Vanxa

Vanxa Shar'vala
Status	Active
Race	Elf
Gender	Female
Guild	Moon Mage
Instance	Prime

Description

You see Dark Seeress Vanxa Shar'vala, Chaomancer of the Prophets, an Elven Moon Mage.
Vanxa has pointed ears and green eyes. Her black hair is very long and thick, and is worn braided. She has fair skin.
She appears to be young.
She has a tattoo of a roaring lion with its claws seeming to rip through the skin on her leg.
She is in good shape.

She is wearing a moonstone crown, a pole axe, a pure black swan feather, a blue-grey hawk feather, a white gold nose ring, a black leather collar studded with alternating platinum spikes and deep red rubies, a white gold black widow spider amulet suspended from a heavy chain, a steel-boned black leather corset back-laced with black spidersilk cords, a darkstone black widow inlaid with a scarlet ruby hourglass, a soft black leather haversack, a swirling eddy of incandescent light bound by a gold-striated coralite frame, some black velvet long gloves, a white gold barbed-wire armband, a serpentine armband, a labyrinthine white gold wristcuff set with platinum spikes, a luminous lockpick wristcuff of braided moonsilver strands, a platinum and ruby ring, an exquisite platinum claw bearing a black amber spider, a deep ebony cougar-hide belt, a supple viper-hide whip, a moon coral warhorn, a black firecat-skin sack clasped with a curved pristine platinum fang, a cocoon woven from shimmering pearlescent spider web strands, a short black leather skirt with daring slits up both sides, a white gold anklet and some soft black leather thigh-boots.

Raiders From Snow Clan

One hard winter long ago, a Snow Elf raiding party swept out of the northern Dragonspine Mountains to pillage and plunder the Wind Elf settlements of the Gilen Otso Steppes. The plains-dwellers resisted, but Snow Elves were ferocious fighters and greatly feared for their courage in battle. Their children had more weapons than toys and learned to use them while they could barely hold them. As adults, this life-long training gave them unsurpassed combat prowess. Although outnumbering the invaders, the Wind Elves were hard-pressed to fend off such a strong enemy.

On the first day of the raids, a small Wind Elf village on the steppes borderland lay in the path of the raiders. The advance was swift, and immediately upon reaching the village, the Snow Elves fanned out and attacked.

One of the first cabins broken into belonged to a young Wind Elf couple. The husband bravely leapt to defend his home and wife, but his one weapon against many was hopeless. Seriously wounded, he fell, his wife kneeling beside him. Fearing for his life, she pleaded for the raiders to spare him.

The Snow Elves agreed to show mercy, but as payment one warrior said she would become his mate. The husband protested, but his wife reluctantly accepted, knowing there was no other answer. She would protect her husband even if it meant they would never see each other again.

After great plunder, the Snow Elves eventually withdrew with their spoils from the Gilen Otso Steppes and returned to the frozen, windswept peaks of the Dragonspine Mountains.

A few years later, a baby girl was born to the Wind Elf slave bride and her Snow Elf captor, now her new husband. The child was named Vanxa, which means "She Who Sees Far" after an evil empress who eventually gains redemption in a Snow Elf fairy tale. She was given the last name Shar'vala, her tribe's stylized form of "Daughter of Barbarians."

Rise Of A Warrioress

The young Vanxa inherited her father's fair complexion and cold-hardiness and her mother's sultry green eyes and thick, black hair. In time, she came to show her mother's kindness and scholarly intelligence as well as her father's cunning and indomitable force of will. These traits were to serve her well during her rigorous upbringing in the dangerous, snowy uplands of the Dragonspine Mountains. Her father was a high officer in the Snow Elf Guard, which was charged with protecting both their villages and their chief. He made sure Vanxa went through the same rigorous weapon training he himself had done as a boy.

Vanxa's mother never truly adapted to the frigid climate of the mountains. One harsh winter she fell ill and died, her body lying in state until the frozen ground had thawed the following spring. She was buried in a quiet ceremony among a small cluster of mountain lilies. Vanxa and her father were greatly grieved, knowing life would never be the same. In remembrance, Vanxa adopted her mother's habit of accessorizing feathers in her hair, as is the style of the Wind Elves. Her father never fell in love or married again.

