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May. 21st, 2021 12:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icluciandanceAPPLICATION
Player Name/Handle: Sam
Plurk Handle:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
atkascha
Preferred pronouns (optional): she/her
Player Status: returning
Other characters: not at the moment
Invited by: I was already here :(
Character Name: Dana Iclucia
Fandom: Ys
Character Journal:icluciandance
OU, AU, CRAU, Canon OC, or OC? original universe
Canon point: Ys VIII, just as they're finishing off the final boss in Chapter 6.
Age: Fushigi mystery. It's unstated, and lolanime makes guessing difficult, but as the deuteragonist, I tend to think she's meant to be close to the protag in age, and he's 21. We're also never told if Eternians even age the same way as people, so /vague wavy hands.
PB: -
SETTING BACKGROUND
Ys is a series about an adventurer named Adol Christin and his love-hate relationship with boats, which have a bad habit of wrecking soon after he boards them, usually stranding him in some new and exotic locale with a plethora of mysteries to be solved. On the long-deserted island of Seiren, Adol and his shipmates build a crude village and try to survive long enough to craft a ship and escape, but things are complicated by the dinosaurs roaming the island, the ruins of an unknown ancient civilization, and the weird dreams Adol keeps having about a woman named Dana.
HISTORY
✿ As a child growing up in the kingdom of Eternia, Dana is haunted by visions of the future from a young age, and grows withdrawn and depressed by the things she sees. Her mother makes her a magic ring to block them out and tells her not to take it off, but as a result, Dana is unable to see the accident that takes her mother's life, and soon afterwards decides that she won't ever try to ignore what she sees again.
✿ Dana is taken in by the Temple of the Great Tree, the religious institution of Eternia, and finishes growing up among other candidates to become the next Maiden, who leads the faith and helps the royalty guide Eternia with their visions. She is eventually chosen, and grows into her new position with her two dearest friends from the temple: Olga, who becomes the High Priestess (sort of the right-hand woman/practical thinker of the faith), and Sarai, who was secretly the princess all along and is soon crowned queen, thus working hand in hand with Dana.
✿ Her visions have included a rather nasty one of the destruction of Eternia, but Dana shares it only with Olga, choosing to keep it secret while she investigates it - because she's also having weird dreams about an adventurer named Adol, who's exploring the ruins of Eternia far in the future. Adol, as he's helping a band of castaways try to escape the island, is having dreams about Dana's past, and the two feel a strange connection despite having never met. Dana starts planting tree saplings to grow into bridges whenever Adol hits a wall in his exploration, helping him reach new places.
✿ Eventually Adol reaches the center of the old capital, and finds a couple of critical things: a huge chasm where the palace once was, and...Dana, asleep in the branches of the great tree, unable to remember how she got there or what happened in the final days. She joins the castaways as they continue uncovering pieces of her past that lead up to the fated day.
✿ The part Dana forgot when she woke up in the future: Eternia is smacked by a shower of meteors, and though Dana is able to help shield the capital from being completely wiped out, the palace is obliterated and the weather soon starts to shift, slowly killing off the populace. Sarai, as it turns out, is one of the Wardens of Evolution. The Great Tree periodically wipes out life on earth to keep things from growing stagnant, and one survivor is chosen in each purge (called the Lacrimosa) to become an immortal Warden and watch over the world. Dana, not wanting to accept her selection, stays with her people and tries to protect them until every last Eternian has perished, then finally zaps herself with a magic bullet and goes to sleep to wait for the next Lacrimosa - and for Adol, who she comes to realize is the next chosen Warden, and who she plans to help fight against the next Lacrimosa.
✿ Against all odds, they do actually stop humanity from getting wiped out in another purge, by beating the shit out of the literal concept of evolution (yeah, I know, I didn't write it). In canon, at this point Dana basically gives up her existence to become the new Goddess of Evolution, and watch over things in the Great Tree's stead - but instead, this is where she'll be snagged by Jorgmund.
PERSONALITY
Dana's personality is largely built around two things: her sense of empathy and her sense of stubbornness.
