#bbtta2

5. What was the first time you really connected to this character, if ever? Why do you think this moment made the character special to you?

probably just building him. i wanted to make him different than prior dnd characters ive played and i just rly love him :( 

8. What’s one weird personal headcanon you have for the character that’s not addressed or that you haven’t found a way to share yet?

winter tai doesnt like walking so he will like. lean on someone til he gets carted around somehow alskdfj

9. What are your character’s relationships like with every member of their party? Bonus, if you want to write a short blurb on your character’s opinion of them.

aelia- filled the void leaving his sisters gave him. trusts her wholeheartedly and is closest to her out of anyone. spring tai would call her family, summer considers her a confidant. 

alunda- incredibly smart. both of them are very interested in books and research and the arcane, so he can easily relate to her. enjoys when they both get hooked on a thread and unravel the mystery together.

cerise- another fill the little sister void. thinks of her as a little sister. wants to help her and protect her but hasn’t figured out how or if he even can/should. 

sylreth- mysterious, but another islander. wants to know the mystery, but trusts him. spring tai is very friendly with him but summer is a little more suspicious

vigil- mysterious. wants to trust them but doesn’t know if he should. in the meantime, they’re good conversation, smart, and skilled.

19. What bit of character development are you proudest of? What bit do you wish hasn’t happened? Is there any development you’re still waiting for?

hmmm its kinda hard to get traditional character development with tai bc of eladrin nature. i guess the sitting down and talking about stuff part would be it. development im waiting for would be re his warlock patron.

20. How did you think your character would die when you started the campaign? How do you think they’ll die now? If they’re already dead, substitute that in for the second answer.

uh at the beginning with only playing spring tai probably something stupid alskdfj 

now that party development has happened i think he’ll die either

a) very easily (that health)

3. Things said too quietly

“I wish you could have known them.” Aelia says, barely more than a whisper, after Alunda and Vigil finally bundle Cerise into another room, repeating back her own assurances that he should make it though the night. Sylreth stands guard just outside the door, Aelia can see the shadow where he blocks the light in the hall. She’ll have to convince him to take a rest too, at some point, but none of them really want to sleep. The last few hours play back in Aelia’s head.

They’d been sleeping, exhausted after days of travel, back in a city with real beds and walls and a roof over their head. And the next piece of the set in their grasp. Alunda couldn’t do the spell until morning, but they’d been efficient, in a way that scared Aelia a bit, even now. The shack just outside the town holds nothing but corpses, the entrance locked until they can properly deal with it in the morning. Only three of the bodies need to be properly buried. Aelia’s head dips back against the bed, nails digging deep into her palms until Tai takes his next shallow breath.

“Dad always wanted me to have friends, he told me when I went off to school I should find people who brought out the best in me.” Another shallow breath, too long since the last one to be quite right. It’s better than an hour ago, she thinks, when they’d awoken to knives in their backs and darkness all around them. By the time Aelia lit up the room, the fiend with it’s claws in her going slack under a blade of shadow, Tai had the other fiend clutching it’s head, writhing in pain and easy to pierce with the Sun Blade. By the time she’d even spared Tai a glance, realized that the red spread out beyond his skin, soaked the bedsheets and pooled on the floor, the sound of fighting from the other rooms had drowned out his last breath.

Finding Cerise had been easy, her holy weapon pummeling one assailant to the ground in the hall, the darkness lifting as Vigil sunk their blades into another, the smell of burning flesh and acid blood in the air. Aelia had dragged her away from mauling a corpse for good measure and— she’s not sure the order if events after that. Somehow they all got in the same room, lit by the glow of Aelia’s sword, until Alunda out a hand up and slowly she relaxed her grip, plunging them into shadow save the watery glow of Cerise’s spells. She’s not sure how many seconds passed before Cerise looked up.

“He’s gone” she’d said.

“Diamonds—“ Alunda said, quickly, and Cerise had nodded, and Aelia had fumbled through her pack and drawn out a handful. Cerise scattered them across Tai. They ought to arrange him better, Aelia thinks. But Cerise shakes her head—no time, or it will cost more— and the room glows again. And then again and again, as Cerise heals together his flesh into a thick scarred line and purges the poison from his system.

They’d cleaned as much as they could, while Alunda placated the inn staff, and Vigil set up fresh alarms and Cerise poured the last of her spells into him, until he practically seemed more alive than normal, cheeks flushed, healed but for the ragged breathing and the coolness of his skin, blood still returning to it’s paths under the skin.

Aelia draws in another breath. “He’d have wanted to talk with you, hear all your stories. He taught us to read so early, but made sure we appreciated the telling of a tale. And he always wanted me to bring home colorful friends.”

