Rhyn Monton

[Rhyn]

Player Name: Phae
Name: Rhyn'aura "Rhyn" Monton
Age: 24
Race: Human- snowleopard shifter
Height: 5'2''
Weight: 130 lbs
Physical Description:There is a look about this woman that makes her more animal than civilized. She looks uncomfortable as a human. In her human form, she has black hair, and pale skin. But this is rarely seen.

Most often she is in her half-shifted phase. Though she walks upright, she moves almost as if she would prefer that her hands were on the ground as well. Standing at just over 5 feet tall, Rhyn is easy to look over in a crowd. Her lines are built on stocky, rather than slim, with thick fur making her look a bit bulkier than she is. From head to toe, she's covered in a smoky gray colored fur, with black rosettes patterning their way over her body, even over her head. Because of this, her hair is an odd mix of grey and black strands, cut shorter in the back and falling a bit longer at her chin, as though she had cut it from a pony tail herself. Her eyes are naturally lined with darker fur, drawing attention to the intense gaze. At first glance, her eyes look colorless, but upon closer inspection one can tell that they are a very, very pale gold. From the underside of her chin and all the way down her front is a creamy white color of fur, rather than matching her main color of thin smoke. Small, rounded ears peek from underneath her thick fur and hair, twitching to catch sounds all around her.

Her paws appear too big for such a small body, like a puppy not yet done growing. Fur fluffs around them. Her hands are the same, with short, thick fingers and wide palms, the short hair tightly packed, even as it fades out to leave her palms bare. Her tail, patterned the same as her body, is only a foot shorter than she is tall, it's tip as black as the rosettes, the underside as creamy as her front. Rather than slender, it is thick, like the rest of her, built for the cold weather and rocky terrain.

Around her hips is a thick belt, with leather pouches built onto it, tying shut. Over her broad shoulders is a cloak, hood usually left down. A leather harness crisscrosses her chest, with more built in pouches, several small, tightly packed container for bolts, and two knives.

As a snow leopard, Rhyn stands only two feet high at the shoulder, her body from nose to the base of her tail only a little over three feet long. Her tail extends another bodylength behind her. Stocky, with gray fur and a cream stomach, she 's spotted with black rosettes, thicker over her legs. Her head is dome shaped and her eyes the same pale gold. Everything about her is compact and speaks of living in the cold.

Personality: Rhyn is a very quiet person. She generally keeps to herself when around people, and tends to be background. If one is friendly, but not too loud, she is polite and does enjoy a conversation, but she retreats as soon as possible from a loud and obnoxious personality. She tends to be a little standoffish until somebody has proven to her that they will be around for a while. She is reluctant to trust, and thinks before she speaks. While she often seems tough, and will not put up with nonsense, especially in the field, she is kindhearted, giving up her own food or time to help the animals she runs across. Her silence oft times makes people think her sad or angry, but she is content in the silence and solitude that she leads in her life. She smiles often enough, usually at things to do with animals, drawing or those few that she has allowed into her heart. Her laughter, is both rare and quiet, coming out in a gentle "huah" sound. It is usually breathy, without using her voice at all. She also uses this chuffing sound as a greeting to certain people. Not easily angered, Rhyn tends to deal with any situation calmly, unless one of those she cares for or who is under her protection is threatened. Even then she always gives warning first. It takes her a long time to truly care about someone, but once she does, she is intensely loyal and protective. Being so quiet, she tends to observe many things, taking in the undertones and the general "feel" of the area around her. It helps her form opinions quickly. Because she rarely learns more than just her first impression, she is stubbornly opinionated, sometimes even if she is wrong.
Possessions:
On body:
Thick wool cloak
Small crossbow
Leather belt with pockets
Leather harness with pockets
Two bolt quivers (20 crossbow bolts)
Two steel knives
leather collar
In belt pockets
Flint and steel
Tinder
3 extra strings for crossbow
1pocketful of nuts/seeds
1pocketful of dried fruit
wetstone
few bishani
a few pieces of pretty quartz or other crystals
In leather harness
2 pounds of jerky
2 travel-biscuits
(in a long pocket) slender box of charcoal pencils
-2 sheets of folded paper

