Mara

[Mara]

Dra-Marvasa Whitevine, an ambitious medic, was born just outside the gates of Avanthal to a young Symenestra woman and a Vantha of the Whitevine hold. The product of the combination gives Mara lankier arms than that of an ordinary human, and a fragile frame. He views at 5'7" with a mass of 105 pounds. His fingers are decorated in resilient ebony nails and a variety of tattoos, like much of his figure is adorned in. His slight fangs and lesser poison are demonstration to the purely liquid diet he has inherited. Though his eyes are often stalled in a perpetual crimson, when a situations arises that sparks a stronger emotion they flux from softer colors of winter blues and lilacs to an inky shade of grey. In the brightest light of day the strands of color can be seen highlighting his messy locks of medium length and deep chestnut. He has taken a razor to one side of his head, leaving the side of his scalp at a gentle fuzz. It has since grown out and now looks as an uneven mop of hair. Two lines of perfectly symmetric pinpoint scars run up his forarm, hardly noticable unless felt for. An adornment of crescent shaped scars line the back of his neck and down his arms, some slipping into dragged slivers of raised pink tissue. His body art entails of a wide variety of tattoos decorating his torso, arms and hands, and he also possesses rings in his ears, nose, brow, and lip. He has been known to remove them from time to time.

Languages
Common-Fluent
Vani-Basic
Symenos-Poor

Mara's appearance has dulled as of late, retaining an appearance void of much emotion. He can be cold, and unwilling to waver of his own set desires. Crafting his personality is the guilt he feels for events that occurred in his past, it is what has decided many of his actions. He has deemed himself unworthy of deep seeded relations and therefore is likely to push away anyone who may try and penetrate his barrier of self-loathing. Mara is obsessed with the practice of medicine; it is one of the few things he is passionate about. He spends much of his time furthering his knowledge of the subject and rehearsing his craft. Consumed with the need to help anything wounded with or without requesting it allows him to feel he is making up for the debt he seems to owe life in general. His views of the world are cynical, allowing himself to consider the worst before accepting the best of any situation. He has a strong phobia of bodies of water, and is timid around fire and lightning.When someone has become a person he may see as a friend, he is fiercely loyal and devoted. He is devout follower of Morwen, having had his life saved by her gnosis, and is also a follower of Viratas.

Emotional Spectrum :

With only half the influence of his Vantha blood, notable change in emotion has become marginally containable. Often when he is diligently aware the color will only shift to pastel shades of their intense color counterparts. Deep red is the natural shade, but often a staining patina or churn in color is indication of a struggle to maintain it.

Red=Equillibrium/Normalicy/Control
Indigo=Serenity/Excitement/Ecstacy
Lavender=Grief/Remorse/Fear
Charcoal=Anger/Dissapproval/Aggression
Gold=Optimism/Pride
Jade=Envy/Distrust
Silver=Submission/Strong Physical Suffering

It Begins :

Mara was conceived of Senesea, a Symenestra marked by Veratas and Atric Whitevine, a Vantha. His parents met upon their travels and after a long history began to care for one another. Once impregnanted, Mara’s father wished to return to Avanthal, and make a home for themselves in the city. Sensesea agreed but her true desire was to return to Kalinor to bear her child, despite the stigma that would accomany her. When they were just hours away from the cities entrance, she collapsed in the snow. Still only seven months pregnant, she went into labor, but was too weak to push through the contractions. Atric was forced to cut the baby from her womb only to discover she had been carrying twins. A male and a female, but the umbilical cord of the male baby had wrapped around the females neck and suffocated her. She died in the womb, likely causing the stress that led to Senesea’s early labor. The surviving baby was pale, transparent even, and was turning blue. He did not cry or move after birth. Atric offered his blood to Sensesea who was marked by Veratas, but she refused to drink. Eventually convincing her that the child was not dead, she drank and was strong enough only to ride with him the rest of the way to Avanthal. Atric buried the dead child in the snow as Senesea attempted to warm the child in her arms or allow him to nurse, but he refused to eat. They made it to the city and were allowed entrance. The baby was not well, fading even, and shivering from cold no matter how snuggly they wrapped him. Atric went to Morwen to ask for her mark upon his child, and being a kind and loving Godess of her people, she blessed the child with her mark. Atric and Senesea named their son, Dra-Marvasa Whitevine.

