Aurora | Vanessa King (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
incursivelight) wrote2037-02-23 03:47 am
incursivelight) wrote2037-02-23 03:47 am
info / history / homeworld
FULL NAME
Vanessa King
AGE // BIRTHDAY
mid-30s // April 28th
SPECIES
human
ARCHETYPE
The Wronged
PREY
fae hounds / the Wild Hunt
SAFE NAME
Aurora
NICKNAMES
Nessie (at home) // Rore (at school)
PRONOUNS
she / they
SEXUALITY
pansexual
OCCUPATION
college admin
TRIGGER WARNINGS
death of a sibling; fae fuckery
IN A NUTSHELL
Admin staff on a college campus overrun by fae, trying to avenge their loss and protect the students, in that order, much to their occasional shame.
Tends towards business casual wear for work and athletic for their off-time, but always wears shoes they can run in. Pretty much always carrying a sword with them.
PERSONALITY
✚ protective, encouraging, fun, brave, confident, capable
– reckless, single-minded, blunt, disorganized, ruthless, impatient
– reckless, single-minded, blunt, disorganized, ruthless, impatient
Aurora is, at heart, a protector. She likes people and wants to see them safe. It's why she's so careful to give advice to students that will keep them safe and is quick to offer any help she can, why she's so strict about keeping the rest of her family from knowing anything about her life at school, and why she's quick to jump in if she sees someone in trouble.
The problem is where this instinct has gotten all tangled up in unresolved grief and guilt over the death of her sister, who she believes would have been safe without her. It's pushed her to a single-minded focus towards ending the Wild Hunt, and it's very easy for her to come up with excuses to forgive any mildly questionable things she does along the way, because it will make things safer for everyone. She doesn't try to hurt people in the process, and generally attempts to avoid it if she can -- but her obsession can get the better of her, and she absolutely has done so in the past, usually obliviously, in pursuit of information, weapons, or whatever else she feels will help.
At her worst, she is stubbornly single-minded and impossible to knock off course no matter what the price. But at her best, she's playful and friendly and caring, and genuinely tries to give everyone a chance. There's a wariness about her when it comes to non-humans that it's hard to shake, given it's kept her alive in quite a few situations, but she'll even do her best to tamp down on that if someone doesn't seem to be a threat, though it doesn't always work.
That said, she does tend to hold people a little bit away from herself, a part of the grief she's never really dealt with properly. The death of her sister is still a weight on her almost daily, and she doesn't feel like she has the capacity to let anyone else in until she's made up for it; but people slip in anyway, from time to time.
She's fairly smart, very capable, and an excellent source of advice when it comes to self-defense, protection from the fae, or how to schedule your classes. That said, she's been in a very strange situation for her entire adult life, and her view of good advice for anything else is terrible. Her mentality tends to be "if it's not fae, it can't be that bad," and she'll encourage other people to see it that way too, which is not always a thought that leads to good choices. She doesn't mean to lead people astray, but she's definitely not someone who should be listened to without a grain of salt outside of very specific areas.
The problem is where this instinct has gotten all tangled up in unresolved grief and guilt over the death of her sister, who she believes would have been safe without her. It's pushed her to a single-minded focus towards ending the Wild Hunt, and it's very easy for her to come up with excuses to forgive any mildly questionable things she does along the way, because it will make things safer for everyone. She doesn't try to hurt people in the process, and generally attempts to avoid it if she can -- but her obsession can get the better of her, and she absolutely has done so in the past, usually obliviously, in pursuit of information, weapons, or whatever else she feels will help.
At her worst, she is stubbornly single-minded and impossible to knock off course no matter what the price. But at her best, she's playful and friendly and caring, and genuinely tries to give everyone a chance. There's a wariness about her when it comes to non-humans that it's hard to shake, given it's kept her alive in quite a few situations, but she'll even do her best to tamp down on that if someone doesn't seem to be a threat, though it doesn't always work.
That said, she does tend to hold people a little bit away from herself, a part of the grief she's never really dealt with properly. The death of her sister is still a weight on her almost daily, and she doesn't feel like she has the capacity to let anyone else in until she's made up for it; but people slip in anyway, from time to time.
She's fairly smart, very capable, and an excellent source of advice when it comes to self-defense, protection from the fae, or how to schedule your classes. That said, she's been in a very strange situation for her entire adult life, and her view of good advice for anything else is terrible. Her mentality tends to be "if it's not fae, it can't be that bad," and she'll encourage other people to see it that way too, which is not always a thought that leads to good choices. She doesn't mean to lead people astray, but she's definitely not someone who should be listened to without a grain of salt outside of very specific areas.
BACKGROUND
The Kings were a happy, normal family, three daughters who loved each other and parents who cared deeply and genuinely. Vanessa was the middle child, and loved both their sisters -- fought a lot with their oldest sister, but also cared about her, and they helped each other at least as much as they fought. But they were always closer to their younger sister, practically doted on her, and the adoration was mutual. Vanessa's childhood was normal, easy and loving, and it probably would have stayed a pretty normal life if they hadn't decided on the college they did.
