PCs:Micah Elizabeth Ormane
Current Age: Over 100, but appears to be in her mid 40's .jpg)   Monikers: The White Witch, The Red Witch (defunct), Andrinor's Wrath
Appearance Micah’s frame is of average height, and she stands as straight and tall as her body allows. She walks with her head up and shoulders back, and carries herself with a forceful dignity. The woman’s curves are light but healthy, her face is sharp and angular with a small pointed nose and chin, her lips are delicate and slightly flush, and her cheek bones are high on her slim face. Her silvery-blue hair cascades gently down to about mid-back, where it billows in the breeze unless pulled back and restrained by some form of tie (this is much longer than she wore it in her youth). Her eyes are a piercing blue, with irises that sparkle like diamonds in the sun, and despite their cold color are a thin mask for the fiery spirit beneath. The often-hidden tattoos from Micah’s past are gone, revealing pale smooth skin where once was dark ink. Her forearms, however, bear new markings: Crawling from her elbows up to her wrists is an intricate and interweaving dance of arcane fire swirling up onto the backs of her hands as though the tattoos themselves wished to spring forth from her fingertips. Micah often displays these markings openly, and when she moves her arms in the motions of spell-weaving the flames appear to undulate and snake about one another through her motions, creating a hypnotic illusion as she calls forth power from the Vortex. Micah's appearance belies her age. Despite being well over 100 years old, Micah looks no more than mid-40's. She does not discuss the events that caused this to be so, but often makes light of her extended lifespan, citing that Andrinor is keeping her around and healthy just long enough to blow her up in a cataclysmic explosion of her own creation. History and Traits Micah is a fiery, moody magus of substantial power. She began her career as an Ebony (where she eventually rose to Archmage) under the direct tuteledge of the Archmage Damar Ogdem, before the formation of the Gold Order. Under him, she developed the skills and knowledge to become a master of the Art. Micah's research interests have long revolved around the schools of Enchantment and Illusion, both of which Micah has thoroughly mastered. Her foci were originally Dream and Shadow magic, with specific interests in the flexibility of using the Dreamscape to manipulate minds and in using Shadow Magic to twist nearly any spell from shadowstuff. Under Damar's teachings, Micah also developed a long-running interest in divinations, and has become quite accomplished in that as well (although not nearly to the extent of her other schools). After her apprenticeship to Damar, Micah learned the fineries of the Art of Steelcasting from its progenator Crunk Steelcaster as well as certain aspect of the Assassination Arts from the notorious Ebony archmage Sand. During her time in Red, Micah took an interest in Wild Magic, especially in the wide variety of effects that are observed when the Vortex is unstable and in the causes of these strange magical phenomenon. She sees these random effects as strongly correlated to the flexibility of the Shadow Magic, and is curious to further explore the area. Micah's transition to White came as much as a shock to her as to everybody who knew her. After an extended trip to Ka Kimon, Micah returned to her duties in the Red Order much like she always had. She claims that one day she awoke, and the artifact armor that had been given to her by her god (when Micah transitioned from Ebony to Red) had changed colors - from Red, to White. Micah took this as a divine omen, though with a cynical bent. Micah is not the sort to whisk from calling to calling at the whim of Andrinor, and she thought at first the armor color change was a sick joke. She still thinks this is the case, actually, but she thought there must be more to the change and decided to explore its meaning. Her initial inquiries started as a Red Mage, wearing white armor, basically trying to knock down the gates of the White Order. She made a rather big mess of things, and was somewhat disdained to find out that they would not simply let her in because she said so (or claimed that Andrinor said so). Instead of fighting the system within White, which she quickly realized was counterproductive to trying to join, she opted to take some time to herself and explore the White's way of thinking. She joined as an Inquirer - the lowest, entry level rank one can have - and started her journey from Red to White with an enormous dose of humility. It was a lesson most unsettling to a woman who had spent the past seven decades being feared. While she was struggling through all of this she was called to Redgate to help a former student, and on her way back home passed a monastery dedicated to the philosophy of Gorethar (not the religion of Gorethar - Micah is very quick to distinguish the two). With an uncharacteristic spontaneity driven by her frustration and tenacity, Micah joined the monestary, shedding her trappings as a mage for many years simply to learn to adjust her way of thinking. For those who know her little, all those years in the monastery did little for Micah. For those who know her well, those years changed her completely. Upon her return, Micah was welcomed back into White as an inquirer, and this time around she had much less trouble fitting in. Micah has traditionally been aloof, tempermental, and condescending. Over the years, she has curbed this somewhat in favor of her natural cynical and relaxed demeanor. Since