Chevalier Nelia de Crécy

Now I will be able to intersperse my faux-french knight's conversation with all the dirty French language you can stand.
( Pardon My French... )

Player Info
Name:Vehrec
IM Contact (Plurk/AIM preferred):Vehrec on both.
Personal Journal (optional): Vehrec, but don't expect me to check it regularly.
Are you okay with Canon Puncturing in regards to your character? (Having your character be told they are fictional IC)? Y.

Status Screen (Character Info)
Name: Nelia de Crécy
Canon: Post-'game' DLC start
Title: Paladin of the Golden Rose

Background: Aramis the Gigolo Overlord had many conquests-including one that would bear bitter fruit. For when the Paladin Marie Louise fled his castle in tears, she was already carrying his final child. A year later, owing to her half-demon nature, Nelia was born. Her first six years of life were charmed-a happy childhood in a happy castle with happy staff who had been absolutely terrorized into not revealing the truth of her heritage. By the time Nelia was six, she had absorbed many lessons on how to be a proper lady and knight-and also on how evil demons were. Discovering that she herself was half-demon was a critical breaking point.

Nelia spent the next eight years practically glued to her mother's side, sullenly quiet and depressed, but taking part in every activity from court to tournaments and even one war. After that however, her mother retired from active combat, aware that the sight of battle had made an impression on the ten year old and tried to distract her with feasts, hunts and lots of riding. But she also had the best tutors in swordplay, and other combat skills, and she was able to prepare for what came next. When she was 14, she asked her mother if she herself could train to become a paladin-triggering half a year of furious debate behind closed doors. At the end of all that she was allowed to formally become a squire and began her training.

Nelia developed quickly a zeal for training that eclipsed all else-her days and nights broken down into swordplay, wrestling, dressage, ballet and all manner of other activities-frequently in the very armor she planned to wear into battle-and as she was still growing, she went through several temporary suits of plate and mail before she finally attained her full growth and height and started regularly locking herself away from the world inside full suits of armor. At the same time, she mastered all the traditional skills of a knight-from leading men on a battlefield to healing the wounded and rescuing kittens from trees. She also mastered less traditional skills like ballet, ballroom dancing, and diplomatic small talk. She even spent some time as one of the assistant accountants for her Order-since it was also one of the largest banks in the land.

Only one major mistake flawed her record-an irksome incident involving a succubus, a wizard's tower, and a number of magical items and tomes, but otherwise her record of the past eight years has been one of constant rise and her own induction as a full member of the Order of the Golden Rose. But all the acclaim of friends and nobles, peasants and family did nothing to calm her down, and before long she prepared for one last mission-into the Netherworld.

Personality: Nelia is dour and serious all the time, judging herself according to the highest standards-standards so high that she can actually seem tolerant at times of others-simply because she is too busy being hard on herself. She's a racist when it comes to demons, and doubly so when it comes to her own flesh and blood-literally. She regards herself as impure and maintained as a paladin only by the utmost vigilance. To be fair, such vigilance allows her no time for self pity when an innocent is in danger or a chance to present a hero presents itself-she does not allow herself to second guess and charges in to right wrongs and defeat evil.

Nelia trains and works herself to exhaustion daily so as to ignore her own self-doubt and questions about her worth and value as a person-the only love she trusts is that of her mother. All others are either suspect or ulterior motives, ignored as servants and furniture, or worthy of better than her. She also doubts whether she will ever be able to defeat the demons and restore her honor-or if it's even worth trying and whether she should just seek a glorious death to redeem herself.

Underneath her steely warrior exterior, Nelia does enjoy a few girlish traits-dance, flowers and fashion-though the last one is more due to her desire to be accepted. And it is a strong desire-acceptance and redemption is her most fervent desire and the whole reason she became a paladin. As long as she has holy power and the righteous might of her station, she can reassure herself that her filthy demon blood doesn't matter, but some nights even that isn't enough and she lies awake wondering if any of her friends or companions think ill of her or if her own mother even loves her.

Like her half-sister, Nelia is a big eater and enjoys fights-but only in a sort of reserved and approved way. She was once naturally prone to being happy and glomphing people, but that has pretty much been burned out of her by now thanks to her constant self-loathing and fear of others rejecting her.

Evilities: Emo Paladin: Nelia's strictest judge of her own behavior is herself-if she violates the Paladin's Code, she will immediately lose all her paladin abilities-Smiting, healing, spells and various minor bonuses and immunities. She wears full plate to conceal herself and provide protection, which works well aside from a slight stench.

Mount Up: Nelia fights extremely well from a mounted-combat perspective. She is especially skilled with axes and spears, less so with swords and fists, and doesn't use guns, bows or staffs at all. She also has a special mount-a pegasus who shares an empathic link with her named Gazala, who she may summon at any time.

Demon Denied: Nelia bottles up lots of things-including her own terrible demonic power. Nelia gets a super huge bonus to not using her demonic strength. In fact, she might actually be powering herself up to super-human levels by ignoring this with superior discipline, but at what cost?

Inventory: Since she is a noblewoman and an adventuring paladin of the Order of the Golden Rose, Nelia has magic items out the wazoo. These include a helmet that is proof against mental intrusion, a ring to give her the Gift of Gab, a magical axe that increases her strength, and a flaming sword, and a cape that lets her fly and deflects missile attacks aimed at her back. Her full-plate armor is also enchanted, but her ability to do handstands and move freely in it is the result of years of practice. She's not poor either-but she is a bit thrifty. The Order of the Golden Rose are bankers as well as warriors.

Notes: Nelia has met Megaera in the past-it did not end well for the paladin. To this end, she is specifically equipped to fight mages and succubi. Her DLC plot is fairly standard-she shows up full of righteous vigor, and then Veluna beats her down.

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