Snezhana Isakov
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-- Snezhana Isakov, on the subject of safe contact with rogue spirits.
Table of ContentsBackstoryNo one knows exactly how the Isakov family first came to power. No one knows what the ghosts of Okiros saw in them to give them total sovereignty. No one knew if, once upon a time, the family cared about their fellow peers. It didn’t matter. By the time the three Isakovan Children were born no one could remember a time where they weren’t neglectful to their people. No one could remember an Okiros that wasn’t choking in rot and decay. For what it was worth, they were never blamed for the failings of her family name. Each and every Isakov who had come to power was blinded by it, becoming more concerned with pleasure and status than caring for their own children. They were mad, everyone in town knew, and just as much they knew the children were headed towards the same sort of madness. Yet there was nothing they could do. The children were insulated by riches, and no matter how innocent they were now, the madness was their destiny. Snezhana was the oldest. She wanted to be a painter. No one noticed, save for her siblings; and, in time, the spirits of Okiros. As their parents and families continued to chase pleasure after pleasure, the Children were practically raised by the departed. In lieu of excesses, they were taught of the world, of the common people that would live and die without ever seeing an ounce of their privilege. They learned the practical magics deemed too dirty for the elite to use, practiced chores deemed beneath a person of their name, were the first Isakovans in generations to actually tend to the dead. And in time, the three felt fearful that one day, all of this would be gone. That they would be consumed by the family madness and all of this would be not but a dream. Snezhana was fourteen the last time she saw her mother. Her mother wanted to take her somewhere no Isakov would ever worry themselves with mortal burdens again. And not soon after, the spirits offered a final escape. A chance to go to town and atone for the mistakes of their blood. Her siblings jumped at the chance, of course, for they grew to hate their bloodline, and wanted any other life other than to live a life free of madness. And Snezhana had to follow, for who else would take care of them in the real world? The night they escaped, Snezhana watched as every single Isakovan left in her home disappeared, joyous as they dissolved into something else. She had to - what would her siblings think if they saw her crying in the morning? Okiros recovered. All things do, given time. What quarrels of power were ignited were shut down when the spirits started morphing into monsters, the lock of the Isakov’s blessings broken, allowing them to achieve their truest forms. Whatever dangers the spirits posed were quelled by Snezhana, her teachings making her near prodigal in the art of spirit tending and exorcism. And whatever status this would have given was squashed in the fact that no one wanted to risk the madness taking hold of them. So Okiros stabilized - not the most prosperous community, but a safe one. Healthier than it ever had been. A normal town, ready to join the wider world. And Snezhana grew old the fastest. She was the one left to raise her siblings, and when they struck out as skilled mediums of their own, she took control of a simple shop, a way for them to be a member of a community and nothing more. And while her brother became an advocate for the people’s rights, and while her sister left to bring the world’s bounties back home, Snezhana stayed, the rock of the Isakovan Children, a solid spinster anyone, spirit or man, could rely on, and nothing more. Sometimes she could hear her mother in her dreams. Sometimes, she wishes she stayed. |
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Personality
The most important thing you need to know about Snezhana Isakov is that she cares. The second is that she does a horrible job at showing it.
Take a stroll in Okiros and you’ll watch her keep to herself, mumbling about the day’s work and other mundanities to keep her mind occupied. Talk to her and she’d almost seem cold, outright ignoring you if she’s too deep in thought. Yet keep on talking to her and she’ll never shoot you away. She won’t have much to say about town gossip, but she’ll always listen. Give her a woe, and she’ll give you a solution with the bluntness of a hammer. If you’re lucky, she’ll start talking on her own, waxing poetic on the birds and the trees and how awfully peaceful a day like this is.
She never talks about herself. How could she? It’s why she keeps herself so busy, you know. Spend too long away from practical matters and mundane beauties and she’ll inevitably drift to thoughts of her parents, escape, the madness, the last bit of delight they’ve left in the corner of her mind. She pities her mother. She wishes that there’s anything she could’ve done. Sometimes, in her weakest moments, she thinks she still can.
But she has better things to do, doesn’t she? Her siblings still need a place to come back to, so at least she’s has to be their rock. She still has to earn a living, still needs to feed herself and keep in good standings. And most importantly, without her help, people are going to die. So Snezhana continues on with her work, tending to her home and anyone who needs her. Even if she is blunt and quiet and alone.
Likes
- Painting
- Her Siblings
- The Sound the Rain Makes as it Falls
Dislikes
- Lentils
- Gold and Finery
- The Actual Rain
Abilities
✦ The Snow Arts
A Practical Magic, one of many that are taught to the young of Okiros, and Snezhana's favorite. Practically, she uses it as a way to preserve foods and create items on the fly. In danger, she uses it to create protection and shelter.
✦ Spirit Communion
While most people can talk to spirits just fine, it takes the careful hand of a proper medium to properly commune, to touch a spirit's heart and understand them completely, as one would a language. A connection is made - so long as the medium wills it, they can communicate with the spirit at any time. Snezhana is a prodigy at these arts, using these techniques to pacify spirits and learn how to defend against them.
✦ The Isakovan Delight
Crawling at the back of Snezhana's dreams are what's left of the Isakovan power, joyous and uncaring of mortal woes. She always the option of tapping into that power, remembering the glory and glamour that her family was granted, yet always at the risk of inheriting their apathy to anyone they deemed unworthy. She's never had to take that power. She never wants to take this power. She is the only Isakovan left who can even imagine this as an option to take.
Skills & Stats
Snezhana has been a medium for decades, for better and for worse. Though she knows enough magic to keep herself thriving in her workplace, she's getting older. She's past her prime, and while that doesn't make her a complete sitting duck, it does make her easier to beat.
Weapons
The Albatross: A pair of scissors gifted to her by her father, in case she ever needed to defend herself. She's never found anything better.
✦ General Stats
| ✦ Strengths |
✧ Weaknesses |
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✦ Imperative Strengths
Whatever physical weaknesses she keeps, her skill with the magic she's practiced is more than enough to make up for it. She knows how to raise shields enough to stall an enemy, and while she doesn't take to killing, she knows perfectly well how to stab enough to incapacitate.
✧ Imperative Weaknesses
For all the magical prowess she has, Snezhana is, at heart, completely and utterly human. Not even a tough one - she's just strong enough to survive a few nights in the woods, and nothing more. Against any opponent past these limits, get past her magic and she'll fold like paper.
✦ Psychological Stats ✦
| Charisma | ✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧ | Kindness | ✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧ |
| Patience | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧ | Intelligence | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧ |
| Confidence | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧ | Perception | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧ |
| Discipline | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧ | Psych stamina | ✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧✧ |
| Courage | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧ | Caution | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧ |
| Honesty | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧ | Loyalty | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧ |
| Maturity | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧ | Creativity | ✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧ |
| Cleanliness | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧ | Work ethic | ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧ |
✧ Physical Stats ✧
| Physical Strength |
✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧
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Speed |
✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧✧
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| Magical Strength |
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧
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Constitution |
✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧✧✧
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| Physical Defense |
✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧✧✧
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Dexterity |
✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧
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| Magical Defense |
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧
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Stamina |
✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧✧
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Usage Notes
Do not kill Snezhana - if you wanna do something you can do better than that. All major changes that you plan to inflict on her (injury, romance, relationships, etc) should be passed by me first, although I will probably give the go ahead more often than not.
Gallery
[main reference image]
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Author's Notes
✦ [Notes from the page author]
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