wicked thistle.

PLAYER NAME: Sam
CONTACT: magickal
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GAME?: i'm in it!

CHARACTER: Wicked Thistle
CANON: d&d OC
CANON POINT: after finding her new adventuring group in Forest's Edge

BACKGROUND:

Thistle comes from a generic fantasy setting. A world full of magic and their effects on politics far and wide. Thistle herself comes from a town (Hilvale) that's been hounded by hags for an unknown amount of time. Hags that wound themselves into the very lives of all citizens, making it almost impossible for the locals to leave their daily lives with any kind of peace. At the opposite end, in a not so distant city (Rivagard), a dragon lady, worshipped as practically a goddess, takes care of her people and keeps them happy and whole. Lady Hildreth and the hags have been at odds since the dragon's very childhood, and many of the citizens of both towns have found themselves at the center of this silent war.

One such citizen is the young child, Thistle.

One half of a twinned pair, Bessy and Effy were young girls left at an orphanage in Hilvale as babies. The two girls lived very quiet lives in the orphanage, receiving minimal schooling and being raised to work as soon as they were able to leave the home. Life wasn't easy for the twins, but they had each other. And that was more than enough for the girls.

When the twins were eight years old, a woman of the local church of Selene asked the girls to help her bring her shopping back to the church. Raised to be polite and respectful, both girls thought nothing of following the woman back to church. Yet once they entered the church, they found it oddly empty and bare. Even covered in dust, as if it had never been lived in before. Before Effy or Bessy could leave, the wall of the church opened up and monsters pulled them deep into the catacombs beneath.

After that, neither girl had strong memories of what had occurred during their captivity until a tiefling, Wisp, appeared at the doors of their cell. Along with a group of fellow adventurers, Wisp made a deal with the hags in the catacomb promising to fulfill a request of theirs so long as Bessy and Effy were let free. The hags readily agreed to the deal, and Bessy and Effy were released along with Wisp and the adventurers. However, once freed, the adventurers were arrested for unrelated investigative purposes. Bessy and Effy were taken into custody, and when it was discovered they were wards of the city, the pair were sent back to the orphanage with promises from Wisp to come find them again.

At the orphanage, the pair were separated and sent far away from each other to foster homes in other cities. Bessy never learned where Effy was sent to, but Bessy ended up in a town so small it had no name with a family that worked her like a dog.

After the event with the hags, Bessy grew to be an angrier child. She would often lash out at her foster family and resented the chores given to her. Her foster parents were cruel and cold, and often locked Bessy up without dinner. For no known reason, Bessy found herself resenting her name and her ties to her former life. Abandoned by Wisp and the adventurers to this hell and lost without her other half of a sister, Bessy adopted the name Thistle for herself. A word that had gotten stuck in her head until it felt like her own name. Her foster family didn't really care what she called herself, so Thistle she became.

During the next five years of Thistle's life, her home was filled with strange incidents. One night Thistle woke to rats cleaning the house and her foster mother screaming. Another day, the crops in the field withered and died and bloomed black blossoms no one had ever seen before. It became known around town that Thistle was a cursed child, and Thistle slowly began to delight in her new role as town terror. She'd often use it to her advantage, manipulating the townsfolk and her family into giving into her whims for fear that Thistle might curse them. At the same time, Thistle would go to bed resenting what her life had become and who she'd become, missing her sister and the better side of herself. She vowed that one day she'd find Effy, return to the name Bessy, and go back to being that sweeet child she had been raised to be.

As Thistle grew closer and closer to her thirteenth year, she found herself having darker moments of cruelty that frightened even her. She dreamed of those catacombs all over again, until the very thought of the hags consumed her. Shortly before her thirteenth birthday, Thistle packed her things in the dead of night and stole away back to Hilvale to find those hazy catacombs.

The catacombs beneath the church were shockingly easy to enter, and Thistle found her way back in the familiar dungeonesque setting. Three old, terrifying women stood in the center of the room, but ahead of them was a familiar tiefling. Wisp, who had never come back for her.

Happy to see Thistle returned, the hags revealed to Thistle that Bessy and Effy had ceased to exist those many years ago. One of the hags, the one they called 'Grandmother' had devoured both children whole. Using their essence, Grandmother had given birth to two new twins. Changeling children that were born to grow into hags themselves. Thistle wasn't a name imagined by the girl herself, but the name Grandmother had incepted into her new child. Wicked Thistle.

