Isis Smith Character in Ta Mando ~~ The World Of Kanda | World Anvil

Isis Smith

General Isis A'ishah Smith, "The General" (a.k.a. The Divine Usurper)

Not all Primes are new to The ShiftVerse!   One such Prime is the result of an underprivileged child pushing through her life on sheer determination and dedicated hard work only to have those great ambitions snuffed all too early!
Having gone through many shifts before Ta Mando and having seen many different worlds, Isis Smith is the first of the Founders Of Kanda to return; arriving in the capital of Vaennland to hold High Queen Thyrke at her word to Isis' now dead summoner.   A full conversion cyborg who understands the mechanics of The ShiftVerse and how to deal with primitive cultures, Isis represents one of the most capable and dangerous of The Reincarnated Founders Of Kanda!   She Is The Father Of War!
And She Shall Introduce To Ta Mando A NEW Way To Fight!

Divine Domains

War
Kanda
Vaennland
Power
Supremacy
The Sky
The Sea
Storms
Lightning
Forests
Caprines, Bovines And Equines (Goats, Cattle And Horses)
Law
Ingenuity / Invention / Innovation
Firearms
Meteorites
Farming
Travel
Ships / Boats
Corvids (Crows, Ravens And Relatives)
Picidae (Woodpeckers And Relatives)

Holy Books & Codes

Equal parts holy book, code of laws, educational textbook and military manual; Isis has spent the last year working in her off time to collect all possible Vaennlandr information from within the realm itself.
Before she left she called upon all manner of lawspeakers and collectors to buy or take any potential information from the culture and return it to the capital, desiring to continue High Queen Thyrke's goals of truly unifying Vaennland by bringing together all relevant knowledge and index it properly.   Though she does not regard it as a holy book in any way, Isis returned to nearly all possible articles of information the Vaennlandrs had ever maintained and quickly compiled all such information into a more manageable single text that simultaneously spares no details and accounts for cultural bias, mytho-history and scientific advancement; all the while insisting in big, bold letters on the front page that it is NOT a source of divine authority.   Rather this text, Known to most as Sa Albok, (The All-Book) continues on the next page to state itself as an entirely MORTAL work that contains all the important information the Vaennlandrs have accrued over the centuries and is destined to be updated many times in the future as more information is gathered not only from within the Vaennlandr sphere of influence but also from other nations and even other species!
Containing information on everything from germ theory to martial arts to farming, Sa Albok is a Comprehensive text several thousand pages long and generally produced with small, colored cloth tabs that stick out of certain parts of the book to indicate the separation of certain sections; Medicine, Cooking, Sailing, Architecture, etc.   The Book doesn't contain only writing, however!
Due to the nature of the materials that Isis must use to print these books, most Alboks have very large print and roomy margins that lend themselves well to illumination and the first edition of said text happens to come with several blank pages interspersed throughout the codex to be drawn in by the final distributors.
Because of this, most Alboks have fanciful illustrations, pictures of special cultural or historical scenes and family trees drawn into them by their owners!   Far more important than the simple after-release drawings are the numerous diagrams and instructional charts contained within the codex that grant visual instruction on all manner of activities from barn building to military drills to how to splint a broken leg and more!
While certainly expensive and difficult to produce, it is no mystery why the Vaennlandrs have started to consider Sa Albok to be Isis Smith's personal holy text!

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Tall, Fit, Physically Domineering, Isis Smith is one of the first female US Army Rangers in her timeline; an American Soldier through and through, the perfect image of a military woman of authority!   However, unlike the typical American grunt, Isis is a pandimensional nano-cyborg; possessing of obviously metal limbs, artificial eyes and all manner of abilities that no mortal human being could possibly reproduce!   The Product of combining an ideal human soldier with NanoLife's™ finest technologies; (And Ongoing Updates!) The Father Of War is a muscular, intimidating woman of middle eastern descent who moves with practiced grace and glows with unnatural constitution and strength!

Body Features

It would be fair at this point to say that Isis is "More Machine Than Woman."
While, at first glance, it may seem as though her special additions stop at her shoulders and the junction of her legs, this is truly just a cosmetic feature!   Indeed, Isis' entire body is mostly nanotechnology; her topmost layers of false skin concealing sheets of constantly updating nanomesh that stops all attacks, her heart a veritable engine that more fuels her immense power consumption needs than pumps blood through her body, all the while her stomach is a furnace that takes everything put inside of it and breaks it down to its most basic components to gently meter them out to her overtime.   All in all, there is little of Isis that would not be considered a "feature;" with lungs like train cars, an electronic mesh through her entire neurological system and little jets in her legs and arms to facilitate flight!
However, a surprising amount of her reproductive system, brain, spine and certain nerve systems remain mostly the same; with only small alterations... compared to the rest of her body's changes.

Facial Features

While her face is mostly a human one, with strong cheekbones, a firm jaw and a generally Levantine facial structure, Isis possesses eyes that have no identifiable sclera or pupil; instead a screen of Cold War Green that regularly contains flickers and tiny shapes that pop into existence before blipping away just as fast as they arrived.
These flickers are images on Isis' personal HUD, literally beamed into her vision like some sort of personal viewscreen as she mentally navigates various processes and programs buried in her system.
While it may seem like she has control over these flickers, in actuality over 80% of them are automated progress reports and scans that she has little need to pay attention to unless she's specifically looking for something or analyzing things exhaustively.   Despite the fact that these eyes hold no special ability to effect others, most Ta Mando Natives find it difficult to look directly at Isis' Face when speaking to her, as they feel her eyes are unnatural (Which They Are!) and must have some divine ability to cow mortals.
In actuality, they just find her eyes too uncanny to stare at for any amount of time. True to form, Isis KNOWS that her eyes make people uncomfortable and often tries to use this fact in diplomatic proceedings to unsteady or intimidate her interlocutors if she feels she needs to.

