Ghena (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
earthenkin) wrote2014-10-16 05:32 pm
earthenkin) wrote2014-10-16 05:32 pm
Application
OOC INFORMATION
Your Name: Aaron
Your Age: 22
Contact Info: portaling @ AIM; seacats @ plurk
Timezone: EST
IC INFORMATION
Character Name: Ghena of the Earthen Clan
Canon: OC
Character Background:
Ghena was born in a small village in the Plainslands, in a world irrevocably split by class. Everyone around her was poor: in fact, in her world, all of those that lived their lives walking on the earth were destined to continue to be ruled by the nobility, who live their lives in splendor on a floating city, high above the earth. None of the clanspeople were allowed to set foot on the City, and most spent their lives either ignoring its abuse of the people down below or living in resignation at the occasion. The technology is also wildly split between the two factions: the City and those that live in it enjoy a high level of technology, and spend their days doing nothing but dreaming up new inventions and creations that could be used to better their lives. In comparison, the Clans have little to no technology of their own, living at basically a serfdom level of modernity, and spend most of their days working hard to feed not only themselves, but the people who live above them. However, unlike the City, the Clans have held tight to their old traditions: traditions of sacrifice and magic, worked directly from the element associated with them. Earth, Fire, Air and Water are all represented with different magics according to the Clan’s location.
Unfortunately, no one told Ghena any of those nice adages like “don’t disturb the peace”-- or if they did, she simply didn’t listen. Years of growing up hungry, watching as those that lived in the clouds took what they wanted and left people on earth to rot, turned her angry and resentful. Eventually, she grew tired of watching her tiny family eke out a living, and left them behind -- striking out into the world in order to change the system for the good of her Clan. Ghena eventually traps a rich young man, Lucano, and forces him to take her back to the City. Knowing that he’ll be ostracized for allowing a Clansman into the City, Lucano inevitably ends up trailing along after Ghena on her adventures, starting first by getting her an audience with the council, or the ruling body of the world.
“Well, too bad!” Is basically what they tell Ghena when she brings up all of the terrible injustices that occur on a daily basis. You see, the council does nothing of their own accord: instead, they follow the word given to them by the One God, who speaks to the council directly. The god is the real ruler of the world, and is the one that decided to create the world like it is now. If she has a problem with it, she’ll have to travel to the edge of the world -- where earth and sky meet -- to have an audience with him personally. Of course, no one actually expects her to do this, but...ain’t no one gonna tell Ghena no. Lucano in tow, she drags him essentially from one end of the earth to the other, stopping at the central city of every Clan to learn of their injustices and help them with their problems as best they can. Basically, she amasses all of the problems of the world that she can find in a book, and then plans to show them to the One God at the end of their journey.
When they arrive...well, safe to say the One God doesn’t listen. He tells Ghena and Lucano that if they want him to pay attention to their problems, then they’ll have to become a god themselves, as he refuses to listen to anyone but an equal. They return back to Ghena’s home disheartened. Thankfully though, the magic that courses through the blood of the Clans has always hidden a fifth element: Aether, or the magic of the soul and all living creatures. The head clansmen of each Clan kept the fifth magic secret from the rest of the world, as it is both extremely powerful and extremely dangerous: it contains the ability to create and destroy gods. Ghena decides to follow through with the trial of the Aether, and emerges from a long and dangerous test a god, herself. Through this, she finds out that their world has gone through several different iterations: that every time someone decides to destroy the system and proves themselves worthy, the world changes, and the earth realigns. Essentially: every new god creates a new world with a new history.
SO SHE GOES BACK TO THE ONE GOD AND RUINS HIM. Because as the title states, there can only be one god for the world to exist in harmony. And Ghena recreates the entire world by placing herself in that position. :’) Except...she remakes it into a world where “everyone is equal,” demolishes magic and reduces technology, and creates essentially a communist regime world where no one is happy and everyone is forced to abide by strict rules in order to survive.
WHOOPS.
Character personality:
Ghena is, essentially, an unmoving force of nature -- just like her corresponding element, Earth. Stubborn and mulish, if she can’t get what she wants from her current situation she’ll be more than happy to move mountains to change it. Nothing is too large for her to tackle, in her mind: her belief in herself is very, very high, and she can’t picture a situation in which she would be unable to at least start making change. Like an earthquake, she rumbles in and brings sudden change wherever she goes, with no remorse for those who get swept up in it or tossed aside. Not that Ghena is heartless! For example, she does come to feel pity for Lucano as their friendship develops, because of the terrible situation she put him in. Ghena is perfectly capable of feeling sympathy for other people -- and it’s sympathy for all of the people on earth that drives her to want to change it.
