Honor: Ascetic Name: Ayls Larawn Age: 30 Gender: Female Race: Hylian Place of Origin: Refugee of the Western Caves PWC: 1/2/2 Treasures: N/A Height: Five feet, four inches Weight: 108 pounds Equipment: Ayls’ only notable equipment includes a simple antler-handle belt knife she uses for mundane utilities, finding it unsuitable for anything else, and a small lantern for maneuvering the Western Caves, like most residents. All other belongings she keeps in her apartment in the caverns, or in her bar and its storeroom. Appearance: Ayls is a mildly attractive woman just entering her middle-age years. She keeps in shape, maintaining a lean, strong build that shows slight hints of muscle. Fifteen years of living within the Western Caves’ settlement has left her complexion pale from the lack of sunlight, and she laments that the rougher living conditions mean that her skin is no longer as soft as it should be. She wears her long, brown hair halfway down her back, and held together into a simple ponytail draped over her right shoulder, framing a face with high cheekbones with blue-violet eyes and a frequent smile, though her smile sometimes appears forced. Like most common women, she keeps her nails trimmed short and unpainted. Ayls’ usual outfit is much like the ones worn by the rest of the women residing in the Western Caves: A simple, short-sleeved blouse and a long skirt worn over her underclothes, tough leather boots, and on occasion a patterned apron worn over the skirt. She also wears simple metal earrings on both ears, and has a single gemmed ring on her left hand. Personality: Ayls is very much a typical resident of the Western Caves, someone who had suffered through the tragedy of Kakariko’s destruction and come out changed from it. She tends to be passive when dealing with other people, choosing to go with the flow of others and not stand out to cause a conflict of any sort, either giving people space they need to figure things out for themselves, or simply letting them wear themselves down as she steps back. This behavior evolved from a coping mechanism in dealing with the loss of her family during the war and with the resulting stress that came from the new life of being a refugee. Nevertheless, she tries to persevere, attempting to make something of her life, occasionally displaying a generous streak by letting the younger cavern-dwellers work for a meager wage in her bar when there’s little else to do, or letting her companion stay with her when he has nowhere else to go. She is often having to put up with gossip due to her irregular relationship, and often puts up a smile, feigning content when by all rights she shouldn’t have to. When on her own, she tends to worry, a habit picked up since shortly before her life began, as uncertainty crept into Kakariko’s future. In such moments in her lonesome, her mind may drive her in circles, turning her into a nervous wreck until she’s able to confirm whether or not everything is okay. She occasionally escapes such worry by seeking the pleasure of her companion's company, an act she occasionally feels guilty for, giving the complicated and unresolved nature of her relationship with Rua. Yet more often than not, he is not present, leaving her feeling trapped by the habit. Oftentimes her worry proves to be needless, and she'll let herself feel relieved momentarily before berating herself in private for again worrying needlessly. This, compounded with her own guilt, often makes it difficult for Ayls to respect herself as a person. Residence: Ayls lives in an modest apartment in the Western Caves, near the bar she works at, which she occasionally shares with Rua Dragonheart. Pet: Ayls does not have a pet, being unable to afford to care for one. Backstory: Ayls was born in Kakariko village to the owner of a tavern and his seamstress wife in the heart of a mild winter. Like many couples the two had to face various hardships as time passed in the village after their daughter’s birth. Ayls’ parents worked vastly different jobs, and as a young child, it became common for her to only really see one of them at a time in their household. Her father worked long hours at night at Kakariko village’s tavern, often not getting home until well past midnight, and her mother worked her shifts during the day while Ayls was attending school. Her father would spend his waking hours before his job with Ayls after she came home, and as such she grew to be a bit of a daddy’s girl, though her family was fully present for supper before he’d leave for the taverns. It was by no means a perfect situation for the family, as it would often put a strain between the girl’s parents during harder times over the years, though her mother often refused to confront her husband over the gap between the family. Like most children, Ayls attended the local school until she reached the game of ten years old. Over these years, she’d made friends with many of the other girls in the town, as well as the occasional boy. More often than not, Ayls spent her free time with a select group of girls who often would play down by a relatively close-by creek, often splashing or chasing or gossiping with one another. When she came of age, she began helping her parents in both businesses they ran—her mother began teaching her how to sew clothing and blankets, trying to instill within her a greater sense of creativity with middling success. Ayls saw how her mother dealt with many of her more fussy customers—or rather, how she would merely go with their demands to not cause a commotion or lose customers. It was a gentle trade, she saw, and that her mother’s passive approach was the simplest approach, letting them fuss over a skirt or something while she sat back and let them run their circuit. It was, however, a chore that she found to be rather boring and frustrating. Her times with her father proved somewhat more interesting to the girl. Whereas her mother was rather upstrung by her home life and the difference in hours they had to work, Ayls’ father