Identifying Characteristics

At a distance the most identifying features of Isis are her limb prosthetics.
Possessing none of her original arms and legs, Isis instead has metallic arms and legs composed of pandimensional nanotechnology that runs throughout her entire body.
While they are seamless, warm and soft to the touch like real flesh and can pick up sensation better than any human ever could these arms are also obviously unnatural at a glance even from a distance and in motion.   Strikingly metallic and mirrored like liquid mercury, it is evident to anyone who sees her hands and arms that Isis is no longer merely human.
Now she is more...
It's even more apparent when one sees where her prosthetics join her body; slowly fading from metallic to flesh in an effect where nobody can QUITE tell where the metal ends and the flesh begins.

Special abilities

As A NanoLife™ Cyborg powered by a trans dimensional shunt into a supermassive black hole in another universe, Isis has no shortage of special abilities to call upon at her disposal!   Simply being made of the material she is provides her with near invulnerability even to conventional weapons such as firearms and basic explosives like claymores and grenades along with many typical magical hazards.
Her arms are extremely reflective and can become more so if she wills it, allowing her to Deflect lasers and fine ray weaponry, though not with any necessary precision.   Beyond her basic resilience she can recover from nearly any wound very quickly; visibly healing whenever something does manage to break her near indestructible skin.
While perhaps not instant, her body is more than capable of reintegrating mass that has been removed from her body. She can quickly regrow limbs and only requires seconds to reattach a severed limb.
Even if whatever came off of her is damaged beyond repair she can call out to the nanotech that she lost and have it return to her.
Because of this, disembodied arms and legs can crawl their way back or even functionally liquify and slide back into her body.   Isis' Eyes are their own individual computers, entirely made of special nanotechnology that feeds her constant information about her surroundings.
While perhaps not perfect, they are still technological masterpieces that allow her considerably more situational awareness than any human eyes could offer and provide what every FPS Gamer has always wanted; a real life Heads-Up Display!
This HUD doesn't only provide her with basic information like her biostatistics and the known information of whoever she looks at but rather compiles all of the data she bears witness to and helps her make all of her decisions as she makes them.
Linking in with the rest of her brain; Isis' eyes regularly feed her advanced combat formulae, charming taglines for diplomatic conversation, active translations of languages her conscious mind hasn't yet fully processed and may even allow for advanced spatial mathematics based around bullet trajectories and other such combat hazards as they come.
Because of how her mind processes things so quickly these tiny flashes of information pop up in her field of vision and fade away before any normal human mind could possibly read them, allowing her to consistently outmaneuver her opponents both in battle and in court.
She suspects that her Eyes are even connected to a discorporate artificial intelligence but, in actuality, they are linked to a backup of her own identity that is completely aware of her role and responds to her every now and then, even giving the occasional witty retort to her innermost doubts and suspicions.   While her arms are normally seamless they are more than able to open up with various tiny "ports" that allow her to do certain special activities like plugging into modern machinery and interfacing with electronics.
Despite the organic look of most of her torso, Isis is almost entirely nanotech and thus even her skin is part of the machine that she's become.   For example, Isis often uses concentrated laser fire as her main ranged weapon and, at any given point, may fire up to three hundred finely tuned beams at a time; in any or all directions as she pleases.
While these lasers actually "bleed" off of her body rather than come out of a specific focusing port they merely emphasize that Isis' seamless metal arms hide plenty of combat secrets.   Her legs and arms may project jets of superheated plasma at any given point in time, allowing flight.
Because of how her system works this uses surprisingly little energy and she may remain airborne for several hours at about Mach .5 before needing to land and rest.
Despite this, Isis is not a huge fan of flying and tends to keep her feet on the ground in everyday life.   On Site Isis may construct numerous NanoLife™ Micro-Warheads within her own body; guiding them with automated systems in her spine that lock onto a target.
These tiny missiles, while barely an inch long and a sixteenth of an inch wide, deliver gruesome explosive loads that can level small buildings with a single device.   In matters of life and death, when faced with extreme explosive ordinance, Isis may choose to open up all available "ports" to intake atmospheric gas and plasma; briefly setting her most important remaining organs in a special form of stasis that keeps them from melting under the strain.
Her body will utilize intense force provided by her pandimensional power source to intake the surrounding explosions and flames and use them as fuel!
During this process her body begins to incandesce, her eyes and every other orifice glowing white hot while her conscious mind is entirely suppressed under automated emergency systems built into her spine that control her body with brutal efficiency.
While fully charged like this she moves faster, hits harder and even touching her can cause instant third degree burns.
However, she can only maintain this sort of state for a few minutes before she begins truly overheating and has to forcibly eject the heat through the millions of micro-port pores of all over her body.   For Ta Mando, Isis was equipped with a supply of three "Limerence Devices." (Aka: "Love Bombs")
These chemical bioweapons are individually programmed to effect a single individual at the moment of deployment.
Invisibly they release specialized pheromones that functionally brainwash the target into falling completely and madly in love with Isis over the course of the next few days, though the immediate effects register as extreme attraction, sexual eagerness, nervousness and intense anxiety toward Isis in seconds to minutes.
Any mortal, magically inclined or otherwise, will succumb to the urge to submit to her opinions and desires within twelve hours.
Love Bombs, moreover, work over a long period of time and drastically effect the victim's way of thinking about Isis even though it leaves the victim's personality otherwise entirely intact.
This is how Isis Smith seduced High Queen Thyrke and forced her to surrender the Route To The Head Of Sa Reginormr. (The God-Serpent)
While the effect is incredibly powerful, like all Limerence, the effect wears off in around three years; after which "The Spark" is lost and feelings of love may still persist but are not compelled.   Perhaps unsurprisingly, Isis is able to consume electrical energy to gain power!
Able to tank untold amounts of electricity head on and store it for herself, Isis was able to use The Vaennlandr Sky Father's power against him and come out victorious even as the late deity summoned hurricane force storms and smote her with several lightning strikes a second; using the excess electricity he offered to bolster her healing factor during combat!
Now, with the Sky Father's Power as her own, Isis can use her newfound weather powers to overcharge herself if need be!   While the list of Isis' abilities go on much longer she generally stays with intense strength, near invulnerability, lasers, missiles and standard American military snark.
However, Isis is, all the same, equipped with all manner of special additions that allow her a touch more reach than her previous incarnations through the Shift!   Since her ascendance to The Sky Father Of Vaennland Isis has also gained many amazing, often meteorologically oriented abilities that include; summoning lightning and storms, producing electricity, mastery of the waves, dominance over certain types of animals and many other abilities she's still exploring and discovering.

