Welcome to Gaia! ::

Character's Name || Wensley Elderbrook [When-slee El-dər-bro͝ok]
Stage || Stage 2 - I imagine her as being full-grown, around twenty-one years old or so.
Race || Yaeli Earthling
Gender || Female
Path || Lancer with Trident [Rider]

Hair Style and Color || █ - Wen has naturally thick, frizzy curls in the lightest shades of Yaeli hair color, that she keeps relatively short so as to be easiest to manage. She generally wears it in styles that involve tight braids close to her scalp, with something of a 'poof' near the back. Think in styles along these lines (with my favorites being first): [1] [2] [3] [4]
Eyes || The customary black sclera with glowing irises of the Yaeli, since she is on Yael now and has never left. Her eyes are a bit narrower than is usually portrayed in woman, no-nonsense, sharp, and skeptical.
Crystals || Wensley's most notable crystal arrangement is a pair of nearly triangular "snakebite"-like crystals right beneath her lower lip that resemble something like fangs. Otherwise, she has a ring of broadly spaced "tendrils" made up of small round crystals that weave from beneath her breasts down toward her hips.
Skin Color || █ - Among the very darkest of her race, with an even darker smattering of freckles across her cheeks, ears, and shoulders.
Clothing || Wen is a practical girl, preferring to forgo stylish adornments in favor of comfort and garments that will get her where she needs to be. Multiple layers for protection, boots for traversing the Yael wilds, packs of supplies, and things of the like. She is neither modest nor especially immodest, so any skin shown can just be what happens to occur naturally. Jewelry should be kept to the barest minimum, and colors are nothing flashy. She tends to bind her breasts during the day, as the amount of jostling involved with riding a beast is uncomfortable, otherwise.
Description || As a fully grown woman, Wen has already bypassed all the stages of awkward body proportions and underdeveloped areas of womanhood. She's blossomed into a tall, fit, notably muscled, fend-for-herself type girl who looks as though she's ready to take on the world. She has somewhat rounded features that lend themselves to making her appear almost 'boyish' when dressed right, and it doesn't help that she tends to tuck her only-moderately-sized breasts away during most work hours.

Three Base Traits|| Self-reliant, Indifferent, Unaccepting
Additional Traits|| Straightforward, Physical, Capable, Stubborn
Personality||

As an only child, Wensley always had all of her parents' wishes for what they wanted of a kid set immediately on her shoulders. They wanted 'someone to take care of them in their old age,' (someone fit to take on the tasks they wouldn't be able to, dependable enough to do so consistently, and caring such that the complaints of elderly parents wouldn't go ignored) or 'someone who would grow to manage the family business,' (someone intelligent enough to make decisions, outspoken enough to net consumers, and friendly enough to forge lasting partnerships) or even just (as far as her father is concerned) 'a boy,' which needless to say, she is not. Regardless of what the exact wants might come to be, there was little room for someone incapable, and Wensley has always given all of herself to being what the important people in her life (her parents, at this point) may want from her.

She is extremely hard working, and dedicates herself fully to even the most menial of tasks with very little prompting. She doesn't shy from strangers and is companionable enough, but Wen also differentiates easily between who is a friend that she actually cares about and who she would kill herself for, and who is an 'acquaintance' that she is comfortable around but not necessarily interested in. She has a preference toward people who are relatively similar to her- not too brash, not rude, not lazy, not annoyingly talkative- just someone generally easy-going with enough work ethic to accomplish their goals.

In hand with her willingness to take on anything thrown at her comes a desire to be 'shaped' in ways that will most benefit the tasks set before her. This manifests itself in undertaking physical routines that will quite literally tone her body. While it might have initially been an exercise in self betterment and necessary preparation to ready herself for any trials Yael may throw at her, once it became routine, workouts became as calming a ritual as anything else and equally necessary for her mental stability, as she is very restrained in terms of displaying negativity.

'Indifferent' is perhaps not the most base trait of her personality, as Wensley can be quite passionate, vocal, and friendly, but it occurs often enough that it is something of note. Although it is true that there are a great variety of things she couldn't care less about and she expresses a certain type of 'indifference' toward those, this is an entirely different type of 'indifference' than what she displays when feeling upset. Whenever any distinctly negative emotion comes into play, be it frustration, fear, sadness, helplessness, or anything she perceives as unmanageable or disruptive to her or others, Wensley tends to box everything up- the upset, as well as reason and most rational thought until she can't feel or be bothered by anything.