A Crack in the Ficade :

As years passed Senesea grew ill. Medicine did not soothe her, nor improve her condition. She was not happy living in Avanthal, and it was beginning to wane on her mortality. Years of sickness kept her homebound and eventually bedridden.

Mara, an odd child, began to grow older and stronger. He had one friend from the time he was four, a Vantha boy, by the name of Hatchi. When not at his mother’s side or skimming through his father’s medical journals, he was with Hatchi. They would play together, testing how far their parents would allow them to venture before being scolded, and discovering the cities plants and animals first hand. One day Hatchi and Mara wandered away like usual to watch where the people would fish. The farther they trampled across the ice, the thinner it was. They both knew the ice was thinning, but continued forward, determined to test their boundaries. The ice began to creak and moan under their steps, and Hatchi began to feel afraid. Mara marched forward, declaring Hatchi a coward and pulling him along after him. In doing so, the quickened beat of their footing attracted a predator under the surface. Their shadows along the thinning ice appeared as easy prey, small bobbing circles of uneven steps. A forceful tackle into the layer of frozen water proved to be enough force to crack the ice and send Hatchi and Mara into the biting water. Mara grabbed an edge of the ice and was able to pull himself up, but Hatchi was stuck flailing in the water, unable to swim. Mara screamed trying to extend thin sheets of solid water with inexperienced ice reeving and reaching his hand to help Hatchi, but was too afraid to jump back in. In doing so, Hatchi sunk to the bottom and drowned.
Mara sat on that frozen, broken lake for hours, until worried parents found him. He sobbed and explained what happened, and while no one audibly place blame upon him in the midst of his visibly shaken appearance, he always carried the guilt of Hatchi’s death.

Mara didn’t play with other children after this, instead preferring to remain inside and read his father’s medical journals and care for his ailing mother. It was a lost cause, however, and he watched as his mother’s health deteriorated until her inevitable death. He was ten, and home alone when she passed. He dragged her body into the snow and dug a whole with his unsheathed hands in the sleet to prepare a shallow grave and placed her inside. Upon his father’s return and his heated interrogation of a listlessly silent son, it was discovered where her body was buried and they moved her to a proper burial site.

Where the Road Leads :

After his mother’s death, Mara's obsession with Medicine and its practice multiplied. He gained a morbid fascination with the stitching of wounds and bloody gashes as well. The site of warm pumping blood was a sign of living. It was something he would happily accept the task of doing if he was allowed to practice on a stray animal or any given patient. He became more withdrawn and distant, and in his father Atric’s torment he declared that Mara was no longer his son. He believed that the boy before him was an imposter, a replica that had stolen away his sickly wife and the livelihood of his son.

A chance meeting with a young Vantha boy by the name of Syllke Skyglow influenced a change in Marvasa. They became fast friends, and even faster firsts in the experimentation of intimacy. Syllke's home contrasted his own and added a shade of color to his life as only a patient artist could. The mixed blood still pushed, drank, and fought with the boy on many occasions, though somehow they persisted. Syllke choosing to overlook his behavior as another odd trait, slowly killing him with kindness. They share a tattoo along their palms of a vine that when their fingers tangled, connected them.

Violence would occasionally outbreak between Atric and Mara, but was always settled with little harm, but Atric’s frustration mounted. By the time Mara became seventeen (a man by many standards) he had a small knowledge in medicine, enough to volunteer when need be, at the Whitevine hold. As he began to move his things from his father’s home to obtain his own quarters, he and his father fought again. The same argument they had been fighting for eight years. Only this time, his father intended to end his son's suffering in his rage. He grappled Mara down and curled his hands around his neck to strangle him. Mara’s only escape was to grab for a nearby blunt object and slam it into his father’s skull. He quickly rose, grabbed a small bag of things, and fled the city without a breathing a word of farewell to anyone.