As a child, her empathic nature left her unprepared to cope with the difficulties of her visions, and the barrage of others' pain and suffering that she was mired in. It caused her to disconnect - first by withdrawing from the people around her, and then, with her mother's help, by disconnecting from her visions, instead of from her people. Even that only helped for a time, though; realizing that she could stop some of the things she sees leads her to give up on disconnecting, and she stops wearing the ring and begins to accept others' pain if it means she might be able to help them find happiness. Even her acceptance of the invitation to the Temple of the Great Tree comes down to that sense of empathy; she's seen in a flashback telling her father that she wants to do it for her mother's memory, because she'll be able to help so many more people if she becomes the Maiden.
While a lot of good comes to her and she makes lifelong friends at the Temple, it's a bit of a warning sign about a dangerous tendency Dana has - a willingness to sell her own needs short in the service of others. She stays by the last few Eternians as their world collapses, even though many of them blame her for the catastrophe and hate her, and even though watching everyone she hoped to protect die slowly is the worst kind of pain, because there's still some good she can do for them. She briefly tries to run out on Adol and company to spare them the trouble she feels she's bringing on them (although they're pretty quick to hunt her down and talk some sense into her). She hides all her fears for the future and continues to smile and tell everyone everything is fine as Eternia's final days approach. (Ironically, one of the citizens later berates her, saying that if she'd been taking her position more seriously instead of playing with local children and wandering outside the Temple, maybe the crisis wouldn't have happened - unrealizing of how much running around she's been doing trying to seize on every hint of a clue to what's in store for them.)
Dana spends quite a bit of her time helping people with problems large and small, and when people tell her that their problem is minor and really not worth the time of the Maiden of the Great Tree, she suggests that since Eternia's future is built on everyone's happiness, every problem is worth her time. When the Wardens later ask her why she continues to struggle against the inevitable, her response sums up everything about her, really: "There are still people I can save."
As stubborn as she is about doing whatever she can to help another in need, she doesn't really do it with an appropriate level of caution - a constant headache for Olga, who is the responsible-minded one and quickly settles into a role of "here to save Dana from herself." When someone needs her, Dana jumps in headfirst; while she's not incapable of subtlety, she nonetheless is going to go for it. When she and Olga start to suspect that the royal family isn't telling them everything, she doesn't go in guns blazing, but she does go to the outskirts of the Valley of the Kings (forbidden to all but royalty) and knock out a couple of guards so they won't stop her from planting a tree to get Adol inside. When she finds a sprawling labyrinth underneath the sanctuary, she doesn't advertise it to anyone, but she does keep pressing deeper inside and deciphering the secrets it holds about the Great Tree. It never occurs to her to stop, that she might not want to know what's really happening there - it's important, so she's doing it, full stop.
In short: she plows through like a Sherman tank. People are surprised by her; she's a sweet-tempered young woman, tiny by Eternian standards, has a constant smile and always stops to play hide and seek with the children in the square. But beneath all that, she's haunted by the knowledge that everything she loves is going to end in an apocalyptic winter that everyone will blame on her, and coping with it the only way she knows how: by throwing herself at the problem, exhausting every resource she has to fight back, and when that's not enough, by taking a nap for a few millennia to try again and maybe manage to save someone next time.
It's a raw deal, but who's she to complain? She didn't die, so she owes it to everyone to try harder. There are still people she can save.
CANON POWERS
✿ Visions! Dana sees visions of the future, both large and small scale, and she tends to see them in colors that vary with how set in stone that particular outcome is - a so-called scarlet vision, like the one of Eternia's destruction, will absolutely come to pass, but other things she sees may be averted.
✿ Essence. Essence is...basically some weird unexplained magic that most Eternians seem to have at least some minor degree of. Dana's strength with it is considerable. Aside from it functioning as their substitute for electricity (Eternia has what can only be explained as fantasy computers in their research facilities...), Dana's seen using it to clear obstacles with telekinesis, seal objects to protect them into Adol's era, and create an "eye" to search underwater. Basically like Harry Potter magic in terms of "it does what the plot needs it to."
