Keye J carnelianfire
Contents
Common Name
Keye J carnelianfire
Keye has chosen to use her surname, carnelianfire (or "carn" for short), in place of her first name because it reminds her too much of the traumatic destruction of her village. Her first name was the only thing she could remember immediately following the incident.
Carn's middle name does not stand for anything, it is simply the letter J. The man who found her nicknamed her J because she "needed a first name" and it was his favorite letter. At the time she was too distraught to tell the man her name was Keye, so the letter J stuck. He also gave her his surname, Carnelianfire, but he left the C lower-case to indicate that she was adopted.
The name carnelianfire, given to her by her adoptive father, is a combination of carnelian, a fiery colored gemstone, and fire. In certain circles (of which carn's adoptive father was a part of), it was a tradition to choose an element or object with magical properties that reflected your personality and use it as part of your name. A carnelian is said to be a healing stone that restores one's natural energy. It also helps the insecure person to find strength within them so they can come into their own. Eustace Fire felt it most reflected carn's personality. The fire was added to carnelian by the traveling bard who adopted her. He felt it was appropriate to share his name with carn because she had the same fiery spirit that his lineage possessed.
Full Title and Rank
- Seneschal (DC Character rank)
- Formerly Leader of Titan (Clan Title)
- Advisor of Titan (Clan Title)
- Palace Cleaner (Forum Title)
Race
Magical Affinity
Military Division/Rank
None
Character Overview
Carn is a gentle and absent-minded maiden, though she can focus on things when necessary or when they captivate her attention. When she's nervous or impatient she fidgets, often pulling on her clothing, twirling her hair, or scrunching her toes in her bunny slippers. She is very feminine, and her motherly instincts take over when someone is injured or needs help. Because of this, she sometimes overextends herself to help others. This also makes her very vulnerable and she often needs protection from someone more physically strong and more emotionally stoic. While she is fragile in this way, she is also very sturdy. Her excellent judgment and level-headed thinking enabled her to serve as the leader of Titan for several years.
Carn does value her down-time. When she does find a bit of free time, she likes to relax beside her forest reflecting pool. She also likes to read. You can oft times find her in an armchair in the library wrapped in a blanket and wearing her bunny slippers as she reads a tome. Occasionally, she'll stop and take a sip of her hot cocoa.
Ability
Carn is a bard at heart, but possesses the skills of an adept ranger. While growing up, she was required to learn how to track animals and shoot a bow and arrow in order to hunt game for dinner. Hunting also taught her how to use the forest to hide and not be detected. She also learned how to skin animals and make leather. Cooking in the field is also something she's very accomplished at. Her "father" also taught her to use smaller combat weapons she was strong enough to handle. This experience includes using spears, daggers, axes, and short swords.
Carn has no formal training in magic. Though she is an elf and possesses some, underdeveloped magic as inherited by her race she has no knowledge of how to use her power. The magic knowledge she has was acquired from sneaking a peek at her former master's library and from her friend Knight Twist she learned a few cantrips. Nothing she knows is above a novice level of magic.
Having grown up with a traveling bard, she does possess skills in the field of entertainment. Carn can draw, sing, and dance well. She also knows how to play the lute, harp, and harpsichord; however, she hasn't had access to the instruments for some time and is therefore quite out of practice. Sometimes, carn puts her entertainment skills to use to earn a little extra money for trinkets or gifts for her friends. She sells paintings, participates in the theater, and occasionally will entertain passersby or children in the street with a song or story.
Physiology
Carn is of average stature. She is slight & lithe in appearance and well toned but not strong. Curly brown rivulets of hair cascade down to the middle of her back. Her hair is usually tied back with a green, white or pink ribbon to keep it out of her dark brown eyes, though a lock of hair or two on the side will escape its bonds from time-to-time.
Most of the time, carn dresses very feminine. The gowns she frequently wears are plain, but they are often made of soft materials. She does own one or two more lavish gowns with fine embroidery and beadwork; but she finds them to be tight and restrictive of her movement so they're only worn when they have to be worn... such as when she's entertaining royalty or an extremely formal event.
When carn is hunting (or fighting in a battle) she wears a forest green shirt, breeches, and brown leather bracers and boots. It's while she's wearing this outfit you can almost count on her getting muddied (she has a weakness for jumping in puddles).
Carnelianfire loves her rabbit fur slippers and wears them everywhere she can-- this does not include those lavish parties or when she's jumping in mud puddles. Most of the time, these slippers are work to clan meetings, around Titan's palace, and at her Chateau.
