"who's going to stop me?" I said
At 16 hands she is of reasonable height, tall enough to not be considered short but not so tall as to stand out. Long-legged, but proportionately so, she is perhaps slimmer than you might expect for a warrior but that is no bearing on her capability. Her coat is a silken ivory colour, darker around her eyes and muzzle, her stomach and chest. Marred by scars, her body is a canvas of battle, bitten by swords, sliced by claws and kissed by arrows.
Long blonde locks fall from her proud neck, straight and cropped neatly at her elbow. Often it is left loose with plaits in sections or braided during a battle to avoid it getting into her eyes. Her tail is equally long and straight, luxuriously silken as it trails on the ground like the tips of a cloak. Sometimes, if she washed her hair in the ocean or does not have it combed, her locks may take on a curly appearance. Besides the scars wrought upon her form, the most eye catching aspect of her appearance her eyes. Blue in colour they possess an unearthly shade that often seems to glow (not literally) when her emotions swirl just beneath the surface, enchanting and framed by thick lashes.
(weapons not included)
Yet beneath the wild, reckless façade is someone who cares deeply and loves truly. She is surprisingly kind hearted and would do anything for her friends and for her people. Loyal to a fault she never stops seeing the good in those she cares about, particularly when she knows, with her line of work and her past, she cannot judge those around her. Guided by her own strong morals, she tries to only take contracts that would benefit the majority, such as killing murders or cruel kings. Stubborn and determined, she shows no weakness, not even to her friends, but behind her walls she is broken and lonely, consumed by guilt and anger. The hate for Adrian is an ever burning fire kindled in her chest, right where the hole in her heart was torn when Skender died. She blames herself for having him exiled rather than killed, and any lives he takes are on her head. Despite trying to only kill bad people, Castalla is under no illusion as to what she is, coupled with her animalistic side and her temper she considers herself a monster. But these are all such fears that she keeps hidden, trapped behind her many walls, never letting anyone in. Anyone who gets close enough usually ends up dead.
Like with many characters from Alanaris, it is important to understand Castalla’s species before you can appreciate her history. You can find a little bit of information on the Kajak species here
Born Castalla, meaning Grace in the ancient Kajak language, she adopted the nickname Crystal (or Cysa in her language) a few years after working with mortals, to blend in. Castalla’s birth is something of a mystery, her parents, Tsaar and Melia found her alone at the age of 3 months in a forest near the pack mansion in Anvidian. All Kajaks are raised knowing how to fight, how to defend themselves, but as the future Queen, Castalla’s training was far more rigorous than that. Some might consider it barbaric or cruel to train a child to fight, to teach them to kill, but Kajak’s are not like humans, they are half animal. An Alpha, or indeed a King or Queen, are considered to be the highest power among Kajaks and therefore those who hold such positions must be able to prove their strength. In essence, Castalla had to become the most powerful Kajak in order to prove that she is worthy to be their Queen.
-Best friend (nickname Beth) was a traitor, was feeding the Darkness Occult information about the Kajak court, believed one of the higher ranked Occult members to be a true mate. Castalla caught her, was forced by the circumstances, to kill her. She was only 3. This forever haunts her and she deeply regrets and hates that there was no other way.
-Before there was one royal pack, there were two opposing ones but Tsaar united them and ended the centuries of feuding by defeating the other King. This occurred a decade before Castalla was born. The second King’s son, Adrian, joined the new pack and began to court Castalla when she was 4. She fell for him and believed him to be her true mate.
-Kajaks helped to end the second Darkness Occult coming, Castalla was part of a team of 5 Kajaks, including her father’s Right Hand, who was sadly killed. The war was a bloody one, drawn out and demoralising in many ways. Castalla still gets flashbacks and is riddled with survivor’s guilt- she was the only member of her team to live through it.
-When she was 5, she discovered a plot to usurp and kill her parents and found out it was run by Adrian, her boyfriend at the time. She stopped him, only just defeating him in combat but requested that her father exile him rather than kill him for treason. This decision has returned multiple times to bite her in the ass.
