Malise

Name: Malise
Race: Gerudo
Age: Elderly
Gender: Female
Tropes:
*Witch
*Plaguemaster
Appearance:
Image is approximate
|| [look] Malise is an old Gerudo, a bit bent and hunched. Her face is wrinkled, beginning to look just a touch like Koume and Kotake, but nowhere near as deformed yet. Her hair is grey with a few streaks of red left, pulled back into a tight bun on top of her head. Her eyes are a very dark brown, almost having no distinction between pupil and iris.
Malise wears a garb similar to that of Koume and Kotake. It is a long, flowing robe, primarily black, with a blocky pattern of white around the hems. Underneath it she wears a baggy white pair of trousers tied off just below the knees, and a black pair of slippers. A large jet gemstone sits on her forehead. ||
History:
|| [history] Malise grew up in the Gerudo Fortress, between the birth of Ganondorf and the death of the previous Gerudo king. Like many Gerudo, she desired wealth and power, and sought them under the twisted ideals of the thieving clan. With no king present, Malise primarily looked up to the twin witches, Koume and Kotake. She decided early on that she wanted to be a sorceress, and set about training to achieve this goal.
Becoming a sorceress was not an easy task for Malise. Few believed that she could achieve it, and many resented the time she poured into her study of magic, believing she would be of more use to the clan learning the thieving and fighting skills most Gerudo practiced. One girl in particular would often bully Malise for being a weak fighter. Malise, for her part, had difficulty discerning what sort of magic she could tap into. She could not summon fire or ice like Twinrova, nor could she seem to manipulate the winds or sands of the desert. Malise felt very strongly that there was some sort of magic in her, something subtle and malevolent, but she couldn't seem to figure out what.
One day, while Malise was being tormented by the bully who had chosen her as a favorite target, something unexpected happened. The girl's hits became weaker, and she broke out in a sweat. Soon she became dizzy, and gave up on beating Malise to seek a physician. It soon became apparent that a fever was visiting the Gerudo Fortress, a relatively rare occurance in the arid environment. It spread throughout the clan, laying every third Gerudo abed.
Malise was fascinated by the change wrought in her kin by the fever. The strongest fighters were made weak, the sharpest thieves had their senses dulled, and those who still seemed healthy avoided the sick as though afraid of them. Furthermore, Malise seemed unaffected by the fever, despite spending a great deal of time in the sickbay, staring curiously at the bedridden. As the fever reached its peak, strange things began to happen. Gerudo would recover from the illness, only to be sick again the next day. Patients would complain of chills, then feel suffocatingly hot, and switch back and forth every few minutes. Finally, though the fever did not prove ultimately dangerous to most, the girl who had always bullied Malise became so delirious that she could neither eat nor sleep, and eventually died.
Some time after the fever passed on from the clan, Malise proved that she was indeed able to become a sorceress by enchanting a broom for flight. She left the Fortress, saying only that she intended to complete her training abroad. Malise travelled the world over, following rumors of plagues and pestilences. She studied every sickness, affliction, and parasite she could find, gradually building up a collection of diseases from the smallest rash to the most deadly pox.
It was only after many, many years of travel that Malise thought to return to her home. When she flew by over the familiar stones of Gerudo Fortress, however, there was something strange about it. Malise had not expected many of the Gerudo she had known to still be there, but there seemed to be no old ones present whatsoever, including the witches who had ruled the clan before. There were also very few children, and even the adults were all too little in number. The final shock came when Malise witnessed members of other races wander freely out of the Fortress's halls. Gorons, Zora, and especially a lot of Hylians were living in the Gerudo Fortress as if they owned the place!
Malise carefully withdrew to make plans. To her, it seemed that she had come back just in time. Something had to be done about this...infection. ||
Abilities:
|| [abilities] Level 9 Witch
Blight Mastery Rank 4: Malise can control diseases. She can command them to enter a person or area, intensify or dull their activity, or even order them away, though she cannot repair any damage they have already done. All of these activities of course require the expenditure of magical energy, though Malise has built up a significant endurance for such. Also, though the symptoms of an illness may appear almost immediately, they will disappear just as quickly if Malise is forced to abort her manipulation before the disease is firmly established. At one time, Malise had a wide variety of illnesses collected in her broom, but that broom was confiscated and burned. Her replacement broom has a much smaller collection with nothing more dangerous than influenza. Still, if there is a disease present, Malise can manipulate it. The more dangerous the affliction, the more difficult it is for Malise to control it. Manipulating anything truly deadly will quickly tire Malise.
Flight Rank 2: Like most witches, Malise can fly on her broom. She's far from the fastest or most maneuverable thing in the sky, but she can get around in a space most other creatures can't.
Decrepit (-1d4 penalty to actions requiring physical prowess): Malise has never been much of an athlete, and nowadays she's an old bag with all the creaks and pops that go with it. Anything physically demanding is going to be a significant challenge for her. ||
Relationships:
Gerudo Remnant:
The portion of the Gerudo tribe who rejected Ganondorf's rule and rallied under Nabooru's leadership, eventually reestablishing themselves in Gerudo Fortress. Malise definitely doesn't like how these defectors live -- abandoning the proud traditions of marauding to make nice with the other races. >P
Itami:
For a little while, Itami was Malise's right-hand helper and champion in the cause of getting the Gerudo Remnant back on the path their clan has walked the past few centuries. That failed, but Malise sneaked a plague into their midst, figuring if she can't straighten out those rebels, she can at least rid the Fortress of them. Then Itami turned around and provided them with potions to stave off the disease! And some time after that, she had the nerve to ask Malise for lessons in sorcery! If she hadn't had a magical mushroom from the Sacred Realm and the promise of being able to get back there...