She won't act out, won't speak or try to explain the cause of her upset, and instead just enters a state of what she refers to as 'nothing,' where she can't be a bother to herself or anyone else. Just a walking, working little doll.

Despite a desperate want and earnest struggle to become better, Wen's general thought is that "Things never change." The world will keep on going regardless of who lives on it, individuals will continue to act as they always have, and most potently (and privately), that she is going to be forever stuck struggling to achieve something she knows she wants but cannot have. So even though this statement is one she considers to be true, it is still something she can't accept and fights adamantly against.

Wensley rebels against anything she thinks needs to be changed, be it rules, or the attitudes of others, or the flaws in herself. She is, by nature, someone who struggles to accept things the way they are.

History||

Wensley couldn't say how her parents met or what spurred them into marriage. All she knows is that for as long as she can remember, they have been at odds, and it's not difficult to see why. Camala is a free-spirited, outspoken, and generally carefree woman. She doesn't necessarily get along with everyone, but she holds no grudges and is strong of spirit. Rywan is her opposite in many ways- grouchy, pessimistic, constantly dissatisfied, and something of a recluse, he tends to unintentionally (or sometimes otherwise) insult anyone near to him.

Their one point of similarity is that they both tend to chafe at the mention of the other, and it tends to involve a lot of grimacing and muted curses. So even if Wensley doesn't get direct answers about the exact circumstances involved in how she came to be, she expects it involved alcohol and at least one instance of pure accidental misfortune.

Either way, they married once Camala claimed she was pregnant.

And then almost promptly divorced. Wensley has only the vaguest memories of her whole family actually living together, and since the majority of them aren't distinctly happy memories, she doesn't suppose she blames them for separating.

Though her mother initially wanted her and even still insists that she thinks Wensley would be happier to stay with her, it was Rywan who ended up with custody, on the grounds that Camala 'wouldn't do it right' and had no business raising a child when she spent more time out and about with her friends than anywhere else. Wen genuinely believes both her parents harbor their own brand of affection for her, but she also thinks her father took her on more out of spite for Camala than any actual desire to do so.

Be his intentions whatever they are, Rywan raised her with far stricter guidelines than Wensley might have expected of Camala. When she was young, she was kept predominantly at home, allowing for few friends and disturbances so that she could focus more on learning trades that would advance her status and aid her in life's journey.

In his youth (and during the early-middle portions of Wen's childhood), Rywan was a physically-oriented man who ran the service of guiding and protecting people between the towns of Ilidan (where they live) and Pajore, be it for ceremonial reasons, business, or visitation. Wensley has grown up knowing that she would take on this role and has been preparing mentally and physically for the task. She has of course made the trip several times herself, though never in the lead and never in command. Her father insists that if she were a boy, she'd be more up to the task and less likely to be distracted by handsome passerby, but she is determined to prove him wrong.

Her snapptrotter, escort, and mount, Boudu was acquired on one such trip to Pajore and given to her by her father specifically for the task of being an aid in keeping anyone they may escort safe.

Wensley is not overly fond of him, as she dislikes needing 'help' in whatever form it takes.

But she is already committed to the role and eager to serve as some type of guardian for her people, for however short a time they may be traveling together. With Rywan officially allowing her to set off on her own, Wensley is determined to prove her worth.

Summary of Relationship:

It should be noted that Wensley's first RP with Zekiel takes place immediately after her initial journey from Ilidan to Pajore with her in a 'leadership' position. She starts at stage two with the thought in mind that she'd need to be someone already capable of handling that journey on her own, someone already capable of fulfilling the role as protector, and someone already having had the training she would have had as a prentice.

During the journey, she is 'cursed' by a traveling witch-gypsy, and since she is in Pajore already, decides to seek the aid of one of the Sanctum's priests. Cue her first meeting with Ze. I don't imagine she even expects to see this man again because why would she (and she likely thinks him a bit strange and possibly even minutely annoying at first), but they start on relatively nondescript terms.

Unbeknownst to her, Zekiel is set to become the sole priest of her home in Ilidan.

