**I would like to preface reading this sheet by saying she might be one of those super generic “loves darkness and shadows” types but she’s not one to let her shortcomings or bad memories make her a damsel in distress by no means. If she feels weaker than the other characters present then she will just have to give it her best shot. Thanks!**


[IMG]http://i65.tinypic.com/141p5ds.png[/IMG] /Lady Rivenna/[IMG]http://i66.tinypic.com/2i7yhs.png[/IMG] /Sijo - Primary Outfit/[IMG]http://i68.tinypic.com/2mq3fnk.png[/IMG]/Sijo - Secondary Outfit/

Your Username: Sijo
Character's Name: Sijo “See-ho” (Self-given name, name she gave herself after leaving on her quest to seek out her last known blood relative to obscure her identity along with dying her hair.) Children call her “Seer” or “The Raven Lady” on occasion.
Character's Age: 22
Character's Height: 5'7'' (5’9’’ in her secondary outfit, minus the crown-like feather pieces. That outfit she wears to war and was made while she stayed in a island village during her first year back on land. The chief of the village was convinced she was some sort of goddess because of her supernatural ability to communicate with the felines and crows around their village. Animals in general seemed to be quite respective of her as well. So they blessed five feathers and painted her face when their village was saved by her in one small would be raid. She intercepted a raven carrying a message and recognized the wording to be code for an ambush, telling the chief the village was informed way before it happened giving them the upper hand. It was a show of thanks and she holds the outfit very dear and seriously.)
Character's Personality traits: She's been a bit of a recluse up until the past few years since her travels required her to sort of break free of her metaphoric shell she had lived in. In a list: Quiet, Analytical, Blunt, Charismatic, Curious, Terrified of Closed Spaces, Terrified of Change, Thrives in Wide-open spaces, Thrives in Dark Settings/Settings that cast many shadows.
Character's Lore: Sijo’s birth name is Rivenna Starborn of the Starborn House, a family that lived and resided in a far off land blanketed by the purest white of snow and the basked in months of starlight at a time. Rivenna was the middle child of the Starborn house, and was only recently claimed by her father as his blood daughter from a case of illegitimacy that had been debated for years. He claimed her shortly after her birth mother had fallen ill and passed away. Rivenna has only heard vague stories of her blood mother, that she had long ashen hair, flawless pale skin, and eyes so cold they could pierce the hardest heart. Her father told Rivenna that it sometimes pained him to look upon her as she reminded him so much of her mother. The lady of the house, wife of her father William (“Will”) Starborn, was named Lady Evelyn (“Eve” to William) Starborn. Evelyn was a fair skinned woman with long, wavy red hair and a beauty mark on the right side of her jaw. She had a wicked temper, and showed her jealousy often towards Rivenna by treating her like “the bastard she was”. When Evelyn discovered Rivenna could communicate with the kitchen help’s cats (to keep the rats/mice out of the kitchen and pantry areas) and then hearing how she could communicate with crows she knew this girl was only going to be trouble the older she grew. So to Evelyn, Rivenna was always a threat, and it did not help that she looked so much like her blood mother. William still after all of these years still loved her and would always be his first true love. Rivera’s image was a mirror to the past, and hated her every day of her life for it. Evelyn lied to Rivenna’s father on one particular occasion and told William that she had decided to go out “dancing in the shadows” rather than attend his celebration for hunting down the house’s most elusive albino stag. It was a very important celebration, one to be remembered and recorded in the family’s history books and his daughter was not there. Evelyn had William wrapped around her finger so tightly he believed every lie she told and the more she told the less William would believe Rivenna which in turn caused a rift in their relationship. Neither one of them knew what was really going on until the night came when Rivenna’s spying encountered a cloaked Evelyn speaking with a dark tanned man of great height and intimidating build. “Spare the child with ashen hair when you find her. This is for a job well done. You have surpassed my expectations and then some…Perhaps if you are willing I have one more petty job for you.” Evelyn leaned in close, cupping her black gloved hand to the man’s ear as she knelt down. They spoke in whispers and exchanged sealed messages before parting. Rivenna glanced down at the seals—black, death. Rivenna raced her way back as silently as she could back to her room, climbing up the grating along the wall to her window and pulled herself inside so quickly she cut her leg on a sharp edge poking out from the sill. She stumbled and winced, crying out with a hiss to see how bad it was. It was a deep cut, in the shape of a sharp “v”, but there was no time to properly bandage it she knew she had to get to her father’s bedroom as soon as she could. So she ripped the red scarf from a doll she had since she was little and tied it off just above her right knee over it and took off out her bedroom down the hall. She turned right and called out, “Father! “ but maybe she was not close enough for him to hear her cries, she was just one hallway down now and tried calling out again. “Father please! Father! I need to tell you something! I saw—“ His door was cracked open several inches and she could feel a chill from the winds softly howling outside an open window. Rivenna swallowed and felt her body go numb, a sinking feeling in her heart. She pushed the door open, it swung wide on its hinges to reveal the fate of the meeting. “….Evelyn.” Rivenna dropped to her knees, a lump in her throat growing as tears welled up in her greenish blue eyes as she crawled weeping over to her father who lied lifeless and bleeding from his eyes and nose. His face and lips were blue. “Evelyn…Evelyn..why…? Why? Why?