Adelyn Traxis

Adelyn Traxis is a mage, mercenary, and member of the ‘Silver Griffons’ adventurer's company.

Appearance
Short, and a little chubby, Adelyn Traxis does not strike a terribly imposing figure. She most often wears a midnight blue robe of once fine quality, which has several spots that are obviously stitched over, from wear and tear. Beneath this robe Adelyn sports a lightweight breastplate made from obsidian, and a hooded tunic beneath it made of Darkened Samite with Highever Weave accents. She usually brings along a lightweight backpack as well, just in case she needs to lug something around. A pair of travelling boots rounds out the ensemble. Adelyn’s good side favors wearing the robe over everything, while her chaotic side prefers showing off the garments beneath it.

While those two variations are Adelyn’s favorites, she has been known to own several other casual outfits to wear when she isn’t travelling or doing something important. Most of them were thrown together with the notion of bringing out the color of her flaming red hair or her bright blue eyes. She favors tunics and blouses with a color of royal blue or deep purple, though she is rather impartial to pale green and ivory white as well. Adelyn owns a robe made of a soft material, dyed sky blue, that she wears around her lodging and to bed. The young woman always, without fail, has two small pouches on her belt, no matter what outfit she decides to wear. One of them she reserves exclusively for money, and the other is for small objects she feels she might need. This includes a little 1 inch long paring knife she keeps on her person always.

Armament

 * Misery: A short 10 inch dagger that Adelyn keeps strapped horizontally at the base of her spine, it’s hilt always pointed towards her right side. It was pilfered off of the corpse of her first kill. While it is only a blade of middling quality, the young girl has become attached to it, using it for every practical application she can come up with for it. Its name is carved into its hilt.
 * Chaos: A Disciple Lightning Staff with a Staff Blade upon its butt. It was given to Adelyn by her teacher in the Denerim Circle of Magi, and she had dutifully used it ever since. For problems too large for her dagger to solve, this is her go-to weapon. Its name is carved onto the staff.
 * Agony: A metal bracer worn on Adelyn’s left forearm. She’d looted a shield from a corpse after combat one day, and went to a blacksmith to have it folded into a forearm-sized plate. Then she strapped it to her arm and began using it to block sword strikes. She calls this vambrace “Agony” because it hurts to block strikes with it, since it isn’t a proper shield.

Abilities

 * Spirit Blade: A necessary skill for a Knight-Enchanter, Adelyn learned this skill early in her training and perfected it through her years of combat.
 * Disruption Field: Adelyn charges an area of the battlefield with magical energy, slowing all foes who would enter that field. Usually she does this around the unfortunate souls she intends to kill first.
 * Guardian Spirit: Adelyn calls upon a spirit from the Fade to lend her it’s power, drawing up a quick barrier around herself when she is in mortal danger.
 * Chain Lightning: Having been given a Disciple Lighting Staff as her first staff, Adelyn trained heavily in lightning’s use as a weapon. Chain Lightning was one of the first things she truly mastered.
 * Energy Barrage: Furthering her training with her Disciple Lightning Staff, Adelyn trained to release large bursts of energy towards her foes, hitting them all individually and shocking them.
 * Static Cage: Adelyn imprisons her foes within a cage of pure lightning, paralyzing them when they try to leave. She learned this skill specifically for the capture of Apostates, but uses it liberally in combat regardless.

Skills

 * Acrobatics
 * Staff Fighting
 * Magic
 * Melee
 * Writing
 * Art
 * Gardening
 * Meditation

Biography
Born as the second child to a blacksmith and a tailor in Denerim, Adelyn Traxis grew up in a comfortably middle-class family. Alteran, her brother, was two years older than her, and from a young age he’d always exhibited strengths. He would protect Adelyn if any other kids tried to bully her, and take her to their mother afterwards. Marie Traxis would then soothe Adelyn’s hurt feelings, and give the child something to occupy herself with. That would take Adelyn’s mind off of other things and invariably cheer her up, as she liked helping her mother with things. Between Alteran and Marie, Adelyn could’ve had quite the nice experience growing up, and becoming an exceedingly kind person. However, her father changed that. Fred Traxis valued strength and toughness above all else. His wife was the only woman he’d met that would, and could reel him in when he was on a tirade. His son was growing to be a tough and strong young man, someone who would be indomitable. His daughter, however…. Frederick Traxis was disappointed with his daughter. It started as simple mistreatment, meant to give Adelyn a thicker skin, so to speak. Something gradual to toughen her up. It wasn’t until he realized that Adelyn wouldn’t get tougher that the real abuse started. Fred would not have a child that could be considered weak. Such a thing would go against his sole two values.