was more relaxed during his time behind the bar. When she wasn’t busy bussing tables for the men on hectic nights, she could see the man washing away at cups, half-listening to the bellyaching of the drunker men slouched over the bar. The evenings could prove tumultuous and hectic for the girl, but she never saw her father have any real difficulties beyond its late hours. As she grew older, she would come to realize that his real troubles stemmed from the strain on his marriage, but as a young girl, she marveled at his “easy” life. Ayls dealt with the problems life threw at her as they came—entering the cusp of her womanhood and the pains and joys that came with it. She began to notice the opposite sex, taking note of her desires and her fancies. Her father guarded her fiercely as she retained her job as an assistant in his tavern, warding off the boys that soon took notice of her. She came to wonder about the lands of Hyrule, outside of the boundaries of Kakariko, a fantasy shared by many of her female friends, and not a small number of her newer male friends, and took a liking to strolling through the hills and valleys around Kakariko with the occasional friend or date. But the world is not a kind place, as she would come to learn. Only a few months past her fourteenth birthday, on one of her trips outside of the town she was assaulted by a roving band of thought-to-be masterless moblins, who managed to capture the girl while her friends raced back to town in utter fear. The girl was bound and gagged, taken with them for the Goddesses knew what. Her hometown was quick to respond, with numerous fit men racing to intercept. They were quick to find her and attack her captors, and as the battle raged before her, a local boy who’d tagged along to help, one Rua Dragonheart, snuck around the beasts and freed her from her bondage. As the two attempted to escape they were attacked, and Rua took a wound in the resulting fight but still managed to slay his foe and get her to safety. His actions had a profound effect on the growing girl, and when returned to town, she kissed him as a reward, much to their parents’ chagrin. She took a liking to the lad, and in the coming weeks and months, the two danced around the possibility of a relationship. Something formed in the heat of the moment was perhaps not the most ideal start of a relationship, but such was the nature of growing up. They wandered and shared discreet kisses at times but both were unsure where it’d take them. But the world is still not a kind place. Within the year, war had reached lower Hyrule as Ganon’s armies arrived from the south. Having proved himself a warrior, Rua chose to partake in the coming defense of their hometown, and Ayls worried—about him, about her parents, about the future as the horde drew close. As the war reached their gates, Ayls helped with the evacuation, but chaos erupted when a Darknut lead the forces into the heart of the town and began slaughtering its inhabitants. Both Rua and Ayls’ parents were among the casualties, and with nothing but her memories to her name, Ayls and the rest of the survivors fled into the hills. Scattered to the winds, Ganon lead his forces north, to Death Mountain. Ayls had lost nearly everything in her life. Kakariko taken, her earthly belongings abandoned. Her friends dead, her parents’ corpses likely dragged off for food for the moblins. Rua was one of the few survivors from her past life, and he had been left broken and bitter by the attack, his only other family member unaccounted for. During the day she tended to his wounds and helped the others as they regrouped, and spent her nights crying herself to sleep. Over the next few years she lived in fear as the regrouping survivors did their best to make a refuge from the sporadic bands of monsters that now ruled Hyrule. Fights between embittered and strained people were frequent, causing the girl to rely on her parents’ behavior to avoid conflict. Within time, the girl reached a breaking point—wanting to escape from the pain and the fear of their new life and desperate to invoke some kind of emotion from her withdrawn friend, Ayls gave herself to Rua, sparking an unhealthy relationship between the two. While her actions were appreciated, it seemed to do little to assuage the boy’s pain, and it was little more than an escape for her, a way of blocking out everything else and allowing her to forget the hardship and the pain. She savored the times where she was permitted the indecent pleasure and pushed away the guilt at using the lad as she did, and their relationship persisted as they entered adulthood and their life in the Western Caves began to stabilize into routine. Within the years, she relied on what her parents had taught her, using her seamstress skills to care for herself, and making coin by opening the only bar within the caverns, using the experience she gleaned from her father to make alcohol—in these trying times, there were always enough customers. People spoke of the woman’s relationship with Rua—in the years since Kakariko’s destruction, his personality had hardened into that of a bitter mercenary. He would disappear for long stretches of time, with little hint on when—or even if—he’d return, often becoming the core of her worry. Their relationship remained mostly of physical comfort, and many whispered behind her back of the seeming lack of love between them, and how she was unwed and likely to remain that way. Ayls put up with it to the best of her ability, letting them talk, yet privately felt the pains of old guilt. The man gave away his guaranteed lodgings in the caverns, but he would return despite the distance of time. She kept her doors open to him, welcoming his return despite the neglect she surely suffered without him around, as few, if any, knew of how his returns calmed her troubled heart. The people continued to speak, wondering why she put it up with it—a question that she herself has also wondered, but she no longer knew how to demand it of him.