…Why…Why..” Rivenna wept as she hunched over her father, burying her face in his chest as she clutched his arm tightly, repeating herself over and over until it devolved into a mumble. Purrruuu—a raven called from the open window down at the girl as she wept. Rivenna lifted her head slowly from his chest and looked to the side over towards the black bird. It cocked its head and cawed out to her, beating its wings furiously against the pane. Rivenna sniffled and sucked in a few shaky breaths as she stumbled to her feet, tears still flowing down her porcelain cheeks making it a little hard to see clearly. She whimpered as she extended her arm out for the bird to perch. It would flit to her arm and beat its wings again with such feeling. The longer Rivenna gazed at the crow and pet its head with her trembling hand the more stable she felt. She slowly walked back to her father’s side as the raven climbed up to sit on her shoulder. She knelt down, sucking a shaky breath in as she unclasped the Starborn House pin from his vest and placed it in her pocket. With a long sullen gaze she said her goodbye and turned her face to the hallway with her face burning with rage. Rivenna would find Evelyn and kill her, she had no plan or means to but she wanted her dead. Evelyn was surely the cause of this, she knew it and felt it in her bones. She couldn’t control her anger any longer and let out a sorrowful, painful scream, causing the guards to call out to each other and race down from their posts to the hallway she was standing in just outside her father’s wide open chamber. Rivenna fell to her knees and cried out, “Murderer! A horror! My father has been slain by a treacherous snake in lady’s costume!” From the adjacent hallway a figure reached out just before the guards made their way to her cries and grasped her shoulder. Rivenna shrieked in surprised but was silenced quickly by a handkerchief before being dragged away with the stranger.
When Rivenna awoke she found herself in a very tiny space, with barely room enough to move her ankles around. She was in a crate and felt herself move around, the crate sliding a little bit. Just as she began to hyperventilate everything from the night or nights before started to rush back to her and her sense of urgency along with it. “HELP!! PLEASE SOMEBODY I’VE BEEN KIDNAPPED!” Rivenna banged her cupped bound fists against the roof of her encasement with several cries before the top was payed open. It was so bright out, it must have been high noon wherever she was but she knew now she was on a ship of some kind. Standing in front of her with a crowbar was a tall lanky fellow with pitch black hair. “Aye, that you have. Although…I would go a little light on the “kid” part as you were quite a bit heavier than a child.” The man would speak to her as he reached for his belt’s holster. Rivenna flinched and whimpered begging for mercy. The man knelt down to the crate’s height to the curled up ball that was this young woman. “Killing you is the last thing on this earth I would do.” Rivenna looked up from her arm she had her head buried in with puffy eyes, weary of his words. “Now, does the young Lady Starborn wish to be free of her bonds or does she wish to eat with them on?” He asked in a calm tone, showing her the knife he had reached for that had been holstered with a small shrugging gesture in his shoulders. Rivenna glanced at his hunting knife and felt as though she really had no reason not to take a risk here, she would nod her head slowly and was cut free. The man extending his arm out to her for support as she arose like a newborn fawn. “Now, before you can eat there’s just a small matter we need to discuss.” Rivenna let go of his arm and backed up a step or two. He would shake his head a bit and hold his arms up in peace with a slightly fading smile. “No one on board is here to hurt you, you have my word my Lady.” Rivenna glared in her response, holding her arms as the wind continued to whip through across the galley. “I’m supposed to just blindly take the word of a man who stole me from my home and locked me away in a moldy crate, limbs bound?” The man’s face became quite serious, “Lady Rivenna, I dislike having to make this point but…what other choice do you have but to trust me, here, right now?” “That’s not fair, you took me from my home—“ “Life is not fair! Life is full of unfair and unjust situations but we must deal with what we are handed and accept what is!” The man interrupted and after he spoke, stood there for a long moment before walking out to the side of the ship, leaning against the railing as he looked over the endless sea that surrounded them. Rivenna swallowed her words and watched as he walked away, looking down at her hands for a moment before soon accepting what he said was true. She really had no better option right now. She walked over to the man and stood beside him. The man continued to stare out at the waters. “…..Well if you plan on keeping me here much longer at least give me something to call you by.” He glanced over up towards Rivenna, standing up straight again. He must have been around 6’3’’ in height as he towered over her, but he quickly knelt down on one knee and bowed his head. “I am known as Ser Blacwin and I was charged by your Uncle Aldred of Starborn to protect and guard you with my life Lady Rivenna. To do so, I’m afraid we must dye your hair to conceal your identity from long view. Your hair color for your age is not common, and would surely give you away…we cannot risk it.” “I understand but..” Rivenna paused, “Why was I taken from my guards? They were coming, I could hear them.” Blacwin looked up at the Lady, maintaining that same serious expression. “Those guards had been paid off to silence anyone who discovered the body before Evelyn could return.” “…To confirm the job had really been done.” She looked down at her feet, but as Blacwin stood back up he lifted her chin. “We have much still to discuss my lady. Come, I have women down below who will help you bathe and you will start your new life soon.” “My new life….?” Rivenna squinted as she was lead away down to the lower quarters for her would be makeover.
