Ohva Siinfekl
Ohva Siinfekl
A love for mice fills this young girl as she makes her way through a magic academy refining her talents in crafting arcane dolls and figures - mostly of mice, which she holds near and dear as a symbol of her newly attained freedom from her past.
Physical Description
Apparel & Accessories
Has a not-quite-fannypack of touch up supplies for her toy mice at her hip (paint brush, fine grit sanding paper, wood putty, polishing pads, racheting screwdriver, allen wrench)
Mental characteristics
Personal history
TIIIIINNNG! The first strike of the clock signal's the start of #6's day. Nimble children's hands were best suited to crafting the miniature gears essential for the city's functions. Wake. Create. Sleep. Repeat. #6 did not want to be an outlier; outliers are culled. However, on the odd occasion #6 was not under observation, she would take a small detour. Season after season, #6 would return to a family of black mice - perhaps only so from the thick soot - in a crevice near the outer city wall. Wear and tear led to cracks in the cobbled stone walls surrounding the city, where these little friends would flit in and out. What was their purpose? How did they fit the model? What did they observe beyond that wall?
#6 began to collect metal scraps; not so many that anyone would notice, but enough to begin to fashion her own mechanical mouse. The sides were crumpled and the mechanisms crunched instead of gliding, but this creation was hers and a small island of joy in a sea of suffering. At the next chance to see the mice, she took her construct to show them! She kneeled down on lowering her weight onto her blackened elbows and placed the metallic mouse at the crack in the wall. As always, the 5 black mice scurried in. This time, they did not climb the twisted horns of #6. The small pack lofted their look-a-like and carried it outside the walls. #6 peered out, watching as 5 tails and a glisten kept going.
She returned to the same spot, bringing a new scrap mouse with each visit. Her craftsmanship and speed improved, leaving the subsequent creations more and more life-like. The mice began to play and squeak like before, but would always end their visit running off into the distance with their new addition to the group. When #6 returned for the 10th time, and placed her work at the crevice a voice whispered "These are lovely creations and now I see where my helpers had spent so much time. Do you have a name? I’m Forsyl" A stout figured popped into sight with a well-worn apron tied around his waist, and #6 shook her head. "How about I call you Ohva?" He told Ohva about his workshop, the mice he raised, and how they started bringing back metallic mice. What he did not tell Ohva at first was how the renditions began to buzz and hum, and the latest one intermittently projected fuzzy images of a young girl - Ohva. (Cue montage of "toddler trying to unlock a tablet" photos of nostrils because Ohva had no idea she was able to do that). He offered to take Ohva and teach her what he knew about toymaking, carving, whittling, and the like to which she eagerly agreed. Ohva traded her metalworking for a carving knife and began to separate herself from the cold, mechanical past.
After 1 year had passed, Ohva grew more and more adventurous with her figurines. Dolls, dragons, birds, but most of all she loved her mice. One morning, after Ohva had just sat down with a wetted paintbrush, a knock on the door interrupted her work. “Ohva? A friend of mine is here to meet you.” She placed down her brush, and gave a little pat on the head to her newest creation before heading through the doorway. As she breached the threshold Ohva heard, “I had to pull a favor, but we did find a spot for her this year.” The graceful caretaker turned to greet Ohva, “I heard all about your carvings and toys. I’m sure you’ve noticed as well that in your hands they become more than just playthings. How would you like to come to our academy and learn how to make your friends more life-like?”
Ohva recoiled. No. nononononononononono. She didn’t know what this “academy” was but she did not like the sound of being trapped in bubble for years to come. She struggled more against her thoughts… #6… TIIIIINNGG
Forsyl scooped the young tiefling and cupped her hands away from her face. He explained more about what she could learn under the great guidance of Ioth and shared his own stories with a heart laugh. Ohva began to understand that this was not an end to her freedom, but another beginning – one even further from infernal rule. She asked Forsyl for a memento to keep her company, and before she left he slipped a hand-crafted mouse carved from the branch of an old willow tree, with the words “Never alone, always free” scripted onto the left hind paw.