The years passed, and Vanxa became a celebrated weapon master and fighter. She rose quickly in the Guard, becoming a Commander of forces. Then disaster struck. Hostile tribes of humanoids as well as horrid monsters, many of which were unknown to the outside world, roamed the forbidding slopes of the Dragonspine Mountains. During one blizzard, a grey-banded elur'sushu, one of the dreaded snow serpents of the far north, attacked their village. The Guard was marshaled, and the ensuing battle was fierce. The monster was killed, which was cause for great celebration and feasting, but the victory came at great cost to Vanxa: along with a few other warriors, her father had been slain.

She had stood silently for some moments looking down at his fallen body, deeply feeling the loss of her parents. Finally, she had knelt and removed his warhorn from his belt. After her mother's death, her father had remembered his wife by having a clan artisan fashion the warhorn from some moon coral she had kept tucked away. A mysterious shadowy black traced with faint silvery white and bluish marbling, the chunk of moon coral had been a prized family heirloom handed down from mother to daughter for many generations. He had kept the moon coral warhorn at his side during life; now, with his passing, and with both parents departed from her, Vanxa would keep it to remember and honor them both.

Drawing a deep breath, she raised the warhorn and sent its mournful wail coursing through the mountains as a tribute to the passing of a great warrior and beloved father. Other guard members stood silently nearby listening, also heavy of heart, as the warhorn's sound swelled toward the distant peaks. Finally, the echoes began ebbing until fading to nothingness. Vanxa, a tear in her eye, clipped the warhorn to her belt. Never again would its call be heard in the Dragonspine Mountains.

Snow Clan was the only home she had ever known, and she would always consider herself a Snow Elf. But she remembered her mother's stories of the Wind Elves on the far-distant steppes. She felt a call in her spirit to discover more about her mother's life before Snow Clan. After her father's death, that call became a restlessness. She had other family and friends in the mountain villages, along with an important position in the Guard, but with her parents gone, she found Snow Clan no longer provided her the old comfort. Not long after her father's death, she collected her things and left the snowy mountains.

Reflections

However, during her long journey she had plenty of time to think, and she gradually grew cautious. To the Wind Elves she would be a stranger. What reception would she receive? Snow Elves had raided the steppes for centuries. How would the plains dwellers welcome a Snow Elf? They were only thought to be marauders and bandits. Vanxa knew that was only partially true, but there was still a risk in going to Horse Clan.

She wanted to learn more about her mother's long-lost family, but she became reluctant to go when she might conflict with them. Even if they weren't hostile, would she be ready to settle down anywhere? Especially a place where she knew no one? In particular, she was wary of any relationship that someone might want to take beyond friendship into romance. Her father had always treated her mother well, but she knew her mother had been forced to abandon her home and go as a prisoner into the Dragonspine Mountains. She swore no man would ever do anything remotely like that to her. Any mate she ever had would live strictly on her terms. Her heart grew heavy. There were just too many questions.

She decided to act first on another of her mother's stories. Her maternal grandmother was said to be descended from a long line of enchanters or witches, always through the female branch. The grandmother lived alone far into the wilderness west of the Gilen Otso Steppes in uncharted lands. The thought of magic had always piqued Vanxa's curiosity. After all, if the stories were true, it meant she as well as her mother were also in the family line of female spellcasters. Was it possible she had unsuspected magic powers? Surely her grandmother would know. Vanxa decided to bypass Horse Clan for the time being and travel deeper into the wilderness.

She journeyed many days along a fast-flowing river far into a land inhabited by some kind of robed lizard people fanatics. They called themselves priests and priestesses of the World Dragon. Vanxa wasn't sure what that meant, but she did know the lizard people didn't take kindly to her passing through their realms. There were many fights along the way, and before she finally reached her grandmother's cabin, lizard people heads hung in the tree limbs from one end of the World Dragon lands to the other.

The Secret In The Cabin

She found the cabin in ruins. It had obviously been attacked, but it wasn't clear who the attackers had been. However, it wasn't too hard for Vanxa to suspect the robed lizard people fanatics. Warily, she entered and explored. The roof and walls were still intact, but what few items remained had been vandalized and scattered. Of her grandmother, there was no sign.