Tai moves, minutely, wincing as his body tries to take a deeper breath. “The leaves are gonna change, Tai.” She says. Dawn is breaking through the window. She wants to ask if this scar will go with it, or if the gash will forever mar his skin. She wants to ask if he feels his father’s absence, like an afterimage burned into the backs of his eyes at the moments it hurts most.

“They were— my siblings. He really had a system for our names. But they were really just two sides to the same coin. I think I was the outer edge.” She waits for another breath.

“Aelia?” Tai’s voice comes thin and strained

“Ye- yes, don’t try and move.

“Mhmm.” Tai settled back, against the sheets. Aelia sighs.

5. if they wear any, how does your character go about applying makeup? (methodically, nervously, messily, etc

Hmm I do not think aelia wears makeup rlly i don't think she’d be very good at it or like it that much? just from like a sensory perspective but someone should do her makeup just bc shes pretty and deserves it

8. are their hands steady? Either VERY or not at all. when shes calm yes but i think when shes overwhelmed/fighting/sad shes always if not shaking like. fidgeting.

33. where are they in a group hug? (dead center, outside, etc) Either outside (big, can wrap her arms around them) or center depending on the reason for the hug probably. i don't think we’ve done a group hug in game :(

41. what's the silliest thing they've used magic to do? if they don't have magic, what's something silly they'd use it for if they did?

turning into her dad probably doesn't count as SILLY but. she did do that. most of her spells are damage related not much opportunity for fun sadly. she has invisibility and can lock any door though now so i should think of some pranks.

this is the comic i drew about her disguise self adventure dfasdfd:

50. can they sing? can they dance?

I think no to singing lol, or at least she's never been Trained to. Dancing probably? At least like, a basic formal dance she could get by alright her father probably considered that a useful skill to have, but she def hasn't had practice in a long time.

51. what is the most beautiful thing in the world, for them?

Sunrises/sunsets :) I think this has like always been the case even before her whole aasimar reveal, growing up in a place where full moon = total darkness, it was always a huge relief when the sun finally rose!

52. from whom do they seek validation?

Before the campaign mostly her father, and thats def still the case. I think she is kinda constantly seeking validation honestly, she's very unsure of herself in a lot of ways and looks to the party a lot to make sure she's like, doing the 'right' thing.

53. which is more frightening to them: day or night?

night absolutely

54. what was their education like?

Her father homeschooled her and her siblings, mostly I think by like. giving them books / just having them like go out in the woods and explore and report back. He was busy with work but made sure they all like, had equal amounts of practical knowledge and intellectual curiosity. As she got older and expressed an interest in like, swordplay and magic I think he probably got her like, an instructor in the city but she still did most of that learning from books and on her own through trial and error, probably? And then in the year prior to the campaign she went off to like, formal schooling in the main city for magic/swordsmanship!

55. whose hand do they reach out for?

whoever is reaching out for her i think is the like poetic answer. Or just whoever is closest?

56. what animal do they most relate to?

Hmmmm that's something i haven't super thought about! I think Birds in general she associates with like, "flight' = her leaving her home, but idk specifically or if that's changed as she's grown

57. what makes them angry?

harm to her friends/family/the world at large, cruelty, uh idk if "angry" is the right word but she does feel a bit frustrated that they're dealing with all these entities who can't or won't tell them whats going on, even though they're risking their lives to try and fix it.

58. what do they think their role in the party is? what is their role in actuality?

a) tank

b) tank

59. what is a quiet passion of theirs?

2. before they met their party, what was their main goal?

Aelia spent the month before she met the party nearly 24/7 in the library trying to research fiends to figure out the disappearance of her father and siblings, while waiting on access from the organization her father worked for to see his actual research notes. She didn't really have a Plan, she just was trying to figure out what had happened and grasping at straws tbh

14. what is something they love about themself?

I think Aelia is pretty proud of like, her ability to be there for her friends ig? Mostly in like, physically being able to protect them but also feeling like she's a valuable part of conversations/emotional support :)

28. who would they kill? who would they kill for?

She'll kill anything/anyone that seems set on killing or harming her or her friends I think. There hasn't been a lot of like, room for thinking about this for her almost all our fights have been against fiends outright trying to kill or take something from us, so she hasn't had to question it she's just reacted. I think she would have a fair amount of conflict if an NPC we already know turned on us though, and there's a line between like, monsters and sentient beings who are explicitly working to harm people on a grand scale, vs say if we got attacked by like thieves or assassins or something who wasn't related to the main plot (as far as we could tell in the moment), I think she'd be hesitant to use lethal force then unless they badly injured one of the party.