Gender Identity
Female
Sexuality
Asexual
Education
Ioth Academy Student
Placed into the Cove
1st year craft: whittling/carving
2nd year elective: Magical History
3rd year elective: Runic Alphabets
4th year elective: Artifice
Ohva is strongly considering History & Tactics of Battle & Warfare for her 5th year elective
Magical history enthralled Ohva! She didn't have strong parental figures for most of her life and knew very little about the world. She needs to take in as much information about the world and magic as she can if she has any hopes of "blending in" to further her goals. She had a hard time with Runic Alphabets and mostly used it to draw random/nonsensical runes on the underside of some of her toy mice when she got bored.
I imagine Ohva would enter the Kisjan in her 5th year sometime after meeting Sventisko through the newspaper. Based on how the Spire incident went, I could see Sventisko being hesitant to recruit a new member to the inner circle of the Kisjan right away, especially one she knows very little about other than as the mouse girl (at this point Ohva probably gained a reputation when it comes to her toy mice - reactions kind of like Asena when Opal looked at her dragon tooth necklace, grabbed it, and said "it's mine", but Ohva would open the door afterwards and say something like "but I can make you something else if you'd like"). The way my head-canon has it going is Ohva would probably approach Sventisko in private, and be denied due to lack of demonstrated committment to the cause. Ohva would probably take a couple days to think, and then in a public avenue she would forcefully walk towards Sventisko, place her mouse on the ground, raise up her knee, and SMASH the mouse with the heel of her foot. Turns around and walks away. No words exchanged. Probably lots of staring because Ohva would never let other people handle her mice let alone hurt one. All in an effort to show Sventisko "I'm in" and to not question her committment. Please modify or toss the idea if it doesn't fit
Employment
Forced to make miniture gears for the Designers from her infancy until she was rescued
Mental Trauma
Loud metallic crashes remind her of having her every move watched while she crafted gears
Morality & Philosophy
Ohva grasps a sense of amusement from most "daily" forms of magic. Whenever she calls upon her magic she returns a glee filled curiosity (like landing a dream job thinking I can't BELIEVE they PAY me to do this!). Not all magic need be grandiose or decimating, but at it's core the greatest purpose of magic is protecting those who cannot protect themselves. What good is the Academy really doing if they aren't helping those who need it most?
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Ohva has two main forces behind her. The first is to perfect her toymaking craft to make her mice figurines as real as possible. The second is to throw a wrench in the gears of her old city. Identify a critical flaw and exploit it. Ohva knows she is not fit to engage a direct conflict with the Designers. She is more apt to join forces and provide utility/reconnaissance to aid in their destruction.
Likes & Dislikes
LOVES mice - she's basically the weird horse girl but with mice. She talks to them (real or constructed ones) about her classes, everyday life, and her hate for the infernals.
Ohva cannot stand to see a hierachy structure become abused. Power imbalances should never be used to make someone a doormat.
Personality Quirks
When she makes a new toy mouse, her last touch is booping it on the nose with her paintbrush to imbue magic into it.
Hygiene
Clean and well-kept with the exception of traces of her latest project stuck to her hair and attire (sawdust in her hair, wood stain coloring the tips of her fingers, etc)
Social
Family Ties
Forsyl: her temporary carer after he rescued her from the Designers
From the Designer city she spent her infancy and toddlerhood(?) in, she was at the bottom of the barrel. She was bred to work, nothing more and maybe even less in the eyes of the Designers
Religious Views
Ohva doesn't follow any spiritual views, but is interested in understanding them from a cultural perspective. ie, if she were to ask for help or want to gather information from somewhere, how would people who follow "xyz" ideaology respond best
Social Aptitude
Ohva is usually cheerful to interact with and can carry a conversation. However she doesn't stick around in one place for too long (but won't leave mid conversation). She's still working on believing it's okay to have familial bonds and understanding them. She'd probably be the person late to arrive at parties, early to leave and spends most of the time petting the dogs with a smile but will be happy to converse if someone approaches her.
