Post by comatose on Sept 23, 2011 18:57:35 GMT -6
Name: Chella Devinshae (pronounced Shel-la)
Species: Human
Class: Noble
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Primary Residence: Keep Hasting
Occupation: Unemployed
Sexual Orientation: Straight
Martial Status: Single
For Nobles:
Surname: Devinshae
Family History: House Devinshae is a western house, originally from Tremredare. However, upon becoming a Great House, they moved most of their prescense to Luthadel. The Devinshaes’ specialty is in the the accommodation industry. They own a chain of exclusive hotels, and presiding over this empire is their main source of income. Boasting branches in almost every city, the Devinshaes were doing quite well. Then the rebellion came along. Because their empire was so spread out, the Devinshae’s were hit badly by multiple skaa attacks, and were unable to minimize damages. When the house war followed, they were quickly eliminated by their rivals, leaving only a few surviving remnants.
Family Placement: Lady Devinshae; Head of 'House'
Appearance: Chella is short for a noble, standing about 5’3”, and has the slim but healthy figure common to women of her rank. Her bright blue eyes go well with the light blonde curls which hang down to her mid-back. When she smiles, Chella can be quite pretty, however recent circumstances have left her face in an almost perpetual frown, or neutral expression. Her skin is smooth, and her face is nicely rounded, with good cheekbones, and mid-sized nose.
Chella likes to wear her hair down, and rarely does more with it than pull it back from her face. She likes big fancy dresses, but because of her circumstances, she often can't afford them, and settles for what she can afford. Chella enjoys looking nice, but her lack of patience often leads her to to keep her make up minimal.
Chella moves gracefully with a confident stride, and as a regular ball attendee, she is a talented dancer. The way she moves changes depending on her mood; when focused or angry, she walks purposefully, while if she is happy, content, or bored, her stride will be more whimsical, often throwing in the odd dance step as she does so. When she is sad or depressed, she can usually be found trudging along slowly. Because of her expressiveness, it is usually fairly easy for an observant person to tell what Chella is thinking, unless she is making a conscious effort to conceal her emotions.
Personality: Chella has always loved being the center of attention, and will do a lot to get there. Only her desire to be liked keeps her from doing some truly outrageous things. Before the fall of her house, she was known as a court flirt and gossip, and many of her friends enjoyed her fun and spontaneous personality. Back then, one of her biggest annoyances was when people pronounced her name wrong, which happened semi-frequently. Recent events have changed her somewhat. They’ve made her quieter, more thoughtful. They’ve also brought out the anger that was always resting beneath her joy. She often finds herself complaining to whoever will listen, and is still not above acting childishly at times. Frustrated with her place in life, Chella longs for things to return to the way they were, but is not sure if that is possible for the person she has become.
Nonetheless, her temperament is still like fire, constantly changing and shifting. Chella is a free spirit, and is often in the thrall of her powerful emotions, rather than the other way around. This personality trait can get her into trouble, especially when dealing with emotional allomancers.
History:
Chella’s mother, being the only child of her parents and having no suitable male cousins, was chosen as heir. Doubted by many because of her sex, Chella’s mother threw herself wholly into every task she was given, completing it not just on time, but with excellence. She married a low ranking man from another branch of the family to avoid the problems of a controlling husband hoping to rule through her, and another house hoping to absorb her own through a marriage. Throughout her life, Chella’s mother ensured that when her father wanted something done, she was there to do it, and that she did it better than anyone else could.
Chella was born just as her grandfather began his bid for Luthadel. With hotels established throughout the empire, House Devinshae had been rising for some time, and many thought it only fitting that they take their place in Luthadel. By being born, Chella shifted from being an inescapable nuisance to an ignorable one, and her mother quickly left her in the hands of servants and got back to work. Chella’s father, feeling equally ignored, often drowned his sorrows in drink. As he became more and more of a disgrace, Chella’s mother began keeping him out of the public eye. As he continued to squander his allowance on games of chance and alchohol, Chella’s mother soon decided that, having two children, she didn’t need a husband anymore, and shipped him off to an operation in the farmost dominance, where he was to serve as a ‘host’ and entertain visitors of higher rank.
And so, Chella’s only real companion was her older brother, Lennox. Six years her senior, Lennox was always more of a parent to her than a friend, but he was a source of love and protection in Chella’s life. The servants charged with caring for her were dutiful and kind, but they tolerated her because it was thier job. Lennox was the only one who genuinely wanted to spend time with her.