✿ She gets a couple of magical girl alter forms, gifted to her by spirits and mostly seeming to exist for the sake of making her bonus dungeon more interesting and giving her multiple damage types (most of the game gives you a full party and you can change members to change your damage, but the Eternian segments are Dana solo). Gratika form is basically her power mode, DANA SMASH form; Luminous form lets her see otherwise invisible platforms and enemies.
✿ Even outside Gratika form, she's hella strong. Eternians are explained as having evolved from dinosaurs (somehow??), and as a result, despite her anime waif build, she's strong enough to beat Dogi (whose nickname is "Wallcrusher" and who lives up to it more than once in this series) at arm wrestling.
✿ Gaining immortality is part of becoming a Warden of Evolution, so...there's that.
POWER SELECTION
Canon powers:
✿ I'd like to keep the visions. I don't anticipate actually using them that much, but I think having the option available could make for some fun plotting at some point, under mod guidance.
✿ Gratika and Luminous forms are going away, but the Luminous ability to spot things made out of energies that can't be seen by the naked eye is nifty and I'd like to hang onto that if possible. (Will it ever be useful? Who knows.)
✿ Essence in general can be tossed, because it's way too vague and bullshitty.
✿ Keep her stupid strength. I'd say that at max she might be able to lift a car, and she is definitely not going to be able to throw it.
✿ Immortality is a no-go. She will be killable.
ABILITIES
As a religious leader and frequent consultant to the Essence scientists of her time, she has a lot of detailed knowledge that means absolutely jack shit outside of Eternia. She knows dinosaurs (although they're called Saurians, in her time), though more on the level of how someone might know their local wildlife - she's not a specialist, but she'd do better in Jurassic Park than the average person. She can also play the flute, and she's good with children.
SETTING/SUITABILITY
➤ How do you expect your character to respond to the setting? Even if they plan to rebel in the long term, will they be able to at least obey enough to not get shocked to death? Dana is very NEVER GIVE UP, but she's not incapable of being subtle. She understands the value of keeping your head down, especially given the intrigue of the last days of Eternia, when she and Olga began to realize that the royal family was keeping some big secrets even from them.
➤ What do you hope to do with your character long-term? FIGHT THE POWER. Make some friends. Keep my ass in the game this time.
➤ Does your character currently have skills that would allow them to adapt, survive, and do the heroic things being asked of them? If your character doesn't, do you think they'd have the capacity to learn quickly? Absolutely. She's a dinosaur priestess who survived the ice age and punched evolution in the face.
➤ If they're not used to cooperating with others, what makes you think they'll be able to adapt to cooperating with the group? She's cool with groups.
➤ Will your character have long-term plans to rebel against Jorgmund? If so, how? Will they betray the other PCs and cooperate with Jorgmund? If so, how do you plan to handle the negative CR that might arise? She is 100% here for standing against The Man and standing by her fellow New Hires.
SAMPLES
Network Sample
[ Dana probably comes as a bit of a relief to her interviewer, after some of the reactions Jorgmund has dealt with. She smiles politely, waits for the camera to start, and half-bows from her seat as she gives the introduction they've asked for - ]
Dana Iclucia, employee ID number... [ A glance at the paperwork sitting in front of her. ]47584947.
If you were on an island and could only bring three things, what would you bring?
[ She tilts her head thoughtfully. ] I'm not sure I'd need much, to be honest. I'd want my weapon, of course, but beyond that, there's so much you can do with what's already there. An empty bottle would be useful, and hard to reproduce, so that makes two... For the third, perhaps, blueprints for a ship? You can't just count on someone showing up with those, after all. [ Her smile suggests she finds something funny about that one, but she's apparently not going to explain it. ]
What are the qualities you like least and most in your parents?
Mm... [ Her expression sobers a bit, but she doesn't bat an eyelash, even as the line on the polygraph shakes for a moment before evening out again. ] I think my mother had the very best of intentions, but I wish she had - no, I'm sorry, that's silly of me. [ A deep breath. ] She put my happiness before anything else, and that...I think, answers for both.
[ The interviewer gives it a moment, but the polygraph seems to be accepting that one, so after a few awkward seconds of silence they clear their throat and read out the next question. ]
- You’re a new addition to the crayon box, what color would you be and why?