Apparel & Accessories

Isis appears to have three different modes of dress:   When she is presiding over her soldiers, performing overtly physical activities or out on some mission she typically wears fatigues; typical, modern military camo made, dyed and patterned from local materials.
When wearing Camo Isis is "The Badass" of Vaennland and acts as the highest military officer in Ta Mando would act; with absolute authority and a responsibility to see to the protection and proper education of her charges.
She wears no makeup or paint, no special jewelry and no items that can act as decoration; only her various medals and items of merit that would be typical in such dress during strictly formal military occasions. (Such As Directly Addressing Her Soldiers In A Grandiose Speech!)
Interestingly, Isis is completely willing to strip down while carrying this persona; scrap with fellow soldiers, shed layers to keep from overheating, etc. She's a typical soldier, even if she's also an officer.
When she wears her fatigues she almost seems to forget that she's in a new world or that she ever lost her arms and legs in the first place.   When Isis is presiding over administrative duties she dresses as a Kandia might in the role of authority!
Possessing no appropriate silk or high quality cloth from Kanda or The West, Isis generally wears linen Timbia made from flax... or wool in the winter time when she feels like it.
Because of her particular association with The Jade Faction of Ta Thinal (No Matter How Distant!) she tends to wear dark green cloth in preference to any other color.
Despite the fact that she could, Isis seldom wears any special jewelry or decorations with her Timbia, understanding that the Vaennlandrs don't value the same styles as the Kandia.
Instead she wears suitable arms and an iron torc to appear modest in the presence of her subjects.   When Isis is out on the town and partying she dresses in "Modern Casual."
When celebrating she wears jewelry, paint, makeup and/or various decorations she feels like, depending on the event in question.
Wearing shorts and a local tunic, she likes to be able to move around, spar, drink and otherwise move freely while also not being strictly in Fatigues.
While she seldom takes personal part in the activities of the Vaennlandrs, Isis inevitably dresses like this while in the field when not otherwise wearing fatigues; farming, building, hunting, etc.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Born a first generation American to a pair of middle easterners who fled to the USA to escape international conflict in the 1980's, Isis' parents were not wealthy nor particularly well educated and after being pulled into dirty avenues to survive in the western world, they were caught up in bad luck shortly after her birth and killed in a drive-by shooting in her neighborhood.
Thereafter she was taken into government custody and cycled into the foster system.   Growing up going from one bad household to the next, Isis at first was nothing more than an outcast; without terribly much special about her and without noteworthy talents that other children have.
She was continuously regarded as "normal" and "average" and "Nothing special" but always found these descriptors more insult than anything.
She didn't want to be average!
She wanted to be the best of the best and her motivation for this pushed her to work hard in her schoolwork growing up; ignoring the many families she was made to stay with for the potential of a brighter future for herself.   Her passions, first and foremost, were Robots, Martial Arts And The Law!
She wanted to know why her life was how it was and what the system surrounding her did, how she could defend herself from those who killed her parents and how she could make the planet a better place through the fascinating world of quickly advancing science.   As her life went from child to teen, Isis consistently showed her educators that she was far more than simply average with the help of a few interested and dedicated teachers.
Once her goals were set and she knew what she wanted in life she stayed determined and carried on with honors throughout her high school career!
Perhaps not individually talented but a master of hard work and eager to show it, Isis was a regular member of many academic clubs and activities; mostly to get away from poor home life and keep her eyes on the prize!   In her final year of high school an army recruiter came to her school and talked to many students about their potential.
Taken by the glamor and marketing of the US Military, Isis signed up as soon as she could and went straight from high school into the middle east; back to the birthplace of her late parents, the ones she never got the chance to know!   Unsurprisingly her good academic history, drive to succeed, broad field of knowledge and obsession with the martial arts brought her a long way!
Making a name for herself, she became a squad leader and advanced through the ranks!
Then her ticket came!   Having spent several years already in the field, she signed up for Ranger School, becoming one of the first women to graduate and become a US Army Ranger!
As head of her class, with a history of quality leadership and a tenacity seldom before seen by her instructors, Isis pushed through and led numerous operations successfully thereafter. Despite not being as popular or well known as Samantha J. Hunt and always having a bit of a chip on her shoulder for the "Born Not Made" mentality that Hunt carried around, Isis made a name for herself and gained the longstanding respect of both her superiors and fellow soldiers!   Until her final mission came...
