[Q] Jupiter the Catnip Dingo (Crits!)

[Faewynd]

Here shall be my quest for Jupiter, a combination of Catnip and a Dingo.

 

[Faewynd]

USER

Name: Henrietta Villagren

Age: 33

Magic Affinity: Stone manipulation - For Henri, stone is like clay. She can shape and manipulate it in a variety of ways; from taking a small rock and effortlessly creating an arrowhead or a knife or a little sculpture of your pet goldfish to creating doorways or little caves to take shelter in when it's raining. There is not a kinetic element to her magic - she can, for example, create a stone arrowhead but she cannot kinetically send it flying at you. When she manipulates stone the standard elements of physics apply - if she is carving out a cave all that extra rock has to go somewhere - usually in the form of odd, unnatural looking protrusions and formations that are Henri's version of an artistic flourish.

Appearance: Henrietta is tallish at 5'10" and built lean and muscular, like a runner. It's clear from looking at her that she is an active individual. It's also clear that she's not the sort who does a lot of primping. Her hair, which she cut short with a knife because too much length equaled too much effort, is a curly jet-black mess. Her skin is dark from being outside most of the time, but luckily she's a natural tanner. She wears clothes that move easily and breathe well, comfort and practicality are her primary concerns. Fashion is not really an issue, much to the dismay of some of her more couture friends. She's not completely without vanity, in the sense that she wears a few pieces of jewelry that won't get into her way too much. But each piece was given to her, and holds a specific meaning to her. She usually dresses in blue to show her pride in being a scout. Her mouth is full and usually smiling, and her eyes are an unusually vivid green, possibly extra-bright due to the fact that she is a magic-user.

Personality:

Restless and Impatient - Henri has difficulty sitting still or staying in one place. She likes to be moving, preferably across country on a grand adventure, but if that's not an option she will pace or jiggle her leg or constantly be fiddling with one thing or another. This physical restlessness translates into a rather impatient personality type. Henri likes to be on the go and doesn't have a lot of time to spare for those who are less active or like to stay in one place. She likes it when people can keep up with her and isn't one to coddle others. She spends as much time as possible "roughing" it, living off the land without feather beds and hot water, and she doesn't see why this sort of lifestyle seems to be difficult or distasteful for many. This creates a sort of "suck it up" mentality, and Henri can come across as quite abrupt or even harsh.

Stubborn - Like the stone she is so good at manipulating, Henrietta has a hard head. Her stubborn nature creates both positives and negatives in her life. When she is given a task or an assignment, she pursues it until it is complete, wherever the journey may take her. However this single-mindedness brings with it a lack of flexibility. Once Henri has made up her mind about someone or something, that opinion is extremely unlikely to change. She usually reserves judgement until she has had the opportunity to get to know someone and usually doesn't base her opinions off of first-impressions but if she decides she doesn't like you, or if you've mortally offended her then that's it. The end. If she decides she admires you and chooses to stand by you as a friend, then once again that is almost always the final word and no matter what terrible things you may do, she will have your back.

Enthusiastic - Henri loves her job. She loves scouting - exploration and discovery are her bread and butter. And she is not afraid to tell you so. At length. With diagrams. And a field trip. When she is passionate about something, she is wildly passionate and not ashamed to show her eagerness. She wears her heart on her sleeve and appreciates it when others are enthusiastic about things as well - though she probably won't sit still long enough to listen to you wax poetic about the new strain of purple sunflower you've developed.

Self-centered - Henri is one of those people who thinks mainly of herself, though there is room in this sphere for Jupiter. It's not a malicious or even a narcissistic sort of self-centeredness, it's merely the fact that she forgets that other people have needs or opinions. If you sit her down and explain to her very slowly that interrupting you all the time is upsetting, she will genuinely do her best not to interrupt you. Her best might not last longer than five minutes, but she will try. Her intentions are good, but she's so wrapped up in her own life that it's hard for her to break free.

History: Henri was born and raised, for the early part of her childhood, in the home tree of the Homunculi. Both of her parents as well as her two older siblings had great skill in botany, although none of them exhibited any signs of magical talent. The family made their living hybridizing plants, particularly fruit trees. Henri was the black thumb of the family - everything that she touched seemed to die. The only plants she ever managed to keep alive herself were those that other people considered weeds. In part, this was due to the fact that the little girl simply didn't have the patience needed for growing things. Henri never sat still long enough to weed or trim - she always seemed to disappear with her friends, cavorting among the roots of her home.

She discovered her magical leanings when she was seven, having shaped a rock into a crude little statue of a bird. Crowing with pride, she showed her skill off to her parents immediately. Seven, however, was deemed too young to send their precious baby (whose lack of skill with plants was now explained away by her obvious skill with stone) all the way to Mistwick for schooling. While Henri wailed and wailed over her parent's decision, it was three long years before they sent her off at the age of ten and even then, with misgivings.