Her one great downfall in life is her overwhelming pride: pride in her accomplishments and pride in herself often causes Ghena to overlook the important details, or walk straight into traps and deceptions. She is very straightforward, with no real secrets hidden -- and it is hard for her to believe that someone else who respects themselves would want to doublecross someone! She is too proud to accept when she’s failed, and too stubborn to stop looking for a solution. This tends to be just too much for a lot of people; Ghena just doesn’t understand people very well, and it tends to lead to a lot of confusion and failure in the realm of relationships. Her pride gets in the way, and she can’t see over it to any personal concerns or smaller grievances. Ghena is all for looking at the very big picture -- and not so good at looking at the day to day.
Combined with her sense of pride, Ghena also has a very large sense of the establishment: or primarily, what good leadership is supposed to look like. She’s all for following the rules, particularly when the rules are (in her mind) “good ones” -- she firmly upholds all of the rules of her own Clan, and is very respectful of her Clan elders! But if there’s a set of rules or regulations that she doesn’t like, you can bet she’s either going to try to change them or simply just ignore them, particularly when those rules come from a perceived higher power. Considering herself a little above laws that come down with no justification, Ghena is all about changing laws that just don’t make sense -- or if the laws can’t be changed, then getting rid of the leaders and replacing them with good people. Her story is an interesting duality: she reveres the laws of the Earthen Clan and puts great faith in her spiritual practices that relate to it, and yet refuses to believe in the One God’s absolute power and the laws that the City sets down. She is kind and considerate to her parents and relatives, but standoffish and sullen around the City leaders. Really, it all depends on how Ghena views you. As an ally or a close friend, you are invaluable and respected -- and even strangers who have good heads on their shoulders are carefully listened to, and their opinions respected. But if you somehow manage to convince her that you’re a bad influence, a bad leader or just a Bad Person -- you’re going to be stuck in that role for life. And just like the earth, her opinion is hard to sway: she’ll have a difficult time trusting you, for the rest of your days.
Effects of memory loss: Without that background in injustice and squalor, Ghena would be much more accepting of people from various backgrounds and with various worldviews, even if she wouldn’t necessarily agree with them. She wouldn’t feel the need to automatically side against anyone whose life choices were (in her opinion) wrong, and instead would be accepting, and a little bit more sympathetic. She will have an easier time making friends when she doesn’t feel quite so self-righteous or so...well, stuck up is a good set of words. And she’ll be much more malleable, much more willing to bend than she is when she comes straight from her kind of terrible world.
Essentially, she’ll be more interested in listening to other people and making alliances, which will definitely help her to settle into Kyriakos more smoothly than it would if she started with all of her memories!
Personal item: Her staff -- carved with intricate pictures that tell the story of her life, it allows Ghena to access the magic of her Clan.
How would your character react to their position? WELL. Likely. She’s never been given a real position of power before (being...an outcast of sorts in her world. ish. And also being rather young in her society) so it might be a little new to her, but she takes responsibility and rules and traditions very seriously, so she’ll likely accept it straight away and never really question why she wasn’t placed on a team! As for anyone’s animosity towards Cats, she honestly won’t care much at all about that sort of thing, as that happened in her world allllll the time. Just like home. Haters gonna hate, Ghena’s gonna try to be the best Cat ever as long as Queen and Princess keep trying to treat everyone equally under their law.
Under what circumstances might they consider breaking the rules? As long as the rules abide by what Ghena considers to be ‘fair,’ she would follow them -- even if they are disagreeable to other people. It’s when rules start to cause grave injustices to occur that she would consider breaking them, and then because she thinks equality and justice is the best way to handle all situations. She’s a very moral person (even if her morals don’t always align with what other people thinl) and does have a healthy respect for good authority. When they start to become bad authority, however, she would do whatever she could to subvert the system. So ultimately, if Queen and Princess prove that they are at least sympathetic rulers who care about the people they’re trying to oversee, she will likely do whatever they want -- but if they were ever to give her a bad ruling, something that went against other laws previously posted, she would try to change it or just simply not follow it.
