholar Empire. Famine and plague took whole cities. The Scholar Emperor believed that if they had the knowledge of the jinn, they could rise again. Thus, he gathered the finest Scholar intellectuals into a Coven to master the jinn. The Coven allied with some of the fey. From these creatures, the Scholars learned to trap the jinn. They tormented the jinn but still failed to secure their secrets. Enraged at the evasion of the jinn, the Coven no longer cared for fey secrets. They sought now only to destroy the jinn. The Coven used the knowledge given to them by the fey to create a powerful weapon called the Star. They used the weapon to corner the jinn and lock them forever in a grove of trees.
The power unleashed by the jailing destroyed the Star and the Coven. Though the jinn were defeated, their leader was not. The failure to save his people gave rise to the dark side of the king. He was then given a new name, the Nightbringer. He plagued mankind for hundreds of years, then allied himself with the Scholars' ancient enemy, the Martials. The Nightbringer whispered the secrets of steelcraft and statecraft to them. Within a few generations, the Martials managed to bring down the Scholar Empire. The Scholar Empire fell quickly, its people enslaved and broken
Izzat is a code of honor as old as the Scholar people. It is in Old Rei, the language spoken by Scholars before the Martials invaded and forced them to speak Serran. By definition, it means strength, honor, and pride. But recently, it has come to mean freedom, courage, and proving yourself. Izzat usually comes together with an image of a closed fist raised high with a flame behind it.
|I N V I S I B I L I T Y|
Nesta can render herself unseen by the naked eye and become invisible in visible spectrum. Nesta can move about an environment unseen by others and act without being observed. Nesta can choose to let certain people see them, while staying invisible to others. However, her power is nullified when she is near the Nightbringer.
|T E L E P A T H Y|
Nesta can communicate telepathically with those who share her blood, which in her case means her grandparents and her brother. They can communicate across great distances, and can hear each other clearly in each others head no matter the circumstances.
|H E A L|
Nesta has the power to heal. She can heal herself and others by singing. Each person has a different "song" that she uses to heal them. In order to heal a person, Nesta must understand them "all the way through to their core." When someone asks her to heal them, she becomes drawn to them, needing to help. She describes her brother a feeling "sorrow and a green-gold sweetness." Nesta's own song is a combination of rage and love. It is rage for her enemies and love for her people. Nesta's power also allows her to recover more quickly than a normal human.
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Signature