History
Carn's life has been full of hardship and change. Her parents called her Keye, and at age 3, the forest village she lived in with her parents was sacked by a passing army of demons scavenging for supplies. This portion of the army was lead by Ebon-Ashe. It was she who ordered Keye's village to be burnt to the ground and every inhabitantof the village to be killed. Keye and her mother had been picking blackberries in the forest when they heard screams from the village. There was a nearby faery ring in the forest where Keye's mother told Keye to wait while she ran back to get their father. She never returned.
Keye waited in the faery ring until her blackberries ran out. She didn't dare go back to the village and the carnage she knew awaited her there. Besides, she wasn't exactly certain of the location.
After wandering in the woods a few days, tired, scared, and alone she stumbled upon a little pygmy dragon. The dragon distracted carn from the tragic loss of her parents and playfully led her to a merchant road in the forest. Dominic was owned by a traveling human, bard who was passing through the countryside, fleeing from the army of demons rampaging through the woods.
The bard adopted Keye and raised her as his daughter and taught her to read, write, sing, draw, and hunt for food. Keye played in the woods beside the wagon as they traveled and got pretty good at hitting a rabbit with a bow and arrow from some distance away. She and the bard would play practical jokes on one another too. One time, Keye put honey in the bard's comb. It took him 3 days to extract it from his hair! But the jokes and fun weren't going to last forever.
One winter, when Keye was in her teens, they were traveling to Cartes for a show when the bard became ill. He was soo ill they had to stop their travels. Keye built a big fire and wrapped the bard in thick blankets to keep him warm. She even stayed up all night to keep the predators at bay, but the bard's health got worse and worse. Finally, Keye packed him up on a makeshift stretcher and took him to the closest residence-- a nearby wizard's tower.
Keye had been told by the bard to never visit this wizard. "Wizards are reclusive and do not wish to be disturbed," he'd said... but the bard was in dire need of a warm bed and Keye yearned for a more substantial meal. The wizard was as cranky as the bard had said he would be, but Keye was able to persuade him to allow them to stay in his castle provided she'd cook for him. She was also warned severely to stay clear of his tower and to NEVER disturb him when he was in his tower working.
It took months, but the bard finally recovered, but he was never quite the same. He lacked the physical strength and vigor he once had. His sense of humor and imagination had decayed... so when he'd play his lute and sing sometimes at supper, it sounded more melencholoy than boisterous. Age and illness had taken its toll on the bard. Before he died he called Keye into his room and holding her hand, Eustace Fire gave Keye his surname and Dominic, closed his eyes, and passed away.
Keye had little time to mourn. Within three days the wizard had immediately taken to Keye's beauty and was almost constantly harassing her for a kiss. She'd always refuse and his anger festered as the wizard would brood in his tower. Fortunately, the wizard would have drama of his own. A thief named Ebon-Ashe would make an assassination attempt on his life. In his anger, the wizard cursed the thief and cursed Keye-- Ebon-Ashe wouldn't be able to harm keye and she would not be able to wander far from Keye for long without becoming ill. The only way for the curse to be broken was for the wizard to die. Almost as soon as he'd spoken the curse, the wizard regretted his decision. Keye had been looking for a reason to leave, but didn't know quite where to go; and the theif was NOT going to stay anywhere near the wizard and his precious tower.
Of course, Ebon-Ashe looked at Keye as if she were a burden. She couldn't steal, she couldn't fight hand-to-hand, and she giggled incessently. Keye looked at Ebon-Ashe as the sister she never had. There was much bickering, but as the weight of the curse set in, Keye became more daring-- prodding Ebon-Ashe and teasing her with practical jokes knowing full well there wasn't anything she could do to harm her. Eventually Ebon-Ashe's temper got the better of her and she left carn in Cartes. Not realizing the horrible extent of the curse, she became sick to her stomach and her vision blurred until she started heading back towards where she'd left Keye. As Ebon-Ashe caught up with Keye, she swore she'd see the wizard dead. Ebon-Ashe also decided to make Cartes her base of operations and was the first to begin to call Keye "carn". Ebon-Ashe still strays from time to time, but the effects of the curse aren't quite as potent as they were that first day. It would seem as though the wizard's health is failing...
Carn has since made a home in Cartes. She was attracted to a young dwarf in town named Sporon. They married, but shortly afterwards he passed on. Sporon's activity in a Clan named Titan spurred carn's interest and she became involved in clan affairs. She had a minor attraction to Azrael Nightstar, but her heart belonged to Robert the Dog (AKA- DSPY). Alas, DSPY's heart was already taken by Courtesan Lemac's sister Midway Samporna. After Midway passed on, DSPY and carn were engaged. DSPY broke off the engagement and made carn leader of Titan. Carn has since retired to her Chateau to live out her days as a lonely widow.
