 Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 9:27 pm
The Hedge Witch
Name: Theresa Blumenthal
Nicknames: Terry, Resa
Sex: Female
Age: 22
Occupation: Housemaid
Homeland: Sunderland
Residence: Western Palisade
Appearance
Unassuming and generally unremarkable in appearance, Terry prides herself on being able to blend in with a crowd, and most importantly, her workplace. She is a short woman, standing at around 5'1", with a slight frame to match. A life spent doing various chores has left her with relatively good upper arm strength, and though her hands are rough and calloused she is very nimble with her fingers. Her hair is long and light blonde in color, usually tied up in a bun or done up beneath a bonnet to keep it out of the way, for convenience's sake. She spends her days in simple, frumpy dresses, and is almost always seen with an apron. Leisure time sees her in slightly nicer gowns, though she has never really had the means to dress fancily.
Terry's only odd quality are her heterochromatic eyes (baby blue on the left, brown on the right). This is sometimes a source of embarrassment for her, as she has received her fair share of teasing throughout the years. She tries to hide it most of the time, usually by wearing her hair differently.
Personality
[+]
[-]
long-suffering, scatterbrained, paranoid
Miscellaneous
History
Born to Roslyn and Charles Blumenthal, Theresa (commonly referred to by her childhood nickname, 'Terry') was raised in a small village located a ways outside of Oldcastle. Being of the working class, both of her parents toiled hard to make a modest income, and were wed more for practicality than love. Charles was a tradesman, a cobbler by profession, and operated a small shop from their home in town, from which he offered his services, repairing and creating all manner of footwear. Roslyn worked alongside him, offering her abilities as a seamstress, and her skills as a hedge witch on the side. She was a popular person to visit when anyone happened to fall ill, and offered an assortment of other skills, notably ones dealing with fortune telling and future-sight. Her husband's jealously and occasional drunkenness, however, often saw her downplaying her abilities, in order to avoid his ire. Towards the end of their marriage, she grew to resent him quite fervently up until his unexpected death.
Charles passed away from sickness when Terry was very young. She has almost no memory of him, and was not terribly affected by his death. Roslyn was liberated by his passing, though she carefully concealed her sentiments and pressed on in order to take care of herself and her young daughter. She inherited their home and shop, and converted it into her own workplace. With her husband gone, she was free to practice her hedge magic freely, and became a locally well-known figure in the village over the following years. Roslyn was well versed in the Old Ways. She knew the properties of many herbs and plants, but her powers did not lay in the realm of healing so much as they did in divination. She could perform sortilege and haruspicy (specifically, ooscopy), using eggs from her own rook to ask questions of the Spirits. Roslyn passed as much of her knowledge to her daughter as she possibly could.
Terry's relationship with her mother during her childhood years was close and loving; she was more than happy to play assistant in her mother's work, becoming a sorcerer's apprentice of sorts as she grew up. The village in which she was raised was a quiet, peaceful place, though she was sometimes teased for her oddly colored eyes, or the unusual knowledge she always seemed to have. She did not let this stop her from making a handful of close friends within the village. It was a lot of hard work to take in all of the knowledge her mother had to offer, and neither were sure that she had inherited Roslyn's hedge magic until Terry met her familiar some time after turning sixteen. Nothing more than a young, gangly white rook that she rescued from the edge of the Wardwood, his glowing blue eyes were enough to solve the mystery. Roslyn was elated to find that her daughter shared her magic. Though her teenage years were a bit rocky, the two stuck together, continuing to work and make a way for themselves, for better or for worse.
By the time Terry had entered her late teens, her mother's talents had begun to attract 'clients' outside of town. While this was interesting for Roslyn, who was delighted to interact with newcomers from outside their insular community, it set her daughter on edge. How could she help but worry, when complete strangers began to show up at their door, requesting glimpses into their futures? Some seemed more shady than others, but those hungry enough to seek the information brought compensation along with them, and so Terry silenced herself in order to preserve her mother's success. It was only until a more troubling incident occurred that Terry finally decided to speak up against the increased (and in her eyes, unwanted) attention they were receiving.
While her mother was out one day, a particularly nosy and forceful customer appeared, demanding to be catered to. Put off by his aggressive demands, Terry quickly sent him away, and though nothing came of the interaction, she was still shook up by it. After confronting her mother, the conversation turned into a disagreement which eventually erupted into a full-blown argument; Terry did not want to be harassed over her hedge magic, no matter the pay, which her mother deemed foolish. Why not use the skills they had to better their lives? To make matters worse, Terry had begun to receive visions, small glimpses of her own, some of which were scarier than others. Panicked, and at odds with her mother, Terry made the rash decision to run away from home.
It was a rather drastic choice in the end, one driven by naïveté and fear for her future. Terry fled from the village the night after the argument with her mother. With her familiar on her shoulder and a pack of meager belongings, she made her way to Palisade, resolving to experience a change of pace and scenery before making a decision on whether or not to return. What would a life without practicing hedge magic be like? Would she even be able to banish it from her thoughts? She had more than a few domestic skills at her disposal, and was quickly hired as a housemaid at an inn, falling into a routine alongside the other men and women working there.
Currently
Terry works and resides at the Fox and Hounds Inn, doing various domestic tasks such as mending and cooking preparation. So far, she has managed to mask the fact that she is a hedge witch (more or less), and appreciates the 'normal' way of life that the new work has to offer.
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