In a chance of luck, traders were leaving the city's gates and he was able to persuade them to allow him to accompany them. He traveled with them, unsure of where to go, until a spontaneous option found him. He was part Symenestra, as his mother. He hoped to see the city she so desperately clung to and pleaded for in her dying dreams. So he began his journey to Kalinor, and arrived around a year later to unearth the mystery of his origins.

City of Widows :

Mara found a place in Kalinor, accepted because of his loosely fitting blood ties, but held in contempt for much of the same reason. He proved himself useful by employment in the medical wing of the Purging. Much of his work was with simple injuries and mindless work assisting what work he was allowed. Surrogates were a main point of care in the Purging. He assisted in the delivery of many Symenestra children and the death of their host. He became jaded, separated from the constant death and life exchange. Still his compulsive need for order began to evolve from fidgeting habits of tucking things nicely away to a necessary act of alignment and organization spurred by anxiety.

Employed in small jobs, he became aquainted with a Symenestra by the name of Vyxaaron. An intelligent and attractive male with an obvious disdain for Mara's origins. Their passive aggressive relationship persisted for a short time as they worked together.

The storm of Spring 512 hit, leaving Kalinor unaffected. The news reached them long after it had passed, in the form of refugees trickling into the city. They were allowed to stay and offered medical treatment. It was then a man was brought, nearly dead from his extensive injuries and put under Mara's care with little hope for survival. He did however pull through after the medic's many sleepless nights, but with a strange infection caused by the storm's odd characteristics. It was then he discovered, the man's name to be Sian, a Lhavitian Shinya guard, with an ulterior motive: the rescue of his sister whom had been taken in harvest as a surrogate.

Mara, reminded of the world outside of Kalinor, felt obligated to help his patient by all means. Sudden repressed guilt began to wane away at him, until each day living in the Purging became difficult to swallow. He found Sian's sister Jael was indeed being kept as a surrogate, attempts for impregnation having failed as of yet. Time and effort allowed him to reach her, passing messages from sibling to sibling. A plan was constructed, much to Marvasa's rue, for him to father a child with Jael and then arrange for them to leave the city. Upon believing Jael pregnant, suitors stopped visiting and at last and she was put under strict medical care. It was then Mara was able to help Sian and Jael out of the city under nearly impossible odds. This sealed a fate that would not likely allow him to be able to return to Kalinor.

Mountain of the Fallen :

After traveling across the Unforgiving, they group arrived at Lhavit's gates. Jael was confirmed pregnant, Sian's illness was progressing despite the half-bloods attempts to contain it. It was by Sian's word as Shinya guard that Mara was allowed admittance into the city. The tumultuous relationship between the three worsened. Sian's illness mutated and caused fits of aggression, Mara at times finding his way into harms way. No ill will was formed, he understood the man's actions, sympathized with him as he broke after each. Some strong gripped injuries that drew blood to his overly fragile frame left their ripped scars, but he talked him off each ledge, and hid his trembling frame well.

Sian eventually succumbed to his illness, Jael held Mara at fault. She eventually lost the child, forcing them to endure the labor of their stillborn baby. They lost contact, Mara agreeing to stay out of her life now that there were no ties to bind them.

He found employment at the Catholicon, finding an odd twist of irony in his employer's heritage and similarities. He studies medicine, keeps to himself, and continues to help those in need of assistance. Only now he finds himself haunted by vivid dreams and waking visions of his transgressions.