Disheartened, Vanxa intended staying the night and heading to Horse Clan the following morning. She put down her bedroll and was preparing to lie down when she detected a false sound under her foot. Kneeling, she pried up a floorboard and found a great assortment of strange items and tools and arcane books. It was all puzzling, but it had to be her grandmother's magical items.

There was a magnificent weapon wrapped in a grey felt cover: a greatsword with a maple hilt and the image of an elaborate dragon engraved down the blade. It brought to mind what the lizard people had shouted about worshipping a World Dragon.

She lit a candle and began reading her grandmother's journal. It said the weapon had belonged to a Dragon Priest general who had led an attack against her cabin. She had slain the attackers with her magic and retrieved the sword. But it was not the only attack over the years. The lizard people were hard to discourage, and each defeat only made them more determined. Vanxa hoped not, but it seemed likely there had come one final attack her grandmother had not been able to turn back.

The journal said her grandmother had been a member of something called a Moon Mage guild and had been a follower of an even more mysterious group: the Prophets of G'Nar Peth. Vanxa was fascinated. She had never heard anything like what she was reading, but it was obviously the source of her grandmother's magic.

Opening a translucent amber spellbook case embedded with several captive black widows, she found an old and worn spellbook carefully bound in wax-stained tanned leather. The tome’s cover was painted with a sleek black widow weaving a web of crackling lightning, and the title—An Arcanum of the Web of Fate—was inlaid across the front in simple copper leaf. Beading of onyx black widow spiders inset with ruby hourglasses were the only embellishment. Inside, some of the vellum pages bore traces of blood amid the gracefully flowing script. Whose blood it was Vanxa had no idea, but the bloodstains were old and dried. They might have been there for centuries. There was a cryptic prayer to a goddess named Harawep inside the front cover, but the name was unknown to Vanxa.

She unwrapped a bundle of faded black velvet and found the most exquisite object she had ever seen: a heliotrope telescope inlaid with palladium and anlora-avtoma lunar symbols. Each section of the telescope's barrel had been cut from a transparent heliotrope gemstone tinged with purplish-pink undertones. The intricate faceting of the gems gave the telescope a high reflectivity, almost making it seem to glow from within. Cryptic lunar symbols of inlaid silvery-white palladium and bluish-white anlora-avtoma spiraled around the length of the instrument in arcane mathematical patterns.

The telescope was in excellent repair, without chip or scratch or scuff. Gazing through it at the distant trees, she found the instrument capable of adjustment to unbelievably high power. It must have been among her grandmother's most treasured possessions. Vanxa carefully rewrapped it in its black velvet and placed it in a special compartment in her soft black leather haversack.

She lingered in her grandmother's cabin many days, studying about lunar magic and the Moon Mage guild. She learned about an amazing world beyond the natural, something called the Astral Plane, where time and space meant very little and allowed one to travel great distances across the physical world nearly instantly. She learned about how the stars and moons and planets could reveal hidden messages and secrets as well as alter probabilities of things yet to come. She looked out the cabin window at the passing night sky, pondering the wonders of astrology. It became her favorite topic in the books about the Moon Mage guild.

Destiny's Call

She was astonished to learn her mother had also been a Moon Mage, although she had only joined the guild shortly before being captured by the Snow Elves. Vanxa stayed up all night, finding in her grandmother's writings the procedures used in testing a person's magic potential. They were the same tests Vanxa's mother had taken.

Vanxa took the tests herself and found she had an enormous capacity for lunar magic and prediction and the manipulation of light and shadow, far more than her mother and even her grandmother. She was breathless, having not expected anything but a long journey to her mother's homeland among the Wind Elves.

Instead, she had found her true path. She would follow in their footsteps as a Moon Mage and later travel farther north to Therengia to find the sect of G'nar Peth, as her grandmother had once done. She knew there would be much to learn but also much to offer. Her weapon and armor mastery as well as extensive strategic and tactical prowess should prove of great value to the scholarly but melee-challenged mages.

The journal told of a man named Mortom who led the guild of the Moon Mages in a distant land called Ilithi. In pursuit of her family's maternal line of lunar magic study, she left the cabin at dawn and traveled to the great city of Shard. Although she learned much insight from guildleader Mortom, he directed her farther north to the land of Zoluren and the central Moon Mage guild in the Crossing.

