Finished!
Appearance:
and if she turns into a maleficar...
Name: Casría Miran
(her surname means "they watch" in Spanish)
Sex: Female
Race: Human, Mage/Grey Warden
Age: 28
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 135
Background: I was born in a Grey Warden stronghold in the Anderfels (Weisshaupt), before my mother, Anaphira, drank of darkspawn blood. My magical talents were kept a secret, but I exhibited them from an early age. My father, Westir, was an apostate, and my mother was a Grey Warden (She was a rogue, like her mother before her). My mother had left me a pendant which had been a gift to her mother from King Maric, and I wear it and keep it safe in both their memories. The taint claimed my mother when I was 22, and my father and I took our Grey Warden vows shortly there after in her memory. The two of us left Weisshaupt for Ferelden when I was 24. We settled in Redcliffe, on a tiny island on Lake Calenhad
(our ulterior motive was that we hoped to be a safe-house to those mages who escaped the Circle). We currently make our living doing weapon enchantments (and I am also a healer), but not many know of us.
Despite the fact that we are both Grey Wardens, Templars come by from time to time to inspect the house, because we live so close to the Tower. We don't kick them out for fear that they will strong arm us... So far we have not been caught, but that's because we are very cautious. However, it's very hard to know that we are being watched.
Having been hidden so well from the Tower of Magi, the one disadvantage I was put at was that I was not taught how to control my talent. I started hearing the whisperings of demons from an early age (6 or 7), voices telling me to harm myself so that the demon may use me as a conduit to enter the mortal realm. I was taught restraint by my father in a very harsh manor, as he caught me trying to cut opened my finger, and whipped me until my bottom was nearly bleeding While he was an apostate, my father was NOT a blood mage, and that encounter scared the Maker out of me. Needless to say, nothing like that ever happened again. From then on, I was taught not to listen to the pleas of the demons and instead practice restraint while casting my spells.
I learned shortly after we settled in Redcliffe, that my father had wanted to send me to the Tower of Magi from the minute I was born (in a series of letters between my mother and father I found in an old chest that was recovered after our cabin suspiciously went up in flames. There's also a very subtle reference to the fact that I may have an older brother...), and have never felt the same way for him since learning that fact. I understood his concern, but could not forgive his motives. While he doesn't know that I am aware of this fact, he can tell that I harbor a certain amount of disdain for him, and we have a slightly uncomfortable, shaky relationship. I have considered picking up and finding my own way, but recently he has become ill. Most likely, it's the taint, come to claim him. I remain with him for now... wondering what awaits me after he is gone.......
Personality (a sketch): I consider myself to be very unstable, and keep a close rein on my emotions. I don't trust myself. I don't trust my instincts, and it mainly stems from the encounter with my father I mentioned in the previous section. I am constantly being bombarded by the pleas of demons and spirits, and I often get lost in thought for this reason.
I am a self-loathing mage-- I feel that magic has been a curse on my family, and a curse on my life. However, I don't hate mages or magic. I feel a connection to other mages, and want to help them free themselves from the Circle, and will advocate for them against the Chantry any day (I feel that the fact that the Chantry vilifies mages and magic is the reason why everything has gotten so out of control in the first place, and if mages were allowed the same rights and freedoms as non-mages, there would be no need for a Circle or the Chantry in the first place).
I am an avid reader, and have proven to be very quick on my feet because of my intelligence. However, I feel one of my biggest personality flaws is my inability to allow myself to get close to people, because of my own guardedness. Sure, it can be good to be opinionated, but always comes with a price. I haven't really the 'ability' to make close friends, though I do have one or two who write to me from time to time. I'm hoping I can meet someone who will teach me to lighten up a bit...