[ Dana smiles and claps her hands once. That's a much better question, thank you! ]
I think some shade of green would be only appropriate, after I've spent most of my life in the Temple of the Great Tree. The same green as the new leaves on a prayer sapling, I think?
Prose Sample
Show us what you can do, they said. That should be easy enough, shouldn't it?
One would think, Dana told herself ruefully. Demonstrating her proficiency at...anything, really - would be simple enough, but getting and keeping the attention of her audience was proving to be quite a bit tougher.
But maybe that's the real test here?
It wasn't getting itself done, at any rate, and she lowered the flute in her hands to watch the Jorgmund executives for a moment. A musical performance had seemed more appealing, when she made her equipment requests. Fighting had gotten tiresome after everything she'd been through, and while she'd gladly do it a thousand times again for something worthwhile, she'd just as soon fall back on one of her more mundane talents, even if it was one of her rustier ones.
But the Jorgmund officials, talking amongst themselves and shuffling papers, didn't seem much interested in that. Dana set her flute down on one of the mats to the side, and walked up to the table her audience sat at. "Excuse me -"
And when her words didn't get much attention, she reached down, got a grip on the side of the table, and lifted it, hoisting it overhead and setting it to the side of the room without much apparent effort. "Excuse me!"
Now, she had their attention, and she gave them her most dazzling smile. "Thank you for your time. Now, where was I..."
ADDITIONAL INFO
I'd like to bring along her weapons! She has a pair of curved blades made out of orichalcum (i.e. "stuff that can actually hurt dinosaurs"). They're hilariously heavy but she has no problem swinging them around.
FINAL QUESTIONS
➤ Will your character suspect some kind of guiding intelligence has brought them to the game? Or will they think it was random or done by Jorgmund? Guiding intelligence. Near the end of her game, Dana figures out that existence as they know it is basically the dream of the Earth Goddess, so she's applying similar logic here.
➤ If they think it was something other than Jorgmund, like God or some other force of fate, what character traits do they think of that intelligence as having? Is it cruel or kind? Capriciously punishing them or doing it for good reason? ...and as such, she doesn't see it as necessarily reasoned in either direction. Dreams are weird shit, man.
Player Name/Handle: Sam
Plurk Handle:
Preferred pronouns (optional): she/her
Player Status: returning
Other characters: not at the moment
Invited by: I was already here :(
Character Name: Dana Iclucia
Fandom: Ys
Character Journal:
icluciandanceOU, AU, CRAU, Canon OC, or OC? original universe
Canon point: Ys VIII, just as they're finishing off the final boss in Chapter 6.
Age: Fushigi mystery. It's unstated, and lolanime makes guessing difficult, but as the deuteragonist, I tend to think she's meant to be close to the protag in age, and he's 21. We're also never told if Eternians even age the same way as people, so /vague wavy hands.
PB: -
SETTING BACKGROUND
Ys is a series about an adventurer named Adol Christin and his love-hate relationship with boats, which have a bad habit of wrecking soon after he boards them, usually stranding him in some new and exotic locale with a plethora of mysteries to be solved. On the long-deserted island of Seiren, Adol and his shipmates build a crude village and try to survive long enough to craft a ship and escape, but things are complicated by the dinosaurs roaming the island, the ruins of an unknown ancient civilization, and the weird dreams Adol keeps having about a woman named Dana.
HISTORY
✿ As a child growing up in the kingdom of Eternia, Dana is haunted by visions of the future from a young age, and grows withdrawn and depressed by the things she sees. Her mother makes her a magic ring to block them out and tells her not to take it off, but as a result, Dana is unable to see the accident that takes her mother's life, and soon afterwards decides that she won't ever try to ignore what she sees again.
✿ Dana is taken in by the Temple of the Great Tree, the religious institution of Eternia, and finishes growing up among other candidates to become the next Maiden, who leads the faith and helps the royalty guide Eternia with their visions. She is eventually chosen, and grows into her new position with her two dearest friends from the temple: Olga, who becomes the High Priestess (sort of the right-hand woman/practical thinker of the faith), and Sarai, who was secretly the princess all along and is soon crowned queen, thus working hand in hand with Dana.