Breaking into an enemy stronghold on a counter-terrorist raid, Isis decided to take point on the operation out of concern for the safety of her subordinates.
Kicking in a door, she found herself wreathed in flames; thrown by a blast wave that tore her to pieces!
Having lost both of her legs and an arm, most of her face and at least two internal organs she was consigned to a military medical wing. She had the best of care... but she would never be properly capable again. She struggled constantly with nightmares of the incident... of losing everything.
She could barely even talk and she would never again walk.
She was given medals and honors and promotions... but it meant nothing to her.
She could do nothing with them now...   For several years she tried to cope and recover as best as she ever would; moved from hospital to hospital, taken care of dearly but never allowed to really live.
She grew depressed and stopped answering calls, stopped taking visitors, stopped writing, stopped doing anything.
Soon the doctors worried she would stop eating.   Then, one day, a snappily dressed man with a bowler hat stepped into her room.
He talked with her for a long time. He told her the truth; of how she was a war hero, a true soldier and a champion of self improvement.
She had come from nothing and yet here she was... an accomplished captain and one of the first women to graduate ranger school!
Top of her class robotics expert and all around turner of tables!
She had lived as the example that heroes are MADE, Not Born!   They needed that right then and there. They NEEDED that example!
And if she'd simply sign away on the dotted line... she would get her second chance at life!
She would become a hero again!
She would be able to function greater than any human ever had before!
She would be able to travel again, to eat on her own, to do whatever she wanted and more!   And there was no catch!
This wasn't some sort of strange contract that she had to make sure she paid back!
This was offering a reward for all of her hard work and sacrifice!
"NanoLife™" would make sure that she got the rewards and recognition she deserved!   So, with what little coordination she had left... she signed for the procedure.
She was moved to a different facility and there she was put under... for a LONG time!
She would never be able to tell how long it was...   But when she opened her eyes again... it was not a hospital in which she lay... it was a new home!
It was a new LIFE!
And she was more powerful than any human could ever be; her arms and legs replaced with nanotech prosthetics!
She could FEEL again!
She was WHOLE again... better than whole!
She had been made into the very definition of a futuristic, Science Fiction Cyborg!   And from there... she lived many lifetimes in different worlds; finishing different personal missions, being periodically thrown into a new reality to start over!
Eventually, at the behest of a fellow prime in a somewhat more modern shift, she took the rank of "General" and continues to go by that rank!   Ta Mando is simply her next location!
The Father Of War is merely her MOST recent title!
After over a year in the world she has constructed a fleet of ships to discover the new world, compiled all potential cultural information into a single, comprehensive document, killed the head of the Vaennlandr Pantheon and taken his place as Sa Vaennlandr Himminfadir and invented the firearm for a new doctrine of war that the Vaennlandr's may adopt to establish themselves as EQUAL To Kanda! She shows NO Signs of ever slowing down in her multidimensional adventures!   Though... upon her arrival... Perhaps SOMETHING has made Isis consider staying a bit longer than usual.
Only time will tell.

Gender Identity

Isis Identifies As A Woman, Though Does Not Seem To Stick With Typical Modern Gender Norms And Uses A Lot Of Gender Neutral Or Even Masculine Terminology In Reference To Herself

Sexuality

Isis Is What Some Might Call A Polyamorous Predatory Omnisexual ~~
In The Style Of A Typical American Career Soldier... She Likes Having Fun And Isn't Typically Too Discerning About Who She Has It With!

Education

While her formative education was relatively standard for an early 21st century upbringing and despite numerous setbacks due to her family situation, (or lack thereof) Isis was a consistently hard working student with a great motivation to learn and spend her time on dedicated study; if nothing else to get out of her fractious and uncomfortable home life!
She poured herself into her personal education long before she knew what she wanted out of her life.   After joining the US Army Isis' love of learning never did stop; always ensuring she was processing something new even in her scant off-time in the field.
While others would spend their money on trips to the bar, cars, good clothes and fancy electronics for their own entertainment Isis was studying college textbooks, taking online courses in robotics and law; learning everything she could to both make her a better soldier and give her the edge in the rest of society!
Her superiors noticed this work ethic and dedicated a lot of money into her training; giving her more downtime to study and eventually to become a well established officer.
Henceforth she was only given the best education and the most personal tutors to ensure that she never let her fellow soldiers down!   At every stage of her life Isis has made sure to stay on top of her education; to learn all she could both formally and practically!
This has not and seemingly will not ever change, as she's taken on many tutors in Vaennland to teach her about Ta Mando and to educate her on the many skills the the common people use in their daily life.

