#noriacanon

Because making another page for it would be too much and as it is not a Path, I won’t even be arsed. I am just doing that to be one of the cool kids and had an idea.

That is a tough question. She’s usually very perceptive, but there are masks that even she can’t see through and considering her lack of experience in places where the Grand Game is played, she can’t know what to expect. She is observant enough to pick up tells and understand when a person is lying, but it’s not easy for her to understand why. The Runaway is a lot better at that, because she’s a liar herself. But the rest? Not really.

But knowing when one is lying doesn’t make you a good judge of character, does it? Noria isn’t one. She can’t look at a person and see their soul on the first encounter. She responds to everyone with mistrust, either more or less depending on the Path and the situation. Her initial decision is like her usual initial answer to things: No. She reacts to everything negatively and then takes her time to reevaluate her decision. She doesn’t like anyone until she does, not the other way around. And it takes her a while to like anyone.

But when she makes the second decision, she’s usually right about it. Intuition and observation come to play and she comes up with a more careful verdict about the person. So, that’s a PSA of sorts. If Noria is a dick at first, don’t be discouraged. She may be even more of a dick later, but she may also not be.

All her life, since she knew herself, she didn’t find herself worrying about the hunt or her tasks. She was always diligent in her duties and she always brought them to end without sloppy results. Sure, there’s the moment that her breath catches in her chest when she nocks an arrow, but that isn’t qualified as stress. If anything, she at her calmest in the hunt. Performing her duties is easy, because she knows what to do. She’s always focused.

She doesn’t know what to do with people. There has always been the underlying desire to gain her mother’s approval and it has been eating at her, because she doesn’t want to follow her way, her mother is never pleased about anything and yet she remains wanting and it keeps eating at her. Every mistake she has ever done was related to people. People have hurt her in so many ways, either with words, either with betrayal, either with fists and swords. She finds herself cautious around them and if she doesn’t know them, her heart is racing. That’s the main source of stress. She’s around people and even though in her core she doesn’t care if she offends them, she’s afraid about what will happen if she does.

There’s no dealing with that, really, only superficial remedies and a fuck-all attitude. She needs to put a lot of work into it, and I don’t think she will. She will never talk to anyone about that, because it requires dropping the mask of not caring. I guess that’s just something we’ll have to deal with it, especially with the Prisoner, every time she climbs on the roof over the garden and smokes elfroot to distract herself from the fact that she’s surrounded by shems.

Questions:

Does your muse have any regrets? Did they learn from their mistakes? “If I’d have known then what I know now….” finish this sentence.: She regrets all the words she didn’t say, all the things she didn’t do and only one thing she did. Markham, always Markham. But she has grown since then and she learned from her mistakes. She’s better for it and the next time she may not be tongue-tied when she needs to speak up. She put a lot of work into it, after all. “If I’d have known then what I know now I wouldn’t have heeded her words.”

What is one pivotal moment of your muse’s story? What changes about them?: Depending on the path, she has many pivotal moments. The Inquisitor, Prisoner, Guardian, Survivor had to deal with the same thing. The moment Alenna left. Noria didn’t smile much as it was, but when Alenna left her behind, she became more stern than ever. She grew distant from her people and that led to her other big mistake, which didn’t do much other than put the fear in her for all things shem’len. Markham was most hurtful for the Broken, because she never made it out. The moment of shift is when they cut off her hand and then... Everything changes about her, nothing remains the same. The elf in her dies and she is left a husk. The Runaway’s pivotal moment was when Teinrion asked her to join him and leave the clan. The change was slow, but she became most different. She became more confident and avoided getting more stern than she already was. She even learned to smile a bit more.

Are they more motivated by their past or the future? Or do they live in the moment?: I wouldn’t say she finds motivation in any time. She lingers in bad memories of the past a lot, but they’re not the ones that would teach her or give her drive to do better. She doesn’t think much of the future... It’s like she’s just existing. With that in mind, I’d say that she lives more in the moment, because that’s all she is sure she has.

