Scoria

Rutile (Brother, NPC)

## Application Sheet

Scoria was a dark gray-brown she-wolf with orange accents and pale lemon-yellow eyes. She entered the Domain alongside the rest of her pack, Hintertomb, where her story is just beginning. Scoria was created and RP'd by unknowntalent.

## Personality

* ***Gentle.*** Although Ria is not always the most approachable wolkin, she prides herself on understanding how others may feel and lending a listening ear and kind words if needed. Even if words are not needed and a wolkin just needs a supportive, understanding force, Ria will sit beside them for however long they want her presence. She is perceptive and sensitive to others’ emotions that allows her to be gentle with those who need it. Not someone who actively goes out of her way to cause troubles or seek a fight, Ria is a gentle and soft soul. She often relied on Rutile to handle any troubles they managed to get into if he was around. Ria shows good manners and tries to be respectful of everyone around her, especially those higher ranked than her.
* ***Intelligent and Observant.*** Actively seeking out new ideas or information on the outside world in order to gather a better understanding, Ria is known for her intelligence. She is able to recall facts that she had learned from her own research or what has been taught to her by higher ranking Spires. She is able to adapt rapidly to new information and situations in order to help prepare herself and others for what may come. Due to being driven to learn more about the world, she maintains an observant eye in order to take in as much of her surroundings as possible. Due to keeping herself in Rutile’s shadow, she would often watch other wolkin and take notes on how they interacted with each other. She always keeps a watchful eye on the sky for any changes that may occur, keeping a long list of the different shapes of clouds as well as the stars and how they clustered together.
* ***Responsible.*** Ria was always the more serious one between herself and Rutile, often holding herself responsible for different actions that she or Rutile took. She holds herself to a higher standard than she does others as she refuses to let herself fail at a task. She does her best to be trustworthy to other wolkin as their opinions matter to her.
* ***Tempered and Cautious.*** Having trained herself to remain calm in the face of a dangerous situation, Ria knows when is the right time to bare her fangs. However, she does have a temper that she constantly tries to keep in check in order to remain a calm presence; if cornered and threatened, Ria has no problem lashing out in order to get away from the situation. In an effort to remain calm, Ria is cautious to a fault, always wary of unknown wolvenkind. Often she will avoid strays until they have been proven by the Omen and even then, she tends to keep a close eye on them and on what she says.
* ***Curious and Fixated.*** A wolf of endless curiosity, Ria has a thirst for knowledge that drives her to search for how everything works. When she was a pup, she was the one to ask a million and one questions of her parents or anyone who would humor her. She had begun to keep small etches of small things that she had learned in hopes of figuring out the large world around her. Her curiosity often leads to her being fixated on a task until she is satisfied that it is done. This can, however, lead to her focusing so much on a task that she will ignore her own needs.
* ***Reserved and Judgmental.*** Always appearing as cold and detached, Ria has a tendency to take a while to respond, carefully thinking over the correct words to say or the correct emotion to display. More often than not, this will cause Ria to have a permanent worried expression or grimace. While she doesn’t often display emotions physically, her voice gives away her current mood to those who know her. Her reserved nature can make it appear that nothing affects her which is far from the truth, she just tends to keep her emotions carefully bottled away unless something major happens. While she keeps her emotions to herself, she can’t help but judge others on various different things, whether it may be a rumor or something that she had observed, she will easily listen in on gossip. Ria will often believe her own judgments on an individual or rumors she had heard until proven by facts or a trusted wolkin corrects her.
* ***Paranoid and Sarcastic.*** Growing up with a mother who was a Spire, filled Ria’s life with stories of the Great Ones and to be fearful of the moon and the star-filled night sky; causing Ria to grown paranoid and worry of the repercussions of the shifting world around her. The childhood fear grew into a deep-seeded paranoia for what may come in the unknown future; this has caused her to focus intently on the sky, making note of every small shift. She will often need to double check every small change at least twice in order to keep her from spiraling into a panic. A trait that she picked up on in order to cover her own paranoia was sarcasm, snapping back with a remark to dull her own paranoid thoughts. Ria has mastered a deadpan stare that accompanies her sarcastic remarks. She often uses sarcasm as an armor to protect herself from the terrifying nature of the world and the ever watching Great Ones.
* ***Melancholy.*** Now finding herself in wistful or quiet moods, Ria is struggling to come to terms with the loss of her parents, brother and their home. She has grown a bit more withdrawn as she attempts to cope with the grief and understand her new place in the world. She has grown more sensitive towards topics regarding the collapse and feels as though she is to blame for the loss of her brother.

## Pre-Group History

Born from the final attempt for a healthy litter, Scoria and Rutile came into the world with all the warmth that could possibly be given from their parents. Both their parents took turns in monitoring their pups' health and worked with the assigned Core to make sure that even the slightest sniffle was documented. The first sight that Scoria remembers seeing was her mother’s calm but severe gaze watching them and her brother’s failed attempt to lunge at her. Out of an overabundance of caution, her parents kept her brother and herself isolated until they were 8 weeks old and confirmed healthy. The isolation never caused her trouble as she had filled her time playing with her brother and listening to the stories that her parents would tell them every night. When they were able to leave the den and brought out into the wider world, Scoria found it overwhelming. Shaking and wide-eyed was how she greeted the world unlike her brother who boldly moved ahead without a glance backward.