Powers or Strengths:
Shifting- snowleopard
Mountain Lore: Having been raised in the mountains, Rhyn learned well the knowledge of them, how to survive, what animals to kill on sight and which to let go. She knows the best way to find water or wood/fuel for fires, and knows the signs of the weather as to when a storm is coming and one should hide. She also knows which herbs are helpful, and which are simple lichens that are useless except as bedding.
Crossbow weaponry: Birds are scarce for fletching in the wilds that she lives in. A crossbow was both more durable to the cold weather and bolts easier to make
Tracking: Having lived out in the wilds most of her life, Rhyn learned to track animals, both for hunting and for her own safety. Over rocks, in forests and in snow
Keen senses: Living on her own, in the wilderness, makes her pay attention to the area around her. She has no one to watch her back, so she must herself. Because of this, her hearing and sense of smell are sharper than most people's, especially down among the lower terrains where such are thicker.
Silent passage: In the mountains, sound can, as often as not, be fatal. Rhyn'aur learned how to move without a sound, even over rocky terrain.
Rock climbing:This is an essential skill to anyone living among the mountains. She knows how to use the equipment for this, but is far more likely to just use none, freeclimbing as she will.
Small weaponry:Never having use for a sword, she prefers knives for close combat, if more than claws is needed. She uses both left and right, as if she were fighting with her claws when she does this.
Par-kour: In a place where there are chasms, ledges, tiny handholds and uneven ground, all covered for much of the year with snow, one still sometimes has to move swiftly. Rhyn grew up running in this type of environment, making it easy for her to run across it, sometimes leaping from rock to rock, sometimes running on ledges that are too narrow for her to stay on for long until she can grip the top of the ledge to get on top. In the field she'll move on steep slopes on all four limbs just as often as two.
Artist She is an exceptional artist with sketching. This only comes out when she feels safe though, enough to relax and feel at ease.
Word is law: She will keep her word always.

Weaknesses:
Animal Nature:Living alone, Rhyn turns more to the animal side of her nature. She keeps a good rein on it, but when startled will respond more as the mountain cats she looks like than a civilized person. Her animal side most closely resembles the snow leopards because of her feeling of closeness to them, and because she has managed to study them somewhat during her time in the mountains.
Solitude: She likes to be alone. Alone as in, two months go by and you never see her. Because of this, too many people all at once are often over whelming. She's likely to run away rather than deal with them. It makes her easily overwhelmed when confronted with more than a couple people at once.
Quiet: When she does speak, if she speaks, it is in a very low voice. It varies between a rough growl and a smooth, soft voice, but it's always quiet. She sometimes goes unheard because of this. She also rarely speaks without being spoken to first, preferring to keep her mouth shut, lest somebody take offense.
Pride: Inherited from her parents, Rhyn prefers to not owe anyone anything. She will pay them back with services if need be, but she doesn't accept charity. Because of this same attribute as well, she can sometimes come off as arrogant if she is being spoken to about something she knows well, such as the mountains.
Secret Romantic: Though she hasn't found love yet, and does not pray for it (what's the use, all will come in due time) she yearns for that perfect match that she will raise kits with, a life partner who understand her beyond all others.
Insecure: Though it is hidden well, half because she is simply quiet, Rhyn feels insecure in almost any area except those she knows she excels in (mountain lore, etc). Anything to do with men, or looks she shies away from all the more.
Slow to make friends: Growing up in such a harsh environment made her realize that there was little she could do to make those who were meant to die, live. It makes it hard for her to grow close to anybody,
Sharp-tongued: When out in the field, if somebody is with her, she is still quiet, but will snap if somebody is being stupid and causing too much noise, thus scaring the wildlife or, (in the mountains) endangering them
Ignorant: It's not that she's stupid. She just doesn't know very much about anything outside the mountains she grew up in. In addition to that, she remains blissfully unaware that it seems abnormal for a snow leopard to be walking about in the lower regions.
Socially inapt: Having been exposed very little to society over her life, Rhyn has no idea how react in social settings. She doesn't understand the concept of racism or gender roles. Conversation is doable but she sometimes has a hard time even with that.
Allergy to Silver: Like all shifters, she's allergic to silver