✿ Her visions have included a rather nasty one of the destruction of Eternia, but Dana shares it only with Olga, choosing to keep it secret while she investigates it - because she's also having weird dreams about an adventurer named Adol, who's exploring the ruins of Eternia far in the future. Adol, as he's helping a band of castaways try to escape the island, is having dreams about Dana's past, and the two feel a strange connection despite having never met. Dana starts planting tree saplings to grow into bridges whenever Adol hits a wall in his exploration, helping him reach new places.
✿ Eventually Adol reaches the center of the old capital, and finds a couple of critical things: a huge chasm where the palace once was, and...Dana, asleep in the branches of the great tree, unable to remember how she got there or what happened in the final days. She joins the castaways as they continue uncovering pieces of her past that lead up to the fated day.
✿ The part Dana forgot when she woke up in the future: Eternia is smacked by a shower of meteors, and though Dana is able to help shield the capital from being completely wiped out, the palace is obliterated and the weather soon starts to shift, slowly killing off the populace. Sarai, as it turns out, is one of the Wardens of Evolution. The Great Tree periodically wipes out life on earth to keep things from growing stagnant, and one survivor is chosen in each purge (called the Lacrimosa) to become an immortal Warden and watch over the world. Dana, not wanting to accept her selection, stays with her people and tries to protect them until every last Eternian has perished, then finally zaps herself with a magic bullet and goes to sleep to wait for the next Lacrimosa - and for Adol, who she comes to realize is the next chosen Warden, and who she plans to help fight against the next Lacrimosa.
✿ Against all odds, they do actually stop humanity from getting wiped out in another purge, by beating the shit out of the literal concept of evolution (yeah, I know, I didn't write it). In canon, at this point Dana basically gives up her existence to become the new Goddess of Evolution, and watch over things in the Great Tree's stead - but instead, this is where she'll be snagged by Jorgmund.
PERSONALITY
Dana's personality is largely built around two things: her sense of empathy and her sense of stubbornness.
As a child, her empathic nature left her unprepared to cope with the difficulties of her visions, and the barrage of others' pain and suffering that she was mired in. It caused her to disconnect - first by withdrawing from the people around her, and then, with her mother's help, by disconnecting from her visions, instead of from her people. Even that only helped for a time, though; realizing that she could stop some of the things she sees leads her to give up on disconnecting, and she stops wearing the ring and begins to accept others' pain if it means she might be able to help them find happiness. Even her acceptance of the invitation to the Temple of the Great Tree comes down to that sense of empathy; she's seen in a flashback telling her father that she wants to do it for her mother's memory, because she'll be able to help so many more people if she becomes the Maiden.
While a lot of good comes to her and she makes lifelong friends at the Temple, it's a bit of a warning sign about a dangerous tendency Dana has - a willingness to sell her own needs short in the service of others. She stays by the last few Eternians as their world collapses, even though many of them blame her for the catastrophe and hate her, and even though watching everyone she hoped to protect die slowly is the worst kind of pain, because there's still some good she can do for them. She briefly tries to run out on Adol and company to spare them the trouble she feels she's bringing on them (although they're pretty quick to hunt her down and talk some sense into her). She hides all her fears for the future and continues to smile and tell everyone everything is fine as Eternia's final days approach. (Ironically, one of the citizens later berates her, saying that if she'd been taking her position more seriously instead of playing with local children and wandering outside the Temple, maybe the crisis wouldn't have happened - unrealizing of how much running around she's been doing trying to seize on every hint of a clue to what's in store for them.)
Dana spends quite a bit of her time helping people with problems large and small, and when people tell her that their problem is minor and really not worth the time of the Maiden of the Great Tree, she suggests that since Eternia's future is built on everyone's happiness, every problem is worth her time. When the Wardens later ask her why she continues to struggle against the inevitable, her response sums up everything about her, really: "There are still people I can save."