The family moved to Luthadel just after Chella’s sixth birthday. The keep was still being built, but Lord Devinshae, Chella’s grandfather, wanted to establish himself as soon as possible. Young Chella got up to all kinds of trouble amidst the chaos of construction, and it often fell to Lennox, ever the responsible one, to get his sister out of trouble. Starved of attention, Chella often played the wild child to get it, and servants began to whisper that she must take after her father. While they annoyed Lennox and the servants, Chella’s antics never got so much as a reprimand out of her mother, whose time was consumed by other things.
When Chella was ten, she was beaten to test for allomantic ability. Her brother, now sixteen, was proving himself to be a talented tin-eye, so hopes were high for Chella. Unfortunately, though she was nearly killed during her beating, Chella failed to snap. With her lack of both refinement and allomancy, the upper ranks of House Devinshae began to write her off as a resource, and Chella found herself being ignored even more. Her beating and subsequent failure to snap troubled her, and Chella began to fall into depression. Her only times of real happiness were when her big brother Lennox managed to find time away from his lessons, duties, and social events to spend with her. With patience and persistence, Lennox managed to pull his sister out of her depression, and things slowly returned to normal.
Two years later, however, everything changed. After a sudden illness, Chella’s grandfather passed away. Her mother, who had been practically ruling the house already, finally became Lady Devinshae. As she continued to excel in all she did, few besides the immediate family noticed there had been a switch. Chella noticed of course, but not because of her mother (who remained as distant as ever, if not more so). When her mother became head of house, Lennox, now a man grown, became heir, and suddenly had no time for his annoying twelve-year-old sister. Chella felt like her only friend had betrayed her, and began to suffer from spells of depression once again. Sometimes it got so bad that her mother was forced to send a family rioter to watch over her, and regulate her troublesome moods.
Things began to turn around, however, when Chella’s fourteenth birthday approached. It was then that she was to make her debut into Luthadel society, and House Devinshae was holding an entire ball in her honor. At this point, Chella was old enough to know that the ball wasn’t really for her, but to show the strength and wealth of Devinshae to the other great houses. As a house, the Devinshaes had suffered many losses during the rebellion.
Among the losses was Chella's father, who she had not seen for years. It startled her how disconnected she felt from him. She expected to be sad, or angry, or at least upset, but instead, she felt nothing. Her father had never been a part of her life, even when he was around, and her mother had sent him away early on.
The massacre of Tougier, only a year gone, was fresh on everyone’s minds, and Chella’s mother had only just begun to repair the damage that had been done. A show of strength now was vital, and Chella’s debut was the perfect excuse. Suddenly, for the first time in her life, Chella became the center of attention. Fine gowns were brought in for her approval, teas and luncheons were set up for her to meet the children of other Great Houses, and, most importantly, her mother finally acknowledged existence. She was harsh as she prepared her daughter to enter the chaotic environment of the Luthadel social scene, but stern attentions were better than none, and Chella found herself rising to occasion for once, in the hopes of impressing her mother and earning some approval.
Her debut went well, and Chella even caught her mother smiling as she took her first dance. Everything was so perfect, Chella quickly fell in love with the balls and parties, and began attending every one she could. Her happiness did not last however. With the ball out of the way, Lady Devinshae went back to work, leaving her daughter in the hands of tutors and servants once again. Lennox too was busy, as he worked thier mother to restore their house to where it had been before the rebellion.
Not wanting to slide back into depression, Chella turned to her new friends for support. For the first time in her life, she found she could be the center of attention whenever she wanted. With her dynamic personality, Chella proved to be a natural at making both friends and enemies very quickly. As she matured, she also found she was a hit with the young noblemen, and began to encourage their attentions, trying to find a date for every ball. As her family continued to ignore her, Chella grew less and less concerned with being refined, and her wild behaviour became a subject of gossip. Chella found herself liking even this sort of attention, and began to encourage it. She made it a practice of going to a ball with a different man every time, sometimes even agreeing to go with more than one, only to dance with someone else for most of the night. When some unfortunate man or woman earned her ire, she would rant and rave to her friends about it, and encouraging them to spread what they had heard. To her friends, Chella was always the fun spontaneous one the group. She made them love her enough to tolerate her , behaviour, and take her side when necessary. To her enemies, she was force to be reckoned with, at least socially. She became an incurable gossip, a notorious flirt, and the subject of many tea conversations. Chella loved every minute of it.
