Application vanad // Talia: Heralds of Valdemar

[thequeensown]

::OOC INFORMATION::
Name: Alma
Contact: Plurk: almalthia // AIM: almalthia80 // GMAIL: almalthia80
Age: 32
Current characters: NA

::IC INFORMATION::
Name: Talia
Canon/Medium and Canon Point: Heralds of Valdemar, at end of Arrows of the Queen post-poisoning and pre-rescue
Age/Gender: 20-21 // female

History:
Arrows of the Queen: Book 1
Arrow's Flight: Book 2
Arrow's Fall: Book 3

And I personally went to town on setting info here as well.

Previous Game History: NA

Appearance/played by:
Talia is 5'2" tall and weighs approximately 123 lbs. Her brown/auburn hair is kept in various lengths, depending on how much effort she is willing to put into it and what season it is. The main deciding factor on this is that her hair is very curly when it's kept super short, and tends to ease into looser ringlets when longer. She has a heart-shaped face and is very trim and muscled, due to her constant level of physical training.

Coming in at her present canon state she is beaten, bloody and broken, physically and emotionally. There are scars and bruises on the outside and just as much damage unseen to the naked eye.

PB: Tori Amos

Personality:
Talia is not used to conforming and is of her own mind amongst her Border dwelling Holderkin, believing women are just as authoritative as men. She is good with children and has been responsible for watching, and teaching, the children of her Hold since she was nine years old.

Though Talia has a constant press of concern regarding her Gift, she presents herself as secure in both her abilities to use and not misuse them. She went through many trials when training to use them and seems confident that she is capable in their use both as a Herald and as a person. This is not, however, entirely accurate; if at all. She is truthfully, even years into being a trained Herald, questioning her Gift and the uses of it. She knows there is only the slightest wavering between using it as she should and taking advantage of it, as she has been pressed to. She worries if she has been properly trained to handle her own Gifts, especially after her breakdown on her Circuit. In truth, it would be very easy to misuse her Gift and she is well aware of it.

Unlike other Gifts, the only thing to keep Talia from misusing her Gift is her own moral values, and as she is still young, there is a wavering in them; she can be coaxed to see things perhaps in a way she shouldn't. She knows that she should do what is best for the kingdom and her monarch, but she questions if reading and persuading people as she can is right. So, she sometimes hesitates in using her Gifts at all, which could prove to be her downfall in a battle of political leanings; let alone cost her own life in an attack of physical means.

Heralds as a whole are Chosen with specific personality types; patient, unselfish, responsible, and capable of heroic devotion to their duties. Talia herself has proven in the past to be more than sufficiently patient, enduring the Brat’s outlandish tantrums time and time again during her youth. She has faced the question constantly of whether or not she is justly using her powers, and instead of exploding at people, she stops and tries to reason things out from their own perspective. She is unselfish in that is willingly accepted that she was going to die in the service of the crown. She used everything in her power to warn the Queen and her entourage that they were heading into a trap and that Elspeth’s engagement to Ancar wasn’t what it appeared to be.

Responsible. Talia is holding the weight of the Queen’s worries on her shoulders, and is doing so without hesitation. She knows that Selenay is trying to make certain that Elspeth is prepared for her own imminent Choosing, and is doing everything in her power to make this burden easier on the Queen. She tries to do her best to intercept problems or keep them from the Queen entirely, doing her best to solve mysteries on her own. When Lord Orthallen does his best to undermine the Queen and makes a subversive go at the throne, she and Skif (one of her closest and dearest friends) set out to find proof before even bringing the matter to the Queen.

Heroic devotion? Talia saw her partner and his Companion die at the hands of Ancar’s men. She made certain her Companion, Rolan, escaped capture and then arranged for signal arrows to be given to him after. She suffered rape and torture at their hands and the hands of his sorcerous. She suffered all of this, and never, never broke for them. She never told them any of the secrets the Queen held, nor of any way to subvert the borders of Valdemar. She would not and did not give them anything more to work with then they already knew. When she knew that they would use her broken and battered body to their own benefit, she made the choice to end her life; not selfishly, but to keep her Kingdom safe. She accepted her death, with the knowledge that Rolan would see her message delivered and that the Queen, Princess, and kingdom would be saved.