As stubborn as she is about doing whatever she can to help another in need, she doesn't really do it with an appropriate level of caution - a constant headache for Olga, who is the responsible-minded one and quickly settles into a role of "here to save Dana from herself." When someone needs her, Dana jumps in headfirst; while she's not incapable of subtlety, she nonetheless is going to go for it. When she and Olga start to suspect that the royal family isn't telling them everything, she doesn't go in guns blazing, but she does go to the outskirts of the Valley of the Kings (forbidden to all but royalty) and knock out a couple of guards so they won't stop her from planting a tree to get Adol inside. When she finds a sprawling labyrinth underneath the sanctuary, she doesn't advertise it to anyone, but she does keep pressing deeper inside and deciphering the secrets it holds about the Great Tree. It never occurs to her to stop, that she might not want to know what's really happening there - it's important, so she's doing it, full stop.
In short: she plows through like a Sherman tank. People are surprised by her; she's a sweet-tempered young woman, tiny by Eternian standards, has a constant smile and always stops to play hide and seek with the children in the square. But beneath all that, she's haunted by the knowledge that everything she loves is going to end in an apocalyptic winter that everyone will blame on her, and coping with it the only way she knows how: by throwing herself at the problem, exhausting every resource she has to fight back, and when that's not enough, by taking a nap for a few millennia to try again and maybe manage to save someone next time.
It's a raw deal, but who's she to complain? She didn't die, so she owes it to everyone to try harder. There are still people she can save.
CANON POWERS
✿ Visions! Dana sees visions of the future, both large and small scale, and she tends to see them in colors that vary with how set in stone that particular outcome is - a so-called scarlet vision, like the one of Eternia's destruction, will absolutely come to pass, but other things she sees may be averted.
✿ Essence. Essence is...basically some weird unexplained magic that most Eternians seem to have at least some minor degree of. Dana's strength with it is considerable. Aside from it functioning as their substitute for electricity (Eternia has what can only be explained as fantasy computers in their research facilities...), Dana's seen using it to clear obstacles with telekinesis, seal objects to protect them into Adol's era, and create an "eye" to search underwater. Basically like Harry Potter magic in terms of "it does what the plot needs it to."
✿ She gets a couple of magical girl alter forms, gifted to her by spirits and mostly seeming to exist for the sake of making her bonus dungeon more interesting and giving her multiple damage types (most of the game gives you a full party and you can change members to change your damage, but the Eternian segments are Dana solo). Gratika form is basically her power mode, DANA SMASH form; Luminous form lets her see otherwise invisible platforms and enemies.
✿ Even outside Gratika form, she's hella strong. Eternians are explained as having evolved from dinosaurs (somehow??), and as a result, despite her anime waif build, she's strong enough to beat Dogi (whose nickname is "Wallcrusher" and who lives up to it more than once in this series) at arm wrestling.
✿ Gaining immortality is part of becoming a Warden of Evolution, so...there's that.
POWER SELECTION
Canon powers:
✿ I'd like to keep the visions. I don't anticipate actually using them that much, but I think having the option available could make for some fun plotting at some point, under mod guidance.
✿ Gratika and Luminous forms are going away, but the Luminous ability to spot things made out of energies that can't be seen by the naked eye is nifty and I'd like to hang onto that if possible. (Will it ever be useful? Who knows.)
✿ Essence in general can be tossed, because it's way too vague and bullshitty.
✿ Keep her stupid strength. I'd say that at max she might be able to lift a car, and she is definitely not going to be able to throw it.
✿ Immortality is a no-go. She will be killable.
ABILITIES
As a religious leader and frequent consultant to the Essence scientists of her time, she has a lot of detailed knowledge that means absolutely jack shit outside of Eternia. She knows dinosaurs (although they're called Saurians, in her time), though more on the level of how someone might know their local wildlife - she's not a specialist, but she'd do better in Jurassic Park than the average person. She can also play the flute, and she's good with children.
SETTING/SUITABILITY
➤ How do you expect your character to respond to the setting? Even if they plan to rebel in the long term, will they be able to at least obey enough to not get shocked to death? Dana is very NEVER GIVE UP, but she's not incapable of being subtle. She understands the value of keeping your head down, especially given the intrigue of the last days of Eternia, when she and Olga began to realize that the royal family was keeping some big secrets even from them.
➤ What do you hope to do with your character long-term? FIGHT THE POWER. Make some friends. Keep my ass in the game this time.