During his time there, they progress from nondescript and somewhat awkward to something more resembling friends. Wensley isn't any more religious that what is bare-minimum required of her, and so while there are opportunities for them to meet at temple, the two are just as likely to come into contact in more casual scenarios, which Wensley tends to appreciate as being less 'scripted' and easier, allowing for more than a business-oriented (as has been the norm: she gets cursed and needs to see a priest orel between his temple in Ilidan and the Sanctum) friendship.

Along the way, she wrangles with her father's opinion that she isn't 'good enough' to have any type of relationship with a priest, but through continued instances of them meeting (scheduled or not), Wen grapples with how she feels about pleasing her father versus what she means to Ze and what he means to her and how that makes her feel.

Eventually, though, his earnestness and honesty win her favor above all else, and she takes to the significantly less monumental task of pleasing Zekiel, and herself by virtue of that in such a way that they decide to build off their own relationship by adding a few more players into the mix.

Detailed Summary of Impact to Connection: [Written by Uke in regards to Zekiel]

Zekiel has come a long way in life despite a relatively young age for his rank, and has just about everything that could be wanted for: friends, a temple of his own, an increasingly familiar congregation as gathers at his sermons, and a positive relationship with the townspeople where he has come to work. He is comfortable, stable, and happy—at least, certainly in the sense that he needs for nothing and remains a cheerful and optimistic spirit.

But, despite all his work, all his friends, and all his connections, Zekiel lives alone. He is surrounded by families and people with families, and pours his energy daily into engaging himself with other people as much as he can. Yet, for all his positive spirit, Zekiel is privately very conscious of the fact that he is with, but apart from them. Respected, perhaps, and ‘special’ by virtue of his class, but different — and oftentimes lonely, even encompassed by all the people he loves.

Zekiel does not make a habit of asking the gods for anything, as he understands their will will be done, and he must simply be patient and act as their agent. He has, however, always felt a special pull of longing for the unique bond of love and family that he sees in others—and he has always wanted a child. These wants he considers to be mostly selfish and therefore a much lesser priority as compared to his civic and ecclesiastical duties. But still they remain, and persist through the years regardless of whatever else he might accomplish in the meantime.

Zekiel has tried his hand at courting, but thus far his attempts have turned up no concrete results. An over-eager attempt at asking the Sanctum’s permission for him to propose marriage was denied for its hastiness among other things, and since then Zekiel has privately resigned himself to looking forward and waiting with a grateful attitude for what he has been given and trying not to want more. Perhaps the gods simply intended him to work with, but apart, always.

Wensley Elderbrook will not begin as anyone any more special to Zekiel than any other villager—one of his gods’ people, and as wondrous of a brief acquaintance as most. Over time, however, as their connection develops through repeated contact both as part of and outside of his work, Zekiel will feel the invisible line that seems to distinguish him (or distinguish the way people see him) from everyone else wear away in her company. The gods have given him much, and he tries to ask and want for nothing, but Wensley stirs in him a reminder that sometimes, there is more that one can do to find happiness in life than simply wait for the gods to give it.

Sometimes, one must actually reach, and it is not always a selfish thing to do so. Eventually, Wensley will inspire in Zekiel a desire not simply to be happy in her company and inspire it in return, but to be more with her than either of them could ever be alone, and entreat the gods for a chance at carrying that unique legacy forward into the generations to come, long after the gods take them both from this world.

Detailed Summary of Plot:

Wensley is a girl who, despite still being young in terms of total number of years spent alive, is capable of handling a great many situations. She is not fearless, but brave in the face of danger. She is not necessarily intelligent, but crafty in how she handles problems. She is not the most outgoing, but still has a reliable cluster of comrades that she trusts and who are happy to work with her. Though this is all true and she has actively displayed her capabilities during her journeys to Pajore and back time and time again already, she is uncomfortable with herself as a person and is desperate to achieve standards that are quite literally impossible.

She has always lived with her father, a man who more often than not, finds himself dissatisfied with the course of his life and somehow also with his daughter's life, by virtue of that. Though it certainly wasn't her mother's intention to allow this, Wensley has taken all of her father's grievances to heart.

'She is not strong enough.' 'She is not smart enough.' 'She hasn't worked hard enough to be worth the effort that has been put forth into raising her.'