Employment

While most of her adult life pre-shift has been in the US military, it is important to remember that she's been through at least two shifts previous and what small details matter for her military career can be easily read over in her personal history.   However, Presently Isis is equal parts inventor, military instructor, admiral, politician and administrator to the capital city of Vaennland!
While absolutely unpaid, Isis wields all manner of political power over the local Vaennlandrs, having instructed them in many methods that the Kandia do not have as a show of good faith and friendship to support the Vaennlandr's ambitions!   More importantly even than her position as an important public figure, Isis has recently destroyed the Sky Father of Vaennland's Cultural Pantheon, stealing his power for herself and taking his position in the council of northern deities!
Because of this she is regularly called upon by the divine entities of Vaennland to manage her end of the Imperial Bureaucracy; a role she has quickly grown to regret taking on in her excitement to cow the pantheon of Vaennland and only keeps up with due to her expertise in mortal law and legislation.

Accomplishments & Achievements

Recently Isis Smith has returned from The New World with physical evidence of her destination!
Leaving the year before with over a fifty brand new ships constructed to new standards, Isis left with High Queen Thyrke (Pregnant At The Time!) to explore the waters to the east of The Spirit Isles, finding a new continent and bringing back natives from this strange new place! This not only fulfilled her side of the Divine Contract with Vaennland's Sky Father but proved to the people that there was yet more land in the world to discover and colonize... and it lay beyond their personal favorite travel medium!
Bolstered by the now known existence of an entirely new land full of resources as of yet untapped, Isis has begun a new Vaennlandr Age of Expansion oriented across the seas INSTEAD of south into the Empire Of Kanda!
Whether some like to accept it or not, this also means that Isis has fulfilled her duties to Kanda WHILE actively serving as the head goddess of Vaennland's Pantheon; an accomplishment for anyone!   Though she hasn't told anyone in Ta Mando, Isis has never chosen to have a child in any previous Shifts; consistently too busy to consider such things.
Therefor, While a bit more of a personal accomplishment, Isis and Thyrke's daughter Kara sits on this list as absolutely the first Vaennlandr Child born in The New World!
While Isis herself doesn't believe that this makes Kara any more special than she already is, it is regarded as a great achievement to the Vaennlandrs, who consider the first child born in a new land to be an important and auspicious one.
The fact that Kara remains so healthy to this day tells the Vaennlandrs that The New World is a good place to go, where strong children may be born and raised and where new lands and resources await!
Regarded as a holy child by the people, Kara is most often considered by Isis to be her "Greatest Achievement."   While a bit less well respected for it than other achievements, Isis Smith is also known for the collection and compilation of all knowledge available to all Vaennlandrs; with corrections to account for science, mytho-history and personal bias in old cultural stories!
Known to the people as Sa Albok, this overwhelming text holds any and all information the average Vaennlandr could potentially want and more; a comprehensive academic textbook, reference material for many skills, Code Of Laws, medical text, storybook and many other things all packed into one neat and well organized... if perhaps rather large and expensive package.
While most people do not have the resources to have an Albok of their own printed, Isis has made sure that all communities at least large enough to house their own temple will eventually be given such a book at no cost; subsidized by the crown.

Failures & Embarrassments

While Isis has made no shortage of mistakes in her life, she considers her most embarrassing failure in Ta Mando to be "The Ship Wars;" A catch all name for her near year long voyage into the new world and back, returning with everything requested of her only to find the deities who made the deal that brought her there in the first place never intended to fulfill their end of the contract.
While all of Vaennland considers this great voyage to be an overwhelming victory for the culture, Isis considers it a waste of time and counts it against herself as a prolonged period of time wherein she honestly believed a bold faced lie.
If she had known that the gods of Vaennland had no intention of ever treating with her in good faith she would have never bothered such a deal in the first place and, upon her return, their lack of honesty led to her having to unseat The Vaennland Sky Father and take his place for her own; a position she never wanted to take for a nation and pantheon she never wanted to officially be part of.   Despite this failure, Isis seldom brings it up and doesn't hold it against the people she now must rule over... nor the deities that forced her hand and made her face down The Sky Father personally.
Still, she has no fondness of talking about it and will try to dismiss the topic if it comes up if at all possible.

Mental Trauma

Isis did not have an easy life and thus her inventory of mental trauma is a bit more expansive than most.
While her formative years were troubled and unwanted, most of her Pre-Shift trauma naturally originates from military service. Having led numerous operations in the middle east and having been blown to pieces from a door bomb, Isis seldom sleeps easy; tossing and turning when she does find slumber and otherwise regularly standing and staring out long into the night from her balcony.
While The Shift has granted her many amazing abilities and restored her to a state, by all means, beyond human capacity; Isis still runs from her own dreams, struggling with her long history of battle, surrounded by others who want her dead.   The Shift itself has brought her into many gradually escalating nightmare scenarios!
However, more than ever she still fears dreams of her time as a normal human... of the day when she kicked in the door and lost everything.
Any night she gets sleep she finds herself back with her squad; taking point in an enemy stronghold, kicking in the door of the last room before she wakes up with a start.
For her, the mission never ended.
She's still fighting.
She's still in that stronghold, kicking in the door.