The guildleader there was a peculiar man named Kssarh who didn't seem to think she would advance far in the guild. That amused her. Knowing nothing about her determination, he had no idea what he was talking about. But he would learn.

She joined the guild that day and under Kssarh's tutelage began her journey as a Moon Mage and toward fulfilling her desire of becoming the greatest astrologer of all time.

The Enchantress

Vanxa had always found lunar enchanting an interesting concept, but it was limited in scope and easily mastered. However, when she heard rumors that shifts in the cosmos were revealing vast amounts of previously unknown enchanting arcana, her interest was rekindled. Advanced enchanting proved a much deeper and more complex subject than had the earlier lunar form, so she set aside all of her other projects to pursue this fascinating new field of study.

It was no secret that the most extreme enchanting processes could be neither understood nor carried out successfully unless the mage had a full grasp of the relevant support skills. So once her Enchanting studies had been completed, Vanxa finished learning the magics required to create and utilize fully any enchanted magical device, regardless of difficulty level.

She journeyed south to Shard to visit the first Moon Mage guild leader she had met following the long trek from her Snow Elf homeland in the Dragonspine Mountains: Mortom Saist. He congratulated her accomplishment and declared a celebratory banquet in honor of the first Enchantress Maximus of the Moon Mage guild. She thanked him for all of the advice and wisdom he had given her when she had first arrived in Shard so long ago. Without his help, she told him that she would never have gotten as far as she had.

With great humor, Mortom confided in Vanxa that Kssarh had grumbled many times how he had been wrong about her when he had predicted so many years ago that she wouldn't go far in the Moon Mage guild. The Crossing guild leader still had no clue how he had been so mistaken. However, Mortom assured her with a wink that she had earned Kssarh's great respect and admiration, albeit grudging and whether or not he ever showed it, for her accomplishments and contributions in the fields of both Astrology and Enchanting.

She only smiled, knowing there were still many surprises awaiting all the guild leaders of the Moon Mage guild.

The Ascendancy

The search for deeper occult lore had taken G'nar Pethians down many curious paths, but no truth seekers were so mysterious or awe-inspiring as the blind prophets. Believing the physical senses, especially sight, inferior and greatly disruptive of vision potency, these prophets gouged out their eyes to remove distractions that would otherwise hinder their search for the more arcane secrets of G'nar Peth.

While the blind prophets were revered for their dedication and knowledge, Vanxa believed a better way existed. If one's mind wasn't strong enough to block out distractions, she reasoned, the answer was to strengthen the mind--not destroy the eyes. Gouging them out seemed an outdated idea--a relic from a past age. It was not something she would ever do.

After explaining this to a few trusted friends in G'nar Peth, they formed a secret inner circle calling itself The Ascendancy with Vanxa as their leader. They dedicated themselves to developing and perfecting a collection of mental disciplines that would allow one to enter a mind state beyond autohypnosis and trances, something by which the physical world would cease to exist in a metaphysical sense. At such a time, they believed there would remain only the truth seeker and the secrets of G'nar Peth, which would flow freely toward each other, becoming one without the need for self-mutilation. It would be the same quest for knowledge, with the same time and effort expended, but from a different perspective.

The main divination tool artisan in G'nar Peth joined The Ascendancy and for founding this new enlightened path, he prepared for Vanxa the finest bowl that could be made. He used both rare and mundane materials to create a bowl of unsurpassed divination and predictive powers, something only the leader of a main order was worthy to receive.

It was a marbled starstone bowl inlaid with black quartz and feldspar celestial sigils, and at the sight of it Vanxa was overcome. It was more than a divination bowl; it was an exquisite piece of art, one she had not expected. The asymmetrical layers of dark blue starstone possessed a glittering appearance, like a field of stars drifting through the midnight sky. Occasional ripples of cream and charcoal grey intermingled with thinner lines of desert tan and pale golden hues, flowing, almost wandering, throughout the starstone bowl.

She told the artisan how grateful she was for the wonderful gift of such a unique and precious divination bowl and thanked her fellow prophets for allowing her to lead them.

Memories came drifting back to her of that lonely day long ago when she had departed the Dragonspine Mountains on her great journey into the unknown. She thought of all that had happened during the intervening years because of that decision. Her eyes grew misty, hoping her mother and grandmother were pleased with her attempts to remain faithful to their traditions by following in their footsteps.

