Name:
Quill Ellwood
Age:
17 years old
Gender:
Female
Which dragons catch their attention?
Appearance:
[Credit to Djarn on Picrew]
Quill is somewhat masculine in appearance, with narrow hips, somewhat wide shoulders and her body fitting a long rectangular shape. Both her torso and legs are quite long, allowing her to reach the height of 5"9. . .At least in her boots and with her back ruler-straight. Her actual height, without any cheating, is more like 5''7, but despite not being the tallest lady around, she has a subtle but commanding presence. Her arms are more than averagely muscled for her age and gender, and she is definitely of an athletic build - having undertaken active training for years. Those leans arms are often found crossed as she leans nonchalantly against a tree or wall.
She has ash-blonde hair, which is short and cut to between her chin and shoulder length, usually. She regularly changes her hair, cropping and cutting it whever she is too bored for her own good. Thankfully it grows back relatively fast so if she makes a serious mistake it'll be fixed sooner rather than later. She'd like to try dying it one day, but that her mother would never forgive her for that. Their notibly pale hair is symbollic of the family after all. Quill's is exactly the same as her mother's and her mother's before that: a slightly darker blond on top with lighter sections underneath. She likes to seperate these and plait parts, or tye it up into a bun - she is contstantly experimenting with her styles. Quill also has pale blue eyes and darker lashes, which give her a sort of fragile, porcaline look if one was not aware of the rest of her body - descreetly powerful as it is.
She knows a fair bit about makeup, and occasionally wears some if the occasion calls for it but otherwise leaves it aside: showing her real complexion. Tanning easily, and less pale that she initially seems, she has rosy cheeks and a lightly freckled nose as well as all sorts of peircings on her ears. Industrial, firsts, seconds ect. She likes to wear jewelry on her ears, in her hair, neck and on her hands, but removes them all for combat, and casual wear. This young woman gracefully accepts her mother's heirloom gifts of old rings and jewelry and treasures them as some of the few connections she has to her mother, and family. She's a little like a crow in a way, finding an treasuring any and every trinket she can get her hands on.
Her wardrobe is an assortment of blouses and trousers; each item of clothing is either white, black, grey or a pale blue. She owns a few more dresses back home which she imports for very important events. Additionally she is the owner of one beautiful ornate sword. Or rather a sturdy sword with decoration on the hilt - her family have never traded practicality for looks. It is stored safely with her mother for now.
Quill also has a long scar down the right side of her belly (from the upper ribs to just below the bellybutton) from an 'accident' with her Grandfather. She doesn't know much of the rest of her family, but she does know that her mother lothes them, and does the same. She doesn't remember it hurting, only that it happened in a duel. Whatever led up to a grown man fighting a child in a duel?... She'll work up the courage to ask her mother one day. For now that can stay with the unanswered with the other questions of 'Who was Great Uncle Quillen?' and 'What happen to Father?'
[Credit to BAYDEWS on picrew]
Personality:
Quill is not the easiest person to get along with. She takes a lot of time to warm up to, and isn't one to reach out in terms of friendships. This sharp-minded teenager does understand the importance of allies however, and is reliable for an often brutally honest opinion or a sharp peice of advice. She will look for those stronger than herself and pay extra attention to how they achieve this - as she always pushes herself to even greater limits, perhaps asking for training or help if they seem willing enough. She will also occasionally keep an eye on those she considers weaker, building up alliances that will surely benefit herself in the future. Even small skills can come in useful, so she surrounds herself with anyone and everyone with all sorts of talents - such an array should serve her well. Their openness and personality often doesn't matter much to her - as long as they can exchange knowledge and skills, she will be happy to spend time with them. She believes in fairly trading her time with others, and tries to ensure she is not taking advantage of these others, but can appear to if she is not careful to actively help them.
Rather emotionally stiff, she isn't much of a talker but will engage in small talk if she's bored. She takes a special interest in small cultural traditions, basic hand-combat and riddles. Mental stimulation, such as riddles, is something that relaxes her and sets her into the right mindset for stressful or difficult tasks. Her interest in traditions might appear suprising, concidering how uninterested she appears to be towords others however she has come to find a particular interest in these. As a child, Quill didn't have much time for the varied cultural events from her family's formerly long history. Her mother was very strict on her manners, time management and schooling and she rarely had time in-between lessons and training for the soon-to-be forgotten traditions which are written in a dusty, handed down tradition-book back at her family home. She has read it cover to cover and longs for the day where she can fill in the empty pages, yet to be written.
As a result of her strict upbringing, she takes things far too seriously. Little friendly competitions are a must-win, and she possesses quite a competitive streak - although not in the usual sense. She will not become rageful if she doesn't win, but will become quiet for a while as she dissapears to train herself harshly. Her pride does not allow her to break until she has reached a feat comparable to the winners, or she is pushed to her limit and collapses. It is simply not in her nature to quit on her goals, and for once this emotional drive overpowers her logic thinking.
She is succesptible to overworking herself and causing herself illness from exhaustion. Being proficient at self defense as well as blade-work, she certainly has put a lot of time and dedication into these skills and they will undoubtedly prove useful. Her mother has trained her in a range of skills as well as these, but she never excelled in anything literate. Maths however she could do. Quill struggles with reading sometimes, and hates being forced through a book or written instructions. She relies on verbal instructions for anything, and is slow both in reading and writing, with her handwriting - according to her mother "nothing short of atrocious." These seemingly outdated lessons like politics and english have never interested her however she has retained her knowledge from her manner classes, presenting herself courteously to those she does not know, and remembering the odd bit of useful information - though she has blocked out the majority of it.