Strengths/Weaknesses:
Strengths/Abilities:
Empathy: the ability to read and influence the emotions of others. Talia is a STRONG mental projector and reader and uses her Gift on circuits while acting as envoy and adviser to the Queen.

Mind Healing: focuses on the maladies of the mind and emotions, rather than the physical well-being of the patient. She can ease the transition
of mental illness and will be able to break through deceptions or see if the mind has been tampered with. She can restore the mind, though it can take time and prove quite taxing.

Talia can heal with her mind and read emotions, but she can also hurt with these same gifts. She broke the mind of a man that was known to be a child molester and made him relive the pain and emotion of his victim. Warm and fuzzy, right? Now, in the book, this would only tire her a bit and she'd be up and moving.

She has been trained in combat by a master at arms and is more than capable with a sword/throwing knives/bow and arrow. She is slight of build so her physical fighting abilities are not as strong as some, but she is fit and will go down fighting rather than not. She is an able-bodied horse-woman and can do anything horseback; no really, try her. She is diplomatic and well-rounded, willing and able to do what must be done.

Weaknesses:
Politics/Otherwise:
Talia has been placed in a political seat that she has no real business being in, and questions it herself. She was from a small border village and knew little more than she gleaned from the few books she was able to get a hold of. It was only after coming to the Collegium that she began to learn, but political intrigue is not something she is well versed in. But she has learned. She came to Haven green in every way possible. She was untrained in her Gifts and untrained in ways of the court. It was through ‘tough love’ that she learned how politics worked, living first hand through some of the underhanded dealings awaited her. Coming into her position, she was aware that the last Monarch’s Own had died in his position and that there were suspicious circumstances behind his death.

It was during an attempt on her own life that she learned that Talamir was poisoned and killed in his service to the crown and its Queen. It was at this point that she realized just how perilous her position was. The people around the Queen did not want her to have her chief advisor, even if said advisor was just a thirteen year old girl at the time. Lord Orthallen wanted the Queen to depend on him and his position, so that he could better arrange his own political position. He wanted, ultimately, the throne for himself and was willing to sacrifice just about anyone he needed to see it done. Talia learns the harsh reality that things aren’t perfect, even in Haven. Political intrigue is a regular theme around her from the moment she arrives, and gets worse as she attains a position in the Council and the ability to vote with them. It was already rumored that she swayed the Queen’s vote with her Gifts and now with her having her own vote in the process, she’s had to try to prove her character and had people attacking it all the more. She doesn’t enjoy the stuffiness and particulars of Court, but she faces them with focus and decorum.

Cautious around anything remotely involved in politics, she approaches such things carefully. She is emotional, a sure sign of her still being rather young, and her Gifts tend to augment this fact. She has been known to lash out more than necessary, particularly when emotions are running high around her. If not tightly shielded (and she does let them drop if she's not careful), she can pick up too much from those around her and act without thinking.

When she comes to stay on Vanad, she is going to be of mixed emotions. She had accepted that she had sacrificed her life for the better of Valdemar and that in taking argonal, her death was inevitable. She had served her best and done everything in her power to make certain her Queen and fellow Heralds would not march into betrayal and their deaths. She will be lacking her bond with Rolan, her Companion, and it will feel (physically and emotionally) as if half of her soul is missing. SO, yeah. She’s not going to be utterly thrilled about that. She’ll want to return to her Companion, Monarch and realm, because she has duties and if she’s not dead, then they need to be seen to. It will help a bit to have some familiar faces around her.

She’s going to be a little lost initially, wandering around with a big piece of her missing. :(

Supplies: Just the scraps of clothing she has on her person and a bottle of argonal clutched in her hand.