-Following that she went slightly ‘feral’ (see terms below for meaning) and lost herself in her work, taking as many assassin contracts as she could. It was during this time that she garnered her deadly reputation and nickname as The White Wolf (mostly due to her choice alternative form being a white wolf).
-During this time she immerses herself in mortal life, coming to understand mortals far better and sheds the distrust her kind always bear for them. She also begins (and ends) a relationship with Farun, her father’s Commander. It lasted only a few months.
-A few years later she meets Skender, the son of another Kajak Alpha. The two grow close and after a few years the mating signs begin to show and they discover they are true mates. They marry at first since Castalla didn’t feel ready to go through the mating process of tying her life to his, but after a year of happiness together Skender is killed by Adrian. Once more Castalla goes feral and in a fit of rage and sorrow she is captured by Adrian who once more proceeds to have her tortured and reveals that he was responsible for Skender’s death and for their capture in Anvidian. She is rescued but spends months recovering, receding into herself, finally broken.
-Castalla decides to take on a contract to kill the King of Andivian, Oranus, a cruel and ruthless tyrant who was responsible for the system for the classification of species and held a grudge against shifters. However Adrian becomes aware of this and sabotages the hit. In saving a mortal servant placed in her way by Adrian, Castalla and her team are captured, including Farun, Farun’s sister Sura and Castalla’s close friend Coarder. They are all brutally tortured, in the cruellest of ways, and a number of the teams sent out to rescue them are murdered. They spend months in the prison and finally believe there is no hope for escape. Oranus decides to make them fight each other to the death, to save their opponent from the misery they would continue to live. Farun picks his sister and takes her life to save her from more pain. Castalla fights her friend, the two trying desperately to kill the other to end their pain. Castalla emerges the winner. However Adrian grows displeased with Oranus’ methods of breaking the wolf and orchestrates an escape for the two kajaks. Castalla sees the opportunity, unaware that Adrian presented it, and escaped but not before visiting the King, killing him in his own bed. She and Farun escape but neither would be the same again. Farun blames her for their capture, since she saved the servant, and for the death of his sister and in the future, does all that he can to make her feel guilty.
-Upon Oranus’ death the Amaris family assume the thrown, but rather than end the hunting of shifters, it is continued out of fear. The point of Castalla’s mission failed.
-For the years following that, Castalla is not herself but she dives into work once more and is invited into the fair realm to help as a strategist. Meets Nova Ignicia, Lumaris, Elladan, Namaria and other high ranking elves and fae. Works with Rose and Valena, meets with other shifters like Nubia and Visenya, pursues Xadres with the intention of stopping the entire black-market shifter hunt.
-Other stuff happens but I’m not quite sure what, then she ends up in Novus and following that, Uncharted.
Terms:
True mate- Kajak’s believe Nysa, the night goddess, chooses their perfect partner even before they are born. They believe there is one person out there, the other half to their soul and their equal in every single way. When true mates meet they display signs that confirm whether they are true mates or not, this includes a certain scent, a pull to one another, being unable to defeat one another in a fight. However sometimes signs can be mistaken, the feel different to each couple. True mates then perform a ceremony that binds their souls together so that if one dies, so does the other.
Feral- Being a shapeshifter, there is a part of you that is animalistic, that is begging you to shift, to become an animal. Every single shifter feels that pull and must shift in order to abate it. How strong the pull is, how well a shifter can resist it and how many times they must shift depends on their dominance. Shifters who give into the pull, who spend too long in their animal form are said to ‘go feral’, that is to become their animal.
Though Castalla’s powers are but a flicker of what they were on Alanaris, she has once more regained the ability to shift into a wolf. In Uncharted shifting takes more energy out of her and is far more painful than usual, meaning she may only change perhaps once or twice in a day and may end up stuck in a different form should her well of power run dry. Though her control over her shifting is unrivalled in Alanaris, now she may shift accidentally, particularly when feeling strong emotions. She hangs onto her control by a tenuous thread, making her even more wild and dangerous than usual. Shifting instantaneously is something only the strongest of Kajaks can manage since it takes more energy, but this is something she has retained, nevertheless it tires her out more than it once did. Her powers are beholden to her energy levels and the cycle all Kajaks go through.
