Ravenna Mare
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| Ravenna Mare | |
| Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Species | Jari |
| Gender | Female |
| Orientation | Lesbian
Although definitively attracted only to women, Ravenna lives before the concept of sexual orientation and would never use this label (or any). |
| Age | 22 |
| Birthday | 13-16-353 |
| Traits | |
| Hair | |
| Fur | N/A |
| Skin | |
| Eyes | N/A |
| Other | N/A |
| Personal | |
| Home | Crystal Cape College of Runes Nesilene |
| Relationships | Cara Lan (Girlfriend) Adrian Dirne (Friend) Corinth (Friend) Axum (Friend) |
| Job / Role | Student Mage |
| Magic / Special Abilities | Experienced Amateur
Although very passionate about her spells, Ravenna is still prone to having difficulty using some of them. |
| Status | Alive (Fugitive) |
–Ravenna, shortly before being proven wrong
Ravenna Mare is a 22-year-old Jari from the island of Nesilene.
Born during Nesilene's medieval period, at age 13 she immigrated to the Sular Empire to study magic at the College of Runes. While there, she became the target of the empire's attempts to rewrite history, in spite of her accomplishments. Her struggles moved her closer to the few friends she did have, especially to her roommate Cara Lan, a bond which would transform into a hidden romantic relationship.
Despite her efforts, she was unable to conceal her relationship with her girlfriend and would learn the true ferocity of the Sulars' wrath. Ever since, the duo has lived in mobile isolation, unable to reintegrate into public life regardless of what they try.
Appearance
Ravenna is a young Jari woman, being slightly below-average in stature. Her skin is the standard Jari blue, and her eyes emit a pink glow at her command. Her hair has lightened in color with age, going from magenta to pink. Currently, it flows down to her arms in three large strands, with the sides curling up to form a slight hook shape. Her head contains a noticeable inward curve right above her neck, and her feet lack toes of any sort.
For attire, Ravenna typically prefers a white gown under a blue cloak, with a matching hood concealing all but her glowing eyes. This isn't entirely by choice, she became deeply accustomed to this type of dress thanks to Sular mandates during her time at the College of Runes. She also wears long white gloves and pink shoes.
However, when relaxing in private, she will remove the cloak, gloves, and shoes, remaining in a sleeveless white dress.
Story
Childhood
Ravenna was born in the year 353 (Nesilene calendar) in Crystal Cape. Her parents were Jari of nobility, a relatively uncommon occurrence on the island.
Growing up in a port city meant that Ravenna was constantly around ships both huge and small, along with all the business they carried. As she grew up staring across the shimmering sea, the young girl was naturally fascinated by what was beyond it. Unfortunately, not all she pondered about was uniformly positive, as she was also greatly exposed to the slave trade. She quickly became accustomed to the common sight of criminals auctioning themselves into indentured servitude in exchange for passage off the island.
From a very young age, Ravenna was taught how to read and write in both Sular and Jari. Since this was an uncommon yet important skill, her father heavily pushed her to read as much as possible. Being able to read Sular quickly led her to devour their literature on magic, sparking a fascination which would last her entire life.
Said fascination would be what she dedicated herself to for most of her childhood, as she had virtually no friends. At age 12, she applied to the College of Runes and was accepted to begin the next year. Although not particularly sad to leave her home, new internal uncertainties about herself had begun to surface in the months before she departed for good.
College of Runes
At thirteen years old, Ravenna moved to the Sular Empire to begin her education at the College of Runes. Although she had hoped to make friends during this new phase of her life, after a year she had only middling success. She befriended Adrian Dirne first, a Jari native to the Sular Empire. She would also later meet Corinth and his friend Axum.
However, being a Jari in Sular territory effectively meant she was sitting in the belly of the whale. She was relentlessly attacked, both by students, and to a lesser extent, staff. At this point, the cautious side of her personality had not yet totally won out, and she found herself in brawls she had no hope of winning.
In one such incident, she had been driven from the main campus and down to the forest around the Rune Reservoir. While hiding in the foliage, she met Cara Lan, who proceeded to try (and fail) to win the brawl for her. Still, Ravenna was grateful, and the two were sure to remember each other.
Over repeated encounters, the two became good friends. Eventually, Cara's then-roommate suffered an "accident" and withdrew from the College of Runes altogether. Cara offered Ravenna the opportunity to be her new roommate, which she quickly accepted. From then on, the two shared the same living space, which at that age was effectively everything in their life. Over time, the pair's trust in each other grew, fueling their connection to do the same.
With the outside world against them, their bond grew into a hidden relationship.
Rogue Mage
After this relationship became public knowledge, the duo were forced to flee the College of Runes for their own safety. Although they barely made it out of the Sular Empire, they knew staying put would be dangerous. With the Sulars sending an inquisition group after them, they trekked across all of Nesilene to Crystal Cape, the one place on the island free of Sular influence.
