Judith Nevrakis

Judith Nevrakis (born 20th March 597 DI) is an artist and oracle in Bandar Subuh. She operates the Marimbar Ghost Band, working with Trill Tāng Bào to create a hub for Bandar Subuh’s supernatural population, particularly spirits. Her artistic work incorporates her Chimeran heritage with monsters, religious imagery, and fragmented prophecies.

### Relatives

Kostantinos Nevrakis (father)Lysandra Nevrakis (mother)Vasiliki Nevrakis (aunt, paternal)

## Biographical information

### Marital status

Oshri Raskopf (m. 621 DI, d. 622 DI) / Oliver Raskopf (628 DI) - present)Elyon Meir (m. 626 - present)

## Backstory

Ioudith was born to traders Kostas and Lysandra Nevrakis in a small village on Mégaron, the southernmost island of the Chariot Isles. She had one elder sister, Elpis, who was four at the time of her birth. Though Kostas was entirely human, Lysandra was not just Chimisteran but *Chimaeran:* of monstrous descent from the beings that once populated the island. Ioudith grew up in the fragile peace between the island’s traditionally pagan and Orthodox Creed populations; her own family exemplified this, as Lysandra followed the Isles’ ancient religion while her father came from an Orthodox family. Despite growing up in an interfaith home, her inhuman traits kept her family ties to the ancient religion painfully obvious. As a result, her circle of peers was limited to the other cult practitioners in the village, and limited further by her own peculiarity. Her one friend growing up outside of Elpis was Deimos, another Chimaeran child in the village that she grew extremely close to.

As a young child, Ioudith began exhibiting prophetic abilities. Though they started as minor, innocuous predictions, both the weight of the prophecies as well as the physical and mental toll they took on Ioudith increased to a nearly debilitating point by age ten. Accompanying these visions were also physical seizures, explained away by her mother as simply another component of her ability. Lysandra, recognizing the symptoms as Ioudith’s potential to become a sibyl, pushed within the village temple community for Ioudith’s training. However, further discord within the pagan community between humans and the monster-descended resulted in threats made against Ioudith, discouraging her from pursuing a role as sibyl. The threats began as written messages, but swiftly elevated to animal skulls (which Ioudith simply collected) and severed heads left along her path to the temple. While Lysandra remained determined to see Ioudith elevated to this position, Kostas and his sister Vasiliki recognized the obvious danger and formulated a plan to send Ioudith away with Vas, who was already planning to leave the Isles for Novusana City. Without Lysandra’s knowledge, Vas left with Ioudith, taking her across the ocean to the Northern Cantanan city-state where — presumably — she would be safe. Hoping to blend in better, she altered the spelling of her name to the Bann *Judith*.

Shortly after arriving in Novusana City, however, the Novusanan government passed its contentious Arcane Prohibition, forbidding the creation, use, and sale of magic and magical objects within the city. Vas and Judith were forced to conceal their respective practices — Vas’ mediumship, Judith’s budding divination — and instead find work in the tailoring industry. Vas taught Judith how to work with spirits, and began pushing Judith towards art as an outlet for her frenetic waves of prophecy. The attempt met with mixed success: though the designated outlet reduced the mental harm Judith caused to herself in these trance states, Judith’s health remained fragile due to her seizures and uncontrolled magic.

When Judith was eleven, she met one of Vas’ underground colleagues, Leo Bandoni, as well as his wife Gisila Raskopf and thirteen-year-old grandson Oshri. She and Oshri bonded quickly over shared experiences with health issues and growing up in interfaith homes, as well as their taste in books and respect for the other’s niche interests. Despite otherwise tumultuous experiences as adolescents — as Oshri gradually became more involved with his grandfather’s mafia smuggling business and Judith her aunt’s underground magic circles — their friendship only grew stronger over the years. They became a package deal, one rarely seen without the other. As a teenager, Judith frequented the city’s jazz clubs, and fell into dance as the one part of her life not defined by her complicated magic. In an attempt to stem the overwhelming symptoms of her prophecies, Judith also began self-medicating with alcohol.