The city was vaster than Henri could have ever imagined, full of opportunities to explore and cause mischief. At the same time, the high walls seemed to trap her within their confines and, despite the presence of some trees and fountains, the lack of organic matter was deeply disturbing for a child who had, up until this point in her life, lived tucked in nature's breast. The eventual discovery of the Dry Docks proved to be a godsend for Henri. The bright colors and exotic smells appealed to her wild nature and the presence of wood dwellings rather than stone eased her early homesickness. It wasn't long before she was spending every spare moment at the Docks, making fast friends with the residents there and grossly neglecting her studies.

Alas, Henrietta was a poor student and her parents would likely have been terribly ashamed had they been aware. She was interested in her magic studies, and excelled in the practical application portion of her education. But mathematics? Literature? Who had time to sit around and read musty old books when there were so many better things to do! She always seemed to forget her homework until the last minute and would turn in preposterous essays scribbled in illegible handwriting. It wasn't until she was fourteen and developed an intense adolescent crush on a much older man who turned out to be a scout that she realized what path she wanted her life to take. She wanted adventure! Exploration! Danger and risk and discovery. Her fascination with the man, whose name she can't even remember anymore, quickly morphed into a fascination with the career of a scout instead. Henri soon discovered that her educational slacking would throw a significant monkey wrench into things. She needed to be able to write legibly, to read well and to draw clear and accurate maps, among a bevy of other things. Finally, having a path to focus all her wild energy on, Henri's grades improved drastically. She had never been a stupid girl, merely bored and unmotivated. By the time she graduated at the age of 17 she was ready and eager to start her new life of adventure.

When Henri finished school she was apprenticed to a cartographer. It wasn't as much field experience as she wished, and she chafed at still spending most of her time within the city. She moved herself to the Docks where at least she would feel a little less stifled and learned the fine art of map-making with ill-grace. Finally, after what seemed forever to Henrietta, she passed her Assessment at 22 and was called home to the Life Tree to make her offering. Henrietta agonized over what to offer and finally settled on two relics of her childhood. The first was a sprig of catnip, one of the only plants she had ever managed to keep alive as a child. The second was the little stone bird, the first manifestation of her magic. When Jupiter finally crawled out of the pool, it had been love at first sight. The two began to wander - sometimes on a mission and sometimes just to see what sort of discoveries they might make on their own - and never looked back.  

[Faewynd]

GUARDIAN

Name: Jupiter

Magic Affinity: Cloud manipulation - Jupiter can summon and disperse clouds. Additionally he can cause them to rain, to thunder and lightning or to merely hover over someone's head all day (a favorite parlor trick of his). This is a limited form of weather manipulation - he can summon a storm, for example, but he can't direct the lightning that comes from it.

Essence/Animal: Catnip / Dingo

Appearance: 100% up to the artist.

Personality:

Tireless - While Jupiter is great at laying around and napping when there's nothing else to do, when duty or fun sing their siren song Jupiter will pursue them endlessly. He never seems to actually get physically tired, traveling miles and miles without the need to stop and rest.

Play-driven - Jupiter doesn't generally do things because he "has" to. He does things because he wants to. Because they're fun. He loves rambling around with Henri sticking his nose into all sorts of places and therefore is very good at it. Make something sound like a party and Jupiter is there, a ball of tail-wagging enthusiasm. Ask him to do something that he doesn't think sounds like fun or that he doesn't want to do and his tail will droop and he will make excuses until he either gets out of the distasteful detail or until he is shamed into obedience. His love of play often shows itself in harmless pranks, his favorite being setting a tiny raincloud to follow a person around all day, hovering over their heads as if to warn people off. This means it can sometimes be hard to get him to take things as seriously as they should be, which in the past has resulted in some minor disasters and missed deadlines.

Social - Jupiter hates to be alone, it frightens him which results in a black, sulky mood. As long as there is someone nearby he is content. He enjoys social settings in general and likes people. He is open and friendly and tends to be quite easy to get along with, making him rather more popular than his brusque User and often finds himself smoothing over the hurt feelings or bruised egos she can leave in her wake. He rarely leaves Henri's side - he seems to have been born with a pack mentality and Henri is his packmate as well as his best friend.

Inquisitive - Jupiter likes to stick his nose into things. Whether they are conversations he has no right involving himself in or caves where danger may lurk, he is consumed with a need to find things out. This means that he possesses more scholarly tendencies than his User, who is mainly in it for the adventure. He likes to know the purpose and history behind their missions and in his downtime he enjoys reading histories and magic texts. He has a great deal of curiosity regarding the world as it was, and his favorite explorations and missions involve those places that were lost in the war, but still harbor the secrets of the past.  

[Faewynd]

Gonna use this space to list changes and updates, so they're all in the same place.
-Crits are currently very welcome!-