Re: Ayls Larawn [HH] I like this character sheet a lot, and it leaves me very interested for more. The quality of your writing really shows through in the History section, and despite the time it took you, I feel the content well represents your work. However! Being that this is a Hylian Honor character, specifically going for Ascetic, I do find one area of this sheet that could use some love. I feel like the amount of depth in the History section is not fully re-conveyed over to the Personality section; while that section is fine as it stands, I feel it can be made better and, consequently, Ascetic quality. As it stands, the Personality sections covers two major character traits that do, indeed, summarize much of the character. These are 1) Her passivity and 2) Her perseverance. So I'm going to go through the history, mostly, and ask some questions that may link to these more... in depth, or perhaps add another facet to her personality. Ayls picks up her passivity largely from her mother who, while stressed, very often deferred. You mention later that Ayls worried a lot in her younger years, so I'm forced to ask, does this continue? Does she still find herself concerned, or has the passivity finally enveloped her into apathy? If she cares, what does she wish for, that it might be different? I'm looking for more insight into what drives her, in a sense. Her passivity is a result of her mother's genetics and her own need to cope, but what's behind that face? The next bits are more theoretical, and it's possible you've intended some of them to be answered in what you've already given. The goal is less to be able to find the answer to each question in the sheet when we're done and more just to get the character fully linked together in full circle. When Rua rescued Ayls, you say it had a profound effect on her, but you never really specify. More important than that, though, what are the effects of it at the present day? Does it still carry weight, and that's why she finds him tolerable, or has it fallen off in value for her? Has that impact been reshaped into something else? You mention that when the pain and the struggle became paramount, the two started sleeping together to try and mend the pain. You point out that it didn't do much for Rua, but has it for Ayls? Does she still cry herself to sleep at night? Was she trying to replace her father, as a guarding man in her life, with Rua, but has found it unsubstantial in comparison? Does she regret the decision? Does she hold any of it against Rua? Again, I'm just trying to get a deeper level of understanding over the impact of these actions, since they seem very important to her. IF all of this links back and lies under that blanket trait of passivity, that's completely fine, but then I want to see more of those inner-workings, like I mentioned before. I understand this is the flaw inherent in Ayls, but simply stated as it is, it functions more like a Devoted level and not Ascetic. I need you to really show me the damage this attribute can have on herself and the people around her; what's the price of her inaction? Being a doormat isn't a good thing, but it's not necessarily a bad thing, considering our society is full of people who value not rocking the boat and just getting along with each other. So show me, I suppose. You've got a lot of tools beautifully written into your History, but I want to see them put to work further. I've written you a lot, but don't be overwhelmed. Like I said, it's not about answering every point and more just about rolling with the train of thought.
Re: Ayls Larawn [HH] Did my best to expand on the personality as brought up in the history. Also edited the history around to expand on that personality and aspects of her relationships, such as what she gains out of the illicit physical relationship with Rua. Hopefully it's what you were looking for.
Re: Ayls Larawn [HH] This is definitely a much fuller character sheet thanks to your edits, I appreciate the time you put into them. This absolutely passes as Ascetic quality and will be moved and recorded as is appropriate.