In 612 DI, when Judith was fifteen, Vas and Leo were murdered in a double hit, a brutal response to their increased activist efforts calling for the repeal of the Arcane Prohibition. Through their own investigation, Judith and Oshri were able to connect the murders back to Leo’s brother Noè, a mafia member higher in rank than Leo and desperate to maintain the family’s financial success due to the smuggling niche created by the Prohibition. Though Judith and Oshri began to develop feelings for each other during this time, they agreed to table the idea until their worlds weren't both imploding.

Fearing for their own safety, Gisila secured a connection with a former university colleague now located in Bandar Subuh, and at the beginning of 613 DI, Judith followed Oshri and Gisila to the other side of the world in search of a fresh start.

In Bandar Subuh, Judith and the Raskopfs moved in temporarily with Dr. Marianne Farley, a former colleague of Gisila's from her days as a government translator. Gisila and Oshri began work as pastry chefs at the restaurant side of the jazz club Marimbar, and Judith joined the staff as a waitress. Her job at Marimbar included a welcome shock when she reunited with Deimos, who had also independently moved to Bandar Subuh several years prior. As Judith connected with the club's owner, Tang, over their shared monstrous heritage, her role shifted from waitress during the usual hours to maintaining the "Ghost Band," or the supernatural-clientele-exclusive hours of the club. During this time, she also began slowly tackling her alcohol problems, and devoted more and more of her time to her own art therapy. At Marimbar, Judith connected with other artists, and began illustrating posters for the activist group Dhalang also based out of Marimbar. After a string of failed dates and a lot of repression, Judith finally confronted her romantic feelings for Oshri, and the two began dating in 614 DI.

Determined to give the whole 'independence' thing a go, Judith found and moved into her own studio space in 615, found with the assistance of Dhalang. While still working at Marimbar, she filled her free time with freelance illustration work. Her own move to the studio came just in time as, In 618, Elyon Meir -- whom Gisila and Oshri knew from their synagogue -- moved in with the Raskopfs along with his two children to escape his abuser. The Meirs also became unofficial roommates of Judith's, who still spent the majority of her time at the Raskopfs' home. Immediately protective of the Meirs, Judith built a gradual friendship with the three. Also in 618, one of her paintings was accepted into a university art show, and Judith's work gained significant exposure for the first time. Later, when the butcher beneath her studio left the bottom story of the shophouse vacant, the Meirs moved in, and Elyon established his clinic there.

621 was an exciting year: Judith took over management of the Ghost Band at Marimbar, she and Oshri got married in the spring, and with Elyon's help, her seizures had become slightly more manageable if not resolved. However, this good streak continued only very briefly into 622 -- Dhalang member Tiphanie Alouette was assassinated, and her wife Sally and infant daughter Adelaide needed a place to go into hiding. Judith offered up her studio as their temporary shelter, returning instead to stay with the Raskopfs and Meirs. Then, in February, Oshri was killed under suspicious circumstances. Further complicating her grief, Judith learned that she was pregnant. Judith and Sally bonded over their sudden and similar situations as single mothers, while Elyon became a key support to both Judith and Gisila -- and eventually baby Miriam, born October of that year. Gisila, Elyon, and Sally were all instrumental in carrying Judith through the worst of her grief, and she devoted her remaining energy to being the best mother possible to Miriam. However, Judith's mental health dipped again, and consequently she began to struggle more with managing the dread accompanying her fragmented prophecies, convinced that yet another disaster was always right around the corner.

Despite her resurgence of health struggles both mental and physical, Judith kept herself busy raising Miriam, working at Marimbar, and building her own art career now back in her studio as as an almost proper *art* studio. When the butcher beneath her studio vacated the bottom floor of the shophouse, Elyon and his children moved in, and Judith found herself *also* raising the children that Elyon took in: Alex, Felipe, and Jae Yoon. The two best friends also essentially became co-parents, and beginning in 625, Judith started pulling Elyon more and more into her artistic work, hiring him as a model and studio assistant. Unfortunately for Judith, working together in this private setting as well as jointly deciding to adopt another supernatural child in need of a home, Flora, jolted her with the realization that she had developed romantic feelings for Elyon. She tried to stem these by instead hooking up with a university professor, Fernandez, who maybe a little bit just slightly (a lot) looked like Elyon. Her avoidance backfired when she found herself accidentally pregnant, but she at last confided in Elyon about the entire situation, and the two started dating and agreed to raise the baby together. In 626, Philip Meirley was born.