her return from Red Gate and efforts to integrate into White (shedding the the emotional trappings of her previous traditions), the wittier and relaxed side of her personality is more pronounced in public. Her greatest respect is for intelligence, and she gives no regard to men-at-arms or stealthy-sorts unless it suits her temperment to do so. Micah's fits of rage are often inspiringly chaotic and deadly - her temper generally results in the offender being petrified or killed outright. On occassion, she simply lights those who anger her on fire while lecturing them on what she considers to be proper etiquette. This gets her in trouble with her White colleagues, but they seem willing to help her work on her restraint. Though imperfect, her discipline has increased tremendously over the years, with infractions once resulting in instant death now rarely garnering more than pursed lips, an eyeroll, or witty remark. Sometimes she manages to occlude all of her displeasure in favor of discourse, but if asked she chides that this is because she knows if things fall through at the negotation table she can always default to her preferred tactics. Micah's adjustment in temperment should not be mistaken for weakness, however, as Micah has demonstrated her famous killer instinct on more than one occasion while wearing white garb. Interestingly, not a single one of Micah's peers from years past questioned her move from Ebony to Red to White as a diminishing of her power (diminishing of sanity, maybe; just as many argued the opposite). Such a mistake is made only by the young, and Micah seems patient enough to let her power speak for itself while she defends her values. Teaching During Micah's time in the Ebony, she fostered two apprentices. The first, Simon Hytheria was an unmotivated student who met his demise after commenting inappropriately on his Master's anatomy. After Dagath returned him to the cycle, he was expelled from Micah's tuteledge and devoted himself to Kevlos. The second, Fade Redweth, was a significantly more motivated student who managed not to get herself killed. Unfortunately for Fade, her spellbook filled quicker than her completeness in knowledge of the Art. Micah considers Fade a continual work in progress, despite Fade's difference in Order and age well beyond that of a reasonable apprenticeship. To Micah, a Master's work is never finished, and so she continues to provide insight and teaching so long as her students show motivation to improve. During her time in the Red, she fostered one additional apprentice - a drangonari named Amand'uil Xilo'rulithii. Amand sought Micah's instruction long after he was a mature mage. Against her better judgement, Micah accepted his petition. Expectedly, teaching a mage who has an established set of enemies was difficult, and the Red Witch often found herself cleaning up his messes. Amand periodically impressed his teacher with his talent, and even watched him rise to archmage of Ebony, but she was always disappointed her with his restraint. Anybody who knows Micah's bouts of firey rage appreciated the irony, but most mages recognize that it is better to do what the master says, and not what the master does. Aman'duil died during a sentencing in Visimontium. Micah speaks ill of him to this day. Ironically, the public knowlege that Vesdrac Noss'tau was actually Amand Xilo transformed did not phase Micah in the least. She never indicates whether she knew about his identity before it became public knowledge, but speaks highly of Vesdrac's accomplishment in the Arts while disparaging Amand's failures. Vesdrac and Micah have met on the battlefield, once. Micah claimed to have slew him, but says his corpse was recovered by Shaahesk priests and removed before his remains could be destroyed. No witnesses can corroborate her story, but Vesdrac still lives today.
Companions Micah has travelled with many different adventurers over the years, but a handful have set themselves apart as being her most frequent and closest companions. Oorayv'levena, the Ebony Magus to whom Micah left the Ebony Order, is quite possibly her closest and most well travelled companion. Miette Hartley, the feisty Arch-sorceress of the Blue Order, is close second if not equal. Karrek Asen of the Violet Order has also been an extremely close companion of Micah's, and Damar remains a colleague and mentor to her even after her many years as an archmage. Micah is rumored to be in contact with The Master - the elusive and powerful ruler of the Violet. The extent of this contact is unknown, but they have been spotted in Visimontium and Ka Kimon on several occassions. It has been whispered that she is the only mortal being who knows his true name. Micah enjoys being around mages who like to learn and debate, and so she has often spent time with the likes of Fergus Goodmane, Vintrinia Carnen, and the wild and brilliant gentlemen of the Red Order of the Flames (Gubblebub Fizzywhiz, Kassha Fireheart, Bedlam Dender, Archibald Thel, Flenken Jolliemausch, and more). She has also been a long time friend of Arania Moonshadow, one of the few people remaining who remembers Micah from her early youth. Relationships Micah never married, and has not engaged in a public relationship in decades. There are rumors that she has slain every love she ever had, with varying degrees of embellishment as to how and why. Micah categorically confirms every one of these stories, no matter how different any two accounts may be. It brings her great amusement to be this way, and only those who have known Micah for a very, very long time can offer any insights as to why. |