Which of the six available powers would your character choose, and why? Paralysis! Ghena likes to be in control, and in a conflict resolution position would want the ability to control other people (for at least a little bit of time) in order to put the situation to rights. It also works well as a manifestation of her total stubbornness -- she’s so bullheaded that her powers end up giving her the extra ability to stubborn a situation to a resting point!
Sample:
Introduce yourself: I am Ghena, of the Earthen Clan. [ She pauses, as if that’s all she’s really supposed to say, and then after a bit… ] Was there meant to be more to my explanation? I believe that was sufficient.
What is one of your favorite things to do?: I do not normally have time to enjoy pasttimes...but gardening is a healthy habit. I particularly enjoy growing vegetables when time and money allows.
What is the most important thing that has happened to you in your life?: My whole life is a series of important events. You may as well ask for my entire life’s story.
[ :T ]
But if you are forcing me to choose, then I will choose the day I became an official member of the Clan. Before, I was a child; now I am an adult, capable of making my own decisions and leaving my mark on the world, as my relatives did before me.
If you were the only person that could save your world, would you do it?: Of course. Isn’t that what I was already doing?
What aspects of yourself do you consider the most important?: I do not give up. Not ever. You may think I am exaggerating -- but I am not. There is no other option but success for me.
Do you have a favorite skill?: Scaring Lucano is one of my particular favorites. He is quite jumpy at times. Really, it’s the only way to make myself laugh. But a real skill...being able to call on the earth to assist me in times of trouble is a skill I would never give up for anything.
Would you do anything to help the people or things that are most important to you? Of course. As I explained, I do not give up on anything. Especially not those closest to me.
Do you work well with other people? Please explain why you do, or why you do not!: I work well with people if they understand their place in our partnership. I cannot always be telling them what to do. They have to figure it out for themselves occasionally, and then our partnership will work well.
...So perhaps that means I am actually not good at working with other people. [ Shrug! ] What can I say? I am stubborn. If they do not approve of my methods, they can leave. That is the way I have always operated, and it is the way I will continue to do so.
Finally, please say whatever you may be thinking at this moment in time!: Thank you for listening to me.
[ Nodding! ]
Your Name: Aaron
Your Age: 22
Contact Info: portaling @ AIM; seacats @ plurk
Timezone: EST
IC INFORMATION
Character Name: Ghena of the Earthen Clan
Canon: OC
Character Background:
Ghena was born in a small village in the Plainslands, in a world irrevocably split by class. Everyone around her was poor: in fact, in her world, all of those that lived their lives walking on the earth were destined to continue to be ruled by the nobility, who live their lives in splendor on a floating city, high above the earth. None of the clanspeople were allowed to set foot on the City, and most spent their lives either ignoring its abuse of the people down below or living in resignation at the occasion. The technology is also wildly split between the two factions: the City and those that live in it enjoy a high level of technology, and spend their days doing nothing but dreaming up new inventions and creations that could be used to better their lives. In comparison, the Clans have little to no technology of their own, living at basically a serfdom level of modernity, and spend most of their days working hard to feed not only themselves, but the people who live above them. However, unlike the City, the Clans have held tight to their old traditions: traditions of sacrifice and magic, worked directly from the element associated with them. Earth, Fire, Air and Water are all represented with different magics according to the Clan’s location.
Unfortunately, no one told Ghena any of those nice adages like “don’t disturb the peace”-- or if they did, she simply didn’t listen. Years of growing up hungry, watching as those that lived in the clouds took what they wanted and left people on earth to rot, turned her angry and resentful. Eventually, she grew tired of watching her tiny family eke out a living, and left them behind -- striking out into the world in order to change the system for the good of her Clan. Ghena eventually traps a rich young man, Lucano, and forces him to take her back to the City. Knowing that he’ll be ostracized for allowing a Clansman into the City, Lucano inevitably ends up trailing along after Ghena on her adventures, starting first by getting her an audience with the council, or the ruling body of the world.