Once again, however, their happiness was interrupted: the Subun government once again cracked down on Dhalang as a result of the April Rebellion, and Elyon was arrested and imprisoned without trial. Judith and Gisila were left to care for their children, including baby Philip. Help came in an unexpected form when Oshri -- now Oliver -- at last traced his way back to Bandar Subuh, returning as a revenant with severely damaged memory but unwavering determination to still support his family as best as he could. With a stronger support system at home, Judith was able to begin an artistic campaign called the *Abolition of Atonement* in support of the revolutionary cause and particularly Elyon, as she portrayed him as a psuedo-religious figure representative of the government's cruelty toward its political prisoners. Her work incorporated religious imagery from Judaism as well as the Creed of Atonement, perhaps most aggressively in the piece *Efseveia,* which depicted Elyon crucified and Prime Minister Keng Gu Chin with Elyon's blood on his hands. In October, as a response to the uproar caused by the piece, the government proceeded to actually crucify Elyon and publish pictures in the paper as a deterrent to other revolutionaries. With the assistance of Oliver, Daniyah, Ev, Sally, Deimos, Ben, and other Dhalang members, Judith was able to assault the prison directly and rescue Elyon as well as Oliver's mentor Remmy, currently held captive there as well. Following the razing of the prison, Oliver was able to coordinate a last-minute escape back to Meridiem, where the Revhabbers and Storm Rats were based, and the extended Meirley family took temporary shelter across the world during the peak of the revolutionary tensions in Bandar Subuh.

While Elyon survived, his recovery process was brutal, and further complicated by the stress of relocating the entire family to an entirely different country and continent. While in Meridiem and at Oliver's insistence, Judith began seeing psychologist Dr. Soheil Go-Lightly to begin chipping away at her own recovery from recent events. She and Elyon married in December, now painfully aware of the need for legal ties in the face of their work, and devoted much of her time to assisting in Elyon's recovery. She and Oliver also hit a wall in their relationship: though they still loved each other, they were reuniting as two very different people, and were no longer sure how they fit together -- especially now that Oshri had become Oliver, and Judith had rebuilt a life with Elyon. They did their best to maintain a (now awkward) relationship as best friends, as they had been for so long, reintroducing themselves in the context of all that had happened since Oshri died. Eventually, their family was able to move back to Bandar Subuh, where the Meirleys settled into a new home and slowly returned to a sense of normalcy.

Back in Bandar Subuh, Judith resumed her work with the Ghost Band and also worked with Dhalang on further poster campaign projects. Despite their best efforts over the next year, her relationship with Oliver was still tense as a result of their unresolved feelings for each other, and he eventually made plans to return to Meridiem at least for a few months to continue his investigative work with the other revs and allow them both space. With political tensions once again rising in the city, however, Judith eventually persuaded Elyon to accompany Oliver, trusting Oliver to keep him safer than he likely would be here at home. Judith once again remained at home with their family while Elyon and Oliver journeyed to Solerro and then Meridiem, and hit yet another emotional roadblock when Elyon and Oliver developed feelings for each other as well over their trip. Though struggling at first with jealousy, she nudged them both to pursue it, meanwhile more comfortably rebuilding her own relationship with Oliver over the safety of long-distance. When the two returned, Judith and Oliver got back together, and the three became a triad. Later, they had another child together: Olive "Liv" Mia Meirley, named in honor of Remmy and the new Oshri she and Elyon had back in their lives -- also, simply because Elyon really wanted a food name, and Judith wouldn't agree to most of his other ideas.

While Judith continues her work at Marimbar, she later shifts her art career again, becoming a part-time elementary school art teacher at the same school where Elyon works.

## Personality

Judith approaches life with equal amounts of energy and stubbornness -- a combo that has carried her through her hardest situations, while simultaneously also creating them. She is a very driven person, always eager to take on new projects and refine the skills she already has. While deeply suspicious of other people, she is also incredibly caring, and often takes on the role of protector. This is reflected in her work with spirits and eventually the Ghost Band as well as her relationships with Elyon and Oliver, both whom she often yoinks out of questionable situations. While bright and creative, Judith is also deeply insecure as a result of her own isolation and inability to fully blend in outside of Chimisteran society. She has a jealous streak a few miles wide and a tendency to gravitate towards unhealthy coping mechanisms, formerly pushing herself into a stupor and more recently attempting to trample inconvenient emotions into the dirt with her hooves. She has ADHD and PTSD, both of which she struggles to productively cope with. Whether Judith always spoke this quickly or if it's something she picked up while in NVC is a mystery.