Adelyn, for her part, admired her father’s strength. He could hammer out swords and shields with no problem, fashion armor like it was child's play. He could knock a man out cold with a single punch. Adelyn couldn’t hope to be that strong. She knew her father hated seeing that weakness, but she never knew how to improve herself. When Fred pushed her to the brink, the child merely ran to her mother where she knew she’d find kindness. Adelyn found herself seeking her mother out more, and valuing Marie’s disposition towards others. It was here that the split in her personality began to form. On the one hand, Adelyn wanted to please her father and make him proud. On the other hand, she preferred to be quiet and kind to others, often timid but occasionally stern. From the age of six on upwards, Adelyn felt these emotions, and eventually she unconsciously formed two separate personalities that were polar opposites of one another.

Adelyn’s personality first flipped when she was eight, when her father accidentally drew blood in hitting her. He’d never done that before, and quite frankly he never intended to do so in his life, regardless of how he treated his daughter. However, with an open handed slap, one of Fred’s fingernails scratched Adelyn and a welt of blood rose up from it. The young girl reached up and felt the spot, then looked at her hand and saw the red wetness that covered her fingertips. Frederick would not apologize for his actions, but he was about to reach forward and wipe away the blood when Adelyn slapped his hand away, a grin upon her face. Fred did not understand where this change in temperament came from or how long it would last, but he didn’t really care for it anyways. His daughter had become tough, even if only for a moment. Now, it was time for her to grow strong.

But, try as she might, strength was not Adelyn’s strong suit. Within weeks of her father finally seeming like he accepted her, Adelyn was abandoned by him once more. She wanted, more than anything, to be strong so that her father could be proud of her. Thus, she tried to train herself often, and get stronger as fast as possible. Being her size and age, building muscle was hard for Adelyn, and frustration built inside her. It wasn’t until a full year later, at the age of nine, that it released itself: in the form of Magic. Marie was terrified, and Frederick immediately had his daughter taken out of his house and to the Denerim Circle of Magi, though not before roughly subduing her.

Alteran, being the protective older brother, went with her to the Circle and decided on that day that he’d be a Templar, to help keep Adelyn safe. And so, while Alteran toiled away at his training, Adelyn was first introduced to Magic. Firstly, she was introduced to the First Enchanter, Taliyah Argent. Adelyn was scared, having never met someone in a position of such power before. However, the First Enchanter proved to be a caring person, and Adelyn came to trust the older woman implicitly. The two of them wouldn’t see much of one another during Adelyn’s time in the Circle, but whenever they met Adelyn would always hold a short conversation with the First Enchanter and tell her of the progress made in lessons.

There was another, however, who took Adelyn in almost as an apprentice, and trained her to be a warrior. Marielle Rhoades, a knight-enchanter, took an interest in Adelyn almost immediately after seeing her aptitude for lightning magic. Marielle decided to show Adelyn what being a knight-enchanter was all about; the young girl was enthralled from day one by the concept. Not only did it seem cool in general, but the role of knight-enchanter fulfilled Adelyn’s aspirations of being strong. Perhaps not traditionally strong, but strong nonetheless. Making it her goal to achieve the rank of Knight-Enchanter, Adelyn focused entirely on her training from then on. She rarely spoke to anyone else, and when she did her voice was a timid, shy squeak that escaped her mouth. Her thoughts were entirely on how to improve herself, to make herself better.

