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Mar. 4th, 2011 11:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shorterinpersonCharacter Name: Alanna of Pirate’s Swoop and Olau
Series: Tamora Pierce’s Tortall Series
Age: 30
From When?: 449 HE – Chapter 9-10 of Wild Magic, during the attack on Pirate’s Swoop
Inmate/Warden: Warden. Alanna is about as ‘good’ as it gets in a world of moral gray. She kills, yes, but she also has a great capacity for healing, and she balances the two to keep her conscience (and karma) in check.
Item: Her Ember pendant, a gift from the Goddess that I imagine just looks like a rather large red stone that glows from time to time.
Abilities/Powers: Alanna has the Gift, which basically amounts to a very dramatized but Wiccan view of magic. Her power appears as a purple fire (not the burning type, just visually). She can do basic spells, but has a powerful talent for healing. She also has a natural talent for most fighting arts, including archery and swordfighting.
Personality: Alanna can be described most simply as a fire type personality. Pierce makes this clear in her early (and very symbolic-reliant) writing by giving her red hair and fierce, purple eyes. Her stubborn streak is every bit as long as her angry and violent streak, traits that stick with her throughout her entire life, even after she has children and is growing too old to remain in constant battle.
The first thing we learn about Alanna is that once she has decided what she wants, she will strive to no end to obtain it. Her plans may be impulsive, misled, ill-advised and even downright insane, but she will see it through to the end and stop at nothing until she has achieved her goal or been thoroughly convinced that her goal is no longer what she wants. When she decides to disguise herself as a boy in order to train for knighthood, she briefly considers the massive roadblocks that will stand in her way, but simply waves them off as something she’ll “come to when she gets there.” It takes a massive amount of determination to see such a ludicrous, poorly-planned operation through to it’s end over the course of the four years between joining the academy and attaining knighthood.
Although there are politics and secrets involved that force her to hold her tongue during her training, later in her life Alanna is never afraid to speak her mind. She is one of the few knights in the land who is more than willing to argue with her king, at least in private. Although arguably this could be because of their previously intimate relationship, it has been shown throughout the series that Alanna is lacking in respect for authority. She obeys because she must in order to get what she wants and maintain the status quo, but she is rarely happy about it. In fact, the only person with the authority and respect to shut her up is King Jonathan, who in one moment of need had to actually stand up and place a hand on her shoulder to remind Alanna that exploding at someone from whom she wants something would be a very bad idea.
It has been said in narration and by various other characters that the Lady Knight has a fierce temper that “gets the better of her”. There are times when she tries to control it, but for the most part it seems beyond Alanna to hold back her own temper. This temper of hers is so famous that the king ordered that she could not challenge men to a duel on personal grounds. The King’s Champion couldn’t be spending all of her time fighting others for her own honor.
Perhaps it is obvious because of her willingness to pretend to be a boy for four years and learn to be a knight, but Alanna is the quintessential tomboy. She has a general distaste for skirts and fancy clothes, make-up, or doing her hair. She has also proven herself through her classes at the academy to be a failure in regards to dancing and calligraphy. All in all, if Alanna hadn’t snuck off to become a knight, she would have been a wretched failure as a proper noble lady. Being a tomboy has not limited her romantically, however. While still in school together, Alanna and Jonathan (then prince of the kingdom) had some romantic involvement, but it ended badly due to both of their duties, his as King and hers as Lady Knight.
After their falling out Alanna realized that the one she truly loved was George Cooper, the very King of Thieves himself. His rugged attitude and willingness to treat her equally was perfectly suited to Alanna, who had only ever wanted to be treated as she felt she deserved, and not as some delicate flower like the ladies of court were treated. Their relationship throws into sharp relief Alanna’s belief in fairness above all, as well as her general disregard for what might be socially acceptable and what was required of her as a noble. It is only in matters of love that she even pretends to be a lady, occasionally putting on the ridiculous dresses and makeup that she knows are impractical and meaningless, but at the same time make her feel strangely pretty. It’s not a feeling she’s very familiar with, having been a boy during most of her development and not really knowing how to handle being a proper female.