Vanxa's Divination Tool Alterations

The IC version:

Switching from Snow Elf warrioress to joining the Moon Mage guild was a stark change for Vanxa. Swords and shields were replaced with spells and books, and the violent battlefield gave way to dusty libraries and the tower observatory. She was insatiable to learn about her new life and world and thus immersed herself in the scholarly pursuits of all things Moon Mage, becoming quite the bookworm. This eventually led to the study of the various sects and in particular their divination tools, a topic that came to interest her greatly.

The OOC version:

There was once a discussion on the Moon Mage forums regarding Raesh's improvements to divination tools, prompting someone to mention the idea of trying to cap all six sect tools. I added it would be fun to not just cap the tools but also get them altered. It was really just an offhand comment at the time, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. So I put Vanxa to work.

It was an interesting project since I knew little about most of the tools beforehand. A big thanks here to Raesh for Destiny Cipher and eliminating tool breakage. The former is merely a convenience, although a big one; without the latter, I wouldn't have bothered working any tools at all, even my own G'nar Peth's bowl.

Capping the six tools was the first part; the second part was the alterations. The main issue was festivals being so few and far between meant there was no avoiding the time it would take. But at Hollow Eve Festival 447 (01-26 Nov 2023) I'm delighted (relieved actually!) that Vanxa finally completed her divination tool collection. The process from start to finish took seven years and left Vanxa's bank account 50k+ plats lighter, but I'm not sure what else plats are good for.

Vanxa is not a dark or gloomy character by any means, but her alterations do reflect certain aspects of her life, namely the ones involving the shadowy nature of the Moon Mage guild, the eerie nuances of worshipping Harawep, and her years of rigorous martial training growing up. So her alterations do have a certain edge to them. Below, I'll display the divination tools' alterations along with a few others that demonstrate her Moon Mage and Harawep influences.

It was definitely a fun journey, and I hope others enjoy pursuing their guild goals as much as I have mine.

CELESTIAL CHARTS (Celestial Compact)

Tap -- some black firecat-skin celestial charts edged with ornamental darkstone foil

Look - The blackness of the firecat-skin leather and darkstone foil combine into a representation of the night sky, with the planets, moons, and constellations all meticulously depicted using brightly colored inks. The name along with exhaustive information for each heavenly body is written in graceful calligraphy here and there around the midnight-black vellum.

TOKKA DECK (Followers of Fortune's Path)

Tap -- a night-black Tokka deck depicting the Elanthian moons entangled in webbing

Look - The stiff cards are edged with pearlescent, silvery-white foil and inked with crimson, silvery-blue, and soot-black hues. The deck bears the striking image of Yavash, Xibar, and Katamba entrapped within a vast web stretching deep into space, erratic and tangled, as though spun by some gigantic spider.

PRISM (Monks of the Crystal Hand)

Tap -- a night diamond prism trapped within a web-like darkstone cage

Look - Hanging from a chain of jagged darkstone links, an enclosure of the same metal entangles the prism as though a beautiful butterfly were hopelessly caught in black spider webbing.

BONES (Nomads of the Arid Steppe)

Tap -- some fire-blackened lava drake bones deeply notched with occult symbols

Look - The four bones show the telltale scorch marks typical of exposure to blistering heat. The Krr-tich and Sek-rith are long and slender with rune-like carvings arranged in asymmetrical patterns. One side of the Sun Disk is darkened with soot while the other has been scratched clean to reveal the grey bone beneath. Small pieces of skull have been connected into the orb-like Moon Sphere with each facet depicting a mysterious lunar symbol.

MIRROR (Progeny of Tezirah)

Tap -- a moonstone divination mirror within a twisted darkstone frame resembling webbing

Look - The polished Xibar-blue moonstone reflects your surroundings in an oddly distorted manner. Some objects appear more or less familiar, but others appear greatly altered somehow, often unrecognizably so.

BOWL (Prophets of G'nar Peth)

Tap -- a marbled starstone bowl inlaid with black quartz and feldspar celestial sigils

Look - Asymmetrical layers of dark blue starstone possess a glittering appearance, like a field of stars drifting through the midnight sky. Occasional ripples of cream and charcoal grey intermingle with thinner lines of desert tan and pale golden hues, flowing, almost wandering, throughout the starstone bowl.