What was their childhood like? What’s their earliest memory? Do they enjoy reminiscing? Are they nostalgic? Is there anyone they miss?: Noria received a strict upbringing for most part and she didn’t receive as much love as the average kid. She didn’t understand that it wasn’t her fault, so that left some underlying issues within her. She has memories coming and going, many unclear, but her earliest memory was that of her brother. When he was born and she was allowed to hold him, it was possibly her happiest moment. Things felt normal, even her mother was acting differently. She looks back to it from back to time, just like she recalls her first hunt, her first sexual experience, or the time she killed a Great Bear without weapons. Depending on the day and the verse, such memories make her nostalgic, they even make her sad. Sometimes she doesn’t want to remember, because her face comes back up to the surface. Alenna. She’s the one she misses the most.

What one person has made the most impact on their lives? Why are they so important?: Even though she won’t think to mention her, it is her mother, of course. She was the person that shaped her before anything else could. Noria is more like her than she wants to admit. Stern like her, cautious like her. The impact was slow, but even Alenna didn’t change her that much, not even Markham. These two events just eliminated her resistance to nurture. At least, for a while.

If they had a chance, would they trade their bad memories for a chance at a brighter future?: She wouldn’t believe that such a deal is legit. She learned more from her bad memories than she did from her good ones. She doesn’t even remember all her good ones. She wouldn’t accept such a deal, because the future is unpredictable, no matter what anyone says, but experience can’t be replaced.

How do you see your muse dying? Is it a death worthy of them? What will people say at their funeral?: Each path has a different death at the end of the line, and each death is unpredictable or unpreventable. That’s as much as I can say. Death is final, and I wouldn’t want to set the course for her without giving her a chance to choose her own end. Nothing is written in stone yet. There are only possibilities.

Is their story a tragedy? A comedy? A cautionary tale? Do they have a happy ending?: She has many stories going on for her and we know the end to none. Each of them is different, some are tragedies, some are cautionary tales. But yeah, none are over yet.

Where do they see themselves in five years, ten, twenty? Does reality match up?: She is not the kind to make long-term plans. We’ll see when the time passes how life works out for her.

Regardless of where they see themselves, what do they want for their future? Family? Peace? Adventure? Do they have many long-term goals? Will they achieve them?: Like I said above, she’s not the kind to make long-term plans, so there’s nothing for her to achieve. What she wants for the future is to be alive, in some paths less than others, and even that can’t be taken for granted yet.

Questions:

Give me five positive and five negative personality traits that apply to your character.: She’s honest, resourceful, adaptive, loyal and really observant. However, she’s also stubborn as fuck, aggressive, stern to the point that you don’t know if she’s mad at you or not, blunt in her honesty and harsh.

Do they have any psychological troubles or personality disorders?: She never got over Markham, even though it’s been 13 years since then. She has trouble going to places with a heavy human population, she’s always guarded and tense, and sometimes the memories come back and she can’t concentrate, sometimes to the point that she loses herself in the event she endured, which comes back vividly. The memories bring shame, remind her of her betrayal, and she can’t seem to tune them out when she needs to.

How much energy do they have? Are they intense or more laid-back?: Noria relaxes rarely and only in good company, company she trusts, and that doesn’t mean her clan. She is always tense, always fidgety, she cannot sit somewhere for too long and even when she sits, she doesn’t rest.

Describe their sense of humor.: What sense of humour? Okay, wrong, everyone has something that makes them laugh. Noria mostly finds reactions amusing. Something happens, someone reacts and either their tone or their face is amusing enough for Noria to snort. But if she wants to make someone laugh, she goes for dry humour or heavy sarcasm.