Despite all of the qualities that make Alanna an ideal knight and a great asset to her kingdom as King’s Champion, her impulsiveness can often get her into trouble. It is only with the help of the Goddess who has chosen Alanna as her ward that she gets out of some of the worst predicaments, predicaments she usually gets into due to bad planning or some short-cut gone horribly wrong. Impulsiveness matched with a quick temper is rarely a good combination, and can also lead to the teenage cliché of saying something really cruel that you might have actually meant to some extent, but that you never meant to tell someone. This happens with Jonathan when they have their falling out. Later in her life her temper becomes to famous that people try not to be too offended when she says something cruel, but in her early life (and with people who don’t her reputation) Alanna has the potential to throw a serious wrench into her relationships. For the most part, the kingdom doesn’t trust her much politically for this reason.
She can also be overbearing with people at times. Her daughter receives the brunt of this treatment as the one child who doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life. Alianne describes her mother’s energy as a “fearsome thing” when Alanna decides to make her her ‘project’ in her time home from the war that seems to be constantly waging in one part of the world or another. Once Alanna sets her mind to a thing, she goes about it with a fervor to match her fiery hair. Sometimes she forgets herself in her ventures and doesn’t stop to consider what the other person might want or how they might feel about the project or the attention. Alanna’s will is so strong that she hates sitting still, and always wants to be making herself useful. She needs to feel like she’s really accomplishing something. In this sense she considers a warrior’s work one of the most important in the land, as she implies to her daughter who is asking to work as a spy. As a warrior she can accomplish something concrete. Although it is gruesome work, she can point to the devastation and say “I did that, and now this town is safe.” Although she understands the importance of more political work like her royal friends and even her husband must do, she hates doing it herself and doesn’t like that one must wait to see any concrete results of the effort put in.
Coming on to the barge will be quite disconcerting for Alanna, as she comes from a medieval setting and knows nothing about all of this technology. In a way it will be just like the castle organizationally, so it shouldn’t be too hard for her to get her bearings. It will be quite the adjustment, having to live indoors, and she will likely spend a lot of time both enjoying and being slightly creeped out by the CES, but like most of the old-timey characters she’ll get used to it over time. As one who travels, she is also used to dealing with a variety of different cultures, and although the people will seem odd to her, she will be quick enough to make friends.
Path to Redemption: N/A
History: This actually sums it up quite nicely.
Sample Journal Entry:
[ When the video turns on, a redheaded woman appears on screen. She appears in her mid-twenties, possibly early thirties, and is focusing very intently on the screen. In fact, her eyes seem to be focused on something apart from the screen, in front or behind it. The truly unusual thing here is that the whole image is obscured by an odd purple glow, almost like a flame. Finally her focus snaps onto the screen itself as she realizes it’s recording, and the flame disappears. ]
There it goes! And they say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. This is pretty different from the scrying mirrors I’m used to, and I’m not sure what all of these buttons are for, but it seems to be working, isn’t it? Who am I speaking to? Sir Admiral? Actually I’d rather speak to George first, so he knows where I’ve gone…
In any case, where is this criminal I’m meant to be ‘redeeming’? I’d like to start right away, if you don’t mind. I believe I mentioned that there’s a war on at home? Well, come on then, where is he?
Sample RP:
When she reached the town, Alanna heaved a sigh. Already her work was cut out for her. The guards at the gate were half asleep at mid-afternoon, their weapons all but forgotten at their sides. The walls were flimsy, the gate wide open and rusted something horrible. People inside the town walked about in a cheerful daze, for all the world looking as if they hadn’t a worry on their minds.
This was the town she was meant to protect. This was the town that had sent word to the castle in a panic proclaiming their fear of bandit attacks in the area, their fear that they were next and they needed the king’s help to defend their land.
If they were really that worried, they certainly didn’t look it. She rode in on her horse, the hideously uncomfortable but glorious metal armor shining in the sun and making her stick out like a sore thumb. A sore thumb that carried itself with authority, and paused in front of the gates to glare down at the guards with all the disapproval her tiny body could hold.
“Have you been drugged, or is it time to change the guard?” she challenged, her disapproval like poison in her voice. The men took one glance at the lioness marking her shield and armor and stood at attention, scrambling for their weapons and looking suddenly very afraid.
“Yes sir! I mean, no sir! I mean ma’am! Our apologies, lady Lioness. We weren’t expecting your arrival until later.” She simply shook her head at them.
“If I were the bandits, you both would have been dead twenty minutes ago. Don’t let me catch you sleeping on the job again.”
She left the guards red-faced and tense as the rest of her party followed her into the village, every last one of them stifling a giggle. They couldn’t help but notice that she remained on her horse as long as possible. If anybody could be threatening at five feet four inches, the King’s Champion could, but it wasn’t the best way to make an entrance.