“Well, too bad!” Is basically what they tell Ghena when she brings up all of the terrible injustices that occur on a daily basis. You see, the council does nothing of their own accord: instead, they follow the word given to them by the One God, who speaks to the council directly. The god is the real ruler of the world, and is the one that decided to create the world like it is now. If she has a problem with it, she’ll have to travel to the edge of the world -- where earth and sky meet -- to have an audience with him personally. Of course, no one actually expects her to do this, but...ain’t no one gonna tell Ghena no. Lucano in tow, she drags him essentially from one end of the earth to the other, stopping at the central city of every Clan to learn of their injustices and help them with their problems as best they can. Basically, she amasses all of the problems of the world that she can find in a book, and then plans to show them to the One God at the end of their journey.
When they arrive...well, safe to say the One God doesn’t listen. He tells Ghena and Lucano that if they want him to pay attention to their problems, then they’ll have to become a god themselves, as he refuses to listen to anyone but an equal. They return back to Ghena’s home disheartened. Thankfully though, the magic that courses through the blood of the Clans has always hidden a fifth element: Aether, or the magic of the soul and all living creatures. The head clansmen of each Clan kept the fifth magic secret from the rest of the world, as it is both extremely powerful and extremely dangerous: it contains the ability to create and destroy gods. Ghena decides to follow through with the trial of the Aether, and emerges from a long and dangerous test a god, herself. Through this, she finds out that their world has gone through several different iterations: that every time someone decides to destroy the system and proves themselves worthy, the world changes, and the earth realigns. Essentially: every new god creates a new world with a new history.
SO SHE GOES BACK TO THE ONE GOD AND RUINS HIM. Because as the title states, there can only be one god for the world to exist in harmony. And Ghena recreates the entire world by placing herself in that position. :’) Except...she remakes it into a world where “everyone is equal,” demolishes magic and reduces technology, and creates essentially a communist regime world where no one is happy and everyone is forced to abide by strict rules in order to survive.
WHOOPS.
Character personality:
Ghena is, essentially, an unmoving force of nature -- just like her corresponding element, Earth. Stubborn and mulish, if she can’t get what she wants from her current situation she’ll be more than happy to move mountains to change it. Nothing is too large for her to tackle, in her mind: her belief in herself is very, very high, and she can’t picture a situation in which she would be unable to at least start making change. Like an earthquake, she rumbles in and brings sudden change wherever she goes, with no remorse for those who get swept up in it or tossed aside. Not that Ghena is heartless! For example, she does come to feel pity for Lucano as their friendship develops, because of the terrible situation she put him in. Ghena is perfectly capable of feeling sympathy for other people -- and it’s sympathy for all of the people on earth that drives her to want to change it.
Her one great downfall in life is her overwhelming pride: pride in her accomplishments and pride in herself often causes Ghena to overlook the important details, or walk straight into traps and deceptions. She is very straightforward, with no real secrets hidden -- and it is hard for her to believe that someone else who respects themselves would want to doublecross someone! She is too proud to accept when she’s failed, and too stubborn to stop looking for a solution. This tends to be just too much for a lot of people; Ghena just doesn’t understand people very well, and it tends to lead to a lot of confusion and failure in the realm of relationships. Her pride gets in the way, and she can’t see over it to any personal concerns or smaller grievances. Ghena is all for looking at the very big picture -- and not so good at looking at the day to day.
Combined with her sense of pride, Ghena also has a very large sense of the establishment: or primarily, what good leadership is supposed to look like. She’s all for following the rules, particularly when the rules are (in her mind) “good ones” -- she firmly upholds all of the rules of her own Clan, and is very respectful of her Clan elders! But if there’s a set of rules or regulations that she doesn’t like, you can bet she’s either going to try to change them or simply just ignore them, particularly when those rules come from a perceived higher power. Considering herself a little above laws that come down with no justification, Ghena is all about changing laws that just don’t make sense -- or if the laws can’t be changed, then getting rid of the leaders and replacing them with good people. Her story is an interesting duality: she reveres the laws of the Earthen Clan and puts great faith in her spiritual practices that relate to it, and yet refuses to believe in the One God’s absolute power and the laws that the City sets down. She is kind and considerate to her parents and relatives, but standoffish and sullen around the City leaders. Really, it all depends on how Ghena views you. As an ally or a close friend, you are invaluable and respected -- and even strangers who have good heads on their shoulders are carefully listened to, and their opinions respected. But if you somehow manage to convince her that you’re a bad influence, a bad leader or just a Bad Person -- you’re going to be stuck in that role for life. And just like the earth, her opinion is hard to sway: she’ll have a difficult time trusting you, for the rest of your days.