Mannerisms
Oddly focused at making eye contact in conversation while simultaneously being a mouse playground if any of her toys are activated or any real mice are around.
Hobbies & Pets
Mice!
Walking the coasts in the Cove looking for driftwood to use in her next carving
Speech
I see Ohva as more of a doesn't speak unless spoken too person - not in a strict SIRYESSIR way, but a "if I don't feel like I have something meaningful to say, I will just listen" way. Very anatomically correct verbiage when referring to the structure of any of her toys (she wouldn't refer to the neck or back of the mouse but to the region of the spine with the numbered vertabrae)
Wealth & Financial state
She's poor
A love for mice fills this young girl as she makes her way through a magic academy refining her talents in crafting arcane dolls and figures - mostly of mice, which she holds near and dear as a symbol of her newly attained freedom from her past.
View Character Profile
Birthplace
A Designer City - Ohva would know very little about it
Children
Current Residence
Ioth Academy - The Ring (formerly in the Cove)
Gender
Female
Eyes
Gold
Hair
Black long hair tied up in a milkmaid braid that wraps around her head twice
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Very pale with the slightest tint of red, almost like a pale cherry blossom
Height
5'8"
Year 4 Project Planning
To Forsyl,
I think I have a good outline of what I want to do with my project. I mentioned it in my last letter, but I ironed out some more details. I’m still making a puppet show using my mice of some magic traditions! I spent a few days down at the shores collective some driftwood, and I found some really great pieces. Lots of character and not too many knots! I gotta say, after carving these up and putting on the finishing touches, I think these toy mice are my best work yet!
I talked with the instructor, and she suggested picking a few cultures instead of tons of them. I had no idea there were so many settlements! The world is so big! I thought the Hillfolk, the Iron Empire, and the Vutazon tribe – one of the Dragon Tribes of Okarthel – would be a good selection. We haven’t really been taught much of the details for infernal cultures. I get why, but at the same time how can an institution responsible for educating those who have the potential to change things in the world withhold so much information!! It’s… disappointing. I don’t envy those with sheer combative prowess, but how can I fight this way when my weapon is knowledge? I keep going in circular thought patterns with this, and it might be best to pick something outside the infernals to just get this done with.
I’m worried about the performance though. Faking emotion has never come naturally to me, you know that well enough. I… it’s hard, Forsyl. You think after years of being free, I’d brush off the mental shackles when I’m put in front of a crowd. I know there’s some bards in a nearby dorm that I might be able to reach out to. Or maybe one of the 5th years in the Ring? I could send a letter to Cuper? I don’t think I’m allowed to visit the Ring. He always knew how to put on a show while he was here. I hope he has time around his courses to give me a few pointers. It feels like none of this matters; why are we holed up? Away from the world… I’m sure there’s people who need help just like I needed your help.
It's been a while, please write when you can. I wonder what’s going on out there.
Ohva
The Green Gala
Hey Forsyl,
The Green Gala was tonight. I didn't have anyone to go with, but don't worry! I wasn't lonely. The mice from around the academy followed me out; I gave them little green top hats and we danced! Well... mostly stumbled over our feet, but it was a blast! The performances were spectacular as well! Dancing and lights, music! I can't believe there can be so much fun in one night!
I even met a new friend... I think a friend? I'm not sure. Her name is Hilde and she's a fairy. She really liked the mice I make, and they would be helpful with fitting her textiles, but I couldn't let one go. I'm going to spend the night making her something else though! I've got a piece of driftwood in the corner I think I could get some great toy mannequins out of. A human, a humanoid with wings, a humanoid with a tail, and maybe a squirrel since she liked the mice so much. I'll have to remember to send a paintbrush so she can control their model program I will put in them.