Rivenna and Ser Blacwin, along with other ship mates sailed and traveled together in one small but strong group across many lands and many bodies of water. For two years, the two got to know each other very well and she would practice her art of speaking to the ravens often in front of the group. He would teach her basic and more advanced tips and tricks of survival and self-defense. Often sparring her randomly to keep her on her toes in times of actual danger that may occur. Blacwin was also very aware of what really terrified her most and tried to get Rivenna to overcome her fears by forcing her to face them head on. He did not feel comfortable doing so but also knew that by facing fears people became stronger in the long run. Rivenna knew this as well, but sometimes it would indefinitely lead to fights and periods of time where she despised him for making her do things. All the while, Rivenna had been recording their travels in her leather-bound journal. She fashioned the lock herself with the help of a merchant they had encountered many months ago. Mithril plated, with a small “v” shape indented in the lock where a key was used to lock in and unlock it. The key was a necklace she always had around her neck. It was a trinket her mother supposedly had given her father, which he wore pinned to his breast at all times. She was fascinated by everything, she had no idea how big the world really was. So many wonders around her, so many people of all sorts of varieties. She recorded everything in that journal and kept it safe, tucked away only for her eyes and her eyes only to read. Nobody else needed to read her private thoughts, and the farther they travelled the more she began to wonder about her Uncle and just how pure his intentions really were. If he were so worried for her safety, why would he have her out sailing halfway across the world having her trained for combat situations? Self-defense makes sense, but some the sparring seemed to go a step farther to the point where it was starting to make her feel uneasy. Several nights passed, Rivenna answers a knock to her door. It’s her knight Ser Blacwin, who she had since nicknamed “Blackwind” as they had become quite close over the past couple of years in such close quarters. “I brought you the ink you asked for my Lady.” He said softly, trying not to disturb her as she had went back to close her journal, locking it snuggly with the twist of her wrist as she leaned down close enough for her necklace to reach it. “Thank you Blackwind, just set it on my desk over there.” As Blackwind did so Rivenna stopped him by placing a hand over his. He looked back at her and she at him with worried eyes. “How much longer until we reach Uncle Aldred?” He sighed at the question and glanced away before being stopped my Rivenna, “Blackwind……How much farther? Please, surely you must know something.” “I’m afraid I cannot tell you m—“ “Blackwind.” “Rivenna. I swore myself to secrecy on this, I swore an oath to protect you, and that is what I intend on doing.” Rivenna’s deep sigh was interrupted suddenly by two loud booming sounds. They would both look towards each other with pale faces and Blackwind would immediately grab Rivenna’s hand to lead her to a hidden room with a large door with long iron bars for handles down the middle. “What, what I’ve been here for two years how could I not have known of this—“ “Please Lady Rivenna you must stay here and if anything happens, pull those bars and jump ship. Just jump, do you hear me?” Rivenna shakes her head and begins to breath a bit faster with anxiety as two more booms and several shouts from above echo. “Promise me you’ll be brave!” He would grab her shoulders and try to get her to calm down and stay strong for him, she knew he was serious. “I promise! Yeah! Okay!” He leaves a sealed message on the ground, tossing it and tells her to hide it in her journal’s case and not to open it until she reached dry land if she had to swim. Rivenna nods trying to calm herself and began preparing herself mentally for the worst, lacing up her boots tightly and hiking her dress up to step up to the door. She held onto bars crying as quietly as she could, knowing that she would probably be jumping soon. That the booms were not friendly, that they were most certainly canon fire. She opened her journal’s casing and slipped the note inside, locking it back up tightly. There came several more booms and a crashing sound not far from where she was. She decided to jump and so she did.