Mannerisms
Carn can is very bashful when she initially meets someone or goes somewhere new. In her moments of shyness, she loves to pick at her clothing and squish her toes in her shoes. This lasts only until she becomes comfortable around the new person or with her surroundings. Part of the reason she enjoys Ebon-Ashe's company so much is that carn has been around her for so long that she'd feel lost without her. Carn also views Ebon-Ashe more as family and doesn't mind her bickering.
Carn knows a little magic, but her insatiable curiosity has enticed her to study magic more in depth. What little magic carn does know was learned when her parents were still alive. She also learned a few spells while she was in service to the wizard. Carn has picked up things here and there from around Titan as well. Lately, she's been borrowing books from Knight Twist and learning healing magic from these books. Healing magic comes most easily to carn and she gobbles up these books hungrily learning to harness her magical prowess and use it to help those in need. Her gentle-heart makes her vulnerable to being taken advantage of by those who would seek to use her healing powers for other purposes.
Carn's love of knowledge has also spurred interest in self defense, and she's sought Ebon-Ashe's aid to learn fighting skills. Ebon-Ashe will neither confirm or deny whether or not she's agreed (or not agreed) to help carn learn to defend herself. As far as her training has gone, when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, carn is (to quote Ebon-Ashe) "Beyond all hope of ever learning more than basic self-defense".
Though she is very studious and can focus on things when they have her attention, carn is also very absent-minded. Eustace always encouraged her to think about things deeply whenever a thought arose-- "If you don't think about it right then," Eustace used to say, "you'll waste away searching for ideas instead of letting them embrace you when you're ready."
Carn's mischievous and fun-loving nature is a direct result of the games Eustace constantly played with her while they were traveling. They played thinking games, guessing games, and imaginative games. Eustace could make a game out of anything and carn has followed in her adoptive father's footsteps.
Carn's high-energy levels mean she's always doing something somewhere. She enjoys hunting, but only takes what she needs. She is very adept at using a bow and arrow, but ask her to use any weapon for hand-to-hand combat and she'll likely hurt herself with it. If she were to participate in a fight, it would have to be in a ranged attack and not on the killing grounds. Fortunately, she's never had to be involved in a battle in this capacity since her skills as a healer are more valuable than her skills with a bow and arrow. Carn dreads the day she may be required to kill as she knows it will unlock the terrible memories of when her family was slain. So long as she remains innocent in this respect, she is happy spending her time learning, healing, and doing whatever it is bards do in their free time.
Properties of Choice
Reflecting Pool
As a elf, carn feels naturally at home in the forest. One place in particular calms her nerves more than any other-- her Reflecting Pool.
The Reflecting Pool is a natural spring ensconced in the forests of Titan on or around carnelianfire's property. Its location is not difficult to get to, but is well hidden by the trees. In order to get to the Reflecting Pool, you would either have to know of it's location already or be led there by someone else. In rare instances, usually when a person or creature is in tune with nature, one can stumble upon the Reflecting Pool by accident; however, few of those who stumble upon the Reflecting Pool by happenstance recognize it for what it is and are able to find it again.
The pool itself lies downstream from a series of shallow cascading waterfalls and lush green plants. The falls bring in fresh water from a natural spring, so the water can be drunk from the stream or directly from the pool. The characteristic clarity of the water also makes the water a good location to scry. It is also an excellent location for those with a water affinity to meditate and practice spells.
Water from the Reflecting Pool has certain healing properties (as outlined below) and can be bottled and will retain its healing properties so long as the pool of origin retains its healing properties. Bottles of this healing water are rare, since those who know of the pools whereabouts prefer to keep its location secret so it retains its magical powers.
The pool can lose its healing properties if the location is desecrated. For example, if someone already dead were placed in the Reflecting Pool the pool would no longer heal. It would cause the pool to reverse the healing and drain life instead. Several Reflecting Pools have met this fate. The only method in which to heal a desecrated Reflecting Pool is to pour a flask of pure healing water into the pool. (As stated above, the water must be from another, still pure, Reflecting Pool). This will neutralize all magical properties of the water and make it more or less "normal" and non-magical.
Healing Properties: There are several healing properties for the water supplying the Reflecting Pool. The waters' healing properties have been distored over the years. Such rumors have supported claims of an apparent "Fountain of Youth" in the area. The pool does NOT have the ability to prevent aging.