Once there, the weird things started, and they were fascinated. A little nervous, but too interested to consider leaving. They picked up the habits and the ways to stay safe easily and early, and did their best to pass it on to other students as well. Two years in, their younger sister decided to join them at the same college, and though they were nervous, they did their best to teach her the tricks and keep her safe.
It worked for the most part, at least for a while. But the Wild Hunt is a lot bigger than anything Vanessa had learned to stave off before, and when it came around, their sister was caught. Vanessa was a senior, near graduating, and the loss of their sister devastated them as much as it angered them. That anger grew over the next year as they tried to deal with the loss and retake classes after failing most of them in their last semester, and by the time they graduated, two years later than anticipated after purposefully pushing it back, they were determined that the Hunt would pay, and that nobody else would go through what they did again.
Memories of the fae tend to fade once someone leaves the area of activity, so they opted to stay, getting hired on by a college staff always a little desperate for more help. First they worked the grounds for a few years, learning from the staff there, many of whom had quests of their own to follow and knew all sorts of new trick they hadn't heard of yet. After that they applied for an admin position and transferred to the office, where they've been working since.
Several more years and a few safe name changes later, Aurora, as they call themselves on campus, is still there. They've barely left campus except for very brief visits home since they were 18, and while living somewhere high-stress and constantly focusing on an impossible quest is a lot to handle year-round every-year, they're fine, really, don't even ask.
Once there, the weird things started, and they were fascinated. A little nervous, but too interested to consider leaving. They picked up the habits and the ways to stay safe easily and early, and did their best to pass it on to other students as well. Two years in, their younger sister decided to join them at the same college, and though they were nervous, they did their best to teach her the tricks and keep her safe.
It worked for the most part, at least for a while. But the Wild Hunt is a lot bigger than anything Vanessa had learned to stave off before, and when it came around, their sister was caught. Vanessa was a senior, near graduating, and the loss of their sister devastated them as much as it angered them. That anger grew over the next year as they tried to deal with the loss and retake classes after failing most of them in their last semester, and by the time they graduated, two years later than anticipated after purposefully pushing it back, they were determined that the Hunt would pay, and that nobody else would go through what they did again.
Memories of the fae tend to fade once someone leaves the area of activity, so they opted to stay, getting hired on by a college staff always a little desperate for more help. First they worked the grounds for a few years, learning from the staff there, many of whom had quests of their own to follow and knew all sorts of new trick they hadn't heard of yet. After that they applied for an admin position and transferred to the office, where they've been working since.
Several more years and a few safe name changes later, Aurora, as they call themselves on campus, is still there. They've barely left campus except for very brief visits home since they were 18, and while living somewhere high-stress and constantly focusing on an impossible quest is a lot to handle year-round every-year, they're fine, really, don't even ask.
SKILLS
FIGHTING & WEAPONRY
🗡 Well-trained with swords; carries a HUGE sword with her pretty much everywhere she can get away with
🗡 Decent shot; keeps a hunting rifle in her truck
🗡 Decent at hand-to-hand; keeps cast iron brass knuckles on her at all times
🗡 Decent shot; keeps a hunting rifle in her truck
🗡 Decent at hand-to-hand; keeps cast iron brass knuckles on her at all times
OTHER SKILLS
🗡 Encyclopedic knowledge of the Wild Hunt and fae hounds, as well as ways to keep yourself safe from the fae; broad base of knowledge about other related topics and other kinds of fae
🗡 Good at keeping stuff organized when she bothers to try, types quickly, is an all-around pretty stellar admin
🗡 Good at fighting through the pain when injured
🗡 Good at keeping stuff organized when she bothers to try, types quickly, is an all-around pretty stellar admin
🗡 Good at fighting through the pain when injured
HOMEWORLD/SETTING
🗡 originally a PC for a Monster of the Week campaign set in the world of Elsewhere University
🗡 basically this means: monster hunters dealing with issues on a campus overrun by the fae
🗡 still mostly working and living on this campus is necessary to Aurora's story, but most of the details otherwise can be fudged for threading/PSLing ease
🗡 safe names being at least likely if not standard around her school is also likely to stick, though, for habit reasons if nothing else
🗡 basically this means: monster hunters dealing with issues on a campus overrun by the fae
🗡 still mostly working and living on this campus is necessary to Aurora's story, but most of the details otherwise can be fudged for threading/PSLing ease
🗡 safe names being at least likely if not standard around her school is also likely to stick, though, for habit reasons if nothing else
MOTW STATS
+2 Tough; +1 Sharp; +1 Charm; 0 Cool; -1 Weird
MISC
🗡 This is her fourth safe name; she used one during her college years, one while working with the ground staff, one for the first few years of admin work, and recently changed because it was becoming too familiar for her.
🗡 Does Not Like Dogs, verging on the edge of a genuine phobia. She won't hurt them unless they're fae, but even mundane dogs are not her favorite after all these years.
🗡 Does Not Like Dogs, verging on the edge of a genuine phobia. She won't hurt them unless they're fae, but even mundane dogs are not her favorite after all these years.