Are they likable? Would you want to be their friend if you met them in person?: She’s not likable at first. At first impression, she seems to be an asshole. She’s blunt, aggressive, if she doesn’t like you, she’ll say so and she won’t be polite about it. If she doesn’t mind your presence, she will be more polite, but not what you’d call friendly or hospitable. In both cases she will be visibly wary of you. Personally, I wouldn’t want to be her friend, because I have trouble with people that look like they would easily shout at me. I appreciate her honesty, but hate her aggression.

Are they practical or idealistic? Careful or adventurous? Optimist/pessimist/realist?: Noria is the practical sort. She may be creative, but she won’t come up with something impossible. Whatever she suggests will be something that can be done.  And despite popular belief, she is careful. She appears to be moving too fast, but she doesn’t move without thinking. She just thinks very fast before acting, and while that may lead to rushed decisions that end up being problematic, for most part she is really careful. Her sharp mind will help her more often than it won’t, that’s for sure. And for the last question... She’s a realist. She sees reality for what it is and it’s not her fault reality itself has been more harsh or more gentle towards her. She doesn’t have false expectations and at the same time she doesn’t dream of destruction.

Are they open about who they are? Is what you see what you get? How much of who they are is hidden beneath a mask?: Mostly. She is blunt, she is aggressive and she is cautious, but she’s not just that. She hides how caring she can be under a carefully crafted mask, she hides her scars, the problems laying underneath the surface. She does her best to appear strong and cold. But deep inside... She’s a nerd.

Describe some of their quirks.:  She scratches her cheek when she’s nervous. She runs her tongue over her top teeth when she is that close to say something blunt and almost definitely offensive. She taps her right ankle on the floor when seated, when she’s nervous, making her whole leg move up and down continuously, she doesn’t notice that she’s doing it unless someone points it out. As the Runaway, when lying, she has a tell, she pauses after the sentence to check if they bought it. It’s impossible for her to smile without looking like she’s in pain.

What sorts of things do they do for fun?: She hunts. Or well, when she can’t hunt, she will be carving something out of wood or bones, making little pendants or rings or what have you. She also likes walks in the forest.

What is their fatal flaw?: She is so stubborn that if a situation arises in which she has to admit that she’s wrong about something or die, she will die. However farfetched that sounds, it is likely that she will end up having to deal with something of that sort in the future.

Questions:

What does it mean to be “good”? Is your character a good person? By what standards? Do they believe in moral absolutes?: A person is good when they don’t wrong others, one that treats everyone fair. It is not about laws or tradition. When one cannot say a bad word about someone, that person is a good one. Noria doesn’t consider herself a good person, but according to the definition given before, she is one. Despite the teachings of hatred and the tales of the savage humans that will do nothing more than hurt her, she will give even humans a chance, albeit a more cautious one. She has broken laws in her efforts to do what she feels is right, but she has done wrong by words, not by people. Even in cases that she killed people, she did it either to defend herself, or to defend others. Things aren’t black and white for Noria, no matter how hard others tried to make them. She always lingers in the grey, and sees the grey in people. She understands that judgement doesn’t always come easy and that there are many factors to think about before coming with a verdict. Just like she’s not the best person, since she has killed people, she will wait for the reasoning of the other before naming them evil.

What is their religion (if any)? Why do they believe what they do? How do they practice it? Do they ever have any doubts? How do they feel about people who do not share their religion or beliefs?: Noria believes in the Creators, as she was raised to since birth, but she’s not the most devout of elves. She practices her faith by living by the Vir Tanadahl, the Way of the Three Trees, but she won’t kneel in prayer or participate in any of the ceremonies. And she has doubts in her faith. She is the sort that needs to see to believe and she hasn’t seen any Creators around ever. She uses their teachings only as a guide, not as a rule. For that reason, she understands why people have different beliefs, why they look to any other gods for guidance, as long as they don’t step on her toes because of their religious beliefs. The moment someone tells her that she can’t do something “because the Maker said so”, she will get pissy.