She has no sense of humour. At all. Quill doesn't appreciate jokes, and sometimes they even blow right over her head. She rarely smiles, and laughing is out of the question but it is not impossible to get the faintest smirk out of her, or an uneasy grin if a certain someone's talking to her. While she tries not to be so uptight and enjoy things, she doesn't show this through her face much - her mouth is always in a straight, neutral line. Once you do break the grin out of her though, she can quickly become far more relaxed and easygoing despite her retained cool demeanor.
Quill isn't the most loyal of people. She can get sidetracked by the idea of power, and acts in her own, or her mother's, self interest. She is very assertive, but works hard to get what she wants without outwardly forcing the other person. Many of her mannerisms are directly from her mother, but she is trying to escape that overbearing shadow and make room for herself to breathe and find her own self. Becoming a Rider does give her a whole ton more responsibility, but she isn't one to shy away from that - more like one to grab it with both hands and probably do more than needed. She'd also gain a little more status for her family, so that would put her mother in a happier state of mind - which would make her life a whole lot easier.
Strengths & Weaknesses:
+ Combat skills: As soon as she could lift up a dinner knife, her mother enrolled her in self-defence classes (the majority taught by the Lady herself) and as a result Quill is able to effectively manoeuvre a sword, as well as the basics of hand to hand combat. No melee weapons that are still fairly heavy yet though - she's got to work on her strength. That said, her swordsmanship has grown to become by far one of her greatest skills.
+ Logic: With a logical mind, Quill can remove her emotions from the equation when figuring out a course of action. She puts group safety over the risk of helping one individual, and also holds others to high standards. If someone falls behind, they must catch up. Simple as that. Empathy, while not absent in her, is not a strong suit - having been slightly ommitted in her teaching.
+ Manners: This young woman has a diplomatic side when she wishes, and relies on old and odd customs to get her way. She can be manipulative if she really needs to, using a mix of forceful logic as well as her smooth tongue to achieve her goals. While she does not have a title of her own, Quill has been raised as a Lady to follow in her mother's footsteps, and can appear far more affluent than she currently is right now.
- Loyalty: Quill isn't outright disloyal, but she doesn't always stick around with people, even if that would be a moral thing to do. She's a little self-centred, and this can loose her potential friends. She has a strong sence of individuality, which can land her in trouble when she really needs someone to protect her back.
- Loner: Whenever she's satisfyed with her amount of 'allies' she doesn't go out of her way to make more connections with people. Self-isolating herself, Quill isn't really responsive to basic friendliness and sometimes goes out by herself to train or complete a task - even when it would be more efficient in a group. She isn't amazing at teamwork, as an unfortunate result.
- Balance: It's a bit worrying that she struggles to balance so much. Her mother used to get aggavated at how incapable she was at simply staying on the spot, on one foot. In flashes of anger she'd say it's because Quill's mind is too empty with nothing to weigh her down, so she falls to the side... Q tries to work on this but often resorts to purposefully overleaning on one side to wobble back towords the middle when balancing. She can't even so much as look at a horse without feeling herself wobble. In the air, it would likely be far worse...
Likes & Dislikes:
✓ Her Mother: Sure, they have a rather complex relationship, but without her dedication to Quill's schooling, Q believes she wouldn't be much of a person. At least not a very well rounded one. She has learnt many important lessons from her mother – both academic and logical - and will carry them with her forever. Although they rarely spend time together nowadays, and have their moments, it is obvious their bond is strong.
✓ Singing: Not that she does it that regularly, but Quill loves to sing. She only does if she's feeling particularly happy, and is alone. Or thinks she is. She's got an enjoyable voice to listen to, and will only improve as her tone matures.
✓ Affection: You wouldn't be able to tell from a first look at Quill - okay, not even a week (or month) of knowing her- but she loves affection. Quality time, physical contact and small gifts of anything will definitely get a grin out of her, maybe even a blush if it's pulled off right. She'll return that same kind of love in a similar style, in a heartbeat, finally releasing her own pent-up affection for the person.
× Writing, Reading: She doesn't like to read anything she hasn't read before - it takes her too long and makes her head hurt. Writing has a similar issue, and her writing is also very messy – boarding on illegible. Maths is far more to her liking, as she can calculate things in her head super fast.
× Bad Weather: Anything that gets her wet or humid will get her in a bad mood. Her clothing is always neat, and whatever messes with this pristene display will face her wrath. It'll cause a day full of muttered cussing and a raised temper - not that the weather tends cares very much about these outbursts, but Quill certainly does. She cannot stand her clothing being ruined by something beyond her control.
× Her Grandparents: Long story short, her Grandparents were responsible for her once noble family's decline. Her mother's rigorous training is her final attempt at delaying the destruction of the family legacy through one of the few remaining members. Besides that, there is the matter of her Grandfather, of whom she barely remembers, yet (as directed by her mother) absolutely hates. Thankfully the duo of them are out of the picture, for now.
Crush:
(Open :3)
Significant Other/Spouse:
Nope
Kin:
Quill descends from nobility, though their family estate and name have long since fallen into disrepair. Notible kin are: her Grandparents, her mother - Lady Cassida Reighton, her father - now passed and her great uncle Quillen (also passed) - who she's named after.
Affiliations: [Enemies, Friends, etc.]:
Open!!
Other:
Fall Month: 1 
Day 
Hurricane
