Kassina

Character Name: Kassina

Age: 19
Sex: Female
Race: Elf

Class: Mage
Specializations: Shapeshifter
Favored skills: knife fighting, fighting in animal form.

Hobbies:

Background: 19 years ago a young elven couple welcomed a beautiful baby girl they named Kassina. Their clan tended to travel a lot through the Brecilian forest. As the girl grew she showed a great affinity for nature and began wandering off into the forest as soon as she could walk.

One day when Kassina was 6 years old she woke to the sounds of screaming and fighting. Her mother rushed into the araval and handed her a warm jacket and a small bag of food and told her to run into the forest and hide until Mom or Dad came to fetch her. "Don't leave the forest until me come, no matter what! Remember we love you! Now Run!!" Her mother told her with tears in her eyes. As Kassina crawled out her bedroom window, confused and terrified, she heard the door crash in, and her father screaming. As she reached the outskirts of town she was spotted by two men. They
were incredibly tall and had funny ears and hairy faces. She would later learn they were human raiders. They laughed and began to chase her. They chased her for a few minutes laughing and shouting taunts, but eventually she lost them in the trees. As Kassina ran she thought how much she wanted to be strong and fierce and brave like the wolves she had visited in the forest so the ugly laughing men couldn't hurt her. She was shocked when a moment later she looked down and realised she was a wolf pup! She ran to the wolf den she'd visted many times before and hid among the other pups snuggled up to their mother wolf. The men hunted the forest for her for hours but could find no trace of her.

Remembering her mother's last words Kassina waited for her parents to come get her for over a week. Finally hunger forced her back to the village. She stayed in wolf form and moved slowly and cautiously. As she got close to the village she could smell a terrible mix of smoke and rotting meat. Nothing of her village remained except rubble and bodies. Kassina ran all the way back to the wolf den and didn't leave it again for days. Over the next few months Kassina slowly adapted to life in the forest. Mother Wolf taught her to hunt with the other cubs and how to avoid the many dangers in the forest. The wolf family grew accustomed to her changing shape as she began to find it tiring to stay always in wolf form.

Over the next 10 years time passed quickly for Kassina. She learned to take on new forms to help her blend in with the forest, and to help her new family hunt. Wolf always remained her favorite form, although she grew to love soaring the forests at night as an owl. Sometimes she would approach groups traveling through the forest or some of the smaller villages in an inconspicuous animal form to listen to news and gossip, and just to hear the sounds of her native tongue, but she rarely ever went into a settled area. Sometimes a traveller would become lost in the forest and she would aid them with food or help them find their way, but she always stayed in animal form during these encounters. Occationally need would make her sneak to the outskirts of a settlement at night to steal clothes, bedding, or food. On these trips sometimes she would steal small toys as well to keep her entertained.

In the year Kassina turned 16 she found herself becoming more and more lonely, longing to be with her own kind, despite being terrified of them. Whether it was instict to find a mate of her own, or hormonal changes, she couldn't fight the loneliness, and began to spend more and more time spying on the outskirts of villages. This curiosity saved her and her pack a year later when the darkspawn invaded. They managed to escape unscathed but were pushed closer and closer to the city of Denerim. During the years of the darkspawn Kassina began to interact with humans, elves, and dwarves occationally. She tried to help those fleeing for their lives as she had once fleed, helping them find food and shelter. When she did interact with others in humanoid form the contact was
always brief and akward. She still retained the speech patterns of a small child, and would growl and snarl at any who came too close to her or threatened her in any way. Despite this many travellers were greatful for the assistance and provided her with better clothing, real footware, and some even tried to help her with her speech and manners.

Personality: Kassina is very much like a wild animal. Shy and wary, but fierce when cornered. She will growl and snarl when she feels treatened. Can be very loving and loyal to anyone who gains her trust, though that trust is hard to earn. She is an incredibly hard worker and loves nature. She finds it easier to accept and deal with others who are close to nature such as rangers and other shifters. While she can fight with animal savagry and exist in a harsh environment, Kassina is still very childlike in many ways. Her speech patterns are still that of a child, with bad grammar and short sentances. When time and circumstances allow she loves to play, though her play can be rough like a wild wolf cub. She still knows little of normal social rules or interactions and often comes across as rude or inappropriate.

Weapons/Armor: Wears a rough made leather tunic and pants, given to her by people she helped during the darkspawn invasion. Also carries a dagger that she learned to use fighting the darkspawn. Prefers to fight in animal form though.

Appearance: About average height for an elf Kassina is all lean muscle, like a wild cat ready to pounce. There is not a drop of fat to be seen on her. A mane of wild, untamed sunbleached blonde hair bound by a rough rawhide tie falls to her waist. Her skin is sunbrowned and despite her youth shows the signs of a hard life lived mostly outdoors. Scars of many battles criss-cross
her arms. Wary dark blue eyes look out of an angular face. While few would describe her as beautiful in the classic sense, she is attractive in a wild dangerous way. Her hands and feet are rough and callused from hard work. Her leather tunic and leggings are well cared for but show signs of hard use. She wears no shoes and no jewelry of any kind.