The years flew by, and Adelyn kept pushing herself. Her brother came to visit occasionally, and observe in the Templar duties he’d be taking up. Later on, he began participating, doing his utmost to keep his sister safe. While the young woman appreciated the thought, she didn’t like the idea of getting help for this. She wanted to get strong entirely on her own, so that her father couldn’t possibly be disappointed in her when she saw him next. The two hadn’t seen one another in years, and the man never wrote. His wife, of course, wrote weekly to check on her children. She wrote very specifically to Alteran to make sure that the dichotomy that was his sister’s mind didn’t get the best of her. Alteran, for his part, didn’t really notice anything worth noting to his mother, in regards to Adelyn’s twin personalities. As blood magic was prohibited by the Circle of Magi, there were very few instances during which Adelyn saw blood while she practiced magic, thusly not prompting any unfortunate accidents. During physical training, however, Adelyn sometimes did see blood, and afterwards her training became very skewed. With a different mindset, she’d overcome obstacles that normally would be more than enough to slow her down.

Adelyn’s physical trainers had taken to calling her a “little terror”. She was tiny, timid, and shy most of the time, but all that belied a more sinister, chaotic side to her that, to them, was absolutely terrifying at times. Still, she excelled in her training, and at the age of sixteen she qualified to go out and fight along with the templars and everyone else. She didn’t participate in any major operations, on account of her age. Rather, Adelyn helped Templars to capture or kill apostate mages. Because of her conduct during these missions, Adelyn also garnered the title of “The Two-Faced Witch”. Most people beyond her trainers and family had never actually seen Adelyn’s personality flip. Thusly, when it did so in combat, many people were surprised, and naturally they began talking about it. Still, she was effective in combat, and assisted the Templar Order greatly in returning apostates to the Circle; or killing them for their refusal to do so. It should be noted that Adelyn gained a scar on the side of her neck from a rather difficult opponent that had caught her by surprise with a dagger. It was that very same dagger that she took from his corpse and used herself, to this day.

Eventually, though, Adelyn would want a degree of autonomy. She was lucky in that the Chantry was taking a new approach to using mages and templars; allowing them to join the Crusader’s Guild in an effort to support autonomous policing of regions and, quite frankly, to bring the would-be heroes of the realm together. Taking the opportunity, Adelyn signed up for the Crusader’s guild, aiming to use her abilities to help others, and strengthen herself even further. She still has yet to meet with her father again, but she wants to, and soon. She wants to show him how far she’s come, and prove to him that even she can be strong.

Friendships
Knight-Enchanter Marielle Rhoades - a Knight-Enchanter with the Denerim Circle of Magi, Marielle Rhoades took in Adelyn and was the one to give her her first (and only) staff. She helped guide Adelyn into the path of combat magic, and further down the winding way of the Knight-Enchanters. Marielle is one of Adelyn’s most trusted friends, and very nearly like a long lost aunt to her.

First Enchanter Taliyah Argent - the First Enchanter of the Fereldan Circle of Magi, she and Adelyn have met on several occasions. While they aren’t technically friends, Adelyn trusts Taliyah implicitly and values her wisdom. In fact, the young woman is quite enthralled by the First Enchanter, and she in kind is polite and nice to Adelyn.

Romance
N/A: Ha! Yeah, no, Adelyn never really pursued a relationship with anyone. She was always too shy, and even with her personality split, it’s still hard for her to really talk to anyone about her feelings for them.

Family
Mother: Adelyn’s mother, Marie Traxis is a kind woman who loves to help others. She can be snarky at times, and she’s very stern when she needs to be, but overall, she is an overwhelmingly kind person. Adelyn and Marie get along well; the younger loved her mother’s kindness, and the older simply loved her daughter. Because of the extreme disparity between the way Adelyn’s mother and father treated her, and the way she looked up to them both, she desired very much to be like each of them. Upon discovering Adelyn’s chaotic side, Marie was… taken aback at first. As per usual, she is always kind and caring towards that side of her daughter, but it truly does scare Marie.

Marie is a tailor in Denerim, working alongside her husband to provide customers with all manner of stylish and protective apparel.

Father: Adelyn’s father, Fred Traxis, is the polar opposite of his wife. Valuing strength over all else, he considers his daughter to be weak and loathes her for it. Alternatively, he showers his son with affection for being tough and resilient. Fred respects Marie, strangely enough, because she stood up to him in the past. In fact, she is the only person who can reel in her husband and make him behave. Adelyn wanted to become strong and please her father, and so she developed a desire to be like his image of strength: abusive. While Frederick was pleasantly surprised to discover Adelyn’s chaotic side, he still found her too weak to bother with. Upon learning of her magical ability as well, he came to downright hate Adelyn for what she was.