Do they believe in the concept of an immortal soul?: She knows the Fade exists, but she doesn’t know if souls go there after death, or where they end up, or even if souls truly exist and aren’t just a way to comfort people about the prospect of death. She has heard about spirits, but not about souls. So, she’s sort of in the middle between yes and no. She has questions on the matter, yet before meeting Solas, she didn’t have the chance to answer them.

What do they believe will happen to them after they die?: She has faced death before, and almost didn’t make it back. What she saw was darkness. No white light, nothing of that sort. She doesn’t tell others, no one ever asks anyway, but she believes that when she dies, she will merely rot in the ground and it will all end there.

What compels their morality? The desire to be good? The desire to be liked? Something else?: Noria never does anything to be liked. She expresses her morality in ways that raise controversy and sometimes people don’t agree with her ways. She is compelled by a simple thing. If she isn’t the way she is, if she doesn’t act the way she does, no one will do it for her. It’s more like a basic drive for her, to do right, to be right. It’s the only way to do right by herself, in her opinion, so she is good so that she will feel good.

Do they believe that most people are inherently good or bad? Is the capacity for evil in everyone? The capacity for good?: She has been asking the same questions to herself for the longest time. Her mother always told her that the elves are good and the humans are evil and even though she never agreed, she eventually adopted her opinion, but the doubt always lingered. It all comes down to simple questions. Are people born good or do they become good? What determines their morality in the former? What shapes it in the latter? How does it all work? Is it the teachings, ever so subtle? In that case, she would be lost in her prejudice. But if she’s born good, does that mean that there are people out there born evil? No, that can’t be. It is the teachings, but it’s also the response to them. No one is born as anything. They all have capacity for greatness or devastation. Just as she does. Her morality at the end of the day is a choice.

Have they ever done something they knew was wrong? Did they regret it? Would they go back and change it, if they had a chance?: That arrow in Markham. She saw a city elf getting mugged by a man carrying a knife. She told him to back off, but he didn’t listen. Justice was simple for her back then, it still is, no matter how hard she tries to grow out of it. She shot the man in the throat, killed him. And she immediately knew it was wrong. She could have done it differently, she could have just pulled him away, punched him in the face, stopped him. Instead, she killed him, and she regretted it the same moment. It was the first man she had killed and that tugged at something in her. She felt wrong. If she could go through the same moment again, she wouldn’t have done it. She wouldn’t have killed him. That man was wrong for attacking the other, but she was wrong too for killing him. And the biggest problem? She doesn’t know why she was wrong. Was she wrong for the act of killing him or for passing judgement without the call of the offended?

Do they believe in fate? Destiny? Does everything happen for a reason?: She believes in choice. She doesn’t think that some invisible hand tugs at them for some purpose. The universe doesn’t have that good an imagination. She believes in momentary luck, but she will never say that things happen because some god willed it so or because of fate. At the end of the day, the world is shaped by the whims of people and destiny is not to be praised or blamed for the events. It’s never so simple.

What is the meaning of life? Do they feel they have a purpose? A higher calling?: She definitely has a purpose. The job she was given in the clan made her responsible for feeding her people. Becoming the Inquisitor made her responsible for saving the world. What they have in common is that she was given both tasks by people, not by gods. Even the circumstances that gave her both titles were formed by people and her choosing to stand up to the occasion is out of duty, not because it feels like a higher calling. As for the meaning of life... She doesn’t know it yet. She figures that when she finds it, she will have fulfilled it.

“What goes around, comes around” - do they agree? Do they believe in karmic justice? Will the good ultimately be rewarded and evil punished/vanquished?: No. A scale would be needed to determine whether someone would have to be rewarded or punished. Things aren’t so simple. And then there’s the ugly truth. When someone wrongs someone else, even if the wrongdoer is punished, the one wronged will not feel any better, especially if they’re dead. And then there’s history. Heinous crimes have been committed, war crimes, crimes behind the scenes, and the culprits never dealt with any consequences. No, karmic justice doesn’t exist. Justice is the responsibility of people. If something goes around, it won’t come around, unless someone forces it to.