Morality & Philosophy

Isis believes that life should be taken at a run!
Nobody starts out running well or effectively but, over time, they learn better technique and end up becoming Olympic athletes before they know it... so long as they stay the course and never give up on their dreams!
Talent is a fallacy and capacity is more or less hardwired into our species!
One is not born great, nor are they endowed with any sort of amazing and unknown qualities that make them more or less capable than anyone else. (With the exception of natural variations and genetic problems, etc)
Rather, they build themselves up and are built by others and, in that process, end up becoming something akin to complete people!
A simple farm girl, embraced by the light of developmental support, proper education and full community integration will end up just as capable (perhaps more so) than any rich girl prodigy if given the appropriate amount of time and attention!   Because of this mindset, the idea that mastery is just a matter of training and building up, Isis is a strong proponent for the idea that HEROES ARE MADE, NOT BORN!   She can't stand the idea of people who were born with everything easy and think that they're geniuses.
She can't stand the people who insist upon being born "naturally talented" and look down on those that don't pick up ideas as easily.
EVERYONE has their own individual merits and values to society and, if properly nurtured, would all be equally as valuable in their own positions as anyone else! Being an incredibly diversely skilled individual who herself benefited from attentive teachers and self motivation, Isis understands the value of letting people become what they want to become, of letting them follow their dreams for the good of society at large!
Not everyone can be a hero but everyone CAN be all they were ever meant to be in whatever skill or job they wish to seek out!   Having come from relatively impoverished stock herself, Isis strongly values the lower classes of any given society; desiring almost solely to see every child live better than their parents did.
Having slipped into the role of Vaennland's Pantheon Head, she has worked very hard to refurbish the Divine Bureaucracy of the region to more properly serve the greatest number instead of languish in the old ways of decadence and blind self interest.
Caring primarily for the little people, she has struck down huge power structures and nullified centuries old divine oaths to enforce the Peace in Vaennland's Pantheon and grant resources to the mortals beneath her; insisting that the deities of the land MUST step out of the shadows and seek to bolster their own worshippers or else she would bring them kicking and screaming into Kanda's Pantheonic System whether they liked it or not.   While not unwilling to bargain and compromise, Isis' very existence as The New Sky Father Of Vaennland is evidence that she does NOT take kindly to those who turn their backs on important and pre-established contracts!
Contract breaking, under her recent dominion, is extremely harshly punished (By Modern Standards!) and those that personally slight her and break their oaths in order to harm her have been publicly executed or, at times, even left as a living example of her wrath under horrendous conditions!
While she will be the first to admit that she hates having to carry out such punishments and will NEVER be seen smiling during such incidents, she also insists that if deities and mortals are to live together once again in peace... Loyalty to the cultural mandates set forth by High Queen Thyrke and bolstered by Isis' understanding of modern law MUST be absolute!   To Her The Only Way Toward Peace And Universal Stability Is Through The Social Contract And The Only Way To Uphold The Social Contract Right Now Is The Force Of A Universal Power Which Exists To Uphold That Stability According To The Will Of The People At Large!
"This Is A Temporary System... At Some Point In The Future We Will Change Toward Even Higher Representation And Civility... For Now We Can Only Guarantee Via The Leviathan That ALL Scores Are Settled And All Feuds Are Abandoned!
If This Nation Is Ever To Be Truly Unified... We Must Have A Central Authority; A Force Loyal Only To Vaennland And Her Laws And People!

To No Specific Monarch Or Clan Leader Or Cult Of Personality But To The Nation Itself!"

Taboos

Upon her recent return from The New World and subsequent ascendance to the head of the Vaennland Pantheon via the defeat of the late Sky Father, Isis' first divine decree throughout the Pantheon was that human sacrifice is henceforth strictly forbidden!
Herself from a modern culture and representing a different culture morbidly opposed to human sacrifice, it's only natural that Isis hold only disgust and contempt for this practice and instead has dedicated herself to completely reforming the sacrifice system under which The Vaennlandrs used to function.   While there have not YET been any problems regarding this new taboo, it is well known that SOME Vaennlandrs strongly disapprove of the new ways and desire to return to the practices of the region Pre-Thyrke.
Isis obviously desires to integrate more modern ideals into Vaennlandr society, including the taboos that come with modern sensibilities, but she understands she can't move too fast toward more modern notions or the stability of Vaennland would become forfeit and all her hard work would be for naught.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

While her main priorities change from Shift to Shift, Isis is one of the few Founders of Kanda who returned with complete knowledge of her summoned purpose.
In the case of Ta Mando, Isis has always been aware that her purpose was to integrate the Vaennland Pantheon with Kanda's Pantheonic System.
Barring that her main goal was to bring Vaennland back to peace with Kanda by whatever means necessary.   While she has certainly taken artful interpretation into account, at no point has Isis balked from this stated purpose of furthering peace between Kanda and Vaennland, understanding after a year in their society that they'll never give in to Kandia integration.
Everything from traveling to the New World to prove her mettle to Vaennland's Pantheon to compiling Sa Albok, having a child with High Queen Thyrke and inventing Harmonica Rifles for a centralized Royal Vaennland Military has been in an effort to foster peace and good relations between the two empires and establish a lasting alliance that will allow the Vaennlandrs and Kandia to live more closely together.
Utilizing this peace, it is Isis' hope that both nations are able to gain considerable wealth and raise their respective qualities of life alongside one another.   While most of her "Purpose" is being an ideal Father Of War and now Vaennlandr Sky Father, Isis is also driven by more simple and human things like her family, pride in her soldiers, better quality of life and a love of academia and structured physical training!
In a sense, many of her desires and motivations come from an entirely human place despite the fact that Isis is barely what could be considered human anymore. She likes certain foods over others, finds herself wanting to indulge in thrill-seeking activities and regularly wishes for a cure to insomnia as most people do!
In many ways, she's still a normal person with normal dreams... just dreams that have had to be set aside a long time ago to account for The Shift and the many changes it brings to one's life.