Luckily they were already so close to land that she did not have long to swim in those icy waters. But by the time she reached solid ground her body was so tired and weak she collapsed shortly after crawling to the nearest tree, just as the twilight hours hit. Laying there on her belly she could see her ship, the flames were roaring so high. Tears welled up in her eyes as she started to hyperventilate slowly, hearing a man shrieking in the distance as he probably burned alive. The voice sounded like Blackwind’s and she knew it was him. In that moment, she knew her journey must continue. It was the only thing she knew must be done, she had to find him. She decided to change her name and travel by land, picking a form of poetry seemed fitting at the time and so it stuck. Rivenna was no more, Sijo’s task was at hand.
And so it was that Sijo used the note to guide herself towards her Uncle Aldred, only he could provide the answers she sought out for so long. She understandably had so many questions about what had become of her house and about herself and her abilities.
Character's Hobbies: Reading old tomes that contain knowledge of battles from over the centuries past and informative references on nature and wild creatures, spying on other people’s conversations and people she finds interesting, Poetry is a huge part of her interests as well and finds simple joy in leaving poems for people she admires, never signing them to leave it anonymous as she was quite shy and feared rejection, Sitting on her knees in stressful situations to calm herself—she slips into a meditative state if left alone for long enough, Parkour at night through the shadows of sleeping communities—using that time out to also take in as many details as she can about the layout of the place, every hidden spot and alleyway; Keeps a personal journal on her at all times, to record all of her adventures and impressions of the people’s she’s met along her way. She hopes to meet one of every humanoid species out there, recording her first interaction and impression of them. She has made more than one copy of this journal and has a special lock across them that requires a special object to unlock them.
Character's Supernatural powers(6 Maximum.): Ability to speak and control ravens and felines in nature(wild/feral) or domesticated. Although she is mostly known for her raven ability by itself, having the means to intercept confidential messages mid-air if the raven flies low enough for her to call to it. Feral felines of a larger stature are much more difficult for Sijo. In fact, she is a bit frightened by the idea of practicing continuously with them but she knows she must. There is a small possibility that she may actually be able to speak to many more species of living creatures but the process of acquiring that knowledge will most likely take her entire life. She does not know still if it’s even possible hence her journey to find her last known living relative that she read had this same gift.
Weaknesses(3 minimum): Closed spaces, she is terrified of closed spaces and is definitely claustrophobic from a traumatizing event in her early childhood when her mother shut her into a crate as a stowaway on the ship to their freedom to their new home. Change is frightening to Sijo as well, because she is used to awful things happening when a change is made at the last minute to plans. She becomes keyed up and will naturally start formulating a contingency plan the moment a change is made that may potentially lead to harm.
Character Introduction(5-10 Lines): Sijo was checking a map she had bought from a merchant from a previous village that seemed to be a bit confusing as she noticed part of it was hand drawn and horribly inaccurate. “Oh this is rubbish.” She muttered to herself as she forced it back into her pocket inside of her red coat with a slightly annoyed sigh. “Come on, come on, come on…I’ve gotta be close to something now.” Sijo muttered quickly under her breath walking up to a clearing and slammed her fist against a tree in frustration. Purrruu— that familiar friend croaked down at Sijo, beating its wings down in a gesture-like way. A smirk crept across her face as she asked asked the raven to lead her to where there may be people. The raven would take off and she would run along, panting after awhile of following it. She couldn’t stop, not now, she needed to find some sort of place to rest her head. It’s been over a week since she’s found any sort of civilization or food even for that matter. “Oh…” She stopped suddenly as she felt a weird feeling in her gut, looking down over a small cliffside she was on she could see the makings of what appeared to be some sort of large campsite with a fairly sized keep. She grit her teeth, a bit intimidated by the structure as it had been quite sometime since she had last step foot anywhere near anything that even remotely looked like a castle keep. CROAK! The familiar called out several times, seemingly annoyed that they had stopped prematurely before reaching their destination. “Yes yes, don’t worry I’m coming…” she would say to her friendly little feathery friend as she turned and continued to follow him towards the camp’s entrance.