Right now, Wensley is trapped in the mindset that she can be everything her father wants, expects, and needs her to be, if only she works a little harder, if only she makes those unrealistic expectations her singular goal, if only she forces herself to conform to roles that may not even necessarily highlight her strengths. She has, unsurprisingly, fallen short thus far and is turning to the tactic of becoming 'nothing' more and more just because of how frequently her father is displeased with her efforts and how upsetting it is to her to fail him. Her goals are ones she can't achieve, and it is ruining her.

By contrast, Zekiel doesn't seem to have many expectations for her or any dissatisfaction toward most people as a whole. He is friendly, upbeat, and accepting of nearly everything however it may turn out to be.

To Wensley, this mindset is frustratingly foolish, as to her it feels like there should always be a path to 'better,' and better is what everyone with any decent amount of sense and work ethic should strive for. Through several various encounters ranging from Wensley requiring aid from the Sanctum and later inviting the new priest of Ilidan to explore the city, to trips in which the two of them must travel to Pajore and back, to home-cooked dinners and explorations of mud pits, Wen is able to grow to appreciate that exact thing she thought was 'foolish,' and even go so far as to expressly want it- to feel loved and valued for what she is, rather than what she 'might' be.

Wensley's plot centers almost entirely around relationships within her family, overcoming failure in the sense that she won't allow mistakes to define her, developing bonds in which she doesn't have to be expected to fulfill every task set before her, accepting (and perhaps enjoying) the flaws in others that she would initially find as dissatisfactory as the ones in herself, and most importantly, accepting herself and appreciating the talents she does have.

As you know, this is a stage 2 quest so there are more requirements to get this approved than with a normal quest.

How does Wensley feel about her childhood and how she grew up in regards to her parents’ relationships with each other and with her? Did she resent having her life picked out for her? Did she rebel against her father’s strict rules? Did she with for a family that got along and lived together and loved each other as a child?

Did the father or mother ever remarry, or get involved with someone else? Like are there step-parents or step-siblings involved?

I’m not sure I see what the significance of the plots for Zekiel or Wensley would be with their relationship. It looks to me that the main thing driving this quest is to form a romantic relationship and give Zekiel someone. One of the requirements for a stage 2 quest character is that: "Character advances the plot of another character in a significant and impactful way, and has a future plot for themselves.”

What is the reason for her plot with Zekiel? How is she supposed to impact his plot in a significant way? Questing a stage 2 character for the sole sake of creating a romance isn’t enough to be approved for a quest so we’re looking for more than that. There needs to be a plot line that she facilitates, some reason for her to be there besides romance. The way the quest reads right now, Zekiel stays exactly as he is, in the position he is, just with a wife now.

What is her plot for herself? I see that you included a lot of detail of how she will grow in her mindset, but I don’t see her having a plot at the moment besides the very last paragraph of the quest which feels like a rough hint that she will have plots without actually naming them. Can you be a little more specific about what the relationships within her family are and how they’re overcome in her plot? Is there a specific plot point that involves overcoming failure? I just feel like I need more specifics in regards to her plot line.

Wensley isn’t really one to ever be particularly satisfied and she does realize that there were probably ways in which her childhood could have played out better, but she doesn’t resent the choices her parents made and isn’t the type to just wish for something to not have happened. I wouldn’t say she is exactly ‘at peace’ with her parents’ choices concerning their relationship (since she is very infrequently at peace with much of anything), but she has an understanding of it and doesn’t begrudge them their attempts at finding new happiness. As a child, I imagine she understood a little less, but just knew that that was how it was in her household and accepted that the decision was beyond her.

She actually still has a really positive relationship with her mama. Camala and Wensley share a lot of their innate personality traits, and they tend to get along more as ‘best friends’ than an actual mother-daughter type deal. Even when Wen was younger, her mother was very gung-ho about letting Wensley make her own choices and figure out what her own mistakes were.

He relationship with her father is a bit more strained. As a child she lived with him because that was what was imposed upon her. As an adult, she lives with him more because she thinks he needs her. He may have been strict, but she also worries that he’s not really all there, anymore and so needs someone to support and stabilize him (he does a lot of rambling and demanding of things that she can’t fulfill). She’s never rebelled against him in the truest sense of the word, as actively lashing out. But she is never content and always striving for better, so most of her effort went into forcing herself to a higher standard that he would be proud of.

But because he hasn’t ever really been proud of her, she is growing a bit more jaded toward that goal.