- Bathing in the reflecting pool has the magical ability to clense and heal non-magical wounds and disease.
- Pouring water from the pool on a non-magical wound can clense and heal it.
- Drinking the water will purify your heart if it is drunk with the intent to do so.
- Drinking the water will also help grant spell casters clarity of mind, and it has been found to be extremely beneficial for casting more difficult spells.
Chateau de Amorance
Chateau de Amorance is carnelianfire's "retirement" home.
The immediate area where Carnelianfire’s home stood had been cleared of trees, making it seem like the house didn’t belong because it just simply appeared through the trees. The trees had been replaced by an assortment of rosebushes and topiary giving the house a surreal feel. Flowers of varying shades of pink, purple and white were clustered in groups in several beds which surrounded the property. Through it all wound a well worn cobblestone path that led up to a series of concave circular steps which served as a welcoming front door. To either side of the entry, the patio wrapped itself around three walls of the lower portion of the building like a veranda, which was bordered by a low wooden railing. The home was constructed from whitewashed wood paneling and had several large paned glass windows with shutters. On the second story of the building, halfway along the longest wall, on either side of the building, a set of bay windows overlooked the yard. The façade of the building was covered with white Lady Banks roses that cascaded as high up as the eaves of the roof. The whole place had the elegance of an inviting country home.
Dominic
Dominic is a pygmy dragon. 8-12" (20-30 cm) in height. He has red scales and a yellow belly. His wings are feathery and have vibrant hues of warm colors that intensify in the sunlight. The dragon can breathe fire, though it is barely enough to light a candle due to his smaller size.
Dominic was inherited by carn when the bard, Eustace Fire, passed away.
Sociology
General Interaction
Carn is a very easy-going and naive woman. She's had a very rough life, but tends to give others the benefit of the doubt. Her caring nature and thoughtfulness made her a fair leader as she would listen to both sides of any arguements before making a decision. She loves her clan and does what she can for her people. Carn sacrafices much for others because she has so little to be happy about herself. She would do anything for her close friends (from the HC).
Sporon
Carn was briefly married to Sporon, the dwarf. Their marriage wasn't to last long though, but before Sporon vanished (leaving behind his ring as a notice of divorce) he built carn her Chateau.
After Sporon had broken things off with carn and Midway Samporna had "died", carn became attached to Robert the Dog (DSPY). They dated for some time before Rob the Dog broke off the engagement to travel abroad. Carn hasn't heard from him since.
Ebon-Ashe
Carn considers Ebon-Ashe her sister. Unfortunately for carn, Ebon-Ashe doesn't reciprocate these feelings. Ebon-Ashe is still angry over the wizard's curse which forces her to be near carn. For Ebon-Ashe, the curse is a burden. Carn loves it, though she generally doesn't get along with Ebon-Ashe, she strives to win Ebon-Ashe's favor by assisting her. While the concept behind these favors is sound, many of them backfire and end up infuriating Ebon-Ashe anyway. Carn loves Ebon-Ashe, but Ebon-Ashe thirsts to end her life. Fortunately, the wizard's curse prevents this from happening.
Carn (water) and Ebon-Ashe (fire) share opposing magical affinities and are sometimes called "alter-egos" since their personalities are near mirror images of one another.
Curulan Angelicos
Carn's relationship with Curulan is fairly close. He was one of her strongest advisers when she was leader of Clan Titan. Carn lacked the military experience to lead the Titan Army when Robert the Dog promoted her to the position of clan leader. Carn trusted Curulan enough to pass along this torch, and eventually the burden of leadership.
Aside from their interaction on the Titan high council, carn relies on Curulan a lot to keep the peace between herself and Ebon-Ashe. Curulan is married to Ebon-Ashe and is generally able to keep her malice from colliding with carn. Words cannot convey the depth of gratitude carn has for Curulan from just this small service.
Tordek
Carn loves Tordek he is an artist like she is. They are both bards. Carn loves to trade skills with Tordek. While they are close, carn is oblivious to Tordek's involvement in the underground thief society.
Twist
Twist is an important and close confidant of carn's. She places her full trust in Twist, daring to tell him things she wouldn't tell others. Presently, she is secretly studying magic under Twist's supervision. He is a good teacher, and provides challenging tasks.
Courtesan Lemac
Carn knows Lemac from her prior days in Titan. She isn't as close to Lemac as Ebon-Ashe is, but she knows quite a bit more about Lemac than your average Titan.