Once they arrived, they attempted to sell themselves into indentured servitude in exchange for secret passage across the ocean. Unfortunately, their attempts at doing so were incredibly obvious, and they were quickly picked up by the port's authorities.
From there, they were handed over to the Sulars.
Personality
Ravenna is a cautious, reserved individual. Her upbringing resulted in her having a well-mannered and friendly personality, making her extroverted for most of her childhood. During her time in the Sular Empire, however, constantly being sidelined led her to become more closed and introverted. Although still a very passionately friendly individual, making new friends no longer comes as easily to her.
Over time, she has also grown to develop trust issues. Her world view has been influenced by the idea that if everything about her were known, most people would attempt to do serious harm to her. Under such a perspective, it becomes incredibly hard to fully trust new people.
Her relationship with Cara creates a small bubble in which she can live completely free of those concerns. When this bubble is aggressively attacked by the outside world, she nearly breaks down.
Relationships
Cara Lan
–Cara, to Corzic
Cara is Ravenna's girlfriend, with neither of them being able to imagine life without the other. Through their relationship, not only do they form an incredible bond, but they are able to live outside their own heads. In other words, they no longer have to keep all-consuming secrets about themselves. Each knows for certain that nothing about them could drive the other away in disgust.
For years, the duo kept their relationship a complete secret from anyone except each other. However, this veil of secrecy gradually began to fail over time. They were both quite lucky that Corinth was the first to piece together their odd behavior, as he then worked in secret to preserve their privacy. In contrast, Adrian was not nearly as understanding once he found out, but he nonetheless kept their secret (aside from telling Axum). The duo lived in this slightly ajar closet for a couple years longer, but eventually this too was blown open.
After escaping the asylum, the duo would be forced to live on the move as passage off the island was now impossible. With Sular influence across Nesilene reaching a new zenith, there was little they could do except run and hide. Fortunately, they had the assistance of Corinth, Adrian, and Axum, who had all abandoned the College of Runes to defend their two fugitive friends. Less fortunately though, even Corinth did not see a way to reintegrate into society and viewed being eventually recaptured as inevitable. Little did they know, said recapture was of particular interest to one powerful figure...
Adrian Dirne
Adrian was the first friend Ravenna made at the College of Runes. He has lived in the Sular Empire his entire life, following the Cult of the Runes as loyally as any other Sular would. When he accidentally stumbled upon Cara and Ravenna's secret relationship, he panicked. However, he never once broke their secret, with Corinth noting that Adrian was much more concerned with the duo potentially hurting each other than anything. After enough time, he saw that the relationship was only doing good for them both and gradually became just as supportive as the others.
Corinth
Corinth was often away from reach due to his cartography hobby, but when he was around he and Ravenna liked to converse about magic.
Spells
Ravenna is a practitioner of protective magic. This is a form of magic based around preventing harm from coming to the user in the first place as well as healing acquired injuries. Unfortunately for Ravenna, the Rune Spring on Nesilene outputs Runes which de-emphasize this form of magic, meaning her spells are weaker than they would be otherwise.
Barrier
This is a spell which casts a shield around an individual. The smaller and more focused the shield, the tougher it is to shatter, but the less of the user it covers. Its opacity can also be controlled, but this has no effect on its strength. If broken, Ravenna is stunned temporarily.
Heart Blast
This is a basic energy projectile spell used by countless beginner mages. Although it normally takes the shape of a simple sphere, it can be customized into whatever the user desires. In this case, Ravenna prefers a heart shape. Its simple nature makes it easy to withstand even a direct hit from.
Vigor Restoration
This spell heals wounds and re-energizes the target. It is particularly difficult and taxing to use, both on the user's body and their Rune count.
Quotes
–Ravenna
–Ravenna
Trivia
- Although able to decide when her eyes glow, Ravenna is not in complete control. Her eyes can also begin/cease glowing as an involuntary reaction to strong emotions.
- Additionally, Jari have no control over what color the glow takes.
- Being forced to walk around in a hooded cloak can obviously get quite hot, so Ravenna often uses her barrier to shield herself from the sun.
- If Cara is with her, the two will huddle inside her barrier, with Cara's ice magic providing additional relief.
- Ravenna greatly laments how her trust issues extend to her own diary.
- Eventually, she stops using it altogether as she no longer needs it.
- She is one of the youngest Nesilene mages to ever use Vigor Restoration successfully, which is normally a spell learned in the final years of education.
- Her first use likely would have killed her had it not been for the timely intervention of Cara.
- Adrian finds it odd how Ravenna's room is so much neater than Cara's, but the latter's bed is infinitely more tidy.
- Although she was made a pawn by Corzic, Ravenna still partially wishes she had been able to graduate.