Realizing the truth of her life, Thistle was revolted at the cruel child she had become and how she'd played into the hands of the witches. She refused her destiny, swearing to destroy the hags themselves, and her magic leaked and strained the walls of the catacombs unexpectedly. Thistle had an unexpected magic to her beyond the hag's bloodline, a sorceress in her own right. Grandmother and her Aunties only desired the child more, but here Wisp stepped in. Having been abandoned herself by her friends, Wisp had taken over the Hag coven and now lead it in the name of her devil father, Dis. Wisp promised Thistle once she'd save her, and Wisp vowed to make good on that promise. She offered to ask her father to save Thistle from her curse if Thistle completed a quest in Wisp's name. Seeking her freedom, and also desiring to find her sister and free her as well, Thistle took Wisp up on her offer.

A crown of thorns sprouted from Thistle's temples, surrounding her head to mark the hexblood for the cursed child she was. The hags curse was prolonged until her eighteenth birthday, and a hell hound was summoned by Wisp to aid Thistle in her quest. Wisp warned Thistle to beware, though. If she failed before she reached eighteen, the hound would bring Thistle back to Wisp and she'd join the coven in service to Dis instead.

From there, Thistle was set out on the world. She was sent to the mountains north of Rivagard, searching the frozen peaks for a beast of silver. She named the hound at her side Fluffy for his obtuse behavior. The hound seemed to ignore Thistle beyond following her forward, but he did provide her warmth in the frozen tundra. They spent weeks exploring together before Thistle finally found the cave of crystal ice Wisp had told her about.

Inside, Thistle sought out the silvered beast with Fluffy at her side ready to pounce. As they ventured deeper into the caverns, Thistle found a large nest made of trees and branches and beautiful treasures. And within the nest she found three baby wyrmling dragons. For babies, they were the size of Fluffy, one even bigger than him. But they were young, unable to speak still. Silver dragons with bright eyes and sweet curiosity. These were the beasts Thistle was meant to slay, with the vow to bring back the eyes of the creatures she found as proof of her task.

Thistle could not kill the children.

Before Thistle could leave, an old man entered the cavern behind her. Thinking Thistle was a threat, the wizard attacked the girl and her hound companion. Thistle reacted instantly, rushing for Fluffy before the wizard could kill him. She teleported them behind the wizard, and the pair took off running. Together, Fluffy and Thistle found a connection deep in themselves that allowed the pair to harness the magic in each other and they teleported even further. With the speed advantage, the pair escaped together to see another day.

Angry and desperate at having been fooled by the last person she trusted, Thistle was left with a five year countdown until her life was no longer hers. With no other options, Thistle turned to traveling the known world in search of another way to save herself from her curse. Indebted to her for his life, Fluffy continued to follow Thistle. During their adventures, Thistle learned to harness her magic as a sorceress even more powerfully while her bond with Fluffy deepened and the pair learned new techniques for fighting together. Thistle learned in her travels that her magic wasn't all hag magic. There was power all her own, a pull inside her she felt leading her to her lost sister. Not quite certain, Thistle could feel her sorcery was tied somehow with her twin. She hoped that if she found Willow (as Grandmother had called her) they might be able to harness their innate abilities to break their curse together.

Now, four years later, Thistle has found her way to a small town known as Forest's Edge chasing rumors of a dark being called Thornbrace. Desperate and fearing her last year was slipping by, Thistle vowed to break the curse through any means possible. Thornbrace is a dangerous being, hunting people and often called the Deceiver himself, but beggars can't be choosers.

In her hunt for Thornbrace, Thistle stumbled upon a traveling halfling woman and her wife. The pair were kind, making her a meal that made her feel fuller than she had in months, despite Thistle's own bad attitude. They allowed the young girl to camp with them that night, and Thistle woke to the sounds of the camp being attacked. There was screaming and fighting, and Thistle and Fluffy launched themselves into the fray, only to be attacked by the trees surrounding them and darkness filling her vision. When the spells lifted, Tay, the halfling woman, was gone and her wife remained distraught. Thistle helped the young woman back to Forest's Edge to report the danger to the local sheriff. A lord was arrested on suspect, and his mage came with him to the local jail to help investigate the disappearance.

While waiting, a small group of adventurers appeared in the doorway, claiming to have information on Tay. They spoke of how they'd been able to contact her via a spell and wanted to work together with the sheriff and lord to find out what had happened.