History: Rhyn'aura was one kit out of four that her parents had. Though most of the shifters that lived in the mountains banded together for safety, or lived among the shifter city that was tucked between them, many of her particular kind preferred the isolation of the high reaches. In nomadic couples with their children, they wandered. Few ever settled. They gathered for important dates, the turn of the year, and naming ceremonies, or in emergencies came into the low valleys for protection from storms. Her mother had actually left the high reaches to find her mate, which was something that others approved of, since it kept the bloodlines from becoming too close. Her mother was Isa'ta and, like most of the shifters in the high-reaches, looked alike to a snow leopard. Her father, who came from the city in the valleys below, was also a shifter, but was a wolf, Dmitri. The two had fallen in love while in human form.

Her three brothers were the first faces she saw. They ranged in color. One, Tha'om, was as dark, nearly black, the second, Sek'mon was the soft grey of the clouds, fur tipped with black, and third, Carric, was a creamy off-white, spotted. Because of the cold in the high reaches, the first thing each learned was how to shift. Fur protected against the cold of the winds and snow far better than clothing. Tha'om and Sek'mon had both inherited their father's form, while Carric and Rhyn'aura their mother's.

Rhyn's first few years were spent happily, with three playmates to wrestle with and to help her learn what her parent's taught. Tha'om spent much of his time with Dmitri. Being the oldest, he often helped with hunting or breaking the trail for them to travel. The dangers of the high reaches were looming over all of their heads. She was three when Tha'om was taken. Even in the middle of summer, when the rocks were bare of their snow mostly, there was still patches of ice. Stepping wrong on one of these caused him to fall into a crevasse and break his neck.

When she was seven, Carric was hurt while helping Dmitri hunt for the mountain goats that they shared with the leopards in the area. His wound was too severe for them to save him. Sek'mon died the same year, when they ventured into the lower reaches or the winter, and wolves found him alone. By the time that Rhyn was ten, she had learned that the mountains took what they wished, when they wished it. Her mother taught her of the high mountains, and her father the lower reaches. With only one child left between them, there was much that the small shifter learned from both. Anytime they spotted a snow-leopard, her mother would lift a hand gravely, and nudge her, telling her to greet their cousin. It was after that, that Rhyn found something to live for in the reaches. The snow leopards were her link to the mountains. It was a harsh world. They accepted that. One out of three would survive it's dangerous nature. She found a kinship with the wild things, watching how they moved and learning from them as well as her mother and father. She took to using charcoal to draw the leopards when she saw them, first on rocks, and then on a piece of leather that she could rub the charcoal off of and use again and again.

Her father died when she was ten, and she stepped up to take his place with her mother. Isa taught her everything she knew of the mountains, and pressed upon her time and time again to take care of those she loved. Rhyn promised her that she would, and did so as best she could. The next few years went by swiftly and she grew and matured until she stood a little taller than her mother. It was the spring of her fifteenth year when they parted, the urge to live without the protection of her parent beginning to grate upon Rhyn's nerves.

For a while, the young woman wandered on her own, testing out the lower reaches during that summer and finding them fascinating, filled with more life and plants than she had encountered before. She had decided already that the nomadic wandering of the high reaches was not what she wanted. She loved the high reaches, and would retreat there often, but she wanted to find a place to live, and come home to. It was in the middle of winter that year that she found herself caught in one of the small blizzards. Unused to snow blowing so thickly about her, she searched for shelter, but could not find any. Between a mix of starvation, dehydration and then chill, the small woman was left incapacitated, alone in the woods and slowly beginning to sleep her way to death, her half-shifted form all that kept her from it.