Skills

Medicine...........36/100 (20 SP) Competent
Observation.....23/100 Novice
Seduction..........20/100 (10 SP) Novice
Herbalism.........11/100 (10 SP) Novice
Intelligenge......10/100 (10 RB) Novice
Rhetoric...............9/100 (5 SP) Novice
Undertaking.......5/100 (5 SP) Novice
Persuasion..........5/100 Novice
Interrogation.....5/100 Novice
Intimidation.......2/100 Novice
Reading................2/100 Novice
Writing.................2/100 Novice
Detection.............1/100 Novice
Cooking................1/100 Novice
Running...............1/100 Novice
Subterfuge..........1/100 Novice
Storytelling.........1/100 Novice
Tattooing.............1/100 Novice
Teaching..............1/100 Novice
Tracking...............1/100 Novice
Wrestling.............1/100 Novice
Organization.......1/100 Novice

Possessions

• Black Low Boots (SP)
• Black Wool Pants (SP)
• White Cotton Shirt (SP)
• Grey Wool Cloak (SP)
• Backpack (razor, eating knife,
  comb, brush, razor, soap,
  week of food, flint & steel)
• Floral Print Silk Robe (5gm)
• Fur Hood (1gm)
• Cotton Scarf (1sm)
• 6 Earrings [black] (12gm)
• Sandals (2sm)
• Healer's Kit (50gm)
• Leather Jacket (1gm 2sm)
• Half Geode
• Eye Wash
• Hangover Tonic (2)
• Narnvayt Oil
• Rugberry Tea (2)
• Chamayo Tonic
• Lillian Root Tea
• Krolar Poultice
• Filan Essence
• Rosemary Ointment
• Miaso Cream (2)
• Iskyny Tea
• Iwart Ointment
• Flask
  **Heirloom:
  Mother's Journal

Housing

Solor Wind Apartments in Lhavit

Ledger

Start........................................|+ 100gm
Floral Print Silk Robe.......| -5gm
Fur Hood................................| -1gm
Cotton Scarf .........................| -1sm
6 Earings................................| -12gm
Sandals....................................| -2sm
Healer's Kit............................| -50gm
Meal..........................................| -2sm
Spring Housing....................| -135gm
Spring Wages........................| +1080gm
Summer Housing.................| -135gm
Fall Housing...........................| -135gm
Leather Jacket.......................| -1gm 2sm
Eye Wash.................................| -2gm
Hangover Tonic (2).............| -4gm
Narnvayt Oil...........................| -2gm
Rugberry Tea (2)..................| -4gm
Chamayo Tonic......................| -2gm
Lillian Root Tea.....................| -8sm
Krolar Poultice......................| -5sm
Filan Essence..........................| -5gm
Rosemary Ointment.............| -5sm
Miaso Cream(2).....................| -1sm
Iskyny Tea................................| -10gm
Iwart Ointment.......................| -10gm
Flask............................................| -8gm
Total ..........................................| 658gm, 3sm

Gnosis

Ice Reaving 1 mark from the Goddess Morwen

Markings :

Right Hand: Vine that curves from the web between thumb and forfinber down to the wrist. (Matches Syllke Skyglow's.)

Sides of Right Fingers (seperated along four fingers): "The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.”

Right Knuckles: 5 0 2, for the year of his mother's death.

Left Knuckles: 4 9 6, for the year of Hatchi's death.

Right Wrist (inside): "For death begins with life's first breath And life begins at touch of death”

Left wrist (inside) (Symenos): "Birth is a mistake I spend my whole life trying to correct.”

Left wrist (wrapping): One thick black bar

Left Upper Arm (Wrapping): “Close your heart to every love but mine; hold no one in your arms but me.”

Left arm (inside upper arm): “Emptiness is nothing more than body.”

Right arm (inside upper arm): “Body is nothing more than emptiness.”

Left arm (down outside forearm) (Symenos): “All my life I am just a man.”

