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The Basics

I am questing for a Ghost of the Past this time. Yes, I get too many ideas. This thread will gradually get nicer and nicer looking as I work on things, so apologies if it looks like a mess right now.

Feel free to post whenever you like - to bump, to chat, to offer constructive criticism, or to tell me how wonderful and amazing I am.

Please note I will accept NO donations for this quest! domokun If you find yourself compelled to donate, please take a minute to read the thread and tell me what I can fix, and then buy yourself something cute 3nodding

The Ghost

Name Tahirah

Gender Female

Abilities
Sense evil: This is an inherent ability that allows Tahirah to detect evil in people around her. It is not something she can precisely "turn off", but she does not have to pay attention to it. At first, this will manifest itself in just a Very Bad Feeling around those with unsavory intentions, but not necessarily allow her to pick out a specific source from a crowd. This skill will get more refined with time.
Devour souls: It is not necessary for Tahirah to do this to survive, but she has the ability to completely devour stray souls. She has no method for removing a soul from a creature still living, but if a stray ghost or spirit is wandering around, Tahirah can gulp it down without even chewing.
Sickened by evil: This is definitely more of a weakness than a power, but it is a side effect that goes along with her ability to devour souls. In her earlier stages, extremely evil souls would certainly be able to kill her, if she could even eat them in the first place. Any evil at all will have an effect on Tahirah, likely making her lethargic, listless, and probably very sick to her stomach. As she gets older and stronger, she will be more resistant to the evil she eats, but she will never be completely free of internal discomfort. In addition, feeling evil around herself would make Tahirah at best uneasy, at worst extremely nauseous.
Iron Stomach: Souls are supernatural. Anything else that Tahirah can eat is certainly not. She can handle the souls of the dead with little trouble unless they are evil; anything else - and that means anything - is easy. She will definitely have discomfort and sickness if she eats something really strange, but even a particularly adventurous game of "Drink What's Under the Sink" would not be too likely to actually kill her.
Teeth and claws: Not really an amazing and mystical power, but they are still sharp, and worth pointing out.

Race/Species/Element Ammut the Devourer - a mixture of leopard, crocodile, and hippopotamus, which were, to the Ancient Egyptians, the three most fearsome creatures.

Personality from baby to adult:
Infant: As a baby, Tahirah is surprisingly quiet. She has no qualms about throwing horrendous fits when she is hungry, but the rest of the time, she simply observes the world with intense curiosity. Perhaps moreso than other infants, anything within Tahirah's reach goes straight into her mouth. There is that need to feel things with her lips, of course, but she also rather thoroughly enjoys eating whatever her guardian lets her. She may bite people with her already rather abundant teeth, but never with malice.

Toddler: Tahirah learns to walk at a relatively normal age, but otherwise seems a bit slow on the uptake. She displays a proper level of curiosity for a girl her age, but in her case, it might take touching the stove twice to learn not to do it again. She enjoys playing in dirt and mud as much as possible, and also other physical games; Tahirah seems to enjoy being read to, also, but probably more for the pictures than the story itself. Though she makes efforts to make friends where she can, this may be impeded by the fact that she does not learn to talk until very late in this stage. Fine motor skills are also a bit of a problem, and she will remain rather clumsy all her life.

Kid: Being subject to the criticisms of her peers on account of her appearance makes Tahirah somewhat quiet at this stage. Fortunately, she does not seem to mind being an outcast. Also, as she learns about her past, Tahirah realizes that she was important to holding the world together because there was exactly one task that only she could perform, and stability was maintained because she executed this tirelessly, diligently, and well. Living her second chance, she feels like she can either be good for something or good for nothing, and chooses the route of doing whatever she can to be useful. Tahirah does have some difficulty multitasking, though; she wholeheartedly applies herself to any single task, but will ignore any other work that may come up before she is finished. Still, as the one who actually asks for chores and errands, Tahirah definitely endears herself to her guardian, and though she still tries to make friends her own age, she is still quite clingy to her guardian. In what circles of friends she has at this point, it should be noted that Tahirah adamantly turns down any efforts to make her a leader figure; she is a follower and is quite content with that position.

Teen: Quite aware of her odd appearance and slowness at learning new things, Tahirah does hold a lot of insecurity, especially in her teenage years. Knowing that she was one of a kind in the past gives her some solace; at the same time it creates a conflict of what it is possible to do now - does she have the intelligence to develop into a well-rounded person, or will she only ever be a one-trick pony? This does not cause Tahirah to descend into a pit of angst by any means, though; uncertainty and insecurity are too confusing for her to want to deal with in any way but through more work! Her peers see her as slow but optimistic and hard-working, possibly causing some to think of her as a teacher's pet. Though she considers herself unattractive, Tahirah still secretly wants to date, but the fact that she has the social subtlety of a brick through a window puts a bit of a gulf between her and any potential crushes. Still, she likely needs to find more personal strength than the satisfaction she gets in being praised for her work, or else she may not have the fortitude of heart to make it to her youth.