It had taken a long period of adjustment for Scoria to feel comfortable around the pack. She would often be found hiding beneath her father or mother unless unable to follow them. At which point, she would use her brother as a shield to protect her from every new situation or wolkin. Scoria never went anywhere without her brother and Rutile was never far from Scoria. It had garnered some concern from their parents, mainly her mother. However it was ultimately decided that as they grew older and began their own tasks, their dependence on each other would lessen, or at least that was their parents' hope.

Their mother took Scoria and Rutile’s learning seriously, diligently teaching them about the ways of their world. Scoria was attentive, focused on learning everything she possibly could from her mother and any others who would answer her endless questions. In her never ending search for answers, Ria finally began to find herself. Even with Rutile beginning to find his own place, the pair would always take time in their day to meet up and catch up on what was going on.

With her mother returning to her duties, including her return to the Archives, Ria found it difficult to not be able to follow after her mother to learn more from her. Ria turned to her father and began to follow after him to watch him handle his own tasks; while her brother followed closed behind, slightly bored by their father’s tasks. Their father was endlessly patient with Ria’s questions and had a soft-spot for the curious pup, always making sure to answer her with the grace of a wolkin who had taught others before.

Watching her father care for those in need gave Ria a sense of purpose. She wanted to do her father proud and was determined to follow in his footsteps. She would often take trips outside of the safety of the tunnels to gather herbs and other necessary items for her father, much to Rutile’s delight. It was during one of these trips that Rutile offhandedly suggested that Ria take the trial to become a Core. At first, she brushed off the suggestion, merely joking she wasn’t ready. Though as time went by, the more the suggestion took root and she found herself focusing more on it until she made a decision. She was going to make her father proud. She prepared as much as she could; watching her father intently as she usually did, taking in everything that she could in preparation. On the day of the trial, Ria listened intently on her trial details, making sure to take note of the deadline. When she was given the go ahead, she raced ahead to find the packmate that she needed to find and cure. She repeated a mantra in her mind ‘Make your father proud. Make your Mother proud. Make your brother proud.’, she used it to remain focused, racing through the forest. However, the moment she came across the wolkin who she needed to cure, her entire body froze. Laying in a clearing was Rutile, appearing to be injured and sick. In the back of her mind, Ria knew that he was okay and this was purely a test but the overwhelming amount of terror that filled her body made her unable to do anything. All she could do was stand there, shaking. This was her brother, her best friend and the only real wolkin who knew her soul. Instead of shaking herself out of the stupor and getting on with her trial to cure Rutile, she turned tail and ran back to the tunnels. Ria didn’t stop running until she had made it back to her furs, passing by several of the judging Cores and other wolkin.

She didn’t need to be told the outcome of her trial. She knew that she had failed. She didn’t make anyone proud, if anything, she knew that she had only harmed the reputation of her whole family.

No one had disturbed her until the morning when Rutile came wandering in. He sat next to her and didn’t utter a word for a tense moment before clearing his throat, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Her body shook with a deep shame that filled her body and anger at her own stupidity. When she didn’t say anything right away, Rutile let out a sigh and pulled the furs away from her face, lowering himself to the ground to bring his face close to hers, “Want to go for a walk, just us?”

With a small amount of prodding, Ria followed close to Rutile, using his bulk to hide. Her tail tucked between her legs, refusing to acknowledge anyone with her eyes firmly on the ground as they passed until they were outside, sheltered on a secluded cliff. Silence lasted between them before Rutile finally broke as he usually did, “It was because it was me, wasn’t it?”

Ria felt her eyes water as she refused to look at him, her jaw clenched so tightly that it was shaking. A breathy laugh came from him as he shook his head, “When they asked me, I knew it was a bad idea. But I wanted to help you and I thought -” There was a pause as if to test if Ria would look at him before he continued, “You’d have to heal me up eventually right? Figured it’d be a good test for you, even if deep down I had that sense of dread.”

“Is this supposed to help?” Ria eased her jaw and glared at her brother with tears in her eyes, “I know I screwed up. If I can’t even heal you, how am I supposed to heal anyone? I’ve failed at something I knew. Something I watched father do for months and I couldn’t even do it once, how stupid can I possible be -”

“Hey.” Rutile moved closed, “Careful who you’re calling stupid. That’s my sister you’re talking about.” He offered her a rueful smile. Ria simply scoffed and looked away, only allowing for him to move closer and nudge her with his shoulder, “Come on Scorn, I’m partially to blame here too. I could have said no.”

“You would never.” Ria shook her head and hesitated as she briefly glanced at him, “How… How did mother and father take it? I’ve embarrassed them.”

