Gemina
From Ardesia
Gemina Broadstone is the youngest of four children born to the wealthy Broadstone clan of moneylenders in High Castle. Raised by a disinterested, grasping father and a shrewish mother, she was initially resigned to the dispiriting prospect of being married off to cement a family alliance. But when her parents noticed her latent magical abilities (and panicked), she managed to convince them of the potential business benefits of having a hidden diviner in the family, and managed, after lengthy and discreet inquiries, to get herself sent off to secretly study with Telwin Clearwater, an adept in Upper Dragon Falls.
Telwin was an arcane caster of no mean ability, living a quiet, hermit-like existence and practicing magic in secret. At first he found Gemina's instinctual approach to magic fairly baffling, but he was able to teach her a good deal about the theoretical underpinnings of magic from his point of view, and instilled a sense of discipline and concentration in his young pupil. These were happy years: she was a quick learner with a natural aptitude for the subject, and Telwin was a kindly and understanding master who became more of a parent figure to her than her actual parents. One day, about three and a half years after she began her studies, Telwin disappeared during the night – no note, no sign of a struggle, no witnesses who might have seen him. After a couple of days, Mina tried to determine his fate with one of her prophetic trances, but received only a single image: a windswept circular rock platform, maybe 40' across, inscribed with intricate carvings, along with an intrusive feeling of intense sorrow. Further divination attempts revealed no further clues.
Since then, she's been on her own, living on the charity of Telwin's neighbours, and getting in and out of a variety of scrapes. She's not sure where to go next, but one thing's for sure: she's not going home. This hand-to-mouth existence isn't fun by any stretch of the imagination, but at least she's free. Her goals at this point are simple: stay alive, don't be indigent (she has no desire to end up shipped off to one of the Queen's farms), and find out where in the world that platform is.
Her instinctual control of magic is primarily aligned with the Void principle, which suits her well. Desire – the need for knowledge, the craving for more magic, the yearning to transcend the limits of flesh and bone and become something greater. Since she was quite young, she's had occasional flashes of prophetic insight: her eyes glaze over, she stops responding, and she sees a vision of something she's been thinking a lot about recently for 10 to 30 seconds. Her family originally thought they were just seizures, but young Mina knew better, and over the years she's gained a measure of control over them. She can often enter such a trance deliberately, given half an hour's meditation and mental preparation beforehand. The visions are either of the present or the future (and it's difficult to tell which), but never of the past.
Her talent for telekinesis is something she often takes for granted; every physical thing has its desires, and moving them is just a simple matter of convincing them to desire to be elsewhere. She can't articulate exactly how she does this, as it's fairly instinctual for her. Moving small objects is trivially easy, but as the weight of the target object(s) increases, so too does the difficulty and required concentration of the spell. With Telwin's help, she learned to manage flashier effects like tossing many targets at once or creating a barrier that repels things which move into it, but these seem to overtax her telekinetic ability, leaving her drained afterwards.
Gemina has known Bronwyn for about a year now; they met while the latter was stationed in Dragon Falls during her military service, and became, if not friends, then good acquaintances. One day she found herself trapped in a broken gondola halfway up the falls with Bronwyn and Roh, and found that they had much in common – most especially, a need to leave town and explore. The three of them have tentatively agreed to travel together north into the Serpent Wood.
Mina has been keeping a journal of her adventures while she's on the road, writing it in bits and pieces during the occasional lulls in their journey.
Contents |
[edit] Physical description
A somewhat gawky young girl in plain, worn travelling clothes, struggling under a backpack too big for her slight frame. Wisps of brown hair, escaped from her simple ponytail, frame her face. She bears the gaunt, dirty look of someone who hasn't seen regular hot meals in a long time. In unguarded moments, her friendly demeanor slips to reveal a face full of worried concern.
Personality-wise, Mina is brilliant but impetuous, often not stopping to think through the consequences of her actions. She often plays the open-mouthed tourist, gaping with wonder at unfamiliar sights, and she loves the thrill of discovering new things.
[edit] Story Engine
- Character concept
- naive, curious young sorceress
- Descriptors
- Inquisitive (Mind) 2
- Quick-witted (Mind) 3
- Courageous (Spirit) 2 (7)
- Quirks
- Impulsive (Chaos) 1 (8)
- Trait affinities
- Mercantile (weak) 3
- Prophetic trances (weak, arcane) 3
- Telekinesis (weak, arcane) 3
- Magical detection & analysis (weak, arcane) 3
- Void (weak, arcane) 3 (23)
- Prime affinities
- Tayelan culture 7
- Gift for arcane magic 7 (37)
Story Points: 1
[edit] Burning Wheel
Concept- naive, curious young sorceress
Character Name- Gemina Broadstone
Brief Description- A somewhat gawky young girl in plain, worn travelling clothes, struggling under a backpack too big for her slight frame. Wisps of brown hair, escaped from her simple ponytail, frame her face. She bears the gaunt, dirty look of someone who hasn't seen regular hot meals in a long time. In unguarded moments, her friendly demeanor slips to reveal a face full of worried concern.
Gemina Broadstone Wi Pe Ag Sp Po Fo Hea Ref MW Ste Hes Res Cir Multi. B4 B4 B4 B4 B3 B4 B4 B4 B9 B4 6 B0 B2 x3.5
PTGS Su: B3 Li: B5 Mi: B6 Se: B7 Tr: B8 Mo: B9 Age- 26
Lifepaths- City Born, Moneylender, Neophyte Sorcerer
Skills- Accounting B2, Haggling B2, Inconspicuous B3, Persuasion B2, Read B2, Sorcery B5, Staff B2, Symbology B3, Write B2
Gear-
Affiliations-
Reputations- 1D Quiet and dutiful girl in Dragon Falls
Relationships- Telwin Clearwater, master (Significant), Shrewish mother and grasping father (Minor, immediate family, hateful/rival)
Property-
Spells- Philosopher's Perch, Shards, Witch Flight, Wyrd Light
IMS-
Weapon Type I M S Add VA WS Strike Dist Bare Fisted B2 B3 B4 2 - Fast Shortest Staff1,2 B3 B5 B7 2 - Fast Long Staff (thrust)1,2 B2 B4 B6 2 - Fast Longer Notes 1 Two-handed, may not be used with a shield. 2 May Great Strike.
Beliefs
- Belief 1
- Belief 2
- Belief 3
Instincts-
- Instinct 1
- Instinct 2
- Instinct 3
Traits- Penny-Wise, Extremely Respectful of One's Betters, Gifted
[edit] Noteworthy Possessions
- Favourite walking stick (keeps turning up (Chaos), sturdy (Matter))
- Bag of plum-sized pieces of lead shot
- A jade figurine of a legged serpent (dragon?)
- Six gold coins bearing the same device
- A pocket blob!
