Race: Kelvic (Clouded Leopard)
Age: 4 (appears 20)
Sex: Female
Height, Weight: 5'4", 110 lbs
Appearance (Human):
Riley has long black hair and almond-shaped silvery green eyes that bear a reflective sheen to them in certain lighting. She has a slender form, with long legs and a swan-like neck. Her build is delicate and diminutive, her fingers long and graceful, and her face hideously scarred on the right side.
Scars dance across her back, testifying to the whipping she received in the past. Her arms and the backs of her legs are marked the same, but all of them are just scars. Her burn, the scar on the side of her face, pulls her the corner of her eye and lips down into a grimace or sorrowful expression. Some of her hair had been burnt away, but it regrew with time although it is shorter than the other strands. Her hair is used as a shield to keep the scars hidden from the general public and the sunlight, which causes her discomfort if it strikes on her burn.
As far as dress goes, Riley wears dancing shoes normally and an airy dress over dyed cloth strips wound up her legs. Her dress and the strips can be any color, but she favors a black dress with emerald wrappings. When Riley dances she wears a black mask.
Appearance (Clouded Leopard):
A small, sleek cat with a wonderfully spotted coat. The 'clouded' appearance of this small leopard is embodied in the splotches of grey-brown surrounded by rings of deepest black. The background coloration of Riley's fur is somewhat tawny bordering with greyish underlays. Her tail is splotched dominantly with black and the backs of her ears are black as well.
Riley's legs as a clouded leopard are shorter than the legs of most other great cats. Her paws are strong, her claws terrifyingly sharp, and her tail longer than her body. These traits give her the ability to easily climb trees and even descend them face-first, much like a common squirrel would.
Her scars don't show in this form.
Personality:
Riley is, despite her past, a rather kind, polite Kelvic. She distrusts most people she meets, and hides her face at all time from the revulsion she expects should one see the scars. She is afraid of fire and sudden movements, and prefers to dance alone rather than in a troupe.
Even though Riley is open and free with people she grows close enough to and refers to them as friends, she is still sad and lonely. She enjoyes watching people in their relationships, whether as lovers, friends, or as a family. She envies the happiness she sees there, she envies the Bonds shared between other Kelvic and their Mates or Masters, and most of all she envies the people that love. She is afraid of love, afraid of hate, afraid of opening up to others because she believes that they will hurt her too. When she dances she wears a mask so no one can see her face and find her horrific. When she is in public she creates a sheet of hair over her scarred half and keeps it hidden from those she passes by. She knows what she is is ugly, and she finds no one else uglier than her. Always she compares herself to others and finds flaws, physical or mental, and she berates herself for them. She is her own worst enemy and spends her time alone out in the Wildlands mourning her own ugliness and the curse of being alive when she has no one to rely on.
History:
Riley LaRose was born into slavery. Her parents were both Kelvic, her mother being a lioness and her father being a Cyphrus Strider. Her Master had desired some form of bird to spy on his enemies, but when he found Riley's true form was a clouded leopard he was disappointed. He kept her however, seeing in her the potential to be a great beauty, and had her taught the basic dances of the Eypharians. She managed to reproduce most of them, even with the limitation of having only two arms.
As she grew up, Riley became the beauty her owner had envisioned. She became graceful and delicate, much more aristocratic than the other slaves, and drew the eyes of many prospective buyers whenever she danced for her owner and his fellow noblemen.
It all changed when her master summoned her to his bed and she refused him, denying him on the account that she did not love him. She had seen her parents with eachother, had watched their delicate love and soft gestures, and didn't want the Eypharian because he was not to her what her parents were to eachother. For her snub he had her whipped brutally, placing the first scars on her young body and staining his marble floors with her blood and tears. He left her alone for a few months, but after she had healed he found himself desiring her again and she refused him a second time. This time, the Eypharian lord, who practiced magic arts, had her bound to a column in the courtyard of his residence and there, before all his slaves, her burned her face with res.
He had not intended to permanently scar her, but once the fire had been put out and he saw the damage he felt disgust and he spat on her, then ordered an additional beating. With that complete, the Eypharian had Riley taken out of Ahnatep and left in the desert of Eyktol.
He did not know that Riley had the desire to live in her still, and she took the form of her clouded leopard self and fled slowly into the desert, taking water and food whenever she could and eventually finding herself in the ice city of Avanthal, as far north as possible from Ahnatep. There she dwells for now, accumulating money so she can continue on her journey to find happiness in her life and someone to love. She is forever fearful of being found and returned to Ahnatep and the sight of Eypharians frightens her, even though she doesn't hate them for her past.
Likes and Dislikes:
Riley loves freedom. She enjoys the taste of the water, the scent of the air, and the feeling of shackes and cages being erased from her life. She finds all things free are beautiful and wonderful, except herself. She believes she herself is caged by her deformity and will never be free of it
Riley loves to chase birds and revels in the success of a hunt. She enjoys being in her animal form more because she doesn't have to pretend to be happy with her life or with her appearance and loneliness. She can be a natural animal and have no thought of slavery or pain, but she likes to dance even more. She likes to express her emotions when she plays the harp and she expresses her creativity when she dons her mask and performs the dances of Ahnatep where she was a slave.
Her dislikes are few. She doesn't find other people hateful, but she dislikes the looks of disgust in their eyes or on their faces when they see her burns and scars. She hates herself for being so weak and for needing others to feel better about herself when she can't allow herself to open up enough for them to help her. Fire terrifies her, and she often dreams of it. The sun herself frightens Riley, because she believes the only reasons her scars burn in direct sunlight is because Syna finds disgust in her appearance.