Kalliope

Kalliope of Willowshire, more popularly known in Purgatory by her stage name of The Aesop, is an adventurer, composer, poet, and travelling bard whose exploits have seen her recently become a member of the Red Legion's Wraith. Due to her occupation, Kaliope is well travelled, and has performed in a variety of venues, from concert halls to royal ceremonies throughout the various regions, exhibiting an impressive level of musical aptitude and sheer capacity for revelry considered remarkable even for the high bar that is most satyrs.
However, despite incredible ability to compose new pieces of music and vocal ballads, much to her chagrin Kalliope is most famous for being the daughter of the highly esteemed "Accursed Adonis", a bard whose face she hardly remembers, and whose popularity far eclipses even her own. As such, Kalliope is often asked to perform and compose ballads about the extensive series of her father's misadventures as written in the novels they have since spawned, with "Northern Valentine" being a staple of her performance requests. The most obvious means of increasing her reputation and influence would be one that many an aspiring bard or poet would aspire for would be to go to the most prestigious college of the performing arts (Bard's College) in Purgatory, deep in the heart of Sanguinem, but she personally eschews such obvious and "easy" means, especially since she's not too great a fan of Sanguinem and it's vampires.
Dissatisfied with the restrictive nature of her performances, Kalliope aspires to become her own muse; beginning by adventuring further in her own right while doing what she can in her little section of the world to make it a better place, until her stage name becomes either so famous or infamous that she can compose ballads about her own journeys and adventures, until the world itself is ready to hear a new series of tales, her own fables.
==Personality==
*Confident, outgoing, adventurous
*Down for almost anything, bit of a thrill-seeker/daredevil
*Gets a bit antsy if forced to sit around and do nothing
*Typically a bit upbeat, constantly humming
*Will absolutely outdrink you and is extremely prideful about it
*Sees odd numbers of things as good luck, even numbers of things as bad luck (Sylvan Culture)
*Gambler; typically makes back the bet rather quickly so she's fine with it
==Background==
Rough Draft
Adonis the Accursed was more than just a legendary figure. He was a myth, a legend, a cautionary tale, and a force of nature that commanded respect from even the most jaded of Purgatory's residents. Known for his devilish charm, Adonis could hold an entire room enraptured with a single song, and his talent on the lyre was said to be unmatched. But what truly set Adonis apart from other bards was his reckless spirit, his love of adventure, and his willingness to take risks that no one else would dare. As a result of his many exploits, Adonis had become something of a household name, with bards and poets across Purgatory seeking to follow in his footsteps. But despite his many conquests, Adonis was haunted by a curse placed on him by a coven of hags after he turned them down as well, who decreed that he would "wander until his feet bleed." This curse prevented him from ever staying in one place for too long, making it impossible for him to build meaningful relationships or put down roots. It was a curse that he had borne for as long as anyone could remember, and one that had only served to enhance his reputation as a wild and untamed soul. Despite, or perhaps because of this curse, Adonis was still known for his many love affairs. It was during one of his many travels that Adonis met Kalliope's mother, a fierce Amazonian warrior by the name of Thalia who had little time for bards and their frivolous ways. But something about Adonis's devilish charm won her over, and the two of them spent a passionate night together. When Adonis left the next day, Kalliope's mother was already carrying his child, but she never told him.
Years later, Kalliope was born and raised in the Sacred Grove of Willowshire, as was tradition for young Wildfae and had grown up blissfully unaware of his existence. Her mother, having ingratiated herself with the Wyldfae occupying Willowshire, raised her daughter communally. Kalliope, inherited her mother's Amazonian strength and her father's musical talents, said to have the strength of ten men and a gut bigger than a dwarfs. Despite her young age, Kalliope quickly showed an incredible aptitude for music and dance, even by Satyr standards. She mastered the art before she was deemed old enough to drink, an impressive feat considering Satyr drinking ages start at ten due to their famed tolerance. She quickly joined her Grove's travelling revelers, performing alongside them and becoming a sensation in her own right.
As a member of the revelry, Kalliope quickly became one of their most popular performers, known for her sultry voice and captivating dance moves. Her performances were renowned for leaving audiences breathless, with some even whispering that her songs had the power to enchant and bewitch, and earning them more coin and adoring fans wherever they went. Despite her success, Kalliope always felt a sense of restlessness, a nagging feeling that there was more to life than just singing and dancing. At the same time, as her reputation grew, too did her curiosity about her absent father, as people hearing her would often compare her to one Adonis. She asked her mother about him, but her mother was tight-lipped, insisting that it was better for Kalliope not to know. Despite her mother's protests, Kalliope couldn't shake the feeling that there was something missing in her life, something that only her father could provide.