Neither have remarried. Camala doesn’t intend to, though she is a frisky woman at heart and does spend her time with others. Rywan wants to remarry, but is sort of a detestable dude that no woman really wants. He also wants more children, a boy specifically, though that hasn’t happened yet.

I can’t really give you a bullet-by-bullet of all her planned rps, because I don’t know them yet. But that growth in mindset for both of them is character progression, even if she doesn’t have a more ‘active’ set of goals. Her father is her greatest source of progress, yet also her greatest obstacle. He has been pushing her and pushing her, and each time she thinks she achieves something, it isn’t quite enough to actually please him. So even if she’d never say it, she is looking for support. She will have more dealings with Rywan, of course, dealing with his escapades into wife-hunting, potential young child-rearing, and eventual delirium, and it is a personal battle for her to accept that it may just be impossible to please him.

There isn’t really necessarily an “overcoming failure” plotpoint because she has always been one to keep getting up because she has always wanted for better, better, better, more, more, more. She would drive herself crazy. Wensley’s plot just focuses on acceptance and loving herself, which is what she finds in Ze.

Zekiel has always found everything ‘wondrous’ and ‘god given,’ and Wensley doesn’t think anything is at its best, ever. But between them they can find that comfortable middle ground of being accepting and content. Not everything is ‘perfect,’ but not everything needs improvement.

They are supposed to be romantic, yes, but I don’t see why interpersonal relationships don’t constitute as ‘plot.’

((This particular part was co-written by Uke and I together, read over and agreed upon before being posted, and so is accurate for both of us in regards to Wen and Ze.))


There is a plot line involved for both sides. For Wensley it's about coming into her own, recognizing she is not just a tool for her father, recognizing that she doesn't have to endlessly beat herself to exhaustion trying to chase impossible standards - this will come about in numerous ways which do pivot around Zekiel at points as her connection but will also include others but is predominantly about her and her personal growth. She will make physical journeys across Yael, but the bigger "main events" of her "play" are for her to begin as someone bent around pleasing her father and never considering herself good enough and working up from there. Rywan does start out as being strict, yes, but still 'all there,' so to speak. So Wen has done what is expected of her in taking on the job he wanted her to take, but because of complaints from her traveling party that she managed to get herself 'cursed' along the way, he is dissatisfied and insists on impressing upon her that someone else would have done it better. She does continue running the travel group, consistently by herself, and consistently there are things that she has done improperly. It rains on a trip, and someone takes ill because she didn't set up proper shelter. They are raided, and the merchants with her have their goods stolen. Her mount runs off into the wilderness while chasing prey and she follows after him, abandoning the group for a short time.

Though none of those occurrences are 'her fault,' Rywan still blames her for every misstep, despite her best efforts. And when his mind starts going, thanks to illness, age, and a generally unhappy demeanor, he starts believing her faults are intentional and that she actively trying to do him harm (she isn't, of course).

In his insanity, Rywan attempts to have her killed with the reasoning that it would spare both of them hardship. She doesn't die, though I'm going back and forth about the extent of her injuries. Either way, the attack terrifies her, both of people she thought she could trust and has worked hard to please, and of just the outside in general.

So that is a lengthy arc and will involve Zekiel in some ways as she will likely be irrationally frightened of him and simultaneously dependent on him and the comfort he offers. This is plot beyond romance, entirely about her.

For Zekiel it's not ‘just add wife’ or magic happily ever after - yes, that is their end goal (or one of them), but she facilitates him recognizing and learning to chase personal wants as opposed to just serving his people. She will also force him to deal more personally with trauma - he’s used to consoling and giving advice/helping as much as he can, but it’s been a very long time since he personally was living with trauma in the form of his own father (many eons ago, when Ze was a wee bab before being taken by the Sanctum), and at that time, his approach was to bottle up and ‘be happy’ always. This will come back around on him in the form of having to watch not just ‘a villager’ but someone he loves be emotionally abused and eventually physically threatened and horribly shaken by it. Zekiel will not be able to remain a distant and ever-positive but withdrawn figure and may even need to directly clash with someone for the benefit of someone else more important (something he tries very, very hard not to do - no picking favorites among the people, attempt to please everyone).