Thanks to her animal counterpart, Castalla can see in the dark if she shifts her eyes alone, has great hearing and superior sense of smell and speed. She may also shift certain parts of her body- namely her eyes, her teeth and her vocal chords (allowing her to howl even in the form of a horse).
Castalla’s alternate form is a white wolf that stands at 16 hands and bares the same scars and eyes as her equine form.
(In summary, her weaknesses are that over using her magic can lead to exhaustion, losing consciousness and death. There is a day, roughly once a month, where she cannot use her powers at all. She is at risk of losing control and shifting when she doesn't want to, or not being able to shift when she wants too and similarly she can get stranded in her Wolf form. Moreover, her shifts are incredibly painful and her ability to shift instantaneously has become more difficult, leaving her vulnerable right after shifting.)
Telepathy:
Telepathy in Alanaris is a rare and highly coveted gift that remains a mystery to most. Few have been recorded in history thought it is believed there have been more than the small number discovered. Indeed Castalla keeps her gift to herself, preferring not to use it unless absolutely necessary. Those who are aware of her second ability are limited to her parents and her cousin.
Describing telepathy is easiest when given a metaphor. Picture two castles with high, shielded walls and a short path between them. One could walk down the road from their castle to the next, stand before the portcullis and yell over the walls. Anyone within those walls could hear them and yell back but not allow the person in. This is how Castalla often communicates with telepathy- she can speak in someone’s mind and hear their response but she cannot see their thoughts or their memories. Now the castle could drop the draw bridge and allow the person into the entrance but no further. Here one can see specific people or items, or anything placed in that entrance. Thus Castalla can see things someone specifically wants to show her without her actually entering the castle. Finally one could get a catapult and break down the castle’s walls and thus see everything inside. Or they could scale the wall and enter without being noticed. Castalla can enter someone’s mind without being seen and read all of their thoughts or access their memories. Or she could break through the natural walls around a being’s mind and enter their memories with the person being entirely aware. So is the best explanation of telepathy.
Telepathy requires a great deal of control and some have been recorded to fall into madness for being assaulted by so many thoughts all at once. Those with training or blessed with more control can learn to block out the voices of others. This is something Castalla has done, though it took her many months learn and still becomes difficult at times.
Besides communicating and reading thoughts, telepaths can erase memories, replace memories or even wipe someone’s mind entirely. This is why they are so sought after and why few ever reveal their abilities.
Weaknesses:
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- Telepathy requires energy as all magic in Alanaris does. Castalla risks exhausting herself, losing consciousness or even dying if not careful with her magic. Telepathy requires more energy that shifting and is far more taxing.
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- To enter someone’s mind and read their thoughts, immerse oneself in another’s memories is like trying to crawl out of your skin and into someone else’s. It can be a truly horrible feeling and leaves the user feeling out of place once they return to their own mind. This can leave them vulnerable for a time.
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- Replacing memories or removing memories requires a great deal of skill and can have dire consequences when not done correctly. If botched, the victim may find themselves left with a lingering memory of the telepath and an inexplicable and all-consuming obsession to find them and kill them. Users put themselves at risk of being forever hunted if they incorrectly mess with someone’s mind.
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- To wipe a being’s mind of all memories is a truly horrible experience. There are truly no words to describe how ill it makes a telepath feel after doing it.
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- Telepaths also risk driving themselves mad- removing memories or wiping minds draws those memories into the user and can lead to one thinking they are someone else entirely, losing all sense of their own person or losing sense of reality entirely.
As a result of all this, Castalla very rarely uses her ability beyond silent communication and downplays it as an innate ability all kajaks have in order to communicate with others whilst in their wolf forms.
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