Youth: If she makes it this far, it more than likely means that Tahirah has found within herself the ability to stand out. She knows she is not known only for the finished work she leaves behind, but also for the great care and dedication she shows to it in the process. Tahirah is, however, especially prone to working herself too hard, the effects manifesting in the form of physical illness. And finally, knowing now that she is not just any hard worker but the Devourer reborn, Tahirah is now prone to pride; those people who give her uneasy feelings with their ill intent are now lucky if they earn even a glance from her, and she would staunchly refuse to work for any of them.

Adult: Totally comfortable in her skin, Tahirah might only expect to be shunned on basis of her arrogance. She does not work for anyone she deems undeserving, and considers it an honor to the people for whom she does work. At some point, she would realize that this is not a good way to take her life, either, however, and, with any luck, finally settle into a middle-of-the-road stance in terms of how she relates herself to others. She is still prone to getting too set on one single task, but by now she hopefully has the self-control to know when to stop working.

Hair and eye colors Tahirah's hair is black and straight, and her eyes are a strong green with slit pupils, like a crocodile.

Physical description From Wand-Adult
Wand: Tahirah's wand is a plain animal femur, about eight inches long, worn and bleached to smoothness by desert sand and sun. There is also a well-worn wooden charm of the Feather of Ma'at that dangles from a rawhide cord tied to one end of the bone. Otherwise it is fairly unremarkable.

Wisp/Ghost: The hazy ghostling of Tahirah is a constantly swirling mixture of gray, green, and golden brown that generally just looks like well-trodden mud. She will produce at this stage a wide variety of growls and grunts that will make her guardian doubt that this thing will ever turn into a human-looking baby.

Infant: Tahirah comes into her second life as one ugly infant. Her skin is a fairly normal tone for an Egyptian, but her chest, neck, and arms are covered in little black leopard spots. Her feet look like round hippo feet, and her toenails are thick and black. Greenish scaly ridges form her eyebrows, giving her a sort of perpetual scowl, which looks more than a little strange with her baby grin full of tiny little pointed teeth. She has perhaps the first few wisps of black hair, but no more beyond that.

Toddler: Aside from being larger and better proportioned for walking, Tahirah still has round and slightly clumsy hippo feet. Her ebony hair seems to grow in slowly, resulting in her only having a sort of boyish mop reminiscent of the Beatles' on top of her head. In addition to her arsenal of teeth, her fingernails start to turn sharper and more like claws. Her leopard-spotted section remains furless, but turns more of a leopardly shade of golden brown. Since shoes appear rather impossible for the girl, she goes barefoot; otherwise, she wears a sleeveless but plain sun dress, allowing her to be decently clothed but still free enough to interact with her favorite elements – sun and mud.

Kid: Likely getting stamped as weird and ugly by her peers at this stage, Tahirah takes to wearing a cloth hood, and shirts with sleeves and long, baggy pants, all in order to hide her appearance as much as possible. She prefers plainly-patterned or solid colors, but takes what she can get since it all inevitably ends up dirty anyway. She also retains a good amount of her baby fat, and has likely added more with her diet of everything she can get her hands on. Her claws are sharper, and often have dirt around them from digging and playing, and her hair has reached about the level of her chin.

Teen: The chub of her younger days has at least partially decided to turn into womanly features, making Tahirah quite curvy. She keeps her hair at about the same length as a child, or perhaps a bit longer in order to tie it back in a short ponytail. She is still a bit afraid of showing off her body in any way, though, and probably decides to keep the long sleeves and long pants or skirts. Under the clothes, though, her torso and arms have gotten golden-yellow in color, making the leopard spots more prominent.

Youth: As through the rest of her life, she does not do anything with her hair but put it in a messy ponytail every day, since that is the best way to keep her hair out of her face. She would keep it no longer than about shoulder-length. Clothing style would depend a lot on where she is exactly personality-wise at this point in her life. She may, at least for formal dress, decide to wear a white linen dress and a wide collar in order to look like the human figures on Egyptian tombs and papyrus scrolls.

Adult: As a full adult, Tahirah probably still dresses for ease of movement and not for appearance. For at least a while, she may want to show off at least a little bit of her skin, particularly her black-spotted golden arms. Tahirah may decide to finally let her hair grow out, but that, and other clothing specifics, would depend on her life up until that point.

Distinctive Marks: Leopard spots down her arms and over her chest and back, down to about her waist all the way around. Greyish wrinkled skin from her knees down, with her legs terminating in stumpy, round hippo feet with thick black nails. Bumpy, slightly scaled ridges that run from her brows down the sides of her face and neck, and then down her back all the way to the base of her spine. Deep grey-green scales around her eyes.

General likes and dislikes: Tahirah likes eating, no questions asked. She also enjoys running errands for people, and the resulting praise for doing what she hopes is a good job. Those from whom she gets a feeling of evil or ill-intent really rub her the wrong way, and she will avoid having to actually deal with them at all costs. Tahirah also dislikes being cold, because it makes her feel somewhat lethargic. Running is not among her favorite activities, because her big feet make it somewhat hard for her to do.