Left arm: "Where I begin"

Right arm: "Where I find my end"

Left Upper Forearm: One thick wrapping black bar

Right Shouler (outside) (Vani): "Morwen- My birth in the north"

Left Shoulder (outside) (Symenos): "Viratas- To show me worth"

Chest: “un-do”

Chest (running down) (Symenos): determination, conviction

Stomach: “Don’t hesitate & Go”

Ribs (Diagonal along outside of Right Side): One Harebell - (Meaning submission and grief)

Neck (Back) (Vani): "The office of medicine is but to tune the curious harp of man's body.”

Gnosis Mark: Left Forearm - Snowflake

Atric Whitevine

Age: 38
Race: Vantha
Relation: Father
Status: Unknown

When Marvasa was a child, Atric was a kind and loving father. Still he found reason to distance himself from his family with his work and his wife's ailment. After the death of his wife, something in him broke. He truly believed Mara was not his true son, that he had been replaced by another. (See:Capagras Syndrome) In his drunken rages he openly denounced his son and blamed him for Senesea's death. Eventually he attempted to strangle him shortly after he reached eighteen. Mara claims that his father taught him everything he knows, when in fact it was only through his medical journals.

Senesea

Age: 27
Race: Symenestra
Relation: Mother
Status: Deceased

Senesea was Mara's Symenestra mother. After returning to Avanthal and giving birth under high trauma, she never fully recovered. She wanted to return to Kalinor, but could not abandon her family. Mara cared for her when he was older, fussing over her illness. She passed away when he was ten years old under his care and he carries guilt even for this. He remembers her fondly, and keeps the memories of her he possesses close and usually private. Discovering more about her and the blood she passed to him has been a large part of his journey's means.

 

Flashbacks

Winter 30, 503 AV - Flesh Wounds Complete
Fall 30, 509 AV-Ouch! Complete
Fall 49, 509 AV -You're in My Head Complete
Fall 80, 509 AV I Want to Kiss Your Scars Tonight Complete
Fall 81, 509 AV - Sort Me Out Complete
Fall 90, 509 AV - If You Can't Stand the Heat Complete
Winter 15, 509 AV - They Say it's Your Birthday Incomplete

 

Spring, 512AV

18th - Books for the Blood God Incomplete
32nd - See Me. Feel Me. Touch Me. Heal Me. Complete
34th - My Soul for Another, This I Swear Complete
36th - Lazarus Rising Complete
41st - Different Colors Made of Tears Complete
52nd -Cracking the Dam In Progress

 

Summer 512AV

10th - Entrance to Lhavit Complete
12th - In Your Wake In Progress

Lore :

Care of a Shallow Wound
Medicinal Herbs of Taldera
Acquaintance: Sian
Acquaintance: Vyx
Anger Towards Careless Words
Aniska's Connection to Senesea
Breaking up a Brawl
Burying Signs of Attraction
Contact: Syllke Skyglow, Vantha Artist
Dealing with Racism
Deciding What to Save from Flames
Declaring Your Love
Desire for Violence
Dinner with Syllke's Family
Disinfecting a Wound with Alcohol
Dressing Syllke with Closed Eyes
Exploring Passion and Syllke's Body
Fearing What Association with Yourself Might Bring
The Fuzziness of Memory
The Hatred in Surrogates
Herbalism: Using Mint Balm as an Analgesic
Inflicting Equal Pain Upon Yourself
Lhavit
A Life for a Life
Making Out in the Snow
Male Refugees are Superfluous
Medicine: Bandaging a Sprain
Medicine: Interrupted Suture
Medicine: Running Suture
Medicine: Setting a Broken Nose
A Mutated Infection
Practicing Sutures on Fruit
Religion: Zintila
Resisting the Need for Connection
Sterilize Needles Before Tattooing
Syllke's Baby Boots
Syllke's Reaction to Peppers with a Mouth Wound
A Torturous Lesson on Suturing
Using Alcohol to Deal with Emotions
Using Ice Reaving to Treat an Infection
Waking up Hung Over to the Sweet Scents of a Barn
Wanting to Be Treated Roughly
Warning Syllke About Atric