She was found sprawled over the snow in her half-shifted form by a hermit that had come to live in the mountains. Bradley Clearwater had wandered, shunning society. At first, he had come to buck against the strictness of Marn, coming north because of the rumor of how much less restrictive the shifter city was. Zhaltev was a little bit too strange to the man. But out in the woods, he was at home, and so he built himself a cabin, nobody to answer to save himself. While he was out hunting, he stumbled over her, literally, snowshoes catching her thick tail and tripping him. When he saw that it was not just a cat, but rather, somebody who was not all human, the lonely man took her in, carrying her back to his small cabin and placing her on a bed of blankets in front of the fire he kept blazing. He could tell she was young, but did not know how young.

Four days he labored over her, bringing her back from death's precipice. She woke up feeling as though she had been reborn, and the first thing she saw was Brad's rough, bearded face. The mountains had not taken her, then. She was still weak, and the man continued to care for her. He spoke because she would not, a mixture of the language she had grown up with and common. Sometimes it was stories, just as often it was how well the hunt had gone. As soon as she was strong enough, Rhyn put herself to work in repayment of the man, still unsure how to reach out to a stranger with words, and so doing such in actions instead. She did whatever she could manage, even if it was just keeping water hot for his return after going to hunt or gather wood for his fire. As she regained strength, she chopped wood, rather than having him bundle himself up for it, and after that, began hunting, taking down prey when most would believe it all hiding away. He taught her the wood craft he knew, and how to use the crossbow he preferred. The man had tried to give her clothing once, and she silently refused, knowing that her own fur protected her from the cold better.

They came to rely upon each other. Brad was getting into his forties, and by the way he had cared for her, she could tell he'd had children of his own. First, in her determination to thank the man for saving her life, she worked, hard, but as the winter continued and they were stuck inside together, days at a time, she slowly began to speak, allowing him to teach the language that was known as "common" while she taught him her own birth language. She knew now that he had left a bastard son behind him in his wanderings, and the woman he loved had refused to come with him when the urge to move came upon him. She had feared the magic in the outer world. Rhyn told him of the loss of her siblings and family, and her life up until this point. After that, there was almost little need for words between them. He would sit in front of the fire in his chair, working on leather projects from the hides he had tanned, and she would curl up on the floor, leaning against his legs. His large hand often found its way to resting on her head, and she didn't mind, knowing that she had slowly become a mixture of daughter and pet to him, just as he had become a father to her. She used a stick of charcoal and scraps from his leather working to draw upon, wishing to show him some of the wonders of the high reaches that she didn't feel she could explain adequately. Her skill only improved as she practiced.

By the time spring came around, they had become a solid team, and she was sad, feeling that her debt was repaid, and the urge to leave was upon her. When she told him one night, that she was going to leave in the morning, he shoved a bowl of stew they were eating for dinner in front of her, and nodded in silent acceptance. She didn't see much of him that night, but when she awoke, he was waiting for her outside. Towering over her, Bradley didn't utter a word as he wrapped first the belt around her hips, and then the harness around her shoulders. She recognized both as projects he had worked on that winter. When she tried to protest, he grunted and looked at her with a rough glare that cut her soft voice off. The cloak came over her shoulders next, and he shoved the crossbow into her hands, already loaded and ready to fire. Tears were in his eyes, but none fell as he ruffled her hair once, and walked back inside his cabin.