Outside of art, Judith's favorite hobby is dancing, which allows her to put her baby goat level energy to good use.

## Appearance

If you're counting the few inches her horns give her, then Judith *is* tall, and her elbows are known for being notoriously pointy. She has pale skin with a tendency to sunburn, hazel eyes with their own tendency to flash yellow, and dark auburn hair. She has long limbs and a pear-shaped frame, with wide hips on an otherwise slight body. Beginning at the lower thigh, her legs are covered in distinct reddish-brown fur, and resemble those of a goat's. Though her arms and hands are otherwise human, a similar yet thinner layer of fur extends up just past her elbows. She has a prehensile tail that resembles that of a lion's, goat-like red horns, and incredibly sharp teeth and pronounced fangs. Judith often wears wide-brimmed sun hats that cover her horns, tied under her chin with a ribbon, and vaguely 50's-style silhouettes, whether in dresses or skirts, which she occasionally swaps out for paint-covered mom jeans. She wears a big, clunky pair of boots designed to fit her hooves, though she takes them off at home, in her studio, or while dancing. She is notorious for stealing clothes from both Oliver and Elyon, and regularly wears Oliver's flannels and Elyon's overalls, as well as whatever other articles of clothing she can nick from their drawers.

## Abilities

### Jazz in the Night

**Ghost Mind:** You're always aware of supernatural entities in your presence. Take +1d when you gather info about the supernatural.

**Ghost Voice:** You know the secret method to interact with a ghost or demon as if it was a normal human, regardless of how wild or feral it appears. You gain potency when communicating with the supernatural.

**Strange Methods:** When you invent or craft a creation with arcane features, take +1 result level to your roll. You begin with one arcane design already known.

**Ritual:** You can Study an occult ritual (or create a new one) to summon a supernatural effect or being. You know the arcane methods to perform ritual sorcery. You begin with one ritual already learned.

**It's Who You Know:** Through your art you've developed quite a network. Take +1d when you gather info about someone who is a patron of the arts.

**All Eyes on You:** When you use your art to distract or engage an audience, you get +1d rolls to keep their attention on you.

**Art Therapy:** You may act as a vice purveyor for members of your crew, but you must spend a downtime action to do so. Crewmembers get +1d to indulge their vice with you, and cannot overindulge.

## Cultural Touchstones

Judith is inspired largely by Greek mythology. Deliberate inspirations include the chimera, sybils and specifically the Pythia, and chthonic mythology and ritual practices; subconscious inspirations include Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Her design is inspired in part by tieflings, draenei, and Qunari. Other sources of inspiration include Morrigan and Merrill. Finally, Judith's experiences with both epilepsy and prophecy are inspired by the Ancient Greek ideas of epilepsy as the "sacred disease," and the larger conflict/co-existence of scientific and supernatural explanations for health conditions.

## Gallery

Commission by @hailann.Judith and Elyon dancing. (Commission by @liliuhms.)Judith, Elyon, and Philip. (Commission by @quibbed)Pieta (Commission by @grendelmenz)Judith, Elyon, and Oliver. (Commission by @ohwormzo)Judith, Elyon, and Oliver polaroid. (Commission by @quibbed).
## References

1. ↑ https://www.helpguide.org/articles/add-adhd/adhd-attention-deficit-disorder-in-adults.htm
2. ↑ https://www.helpguide.org/articles/ptsd-trauma/ptsd-symptoms-self-help-treatment.htm
3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QgQPAxNTpU
4. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek\_mythology
5. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimera\_(mythology)
6. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sibyl
7. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythia
8. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chthonic
9. ↑ https://riordan.fandom.com/wiki/Rachel\_Elizabeth\_Dare#Oracle\_Abilities\_
10. ↑ http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/tiefling
11. ↑ https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Draenei
12. ↑ https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Qunari
13. ↑ https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Morrigan
14. ↑ https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Merrill
15. ↑ https://journals.lww.com/neurotodayonline/fulltext/2005/01000/epilepsy\_\_contemplating\_\_the\_sacred\_disease\_.6.aspx