There was some commotion towards the end of the night, but the caretakers quelled it relatively fast. I wonder what that was all about, but I have enough on my mind as it is. It's midway through the year and I need to get working on my project. I've gotten a little better at imbuing more than one mice at a time. I want to see if I can push that into a "puppet" show! This year one of my classes is all about magic traditions, and I think if I can get the mice to replicate a play of those traditions it'd be a shoe-in for great marks. Wish me luck ~
Hope to hear back from you soon,
Ohva
#6
TIIIIINNNG! The first strike of the clock signal's the start of #6's day. Nimble children's hands were best suited to crafting the miniature gears essential for the city's functions. Wake. Create. Sleep. Repeat. #6 did not want to be an outlier; outliers are culled. However, on the odd occasion #6 was not under observation, she would take a small detour. Season after season, #6 would return to a family of black mice - perhaps only so from the thick soot - in a crevice near the outer city wall. Wear and tear led to cracks in the cobbled stone walls surrounding the city, where these little friends would flit in and out. What was their purpose? How did they fit the model? What did they observe beyond that wall?
#6 began to collect metal scraps; not so many that anyone would notice, but enough to begin to fashion her own mechanical mouse. The sides were crumpled and the mechanisms crunched instead of gliding, but this creation was hers and a small island of joy in a sea of suffering. At the next chance to see the mice, she took her construct to show them! She kneeled down on lowering her weight onto her blackened elbows and placed the metallic mouse at the crack in the wall. As always, the 5 black mice scurried in. This time, they did not climb the twisted horns of #6. The small pack lofted their look-a-like and carried it outside the walls. #6 peered out, watching as 5 tails and a glisten kept going.
She returned to the same spot, bringing a new scrap mouse with each visit. Her craftsmanship and speed improved, leaving the subsequent creations more and more life-like. The mice began to play and squeak like before, but would always end their visit running off into the distance with their new addition to the group. When #6 returned for the 10th time, and placed her work at the crevice a voice whispered "These are lovely creations and now I see where my helpers had spent so much time. Do you have a name? I’m Forsyl" A stout figured popped into sight with a well-worn apron tied around his waist, and #6 shook her head. "How about I call you Ohva?" He told Ohva about his workshop, the mice he raised, and how they started bringing back metallic mice. What he did not tell Ohva at first was how the renditions began to buzz and hum, and the latest one intermittently projected fuzzy images of a young girl - Ohva. (Cue montage of "toddler trying to unlock a tablet" photos of nostrils because Ohva had no idea she was able to do that). He offered to take Ohva and teach her what he knew about toymaking, carving, whittling, and the like to which she eagerly agreed. Ohva traded her metalworking for a carving knife and began to separate herself from the cold, mechanical past.
After 1 year had passed, Ohva grew more and more adventurous with her figurines. Dolls, dragons, birds, but most of all she loved her mice. One morning, after Ohva had just sat down with a wetted paintbrush, a knock on the door interrupted her work. “Ohva? A friend of mine is here to meet you.” She placed down her brush, and gave a little pat on the head to her newest creation before heading through the doorway. As she breached the threshold Ohva heard, “I had to pull a favor, but we did find a spot for her this year.” The graceful caretaker turned to greet Ohva, “I heard all about your carvings and toys. I’m sure you’ve noticed as well that in your hands they become more than just playthings. How would you like to come to our academy and learn how to make your friends more life-like?”
Ohva recoiled. No. nononononononononono. She didn’t know what this “academy” was but she did not like the sound of being trapped in bubble for years to come. She struggled more against her thoughts… #6… TIIIIINNGG
Forsyl scooped the young tiefling and cupped her hands away from her face. He explained more about what she could learn under the great guidance of Ioth and shared his own stories with a heart laugh. Ohva began to understand that this was not an end to her freedom, but another beginning – one even further from infernal rule. She asked Forsyl for a memento to keep her company, and before she left he slipped a hand-crafted mouse carved from the branch of an old willow tree, with the words “Never alone, always free” scripted onto the left hind paw.
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