Elspeth Addair

   
Nature: Troubadour/Rogue- | -Demeanor: N/a
Character Type: Changeling- | -Concept: Lost Lover
Player Name: JohnFuPanda- | -Clan/Tribe/Dynasty/Ect:' Seelie/Selkie

Attributes

PhysicalSocialMental
Strength2Charisma3Perception2
Dexterity(Preternatural Grace)4Manipulation3Intelligence2
Stamina3Appearance (Captivating)4Wits2

Abilities

TalentsSkillsKnowledges
Alertness3Animal Ken2Academics1
Athletics3Crafts0Computers1
Awareness0Drive0Cosmology0
Brawl2Etiquette2Finance0
Empathy0Firearms0Investigation2
Expression2Melee0Law0
Intimidation0Performance (Singing)4Medicine0
Leadership0Stealth0Occult0
Streetwise0Survival2Politics0
Subterfuge1Technology0Science0
Other TalentsOther SkillsOther Knowledges
Carousing1Divination0Enigmas1
Intuition0Hypnosis0History0
Seduction0Meditation0Poisons0
Kenning2Riding0Thanatology0
 0Traps0 0

Advantages

Backgrounds
Dreamers1
Mentor3
Resources3
Glamour5
Willpower5
Banality3


Arts
Summer3
Skycraft2
Primal2
Realms
Actor2
Nature2
Prop1


Merits and Flaws
Merits:
Sex Appeal(3)
Nightsight(2)
Voice of a Songbird(2)
Flaws:
Curiosity(2)
Possessive(2)
Claustrophobia(2)


---- Freebies:
Freebie Points (15):

01 - Merits (7) - Flaws (6)
06 - Attribute: Dexterity 3 to 4
08 - Talents: Kenning 1 to 2
09 - Backgrounds: Resources 2 to 3
14 - Arts: Primal 0 to 1
15 - Willpower 4 to 5
Total: 15

Background and History


Character Bio: Born in Pittenweem, Elspeth's father had told her stories about her mother— ‘Ceana’ was the only name she gave— whom he had fallen in love with before her disappearance. Many months had passed after their meeting when a baby was left on his doorstep, covered by only seaweed and sea foam still fresh on her cheeks. Decades later, before her 23rd birthday, Elspeth discovered a seal pelt while doing her morning laps in the ocean away from the crowded beaches. Taking the pelt, Elspeth found out about her Kithain nature, becoming a selkie like her mother. Distraught, she took to the seas, searching for her mother and all the while forgetting the family she left behind. She was found by a motley of selkies who Fostered her and raised her for a year and a day before her Saining. After being initiated, she left again for a year, half searching for Ciara and half simply enjoying the world. Although she never found her mother, she did fall in love with a ‘sailor’ somewhere in the south of Greenland. Spending only a few nights with him, Elspeth followed the vessel back to North America— thankfully not entirely in her seal form, at some points hitching a ride on either the boat itself or another boat heading in roughly the same direction. When she arrived, however, she could not find him. She followed word of him south, finally finding herself in Starke. Truthfully, she’s begun to doubt whether or not she’ll ever find him... or if he wants to be found... but such ideas should not be dwelled on— especially in such a wild town as Starke.