➤ Does your character currently have skills that would allow them to adapt, survive, and do the heroic things being asked of them? If your character doesn't, do you think they'd have the capacity to learn quickly? Absolutely. She's a dinosaur priestess who survived the ice age and punched evolution in the face.
➤ If they're not used to cooperating with others, what makes you think they'll be able to adapt to cooperating with the group? She's cool with groups.
➤ Will your character have long-term plans to rebel against Jorgmund? If so, how? Will they betray the other PCs and cooperate with Jorgmund? If so, how do you plan to handle the negative CR that might arise? She is 100% here for standing against The Man and standing by her fellow New Hires.
SAMPLES
Network Sample
[ Dana probably comes as a bit of a relief to her interviewer, after some of the reactions Jorgmund has dealt with. She smiles politely, waits for the camera to start, and half-bows from her seat as she gives the introduction they've asked for - ]
Dana Iclucia, employee ID number... [ A glance at the paperwork sitting in front of her. ]47584947.
If you were on an island and could only bring three things, what would you bring?
[ She tilts her head thoughtfully. ] I'm not sure I'd need much, to be honest. I'd want my weapon, of course, but beyond that, there's so much you can do with what's already there. An empty bottle would be useful, and hard to reproduce, so that makes two... For the third, perhaps, blueprints for a ship? You can't just count on someone showing up with those, after all. [ Her smile suggests she finds something funny about that one, but she's apparently not going to explain it. ]
What are the qualities you like least and most in your parents?
Mm... [ Her expression sobers a bit, but she doesn't bat an eyelash, even as the line on the polygraph shakes for a moment before evening out again. ] I think my mother had the very best of intentions, but I wish she had - no, I'm sorry, that's silly of me. [ A deep breath. ] She put my happiness before anything else, and that...I think, answers for both.
[ The interviewer gives it a moment, but the polygraph seems to be accepting that one, so after a few awkward seconds of silence they clear their throat and read out the next question. ]
- You’re a new addition to the crayon box, what color would you be and why?
[ Dana smiles and claps her hands once. That's a much better question, thank you! ]
I think some shade of green would be only appropriate, after I've spent most of my life in the Temple of the Great Tree. The same green as the new leaves on a prayer sapling, I think?
Prose Sample
Show us what you can do, they said. That should be easy enough, shouldn't it?
One would think, Dana told herself ruefully. Demonstrating her proficiency at...anything, really - would be simple enough, but getting and keeping the attention of her audience was proving to be quite a bit tougher.
But maybe that's the real test here?
It wasn't getting itself done, at any rate, and she lowered the flute in her hands to watch the Jorgmund executives for a moment. A musical performance had seemed more appealing, when she made her equipment requests. Fighting had gotten tiresome after everything she'd been through, and while she'd gladly do it a thousand times again for something worthwhile, she'd just as soon fall back on one of her more mundane talents, even if it was one of her rustier ones.
But the Jorgmund officials, talking amongst themselves and shuffling papers, didn't seem much interested in that. Dana set her flute down on one of the mats to the side, and walked up to the table her audience sat at. "Excuse me -"
And when her words didn't get much attention, she reached down, got a grip on the side of the table, and lifted it, hoisting it overhead and setting it to the side of the room without much apparent effort. "Excuse me!"
Now, she had their attention, and she gave them her most dazzling smile. "Thank you for your time. Now, where was I..."
ADDITIONAL INFO
I'd like to bring along her weapons! She has a pair of curved blades made out of orichalcum (i.e. "stuff that can actually hurt dinosaurs"). They're hilariously heavy but she has no problem swinging them around.
FINAL QUESTIONS
➤ Will your character suspect some kind of guiding intelligence has brought them to the game? Or will they think it was random or done by Jorgmund? Guiding intelligence. Near the end of her game, Dana figures out that existence as they know it is basically the dream of the Earth Goddess, so she's applying similar logic here.
➤ If they think it was something other than Jorgmund, like God or some other force of fate, what character traits do they think of that intelligence as having? Is it cruel or kind? Capriciously punishing them or doing it for good reason? ...and as such, she doesn't see it as necessarily reasoned in either direction. Dreams are weird shit, man.