As Rutile opened his mouth to respond, but a throat clearing behind them caused the siblings to tense and look behind them to see their father standing there. Cuprum stepped closer and sat on the other side of Ria which only had her tense her whole body. She felt trapped as she clenched her eyes in anticipation of the disappointed lecture she was about to receive. Cuprum cleared his throat once again to fill the air, “Rutile, why don’t you go help with your tasks?” The question was posed as a statement with no room for discussion. As Rutile left, he nudged Ria once more before leaving her alone with their father. The air grew more tense as she sat there waiting for him to say something, opening her eyes to look out at the world around them, anywhere but at Cuprum.

Several minutes went by before she couldn’t take it any more and she broke with a sob, “I’m so sorry father, I’ve disappointed you. I know I did.”

“Oh my dear Sapling.” Cuprum’s gentle tone only caused Ria to break down into heavier sobs as he brought her close to him, letting her use his dense fur as a shelter. He nuzzled the top of her head as he silently comforted her through her breakdown. He quietly rumbled and hummed to her until she calmed down, her eyelids drooping from her prolonged anxiety and dread. Her father kept her close, “You could never disappoint me. All this proves is that this was not the destined path for you. You will find your way.”

“But -"

“No buts. Come on now.” Her father let her go and stood, “The day is still fresh and there is no need to dwell any further on this.” He gave Ria a gentle smile, “Knowing you Sapling, you have gotten no sleep but you still have duties to attend to. Spend this day pondering where you wish to go from this moment.”

With her father leaving her, she took his words to heart. Much to her parents' dismay, she retreated into herself, often remaining quiet beside Rutile’s side and never going too far from him if it could be helped. None of her family made any comment until one day, Ria spoke with her mother on what tasks a Spire does. Her mother was blunt but calm when explaining the duties of a Spire and slowly Ria began to come out of her shell. Although she could not follow her mother into the Archives, she picked up quickly on what was needed. For the first time in months, Ria felt herself grow confident in what direction she was meant to go.

At the next trial, Ria excelled and quickly joined the rank of Cinder-Spire, much to her mother’s own pride. She blossomed in her new role, thankful to the praise of her brother and father. She took her new tasks seriously, reporting as she needed to. She found a newfound peace in her life with her duties, striving to prove herself. Ria knew she would move further as a Spire, knowing that she needed to prove that this was where she was meant to be.

When the Omen had gone missing, Ria became aware of the worry that her parents attempted to cover in front of them. Ria couldn’t help but worry over what this would mean for the pack. She began to dwell on her tasks longer, trying to find anything that may stand out as odd. She would often lose sleep, continuously counting stars or watching cloud shapes, anything that may help solve the worry coming from her parents. Attempting to distract Ria, Rutile suggested a trip out of the tunnels for the day, just the two of them to gather some materials that he needed to grab and to enjoy each other’s company. Ria tried to push it aside, certain that she needed to focus on finding some kind of clue. Though, as usual, Rutile eventually wore her down until she agreed.

The day was filled with laughter and stories as Rutile explained the different things she had missed during her hyper-fixation on the skies above. Ria noticed some minor observations throughout the day but nothing that stood out to cause any concern, just something to file away in her mind. As the sun was setting, they returned to the tunnels, materials gathered and a day well spent. They had barely gotten deep into the tunnels when the ground began to rumble and shake all around them. Ria watched the dirt shutter, drifting onto them, dirting their coats. She watched the ceiling with growing worry before turning to Rutile to state the obvious that they needed to leave. However, Ria’s blood ran cold when she saw the look of haunted determination cross Rutile’s face as the tunnels began to give. Before Ria could open her mouth to say a word, Rutile acted. With all his might, Rutile shoved Ria towards the exit in an attempt to save her.

Stumbling and trying to keep her footing as the ground beneath her gave way, she watched as rocks broke her view of her brother and the tunnels that lead to the only place she knew as home. A scream tore from her throat as she called out for her brother in desperation, her body lunging forward without a care for the rubble coming down around her.

The sickening groan of rocks and dirt collapsing around her, forced her to stop. The earth was blocking her in. Refusing her access to everything she wanted to get to.

And in an instant, her world went black.

Waking to being surrounded by rumble, Ria acted in desperation, digging in the direction she believed was up. While progress was slow, panic began to set in as her once safe spot quickly caved in on itself, forcing her to push ahead. The first break of light and fresh air urged her forward until she broke the surface, taking in gasping breaths of air. Shuddering from the adrenaline of what had happened, she saw no one else around. Was she alone? She couldn't have been the only wolkin to survive the collapse. Where was Rutile? He had to make it out. As her thoughts spiraled, a bright color caught her eye. A stone, several stones in fact, and it appeared they were leading somewhere.

Did others survive?

## Trivia

* Suffers from insomnia that tended to show itself more when Ria was researching, however now it is brought upon by memories and nightmares.
* Much to Scoria’s dismay, her brother would often call them twins and introduce Scoria as his twin sister; even though Rutile was born before she was and that they do not look similar to each other as she took after more of their mother’s appearance.
* Has a tendency to lose herself in whatever researching she is conducting or etchings she is reading that she easily loses track of what day it is.
* She has a bit of a sweet tooth and is a sucker for any sweet berry.

## External Links

* Official Application Sheet
* unknowntalent's deviantART Gallery