Username:
Commander Shepard
Character Name:
Bianca
Species:
Dragon
Personality:
Though she is around four hundred years old, Bianca is still barely more than a child as far as dragons are concerned, and it shows. She is fascinated by nearly everything and often seems to not take things seriously-- life is a game, as far as she's concerned, and she's more than happy to play the part of the fool. She sees most things as... fleeting, really. Friends come and go, whether taken by death, distance, or simply drifting apart; cities always change, even the great, ancient forests are always growing or dying off in some form or another. While this has been a decent defense against the common pain that comes with befriending shorter-lived beings, it's left Bianca... well, rather cold; she seems to have immense difficulty truly bonding with anyone else, instead just appearing as an aloof, naive fool who'll go on her merry way sooner or later, no matter if others need her or not.
(will mostly be shown in rp)
Alignment:
Chaotic Good
History/Why they joined the Hunt:
Bianca's history is, honestly, a very simple one. She was hatched alongside five other siblings in the frigid eastern mountains, where she spent her first hundred or so years of life. When she was old enough to strike out on her own, Bianca took an... unusual approach. It wasn't unheard of for dragons to spend some time among humans, but it was (and still is) to find one who made it their primary lifestyle. She was fascinated by them, by watching the years stretch into decades as cities rose, prospered and either evened out, or slowly fell into ruin, soon replaced by something new and just as grand. She loved their songs, and spent her first twenty or so years as an apprentice to a master bard, who helped teach Bianca many of the skills she still uses to this day. Since then? She's just... traveled, almost always on foot, visiting old cities and old friends, singing old songs and keeping history alive in her memory and making sure it is passed down to others.
And that is why she joined the hunt-- Bianca has no desire for gold or lands, she simply wants to witness this (hopefully) historic event with her own eyes, and brag sing about it all the rest of her days.
Appearance:
Human form: Bianca is most often found in the shape of a tall, fair-skinned woman; with cold, gray-blue eyes and dull brown hair braided through with colorful ribbons and adorned with small, jeweled trinkets. Her usual clothing is relatively simple, a jester-like suit of silver-and-blue diamonds and silver gloves, though she also carries a backup of a plain brown, woolen tunic and black breeches, and wears sturdy boots at all times. Even in her human form, Bianca's arms are patched with silvery scales; and there are a few patches on her neck, face (only one, covering most of the top left of her face, including over her eye), shoulders, and legs.
Dragon form: In her natural state, Bianca stands at about 19 feet at the shoulder (21 if you want to include her neck) and is twice as long from the tip of her snout to the end of her tail (the latter of which makes up most of the length). Wings are broad, made for long-distance flight and gliding rather than speed or maneuverability, and she has two long, swept-back horns on the top of her head. No visible ears or frill/mane/spikes of any sort. Scales are a darker silver than in her human form, more of an iridescent storm-gray; while her eyes are a solid, almost luminous, pearl color.
Class/Skills:
Bard.
Bianca is skilled in most schools-- she is a decent sneak and pickpocket, handy with some minor spells (simple healing or creating light and some ice-based magic), she can take a few solid hits and dish them out herself... and, of course, she can change her shape, though it tends to be an exhausting process, she can't just snap from human to dragon in an instant (however, with some effort, she has taught herself to achieve partial transformations for a little extra strength-- clawed hands, wings, or her tail, for example, though that usually means being stuck in her half-changed state for a few days, if not a week or more; and she is unable to fly).
Bianca's greatest strengths come in her sheer skill with words-- traveling among the mortal kingdoms (as the dragons call them) for the better part of three hundred years has left Bianca with an immense knowledge of history, of old grudges and secrets mostly forgotten by the shorter-lived species, which merchants can be haggled or sweet-talked into a dirt-cheap price, which ones are unyielding but might make a discount for some juicy gossip (in probably any language-- even if it's broken, she is functionally fluent in the major languages); and it's a nearly sure thing that she can get the party into one of the good inns, one with warm food and actual rooms, instead of hard bread and a huge space where everyone's probably going to come out crawling with fleas. (Note: this falls into the overall 'Bardic Knowledge' that comes with the class).
While her clear draconic nature can be a double-edged sword, she does benefit from instilling a... not quite fear, but a strong, unsettling feeling among humans and halflings that makes it easier to intimidate them.
Being a bard, Bianca also has access to an unusual array of supporting magic, allowing her voice and music to give courage and strength to allies, disorient enemies, or drown out and render sound-based attacks/hypnosis ineffective. She's fairly speedy, too, able to dodge many attacks (especially from things that are fairly large and slow) and dart in and out of the worst parts of a fray.
As a dragon, she is a formidable presence; able to shrug off most physical attacks and becoming highly resistant to all but fire-based magic. With a huge tail and huge wings, she can slam enemies into the next forest, or rip them to shreds with her claws and teeth. Or, she could simply freeze them with her icy breath, leaving them at least barely able to move, if not dead entirely.
Weaknesses:
One major drawback is... well, she's not a fighter. Aside from using her claws or tail, Bianca's only good for stomping out rats and spiders in a physical brawl. She's not a defender, either; she owns no armor (or weapons, for that matter) and is ill-equipped to wear so much as basic leather plate-- it'd restrict her movement too much. While she is resistant to magic in her dragon form; her human and half-changed states leave her as vulnerable to magic as any other human-- doubly so, in the case of fire-based attacks. While humans and halflings might be somewhat intimidated by the fact that she is clearly a dragon, other beings-- elves, fauns, and the like-- will not be affected by that, nor would highly skilled mages of any species.
Due to most of her magic being sound-based, it's a bit of a gamble to cast anything when she isn't sure the party is entirely alone or not-- she can very easily give away the party's position, and in any fight, is a pretty obvious target and despite her great reflexes, Bianca is the most likely to take the most damage in an encounter.
Now, you might be thinking 'well what does it matter? She can turn into a dragon!' She can do this, yes... but as stated, it takes an immense amount of energy and focus to do properly, rushing it causes an enormous amount of pain and leaves her completely exhausted; she will only transform if it's an absolute life-or-death situation, and then... well, she'd be stuck there for a while, which causes a whole other set of problems. She is an incredibly obvious target in that form, and while she might have increased in endurance and attack power, Bianca's dexterity and agility becomes pretty much non-existent; a huge problem should the party be attacked by a group of enemies. She can only speak in draconic tongue in this form, and would be entirely unable to cast her usual spells.
Inventory:
Around twenty gold pieces (for a price reference, a single gold piece would get you a quality horse, as well as tack and enough food to last it around two weeks), a thumb piano (her main instrument/casting channel), a bedroll, spare clothes, a small canteen of water and some food.
Other:
It's worth noting that Bianca, in both forms, is strictly vegetarian-- she's incapable of properly digesting meat, and all it will do is make her extremely ill. She also exudes a literal icy aura-- grass and water tend to frost up if she stands too close for too long, even if she's fully clothed; and her skin is extremely cold to the touch.