That restlessness only intensified when Kalliope began to experience strange and inexplicable abilities, a natural talent for Dominion that seemed to come to her effortlessly. She discovered that she had inherited supernatural gifts, and that her songs and dances could be imbued with powerful effects, harnessing tones to alter the world around her. This discovery only fueled Kalliope's desire for adventure, and she set out to explore the world beyond the Sacred Grove, hoping to make a name for herself and perhaps even reunite with her mysterious father.
One day, while the troupe was performing in a bustling city, Kalliope was approached by a group of adventurers who had heard of her talent and wanted to hire her for a dangerous mission. Intrigued by the prospect of adventure and something new, Kalliope agreed to join them, bidding farewell to her troupe and setting out on a journey that would change her life forever. As she traveled with the adventurers, Kalliope discovered a newfound passion for exploration and danger. She honed her skills as a bard, using her voice and music to bolster her companions in battle and sway the minds of their enemies. It was during this adventure that Kalliope discovered her true calling as a bard, not just a performer, but also a storyteller, using her music and words to inspire her companions and sway the hearts of their enemies. She became an integral member of the group, using her her songs to boost the morale of her allies in battle. Along the way, she also discovered that her mother had been keeping a secret from her: the identity of her father.
Kalliope's mother revealed to her that her father was none other than Adonis the Accursed, the legendary bard and adventurer whose exploits were known throughout Purgatory. Kalliope was shocked and excited to learn this, and immediately began asking her mother for more information about her father. Thalia revealed that Adonis had never known about Kalliope's existence, and that she had kept it a secret all these years to protect her daughter from the curse that had befallen her father. However, now that Kalliope was grown and had proven herself to be a capable adventurer in her own right, Thalia believed it was time for her to learn the truth. However, the truth spread like wildfire throughout Willowshire, with Kalliope suddenly becoming renowned as the daughter of Adonis.
Despite her incredible ability to compose new pieces of music and vocal ballads, much to her chagrin Kalliope was now most famous for being the daughter of the highly esteemed "Accursed Adonis", a bard whose face she hardly remembers, and whose popularity far eclipsed even her own. As such, Kalliope was often asked to perform and compose ballads about the extensive series of her father's misadventures as written in the novels they have since spawned, with "Northern Valentine" being a staple of her performance requests. Dissatisfied with the restrictive nature of her performances, Kalliope was determined to forge her own path and create her own legacy, separate from that of her father. She wanted to be known for her own talents and accomplishments, not just as the daughter of a legendary bard. 
So she set out on her own adventures, exploring the lands beyond the Sacred Grove and discovering new melodies and rhythms to incorporate into her performances. As she travelled, Kalliope also became more aware of the world around her and the issues that plagued it. She witnessed firsthand the suffering of the common folk, who were often oppressed by those in power, and saw the destruction wrought by greed and ambition. This sparked a fire within her, and she resolved to use her music and her talents to make a difference. Kalliope began to compose songs that spoke of justice, freedom, and equality, and she used her performances as a platform to spread these messages. She also began to take more direct action, using her Amazonian strength to defend those who couldn't defend themselves and working with other like-minded individuals to effect change. Ironically, this only had the effect of strengthening Kalliope's comparisons to Adonis, but she eventually grew to accept that it wasnt such a bad thing to be compared for, especially if she was enjoying herself anyways.
Passively looking for her father, Kalliope's role in Purgatory has led to her becoming renowned as the Aesop, and continues to travel between cities and territories singing and performing while using her actual might to take action as an adventurer. On top of this, Kalliope desires to find a means of breaking the curse plaguing her father for so long. That being said, with how long Satyr live, Kalliope is very aware that she is no real rush to find him, and for what it's worth, Adonis seems to be having as much fun as he can with the curse existing nonetheless. Encountering Virathi and her warband turned Division Kharag quite often during her adventures, Kalliope was surprised to be invited to the Red Legion. 
==Powers and Abilities==
===Heritage===
* Superhuman Strength:
* Superhuman Speed:
* Intuitive Climbing:
* Nature Perception:
* Superhuman Senses:
* Verenestra's Blessing:
**Alcohol/Corrosive Tolerance:
**Desire Focusing: Contrary to popular belief of those seduced by Satyrs, Satyrs do not possess an ability to create and enflame desires within a person's heart, but instead the ability to vaguely sense and bring them up and out to the surface. That is, they cannot cause a person to feel anything they were not already feeling, they simply make it more potent, in a sense reducing their inhibitions. All Satyrs possess an aura around them that does this passively, as creatures of revelry and bacchanalia. However, Satyrs that reach maturity demonstrate the ability to actively amplify and focus the desires of those around them, most strongly through direct contact. This works on themselves as well, and is actually the most common application of this ability, as kin of Verenestra, whose Dominion covers beauty, fertility, pleasure, and revelry. Kalliope herself uses this ability to focus her desires to make using Libretto easier, but has also used it to manipulate others accordingly.