DOOR

Tap -- an arched blackwood door banded with ornately wrought darkstone

Look - The thick planks of smoothly polished blackwood are securely held by three large, sculpted straps of studded darkstone engraved with the likeness of tangled spider webbing.

FLOOR

Tap -- a parquet blackwood floor embedded with darkstone celestial symbols

Look - The midnight-black planks of seemingly interwoven floor are inlaid with the planets, moons, and constellations wrought in darkstone so that walking across the room creates the impression of traveling the Astral Plane.

WALL

Tap -- a wainscotted blackwood slat wall adorned with darkstone crown molding

Look - The ornamental dark mahogany wainscotting contrasts with narrower vertical blackwood slatting that reaches to the darkstone crown molding along the ceiling edge. The molding is elaborately wrought to depict an endless tangled web encircling the ceiling, sprinkled here and there with the forms of lurking black widow spiders.

FIREPLACE

Tap -- a huge black marble fireplace with a snarling dragon's maw-shaped opening

Look - Framed with irregular stonework, the fireplace opening is protected by a darkstone screen patterned after dragon wings. The darkstone mantel is elaborately engraved to resemble dragon scales, each end supported by a twisted floor column.

ARMOR STAND

Tap -- a polished mahogany armor stand with a wrought darkstone base

Look - The heavy darkstone has been forged to resemble a dense cluster of many types of small and large spiders.

WEAPON RACK

Tap -- a polished mahogany weapon rack lashed together with twisted darkstone chains

Look - Tightened black chains snake through the mahogany slats and poles, reinforcing the rack's frame so it can bear the weight of any weapon. Additional darkstone prongs are mounted to hold small weapons such as daggers, while larger weapons can be leaned against polished mahogany dividers. Holes drilled into end boards are set to hold the hafts of upright polearms.

TABLE

Tap -- a long polished mahogany table with sculpted darkstone legs

Look - Elaborate designs are carved into the blackish metal of the table's legs, each revealing detailed images of tangled and intertwining strands of webbing. Residing within the complex network are spiders of differing types and sizes, some seemingly at rest and others appearing amid the intricate task of web creation.

THRONE

Tap -- an ornately carved blackwood throne padded with plush crimson velvet

Look - The midnight wood is carved with many different species of large spiders, legs interlocked as though holding the throne together. The crimson velvet contrasts with the sleek black of the polished wood, reminiscent of the colors of a black widow spider.

CANOPY BED

Tap -- a tall blackwood canopy bed elegantly draped in flowing dark silk

Look - The towering posts and hefty supports sit atop a base of crimson-veined black marble, each intricately carved with intertwining spiderwebs. Dark curtains envelop the massive blackwood bed in a canopy of silk, with the excess fabric draping over the sides and gathered at the corners with braided crimson spidersilk cords.

TREASURE CHEST

Tap -- a sturdy blackwood treasure chest secured with a heavy darkstone lock

Look - Darkstone straps and bindings reinforce the blackwood chest's body, while curved panels give the lid an arched top for increased storage capacity. A darkstone handle riveted to either end provides for easy lifting and transport.

MAKER'S MARK

Tap -- an ornately engraved darkstone stamp fixed with a white gold chain

Look - a black widow spider crawling up a telescope centered on the name "Vanxa" written gracefully in a field of stars

BIOMECHANICAL TARANTULA (Hollow Eve Festival 432 Gift)

TAP -- a darkstone black widow inlaid with a scarlet ruby hourglass

LOOK - Like stars scattered amid a dark expanse of metal, a constellation of tiny blue moonstone eyes glimmer with a Xibar-hued schiller. Eight sharp legs are arrayed around its carapace, allowing it to bond with the wearer.

RUCKSACK (Hollow Eve Festival 439 Gift) unaltered

TAP -- a moonsilk rucksack adorned with darkstone black widow spiders

LOOK - You see nothing unusual.

KITTEN (Hollow Eve Festival 450)

TAP -- a green-eyed black kitten wearing an ornate white gold amulet

LOOK - With fur as black as the midnight sky, the kitten appears almost like a living shadow surveying the world through its pale green eyes. Contrasting vividly with the sleek dark fur, a flat chain collar of sparkling white gold dangles a matching amulet that is engraved with the name "Tigress" in elegant script.