It was then that the lord's mage attacked the adventurers. Thistle, caught in the middle, helped the adventurers fight back the trees that invaded the small town, but the mage escaped in the chaos. Realizing that the adventurers and Tay herself were wrapped up in games with the Deceiver, Thistle joined the adventurers under the guise of wanting to help in order to learn more about the magic of the town.

ABILITIES | POWERS:

| INFOSHEET - full breakdown of abilities, powers, spells, and skills

HEXBLOOD > the cursed child of a hag, Thistle is technically immortal in the sense that she won't die of old age. She can still get sick and be killed in battle. She also has darkvision for up to 60 feet, seeing darkness as greyscale colors without light. Additionally, Thistle can create a token of a lock of hair or her teeth. These tokens allow her to telepathically communicate with the wielder of the token or scry on them. These tokens also grow back overnight for Thistle. And finally, Thistle has the ability to cast the spells disguise self (creating an illusory image over herself to appear as another humanoid) and hex (the ability to curse someone in battle to harm them further) each once per day.

SORCERER > in addition to being the child of a hag, Thistle has her own innate magic that marks her as a sorcerer. As a sorcerer, Thistle can cast spells, and has the ability to manipulate her own spells with metamagic. Currently, her metamagic allows her following effects: the ability to change a spells damage from one type to another (ie. a fireball can now be an acid ball), the ability to cast a spell without verbal or somatic components, the ability to manipulate a spell into missing some people she chooses, and the ability to quicken her casting of a spell. These can only be done a certain number of times a day.

ABERRANT MIND > as a sorcerer, Thistle's powers manifest in her aberrant mind skills. This power allows her to telepathically communicate with one other person for up to seven minutes at a time over five miles. Additionally, Thistle's special abilities give her access to spells not normally accessed by other sorcerers. These psionic spells can be used instead of using her metamagic if Thistle does not have the spell slots to spend on them. Doing this bypasses the spells required components. And finally, Thistle has psychic defenses from this ability that protect her better from psychic damage and give her better chances to resist being charmed or frightened.

BEASTHEART/INFERNAL BOND > through her journeys with Fluffy, Thistle has developed a battle rapport with the hell hound. This bond runs deeper than the pair really know, tying their spirits and magics together in unknown ways. It allows Thistle to communicate strongly with Fluffy, as well as utilize his ferocity in battle to their advantage. Her infernal bond with Fluffy, utilizing their ties tot he seven hells, also gives them greater exploits such as the ability to teleport greater distances more easily.

PERSONALITY:

Thistle has a complex relationship with herself that she's constantly running away from.

On the one hand, Thistle remembers a very human childhood. She recalls when she was just a normal girl in a normal town. A child willing to help the local church without a second thought. On the other hand, she remembers cruelty at the hands of humans. She remembers anger and hatred and darkness swelling in her in her youth and the dark thought of peoples' anguish when her magic exploded in tiny curses around her foster home.

Thistle has come to realize that that part of her is both natural and fed by the hags' curse. A darkness in her that she can't escape. But a part of her yearns for a humanity that was never really hers to begin with.

In what Thistle would call her "weaker" moments, she imagines she could be Bessy again. She yearns to return to that kindness and heart of her childhood. When Wisp gave her a shot at her humanity, Thistle had let herself hope and dream however briefly that she could. In her journeys since then, she's had moments of human empathy. Sitting by fires with other humans, eating meals with them, things that make her feel like a real person again. Seeing the kindness in Tay was odd, but it made Thistle feel like less of an outsider for the first time in years.

Then she witnesses the betrayal of Wisp or the mage or others like them, and it's like the darkness in the world claws at Thistle all over again.

Overall, the young woman has tried to strike a balance of the two halves of herself. A cynical, jaded child. Sarcastic and a bit biting. Thistle doesn't take the world too seriously because the world will always let you down after all. Yet she doesn't deny little acts of kindness. She doesn't outright reject everyone that approaches her. She'll even go out of her way to do a quest and complete it properly at times. For her, it's almost like an exchange of emotions. Her kindness done is a kindness earned. But expect nothing of anyone all at the same time. If you expect nothing, then it doesn't hurt when you get nothing.