Savvies & Ineptitudes

Despite having an overly affectionate attitude toward the common folk and regarding them as most important to society at large... as well as being a practiced military lawyer and capable enough diplomat, Isis is not actually a terribly great conversationalist and tends to avoid long, drawn out conversations and small talk alike; having been hardened by a lifetime of war and several more lifetimes of being thrust against her will into strange and often nightmarish situations.   Overall, when in a mixed setting and not taking the stand at some podium or facing down some great potential enemy, Isis is a bit socially awkward and has a hard time coming up with meaningful talking points. She often balks in polite conversation or gets irritated at what she considers to be dangerous opinions, returning with scathing refutations and sick burns alike; simultaneously alienating herself from the group and making her related companions seem less appealing in response.
To avoid making a fool of her wife at social functions, Isis often tries her to simply avoid talking, earning her a bit of a reputation for being somewhat socially reserved despite her intimidating and aggressive demeanor when in positions of authority.   While she understands law and its importance well enough, Isis often thumbs her nose at cultural standards and traditions, speaking more bluntly about things she disagrees with than most in Ta Mando care to allow; leading to debates, screaming matches and even outright fights... sometimes to the death in the not yet entirely unified Vaennlandr culture!   None of this has ever stopped her from shouting down potential intimidators, dominating competitive debate, reciting military jargon or giving grandiose speeches!
Isis is generally regarded as an incredibly powerful speaker and shrewd negotiator; often known for stealing the show and reigning over parties and festivities.
However, she seldom actually spends much time talking WITH people and far more often talks TO people or even AT them, belying her otherwise charismatic nature!

Likes & Dislikes

Isis Smith Likes:
High Queen Thyrke Of Vaennland ~~ Her Wife
High Princess Kara ~~ Her Daughter
Vaennlandr Culture
Kandia Culture
US Military Procedure
Guns
Robots
Sailing
Military Activities
Learning / Education
The Founders Of Kanda
Law And The Study Of It
Hard Working People With Strong Work Ethic!
Kandia Politics And All Its Intrigue   Isis Smith Dislikes:
Being Judged For Being A Woman
Samantha J. Hunt: The Woman Of Honor
Stuffy Traditions That Hold People Back
"Talented People" Who Get It Easy...

Vices & Personality flaws

Isis Smith is a consummate workaholic, always with her head on the mission; always trying to find something new to drag herself into.
Often, driven by insomnia and her consistent PTSD nightmares, Isis prefers to stay up and manage parchmentwork or draw up new plans for sewage treatment systems... or check inventory, or tidy her bedroom... or anything that avoids idleness.   Not only does this distance her from her friends and loved ones and drive her to neglect the most important people in her life but can even burn her out on things she considers too important to let go.
While this may be bad enough by itself, Isis is often less than empathetic when mortals are unable to maintain her work ethic. While she doesn't treat them any different in the long run (not everyone can be a soldier, after all!) it can't be said that she understands the needs of the many quite as much as she wants and she often simply excels ahead of the weak links and leaves them behind if she can't find a way to better motivate them.
Furthermore, this generally overzealous work ethic consistently endangers people who are trying to mimic her, forcing her to save them or correct the situation one way or the other.
Case And Point ~~ Over a hundred people died in The Ship Wars; an adventure she never technically had to take on but her head was so invested in DOING that she never figured the wool was being pulled over her eyes.   While this extremely typical American Military work ethic may have fueled many successful enterprises over the past year; it has also driven people away, ruined public events, stressed Isis' mental health and consistently threatened her authority over the Vaennlandr's and their Deities alongside Thyrke Himmindottir.

Hygiene

Like any good Kandia AND any good Vaennlandr, Isis maintains extremely regular bathing practices whenever possible; bathing daily and maintaining regular grooming rituals.
However, like a rare few, she regards bathing as a mostly utilitarian measure and she seldom seems to enjoy her baths unless forced to.   Sometimes she publicly complains how "This World" has considerably fewer amenities for personal care; lamenting a lack of good toilet paper, hair products, good soaps and standard modern hygiene practices.
As she did not arrive in Ta Mando with a personal Compound or even manor facility as many Primes do, she hasn't gotten to appreciate the modern holdovers most Primes get to enjoy for the first year or two after The Shift.   That all aside, Isis' is no mere mortal and her body can maintain cleanliness even when she hasn't bathed for some time; her skin far better at cleaning itself than normal human flesh and her hair unnaturally tangle free and easy to handle.
Her entire system is functionally sanitized and even after eating extremely pungent and dark foods she has been said to possess fresh breath and clean teeth.

Social

Contacts & Relations

After over a year in Ta Mando, with access to unseen satellites high above the world and small spy robots she can produce to deliver messages for her across the face of the planet, Isis has already formed many attachments with local Vaennlandrs, elves and even Pro Simian Confederates!   While it would be tedious to list off all of these relations in detail, suffice to say that Isis is one of the most well connected Primes in Ta Mando and works hard to maintain capable communications with all manner of contacts throughout!