HISTORY

    Elspeth was raised on the beaches of Pittenweem, Scotland. Well, not literally— at least not yet. Elspeth’s father spent his life working hard and monotonously— he was the definition of banality, in many senses. Starting out as a fisherman, he met a woman that he quickly fell in love with. Though they were only together for a month (and only *together* a single night), when Ceana— the only name that she gave to him— vanished without a trace, he was left heartbroken. Even though she had turned down his proposals, telling him that she could not be tied down, he was still shocked to find her missing. Several months later, however, his heart was partially healed when a seemingly newborn babe was delivered to him still speckled with sand and smelling of the sea. He knew in his heart that it was Ceana who had given him *their* daughter— the only piece of herself that she could leave to him. She called her Elspeth after his own mother, hoping that the name and its origin might give her comfort in a life without Ceana.
   Years passed, and Elspeth seemed to be called back to the ocean. Nearly everyday after she learned to swim, her father would find her wading in the tide pools and testing the waters of the sea even after the sun had set and the other children had gone home for the night. This fascination led her to competitive swimming in her teenage years, something she excelled at, and other athletics (her favorite being the triathlon). Genetics and activity (mainly the former) saw her become quite pretty as a girl and then, as years passed, a young woman whose beauty reminded her father so much of his lost Ceana.
   Like Ceana, it seemed that Elspeth could not be tied to Pittenwem. She left home for the first time at 19 to travel to mainland, moving through Europe at a rate that would make most tourists jealous. After two years and countless visits to each country, Elspeth finally returned home where she spent nearly two years helping her father’s dying business and pursuing her (albeit restrained) adventurous spirit as best she could. Just days before her 23rd birthday, a particularly strong current brought Elspeth— who was out swimming her daily laps at a coast away from the main beach— to a cluster of rocks surrounded by what she could only describe as unnaturally-cold water. On the rocks rested a slick pelt. She had seen seal pelts before, though the novelties that they sold in shops had never called to her as this one had. Taking it and casting it over her shoulders (why, she can’t explain. It simply felt... right), Elspeth was plunged into the depths, both literal and metaphorical. In an instant, she was made aware of her Kinain and selkie nature. She had never felt so freed, but just as it had most likely called Ceana, Elspeth felt the sea’s song beckoning her. Perhaps her mother would be out there, singing with the sea to bring her daughter home... whenever that may be. The day after her birthday, Elspeth said her final farewell to her father and swam as far as she could. 

Days passed and there was no sign of Ceana, despite the call that she thought she had heard. Elspeth became even more distraught, and flung herself through the water to a bay near Ireland. There, she was found by a motley of selkies who had felt her Chrysalis and understood her distress upon gaining a new form and a greater longing for the sea. They took her in and taught her the ways of their Kith, Fostering her for a little over a year. She spent months swimming the seas with her new sisters and many months more learning about fae society from them. After that time, she was taken back to land for the Saining ritual. Having found her True Name (Aoife Ó Siadflaith) and been accepted into Kith society, Elspeth went off on her own again, spending another year traveling both the land and sea as a new Kithain. And while Ceana's call still very much remained at the back of her mind, Elspeth had all but given up on finding her mother. To be truthful, after being told selkie pelts are often passed down after death, Elspeth began to realize that she may never meet her mother. Her last search took her to Greenland, where she felt inclined to spend some time on land, having never been there before.

     Removing her pelt, she happened upon a young man who, though she could not place it, captured her heart just as the ocean had. A few more weeks with him— and a good number of wonderfully sleepless nights— later, and Elspeth realized how truly, deeply in love she was. Too late, it seemed, as just as Ceana had done to her father, her lover disappeared the day after her realization. She was told that he had left with his vessel to return to the United States. Where, she did not know. What she did know was that if the sea’s call had been enough to drive her forward once, her lover’s would be enough to move her again. Taking her pelt, Elspeth started to the U.S. (thankfully finding boats and other vessels to catch a ride with, otherwise she might never had made it), arriving in Newport. Not the most wonderful place for a selkie to land, Elspeth couldn’t believe that her lover would call such a place home. She may have been right, as no one matching his description could be found there, either. Following what few leads she had, she began to move south, arriving in Jacksonville about a month later.
    Now, though she has her doubts, Elspeth has decided to take up a small— if possibly temporary— residence in Jacksonville to collect herself and maybe expand her search for her lover, even as his memory fades in her mind. Perhaps she might find him here, despite all her doubts, or in a nearby city. And even if she doesn't, she feels that her heart has grown enough to accomodate a new love (though she wouldn't admit it to anyone else), or perhaps just a simple life in... Florida. She may be but a commoner, but she won't let that stop her from living life to it's fullest-- and from learning everything she can from Starke.