Thistle tries to take the same approach to Fluffy, as well. She remembers the promise Wisp made her years ago about the hound, but it's hard to hold onto cynicism for years at a time when the only creature who's been at your side the entire time is a devoted hound. Fluffy has never acted like a watch dog over Thistle, but rather like a genuine companion. He can't quite communicate with her, but Thistle believes he cares for her as much as she does for him. She'd never say it out loud, but she's put her trust in the hound.

All in all, Thistle is still a young woman discovering who she is, trying to define herself in the face of great adversity. Deep down, Thistle would like to see herself a hero, but can only see herself the villain. These two trains of thought war in her mind constantly, and she knows one day the world will make up her mind for her. Until then, all she can do is try. Because Thistle has nothing else but her ability to keep fighting.

SAMPLE:

"As bad or worse than Forest's Edge?"

Thistle's standing at the edge of the chaotic town that she's learned is called Taravast. Beside her stands a rather large, black mastiff with a long drooping face and broad haunches. He's not bigger than a dog should be, just as big as a dog really gets...

The mastiff seems to regard the city a little too intelligently, tilting his head slightly then looking up at Thistle and giving a soft grumble. Thistle looks at the dog, purses her lips, and raises an eyebrow. "Not as bad? Seriously? I think a coup's at least as bad as invasion by trees." The dog gives a low bark in response, causing Thistle to sigh and shrug as she turns her gaze back to the city. "You can't win every argument with 'hell's worse.' Hell is always worse. It's not even a debate."

Thistle starts moving into the city, Fluffy plopping alongside her, as the pair look over the shops at the edge of the town that are trying to pick up their own supplies. The palace may have seen much of the chaos, but there are always people who take advantage of bad times. Thistle shakes her head at little shops that couldn't defend themselves properly from looters. Part of her thinks she should stop to help...

Then Fluffy nudges Thistle's attention forward. Yes. That's where she's heard the otherworlders will be. She has to keep to her task. She scratches behind Fluffy's ear and presses forward into the brilliant city. So much beauty in one place... It's garish, really. Thistle doesn't know how large cities with far too much money for their own good don't implode more often.

As she walks, Thistle notes a child wandering through the crowds. She doesn't mean to, but she finds herself lingering on the child. Surely it's mother is close. Someone will call it back soon or reach out to take it's hand or follow after it. It wanders further and further and Thistle's silent hope that it's guardian will stop it dwindle with each step it takes. No one else seems to pay the child any mind either.

Thistle groans.

She leaves her path with Fluffy huffing behind her. She approaches the child and squats down next to what she now sees is a young boy.

"Hey," she calls to the kid. "What are you doing?"

The boy turns to her, looking at her with anxious eyes and clinging to a blanket. He doesn't speak, looking skeptical of her and her large dog. Thistle glances back at Fluffy, then thumbs back at him. "Oh him? Don't worry. He's not important." She reaches back to shove Fluffy further back, the dog obediently stepping back at her urging. "See? Don't worry about him."

The young boy relaxed a little more, taking a nervous step towards Thistle. "Where's your mom? Dad?" She tries, frowning. "Yeah you've got nothing for me, huh?" She deduces as the boy finally shakes his head.

Thistle sighs, standing up and holding a hand out. "Come on. Someone around here's bound to know." She tells the kid. He eagerly takes the offered hand and plops after her. Fluffy follows at a careful distance, Thistle not really bothering to check. "You know your hand's sweaty right?" She asks the kid. "That's gross." The boy seems to laugh a little at that, bringing a slight smile to Thistle's own lips. "Yeah, you think that's funny, huh? Of course you would. Look at you." She reaches down, Lifting the kid onto her shoulders. "Keep laughing. I'll throw you in one of the canals. Then who's laughing."

The young boy only laughed louder.

INVENTORY:
1 Crossbow, light
1 Dungeoneer's backpack
20 Bolts
2 Daggers
1 Arcane Focus
1 Rope, hempen - 50 ft
1 Hell hound named Fluffy
1 Companion collar - magical collar that allows Fluffy to make his appearance that of a normal dog

NOTES: Thistle's Summon Aberration spell is pretty strong, and I had intended to take away the component for it that she had, but then I realized since it's psionic she can technically cast it with great magic expenditure. So I'm okay with just nerfing it entirely or else saving it for like some plot element?

IF ACCEPTED, WOULD YOU WANT A PLOT-LIGHT OR PLOT-HEAVY CUSTOM INTRO? something plot-heavy related would be fun!