Religious Views

Isis is, of course, a diehard believer in self determination and grabbing hold of one's destiny with their own two hands! Once upon a time she might have thought that some nebulous deities somehow ultimately decide one's fate but, since then, she has seen civilizations rise and entire worlds fall!
She's traveled to new universes and seen alternate timelines wherein our fundamental understanding of society simply never developed!
She's Met Gods!
She's Fought Gods!!
She's KILLED Gods!!!   And Now She IS A God!   Suffice to say that, this being the case, Isis doesn't take the idea of religion very seriously!
She is a cyborg, an being of artifice, not magic or divinity!
She's seen the doors that religion closes and doesn't see a point in humoring it, even in a world where gods objectively, tangibly exist and she is one!
If anything, her ability as a "Mortal" to take godhood from the head of Vaennland's Pantheon proves to her all the more that any being WORTH Worship wouldn't want it and any being that REQUIRES reverence to survive better earn it!

Hobbies & Pets

Isis' only true "Pet" is a dog named "Officer Paladin" who maintains the same rank as the highest of her personal recruits. (So he is right now a Lieutenant)
While an otherwise sizable but not unusually gigantic Vaennland Beartaker, Officer Paladin (Or Just "Pal" to her!) was chosen at birth for his particular set of personal traits and exquisitely trained by his master to respond to over seventy commands, recognize contempt and insults from others, out-behave any other soldier under Isis' Purview and even take care of himself if need be!
He understands Vaennlandr, Kandia and American English fluently and seems able to take offense to certain statements and argue back, though not in any human tongue!   While he does, in fact, sleep with her at the foot of her bed and otherwise spends most of his time with her, Isis insists that Paladin is a fellow soldier, not her pet!
He marches every day with the men, stands at attention with them, maintains proper decorum and is expected to be treated with respect as an officer over his fellow soldiers despite the fact that he can't load or fire a gun, nor swing a sword.   While she wouldn't consider them "pets" and indeed finds them an irritation, Isis has gained particular affinity to many different animals since she stole the power of The Sky Father for herself!
Since her ascendance Isis has been regularly plagued by the attention of numerous different types of animal; specifically Woodpeckers, Caprines, Corvids and Cattle!
Regardless of her intent or recent actions, these animals will seek her out against their better judgment and safety, even if she threatens them! Corvids and Woodpeckers ESPECIALLY seek her out, regularly flying what must be great distances JUST to land on her shoulders!
While these beasts don't hurt her and generally don't hurt others, the birds that follow her around have been known to make all manner of noise and disruption while the more landbound animals that follow her will occasionally break walls down just at the chance of reaching her for affection.   Though Isis does not dislike animals, her inability to control the animals driven to her by her divine portfolio make them otherwise completely feral, if not outright wild and she has not yet discovered the ability to instruct them to leave or calm down!
Because of this, if only occasionally, Isis has been seen running from throngs of birds down the street; waving her arms and demanding they leave her alone.
Recently she's hired an Elf Naturalist from Alfholt to help manage nature's... affection for her presence.

Relationships

Isis Smith

Wife (Vital)

Towards Thyrke Himinndottir

5
5

Honest


Thyrke Himinndottir

Wife (Vital)

Towards Isis Smith

5
5

Frank


Legal Status

Married

Divine Classification
Reincarnated Founder / Fully Fledged Deity / Prime
Religions
Alignment
Lawful Independent
Church/Cult
Honorary & Occupational Titles
The Father Of War
The Father Of Kanda
The Adamant Damsel
The Answerer
Oathkeeper
Leader Of The Jade Faction
The Lightning Catcher
Storm Tamer
Master Of The North
Champion Of The Ship Wars
Sa Vaennlandr Himinnfadir (The Vaennlandr Skyfather)
Founder Of The New World
Dominaria Ramir Do Kanda (Master Explorer Of Kanda)
Mirror Hands
The Green Eyed Seer
Age
Physically, PERHAPS In Her Mid-Twenties
Circumstances of Birth
Born In America To Middle Eastern Immigrants Having Escaped International Conflict. Soon Thereafter Orphaned And Cycled Into Foster Care
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Current Residence
High Queen Thyrke's Great Lodge, Vaennland Capital
Pronouns
She / They
Sex
Female Bodied Nano-Cybernetic Hermaphromorph
Gender
Non-Binary / Gender Neutral
Presentation
Normally Masculine And Military Standard
Eyes
Cold War Green Without Pupil Or Iris.
Micro-Images Regularly Appear And Disappear In Her Eyes As A Personal HUD.
Impossible Not To Notice When One Meets Eyes With Her
Hair
Dark Brown, Nearly Black.
Bobbed, Chin Length, Very Slight Wave
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Deep Mediterranean Skin Tone.
Arms And Legs Are Seamless, Shining Metal Appendages The Color And Reflectiveness Of Mercury.
A Metallic Spine Can Be Seen Just Below The Skin By The Perceptive In The Right Light.
Height
5' 11" (180.339 cm)
Weight
396 lb (179.623 kg)
Quotes & Catchphrases
"His Job Is Done! He Has Delivered Upon His Promises!
I Am Now Here To Ensure You Fulfill Your End Of The Deal!

I AM THE FATHER OF WAR!"
Aligned Organization
Known Languages
Due to her digital mind and more recently her link to The Divine, Isis Smith is capable of processing any language she encounters almost instantly; requiring only a few passing sentences or a short paragraph of text to fully integrate the language into her system.
Exceptions to this are Divine Languages, which she must learn organically as with any deity.

Comments

Please Login in order to comment!