Hobbies: If being a connoisseur of fine food and drink can be extended somewhat to include devouring anything placed in front of her with reckless abandon and great enjoyment, then Tahirah's hobby is most definitely food tasting. She may decide to learn how to cook for herself at some point, too.

The Guardian

Aurrek was born the second child of about 800, a son of a time god and his rather prolific sand-goddess wife. He was assigned to duty as the God of Hourglasses for the rest of his immortal days. As a young god, Aurrek was deeply pleased with this, and set off to establish himself up in the north, near a small village known for its hourglass makers. He happily became their patron god.

The village he watched over since fell to ruin after a particularly difficult winter, punctuated by a run-in with a demon and a rather fierce bandit raid. Aurrek felt his powers leave him as the people who had believed in him died, leaving him behind with only the demon, whom he had sealed into the body of a crab, for companionship. After trying his own hand at rebuilding the village and ultimately finding no one to move into it, Aurrek gave up and wandered off, eventually arriving in Gaia.

Name: Aurrek Gravelord
Age: Older than he cared to keep track of. At least 2000
Profession: Former God of Hourglasses. Currently unemployed
Personality: Aurrek is an extremely cautious person, to the extent that he may sometimes come across as paranoid. In spite of his unusual durability, Aurrek also rather fears taking physical risks; he can still die of wounds just like any other human, even if they may be a bit harder to inflict. As a result of this Aurrek is hardly a man of action. He is a superb planner, moreso than he is likely to give himself credit for, but when it comes down to the punch, the god is much more likely to sit and second-guess himself than go and take any real action.

At first meeting, Aurrek generally comes across as jumpy and perhaps a bit high-strung, and also somewhat pessimistic. Having lost the village over which he was patron god, he has learned to expect the worst. He will rarely, if ever, mention his previous occupation as a god in conversation, and if it comes up, he will do his level best to change the subject.

A large white crab about the size of a dinner plate follows Aurrek where ever he goes, generally riding on his clothing. Aurrek calls the crab "Nordri", but will also usually refuse to talk about the crab's origins as well.

Aurrek suffers from accute ennui now that he is no longer a god with any real power. He looks out grimly on an eternal future no longer filled with the humans who worshipped him, but rather a bleak uncertainty that unsettles him deeply. He came to Gaia to try to find another job; he is likely to get upset with things changing too quickly, though, since he much prefers to settle into a regular, preferably eternal, schedule.

The deity is more social than he lets on, though. While he may seem jumpy at first, Aurrek rather enjoys the company of others, and secretly finds mortals quite interesting. He does not demand worship from them, but he can sometimes be bossy, or get frustrated with people who are not acting in a way that he is used to. He is definitely not above joining mortals in their fun, though, since any stimulation gives him something to do, and keeps his mind off of his uncertain future.

Appearance: As the Hourglass deity, Aurrek does not actually have any control over the flow of time. He is a god of glass and sand, and a patron of the craftsmen who produce hourglasses. As such, his skin is nearly white and slightly translucent, is cool to the touch, and has the texture of polished quartz. Aurrek is of unremarkable height, and healthy, but not particularly slender or muscular, build. If someone were to try to pick him up, though, he or she would quickly find that he weighs a lot more than he appears to, as though he is made of stone. His hair is about chin length, or it might be if it had been cut by a professional instead of Aurrek himself - it hangs down in his face more often than not, and the ends all around are quite uneven. His left eye is a silver-grey color, but the right one is bright orange; if anyone asks him why they do not match, Aurrek does his level best to change the subject.
Clothes: Aurrek originally hails from a cold northland village, and therefore wears long navy blue velvet robes that look quite warm for anywhere with an average temperature above freezing. The robes are trimmed with fur at the bottom hem and sleeves, as well as around the neck. He wears a long silver-colored sash wrapped three times around his waist; one end trails down behind Aurrek, and the other hangs in front of him with an hourglass in a frame tied to the end. Though his robes are long enough to generally keep his feet hidden, Aurrek also wears a pair of short white boots with slightly pointed toes.

Powers and Abilities: Aurrek appears to be made out of stone, being white and slightly translucent. He is not actually stone, though, in every physical sense. Blunt force does not cause damage, except maybe to whatever is hitting him. He can still be cut or pierced by blades, though, just as easily as any human. He weighs as much as a piece of quartz his size would, and therefore sinks quite literally like a rock in water; swimming is completely out of the question.

The houglass god can also control particles of sand, directing them around with his thoughts. He could, in theory, make himself a perfect defense like Gaara from Naruto, but it would be necessary for him to carry the sand around with him all the time, and Aurrek is too lazy for that. Also, since he controls it himself, the sand is only as quick as Aurrek's reflexes.

Finally, Aurrek has infravision in his right eye only. This is both a blessing and a curse - he can see living things and other heat-emitting objects perfectly in any light or lack thereof, but strong heat sources blind him in that eye just as effectively as a lightbulb.

Full History is something I plan on writing for NaNoWriMo ninja

I knew there was something I'd been forgetting to do whee ;;;

*ittybitty threadpoke?*