Effects of memory loss: Without that background in injustice and squalor, Ghena would be much more accepting of people from various backgrounds and with various worldviews, even if she wouldn’t necessarily agree with them. She wouldn’t feel the need to automatically side against anyone whose life choices were (in her opinion) wrong, and instead would be accepting, and a little bit more sympathetic. She will have an easier time making friends when she doesn’t feel quite so self-righteous or so...well, stuck up is a good set of words. And she’ll be much more malleable, much more willing to bend than she is when she comes straight from her kind of terrible world.
Essentially, she’ll be more interested in listening to other people and making alliances, which will definitely help her to settle into Kyriakos more smoothly than it would if she started with all of her memories!
Personal item: Her staff -- carved with intricate pictures that tell the story of her life, it allows Ghena to access the magic of her Clan.
How would your character react to their position? WELL. Likely. She’s never been given a real position of power before (being...an outcast of sorts in her world. ish. And also being rather young in her society) so it might be a little new to her, but she takes responsibility and rules and traditions very seriously, so she’ll likely accept it straight away and never really question why she wasn’t placed on a team! As for anyone’s animosity towards Cats, she honestly won’t care much at all about that sort of thing, as that happened in her world allllll the time. Just like home. Haters gonna hate, Ghena’s gonna try to be the best Cat ever as long as Queen and Princess keep trying to treat everyone equally under their law.
Under what circumstances might they consider breaking the rules? As long as the rules abide by what Ghena considers to be ‘fair,’ she would follow them -- even if they are disagreeable to other people. It’s when rules start to cause grave injustices to occur that she would consider breaking them, and then because she thinks equality and justice is the best way to handle all situations. She’s a very moral person (even if her morals don’t always align with what other people thinl) and does have a healthy respect for good authority. When they start to become bad authority, however, she would do whatever she could to subvert the system. So ultimately, if Queen and Princess prove that they are at least sympathetic rulers who care about the people they’re trying to oversee, she will likely do whatever they want -- but if they were ever to give her a bad ruling, something that went against other laws previously posted, she would try to change it or just simply not follow it.
Which of the six available powers would your character choose, and why? Paralysis! Ghena likes to be in control, and in a conflict resolution position would want the ability to control other people (for at least a little bit of time) in order to put the situation to rights. It also works well as a manifestation of her total stubbornness -- she’s so bullheaded that her powers end up giving her the extra ability to stubborn a situation to a resting point!
Sample:
Introduce yourself: I am Ghena, of the Earthen Clan. [ She pauses, as if that’s all she’s really supposed to say, and then after a bit… ] Was there meant to be more to my explanation? I believe that was sufficient.
What is one of your favorite things to do?: I do not normally have time to enjoy pasttimes...but gardening is a healthy habit. I particularly enjoy growing vegetables when time and money allows.
What is the most important thing that has happened to you in your life?: My whole life is a series of important events. You may as well ask for my entire life’s story.
[ :T ]
But if you are forcing me to choose, then I will choose the day I became an official member of the Clan. Before, I was a child; now I am an adult, capable of making my own decisions and leaving my mark on the world, as my relatives did before me.
If you were the only person that could save your world, would you do it?: Of course. Isn’t that what I was already doing?
What aspects of yourself do you consider the most important?: I do not give up. Not ever. You may think I am exaggerating -- but I am not. There is no other option but success for me.
Do you have a favorite skill?: Scaring Lucano is one of my particular favorites. He is quite jumpy at times. Really, it’s the only way to make myself laugh. But a real skill...being able to call on the earth to assist me in times of trouble is a skill I would never give up for anything.
Would you do anything to help the people or things that are most important to you? Of course. As I explained, I do not give up on anything. Especially not those closest to me.
Do you work well with other people? Please explain why you do, or why you do not!: I work well with people if they understand their place in our partnership. I cannot always be telling them what to do. They have to figure it out for themselves occasionally, and then our partnership will work well.
...So perhaps that means I am actually not good at working with other people. [ Shrug! ] What can I say? I am stubborn. If they do not approve of my methods, they can leave. That is the way I have always operated, and it is the way I will continue to do so.
Finally, please say whatever you may be thinking at this moment in time!: Thank you for listening to me.
[ Nodding! ]