Special Notes:
None!
Series: Tamora Pierce’s Tortall Series
Age: 30
From When?: 449 HE – Chapter 9-10 of Wild Magic, during the attack on Pirate’s Swoop
Inmate/Warden: Warden. Alanna is about as ‘good’ as it gets in a world of moral gray. She kills, yes, but she also has a great capacity for healing, and she balances the two to keep her conscience (and karma) in check.
Item: Her Ember pendant, a gift from the Goddess that I imagine just looks like a rather large red stone that glows from time to time.
Abilities/Powers: Alanna has the Gift, which basically amounts to a very dramatized but Wiccan view of magic. Her power appears as a purple fire (not the burning type, just visually). She can do basic spells, but has a powerful talent for healing. She also has a natural talent for most fighting arts, including archery and swordfighting.
Personality: Alanna can be described most simply as a fire type personality. Pierce makes this clear in her early (and very symbolic-reliant) writing by giving her red hair and fierce, purple eyes. Her stubborn streak is every bit as long as her angry and violent streak, traits that stick with her throughout her entire life, even after she has children and is growing too old to remain in constant battle.
The first thing we learn about Alanna is that once she has decided what she wants, she will strive to no end to obtain it. Her plans may be impulsive, misled, ill-advised and even downright insane, but she will see it through to the end and stop at nothing until she has achieved her goal or been thoroughly convinced that her goal is no longer what she wants. When she decides to disguise herself as a boy in order to train for knighthood, she briefly considers the massive roadblocks that will stand in her way, but simply waves them off as something she’ll “come to when she gets there.” It takes a massive amount of determination to see such a ludicrous, poorly-planned operation through to it’s end over the course of the four years between joining the academy and attaining knighthood.
Although there are politics and secrets involved that force her to hold her tongue during her training, later in her life Alanna is never afraid to speak her mind. She is one of the few knights in the land who is more than willing to argue with her king, at least in private. Although arguably this could be because of their previously intimate relationship, it has been shown throughout the series that Alanna is lacking in respect for authority. She obeys because she must in order to get what she wants and maintain the status quo, but she is rarely happy about it. In fact, the only person with the authority and respect to shut her up is King Jonathan, who in one moment of need had to actually stand up and place a hand on her shoulder to remind Alanna that exploding at someone from whom she wants something would be a very bad idea.
It has been said in narration and by various other characters that the Lady Knight has a fierce temper that “gets the better of her”. There are times when she tries to control it, but for the most part it seems beyond Alanna to hold back her own temper. This temper of hers is so famous that the king ordered that she could not challenge men to a duel on personal grounds. The King’s Champion couldn’t be spending all of her time fighting others for her own honor.
Perhaps it is obvious because of her willingness to pretend to be a boy for four years and learn to be a knight, but Alanna is the quintessential tomboy. She has a general distaste for skirts and fancy clothes, make-up, or doing her hair. She has also proven herself through her classes at the academy to be a failure in regards to dancing and calligraphy. All in all, if Alanna hadn’t snuck off to become a knight, she would have been a wretched failure as a proper noble lady. Being a tomboy has not limited her romantically, however. While still in school together, Alanna and Jonathan (then prince of the kingdom) had some romantic involvement, but it ended badly due to both of their duties, his as King and hers as Lady Knight.
After their falling out Alanna realized that the one she truly loved was George Cooper, the very King of Thieves himself. His rugged attitude and willingness to treat her equally was perfectly suited to Alanna, who had only ever wanted to be treated as she felt she deserved, and not as some delicate flower like the ladies of court were treated. Their relationship throws into sharp relief Alanna’s belief in fairness above all, as well as her general disregard for what might be socially acceptable and what was required of her as a noble. It is only in matters of love that she even pretends to be a lady, occasionally putting on the ridiculous dresses and makeup that she knows are impractical and meaningless, but at the same time make her feel strangely pretty. It’s not a feeling she’s very familiar with, having been a boy during most of her development and not really knowing how to handle being a proper female.
Despite all of the qualities that make Alanna an ideal knight and a great asset to her kingdom as King’s Champion, her impulsiveness can often get her into trouble. It is only with the help of the Goddess who has chosen Alanna as her ward that she gets out of some of the worst predicaments, predicaments she usually gets into due to bad planning or some short-cut gone horribly wrong. Impulsiveness matched with a quick temper is rarely a good combination, and can also lead to the teenage cliché of saying something really cruel that you might have actually meant to some extent, but that you never meant to tell someone. This happens with Jonathan when they have their falling out. Later in her life her temper becomes to famous that people try not to be too offended when she says something cruel, but in her early life (and with people who don’t her reputation) Alanna has the potential to throw a serious wrench into her relationships. For the most part, the kingdom doesn’t trust her much politically for this reason.