Frederick works as a blacksmith in Denerim alongside his wife, striving to provide all manner of stylish and protective apparel to all manner of adventurers.

Brother: Adelyn’s older brother, Alteran is a bit of an enigma towards his sister. On the one hand, he does not show the same amount of kindness towards her as their mother does. On the other hand, he is not so mean spirited towards Adelyn as their father is. Overall, he’s rather ambivalent towards her. Alteran does exhibit a bit of brotherly love and protectiveness for Adelyn, but asides from that, he can best be described as “polite” to his sister. He understands where the two sides of her personality come from, and deals with them both without complaint.

Alteran is a Templar Knight, and he works in the Denerim Circle of Magi, helping young mages find their way. He used to be Adelyn’s handler, and still checks up on her from time to time.

Allies
Denerim Circle of Magi: Adelyn found her way through the Denerim Circle of Magi, and operates as a knight-enchanter for them. She is on friendly terms with the Circle and has several friends among them.

Rivals
N/A: Adelyn didn’t really grow up having rivals. While her father abused her and she was looked down upon for being a mage, there is no one person or group of people that can be clearly labeled as a “rival” to her.

Personality
It can be said that Adelyn has “two faces”. That is, in today’s terms, she’s bipolar, or more accurately she has Multiple Personality Disorder. It was caused through trauma and the difference in teaching between her parents. Her mother was ever so kind, and always happy to help someone else. Her father was abusive, but Adelyn viewed him as a “strong” person, and strived to achieve the same strength. Thus, her personality split in two; one side mimicking her mother, and the other mimicking her father.

Adelyn’s “good” side is very demure, very kind. Similar to that of your typical lovable little sister, in a sense, her good side is very innocent. It likes calm, serene things, and cannot handle a lot of violence. It strives to help others at every turn, though it is generally reserved about those who want others to use violence to help them. Adelyn’s good side can be stern when need be, however this is a more rare occasion and does not happen very often. This side was directly created by Adelyn’s desire to be more like her mother, to help people and be kind. Even the sternness is in mimicry of her mother, who was never stern unless she absolutely needed to be.

On the other hand, Adelyn’s “chaotic” side is a lot more crazy. Having very skewed ideas about what strength is and how to achieve it, her chaotic side became sadistic and brutal. She becomes more abusive and rough both verbally and physically with others, and takes pleasure in more anarchic sights than serene ones. With this side, Adelyn enjoys wreaking havoc on enemy soldiers, and carving her way through enemy lines alongside her comrades. In the heat of battle, she can often be found wearing a sadistic smile upon her face as she surveys the battlefield. She sometimes loses herself in battle, and it usually takes several repeated orders from her Captain for her to realize that they’re changing their plan. This side of Adelyn was born from her father. He was extremely abusive to her for her abnormal abilities, and something she did in the past, but the young girl still admired her father for his strength and prowess. Thus, when this personality developed, it inherited Adelyn’s father’s abusiveness and abrupt chaos.

The catalyst from the switch between good and chaotic, is the sight of blood. That is what Adelyn most associated with her father’s “strength”, and thus what brings out the crazy side in her. Adelyn is somewhat aware of the change that takes place when she sees blood, and thus on occasions where she deems violence a necessary evil, she goes to lengths to catch a glimpse of some blood, even going so far as cutting the palm of her hand and watching some blood seep out.

The problem, therein, lies in getting from chaotic, back to good. Adelyn has no real trigger for this switch. Yawning seems to do the trick more often than not, but it is not always an instantaneous effect. Sometimes it takes minutes for the transition to take place, during which Adelyn is extremely drowsy. It should be noted that, the longer period of time Adelyn is in a chaotic mindset, the less her good side remembers about what she did in chaotic mindset. This is no coincidence; it is her good side’s way to cope with the fact that her chaotic side has killed people before, sometimes en masse, with something akin to glee.

Asides from her dual personality, it should be noted that Adelyn has rudimentary knowledge of blacksmithing and tailoring (by virtue of having parents in those professions), but has never attempted either profession and thusly has no skill in either.