But I'm only painting my negative qualities, a bad habit of mine. I do think that I am a good person; a kind person who wants to help other people, otherwise I wouldn't be a healer... Except 'kind' isn't quite the word because I am a little less gentle and delicate than the word would allow me to define it. Maybe...'benevolent' is a better word? If you have my respect, then you have my friendship,-- and that, you have for life, unless you do something stupid. But even then, I am willing to forgive and work with you toward earning it back, if the right steps are taken to rectify the situation. That may make me sound (a little) self-righteous, but I can assure you I'm not. I feel it is the fairest that I can be.
I am not a religious person, though I do sometimes pray for my father's health. I reference the Maker very loosely, and sometimes use his name in vain without thinking. I tend to reject the idea of The Fade and the Maker mostly because I don't want anything to do with any of the spirits who would make me harm myself to use me as a vessel. Whether or not I actually believe in any of it is a different story, and too personal to write here.
I get the most happiness when I am outside the house, usually as a fox or a hawk-- when the world is opened to me, and I can observe others from a safe distance. Being in the company of other people puts me at ease, but I am usually in their presence from a distance, and in a different form. However, I am not shy. I will speak up for myself and others, and have a propensity to defend the underdog.
Method of fighting: I am a mage in the classical sense, though probably more conservative than most other mages you'd meet because of the way I was raised. I tend toward healing and protection more than I do attacks, but I certainly know how to defend myself. I have remained sane only through the ability to see the world through the eyes of other creatures (I am a shapeshifter)... I am very non-confrontational and usually assess a situation from a distance before jumping in, but again, I know how to defend myself. (Oh yes... If given a sword... I'd be a little uncomfortable, but that doesn't mean that I don't know how to fight melee. I was raised in the military, after all..)
Timeline (OOC):
(•Age (-7) - Esello Miran, Casría's older brother, is born to Anaphira and Westir Miran in Antiva...
•Age (-6) - Esello is given up for adoption, as Anaphira is conscripted to the Grey Wardens. They set off by foot with a few other people and fight their way to Weisshaupt. Before Anaphira can make it to the compound, however, she is poisoned by the taint. She is made to immediately take her vows to prevent the taint from killing her.
•Age 0- Casría Miran is born in the Anderfels, Weisshaupt; Mother Anaphira became Grey Warden.*
•Age 0.5- Cas exhibited a little bit of magic while being rocked to sleep, parents had big argument about whether or not to send her to the Circle. Anaphira left Weisshaupt, and correspondence between her and Westir took place for about 3 years. Westir held on to the letters he received.
•Age 6- Cas began training in swordplay. Her magical skills were ignored in the hopes that she'd not notice she was a mage.
• Age 7- Cas was caught by her father talking to spirits in the woods surrounding Weisshaupt one night. This was a traumatic night for Cas, as she described it in her Background section.
• Age 10- Cas learns the 'truth' about her past from her parents.
• Age 11- Cas gets deathly ill, has a vision in the Fade. She's cured partially.
• Age 13- Cas' Mom starts having 'dreams'.
• Age 14- Cas' Mom passes away, leaves Cas her mother's necklace. Cas and her father take their 'vows'. They make plans to leave Weisshaupt with a few other families.
• Age 15- Cas and West settle on a tiny, uncharted island on Lake Calenhad, near Redcliffe.
• Age 16- Vandals burn Cas and West's cabin down. They survive. While gathering their remaining valuables, Cas comes across the letters from her mother. They are too out of context, and cryptic for her to truly grasp their meaning.
(*-Timeline)-(Let ((me)) clarify, so this doesn't seem like a plot hole... Italics are what happened before Cas was born. Plain text is what Cas experienced after she was born. Anaphira was tainted on her way to Weisshaupt from Antiva. Cas has no idea that she was tainted from birth, which would explain why she's so sensitive to demons, as well as other darkspawn. Her parents fabricated the story about Ana taking her vows (to exclude her brother) after Cas was born, for Cas's benefit and didn't tell it to her until she was at least 10 or 11. In other words, even though they raised a nice daughter, they are HORRIBLE PARENTS.)