Candice Alexandra
Candice Alexandra (a.k.a. Shimmer)
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Of average physique, Shimmer's strength is more sinewy than bulk. She possesses a dancer's legs, which she puts to excellent use.
Body Features
Physically well-put-together, her skin lacks any blemishes save for a smattering of artificial freckles she often forgets to apply.
Facial Features
Her face is nearly-perfectly symmetrical, usually graced with a silver eyebrow piercing.
Identifying Characteristics
Besides her signature violet-glowing eyes that mark her as a spherecaster, she has been branded as a slave by a long-since-faded mark on her thigh.
Physical quirks
Despite her shy skittishness, Shimmer walks with the assured confidence - a swagger, almost - of someone who knows their worth.
Special abilities
While fairly acrobatic and a considerable combatant in her own right, Shimmer's grandest ability lies in her magic. While it extracts a severe toll on her body, she's managed to learn a few of the Words of Creation - the very same protolanguage that most Power Words are based on.
She tends to be quite wary about invoking them without preparation, however, as merely speaking them aloud wracks her very essence, corrupting her body and draining her endurance - she greatly fears what mispronouncing one could do.
Apparel & Accessories
Though she only possesses one outfit made from linen and light, common leather, its impractical nature suggests some sort of religious significance, or perhaps more aesthetic sense than practical.
Shimmer's boots, however, are likely the most expensive thing she currently owns, being made from gatorskin with steel spikes for heels.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Born in Osirion to a family of caravaneers, Shimmer traveled the trade routes with her parents until they met with one of the unfortunately more common hazards of the desert: Bandits.
She was quickly sold off into slavery after a long trek to Kelesh, her new master being an unreasonably-wealthy spellcaster of a sort she was never able to deduce.
She fulfilled many roles for her master, from menial labor to experimental subject, and eventually less savory things best left unsaid. By the time she managed her escape, she was all but broken, wandering what she came to learn was the Varisian coast near Magnimar.
It was there that she learned of the local Mystery Cults, when a follower of Arshea reached out to her and helped piece together what she could manage.
Since then, Shimmer has sought to emulate Arshea in every aspect she could - roaming Golarion, providing aid and affirmations when needed, and seeking to pay forward the kindnesses done to her.
Gender Identity
While female by default, Shimmer sees very little reason to worry about who or what she is, and is even toying with the idea of figuring out how to reshape her own body with her magics.
Sexuality
While sex-positive, as befitting a cultist of Arshea, Shimmer prefers not to partake outside of specific rare individuals. Most would call her demisexual.
Education
While largely uneducated, Shimmer has taken a liking to Opera, memorizing a great many pieces, though she can't properly carry a tune.
She's literate, and often uses her magic to create short-lived writing supplies for the sole purpose of getting stories out of her head and down on paper as a means of coping with her assorted traumas.
Employment
Shimmer doesn't actively seek employment, as all she really requires is a roof over her head - and even that is barely a necessity, as she's used to roughing it in the wilderness. A hole away from the elements is all she truly requires, provided she has a means to recharge her magical energies handy.
Accomplishments & Achievements
Though she refuses to disclose where or how, Shimmer has managed to learn a few words of creation - namely the words denoting "Transformation" and "Creation".
Failures & Embarrassments
Shimmer tries her best not to dwell on failures, though in the moment she tends to fixate on nothing but.
Mental Trauma
Having lived most of her life facing severe punishments for failures as a slave, Shimmer still holds a deep fear of failure. This fear of disappointment also leads her to invoke her magic more hastily when someone verbally requests something.
Intellectual Characteristics
More clever than many, Shimmer thinks quickly, though failure can easily throw a wrench in her works, leading into a spiral. While she tries her best to see good in people, her past traumas sometimes cloud her judgment.
Morality & Philosophy
As a cultist of Arshea, Shimmer staunchly believes in the ideals of redemption and freedom, trying her best to live her truest self and encouraging others to do the same.
Taboos
While she isn't sure if it's widely-held(as her cult is generally secretive), Shimmer sees self-repression to be a breach of faith.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
More than anything, Shimmer is motivated by the ideal of self-actualization. She knows that perfection is an unattainable goal, but that shouldn't stop anyone from refining themselves to the best version that they can be.
Savvies & Ineptitudes
While savvy with speechwriting and recitation, Shimmer isn't particularly skilled with anything else in particular - and is somewhat tone-deaf. She also tends to get overstimulated easily, as whether legitimate or merely a result of some sort of damage, she can hear the voices of what she calls "solid things" - what she believes is Creation itself trying to communicate with her.
Likes & Dislikes
Likes: Solitude, quiet, that spot where civilization meets wilderness.
Dislikes: Crowds, discordant noises.
Virtues & Personality perks
Very nonjudgmental, Shimmer is keenly aware that everyone has their lowest points. But barring the use of a shovel, it's only upwards from there!
Vices & Personality flaws
She can sometimes be a bit TOO nonjudgmental.
Personality Quirks
Given to moods where she speaks in whispers, she can also often be seen fidgeting with her clothing or hair.
Hygiene
Like many in Osirion, Shimmer prefers to keep her hair short and her body mostly hairless, grooming religiously - to the point that she carries a portable bathtub in her backpack.
Social
Contacts & Relations
Mystery Cultists of Arshea
Family Ties
While she has relatives in Osirion, she's hesitant to approach them as she was only a child when she was orphaned and abducted - she's likely been accepted as dead by now.
Religious Views
Tenets of Arshea: Inspire passion, comfort and free the repressed, seek your true self and desires.
Social Aptitude
It depends on the day, but Shimmer more often than not freely approaches people that look like they're having issues.
Mannerisms
Generally upbeat, Shimmer nonetheless has brooding phases where she self-isolates, implying she's not as fully-healed as she could be.
Hobbies & Pets
While lacking pets, Shimmer makes a hobby of "conversing" with inanimate objects as though they were companions. Whether in actuality or not, she believes that they respond back.
She has a weakness for wildlife though.
Speech
Occasionally stilted or distracted, Shimmer speaks her languages fluently and with a distinct Taldane accent - as her parents were merchants, they saw it more practical to teach her Taldane before ethnic Osiriani, as did their parents before them for generations back.
Wealth & Financial state
A fistful of gold coins that she keeps stored away in a hole somewhere in the woods.
A former slave possessed of an exceptional bloodline, this ill-luck woman can grant wishes and speak objects into creation, though she prefers to fight with her feet. In an effort to overcome her past, she adopted a new name.
"Yes, yes, I know you're a devil. Piznar the Mighty you call yourself, but WHAT are you? WHO are you? What do you hope to be at the top of the pile?" - A conversation with a wizard's Imp familiar.
Taldane, Osiriani, Celestial
