Eirlys Information
From Ars Magica
Contents |
Physical Appearance and Personality
From the waist up, Eirlys appears as a dark-haired young woman with striking violet eyes; attractive despite being quite young for a gauntleted mage. (A common misconception-- she's 26, but looks about 14. Even more confusing would be if you tried to calculate her age according to the turnings of the sun; time flows differently in Arcadia. The time of her birth, as close as can be inferred, corresponds with the winter solstice of 1182.) A perceptive eye will notice a strange tilt to her hips and an odd gait when she walks; the hooves and furry legs, of course, are plain for all to see. In the presence of mundanes, she will typically wear normal wool or linen clothing, with long skirts to hide the inhuman features; however, one usually notices her clawing at seams with discomfort. She keeps some dresses of iridescent, shimmering silk, which she only wears on special occasions. She carries with her a staff of holly, ornately carved, though unmagical.
While a priestess of Cailleach Bheur, Eirlys does not proselytise or try to "spread the faith" -- she sees this kind of behavior as insulting to others, in addition to being disrespectful to one's own faith. She makes no secret of her own beliefs, however, and when interest is shown, she is more than happy to bring others to Arcadia for important festivals. Many commonfolk tell tales of the crone, the maiden, or the horned god, but only those initiated in the realm of faerie (willingly or no) might have danced with Caerwiden himself.
Eirlys' only friendships are those formed with others of the fey realm: the nimble and playful fey polecat, Aloysius, and her silent protector, Sandor.
Eirlys is highly whimsical and somewhat predatory in nature, what one would expect of a fey specializing in Muto and Perdo. At her worst, she can be cruel and cold; at her best, charming and perhaps a bit meddlesome. While friendly and flirtatious, she maintains emotional distance from those she doesn't trust implicitly; a characteristic which, combined with her Hermetic focus, earned her the nickname of "Ice Queen" from her sodales of Loch Leglean. She is extremely intelligent, but the nature of mortals is so alien that she sees her own capricious pranks as a series of learning experiments on the nature of humans. She does have a kind heart, but acting upon her soft-hearted sentiments is not high on her list of priorities.
Wizard's Sigil
Whenever Eirlys uses magic, those nearby hear the sound of hoof-falls. The stronger the magic, the louder the sound. The most subtle of magic leaves the sound of the faintest "trip-trap, trip-trap," while more powerful magic sounds like a thundering stampede of wild bulls.
Additionally, her magic carries with it an odd side-effect; the area around her becomes cold. This varies depending on the magnitude of the effect: low-level magic yields only a slight chill sensation, while the stronger magic can cause frost to form on anything nearby. Being a winter fey, Eirlys never seems to mind the cold.
Personal Sigil
Eirlys inscribes all of her lab texts, books, and correspondence with her personal sigil: the letter delta which shimmers in changing colors. Her personal motto is "Omnia mutantur, omnia interit." (Everything changes and everything dies.)
Vis Source
Eirlys has a personal vis source-- literally. She keeps her hooves shod in bronze; over time, however, the bronze slowly transmutes into silver. While silver is precious, the old shoes' magical value far exceeds its mundane, as the metal seems to absorb some magical essence from their wearer, each shoe becoming a pawn of faerie Muto vis. Twice a year she has a smith remove the shoes from her hooves and is re-shod with new bronze shoes.
Exposure
Taking the cue from Perikles, I figure it's a good idea to keep track of what things Eirlys has done, for the purposes of exposure EXP.
So far, she's cast:
PeIm
MuCo(An)
PeVi
She may also have used Guile or Charm (coaxing Aloysius), Carouse (drinking non-faerie booze in the inn... not sure if that counts), Awareness and Athletics in owl form (flying around and looking about for anything of interest), maybe Awareness, Area Lore, or Survival in human form (exploring the forest), possibly Faerie Lore and/or Magic Theory (reasoning out the nature of the barrier).