SAMPLES;
First person:
[recycled from tushanshu... Talia here won't be so lucky.]
[Video]
[It has been a few days since her arrival upon Tu Vishan. A few days to adjust to technology she'd never before encountered... a few days to adjust to half of her soul being ripped away... a few days to begin to recover from the injuries she'd obtained before her arrival.

A few days too many, in many regards.

Though her arrival had neutralized the killing effect of her argonal poisoning, she was still incredibly sick. It was something she'd debated with herself for many pain filled hours, reaching out for help, but in the end she admitted that to not do so was both irresponsible and idiotic, despite her empathic shields still not being at their full strength. She knew that she was likely projecting without her shields stable, and that those with empathic or telepathic abilities were surely to have picked up on her; she wasn't 'quiet' when she projected. Even trying her best to rein in her errant emotions, it was still likely that the residents around her were still being effected by her at the edge of their perception. So, she activates the console in her own living quarters, unmindful about projecting her general location via any identifying marks in the room itself behind her.

Being as how she hasn't done much more than clean herself up in her own apartment, she looks quite the worse for wear when she appears. Bruises, though fading, still color her face, and her lip is obviously healing from a nasty split. Her hair hasn't gotten more than a cursory wash and combing, the ringlets framing her face in a tangled disarray.

Be grateful you can only see the bruises on her face, for their friends decorate a good portion of her body. What isn't covered in healing bruises bares a new variety of scars, both magically and physically administered during her imprisonment.]

My name is Talia... Chosen of Rolan... [She closes her eyes, nausea sweeping through her before her abdomen tightens in a painful spasm. She closes her eyes during it, nostrils flaring widely as she waits it out. With a sharp exhale she refocuses her attention on the console's screen.]

I require a healer... There is little enough I can offer in repayment other than my thanks and the coins I was given at my arrival... and my appreciation.

Third person:
[recycled from tushanshu
Talia stared out over the edge of Tu Vishan's shell, her hazel eyes fixed on a point far off in the horizon. It had only been a few days since she had been accosted, or saved dependent upon the point of view, and brought to live on the strange living vessel, but it had seemed already a good deal longer.

She was certain, if she inquired, that there would be any number of passengers willing to help her keep herself busy. She was certain she could inquire of any of the kedan and find tasks she was capable of doing.

However, her mind was elsewhere. In truth, her mind was on another world entirely; a world she was told that she was better off putting behind her for the time being. Her hand balled into a fist at the thought, brows knitting in frustration as a savage shake of her head followed. "No," she breathed softly, throat tight around the word. She refused to concede that she was trapped here for an unknown length of time, the fate of her own kingdom unknown. She refused to accept that her beloved Companion had been forcibly taken from her, along with her life-bonded, Dirk.

Dirk .. She had only just accepted that she was life-bonded, but they hadn’t had a chance to examine the relationship. What would Dirk think when he was told she was gone? Would he think her dead? Would he have fought those that had declared such? Or would he have accepted when no amount of searching with no amount of Gifts had found her?

She eased her fist and looked away from the water and down at the bottle she held grasped in her hand. Within the glass vial remained the contents of the argonal she had tried to kill herself with. Though no large amount, easily enough remained still coating the walls that she might have attempted it again.

She gazed at the bottle for a good while, throat tight as she inhaled slowly and looked out at the water again. Talia heaved her arm then and sent the vial spinning out over the water, watching as it was engulfed with barely any splash. She had heard tales of what happened to those that had died while aboard Tu Vishan, and their ultimate return just a short time later. There was no point in attempting such a thing as suicide aboard the enchanted creature she rode. Clearly her destiny had been taken from her own hands and was being guided by those of another.

Although not pleased, and desperately alone, Talia would not give into such a person without some fashion of a fight. She was a Herald, and by the Stars, she wasn't going to simply wallow in self-pity. She would see her beloved Companion and life-mate again; no matter what those around her might have said to suggest otherwise. She was no longer in Valdemar, but that didn't mean that she was relieved of her duties and responsibilities. There were those that would be in need of her help and she would be there to see it given.

She was, and would always be, a Herald.