She can also be overbearing with people at times. Her daughter receives the brunt of this treatment as the one child who doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life. Alianne describes her mother’s energy as a “fearsome thing” when Alanna decides to make her her ‘project’ in her time home from the war that seems to be constantly waging in one part of the world or another. Once Alanna sets her mind to a thing, she goes about it with a fervor to match her fiery hair. Sometimes she forgets herself in her ventures and doesn’t stop to consider what the other person might want or how they might feel about the project or the attention. Alanna’s will is so strong that she hates sitting still, and always wants to be making herself useful. She needs to feel like she’s really accomplishing something. In this sense she considers a warrior’s work one of the most important in the land, as she implies to her daughter who is asking to work as a spy. As a warrior she can accomplish something concrete. Although it is gruesome work, she can point to the devastation and say “I did that, and now this town is safe.” Although she understands the importance of more political work like her royal friends and even her husband must do, she hates doing it herself and doesn’t like that one must wait to see any concrete results of the effort put in.
Coming on to the barge will be quite disconcerting for Alanna, as she comes from a medieval setting and knows nothing about all of this technology. In a way it will be just like the castle organizationally, so it shouldn’t be too hard for her to get her bearings. It will be quite the adjustment, having to live indoors, and she will likely spend a lot of time both enjoying and being slightly creeped out by the CES, but like most of the old-timey characters she’ll get used to it over time. As one who travels, she is also used to dealing with a variety of different cultures, and although the people will seem odd to her, she will be quick enough to make friends.
Path to Redemption: N/A
History: This actually sums it up quite nicely.
Sample Journal Entry:
[ When the video turns on, a redheaded woman appears on screen. She appears in her mid-twenties, possibly early thirties, and is focusing very intently on the screen. In fact, her eyes seem to be focused on something apart from the screen, in front or behind it. The truly unusual thing here is that the whole image is obscured by an odd purple glow, almost like a flame. Finally her focus snaps onto the screen itself as she realizes it’s recording, and the flame disappears. ]
There it goes! And they say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. This is pretty different from the scrying mirrors I’m used to, and I’m not sure what all of these buttons are for, but it seems to be working, isn’t it? Who am I speaking to? Sir Admiral? Actually I’d rather speak to George first, so he knows where I’ve gone…
In any case, where is this criminal I’m meant to be ‘redeeming’? I’d like to start right away, if you don’t mind. I believe I mentioned that there’s a war on at home? Well, come on then, where is he?
Sample RP:
When she reached the town, Alanna heaved a sigh. Already her work was cut out for her. The guards at the gate were half asleep at mid-afternoon, their weapons all but forgotten at their sides. The walls were flimsy, the gate wide open and rusted something horrible. People inside the town walked about in a cheerful daze, for all the world looking as if they hadn’t a worry on their minds.
This was the town she was meant to protect. This was the town that had sent word to the castle in a panic proclaiming their fear of bandit attacks in the area, their fear that they were next and they needed the king’s help to defend their land.
If they were really that worried, they certainly didn’t look it. She rode in on her horse, the hideously uncomfortable but glorious metal armor shining in the sun and making her stick out like a sore thumb. A sore thumb that carried itself with authority, and paused in front of the gates to glare down at the guards with all the disapproval her tiny body could hold.
“Have you been drugged, or is it time to change the guard?” she challenged, her disapproval like poison in her voice. The men took one glance at the lioness marking her shield and armor and stood at attention, scrambling for their weapons and looking suddenly very afraid.
“Yes sir! I mean, no sir! I mean ma’am! Our apologies, lady Lioness. We weren’t expecting your arrival until later.” She simply shook her head at them.
“If I were the bandits, you both would have been dead twenty minutes ago. Don’t let me catch you sleeping on the job again.”
She left the guards red-faced and tense as the rest of her party followed her into the village, every last one of them stifling a giggle. They couldn’t help but notice that she remained on her horse as long as possible. If anybody could be threatening at five feet four inches, the King’s Champion could, but it wasn’t the best way to make an entrance.
Special Notes:
None!