One year ago, House Devinshae fell. The House War that began out of the ashes of the rebellion had proved too much, and even the combined effort of Chella’s mother and brother could not stop their descent. The final raid came in the night. Chella never knew which house was responsible. It was quite possible there was more than one. Fearing an attack, Chella’s mother had abandoned many of their outlying holdings, as much of House Devinshae’s military might to Luthadel as possible, but it wasn’t enough. Both Lady Devinshae and her son and heir, Lennox, were killed in the attack, and Keep Devinshae was destroyed. Chella barely managed to escape with her life, aided by her last remaining retainers: her bodyguard, Lyon, and her quick thinking maid, Helena.
The three took shelter in the Keep of one of house Devinshae’s few remaining allies. There, Chella found herself the outcast once again. Her hosts hoped to use her to gather the remnants of house Devinshae’s forces and consolidate them with their own, but for the most part, aside from seeing she was fed and taken care of, they ignored her. Her only companions were Helena and Lyon, but the trauma of the attack and flight had turned their long flirtation into a full fledged romance, and the two spent much more time with eachother than with Chella. Not wanting to be associated with a fallen house, many of Chella’s friends abandoned her. By the time she finished grieving enough to attend balls again, she found she was just as lonely there as she was at the Keep. At first she was a curiousity, a remnant from another era. Some asked after her health, or politely expressed their condolences if they were sympathizers. Several members of her host family attempted to court her, in the hopes of gaining her title for themselves (with her brother and mother dead, Chella had become head of house), but Chella turned them all away, using her grief as an excuse.
Despite her dire circumstances, Chella couldn’t quite allow herself to slide into depression like she had as a child. She had spent the last four years of her life remaking herself into a giddy, happy, vibrant personality, and in the process had forgotten how lose control as she had before. At the same time, she could longer be the person she had created. The gossip and drama she used to enjoy seemed meaningless now. And so, a year later, Chella lives in the present continuing to float between happiness and despair, and her unfortunate past and an uncertain future.
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Roleplay Example:
“She didn’t even talk to me Helena. It was as if I didn’t exist! The others at least pretended to be polite. Not Nasira. She just looked through me, like I was some sort of mistwraith. You can’t understand how frustrating that is, you just can’t!” Chella was furious. Nasira had been her best friend. Ever since she’d started going to balls again, the two had avoided eachother. Nasira was doing quite well for herself in Chella’s absense, and Chella hadn’t wanted to ruin her friend’s efforts.
“I waited an entire year before talking to her Helena. I’m hardly the scandal I used to be. Why, some people have even started being quite nice to me. The parties aren’t nearly as bad as they were.” As she spoke, Chella knew she was fudging a bit. If anything, the balls had gotten more tedious. But, her cheeks didn’t grow hot with embarrassment any more when she entered a room, and people had finally stopped staring. That had to count for something. “
“All my life, Helena, Nasira has been here for me,” she continued. This wasn’t true of course; she hadn’t met Nasira until after her debut, but Helena knew what she meant. Chella’s life hadn’t really started until after her introduction into society anyways. “And now, when I need her most? Nothing! I haven’t been selfish. I’ve waited long enough to see to her needs, haven’t I? She knows I would have gone to her right away. I wanted to. I sent her those notes, remember? Never any response. Tonight, I thought I’d had enough. I went right up to her and said hello. You should have seen how polite I was Helena. I even waited for her to finish her current conversation and leave the group, so I wouldn’t embarrass her. But her eyes slid right passed me. She just walked on by and started talking to Corinne of all people. Nasira hates Corinne. You don’t know how many times I heard her complain about that stupid ditz. Now, it seems, their all buddy buddy, just because their houses have an alliance or something. I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life!” Again, Chella knew that probably wasn’t true, but the feelings were still fresh, and they felt stronger than any in her memory.
Helena remained silent, and continued brushing out the tangles in Chella’s long blond hair. “Well Helena... don’t you have anything to say about this? My friend, my best friend mind you, abandoned me! She could have at least been polite.”
Helena pursed her lips. The woman was ten years older than Chella, and seemed to think that made her some sort of font of wisdom. “Perhaps seeing you was hard for Lady Nasira. Being so close, it must have been hard for her when her house required her to distance herself from you. Maybe even talking to you is too painful for her, for it reminds her of the friendship you two had, but can never have again.”
Chella pursed her lips and frowned. “Enough Helena. I hate it when you make sense. I’m going to bed.”
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Nickname: Comatose
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