===Libretto===
Kalliope's Dominion is Libretto, and as is typical with the Dominions of most Satyrs, is deeply connected to the performing arts and music on a fundamental level. Kalliope's voice, and all music generated form her person or involvement possess a unique characteristic called a sympathy, the ability of a composition to move the audience around her. While most forms of good music have the ability to incite and drive sympathy in the hearts of sentient individuals who hear it, Kalliope's Dominion as a Fey enables her to apply the same to the world around her at large. Kalliope's music has the ability to imprint her intuitive desires on the expression of the Anima in a localized area around her, typically within her own incredibly sharp hearing's earshot outwards, altering and influencing emotions, perceptions and events, etc. Lyrics and arias help her focus her abilities, while melodies and rhythms help contribute to the final result of her music. The intensity of the effects of Libretto can be augmented by her expanding her Dominion with those joining in concinere with her. 
At its full power, Libretto allows Kalliope to utterly transform nearby anima patterns. She can reconstruct damaged objects by restoring stability to their anima composition with a well-timed chord. Her voice can unravel malignant anima configurations that compose curses, diseases, or injuries when amplified through syncopated accents. With a sharp, brash dip of her voice into bass or sudden elevation into soprano, Kalliope can launch a scathing rebuke of concussive and psychic-adjacent force that can repel and shatter opponents or barriers, which she often combines with a creative insult. The use of her abilities typically eludes sensors, as her abilities are baked into to the world itself, and do not require a form of energy to be expended other than her own will and stamina to continue to influence the Anima, and also makes her abilities that much more difficult to dissipate/counteract. Contrary to popular belief, Kalliope's abilities also work if the sound is as quiet as a whisper, though some abilities work better if heard. By humming to herself, Kalliope has demonstrated the ability to calm and placate raging beasts, as well as create a barrier around herself to ward off incoming atacks with Forte. 
Libretto works best in concert with others to fight alongside Kalliope, augmenting and empowering them while allowing her to hold her own. Some of the ways Kalliope uses her Dominion include, but are not limited to:
* Presto: Through use of her voice, or amplified even further through the use of her Harp, Kalliope can envelope herself in a veil of melody that enables her to break the sound barrier with the power of her own voice by using her sympathy to alter her own "internal cadence." When this is active, while Kallope moves, she creates a series of red sound waves behind her, which when someone comes in contact with, will experience the impacts of being 'twanged', a sense of disorientation akin to being the string plucked on her harp. In tandem with Libretto's ability to alter the way her sound behaves, Kalliope can change her cadence to be based on say, sound through a highly dense metallic solid [Black Iron comes to mind]. allowing her and her music to move at speeds far exceeding that of the traditional speed of sound.
* Duet: As part of her Dominion, Kalliope can bond with another being, establishing a psychic link through the medium of music. This ability allows her to share her perceptions, emotions, and thoughts with the bonded individual, as well as extending the reach and potency of her musical abilities through the other individual. This could allow Kalliope to affect areas or individuals that would normally be out of her reach. This also allows her to communicate or support over a distance.
* Crescendo: The longer Kalliope sustains a particular melody or harmony, the more powerful its effects become in an expanding area around her. She could start by lulling enemies to sleep with a soft lullaby that crescendos into a booming sonic attack. Crescendo requires considerable concentration though, which can be broken. This makes it better for opening a fight, or a trump card should her allies be able to protect her enough for her abilities to grow to the extent required, which is often a daunting task. While using Crescendo, Kalliope cannot use other applications of Libretto than the one she's using Crescendo on, even with her ability to harmonize and use multiple others simultaneously. This includes Forte, making her vulnerable during this time.
* Encore: Kalliope can 'replay' previous melodies she has played, recreating the effects they had when she first played them. This could be used to reapply healing effects, re-establish barriers, or to re-exert emotional influence over her audience should her effects start slipping. However, she can only cast Encore once per effect. This typically allows her to save her stamina for using new applications, as this is less taxing.
* Dissonance: Kalliope can create dissonance in the "music" of others, disrupting the flow of their melodies and rhythms. This can be used to disrupt the abilities of others, diminishing the effectiveness of an attack, a technique she often uses on her allies to protect them or in tandem with Forte to support it.
== Equipment ==
=== Peace ===
==Trivia==
* Satyr canonically have such tolerance to alcohol that they begin drinking at the age of 8. There's a saying that goes, if you beat a Satyr in a drinking contest, you're either cheating, or dead. Non-human intended alcoholic drinks in Willowshire are enough to kill the common man, and are readily consumed by the Satyrs living there like water.
* Satyr are canonically all pansexual.
Category:ScarletPlumage
Category:Wyldfae
Category:Satyr
Category:Female
Category:Characters
Category:S-Three
Category:Wraith