(This is an easy one.)

Questions:

What is their social status? Their profession? Are they happy where they are?: Even in the clan, she doesn’t have a high social status. She would be the lead hunter of the clan, but she declined the honour, because that position requires leading a bunch of hunters. She prefers working alone. She has no strong feelings about her position, but it is one she chose, so she’s satisfied enough.

How many people are in their network? Do they have a big family? A lot of friends? Are they extroverted?: There are the people in the clan, but on a personal level, she has a small to inexistent network. Her family is her mother and her brother, she has never met her grandparents and most of her relatives are in different clans. She only had few friends in the clan, depending on the verse. When in correlation with inq-nayeli in the Guardian Path, she has been good friends with the younger elf’s parents. In the Runaway Path, her best friend is Teinrion, who she ran away with. And in most paths, her brother is a good friend of hers. She is an introvert, so being social isn’t that easy for her.

Who is their best friend? Why?: Again, depends on the Path. In the Runaway, it is quite clear that her best friend is Teinrion. In the Broken Path, she has no friends. In the Survivor Path, she has no surviving friends. Unless connected with another muse, her best friend is her brother, Roben, because he’s the only one that only sees her, without keeping in mind her errors, the circumstances of her birth and her status.

How does one befriend them? What do they have to offer as a friend?: In order to befriend Noria, one must have patience and respect. They should at least have some common ground with her. She won’t befriend a noble that mistreats city elves, that is. Noria is a very loyal friend. She will have their back, protect them and support them, and if the need arises, even though she will find it difficult, she will offer comfort, if she can.

What makes a family? Is blood thicker than water, as they say?: Experiences and love make a family. She feels that people she’s not related to by blood are more of a family to her than her mother, but she still feels kinship to her because of their similarities. But no, just because the circumstances of her birth connect her to some people, it doesn’t mean they’re family.

What’s their reputation?  Is there a gap between how they perceive themselves and how others perceive them? Who is more right? Who knows them the best? Do they care about what others think of them?: In the clan, she’s not the most popular person, but she is a popular hunter, because of her undoubted skill. However, they don’t dislike her. She is known for her oddities, but that doesn’t make her a bad person. Just one they don’t really talk to, not that she would make it easy. Noria sees herself as an outsider, one that wouldn’t be missed from the clan, and as time passes, the opinion of herself grows worse, but it is untrue. She is a valuable member of the clan and there are people that would miss her if she was gone. Roben is the one that knows her the best and his opinion is the one she cares about. That’s what she will say, but she will find herself pining for her mother’s approval and the lack of it makes her feel terrible.

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” - do they agree? Do they have many enemies?: She doesn’t agree. She would prefer to keep her friends close and her enemies dead, or at least as far away as possible, so that she will be able to see them coming if they decide to. She doesn’t have any personal enemies, only those that are enemies of her people.

How does your muse show love (platonic, romantic, familial, etc)? How do they show affection?: She is subtle in displays of love towards friends and family. A nod of approval, perhaps, or she will be taking care of them. Maybe the occasional hug too. But when it comes to lovers, she shows all the affection she hasn’t shown others. She will look at them like they’re the sun and yearn for their touch and their kisses. Her lovers will never have to worry about food or safety. She will throw herself in harm’s way for them. If Noria loves someone, they will know for sure.

Who would they go to first in an emergency?: No one. If she can’t take care of herself, it’s unlikely that anyone else can.

Do they find it easy to communicate and relate to others? Are they easy to get along with?: Not really. She is really private, and communication is likely to overstep her boundaries, plus she doesn’t think that anyone’s experiences match hers. Only if something is closely similar to what she has lived will she relate. And no, she’s not easy to get along with. She’s a massive grump and really cautious. Plus, very blunt. She is rather impossible at times.