You haven’t turned down numerous quests in the past - there have only been a few S2 quests and most of them have passed through and two of them have been romances which involved me (Uke), so it's not like I don't understand how this works. We made a conscious choice to pursue an S2 character not a prentice because her prentice goals aren’t really part of the character as we’re interested in writing her. All her ‘important’ plots begin at S2. Any character could theoretically begin at prentice, but S2 is here for skipping that only once and only for well thought out and plotted through characters with a significant impact on each other to avoid piddling around with prentice reqs ‘just to get through them’ - which is what it would be here, if she had to start at prentice.



There is a plot for them, and most all the events listed generally do happen in her life after approval. But here’s a basic run down of events as have been thought about:

1) Zekiel and Wensley meet in church after Wensley is 'cursed' by a mainlander - she has just completed her first trip leading a band a travelers from Ilidan to Pajore and was perfectly successful, for the most part. But everyone on the trip is upset because they’re afraid of this curse and though she didn’t really want to, she concedes to making a trip to the Sanctum for a cleansing of some sort or at least some holy advice. This RP/event lays the groundwork - both of Wensley's successes (trip went perfectly but for superstition) and her insecurity with herself/feelings of not having done 'enough' despite that near-perfect trip.

2) They meet in Ilidan where Wensley learns that Zekiel is actually the new priest of the town, she offers to show him around and when she does, ends up being a little miffed that apparently most of the villagers actually already know him, as he has made trips through Ilidan before and used to live in the area unbeknownst to her before now. This sets the foundation of a working friendship and possibly the beginning seeds of mutual attraction (Zekiel at least has already decided he likes this woman, and though he does like everyone generally, this one is different and impresses him both with her tenacity and individualism while also managing to not treat him like a magic doll too special to touch or speak plainly to).

3) They head to Pajore together - Wensley as guide and Zekiel heading to visit the capitol for Sanctum business, during the course of which they haven’t much choice but to get to know each other a little better.

4) Zekiel has occasion to meet with Wensley’s father, something he thought he looked forward to, but as it happens Rywan is not the kindest man and this meeting sets up the groundwork for his conflict there, where I imagine he will already feel he is more displeased by the man than is appropriate. He should want to please Rywan as much as Wensley but he doesn’t and in fact gets an unpleasant sense from the man, which is probably reason enough to pray on the matter and attempt to work himself around to a better mindset. Surely if he just conducts himself properly, he will be able to bring the man around and foster a positive relationship there.

5) That doesn’t happen. Instead, Zekiel begins fostering a relationship with Wensley, which on the one hand pleases him greatly, but also highlights what Wen is going through back home and pits Zekiel’s interests against Rywan, who is not happy at all with how much time Wen is spending away with this young man - or about anything else, for that matter.

6) Meanwhile, Zekiel might be considering that perhaps Wensley’s life and Rywan’s would be happier if he wasn’t mussing around in their business, clearly he’s just causing them strife and there are other young women who, while they don’t really get Ze, would be happy to attempt to wed a priest. Life gets very confusing.

7) Eventually Rywan’s sanity snaps to the point of him lashing out and attempting to maim/kill his own daughter. Zekiel has to make a series of decisions about what he wants, who he cares about, and what matters most to him. He cannot stand passively as he is very prone to doing, and he cannot judge the situation from an unbiased perspective — he has to know that Rywan does surely need help, but it is coming at the cost of his daughter’s sanity and well being, and Zekiel cannot sit by and allow that to happen.

So yes, romance is part of it and the plot is very character-growth focused and won't move off of Yael because that's really not a thing Ze's doing, but there is a lot more to it than just getting him a wife.

Well I just want to make Ze cry, so that seems like as good a goal as any. =w=

For Wensley I'm hoping that it won't come as a completely out-of-the-blue shock, since she has been actively caring for Rywan, and surely there are some pretty noticeable signs that he's slipping. But the attack is also very unexpected, if that makes sense, probably because she doesn't see this man as a killer (and I suppose he still isn't, since he fails), and she's likely been pretty distracted by some already-blooming serious feelings with Zekiel.

So even though she'll be terrified and mistrusting to literally everyone and probably also paranoid even when alone, I don't think it will last indefinitely, though I can't imagine her being enthused to take up care of her father again and will probably just allow Ze to send Rywan wherever he thinks is best.

She is all set. :]

APPROVED

Journal