Agnes Mehra
the hag of the Black Shroud
"unpeopled space / toils without complaint / obliterates as it reclaims"
Full name: Agnes Mehra.
Age: Late twenties.
Gender: Female.
Race: Miqo'te, Keeper of the Moon.
Orientation: Pansexual.
Occupation: Hag of the Black Shroud, Mediator, Herbalist.
Current residence: A cottage within the Black Shroud.Agnes is the daughter of the previous hag of the Black Shroud. A blunt woman with little to no respect for hierarchies or social cues due to an extremely isolated upbringing. Her closest friend is a crow whose words no one else can comprehend, which easily makes her come across as a little off-putting.Mostly detached from the outside world unless her knowledge or curiosity manages to drag her elsewhere, Agnes inherited the knowledge of the Elementals from her mother, often aiding in search parties and other matters regarding the elusive forest.
Physical Traits
Eyes: Amber.
Hair: Dark gray with lighter strands.
Skin: Gray.
Height: Approx. 5 fulm 7 ilm.
Build: Noticeably thin.
Fragrance notes: Patchouli, black pepper, earthy.What becomes immediately noticeable about Agnes is her height, considerably above average for a female Miqo'te. With longer limbs and little to no muscle to sustain them, her terrible posture was certainly earned. Her gray skin is also marred with scars, specially across her chest, though most of her outfits do little to make it evident. More well-kept adventurers might also notice how her hair's often uncared for, with uneven bangs she often trims with partially rusted scissors.
Personality
The title of a hag should never be hereditary, though it hangs atop Agnes' head like a curse, a sentence to bear due to the sins commited by her mother. However, one might find that acting guilty rarely suits her, specially when it comes to dealing with the whims and requests of those serving the Wood Wailers. To them, the title of a hag acts more as an adjective to describe the young one's personality: Mean, Uncooperative and slightly intimidating.Be it negotiating the life of a lost Elezen child with the elementals or offering insights to researchers, there's nary a task Agnes will finish without a healthy dose of complaining, a cacophony of sighs usually followed by the cawing of her personal assistant in the shape of a crow. Not her fault she can understand his words and you can't. At heart, she's a child of the woods, with little to no knowledge of (or regard for) most social cues.Deep down, there might be a significant portion of her heart who no longer wishes to abide by the life of a recluse, however uncomfortable it might be. What she knows of a regular life, be it in regards to love, friendships, family and everything in-between comes from a collection of mostly fictional books. Amidst all that escapism, it feels almost inevitable not to wonder about what might be waiting for her in the world.
Traits
As far as her positive traits go: Agnes is competent, sincere, transparent with her emotions, mostly displays a good (though slightly crass) sense of humour.Her negative traits can be described as: being unreliable, complaining far too much, lazy, reclusive and oftentimes uncooperative.Enjoys: precious stones, experimenting with gnarly looking mushrooms, raunchy romance novels, isolation, sleeping for over twelve hours.Dislikes: leaving her lair, Elezen men, writing documents, drunkards, overtly emotional people.