Hooking the crossbow in place on her back, under her cloak, she began her journey. She was pulled into the high reaches for the summer, carefully hoarding the bolts she had for the crossbow. She hunted with her knives and as a cat whenever she could. Though she knew how to make more bolts, as she had learned that winter in the long nights, she didn't have the luxury of wood as much here on the rocky terrain. Often, she looked down in the direction where she knew Bradley lived, torn between the nomadic life she had grown up in, and the man she had come to consider her family. It was her mother's teaching to always take care of those you loved that one her over. She moved down into the lower reaches as fall came upon the mountains, soon to turn to winter. It didn't take her long to find Bradley's cabin, and she spent a few days watching him as he prepared, stacking wood high, close to his door where it would be easy to get to. He had built a lean to against his home as well, giving a space where he could stomp the snow off of his boots and brush it off his clothing.

A few days later, she made herself known to him, standing and waiting for him to come out in the morning, her hood down and her cloak thrown back from her shoulders. A large deer was on the ground in front of her. It was a happy, if mostly silent reunion. His hug nearly crushed her, and she had to make sure she watched her claws as she hugged him fiercely back. Their relationship remained much the same for the next few years. She would go wander during the summer, but was always close enough to make sure he was fine, and during the winter, though she may disappear for a week or more, she came back to live with Brad. She accompanied him a few times when he made his way into Zhaltev to sell his leather work in exchange for supplies that helped him live through the rough northern winters. The crowds intimidated her, and it was a bit difficult for her to understand how so many people could live so close together. During these times, she watched him barter, but never could bring herself to leave his side, intimidated by the sheer amount of people in the market place.

When she was roughly 22, Brad got sick. He was closer to fifty now, and mountain winters were not kind to those who did not have what they needed to protect against them. Rhyn took care of him through the fever and the wet cough that he had gotten, but in the end, they both knew that there was naught that either of them could do save to wait. So Bradley told her everything of his life, and made her find the small cache of valuables that he had taken with him. There was a small bit of bishani, but mostly, it was simply memories for an old man. He pleaded with her to return his family ring and a medallion back to his family if they still lived, to find his bastard son, who would carry his last name, and give the two items to him, if possible. Shim, he pressed into her mind again and again. She should find them in Shim. He explained that they were not fond of magic there, but assured her that there were shapeshifters there, if few.

The day before he died, he pressed upon her the last piece of leather work he had done, a slender leather choker necklace. Cut into the leather was decorative designs, and hanging from it was a charm inset with a citrine that he had found, the same color as her eyes.

He lapsed into delirium after that, and not long after, the fever took him. Even as she grieved, Rhyn packed for a journey. The mountains had decided that Brad was who they wanted, and they had taken him. She would carry out her foster-father's dying wish, and carry his family ring and the medallion to his son, in the south.

[Katona]

This is looking pretty good, but there are a few things that need clarification. You probably know that you don't need a strict inventory of your character's belongings, but I thought I'd mention it anyway, and there are a couple of mistakes in the fourth paragraph of the history, so look that over again.

Why exactly did Rhyn decide to leave her mother? Was it a cultural thing or did something happen to make her decide to live on her own rather than stay and protect her mother? As for almost dying, why did Rhyn decide to leave in the middle of winter instead of preparing and waiting until she'd have a better chance of survival?

Another thing I want to make sure you're aware of is that Zhaltev and Marn are pretty far apart, so Bradley probably wouldn't've decided to just wander off in that direction without a reason. Did he leave just to escape the puradynic lifestyle, and why did he choose to travel north?

From what I can tell, Rhyn hasn't had much contact with many other people before. Has she spent much time in the shifter city? Either way, her first time heading into Marn/Shim would probably be somewhat of a culture shock to her. I'd like to see a little more about her inexperience with people, different races, and city environments, particularly considering the place she's headed isn't particularly fond of non-humans which might be different to what she's used to.

Last couple of things: if she's quiet and prefers not to speak, why does she talk aloud to herself? And when or where exactly did she find the time and motivation to learn how to sketch?

[Rhyn]

Annnd done. ^_^

[Katona]

Approved. Have fun!

[Niabi]

This character is being moved to Old Characters for being Inactive. If you at any time would like to have this character moved back to Active Characters, please send me a PM and I will add your character back to the active list.

Thank you.