Inspirations
Backstory
Agnes was conceived from an unwanted union. The circumstances of it would only come to light after uncovering a diary from her mother, Eva, though the name of her father was nowhere to be found. It mattered little. Whichever poor sod had succumbed to the influence of the forest and found their way into her cottage was nothing more than means to an end. An odd patch of grass in their ill-fenced backyard that grew harder and harder to ignore as the years went on.Eva treated her daughter as anything but that. The young, grey-skinned girl was another one of her projects, living proof of how far her influence had grown out. It was of no importance the fact that her daughter had been born malformed due to the aetherical influence exerted upon her father, or that her skin quickly grew mangled with scars from the vigorous training. Be it due to trauma or some semblance of a blessing, Agnes remembers little to nothing of those days, though her teachings would eventually become ingrained unto each corner of her mind like the many intricacies of each of the species that guarded the Black Shroud, the languages and bird calls or which offerings to bring in each season.And, of course, how she should never open the door or peek behind the ragged curtains in the evenings. Specially in the times where Eva would disappear for days on end. Each period growing longer until the fateful day where Agnes would find herself to be truly alone. Three knocks would come at the door where a masked, overtly tall woman would be waiting. It wouldn't be her first contact with the Wood Wailers, nor the last. In those ten years, those men and women had come and gone, bringing in supplies in exchange for her mother's knowledge of the land. This time, however, they had brought nothing but the confirmation of what Agnes had grown to doubt already. Her mother was dead. To mourn someone already so absent in life was a difficult thing, and the lack of reaction seemed to puzzle the Wildwood.Agnes did not wish for anything in particular, now old enough to be familiar with the rituals of each season and to conduct them. Far less outlandish than the festivals and dances of the traditional Gridanian people, most of them only wished to be heard and tended to. In place of formal education, this kept her occupied enough to ignore the probing questions of her loneliness, which would often come from male members of the Wood Wailers, in a manner completely innapropriate when addressing a teenaged girl. To despise them only felt natural, specially when they tried to grow too close.Around her fifteenth birthday, one of them would try to lay his hands upon her, a tall man who foolishly took of his mask in an attempt to impress her with looks before pining her to the uneven grass that grew on the backyard of the cottage. The Shroud heard her plea, with a blackened bird making way between thick canopies to puncture his left eye with it's beak. A gruesome scene that earned her many threats, and a winged friend. The man flew from the scene, the crow stayed, a creature that, for once, asked for nothing in return.Given the accident and how little interest she had in keeping quiet about it, Agnes has managed to earn some leverage against the Wood Wailers, serving mostly as a mediator for the Elementals and the creatures of the Shroud, often helping others with disappearances, deaths and, much to her dislike, offering reports into the general structure of the area. However, her knowledge has been made known further than Gridania, which led to pitiful travels towards other areas to give a verbal testimony of what she's seen and witnessed. Researchers seem particularly drawn towards her, though the opposite couldn't ever be true.
Hooks
Common
Scorting mission,
Though Agnes can navigate the Shroud relatively well, the same cannot be said about other regions of the Star. When her services and/or knowledge are required elsewhere, authorities will often arrange for her to be scorted to her destination. While the Wood Wailers can often do the job, most of them have grown to refuse the offer, which means the burden will often lie upon a sword for hire.Additionally, Agnes might be caving into the idea of searching for an abandoned sibling of hers, which could serve as a hook to lead her anywhere in the star.
Lost and Found,
If someone your character cares about or is seeking out for any other reason has been lost amidst the Black Shroud, Agnes would usually be the woman to help. Not without requesting some absurd reward and complaining about it first, though, so beware.
Researching aid,
Is your character a person who'd like to know more about the Black Shroud, it's Elementals or fauna? Agnes could definitely be an aid if they're willing to look over her unusual ways. Her cottage contains little to no relevant documentation of the land, relying mostly on what has been passed down by her mother and oh, what a challenge it'll be to drag that information out of her.
Uncommon, requires arrangements
A victim of the previous hag,
Considering her mother's reckless activities, it'd come to no surprise if someone had been a victim of her traps or spells. It's how Agnes was conceived after all. She could, however, try her best to reverse a curse or ailment, perhaps out of a shy, deep-rooted and mostly buried kindness within her heart.
Anything else
Friendly reminder that my hooks are mostly ideas! Agnes as a character can be pretty flexible and I'm willing to brainstorm something together if she interests you.
OOC
You can call me: Lav
Age: Older than 25, younger than 30.
Pronouns: She/Her.
Timezone: EST.
Discord: llavres
Preferences
- Mostly, Discord RP. I've been roleplaying online for most of my life and have been playing FFXIV on and off since HW's release. However, I am fairly new to in-game stuff and have a somewhat hectic schedule. That said, if you're willing to be patient with me though, something could be arranged.- My heart lies within multi-paragraph stuff, so short replies often don't really tickle my brain the way they should, sorry!- I write in third person, past-tense and have a fairly... Uh. Weird? Vibe-y writing style? I wouldn't call it poetic, but I do take some liberties. Partners can always reach out to me for clarification (or any questions, really!)- I enjoy writing around themes of trauma, complex feelings and overall discovery of self. Agnes is quite young and inexperience when it comes to being an actual person, and I'm really looking forward to fleshing her out.- Since we're on that topic, I like writing romances, friendships, and it doesn't take me an epic journey to enjoy roleplaying. As long as our characters have a fun dynamic together, I'm happy.